Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1879-01-21
WARD LAMoN ON "eATH.n
a Sharp and Characteristic Letter
from Linooln's Biographer.

peared an article from The pen of - Gath."
making some structures on me, which are
alike discourteous, unjust, indecent, and IN,
called for.
So far as my public acts and character are
concerned, they are public property. and are
justly subject to respectful criticism but 80
far as my personal appearance and social hab-
its are concerned, these are strictly person.
al and private characteristics And as to
whether am " queer character and Sim
gular man to lnok at" play billiards with my
coat off or play the devil with my coat on,
+" drink whisky straight" mix it with SUI
gar and water, or don't drink it a. all, in>
sist are questions with which "Gath and
the public have nothing whatever to do.
have always been in favor of according
the greatest liberty of speech and liberty of
the press to all who desire the exercise Of
this right; but it should not be postitu.ed,
for whenever the press is made the vehicle
of ridicule aud vindictive aspersions npon
private character, it loses it's great preroeative
as the highest court of judicature of our
land and becomes an abomination to the
peace and good order of society.
"Gxth is sharp, incisive. sstiraca1,
versatile. splcnetio writer. He seems to de.
rive his greatest qualification from writing
up the iufrmities of his fellow-creatnres,
and feeds upon the exposure of human foi>
bes, as the worm does upon putrid flesh,
and he il, like an unhroke and unhridled
literary steer of the prsiries, instieated
continually nv the devil. and never having
the fear of God or man before his Journalists
tic eyes; he, with the ins'incts of Govern
ment mule, blindly PUSHES where angels
would fear to tread. in journalism an
Ishmseitish Shylock. with no more realizs-
ton of honor aud fair dealing than AnDanias.
no more appreciation Of virtue than P"ti~
piers wife, and knows little of what is
due from one gentleman to another "a Moo
demus did of the second coming OF our Sa-
vionr
have endeavored to ascertain the mean
ing of "Gath"-not his personal meaning of
the article referred to, (for he there simply
meant to be menn,) but the meaning of the
word ''Ga,h"-and have concluded tina. it is
a corrupt sbbreviatinn of the word Gather.
err" and that he comes from n tribe of peo>
pie who have for centuries past spent their
lives in attempting ITO gather grapes from
thorns and "a from thistles." And it would
seem that King David of old well knew The di.
abolical disposition of the old Gath" family.
for after Saul had committed suicide. aud
David, after having in a oowardly manner.
run away 10 fear of Saul, aud murdered the
young Amalekite, who lied to him about
the manner Of Saui's death J il is recorded in
the Book of. the Second Samuel first chap
ter and twentieth verse, that David erj oined
upon the people to tell i, not {" to y Gath
and not to publish it in the streets of Ask
elon," where it is supposed most of the Gath
family lived, fearing, doubtless, that they
would either interfere with his election of
King of Judah, or might steal the ointment
provided for the occasion. This gepealogv
of the family NAV serve. to some extent, to
exnlain why this Gath evinces snch an ap-
parently ungovernable disposition to raise
carbunoles, bisters and fostering With
his licentiTus pen moon the characters of the
presidential candidates of our country and
there seems to be no chara cter in the land.
however pure, that is exempt from his men,
dacous assaults
Licentionsness is not only Gath'a stock in
trade nv acquisition bur ia his by right of
tribal inheritance -who is short.
"-holdinu honor Mt no price,
Folly to folly add and vice to vice:
Work sin wirh greedncss. and seek for shame
With greater zeal than good men seek for fame"
Very respectfully,
WARD II LAMoN.
A COUNTY COURT BILL.-Mr. Melvin,
one of the delegates from Jefferson, intro
duced into the House, a day or two ago, q
measure which seems to US to possess mer-
it. 1t is not to abolish the County Courts,
but to construct and, it looks to US, improve
them. The scheme is simple and plain. 1t
provides, in short, that in each county there
shall be elected double as many justices
there are magisterisl districts, one hslf the
number to be elected by the voters of the
county at large aud the remaining half By
the voters of the respective DISTRICTS. Those
Justices elected in the districts are to try or
binary causes 10 their respective districts,
while those elected at large are to sit as
County Court to hear appeals and to trans
act the fiscal affairs of tho county. In this
way. it il believed better class of men will
be obtained aud q somewhat cheaper sysrem
be furnished, for the transaction of the couu-
~ business. Without celebrating the plan
further at this time, we commend it to the
thoughtful investigation of the members of
the Legislature - Hheehny Register.
SHOOTING March An extraordinarily
ipe match of shooting took place few days
alter New Year, on tho farm of John NJ
MeIryman, E-q 10 Baltimore county, abuut
fur miles outside OF the city limits. The
match was between the Baron LIE Compt of
Paris and James II. Grove. Esq late a res
ldent of this county, and we'll ku"wn and es-
teemed by large circle of friends, but who
now resides at LcetowD, Jefferson county,
West Virginia. The first trial was single
shooting, in which each party shot at 81
birds, according to the usual sPortsmeus
regulations. OF this number, Grove killed
all lie Compile killed 40 and missed s.
The next trial was at what ia called triple
shooting each party having two guns and
three birds at a tune -partics to load as they
please. In loading, Grove used charge of
two aud quarter drains OF powder and