Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1834-09-05

" ftFt't w acS 'het ~ q btrp&th
from Mr.. Vail, OF May, 1888. hs states tina, Lord Palmer
ston informed him Of Instructions having been sent to MIR.
Vaughan after his departure from London, TO conduct the
affair; aud that In consequence, Mr.. Vail considered him
self as having nothing more TO do with the matter. AZ soon
then as Mr.. Vaughan had expressed his disposition TO open
the negotiation at Washington, no wonder that the
President determined TO suspend the mission TO Lon
don IL Is TO this circumstance that Major Lewis
thus sliudes in his letter to Mr.. Stevenson, oil June la. ~:
'lu my reply to ihcse let,ersin the spring OF 1888, (having
preserved no coPyD | have a distinct recollection that ! as
sufed Mr. Richie that | had no doubt sill idea Of making
tho appointment. as minated in Mr.. Livings,on's letter,
had been absndoaed, in consequence OF The arrival OF the
British Minister, and the probability oil the ne goiis'ion spo-
ken oil by Mr.. Livingston In his letter TO you, being opened
and carried on ia Washington. l have no doubt it is my
letter alone 10 which Alr.sRiiehic alludes. as quoting his
fear, in his recent letter to you, which. by your permission,
saw AMI read"
One thing more !-The Opposition h,ve considere /, a
very suspicious circumstance, that Mr.. Livingston should
have written u confidential letter 10 Mr.. y, aeprising him
before hand OF his contingent appointments; but this is by
10 means unusual. On the contrary, il is frequently prsc-
tsed under every Administration. Thus, in the CORES.
pondencc OF Nh. Jefferson, (Yol. 4, p. 46) we meet with
aletier, marked 'coIyidenftai," from him to Wilson C. Nj
cholas, Esq. speaking oil this design TO send q 81 Commission
erto Spain. in which he says: "Ths addition is not yet ut-
iimaieiy decided on; but l am inclined TO believe il will
be adopted. Under this expectation, and my W ish that
you may be willing to undertake it. I gire youthc csries,
possible Information OF II, that you may be preparing both
your mind aud your measures for this mission, &c, &C.,
Consider the measure rs proposed Professionally only, and
not TO be communicated to any mortal until we see il
proper,-ILus, there is nothing very mysterious nor
unusual in a confidential and contingent letter, under
such circumstances. A Speaker OF the House may even
f~tnih ho thoif d"f w uultS WIN fuUeDenuenCe
all.
Siiy. But il has been suspected and even said, tina, the
extracts OF our letters to Major Lewis, do not unravel the
whole mystery, aud that parts of them have been kept back,
Of material import. a writer in the N. In,elligencer, said
10 have been MIR. Clay, has stated, that sit is a matter of
regret that the whole OF Mr.. R,tchie's two letters, instead
oil extracts, were not produced, and that the letter from
Mr.. Lewis to Mr.. Richie was also withheld. The pro-
ducion oil the entire correspondence would further eluci-
date this mysterious siair and il is 10 be hoped that the
parties will yet exhibit it to the Public" Again-"what
special considerations were urged by Mr.. Richie, for the
postponemeDt OF MIR. Stevenson's case, at all events, until
the assembling OF the Senate, do not appear, and " in not
appear, without the exhibition OF the whole oil Ibis letter"
Mr.. Clay is mistaken in all his conjectures.-There was
nothing in the Correspondence TO give a new character
10 the affair-''no special considerations" presented, cx-
cept what have been published. MIR. Tyler saw our Let
tiers TO Maj. L., and pronounced hem good. There was
every thing relevant to the Mission, published in the Ex-
tracts. IL Mr.. Clay doubts us, he has only to commission a
man oil honor TO see the Letters, which are now In our pos
session, and he shall be fully gralifed. The trs,h is, there
is nothing in them, Tor which we need to blush, or would
wish 10 conceai.-lt speaks our opinions freely on public
matters and with The exception OF one passage, which re-
lates 10 a distinguished man, now in his grave, here is no.
thing which zoe would care 10 keep back from the public
eye.
4thly. So far as VIC are personally concerned, the trans
action has been very much misunderstood. - 1t has been
asked. why We did not wire directly 10 the President
and why 10 Major Lewis-why to a member OF the
"Kitchcn Cabinet Z" When il is known, that we have no
personal acquaintance with the President himself, il may
be at once understood why we are more saueamish la
writing TO him, than 10 his friend. We have seen Mai. l.
