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 TO THE FCBIilC. 
 
 Ha VINO been compelled by circumstances to publish Lieuten- 
 ant JOSIAH TATTNALL, of the United Spates' Navy, as a ca- 
 lumniator and a coward, it is perhaps due from me to the public, and 
 my friends here arid abroad, to give a statement of Uie circumstances 
 which have led to the unpleasant coUision betv/ecn m. However con- 
 fident a man may be that the injury he may have received is of a cha- 
 racter to justify the means of redress resorted to by him-however con- 
 scious he may be tliathis cause is supported by well defined principles of 
 justice— and however satisfied, that he has observed a due regard to 
 moderation and forbearance,— if he be actuated by those feelings of 
 self-esteem, and respect for the opinions of others, which should enti- 
 tle him to public consideration, he mugt be solicitous to place his con- 
 duct, in all controversial cases, in its proper light before those whose 
 judgment he' invokes. Such being my views, l^ubmit, with all pro- 
 per deference to the good opinion of the American people, the folk)W- 
 ing remarks to' their attention, and bespeak for them an impartial hear- 
 
 "^&' . , , r- -1 
 
 I had occasioi, in March last, to connuuiucate, through a triend, 
 
 with GEORGE LAW, of the city of Baltimore, and learned through 
 that friend, in the course of the interviews which ensued, that Law sta- 
 ted that Lieutenant Tattnall had published in a Savannah paper, a 
 communication containing reflections derogatory to my character, con- 
 nected with the report which I had made, of the cutting out of a Bue- 
 DOS Ayrean privateer, by the United States' ship Erie, better than two 
 years prior to that period. As so long a time had elapsed, and this 
 was the first intimation J had ever received of the existence of such a 
 communication, 1 was disposed to doubt the correctness of the infor- 
 mation—and the more especially— coming as it did from a man vyhom I 
 knew to be tainted tvith dishonor, and wiiom I believed capable of ut- 
 1 
 
tering any falsehoods, however gross they might be, so they subserv- 
 ed his own malignant purposes, or screened him for the time from the 
 punishment he deserved. But as I was not willing to rest quietly un- 
 der undeserved imputations, and thought \i possible that, if Lieutenant 
 Tattnall had assailed my character, it had, probably, been so done 
 under mistaken views, and that when he should be convinced of his 
 error, as a brave and magnanimous man, he w^ould take pleasure in do- 
 ing me justice, by withdrawing the offensive tcords. I accordingly 
 wrote to two friends in Savannah, requesting them to examine the 
 files of papers published there, for the communication in question. 
 Their answers to my letters are both before me, and concur in stating, 
 that they were unable to find any article of the kind described to my 
 friend by Law. Failing thus to obtain the information I desired, and 
 seeing the arrival of Lieutenant Tattnall announced, in the latter part 
 of September last, I addressed him.the following letter — [without date, 
 though written Sept. 27, 1831.] 
 
 CAPT. CHASE TO LIEUT. TATTNALL. 
 
 To Lieut. Comm. Tattnall — 
 
 Sir : Having seen your arrival announced in the pa- 
 per of this morning, I avail myself of the earliest opportunity to ask 
 of you if any communication was Avritten by you in '29, and pub- 
 lished in the Savannah Georgian, wherein my name was mentioned 
 (not in a very respectful manner as I have understood), and if so, on 
 what authority was that communication wrote. 
 
 From your stonding in the Navy, and from what I have heard of 
 you from your friend, Genl. C. R. Floyd, of Georgia, and others, and 
 from the information I have got from the Georgian office, I am induced 
 to believe that no such communication was ever penned by you against 
 me; that Geo. Law, the author of an anonymous pamphlet and other 
 anonymous calumnies against me, having been discovered 'and called 
 on for satisfaction, made use of the following extract in his letter to 
 mv friend, Col. Brearly, as a subterfuge to save himself from the re- 
 sjjonsibility under which he found himself 
 
 ( Here follows Hit Exlruct ) 
 
 '"Moreover, tliat you could not know oftlie imputntions against Capt. C 
 contained in a communication from Lieut. Tattnall, of the [J. S. Navj^, 
 which was published iu a S;!vannah newspaper (the Georgian^ shortly after 
 Capt. Chase's arrival there in the Congresso, from a cruize, and wliich im- 
 putations Capt. C. has nevftr attempted to refute, though called on in so 
 public a manner to do if he dared." 
 
 As Ibis w^as the first intimation I ever had of such a communication, 
 I immediately wrote to two of my Iriends in Savannah, who assured 
 
me that they had free access to the records of the Georgian office, as 
 well as the assistance of the clerks, and that they could trace no such 
 communication as alluded to by Law ; that there was a communication 
 wrote by you against the Federal, Capt. Taylor, but that there was 
 nothing- ill-natui^ed in it against me. Thus, you see I could not reply 
 to a communication without knowing its contents, and which perhaps 
 never existed. To this I must beg your immediate reply, whether in 
 the negative or affirmative. If you have wrote such a communication 
 I believe that you will unhesitatingly acknowledge it, and the authori- 
 ty that justified such a proceeding. 
 
 Very respectfully. 
 
 Your obt. serv't. 
 
 JOHN CHASE. 
 
 To the above letter 1 received the following reply : 
 
 Middletoivn, Connecticut^ 
 
 1th October, 1831. 
 
 Sir : — I have received a communication, without date, from you, 
 and reply to it at Baltimore, presuming that to be your residence. I 
 shall answer your inquiries as briefly as possible. 
 
 In 1829, when at Pensacola, I saw in the Savannah Georgian a pub- 
 lication by a Captain Chase, commanding the Buenos Ayrean Priva- 
 teer Congresso, containing gross misstatements respecting the capture 
 of the Federal by the U. S. ship Erie, of which ship I was the First 
 Lieutenant and which publication required contradiction. 
 
 I immediately forwarded to the editor of the Georgian a true state- 
 ment of the circumstances attending the capture of the Federal, ac- 
 companied by su(?h remarks as I considered the misstatements and ap- 
 parent motives of Capt. Chase justified. 
 
 The files of the Georgian can furnish my communication. 
 
 Although since that period much has been said reflecting upon the 
 general character of Capt. Chase, I have heard nothing which led me 
 for a moment to suppose that personal apprehension was the cause of 
 his not having noticed my communication. / 
 
 I am sir, your ob^t serv't, / 
 
 JOSIAH TATTNALL. 
 Capt. John Chase. 
 
 The evasive character of this letter, and its "unfounded assumptions 
 as to the nature of my report of the affair between the Erie and the 
 Federal, increased my anxiety to be placed in possession of his com- 
 munication, and I forthwith addressed a third letter to Savannah, 
 Georgia, to procure a copy of it, as well as oi my ownreport; and be- 
 ing unable to procure papers containing them, my friend sent me the 
 following notarial copies, to which I beg leave to call the attention of 
 the reader. 
 
