Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-10-19

the bitter fruit OF bringing Texas into the Con.
tederacy, (and come ii must,) upon their head,
be the odium Of the fatal disruption. II will be
OF their scekirg-not ours.
| leg pardon, gentlemen, for Tie length OF This
letter, bul trust that my apology will he found
in the vital importance Of the subjects which il
discusses
With sentiments Of cordial rcspcc, and esteem
am, truly, your obj servant.
A. STEVENSON.
Seth Barton, w. A. Elmore, 7. }. Duranl,
Esq>,
To tic Editors n The Jhbiic Register and .1nrnol.
Gcnllcmcn-My attention has just been called
to the subjoined letter of the Hon. WIN. c. Rivcs,
which you will obligc me By transferring entire
10 your columns, for the double purpose Of doing
full Justice to that gentleman as we'll as 10 afford
me an opportunity of making such amends as a
portion %! the imputed wrong Of which he com
plains, certainly requires.
MR. RlVES'S LETTER.
Jb the Filters Of Tie Richmond Engpirsr:
have just seen your daily paper of tie lSih
September, in which you usher in, with great
flourish OF ,runpets, and particularly invite the
attention OF your readers, II very low and sour
rous publication signed "ArislarchuS, Jr." taken
from the Mobile Register and Journal, in which
| am charged with miYR0iin2 0Rd faiNtgtng 4
passage in "Smilh's Wealth OF Nations:' in Ian
guagc that would disgrace BillingSgate itself
Fdpd, takchO0d lie, dcSpicatic tfick, ,7cndacitp,
&c, &c, are among the choice flowers OF speech
s!icwod, with unstintcd proluson, through This
disgusting publication, which YOU endorse, and
especially commend To- the attention OF your read
crs MOI content with recommending it, On the
inner fern of your paper, under the elegant title,
cmhlazoned in staring capitals, oil 4 "P0rf,n1 RI
CO0ncrg" you preface the production Of this de-
lcc,able mor>cl OF low scurrity, in your columns,
with The following remarks
"Atisarchus, in tie following letter, charges
Mr.. Rivcs with grossly pcrvcrting, and indeed,
rni>quoing, one of The tnos; celebrated and fun
damcntal passages in adam Smiths Wealth Vi
Nations, which goes 10 establish the benefits OF
free trade We Lcg the readers attention 10 the
following exposition of this remarkable budget
oil hlundcrs, from an djie correspondent OF the
Mobile Register"
have nothing 10 do with the anonymous >crib-
hlcr, whose low and impotent eiiuson you have
thus pomrou'ly presented 10 The public. Aly bu-
sncss is with Won, as the responsible conductors
Of public Journal, LAYING claim 10 some share
of decency, who by the ostenta:ous parade Of
this publication in your columns, with special
and earnest recommendation of il 10 the attention
of your readers, must be considered, in he eye
Of morality and justice. d. endorsing lis ioul
charges while would he among the last men,
| trust 10 ask any favor al the hands OF person.
al or political enemies, such IS those il is my
misfortune 10 have shown themselves 10 b.,
have night 10 expect. under these circumstances.
that yoa will rot hesitate To lay before your read
crs. without delay, the fat contradiction and
exposure | now present 10 you, OF The shameless
and unhlush;ng t;hrications which you haze
made your paper the medium of palming upon
their crcduitv. Mere political sennnciations
however malignant O; unjust il has not been my
habit n",io. ar To rcgard bGt charges affecting
personal character OF 81 fout an import as those
10 which YOU have given currency, in the pre-
sent instance, canno, consent 10 pass over in
silence.
The passage which am charged by your
adopted correspondent with miSauoting and aSi-
!ya. by an alteration offs phrascolosy in several
material respects, is the following BY means
of such regulations indeed, particular manu-
.acturc NAV sometimes be acquired sooner than
it could have been otherwise, and after a certain
time, NAV he made 4; home rs cheap, or cheaper
than in III, foreign country"
Thus the passage stands in every edition OF
the Wealth Of Nations" which has ever fallen
under my eyes, and precisely thus, WORD ron
WORD, il is cited in tire speech made ~ me in
The Senate of The United States, on the 18th MAY
last.
