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Letter to Editor
August 21, 1815
Kentucky Gazette
Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
What is this article about?
Colonel Robert Carter Nicholas, upon arriving in Pittsburgh in 1815 for official duties, publicly defends his reputation against scandals circulated by other army officers. He calls for the public to withhold judgment until he can confront his accusers and denounces them as villains unfit for society.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
To the Public.
ON my arrival in this place, in discharge of official duties. I was correctly informed that I had been preceded by others, officers of the late and present army, whose principal employment seems to be giving circulation to scandal of the grossest kind, too well calculated to stab my reputation if left uncontradicted. It is painful to intrude thus on the public attention; nay, I am ready to admit there is an impropriety in it; but yet there is no alternative left. Assailed, as I am, behind my back, this mode only is left me. And I now ask of a generous and intelligent public to suspend all opinion, until I can have an opportunity to meet these calumniators and their calumnies in the way pointed out by custom on the one part, by martial law and usage on the other. I humbly presume my standing where I am best known, my family and connexions, my rank in the army, and above all, the ordeal through which I have just passed; I allude to the preference given me by my generals and my government, have put me on a ground far above the reach of uninvestigated and unfounded calumny. As to the gentlemen who have thus disgraced themselves and their profession, I wish them to distinctly understand, that I forbear to name them to the public from a respect due to myself and the army, and from these considerations only Some of them I am particularly acquainted with, and I here assert that they are the most polluted villains that I know on earth ; and I do here in the most positive and unequivocal manner pronounce them and all others who have or may participate with them, to be a set of base, calumniating. abandoned scoundrels, a disgrace to their profession, and unfit associates for any society. I take the liberty further to inform them, that if I should deem it hereafter necessary to my honor, that I will address them in this public way by their name and title; that I will unmask them down to their youth, and turn them loose with all their villainy exposed to their fellowman, for his scoff, his ridicule, his contempt and detestation.
I have the honor to be, the public's most devoted, most obedient, and I trust, faithful servant,
ROBERT CARTER NICHOLAS,
Colonel 8th Infantry.
Pittsburg, 5th August, 1815.
ON my arrival in this place, in discharge of official duties. I was correctly informed that I had been preceded by others, officers of the late and present army, whose principal employment seems to be giving circulation to scandal of the grossest kind, too well calculated to stab my reputation if left uncontradicted. It is painful to intrude thus on the public attention; nay, I am ready to admit there is an impropriety in it; but yet there is no alternative left. Assailed, as I am, behind my back, this mode only is left me. And I now ask of a generous and intelligent public to suspend all opinion, until I can have an opportunity to meet these calumniators and their calumnies in the way pointed out by custom on the one part, by martial law and usage on the other. I humbly presume my standing where I am best known, my family and connexions, my rank in the army, and above all, the ordeal through which I have just passed; I allude to the preference given me by my generals and my government, have put me on a ground far above the reach of uninvestigated and unfounded calumny. As to the gentlemen who have thus disgraced themselves and their profession, I wish them to distinctly understand, that I forbear to name them to the public from a respect due to myself and the army, and from these considerations only Some of them I am particularly acquainted with, and I here assert that they are the most polluted villains that I know on earth ; and I do here in the most positive and unequivocal manner pronounce them and all others who have or may participate with them, to be a set of base, calumniating. abandoned scoundrels, a disgrace to their profession, and unfit associates for any society. I take the liberty further to inform them, that if I should deem it hereafter necessary to my honor, that I will address them in this public way by their name and title; that I will unmask them down to their youth, and turn them loose with all their villainy exposed to their fellowman, for his scoff, his ridicule, his contempt and detestation.
I have the honor to be, the public's most devoted, most obedient, and I trust, faithful servant,
ROBERT CARTER NICHOLAS,
Colonel 8th Infantry.
Pittsburg, 5th August, 1815.
What sub-type of article is it?
Persuasive
Provocative
Emotional
What themes does it cover?
Military War
Morality
What keywords are associated?
Reputation Defense
Military Scandal
Calumny
Army Officers
Pittsburg 1815
What entities or persons were involved?
Robert Carter Nicholas, Colonel 8th Infantry
To The Public
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Robert Carter Nicholas, Colonel 8th Infantry
Recipient
To The Public
Main Argument
the author defends his reputation against uninvestigated scandals spread by other army officers and requests the public suspend judgment until he can confront them, while denouncing the accusers as villains and threatening future exposure.
Notable Details
References Martial Law And Usage
Alludes To Preference By Generals And Government
Strong Denunciation As 'Polluted Villains' And 'Abandoned Scoundrels'