Extract from tat Georgian^ daUd Savannah^ December 25//t, 1828, 
 
 From the JFest Lidies. — Capt. Chase of the Buenos Aj^rean Priva- 
 teer Congresso, arrived yesterday from a cruise in the West Indies, 
 states that in the first week of this month the U. States ship Erie, 
 Capt. Turner, with General Harrison, our Minister, on board, touch- 
 ed at St. Earts, where a Buenos Ayrean schooner was lyins:, having 
 some time before taken some Brazillian property from an American 
 vessel, which property Capt. Turner demanded, saying the flag cov- 
 ered it. A court was hckl, wlieu Capt. Taylor, of the B. A. schooner 
 producing proof of its being enemy's property, the authorities refused 
 to deliver it. Capt. Turner then manned his boats at night and cut the 
 vessel out; in doing wiiicli he was (ired upon by the fort, which com- 
 pelled the Eric to slip her cable and put to sea. She proceeded to St. 
 Martins with her prize, and from thence to Colombia to land Gen. 
 Harrison. A representation of these facts, Capt. C. says, has been 
 forwarded 1o our Government. 
 
 Tlie Congrcsso about the 10th October, cruising in company with 
 brig Presedcutia, Capt. Clark, a little east of the \N estern Isles, fell in 
 with a piratical hcrm. brig, of about 200 tons — chased her for fifteen 
 hours, and fired several shot which were returned without showing 
 her colours; but she escaped in the dark. — She appeared to mount 
 5 guns with 50 men, and answered the description of a vessel that 
 had robbed vessels of all nations in that vicinity. 
 
 The Prcsidentia, a fc^v days after, captured an armed schooner, 
 manned by Spaniards, having Danish paj)er5. Two other sets were 
 thrown overboard — crew acknowledged they had robbed two Ameri- 
 can vessels. The vessel and crew were carried into St. Eustatia, and 
 sent from thence by Capt. Clarke to St. Thomas for trial. On board 
 were found some American money, and the uniform of an American 
 ofiBcer, and his watch, with his name (Lieut. Farley) eng-raved on iti 
 
 I do hereby certify the foregoing an exact copy fiom the paper call- 
 ed The Sav;\nnah Georgian, under date of the 25th December, 1828. 
 [l. S.J Given under my hand and Notarial Seal, this 3d Nov. 1831; 
 
 JOS. S. PELOT, 
 
 JVot. Pub. 
 
 To the Editors of ihe Georgian: 
 
 The following is an answer to a statement published in this city on 
 the 25th of December last. We all freely accord respect to the gal- 
 lant American, who, influenced by a love of military renown, or a gen- 
 erous sympathy for the struggling patriots of other climes, perils his 
 life in tlie cause of lil)crty — But for him \vho expatriates himself with 
 the base purpose of pecuniary exaction, and joining the conflict for no 
 achievement but its sj)oil, we would invoke the bitterest imprecations. 
 He is deservedly more execrai;*le than the avowed buccaneer, who 
 boldly displays the red banner of rapine, and jeopards his neck unpro- 
 
tected by colourable rig-hts or prostituted tlags, with no law but his 
 will, and no shield but his sword. 
 
 ''I observe in one of the Florida gazettes, an extract from the Sa- 
 vannah papers, giving an account of the capture of the schooner Fed- 
 eral, as furnished by a Capt. Chase, of a Buenos Ayrean privateer. 
 It appears to be the object of this statement, to reflect on Capt. Tur- 
 ner, of the U. States' ship Eric; I request you, therefore, to insert the 
 following statement of all the facts attending the capture. When at 
 the island of St. Martin's, Capt. Turner i-eceived a communication 
 from our consul at St. Barts, stating that a Buenos Ayrean privateer 
 was in that port, which had taken 90 bales of goods from an American 
 brig, under the plea that the property was Brazillian, and urging that 
 we should visit that island for the purpose of recovering it. Capt. 
 Turner instantly complied with his wishes, and on our arrival demand- 
 ed the privateer from the government, on the ground of her having 
 committed piracy on our commerce. They refused to deliver her up, 
 requiring us to furnishproof of her having committed piracy; in which 
 case they w ould themselves proceed against her. This decision was 
 made by a council consisting of four persons, three of whom Captain 
 Turner kneiv to be agents for privateers, and one of them the agent of 
 the very vessel ice were demanding. 
 
 " We were informed from a source not to be doubted, that St. Barts 
 had been long famous for the encouragement held out to the South A- 
 merican privateers, many of which have been for the last year no bet- 
 ter than freebooters; — The authorities had doubtles^^derived benefit 
 frolfi the rile of property captured by them. From this charge I 
 should except the governor of the town, who has only a voice in the 
 council, and ag-ainst whose character I have never heard any thing 
 urged. Capt. Turner was convinced that the object of the authorities 
 was to evade our demands, as they knew from him, that the Erie 
 could not remain anotlier day at St. Barts, having to return to St. 
 Martins for Gen. Harrison. The privateer w^as refittnig for another 
 cruise, and Capt. Turner determined to prevent any further injury to 
 our commerce, by taking possession of her. This was done at mid- 
 night, by the boats of the ship. 
 
 "In standing out of the harbour, the schooner was brought in a line 
 with the ship, and the latter was therefore in danger of sutfering from 
 the fire of the fort. AsCaptam Turner had no wish to injure either 
 the fort, or town of St. Barts, he slipped his cable, and stood out af- 
 ter the schooner; — had he remained at his anchorage, and their fire 
 continued, he must have returned it, which could not have been done 
 without the loss of lives to the inhabitants of the town. The Erie 
 slipped, instead of weighing, as the strength of the winds and the 
 weakness of her crew, rendered weighing almost impossible. Capt. 
 Turner's wish was to get possession of the schooner, without injury to 
 the inhabitants. 
 
 "The statement referred to says, that the schooner was cut out im- 
 mediately after Capt. T. had dined with the Governor. This is not 
 
tlie tnilh. He had declined dining with him, although previously en- 
 gaged to do sc. Nor was the final answer of the government receiv- 
 ed until late in the evening. 
 
 "The object of the statement is evidently to convey the idea, that the 
 most friendly intercourse subsisted between the authorities and him- 
 self, and that he had taken advantage of the security in which he had 
 lulled them to effect his object. Such an insinuation is as basely false 
 as it is unjust. If the author of the paragraph feels offended at the 
 freedom of these remarks, and wishes the name of the author for any 
 other purpose than for a newspaper controversy, he can obtain it by 
 calling on the editors.'^ 
 
 I, Josej^h S. Pelot, a public notary in and for the county of Chat- 
 ham, in the state of Georgia, residing in the city of Savannah, do 
 hereby certify, tliat the foregoing is a copy of a publication which ap- 
 peared in the Savannah Georgian, under date of the 3d February, 
 1830. 
 
