The Cecil Whig

A SLANDER REFUTED!

The attention of the undersigned has been called to the following article in the Baltimore Republican and Argus of the 20th inst:

"The Harford Republican says:
"The Whig Hickory meeting was a
"failure. The man Collins was there,
"but the whigs of Harford would not turn
"out to hear him. John Randolph said
"he had never heard of an Irish Tory, but
"he would not have said so if he were
"now living. He would see a man calling
"himself Irish, who is going about the
"country urging the people to disfran-
"chise his countrymen. If an American
"born citizen were to desire to exclude
"all but his own 'countrymen from the
"benefits and privileges of freemen, he
"would be justly chargeable with want of
"liberty; but when an Irishman who
"knows the oppression, under which his
"country suffers, wishes to close the
"doors of this asylum for the oppressed of
"all nations against his own brethren. we
"regard it as little better than fratricide?"

When the above statement first appear-ed in the editorial column of the Harford Republican, its falsity was so gross, and so notorious throughout our county, that it was deemed entirely superfluous to give it any public contradiction. But since it has found its way into the col-umns of a paper which circulates where the circumstances of the meeting referred to are not known, it is now due alike to Mr. Collins, to ourselves, and to the pub-lic generally, that we should notice this slander in the manner it deserves.

We therefore, the officers of the Bel-air District Clay Club, before which, on the 6th of July, the speech of Mr. Collins above referred to was delivered. state that we were present at the meeting and heard Mr. Collins' speech throughout, and we do hereby pronounce the statement of the editor of the Harford Republican in refer-ence to that address. to be without the slightest foundation in fact, and whether said statement was gratuitously fabricated by said editor, or made from information received from others, we declare said statement from the beginning to the end, both in letter and spirit, to be positively false. A considerable portion of Mr. Collins' speech was in denunciation of the designs of the Native American Associa-tion; and he spoke at considerable length to prove (as he did most conclusively) that the Whig, as a party, had no sympa-thy with the principles of said association. Not one word did he utter which could afford the slightest foundation for the as-sertion that he is "going about the country urging the people to disfranchise his own countrymen;" and the falseness of such an assertion is only equaled by its absur-dity.

The statement we have above made will be fully corroborated by every indi-vidual who listened to Mr. Collins speech; and the "whigs of Harford had turned out to hear him" in great numbers from all quarters, forming one of the lar-gest and most enthusiastic whig meetings we have ever witnessed in that part of the county.

HARRY D. GOUGH, Pres't
Tho. P. MOORS,
V. Pres't.
COLEMAN YELLOTT,
WM. B. BOND, Cor. Sec.
JOHN T. COLEMAN, Rec Sec.
SAM'L. BRADFORD, Treasurer.
Harford County July 19, 1844.