Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1840-04-30
GEN, uARRlsoN.s COMMITTEE.
"Sfia harPias on NM daughter =

49," WIN, ~ thc VI gun VI AuulHlhnichllnn
between the oswegc Association and Gen. Harrison,
is man OF Substance and responsibility, and tina, the
said Miles ilotchkiss did actually receive a letter
from committee in Cincinnati, styling themselves
Gen. Harrson's friends, declining to answer his in.
'erroga'ories. In denying II heretofore VIC were mis-
led by the New York Express.
The Enquirer is cute hand in nosng out plots
aud discovering mysteries But they generally tuin
out, in the end, be mountains in labor with mice
Now, strip this great affair of the gandoquent phra.
seology in which ii is presented TO the public, and
what is It's true aspect
| Gen. Harrison doubtless receives some twenty or
'hhiy letters day enquiring into his opinions upon
every question OF public interest, signed by persons
oil whose existence even he sisnorani aud Who Tor
aught he may know TO the contrary, are mere men
OF straw Suppose he could reply 10 them ALL which
would be physically impossible is il not certain that
some OF his rery anxious correspondents would ma.
htdte and change his replies Just as we now every ,ay
see his acts misreprcsentod his opinions perverted
the journals of legislative bodies mutilated; para
graphs from his speeches torn from their context
aud made, in their isolated form, to convey sen.i-
men's precisely the reverse OF those which he
talns; and even history, heretofore regarded as sa-
cred Depository Of facts not only dsregarded aud
denied, but wiIfuIly yJdisifed, and made TO utter
ISLANDERS which it reiutes at cyory pasel
ASain- Who are these correspondents OF Gen uar-
fson' VINO are 50 very spciious about his opinions
Are they his friends, seeking To remove a doubt or
10 'of''ly aconvclion! Nc: they are his enemies
who would be his enemies still, even though the
GENERAL should answer every question satisfactorily
On the score of comfy, he is under no obligation
Whatever 10 answer Them; and the have
no right to complain that their letters are unanswered
when their object is not To obtain information to en-
tighten their judgments and 10 govern their votes.
but perehance TO elicit from the General some un-
guarded expression, which the malicious ingenuity
OF his opponents may torture TO his prejudice.
Bot the General we are told ought not 10 conceal
his opinions. Agreed. We deny that he has con-
cealed them, or that no wishes so to do Let any
man look AT the queries addressed TO him. and see #
there he one upon which Gen. Harrison does not
stand fully committed before the country Blu, these
expressions OF opinion, we are told, are of remote
date. This would be objection II Gen. Harrison,
IKE Mr.. Van Buren,, could be found both sides of
every great questlon-and il, like the same gen,le
man, he had always changed sides precisely as his
interest dictated But Gen. Harrison's opinions are
the offspring Of his Judgment not of his ambition.
Hence they uniform and stable. Look, for ex-
ample, at his course The Missouri Question: the
very same opinions, which he expresses noe yves,
noe for it has not been two months gone by, since.
III ieuer to SouEein member OF Congress, he
( ie-ehu"ises The opinions avowed in his admirable
inct nnes speech,)-the very same opinions which
he expresses now on the Slavery question, when he
is a candidate lot the snllrages of The whole Uaon
he expressed then, when he knew that the ayowal o,
them ouId render him unpopular, at home How
different the course OF Van Buren, Then North
ern man with Northern principles, because he was
looking exclusively 10 the North Tor all his honors
| Now Norlhtrn man with Southern principles be-
cause he is bidder for Southern votes When a
man asks Gen. Harrison for hs opinions on this
subject therefore, what right has he to complain il
he be referred TO Gen. llanison's uniform aud
hequeny reiterated opinions The opinions acl ed
upon by Gen. H. in 1920, he has since repeated in
1922 in letter to his constituents IN 1883 al Vim
ccnncs, in 1885 al Chevio in ls36 in letters 10 Mr..
S!oo OF New Orleans and to Mr.. Benien Of Georgia,
and in 1910 to Southern member OF Congress--at a
time when they unpopular with those whose
suifrages he coveted we'll as nov, under different
circumstances Could another answer render his opIn.
ions more explicit, add to their solemDily! No.
1t is apparent, therefore, that those who address
him these enquiries are not a1tuated by proper mo-
tyes,-hat they either ennucnced by a wish 10
annoy Gen. Hanison, by hope that they shall
be enabled, from some of the numerous replies
drawn from him, either by peryersion or mutation
change gifts language, 10 prejudice his cause and
Gestrov his brilliant ny, snprts
But then lie is in the hands Of a commtee-"a
prvy council,"as Mr. Richie calls it. This ground
Of objection is amusing when il comes froma sup
porter Of Adrew Jackson, who "in The hands"
of a similar committee Two three years before his
electon-a committee of which the celebrated Hen
~ Lee, he rericr and calamniaor of J6erson, was
the naster-spirl, and which acquired some hai
unenviabe celebrity the NaShriHe artitc ,caShing
committee, from the zeal and warmth with which il
defended Old Hickory from all aspe sions, and the
induslr, which it displayed in bedeeking him with all
the virtues in the Saints calendar. Now we sub
nit, that what right in Gen. Jackson cannot be
this marked difference in the two cases The Gu
cinnaii committee h-ve not undertaken The wsite-
ocashing process. They have published buIle-
lins in llarison's delence-no abored eulogy Of his
/ services-no exaggerated picture Of his virtues.
And what do they say, even in their reply 10 Miles
llotchkss, the organ Of The great Oswego Associa-
| tiou Do they saw thai Gen II ,rrison's uninious