Gazette Of The United States, & Philadelphia Daily Advertiser

From the Virginia Gazette.
MR. DAVIS,
I FIND, by your paper of the 7th instant, which I got a few days since, Mr. Giles has, at last, condescended to deny what he is pleased to call a charge against him in yours of the 29th of January last; and to invalidate the testimony of Mr. Burwell, he says, "The conversation is presumed to have happened on the 22d ult. at the house of a person in Richmond, generally called Little Lewis Burwell; but from his adherence to the British cause during the revolutionary war, &c. has obtained the name of Little England." Mr. Burwell, to distinguish him from three other gentlemen of the same name, has been called English Lewis Burwell, from having spent the early part of his life in that country, and by his intimate acquaintances has been called Little Burwell; but, I believe Mr. Giles must have the credit of naming him 'Little England,' which I never before heard of; and, in whatever light he may attempt to place him, I am persuaded, where they are equally known, Mr. Burwell's assertion will always gain as much credit as Mr. Giles's.
I should have paid no attention to Mr. Giles's letter to you, but for one part of it. He tells you, "In Mr. Nelson's conduct there are circumstances of a very extraordinary nature. He heard of this expression the evening preceding the 24th of January, which was on Monday. On Tuesday he wrote his letter of alarm for the next day's paper. I was in Richmond on Monday, on Tuesday, and on Wednesday until after 12 o'clock. On Tuesday an interesting debate took place in the House of Delegates respecting the affairs of the Union, in which I took a part." Mr. Giles is correct in saying I heard of this expression the evening preceding the 24th of January, but he is mistaken as to the day of the week; for the evening preceding the 24th was on Wednesday; so that, had I been inclined to his mode of explanation, it would have been impracticable; both the debate, and his leaving town, having happened before I heard a sentence of the expression. The interesting debate alluded to by Mr. Giles, I suppose, was on the subject of the address to the people, which took place on Tuesday the 22d of January. Had Mr. Giles and his party told the people, in plain terms, that disunion was their object, but little, if any, mischief could have flowed from the measure common sense would have been a sufficient corrective; but when they come forward in the true jacobin style, to create a disgust against the present government, and thereby effect a change, without avowing the intention, it becomes, in my opinion, the first duty of every friend of real liberty to counteract the insidious poison.
Your humble servant
NELSON
Mecklenburg, March 21