11. VI: I attended Church at the Treasury Office, where a
very small Society of Presbyterians, perhaps, seceders from Dr Laurie’s
Congregation, usually meet and hear such preachers as casually present
themselves— I knew not the person who performed the service this day;
nor was there anything in his discourse deserving to be remembered—
After Church I took an hour’s walk for exercise. Mr and Mrs W. S. Smith and Dr
Thornton spent the Evening with us— I was occupied great
part of the day, as I have been many days in looking up the papers, to
which I am under the necessity of recurring to answer the
interrogatories in the cause of Levett
Harris against W. D.
Lewis— In this case Harris prosecutes Lewis for Slander,
in publishing of him, what Harris at the same time knows to be true. He
lays his damages at a hundred thousand dollars, and has fee’d all the
most eminent lawyers in Philadelphia, to carry him through the suit. I
very unwillingly give my deposition in this case, but am legally
summoned, and believe it indispensable to the ends of Justice that I
should answer fully and explicitly. Harris is one of those mixed
characters who with some very good qualities and great address, has not
the firmness to withstand the temptation of profitable venality. His
situation at St. Petersburg and the
circumstances of the times gave him both temptation and opportunity such
as perhaps was never presented to any other public officer of the United
States, and he availed himself of it precisely to the extent which he
thought he could do and escape detection— He made a princely fortune, by
selling his duty and his office, at the most enormous prices. His
premium pudoris was unconscionable. Yet he sold his signature for little
as well as for much, and was like the lady who while exacting a thousand
guineas from one lover, was ready to grant the same favour to another
for a shilling— I was very slow, and dull of sight, even before
admitting in my mind a suspicion against Harris’s
integrity— When I could no longer resist that, I was much more reluctant
at yielding my belief to his prostitution; and even after being
convinced beyond a doubt of that, I was still unwilling to expose him—
He now avails himself of all my former partiality, indulgence and
forbearance in his favour, to avow the intention of using it to
discredit my testimony against him— This and his late attempt to bully
or buy off my testimony through the intervention of the president, I consider as the
desperation of a drowning man. The duty that I feel to be most incumbent
on me is, not to suffer it to have any effect upon my testimony; and I
am re-examining all my papers having reference to those transactions to
bring all the facts as fresh as possible to my recollection— I suspect
Harris has been more successful in his expedients to ward the testimony
of others.
