Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-03-19

"ouiu not take The trouble To notice the ridiculous
Puhi:cation OF Mr.. VIM. Tod, in late Enquirer, but
for the purpose Of correcting the false impression which
IL was intended to make 1t is mmatcral to nc,
whether Tins thing emanated from his own brain or is
The JOINT production of half dozen would be
party leaders, he object easily understood He com
mcnces by representing me the assailant, and him
sell as acting on the defensive for the purpose no
doubt, Of cxctng the public sympathy What are the
facts: Two other Conservatives and myself, acting
upon our own responsibility Senators, thought pro-
per to cast our votes upon Mr. Rves for the IT, $ Sc.
nate. We gave silent vote, and neither censurcd nor
complained of any Senator for giving different one
All that We claimed that which is freely awarded
to the most humble indvdua-thc right of acting
cordIHS To the dictates of our cOnscenccs and
uigSent?; but this denied by this safcopceit-
ed and se!i-creatcd High Priest of Democracy, who
pompousy in the Senate and with an air Of great
authority, communicated from the Republican
Church, after having read nsoleut lecture, full
OF insinuaons, for voting for Mr.. Rvcs; although he
took special to say, that they were only heinfer-
aud conclusions of his mind and that he made
no charge against us The next day | took an oppor
tunty TO notice and briefly repel this wanton attack,
and stated that should not have noticed it, but FOR the
belief, that it had been made for effect, elsewhere
through the Press. His Holiness for this Senator
having assumed the pontifcals, will not abiurc the IT,
te) made very brief and feeble rcjondcr, and dis
claimed any intention of publishing the remarks he had
made; yet after the psc of nearly three weeks his
speech appeared (strange 10 teD under the editorial
head of the Enquirer, snugy esconced under the wing
OF the venerable Editor or the purpose of producing
the greater effect upon the puhlic Instead Of making
manly publication of the speech he delivered, over
his own maine, he published under the editorial head,
speech containing charges against the Conservatives
which ne never made. then published the reply
made to him in the Senate, in which merely rcbuked
him ard gave him moderate chastscment for the
Insolent and unprovoked attack he had made upon me
and the other two Conservatives As he made no
Il,
making any, could not, of course reply TO any.
therefore appended short note to my Speech stating
that fact and that he had made the charges reported in
his speech, should have rcpelcd them The floor ofhc
Senate, and proved that they untrue: and for the
purpose of showing how ridiculous for him to set
expoundcr Of the Republican faith,
fcrred to his having been Wing hereto few years
ago. His holiness is not satisfied with publishing his
reply to me, which he says he delivered in the Senate,
(wlce as long my speech, although he did not speak
) minutcs,) but he publishes almost column of co-
IN addition. in which he complains of the
"undlgnifcd attack, | made upon him. An enligh.
cncd public will decide whether he myself is most
obnoxious 10 that charge Whether it is manly
rect in Senator, after having had fair opportunity 10
make full reply upon the floor of the Senate and
avaed himself of it, TO resort TO newspaper to make
another reply, is not for TO decide think, to say
the least of it, il is an acknowledgment that he had
come off second best on the floor OF the Senate My
reference TO his having been Wing, is pr"tey for
il, because he will not deny that he Nulllfer
and denouncer of Gen. Jackson, and of course
titled to the name of Whig which was the cognoncn
Of the Nulfcrs and all the other branches of the
opposition to General Jacksons administration II is
amusing to the poor subterfuge he resorted to for
The purpose of breaking the force Of this charge He
says he never was Federal Wing. ! never said he !
was Federai Wing although were to Judge of his
sr nrnu! ire " a. suSr ';''' 10 .'".''
fer that gentlemen (who prlded themselves upon Their
ultra notification prInciples) adnonshcd nm not 10
Dc violent. He has in his communication charged
with having "utteriy abandoned his (my) long che
rished political principles and joined himself (myseii)
10 the INSCRIPTIONS opponents Of Jefrrsonian Demo-
:racy;' and, again. with falthlcssncss to all his (my)
former professions
This is .utcrly" unfoundcd. | defy his holiness 10
show that have ever been iahess to my professions,
or ha, have ever abandoned changed any political
principle that ever professed No; il is because re-
fuse do this very thing with the same facility that
he did il at the command OF party leaders, mat
am now illuminated BY their minlons. 1t IS only
to refer 10 my speech last winter on the
Election, the Conservative address with my
signature and my letter last summer To the Editor OF
1.-The Valley STAR 10 prove that his charges are who-
~ unfounded. lnmy speech, not only defended VT
Riycs opposition TO the Subrreasry, but every step
lie had then taken against the Administration The
Conservative Address does the same, and my letter IS
so strong against the Administration, that the Admins
tration press charged me with having left the Admins
tra,ion entirely, and joined the Wings; and set, am
now charged with having deceived the people By my
professions of friendship for the Administration
DEFY any one to point out in any publication OF mine
on this subject The slightest iniimatlnn that ! would
suupor the reelection of Mr.. Van Buren,, unless he
should abandon his obnoxious measures ne only evil
dence which has been offered IN support OF the charges
arainst me- il an extract of confidential letter. written
to one who prorssed 10 be Conservative ana VINO mas
since deserted his principles and violated my confidence
by the publication of my letter Ishave, however, no
objection to its publication. What does it prove: That
the Conservatives desIrous "f supporting the
present Administration, that they were determined to
do every thing in their power prevail upon 1t to aban
don the which they sincerely believed woulu
ruin the country and endangcr its liberty, and never
Join the Wings long there was the least hope That
i would do it, Another part ofts letter shows, that
had strong hopes that this would be done, produced
by letters had received from gentlemen of high stand
inc in the Administration at Washington The Con-
scTyatiyes therefore, refused to form any connection
with the Wig party, or to enter into any engagements
with them in relation to the election OF Senator, and
objected to Mr.. Rves doing so, giving any pledges
in relation to the Presidential election. In the propre-
" of this course, he concurred with us Was IT then
at all remarkable that we should have UNANIMOUSLY de-
termined that would give him up, II the rumor which
was then circulated in Richmond, that he had come out
for Mr. Clay and joined the Wing party, was true: Al
the time we made this determination we did not bcevc
one word of this report, aud We determined that we
would not support either wing or SUD reasury man
for the L. s. Senate We did not conceal this delcrm-
nation from either party, but made it known to both
It's the true cause why most Of the lmpraciieabes
would not vote for Mr. Rves They believed. that the
Conservatives were determined to support the Adm-
nstraton of Mr. Van Buren,, if he would abandon the
measures which obnoxious TO them 1t they had
pven any assurance 10 the Impractcable. that they
would join the Wing party, Mr.. Rves would have been
elected without any difficulty, last winter but as they
were still anxious to support the Administration, and
had hopes that it would abandon the measures which
we're obnoxious to them, they could give no pledges
to the Wing party.
How do matters now sand' Mr.. Van Buren, has sue
ceeded, by the extraordinary cxeron of the Exc
cutyc patronage, and by the force of the most rigid
party drill, (Which sinks all independence of thought
and private Judgment in having returned to the pre-
sent Congress majority Of sub-Trea@sury men.so
that he have the SubTreasury bill passed, If he
wishes He has recommended it in his last annual
message and has passed the u S Senate in the most
odious o and there s not the least hope of his aban-
doning this measure, which will give him the entire con-
troll of the public purse and greatly increase his patron
age by the increase of officers Besides this he has
1T Iii tlos han he