Letter to His Countrymen (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Letter to His Countrymen

The private citizen who comes before the world with matter relating to himself, is bound to show a better reason for the mea sure than the voluntary impulses of self-love. In my own case, it might, perhaps, appear a sufficient excuse for the step now taken, that I am acting chiefly on the defensive; that the editors of several of the public journals have greatly exceeded their legitimate functions, by animadverting on my motives and private affairs; and that assertions, Opinions, and acts, have been openly attributed to me, that I have never uttered, entertained, or done. When an individual is thus dragged into notice, the right of self-vindication would seem to depend on a principle of natural justice; and yet, if I know the springs of my own conduct, I am less influenced by any personal considerations in what I am now doing, than by a wish to check a. Practice that has already existed too long among us; which appears to me to be on the increase; and which, while it is degrading to the character, if persisted in, may become dangerous to the institutions of this country.

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