Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-08-14
THE CALLED JADE WINCES.

The Editor of the Patriot, thick skinned as he
is shows in his last paper that he was pretty bad.
ly excoriated by the unsparng exposition we made
two weeks since of his infamous system of cleo
tioneerng. He complains bitterly of our severity,
and undertakes to administer to us fatherly lee
ture upon the propriety Of always observing mild
ness of speech Now we admit that we did en-
ploy the terms which he cites as obnoxious; and
we did it because we always supposed that those
terms were not supernumeraries in our language /;
that circumstances sometimes not only justify, but
require that they should be drafted into the service
of truth and because we deemed, if ever there
was occasion for their employment, they were then
imperatively called for. The most baseless and
most base allegations had been made against the
official conduct of those who possess standing in
society and have a character to maintain. The
grossest misrepresentation concerning the fnan-
cial condition of the State had been uttered with
the most brazen efirontery. We had no doubt
that there had been willful and deliberate attempt
to deceive and nislead the people regard to mat
tiers in which they are deeply interested and we
commented upon the fact in as strong language, we
willingly admit, as we could readily command
We disposed to shun, rather than seek an alter
cation with the editor of the Patriot; but we will
not avoid alteration, either by suppressing the
truth when we know it, or by REFRESHING our lndig.
nation when we feel it. Daily with the pronigacy
of our opponents we will not.
"our soul
Was never ground into such oily colors
As to nattor vice. or daub inquity''
But as far as in us lies,
HWiih an armed and resolved hand,
We will the ragged tulies of OcQfJcDsn
Naked as at its bith, and with u whip of steel,
Print wUunding ashes in its iron ribs
When animadyertng upon what we deem to be
base and despicable, we shall not speak by way OF
crcumlocution, or indulge very pentifully in those
rhetorical embellishments styled euphemlsms.-
We shall aim to talk directly TO the point, and to
employ just the language which we think the oc-
casion demands If it chance to be harsh, we shall
be content to leave it to an impartial public to de-
terminc whether it is undes erved There are some
pergons who cannot be made decent, otherwise than
by being dashed INTO decency. 1t is not congenal
to our tastes to be the eXecuiioner, but when cir
cumstunces impose upon us the necessity of acting
in that capacity, we trust that we shall not shrink
| from the duty. If we know ourselves, we despise
a falsehood and detest a calumny. If the Editor Of
the people by misstatements, or to prejudice them
| by defamations let him unsparingly expose us, and
| brand us with the stigmas we deserve. We shall
utter no complaints, we shall crave quarter But
on the other hand, when we convict him of similar
attempts, by facts which power can resist, ne
art elude, let him not whimper and find fault with
us, because we use something else than the bland
| est n nd most o0reeable lanuua0e Such murmurs
and complaints come with an i'll grace indeed from
one whose paper for the last five years has been
! nothing but turbid reservoir Of FOUL scurilous
loathsome ribaldry, that even the very fish women
of Bnngsgate would scorn to dabble in
| And now few observations upon the feeble at
tempts of the Patriot to parry, orat least to weaker
the force of, our thrusts, and we have done.
Says the Patriot,
"The young gentleman ought to know that, iche,
he admits that the State debt amounts TO tipO hun
| tired and forty thousand dollars (the interest on
which sum would be some $4,000, annually il
can be of but little avail to cavil about any slight
variation in the statement of the annual expenses
whether they are or $4,000 more or less, altho
we have no reason to doubt that our statement Of
the State expenditures for 1896 and 1913, will
wien critically examined, prove to be correct"
Irthe Editor of the Patriot meant to apply the ep-
tibet "young" to us by way of taunt, we congratu-
| late him that he has at last made hit" which is
not pointless for the want of TRUTH 1t is true that
we are yet in the morning of life; but we have the
consolation Of rejecting that unlike certain faults
with which others might be reproached, the fau
| of being "young" is failing which will be cured
| by time and in the mean while we shall content