7912. SLANDER, Brutal.—
I certainly
have known, and still know, characters eminently
qualified for the most exalted trusts,
who could not bear up against the brutal hackings
and hewings of these heroes of Billingsgate.
I may say, from intimate knowledge,
that we should have lost the services of the
greatest character of our country, had he been
assailed with the degree of abandoned licentiousness
now practiced. The torture he felt
under rare and slight attacks, proves that under
those of which the federal bands have shown
themselves capable, he would have thrown up
the helm in a burst of indignation.—
To James Sullivan. Washington ed. iv, 576.
Ford ed., viii, 355.
(W.
1805)
