Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-10-27
of scurrilty, direct and vlearious, to this

That, like other nOvelists, the author
deals In adultery, bigamy,and nameless So
cial crimes; .rr ,rb .-tya -,ttatttt,u
4. But that, unlike the majority Of my
predecessors, side with the crimes / de-
pict: 'H9 1f'l9 -uh1J" W 'Emf 1i,s
S. That the modestyG and purity dof wo-
men cannot survive theperlral of Crit
fifth Gaunt;" 80,
6. That this story was declined by some
of the lowest sensational weekly papers Of
New York Onthe ground that they did not
dare to undertake its publication t"-,sd.,
Z. Passing from personal to vicarious
SANDER, he prints the letter Of an animal
calling himself G.. s. H., who suggestsithat
some Inferior writer wrote griffith GauptP
and that lent my name to it for foreign
market and so he and combihedto swim
die the Boston publishers. This, in Eng
land, we call felony.uJ .-HlaagoGa 10
Now, sir, L have often known some OBJ
scure Ounce, who had the advantage of
concealing his nameless name, treat All 'es-
teemed author with lofty contemptin the
columns of IA journal, and call his masters
piece sorry production, Il, myself, am
well accustomed to that sort of Injustice
and insOlence from scribbers. who could
not write my smallest chapter to save their
carcasses from the gallows,. and their souls
from premature damnation. But the spite
and vanity of our interiors in the great,
profound, and difficult art Of writing is
generally satisfied by calling us Ounces and
bunglers and cOXcombs, and that sort OF
thing. In all my experience never knew
the press guilty of such crime as the edi-
tor OF the Roond Table has committed. 1t
is deliberate attempt to assassinate1 the
moral character of an author and gentle
man, and to stab the ladies of his own FAM
lily to the heart, under the pretense of pro-
tecting the women of a nation from the
demoralizlng Influence of his pen. You
will see at once that | could not hold any
communication with the Round Table or its
editor, and must, therefore, trust to Amer
lean justice and generosity, ana ask leave
to reply in respectable columns. In answer
to statements |, 2, and ), pledge the hon
or of gentleman that they are deliberate
and intentional falsehoods, and undertake
to prove this before twelve honest Ameri
can citizens, sworn to do justice between
man and man. AS to No. 3, really scarce
know what my slanderer MEANS
Griffith Gaunt." under delusion, COM
mits bigamy; and, of course, biga-
my may under a slight perverson of
terms, be called adultery. But no truthful
person, attacking character, would apply
both terms to single act. Is bigamy more
than polygamy? And is polygamy called
that and adultery too, in every district of
the United States? AS to 1.-THE nameless
social crimes" what does the beast mean?
Did he find these in his own foul imagina-
tion, or did he find them in my text? Ifit
was in the latter of course he can point to
the page. He shall have an opportunity,
StatementG is lie by way of equiyocation.
The truth il, that before ''Griihth GatInt"
was written an agent ofmine proposed to me
to sound some newspaper proprietOrs, who
had hitherto stolen my works, as to wheth-
er they would like to buy story of me,
| instead of stealing it. consented to this
preliminary question being put, and i don't
know what they replied TO my agent.
Probably the idea of buying, where they,
had formed a habit of stealing, was dis
tasteful to them. But this you may rely
on, that never submit line Of manu-
script to the judgment of any trader what
ever, either in England or in America, and
never will. Nothing is ever discussed be-
tween a trader and me except the bulk and
the price. The price is sometimes high
one, but always a fair one, founded on my
sales. If he has not the courage to pay it,
all the worse for him. If he has, the bar
gain is signed, and then, and not till then, he
sees the COPY. | never intrusted u line of
"Griilith Gaunt' to an agent. | never sent
man being, except to the firm of Ticknor
& Fields, and even to that respectable firm,
one ofethe partners in which is my valued
friend, | did not send line of it until they
had purchased of me the right to publish it
in the United States. And this purchase
was male on the basis Of an old standing
agreement. Compare these facts with the
suppression miserable prevaricator has
sought to create, to wit, that the proprietor
of some low Journal was allowed to read
the manuscript, or unpublished sheets, of
''Gritith Gauut" and declined it on the
score of morality. Statement Y, which
accuses me of a literary felony, is delib-
crate, intentional falsehood. The Argosy
| is sold in New York in great numbers, price
siXpence. The editor of the Round Table
is aware of this, and has seen, ''Griftith
Gaunt" in it, with my name attached; yet
he was so bent ON slandering me, by hook
or by crook, that he printed the letter of
G. s. ii. without contradiction, and so
turned the conjecture OF mere fool into
libel and a lie.
shall only add that mean to collar the
editor of the Round Table, and drag him
and his ISLANDERS before a jury of his eoun-
trymen. He thinks there is no law, justice
or humanity for an Englishman in the
great United States. Weshall see. Pend
ing the legal inquiry, earnestlylrpquest
my friends in the United States to leG, me
know who this editor of the Round Table
Is and all about him, that so we may meet
on fair terms before the jury. Alleditors
of Ameriean journals who haVeany Justice,
fair play, or commonhumanity to spare to
an injured stranger, will print this letter,
in which one man defends himself against
many, and will be good enough to accept
nv thanks for the same in this writing, Do.