[ Autographs ] JOHN RUTLEDGE (1739 - 1800) American politician, Revolutionary War President and Governor of South Carolina, Associateand later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Fine content A.L.S. 1p. legal folio, [n.p.] Sept. 17, 1778, to T. Young who had been accused of disloyalty to the American cause. Rutledge advises, in part: "...I have forwarded the Petition Papers which you requested me [?] & upon the whole, think, that the only Thing which can avail you with the Assembly of Georgia will be to convince them that you really have been& are as you declare, a Friend...of America, & hearty in its Causes & That your refusal to take the Oath required of you arose, mostly, froma [?] apprehension of it...I send a [letter] acceding to this Idea -- If you had been on the Spot, when the Bill of Attainder was before theAssembly, I promise, your Name would not have been comprehended in it,without a hearing a Hearing will not be so [?] & Certainly if you appear innocent of the [?] charged against you, the Assembly will absolve you, by a Reversal of your Attainder..." It is likely that Jones was a Quaker since their beliefs prohibited them from swearing oaths. Document bears some light soiling, uneven margins with a few minor losses, silked for preservation. Offered with JOHN RUTLEDGE, JR.(1766 - 1819) Son of John Rutledge, A.L.S. 1p. 4to., Charleston, S.C.,May 29, 1816 introducing a gentleman to Major General Harper in Baltimore. Fine. Two pieces.