 ^ -, Given under my hand and seal this third day of 27ovember, 
 
 [L.S.J jgoj 
 
 JOS. S. PELOT, 
 
 A^ot. Pub. 
 
 The report which I made on my arrival at SavannaJi, in command 
 of the Buenos Ayrean privateer, the Congresso, in December, 1828, 
 was so made at the instance of the editor of the Georgian : Iwd it 
 been made voluntarily on my part, it would have been but in confor- 
 mity with a custom as old as newspapers themselves; but, upon this 
 occasion, my report was solicited — the information it contained had 
 been communicated to me at a neighboring island, to the one in which 
 the affair to which it related occurred, and was faithfully narrated. I 
 gave it w^ithout comment, feeling no disposition either to question Capt. 
 Turner's conduct, or to indulge in a solitary reflection which might be 
 injurious to his standing as a gentleman or an officer. As I received 
 the facts, I gave them. Of the transaction I had no personal knowledge 
 whatever and knew little or nothing of the Federal, her officers or crew. 
 1 had no pecuniary interest in the case one way or the other — and while 
 the relation which I bore to Buenos Ayrcs, as an officer in her Navy, 
 impressed me with the most lively sensibility in whatever concerned 
 the honor of her service — my affection for the land which gave me 
 birth, and beneath whose soil the bones of my ancestors reposed, awak- 
 ened in mc emotions of a kindred nature, and induced me to hope that 
 the good name of neither had been compromitted in the transaction. 
 Thus animated, under the circumstances described, I made the report 
 
which has so unfortunately aroused the pretended indignation of Lieut. 
 Tattnall. 
 
 With a view of shewing how wantonly and unprovoked Lt. Tattnall 
 indulged in his vituperations against me. I will divest his '■'■answer,'" as he 
 calls it, of the senseless verbiage of which its introduction consists,and 
 by placing our two statements in juxta-position,prove by his own words, 
 that the truth of every fact stated by me is established by his volunta- 
 ry testimony. 
 
 I STATED IN MY REPORT : 
 
 That in the month of December, 
 1828, the U. S. ship Erie touch- 
 ed at St. Barts, where a Buenos 
 Ayrean schooner was lying, hav- 
 ing some time before taken some 
 Brazillian property from an A- 
 merican vessel, which property 
 Capt. Turner demanded, saying 
 the flag covered it. A court was 
 held, when Capt. Taylor of the 
 
 B. A. schooner producing proof 
 of its being enemy's property; 
 the authorities refused to deliver 
 it. Captain Turner then manned 
 his boats at night, and cut the ves- 
 sel out, in doing which he was 
 fired upon by the fort, which 
 compelled the Erie to slip her ca- 
 ble and put to sea. She proceed- 
 ed to St. Martins with her prize, 
 and from thence to Colombia to 
 land General Harrison. A re- 
 presentation of these facts, Capt. 
 
 C. says, has been forwarded to 
 our arovernment. 
 
 Lt. Tattnall 
 
 that "when at the 
 
 STATES : 
 
 island of St. 
 
 Martin's, Captain Turner received 
 a communication from our Consul 
 at St. Barts, stating that a Buenos 
 Ayrean privateer was in that port, 
 which had taken 90 bales of goods 
 from an American brig, under the 
 plea that the property was Brazil- 
 lian, and urging that we should vi- 
 sit that island for the purpose of 
 recovering it. Capt. Turner in- 
 stantly complied with his wishes, 
 and on our arrival demanded the 
 privateer from the government on 
 the ground of her having commit- 
 ted piracy* on our commerce — 
 They refused to deliver her up, re- 
 quirmg us to furnish proof of her 
 having committed piracy, in which 
 case they would themselves pro- 
 ceed against her. Capt. Turner 
 was convinced that the object of 
 the authorities was to evade our 
 demands, as they knew from him 
 that the Erie could not remain an- 
 other day at St. Barts, having to 
 return to St. Martin's for General 
 Harrison. The privateer was fit- 
 ting for another cruise, and Cap- 
 tain Turner determined to prevent 
 any further injury to our commerce, 
 by taking possession of her. This 
 was done at midnight by the boats 
 
 * Lieutenant Tattnall is crossly in error— Captain 
 Turner did not " instantly" demand ttie delivery 
 of the Privateer for having committed piracy- 
 it was not until after the refusal of Governor Ha<'» 
 sum, to comply with his first demand, that he 
 placed hi« requisition upon that ground. 
 
of the sliip. In standing out of the 
 harbour, the schooner was brought 
 in a line with the ship, and the lat- 
 ter was therefore, in danger of suf- 
 fering from the fire of the fort. A* 
 Capt. Turner had no wish to in- 
 jure either the fort, or town of St. 
 Barts, he slipped his cable^ and stood 
 out after the schooner." 
 
 1 ask every candid and impartial mind, whether there is a single 
 fact averred by me, which is not sustained, to the very letter, by the 
 repZyof Lieutenant Tattnall? As he has, himself, unasked, corrobo- 
 rated every thing stated by me, the questions occur Avith the greater 
 force, why did he impugn my motives ? Why did he impute to me 
 allegations against the Erie, which so far from having been made, 
 were never conceived by me ? The answers to these questions might 
 lead me to the discussion of questions which it is my purpose now to 
 avoid ; but it may become me to reply to the charges lie has so ungra- 
 ciously brou'^ht against me. 
 
 He states ^rs<, that the object of my statement was to reflect upon 
 Captain Turner. If this liad been true, it was the business of 
 Captain Turner, and not of his froward Lieutenant to resent it. But 
 I deny ail such intention. Towards Captain Turner I entertained no 
 other than kindly feelings. And in making my report, I confined my- 
 self to a simple detail of the facts as they had been represented to me, 
 and purposely abstained fi'om indulging in a single comment. My ob- 
 ject in so doing was' of a two-fold character. As a Captain in the 
 Navy of the Buenos Ayrean government, whose vessel of war had 
 been ca])ti".rcd in a friendly and neutral port, I duly appreciated the 
 delicacy of my situation — but the strongest motive which influenced 
 my mind, was a desire to avoid every remark which could ipossiblj 
 forestall public opinion to the prejudice of either of the parties. I 
 knew that judges and jurors were but men — and were, — partaking of 
 the weaknesses of our nature, — liable to imbibe the feelings by which 
 they were surrounded — and as I felt convinced that the case would 
 come on for legal adjudication, I v.as determined that no act of mine 
 should interpose to divert the current of justice from its rightful course. 
 Such motives appear never to have entered into the calculations of 
 Lieutenant Tattnall — they are probably too elevated to be grasped by 
 a mind so grovelling. His aim was evidently of another cast: for, in 
 
