Gazette Of The United States And Daily Evening Advertiser

For the Gazette of the United States.

MR. Fenno,

WHEN the observations made by a subscriber, in your paper of Tuesday, were written, nothing was more distant from the intentions of the author, than engaging in a controversy which must ultimately prove of little utility and might only terminate in personal invective. His object was merely to expose the disgraceful subterfuges which many will resort to, when in want of a proper object to ground their censorious remarks. The free discussion of a political sentiment, however different it may be from the popular opinion, if conducted with propriety, is certainly subservient to the public good: but people are apt to forget that when they pursue methods for the attainment of their purpose which are incompatible either with truth or the importance of the subject, they frequently, instead of giving additional strength, weaken the cause they mean to defend.

As these observations, however, have occasioned a splenetic reply from your correspondent, it may not be improper to advert to one of his remarks, which will certainly place his candour in a very enviable situation. As the business of importance was irrelative to the resolutions, he infers by a new kind of logick that the resolutions must have been supposed to be of no consequence.

But as this implication proceeds from a question, mutilated to serve his purpose of introducing a witticism immediately subsequent, its preposterousness and disingenuity must appear glaringly obvious on perusing the sentence which gave rise to his comment: the business of importance, only, for 'which the society was convened' is there mentioned as having no relation to the subject of his animadversions.

Subscriber