Mobile register and journal., 1845-01-08
Frn,n ihaN E,anina Pm,


 AN HONEST MAN THE CLOsKT.--ssWhat shall de honest man do in my closetl' was the nalu- ral question of Dr. Caius, when he found Simple hidden h his closet. lf was in vain that Mrs Qulekiy assured the enraged doctor that he was an honest man. "Dere Is no honest man." said the doctor, "saIl come into my closet" The story about the plagiarism committed. and afterwards attempted 10 ba concealed by Mr. Bancroft, it nppears was given to the New Bedford Bulletin, by persons of high standing strIct honor and unimpeachable ines rity. That paper says:
 "We are satisfied that the statement was without ioundqtion. 1t is due to ourselves, however to shy that our information was derived from gentle men of high standing, of strict honor and unimpeach- able integrity, who we supposed had the very best means o Knowing the entire correctness of the state fnenfs Considering the matter of sufficient interest 10 give our renders, we published what we did in re- gard to II. It seems, however, that our inCormants were mistaken, and that we did Mr. Bancroft inius- tlce m supposing hn amenabe to the charge of pla- giarism."
 Things have come to strange pass if ''geniemen o h2h standing, strict honor and unimpeacIable in- tegrity can circulate the grossest and most ground less calumnies against whose only offence is that he does not agree with them in political opinions. II ths be the habit of gentlemen of high standIng, 1t s time that our gentlemen of high standing were pick. ed up, and sent to the pentenlary. If strict honor has turned common slanderer, and unimpeachsble integrity stabber of fair reputations, II is tune thev . We must hereafter Lock up our spoons when strict honor makes us Il visit, and ket our hands on our pockets when uninpeachable integrity happens to be a fellow passenger in the same steamboat Ifthese be honest men, we say with Caius ''dere is no hon est man sail come into my closet."
 There Is Il moral to be drawn from what has han. pened in regard 10 Mir. Bancroft. Here is man of whom his country is justly proud KS brilliant wri- ter and philosophical historian, the author of nos ble and eloquen digest of Ihe annals of our republic. He does mol happen to hold the same political views with certain people of high standing, strict honor and unimpeachable integrity. In the indulgence of theIr naligny, these exemplary persons invent and circulate story affecting, not his political. but hi. literary and moral character-a charge of literary larceny, as dsgraceinl pocket picking or repudia ton. The charge is absurd on the face of it, hut that does not prevent them from asserting it with the most periect confidence; the more absurd the com duct of Mir Bancroft is made to appear, the worse Tor ms reputation. paper friendly 10 MT. Ban croft expresses its belief the story, and this leads to its repetition in s stronger terms The origin al ioe and the repetition spread by the whg pn- pers through the length and breadth of tho land. Al iength the caumny is reufed in the clearest manner, and the print in which il appeared puts the blame up- on the three conspirators. High Standing, Strict Honor and Jnlmpeachable Integrity. The lesson to pc drawn from these circumstances is this that when Hlgh Standing lnvents another tale to deame the reputation which the country ought to cherish, he should pay discreet regard the probabilities oi easy refutation; that Strict Honor should confne h'mself to sanderous generaties instead of specific sta'ements and that UniInpcachabe Integrity should merely deal in abusive epthets and ingenious insin- nations.