order to produce an excitement which should operate to the prejudice 
 of the officers of the Federal, he imputed to my report a character it 
 did not deserve, and in his ascription of false motives to me, he in- 
 dulged in a spirit no less uncharitahle than unmerited towards me — a 
 spirit no less reckless of the courtesies of a gentleman than it was 
 prodigal of falsehood. As I did not reflect on Captain Turner, and as 
 Lieutenant Tattnall knew in making the charge against me he was do- 
 ing me an act of injustice and wrong, without the colour of excuse for 
 doing so, he could have been moved by no higher motive than that 
 which sometimes urges the ruffian to despoil a reputation, Avhose ele- 
 ments are beyond his acquisition. It is at all events most certain that 
 his conduct was not dictated by that high-souled chivalry which so 
 distinguishes the Naval officers of the land of my nativity, and renders 
 their commissions their best introductions to the first societies abroad. 
 Secondly. Lieutenant Tattnall says I stated that the schooner was 
 cut out immediately after Captain Turner had dnied with the Gover- 
 nor. The notarial copy given in the preceding part of this pamphlet, 
 is silent upon this head, and all must conclude that Lieutenant Tattnall 
 fabricated the assertion for his special use at the time : how far such 
 conduct comports with the character of an American officer and a 
 gentleman, I leave to the reader to judge. In every approved code of 
 honor, with which I am acquainted, /rttf/i is esteemed as a cardinal vir- 
 tue, and such is the high value set upon it, that the individual known to 
 be addicted to the utterance of its opposite, is always shunned as a 
 thing too despicable to be tolerated amongst honorable men. 
 Thirdly — Lieutenant Tattnall, says : — 
 
 " The object of the statement is evidently to convey the idea that 
 the most friendly intercourse had subsisted between the authorities 
 and himself (Capt. Turner), and that he had taken advantage of the se- 
 curity in Avhich he had lulled them to effect his object." 
 
 After ascribing tome motives thus disreputable, — not one word of 
 which is justified by my report — or even by the most perverted con- 
 struction which can be put upon it — this modern JifMnc/iawsen declares 
 that " such an insinuation is as basely false as it is unjust." As I made 
 no such insinuation, the declaration of its falsehood does not affect me ; 
 I may, however, be permitted to observe, that an individual bearing 
 the commission of an American Lieutenant, should be too proud of a 
 service, justly honored, to resort to such wretched trickery to answer 
 his own venal ends. 
 2 
 
10 
 
 Not being satisfied witli the answer of Lieut. Tattnall, to my first 
 enquiry, I addressed him tlie ruHow ing letter: 
 
 Eoltwiorc, ISlh Oct. 1831. 
 
 Sir, — I received yours of tlie 7tli inst. in answer to my letter with- 
 out date, wrote the 27lh ulf. I cannot consider your letter in lull as a 
 reply to mine. It" you will give my letter an attentive [)erusal, you 
 will find that the connnunication you speak of never came under my 
 notice, nor in fact any other communication from you, which will ac- 
 count for my not replying to it. The o])ject of my letter is to know 
 whether you have wr.r.enany thing derogatory to my character, rela- 
 tive to my cruise in the Congresso, and which Geo. Law alluded to as 
 your being the author. 
 
 As you have thought proper to introduce the affair of the Federal, 
 I will write to Savannah for a copy of your communication contradict- 
 ing my " gross misstatements" respecting the capture of that vessel. 
 I have only to state that in making out the statement which was pub- 
 lished in the Savannah Georgian, of iacts as 1 had received them, not 
 olficially, but from different mdividuals, whose statements all agreed 
 at the lime, I had no other motive in view than giving the statement as 
 a piece of news •, and, sir, I must inform you, that I know of nothing to 
 justify a belief that any misstatement was made to uhich you allude. 
 
 Your last paragraph states, that much has been said against my gen- 
 eral character. I am aware, that many hireling pens have been used 
 to blacken my fair fame, but whilst 1 am justified by my government, 
 (Buenos Ayres) and have been fully acnuittedof the foul aspersions of 
 anonymous slanderers, by the lausof this country, I feel myself under 
 no'-'- pcrso)iul (ipprclicnsioii'^ (^s you hnve hctn pleased to underscore 
 the words) as to the result. Your oh't serv't, 
 
 JOHN CHASE. 
 
 To which he replied in the following taunting manner: 
 
 MidcUetown, Co}mccticut,20tk October, 1831. 
 
 Sir, — Your communication of the 13th iust. has been received. I 
 cousideied that a reference to the only publication of miue into which 
 your name had been introduced, \\ as a sutlicicnt answer to the enqui- 
 ries contained in your fitst letter of the 27th ult. 
 
 I leltit to yourself to dravi your own conclusions from its perusal. 
 
 I knew notiiing of your cruise in the Congresso, nor had ever heard 
 of you until I had seen your name mentioned as o?///ior/7i/ for the publi- 
 cation in the Georgian, reflecting o;i the character of the U. S. Ship 
 Eric. 
 
 1 approve of Mr. Law's paragraph (as quoted by you), with the 
 exception of the last word "dared," and my underscored expression 
 '■'■ personal apprehension''' was in allusion to that word, as I never had 
 the vanity to suppose that any man stood in fear of me. 
 
 Why you did not notice my communication in the Georgian, was a 
 matter which did not concern nv\ and which 1 never considered. That 
 you may not have seen it, is probable. 
 
11 
 
 From circumstances whicli it is unnecessary to mention, I wish my 
 correspondence with you to be as short as possible. 
 
 I am, sir, 
 
 Your ob't errv't, 
 
 JOSIAH TATTNALL. 
 
 Capt. John Chase, Baltimore. 
 
 Having, in the mean time, received copies of my report and the 
 commmunication of Lt. Tattnall, from Savannah, and ascertained by 
 the tenor of that gentleman's correspondence with me, that I had no- 
 thing to expect from his magnanimity, and too much reason to believe 
 that he was disposed to add insult to his former injury — with a view 
 of bringing our correspondence to an end, I addressed him the follow- 
 ing letter, and received the reply which follows it: — • 
 
 Baltimore, IQth JVov. 1831. 
 