We have the pleasure fan acquaintance with him; and we
hNoW hiui. - " e a "a u idltn II Hinly OelcNe nltn
10 be a gentleman Of the incest honor. Surely, this cir
cumsiahce alone could scarcely connect us with the
"ki'chen Cahinet'"-And, let us say, that il all the mem.
bers oil that chin@ra were as dkin,erested in their views,
and as free in speaking the truth as we have been, the
People need not care about its ovemenis We call il a
chimera; because, though the Party has spoken mneh oil its
movements, yet il has never proved its existence. What
Administration has escaped a similar imputaioDi Even
the ilusirious Je Terson could not escape il. In a letter of
his, loi March, 1867 lie slludes to certain reports which
MIR. Duane had communicated 10 him-snd he says, "The
TACT Is, That IN ordinary affairs, every Head OF a Depart
ment consuis me on those OF his Department; and when
any Thing arises, ;oo difficult or important 10 be decided be.
tween us, the consultation becomes general. That there
rs an 0sfenstbie Cabinet, and a concealed one-G public
procession, ana concealed counteT0cti0n, is false. Our
situation is difficult; and whatever we do. is liable TO the
CRITICISMS oil those who wish 10 represent il awry. II we
recommend measures in a public Message, il NAV be said
that Members are not sent here TO obey the mandates OF
the President, or TO register The edicls OF a Sovereign. II
we express opinions in conversation, we have, then, our
Charles Jenkinsons, aud back door COumselloTs. II we
say nothing, we have 10 opinions, no plans, no Csbinet.-
In truth, il is the fable of the old man, his son, aud ass,
over again"
5th. We have not only been suspected of a connection
with This vulgar chim@ra Of the Kitchen Cabinet, but we
have been unfortunate enough 10 have The very contents
oil our letters mlsrepiesenled. IL has been said, that we
were anxious 10 have the Senate called together to confirm
MIR. Stevenson. Such, surely, is not the suggestion in our
letters. We spoke not OF one, but Of a batch of appoin,-
men,s that had been mentioned (viz. The two highest Min
listers abroad and the Two highest SECRETARIES al homO-
and we asked whether, instead Of appointing oil THESE at
once, II would not be better 10 call the Senate together.
Aud again it has been said, that though Mr.. Livingston
was cent TO France during The recess, we never said one
WoTu against H. ~ even " we du not say one word against
II III this paper, did The Senate, do more upon confirming
II, during their last sessioh?-How far the doubts about
France executing her Treaty with MI. Rives, were calcu-
lated 10 reconcile the Senate 10 the appointment, and how
far il was one Of those every extraordinary emergencies
which battle all calculation, aud could not have been fore
seen during The prior session Of Congress" Ct. RS print
ed ieuerto Mr.. StevensonO we leave ii TO them 10 explain.
In this respect, TOO, We think the contents of the docu-
menis have not been sufficiently understood.
Note 3. The Senate wen, much further in packing
their Committees, than the Speaker has been chare ed with
doing. Reconect, that the very first thing they did, at the
opening 1.-THE last session, was TO change their rule, Tor the
express purpose OF taking their Committees out Of the
hams OF the President pro TEN. Judge whie) in order
TO give tie Coalition majority the power of appointing
them. This done, what came next! Why, the Commit
tees were moulded TO their own tastes. Thus il was that
Mr.. Webser became Chairman OF the Committee OF Fl
nance; and but one Administration member was put on IL:
This was Mr.. Rives; and when he resigned his seat, his
vacancy was not supplied in The Committee, and thew are
all OF one mind; now protesting TO investigate The conduct
of the Bankl
Note A We are not particularly fond Of giving Off
cs 10 Members OF Congress Nor would we ever do IL
in mere subordinate oiices.-But The practice OF The pre-.
tent Administration, though il may have been TOO liberal i'm
this respect, has been grossly Inisreprest n,ed by the on.
position. IL has been said, i0r instance, in several Of their
papers, that among the members Of Congress "appointed
TO office BY Gen. Jackson, since bis election, there have
been 10 senators, aud 81 Representatives" But the
schedule has been scanned by The Baltimore Republican,
and The following is the result:
or the Pefsons namcd 20 Senators appointed TO office, mother
Mt. FindIey, Van Buren,, Chandler, Williams, Baker, woodbuIy,
OF DickeTson were members Of thi 6ody atUho lime of their eppoint.
mont, and Of the Representatives neither Mr. Campbell. BaiIies
doiph, Barbour, Biddie, Irwin, nuchanan, Dewitt Car. C.lsnso
Hammons, or Anderson, were members Of that house when they
were appointed, some OF Them never had bcen members, and some
OF Tho persons named have not been appointed. So that Of the 81
house alleged 10 have been sopointe1 n;ns,es, Sn,s ~, -
q much for tr rae II fhn afpnnu -