Literary Cadet And Rhode Island Statesman

"CHARGE, CHESTER, CHANGE!"—It may not be improper to state, in answer to the frequent enquiries made by the public why the Washington Telegraph, New Hampshire Patriot, Boston Statesman and some other newspapers are in the constant practice of inundating the community with whole floods of round assertions without even the appearance of plausibility on the face of them—assertions which are known to be falsehoods so soon as they are read, and acknowledged by their own friends to be mistakes: That the Jacksonians are brought into a dilemma which requires a desperate movement, as they know their cause is irretrievably lost. However absurd the idea may at first appear, they have an object, the success of which is about to be tested. The scheme is not perfectly original, though there is not an instance perhaps, on record, where the practice has been carried to such extent. The fact is this:—there are many parts of the Union not supplied with newspapers of any sort, and consequently the inhabitants are uninformed as to the true state of the Presidential question. Those dark corners have all been searched out of late and the Jackson papers have been sent thither gratis. Therefore for the purpose of refuting any charges which have been brought against their candidate by evidence or argument would be but a waste of time and create a distrust on the part of their readers, because such a course would imply objection to their veracity. At most it would be but a show of resistance which would expose them to the greatest ridicule, as they are aware that every attempt to screen the General from the allegations made by the people, have hitherto proved abortive. The method therefore adopted is to pour in upon the Administration calumny upon calumny in such quick succession that no one will have time to dispose all of them, and bye and bye come out and triumphantly assert that their charges remain unanswered! No time is to be thrown away in proving these statements, as such would be but an idle business in the present emergency.

"Charge, Chester, charge!" is now the spell word! "Election is at hand and if we are only able to indict the Administration of so many offences that they will not have time even to plead not guilty to more than half, the rest will go for conviction! No matter if the hero be found guilty of treason, murder, piracy and robbery; only set up the cry of "perjury and forgery," and this will be sufficient! This is no time to talk about evidence. What do we care about facts? If we lose all confidence in the community and all reputation for veracity it is no matter, provided we elect our man who will restore us fourfold for these trifling losses."

It now remains for us to see whether there be firmness enough in the nation to withstand the tornado. The great jury of the country is to decide this case on which their lives, property and liberty depend.

The Washington Telegraph asserts that Col. Benton denied his own letter wherein he describes Gen. Jackson's attempt to assassinate him, and the Richmond Enquirer has copied it, and says that "this puts to rest the Benton affair." It is however, ascertained that Benton does not deny it, but so far from making any such assertion, is endeavoring to apologise to the General, for exposing his base conduct by writing this identical letter. In fact this document had been before the public several months before the Telegraph ventured to say a word upon the subject, and if Benton himself, had presumed at any time to intimate a denial, there was sufficient evidence to establish the fact, which he and every one else well knew.

A letter written by one of the six Militia men to his mother, just prior to his murder by General Jackson, has been set down a forgery, though proved by several witnesses to have been received at the time. The hand writing of the hapless victim was also recognized.

There is no way so easy to overcome proof of a fact, especially where it comes strong and well supported by numbers of witnesses, as well as documentary evidence, as to charge all the witnesses with perjury, and the records with being forgeries. This is always the last desperate resort of the poor culprit, when overwhelmed with testimony of his guilt, in a manner to leave no room for explanation or escape.

The authenticity of documents, when produced as matter of evidence, is always established in a court of law, simply in three ways; First, by the acknowledgment of the party against whom it is produced that the hand writing is his own: secondly, if the party will not confess his hand writing, which he is never bound legally to do then by the testimony of some witness, who will swear that he has seen the party write, and is acquainted with his manuscript, and that from the resemblance, he believes the party wrote it. Evidence also of a witness that he saw the party write the identical manuscript in question is conclusive, though this evidence can seldom be obtained. These rules, in all common law courts, have prevailed for centuries. Now in every one of the documents above alluded to, proof of the hand writing has been produced agreeable to legal practice.— Their authenticity must therefore be considered as legally established, till some evidence be brought to the contrary, which, however, has never yet been attempted.