 Sir, — I have received the communication you caused to be publish- 
 ed in the Savannah Georgian under date of 3d February, 1830, in an- 
 swer to my statement in relation to the cutting out of the Federal at St. 
 Barts, made in the same paper, 25th December, 1828, and I confess 
 that I am at a loss to account for the base and unwarrantable attack 
 you have made upon me. In your letter of the 20th October you ac- 
 knowledge that you never knew me, nor never heard of me until you 
 saw my name as authority for the publication in the Georgian, and yet 
 you have unhesitatingly lavished abuse on me of the foulest kind. I 
 have been long honorably engaged in the cause of South America, and 
 fefl happy that I have been able to assist that country in its struggles 
 for liberty. I considered their cause our cause, and am sorry that you, 
 an officer in the United States' Navy, should have been so gratuitous in 
 your abuse. I stand as clear of the foul charges contained in your 
 communication as you or any other man, and I cannot account for 
 your slander, unless it was to substitute the pen of a defamer for your 
 sword, to bring yourself into notice. 
 
 You say that I cast reflections on Capt. Turner. I deny it. Your 
 own statement corroborates all the material facts contained in mine. 
 You have put your own/«Zseconstructious on my statement, and would 
 justify yourself by them in your attack upon me; but, sir, the world 
 will judge and condemn you. — As you directed the Editors of the 
 Georgian to give up your name for any other purpose than '* a news- 
 paper paragraph," I now invite you either to retract the slander you 
 have published, or to give that satisfaction which the offence calls 
 for. Should the latter be your course, you will please inform me when 
 and where you may be found. 
 
 JOHN CHASE. 
 
 Lieut. Tattnall, LT. S. Navy. 
 
12 
 
 JVorfolk, J^a. I Uk December. 
 
 Sir, — Your communication of the IStliult. was received at Middle-- 
 town, but the necessity of referring to documents left among my pa- 
 pers at Norfolk, has prevented my replying to it sooner. 
 
 I shall nc'c condescend to notice your retorts to my remarks in the 
 Georgian. Nothing of that kind coming from a person of your char- 
 acter can deserve notice. 
 
 You were not entitled to the consideration of a reply to your two 
 first communications,and I did reply because, having invited you three 
 years since to notice my remarks in the Georgian, my silence might 
 have been misconstrued by those who did not know me. That you 
 might not mistake me, however, I took the precaution to state, that I 
 had heard much said of your general character since that period, and 
 that I unshed our correspondence to be as short as possible. 
 
 I will not trouble myself to discuss the merits of your conduct and 
 mine in our communications to the Georgian. It is sullicient for me 
 that I then thought you merited all 1 said, and that I think so now. 
 
 At that time 1 only knew you as pursuing a business, the nature of 
 which, and the motives which had generally induced American citizens 
 to engage in it, were so notoriously infamous, that although solitai-y 
 instances might be shewn of ])ersons having engaged in it from hon- 
 ourable views, still the gcntral infamy of the service justly subjected 
 all to suspicion. 
 
 You, however, wore a foreign uniform, and held a commission under 
 a flag recognised by our government, and had dared in our own ports 
 to reflect upon the character of the U. S. ship Erie, and as I had Uien 
 heard of no criminal act that you had committed, should have unhesi- 
 tatingly met you had you called upon me. 
 
 If you neither saw nor heard of the imputations I cast upon you in 
 the Georgian, it was no fault of mine. My remarks were forwarded 
 to Savannah by the first mail after the receipt of yours at Pensacola, 
 and published there immediately, a little more than a month (I think) 
 after t/oi^r communication appeared in the Georgian. 
 
 Three years, however, have since elapsed and circumstances con- 
 nected with your cliaracter have transpired, which put it out of the 
 question that I can ever meet you. On your return to Baltimore, a res- 
 pectable grand jury found bills against you for piracy and other crimes, 
 some of which are still pending — and even should you ultimately clear 
 yourself from the whole of them, it is evident that I can never put my- 
 self on a footing with one whose character is so low that charges of 
 such infamy could be conceived against him in his native city, where 
 he and his occupations have been so long and so well known. 
 
 You moreover lately challenged Mr. George Law, of Haltimore, a 
 gentleman of the first respectability, who refused to meet you on the 
 ground that you were a perjured pirate, and that he held the proofs of 
 your being so, inviting you at the same time, to test the truth of his 
 accusation by a suit against him for slander. 
 
 Now, sir, under all these circumstances, I cannot in justice to the 
 
13 
 
 service to which I belong, or to my station in society, accept a chal- 
 ledge fromyou^ nor will I in justice to Mr. Law, for whom I entertain 
 the highest respect, and to whom, in common with the officers of the 
 Erie, I am indebted for his disinterested defence of uS, when absent, 
 against the aspersions of the officers of the piratical vessel the Fede- 
 ral, when you on the contrary [as I am told] were lending them your 
 assistance. 
 
 Should any respectable man hand me a challenge from you and per- 
 sist in doing so after reading the papers in my possession, I shall con- 
 sider it a challenge from him, and give him a meeting. 
 
 Since my arrival here I liave been informed from lialtimore that 
 you had threatened to assault me. If you attempt it, I shall put you 
 to death. I shall notice no further communications from you. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Yoiir obt. scrvt. 
 
 JOSIAH TATTNALL. 
 , Capt. John Chase, 
 
 Baltimore. 
 
 The communication ofLieutenant Tattnall concludes with these em- 
 phatic words, and I beg to call the reader's attention to them : 
 
 "If the author of the paragraph feels offended at the freedom of 
 these remarks, and wishes the name of the author /or any purpose oth- 
 er than a newspaper controversy^ he can obtain it by calling on the ed- 
 itors. 
 
 After this wager of battle, so boastingly given by Lt. Tattnall, I had a 
 right to expect he would grant me a meeting — the character of his ser- 
 vice — the chivalry of the south, seemed to stand forth the proud guaran- 
 ties, that he had not merely thrown down the gauntlet of the braggart 
 without possessing the courage to redeem his own pledge, voluntarily 
 given, when he should be required so to do. In this, however, I have 
 been mistaken : for no sooner did I make the call than he wrapt him- 
 self up in assumed importance^ and could not condescend to notice me 
 in the manner which he had himself pointed out. But why am I now 
 deemed unworthy of that notice, to which he invited me three years 
 since ? Though I am still a captain in the navy of Buenos Ayres I 
 have not been since engaged in active service ; and have not there- 
 fore, done any thing which could have changed the relation in which 
 I then stood to Lieut. Tattnall. At the time of replying to my report 
 he says he only knew me as "pursuing a business, the nature of which 
 "and the motives which had generally induced American citizens to 
 "engage in it, were so notoriously infamous, that, although solitary in- 
 
14 
 
 "stances mignt Le sliewn of persons having engaged in it from honor- 
 *'able views, still the general infamy of the service justly subjected all 
 "to suspicion.-' 
 
 The impudence of a lieutenant in the Navy of this country, speaking 
 thus of the service of a government, recognized by his own as inde- 
 pendent, and at which she has for years kept a Charge d\^aires, is 
 only equalled by the utter disregard of truth and injustice which cha- 
 racterises his asperriou of so brave a people — a people who, after en- 
 during the most odious oppressions for centuries, nobly dared to en- 
 counter the perils of revolution, to free themselves from the grasp of 
 tyranny, and to assume that station among the nations of the earth, to 
 Avhich they were so eminently entitled by .their sufferings and their 
 virtues. 
 
