LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 401 



cious and irrelevant to the matter at issue as was the excuse of 

 the individual who wrote a letter and requested his correspond- 

 ent to pardon errors in orthography, as his knife was so dull that 

 he could not mend his pen. Your explanations are non sequitors 

 of nearly the same calibre, and will probably carry as clear con- 

 viction to the mind of the reader. I have no desire, 'sir, to mis- 

 represent you ; the truth is bad enough without any exaggeration. 

 The charges I have preferred against you ,on account of your of- 

 ficial delinquencies have gone, to the public through the same 

 channel as your defence, and the public will judge between us. 



The words " extraordinary efforts" are not, as stated by you, 

 a fabrication ; they occur in your report, and are fairly applicable 

 in the sense in which I used them. It is a shallow evasion to 

 say " the duties were to be performed by others, not by the sec- 

 retary. He does not superintend the recruiting of seamen." 

 True, sir, you do not personally bargain with the sailor; but it 

 was your duty to afford to others the means by which unusual ex- 

 ertions could be made ; and these you pertinaciously refused. If, 

 as you state, " it was unusual to put the recruiting service under 

 the superintendence of the commander of the squadron ;" if it 

 were unusual to recruit seamen for a particular service, both of 

 which you own you were directed by the president to see done, 

 the inquiry presents itself, why were not these measures more 

 successful ? I have already stated the reason. You refused the 

 necessary means for carrying out this plan of shipping for a 

 special service by prohibiting the offer of all inducement beyond 

 what the ordinary rendezvous afforded. Nay, more : when on a 

 visit to this city in August, thirteen months ago, on seeing the 

 bills up for the special shipment of men, did you or did you not 

 say that you would fix that business by allowing the same privi- 

 lege in shipping mariners for the Pacific and Brazilian stations ; 

 and were not similar placards accordingly posted on the walls, thus 

 rendering the facilities in favour of the expedition a mere mock- 

 ery ? Your assigned reason for not placing funds in the hands 

 of recruiting agents, except at the regular depots, is pefectly fu- 

 tile, as security for the advances and delivery of the men could 

 have been taken at New-London, New-Bedford, and other inter- 

 mediate points. 



The " threats" in my second letter to give a withering review 