Now let rs see what * the version of the same
massage given hy your correspondent a the TRys
one. quolc from his communication, rs it is
contained in your paper of The 18th inst:
g Bv means of such regulations a particular
manufacture NAV PERHAPS not sometimes ''bC
sooner acquired than otherwise it would be; and
after LESGrn or TIME" fraud No ? "may bt
made as cheap or cheaper al home than in a TO-
reign country"
1t appears. then, that am charged with max
in. two fraudulent alterations in the above ex
tracl-tirSt in substituting the word SOMETIME.
for rERuars-and, secondly, in making \. Smitl
say Il CERTAIN TIME, instead Of a LENGTH or TIME
which is asserted 10 be the expression actually
used b. Kim.
have now before me three several editions o
Adam Smith. great work-a London clifton
printed in i199. from the fourth edition published
in 1S,; being the last that was revised by line au
thor. who died in i190-an American edition
printed AT Hartford in 1904, from the same revised
English cditon-and an I:iinhurg edition, prin,et
in lSaS, under the superintcndcnce, and with The
annoraiions of Professor McCuoch, who thur
youchcs for lis accuracy: The text has beer
carefully printed from the fourth edition, published
in l1Sli being the last that was revised By the au
thor"
Now. affirm, that in every one Of these eli
tions. the sentence quoted by me stands precisely
as | have given it, a"ord for rori, without ih'
slightest variation of any sort; and that The yer
sion given in your paper varies from every one %
them and especially in The very particulars II
which it inrcachc. the integrity and accuracy q
nv quotation. | do not believe there j. in exist
| cnce any genuine edition Of the Wealth OF Ma
| tons" which gives the sentence in question as
is given in your paper Of the 18Th inst. or differ
| crily. in any respect, from the quotation OF
made by me 1t happens then, in this case, AZ i
so often eycnp!ifed in other cases, in The rerion
i've tispcnsaiion OF Providence, that the unbn'h
ina accii>ers sland convicted themselves of III
yerv charge they wantonly prefer against another
! VIVA; stamps still more uncquivocally, II pos
sihle The true character Of the prctensions OF I'M
vicarious libellcr, made use of by you to answe
the purpose OF personal and political detracior
is that he processes 10 give, with literal cXaclncs
and marks OF quotation. as many as three entir
paragraphs from Adam Smith. and he does nc
scr,,plc 10 alter the text of each one of them
some instances by the Interpolation of new word
and even sentences and in others by striking on
words and phrases used BY Smith. In one case
narticularly. while assuming 10 confront me Wit
the words of Adam Smith, he begins, in the out
sci of his quotations b. actually suppressins an
striking from the text of Smith, the important an
significant word "adrontags," which he had in
previous par; of his publication sgnased b
italics. ana the remarkably tastefully device of
hand and forc-ingcr pointing TO it as fraudulent
and fundamentally introduced BY me in Stain
the qualified doctrine OF that author. The dclibt
rate design, therefore, must have been made I
alter the text as to suit il 10 the reckless charG
so unscrupulonsly made against me.
Isl, upon the authority of forgeries like ihes'
tina, public journal, the oldes;, probably; OF III
editorial corps of this country, and bound, there
fore. to Sc, an example 10 others, of observing tn
decencies. If not The charities, of social life, PEI
mils itself 10 arraisn public man upon charge
of the fonles; import involving il true. total II
sensibility 10 the obligations of common legal he
nestvl How can such procedure as this be tu
IL characterized in terms consistent with that me
Iteration of language would tain preserve? If
were 10 initiate yonr example, might hold it u
as portrait of Locotocoism. But will not II
volve the innocent with the guilty, and leave
to those better skilled than am inthe vocabular
of the day, to say ty what designation it can }
most intellipihly and appropriately defined TO II