 But says he, I " wore a foreign uniform and held a commission un- 
 der a flag recognized by our government, and had dan d in our own 
 ports to reflect upon the character of the U. S. ship Erie, and as he 
 had then heard of no criminal act that 1 had committed, he should have 
 unhesitatingly met mc had I called upon him." 
 
 This paragraph would not be now noticed by me, but for the de- 
 sire I have of shewing the reader the obstinate tenacity with which 
 this man adheres to one of the falsehoods he circulated against me. I 
 did not reflect upon the character of the Erie, and so he knows full 
 well ; but acting on the maxim of a great political writer, he thinks a 
 lie well told, and insisted on, Avill answer as well as the truth ; but I 
 trust there is too much integrity of purpose in the character of this 
 people, to sustain an individual in so barefaced an attempt to swindle 
 them out of their judgment. 
 
 But Lieutenant Tattnall cannot now give me satisfaction, because 
 three years has elapsed since he injured me, and he has heard of 
 the malicious slanders of George Law — because circumstances con- 
 nected with (my) character have transpired ! And what are those cir- 
 cumstances ? " On (my) return to Baltimore, a respectable Grand Jury" 
 he says found bills against me for "Piracy and other crimes;" witli 
 the respectability of a part of that jury I have nothing now to say, ex- 
 cept to state a fact which was communicated tome by as " respectable'^^ 
 a member of it as was on the panel — a member of that Grand Jury, then, 
 assured m. , that they had no evidence against me but what was con- 
 tained in an anonymous pamphlet signed " PUBLIC," now generally 
 believed to have been written by George Law, and other anonymous 
 
15 
 
 communications. At the time this gentleman told me this startling 
 foft, he named over several others, who together with himself, voted 
 against the finding of the bill; asserting at the time, that there was no 
 evidence before the jury. The gentlemen named to me, by my inform- 
 ant, rank among the most intelligent merchants, of our city. Connect- 
 ed with tills jury, on which this man so much relies to cover his own 
 want of courage, I will remark, that the jurors of our district courts 
 are not exclusively composed of citizens of Baltimore, and that I have 
 understood that one of those very respectable Grand Jurors gave $25, 
 towards a common fund, to emj)loy additional counsel to aid in the pro- 
 secution of myself and others. The scrupulous delicacy of such a juror 
 and his impartiality would certainly commend him no doubt to the ad- 
 miration of the brave lieutenant Tattnall — who would kill you off a 
 score of men — with his pen — any day in the year, in preference to en- 
 countering the danger of a single combat — who whenever the hour of 
 peril comes, slips his cable out of mere motives of humanity. But 
 to return to this Grand Jury — their bill for piracy was so far from be- 
 ing sustained by the petit jury, that I was acquitted without the jury 
 leaving the box [see appendix No. 1.] — no evidence whatever being 
 offered to sustain the charge against me. I was not in the country 
 when thos's bills were found against me, being called to Buenos Ayres 
 upon business with my government; but having heard of their exis- 
 tence, on my return to this country, I apprised the Marshal of my ar- 
 rival on the instant I reached this port in one of the Eastern line of 
 Steam-boats. And I would here premise that the incendiary fire-brand 
 which George Law had thrown into this community, was too well 
 calculated to deprive me of the chance of a fair trial, had there been the 
 slightest testimony against me — the boldness with which the charge of 
 piracy was preferred — the outrages and enormities so plausibly de^ 
 tailed in the pamphlet — the impenetrable veil of secrecy which its au- 
 thor had thrown around himself, all tended to increase the excitement, 
 and to poison the wholesome fountains of justice. Under such circum- 
 stances it was thought to be an act of hardihood in me to hazard the 
 consequences of a trial ; but, '' thrice armed is he whose cause is just.^'' I 
 submitted myself to the fiery ordeal, against all those fearful odds, and 
 a jury of a.5 honorable and intelligent men as ever decided the guilt or 
 innocence of an individual, [see Philip Moore's certificate, Appendix 
 No. 2,Jgave me an honorable acquittal. 
 
 As to the other indictment still resting against me, I have been here,^ 
 
16 
 
 absent Troin iny government for two years courting a trial — it is on a 
 charge of misdemeanor, for the alleged offence of fitting out a vessel, 
 and thus violating the neutrality act. Of its fate, I have no apprehen- 
 sions ; but as I have purposely abstained from noticing the many false- 
 hoods uttered against me in the pamphlet of" Pttblic^'"' lest I might pre- 
 judice the case pending against me, I shall no furthernotice it, at this 
 time, than to put in, as I shall upon my trial, the general plea, of " not 
 guilty.'''' But why I and a few others should be selected as victims un- 
 der the neutrality law,is to me inscrutable, upon any other ground, than 
 that George Law, the reputed author of "Pi<6iic," felt himself justified 
 by his own ^jeat/irtr circumstances, to create an excitement, which 
 should, in its magnitude, drown the hue and cry which was raised by 
 his creditors just about that time, against himself. 
 
 Lieutenant Tattyiall says that I lately challenged "Mr. George Law 
 of Baltimore, a gentleman of the first respectability, who refused to 
 meet me on the ground of my being "a perjured pirate.'" As to the 
 refusal of this very '■'■respectable gentleman,'''' I will only say, that, after 
 making a positive engagement, to make a communication to my friend, 
 in answer to my call to the field, at Gadsby's hotel, in Washington, at 
 ten o'clock on the morning of the 18th of March, he violated that 
 pledge, absconded from the District, taking care before his dteparture^ 
 to bind over myself and a friend, to keep the peace towards him. At 
 one of the interviews which my friend had with Larr, with apparent 
 courtesy, he observed to that fi-iend, that if he was fully acquainted 
 with my character, and knew all the circumstances, he did not think 
 he would have engaged in the business. My friend replied, that he 
 was fully aware of the responsibility which he had assumed, and that 
 he would ENDORSE for the character of his principal. This inti- 
 mation doubtless caused Mr. Lrtw to resort to the subterfuge of asking 
 time, till the next day, to make his communication. By his secret and 
 dastardly departure, from Washington, he proved that he, like Snug, 
 and his prototype Lieutenant Tattnall, of the United States^ JWa'i/, al- 
 though decorated with the skin of a Lion, could not enact the part of 
 that noble animal. Cowardice is sometimes the constitutional inherit- 
 ance of men — where it is so, they are objects of pity and commissera- 
 tion; but ifswc/i will put on the port of right valiant chevaliers, their 
 weakness should awaken no other feeling than that of contempt and 
 detestation. 
 
 Lieutenant Tattnall is much indebted to Mr. Law for his disinter- 
 
17 
 
 rsted defence of himself and ihe officers of the ''])iratical vessel, the 
 Federal." What 1 am now about to siiy I do not wish to be consid- 
 ed as applying to any of the officers of the Erie, save Lt. Tatlnall; 
 but so far as he is concerned, I will affirm, that Mr. George Law was 
 a most congenial defender of such a man — like him he has a most val- 
 orous pen: but like him, he lacks the nerve to give satisfaction as a 
 gentleman, and does not possess the magnanimity to withdraw charg- 
 es which he knows to he false and malicious. But if I am not mistak- 
 en as to dates, at the very moment when George Law was champion- 
 ing the cause of Lt. Josiah Tattnall, he was concealed at his lodgings 
 to evade the search of his creditors — and this same George Law is now 
 again invisible for a similar reason — allegations being ready to be filed, 
 if not already filed, against him. That all men may know how choice 
 a friend Lt. Tatnall has taken to his bosom, I will here remark, that 
 Law rests under the imputation of having defrauded his creditors out of 
 $70,000. Now verily this man is a most admirable corrector of mor- 
 als, and if men are to be judged by their companions, Lieut. Tattnall 
 has shewn great discretion in his selection of a friend — at all events, 
 two more deer-like hearts never animated human frames. But Lieuten- 
 ant Tattnall thinks I should liave sticd iSIr. Law, who invited me to 
 test the truth of his accusations in a suit against him. This is, indeed, 
 most ridiculous ! Why did not Mr. Law test the truth of his accusa- 
 tions against me, while I was undergoing the trial for piracy? Mr. 
 Wirt's letter shews that no evidence was offered to the jury against 
 me. But since this valorous Lieutenant Tattnall will have me sue 
 George Law, then, I will tell him, that I did sue him, and with the 
 Deputy Marshal of the District of Columbia, pursued him as far as the 
 White House, but not being able to find the retreating gentleman, gave 
 up the pursuit. I caused the action to be brought in a moment of ir- 
 ritation, immediately after being bound over by him ; but a few hours 
 reflection convinced me it vv'ould be as futile to sue a dishonorable 
 
 J bankrupt, as it would be to expect, that an honorable draught on Lieu- 
 ' i^enant Tattnall, would meet with qny thing but .shuffling and evasion. 
 A word or two as to one of the witnesses of George Law, and his 
 consort, Josiah Tattnall. John Stewart, the seaman who figures so 
 conspicuously in the pamphlet of Lair, ivas in prison at the time for 
 thefl — has subsequently, been convicted of it — asked, and, I believe, ob- 
 tained a new trial, but before the day of trial arrived, broke jaW, and 
 
 ^thus evaded the justice of the country and a residence in the peniten- 
 liary. 
 
18 
 
 IJut why should Lieutenant Tattnall plume himself upon hit superior- 
 ity? he does not outrank me — he is but a Lieutenant in the U. S. Na- 
 vy — and I hold a commission as Captain in that of Buenos Ayres, a 
 government not only recognised by this, but at which a diplomatic 
 agency of high rank is kept up. If he has perilled his life in behalf of 
 (his, hi« native country — I have done the same. — During the war be- 
 tween this country and England, though then but a youth, as second 
 officer of tfic Syren Privateer, after the Captain and first officer had 
 b«en killed, I captured, in the British Channel, by boarding, his Ma- 
 jesty's ship, the' Landrail, greatly our superior. In the early part of 
 that action I received a ball in my thigh, which still remains there, to 
 my great discomfort. The subsequent battles of that vessel, in which 
 1 was first officer, are well known— Of her defence when carried by 
 the boats of the enemy's squadron off the Delaware, it may not become 
 me to speak. The war at an end, I entered into the Navy of the gov- 
 ernment of Buenos Ayres, and continued faithful to her interests during 
 the whole of her struggles, while the services of her Naval Marine 
 were required. That she is satisfied with my deportment, and pro- 
 perly appreciates it, I have had ample testimony— and, that, in the 
 performance of my duty, I hare been influenced by higher considera- 
 tioes tlian " pecuniary exactions," may be seen by the testimonials in 
 the appendix. Whatever others may think of it, I shall ever rank a- 
 mong the proudest reminiscences of my life, that 1 have been able to 
 do the state of riuenos Ayres "some service," and that in my oicn ship 
 of war, I bore to this country the first Minister from one of the young 
 republics of the Southern hemisphere. From a long continued and ar- 
 duous service among them, I can speak of the people of that country, 
 as I have found them— brave, intelligent and chivalric ; and if civil strife, 
 too incident, perhaps, to unchastencd military ambition, has thus far 
 served to postpone its tranquility and repose, an enlarged i)atriotism 
 would cast none other than the eye of regret over the misfortunes of 
 a people, so deserving of the enjoyment of freedom. Hancock and 
 Mams were outlawed by the tyrant who oppressed their country, 
 n d as far as that act could carry a moral force with it, tlicy were at- 
 tempted to be rendered infamous; but disgrace could not attach to pa- 
 triotism so pure— to hearts so truly brave. Josiah Tattnall, Esquire, 
 a lieutenant in the United States' navy, who indites mock heroics equal 
 to .Yick Bottom, the JVeaver, whose immortality was secured by the 
 Bard of Avon, has denounced the service of Buenos Ayres to be one 
 
19 
 
 of "general infamy,''^ because a few bad men may have abused its flag 
 — but in despite of /lis formidable denunciation — the Republic of Bue- 
 nos Ayres, will live on, and be honored in story, when the name of 
 Josiah Tattnall, if it should be recollected at all, will be only remem- 
 bered like that of the Ephesian — for its infamy — for liaving been the 
 defamer of a nation while it was yet bleeding in the cause of liberty — 
 for having, in a moment of pof-gallantry, had the courage to traduce 
 another's character, with the show of battle, and when called upon, 
 sought impunity in a way which a brave man would have spurned. 
 
 The man of genuine courage, and real worth, never violates anoth- 
 er's feelings without well-defined cause ; nor does he insult him and 
 seek security in self-conceived superiority — No! when the brave man 
 feels himself called upon to manifest his displeasure, it is done under 
 the full determination to answer the consequences in a manner which 
 shall preserve his honor from even suspicion. But it is idle to talk of 
 the course which a brave man would pursue — when the object of my 
 remarks is Josiah Tattnall, — a man dead to all generous or ennobling 
 sentiments — who would rather earn a reputation with the pen of Troi- 
 lus than with the sword of an American hero. This same Josiah 
 Tattnall, who says, had I challenged him three years ago he would • 
 have fought me, now says, should "any respectable man" hand him a 
 challenge from me, that he will give him a meeting. Does he suppose 
 that an honorable man could send his friend under such circumstances } 
 Would a brave, high-minded man thus entrench himself? Butwhatas- 
 surance is the word of such a man that he would comply with his present 
 promise .' he gave his written pledge before, and the very Jirst opportunity 
 I had of testing his sincerity,: he proved recreant to honor and to truth. 
 His friend Law fled like a felon from Washington, and circumstances 
 are deceptive, if Josiah Tattnall, in his transit througii this city, did 
 not, after coming to the conclusion, if I should assault him, of putting 
 me to death, date his letter at Norfolk, though written here. It bears 
 date "JVoj/oZ/e, Va. 14 Dec." and the Baltimore post mark, of "Dec. 
 19." It was probably intended as the efiort of the flying Parthian, 
 who had not sufficient courage to witness the effect of his own poi- 
 soned shaft : and if I am to judge by the tt emulous hand with which he 
 pentied my name, after registering his edict, I should come to the con- 
 clusion that the bare thought of his bloody intention, had played sad 
 work with his nerves. 
 
 I am done with Josiah Tattnall, for the present, and after asking 
 
20 
 
 partlon of the pu})rK; for thus tresspassing upon their attention with my 
 private grievances (v\0hc1i I would much ratlicr have seUled in anoth- 
 er way,) I pray them to believe that nothing hut the most acute sense 
 of my wrongs could have induced this appeal. 
 
 From a deference to the rules of propriety, I have remained silent 
 under all the opprobrium cast upon me by George Law, in his pamphlet 
 signed " Public,^'' a production, so far as I am concerned, I here de- 
 clare to be wholly slanderous and untrue. Of the public 1 ask nothing 
 but justice, — that is alike due to the lacerated feelings of my family 
 and to my own injured honor. When the case still pending against 
 me shall have been determined, I will shew to this community, and to 
 the world, that the morals of the author of " Public''' is no better than 
 those of the convicted felon upon whose testimony, he dared to disturb 
 the peace and quiet of an unoffending family — to traduce andvillify — 
 from mere wantonness — and had the audacity to invoke the temple of 
 justice to lend itself to the gratification of his demoniac purposes. Till 
 tiien, 1 ask of this people — of my countrymen, by birth and adoption — 
 not to condemn one who ha's devoted seventeen years of the prime and 
 vigor of his life to the cause of his country and of liberty — upon the 
 testimony of such men as Josiah Tattnall and George Law — par nobile 
 fratnim — or the still more infamous bein"-, upon whose declaration the 
 latter based his charge against me. 
 
 In conclusion, I pronounce JOSIAH TATTNALL, a Lieutenant 
 in the Navy of the United States, to be a calumniator without provo- 
 cation, an officer without courage, and a man without honor. 
 
 JOHN CHASK, 
 
 Captain Buenos •iyreaji JVavy, 
 
 Baj.timqre, Jan. 6, 1832. 
 
APPENBIX. 
 
 [1] 
 
 lfashingt07i, March 16, 1831. 
 
 Capt. John Chase was under an indictment for piracy at the last Cir- 
 cuit Court of Maryland, held at Baltimore. I am one of the counsel le- 
 tained to defend him. The cause was submitted to a jury, more, it 
 seemed to me, as a matter of form, than with any expectation on the 
 part of the District Attorney that any evidence could be offered to sub- 
 stantiate the charge. It is certain that none was offered which had the 
 slightest bearing of that sort. The jury did not leave their box, and, 
 indeed, I understood the prosecution to be virtually abandoned by the 
 District Attorney. The verdict was one of acquittal, and the public 
 sentiment, as far as I heard it expressed, was that the prosecution had 
 no colour of foundation in the evidence. I give this certificate as an 
 act of justice to Capt. Chase, and at his request. 
 
 WILLIAM WIRT. 
 
 [2] 
 
 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 District of Maryland — to wit: 
 
 ' /Presentment and Indictment for Piracy — Plea, 
 T h rh C ^^^ Guilty, and Issue. 
 
 JURY SWORN TO WIT: 
 
 David Clendennin, William Stewart, John Patterson, William J. 
 Patterson, William R. Stuart, Coecilius C. Jamison, Thomas Mezick, 
 James Corner, John Carrere, Charles Jones, Jonathan Warner, Tho- 
 mas Hillen. 
 
 Verdict, JVOT GUILTY. Judgment on the Verdict. 
 
 I, Philip Moore, Clerk of the Circuit Court of the United Slates 
 for the Fourth Circuit, in and for the Maryland District, do hereby 
 certify, that the aforegoing is a true extract from the record and pro- 
 ceedings of the said Circuit Court. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name and affix 
 r r-^-^ 1 the seal of the said Circuit Court, this fourteenth day of 
 < L.s. > June, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hun- 
 ^v^.^j <^red and thirty. 
 
 PHILIP MOORE, Clk. 
 Circt. Ct. 
 
22 
 
 [3] 
 Washington City, June 5, 1826. 
 
 OFFICE OF THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 [Extract from their minutes.] 
 
 Retolved, That he (Dr. Woodside) be requested to convey to Cap- 
 tains Chase and Cottrell, of the Colombian Navy, the expression of 
 the thanks of this Board for their valuable co-operation with the Colo- 
 nial Agent in forwarding the interests of the Colony, with the assui;7 
 anceof the sincerity with which those services are acknowledged an^, 
 the pleasure with which the memory of them will be cherished.' 
 
 R. R. GURLEY, Res. Jlgt.. 
 J. W. CAMPBELL, P. B. Af. 
 Jno. Undkrwood, /2ec. Sec. 
 
 Extract from the letter of R. R. Gurhy., Resident Agent of the Coloni- 
 zation Society., to John Chase. 
 
 "Sir— I have the honor to present to you in the name of the Board 
 of Managers of the American Colonization Society, their unfeigned 
 thanks for the important services so generously rendered by you to 
 their Colonial Agent in Liberia, and particularly for the very liberal 
 contributions of arms and other valuable articles which you have been 
 pleased to make to their African Colony." 
 
 "Such conduct is worthy of a brave officer of the leading Republie , 
 of the South." 
 
 ******* 
 
 "Very honorable mention is made of your services in a letter from 
 Mr. Ashman, which you will find published in the African Reposito- 
 ry for August, 1826." 
 
 "The assistance which you so generously rendered to Mr. Ash- 
 man, is also mentioned in our fourth Annual Report." 
 
 4^Erratum— In the 9th line, of page 5, for "St. Mary'?," read "&. 
 Jl/ar/m's."J 
 
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