Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-10-07
$ ge &e1ttine(:
w 90 D S L O c. K.
OCTOBER 7, lS47.
1.-THE TRUE ISSUE"

lie Rue ISSOE."
1t seems that the Senior editor Of the Har-
risonburg Republican cannot or will not IN
derstand what he terms 'sthe true issue be-
tween u.s." In the. Republican of the 18th
inst, the tissue" is correctly stated; in that
paper of Saturday last it's made out quite diff
ferently. In the former. the proposition is, that
"the decision of the Mexican council of gov
made known at the Department of State be-
fore the order was made for our army to move
from Corpus Chrst;' but in the latter it is
grossly (though In charity we must believe
ignoraetly) perverted, and is made to read thus:
1.-The rejection of MIR. Slidell was kno,ca a,
the Department of State before the order to
march the army from Corpus Christi was
given;" and having thus misrepresented our
language, the Solomon of the Republican
gravely concludes that ''the mere opinion of
MIR. Slidell that he would not be received as
early as Dec. lS45," is not ''proof that he was
afterwards rejected on the 2lst of March,
1876" With our article of the 9th, and that
of the Republican Of the 18th ul,. before us,
we are ''really so simple as to believe,' that
conclusion such as the above, could not have
emenated from the brain Of the intelligent and
unprejudced senior editor of the Republican
he must have been under the influence of some
al at rbo,, bot
Gle in his last paper We can very easily dis
criminate between ''the decision of the Next
can council Of government, not to rece;re our
minister" in December, AS. and his formal
rejection, by that same council Of government,
in March, l846,; and if the editor will read our
article of the 9th nit. again, he will see that
we had particular reference to the 'decision"
of the Mexican government ''not oreeeive oar
minister" The editor says it was ''the mere
opinion of Mr.. Slidell that he would not be re-
ceived." Not SO: Mr.. Sidell gave the ode
cision" of the Mexican government not to &C
knowledge him in his official capacity, In an
official letter to the Secretary of State. We
said nothing about formal rejection, nor did
Mr. Slidell, in the letter referred to. Is ''the
editor really SO simple" as not to be able to
discriminate between the tissue" as stated in
his paper of the 18th ut. and that made out by
him in the Republican of the I'd inst? We
cannot believe him to be SO uerdant as that;
nor will our good opinion of him permit US
10 believe that he has sciJidly msrepresented
u.s. 1t must be recolected that the editor has
been from home; and that he has no doubt had
to charge his memory with SO many important
matters tina, he really" forgot what he had
previously written upon the subject. Let that
pass, then; out let him not, after this, charge
upon US the culpability of Ignorance, or will
full blindness in regard to the facts"
With regard to the ':most senseless ques-
tom which we propounded to the editor, viz:
''Will the editor (of the Republican, under
take to prore, that had not the army been or
JereG to the Texan frontier, the Mexicans
would not have invaded Texas" we shall
say only few words. The editor says that
he sis not quite so green" as ''to undertake
to prove such thing as negative" Now,
the reader will perceive that he did attempt
to proue that the removal of the army from
Corpus Christi was the cause of the war; and
it follows as a corollary, that had not the army
been removed, there would not have been war;
Does not the talented senior of the Republican
know, that the affirmative and Negative of
proposition cannot both be false at the same
time? From what author did the editor learn
such logic as this? According to reason and
common sense, and sound logic, if the war was
caused by the march Of the army from Corpus
Christi, as the editor gratuitously assumes.
then it must follow, that had the army remain
ed at Corpus Christi, there would have been
no war. The editor is mot quite SO green" as
to undertake to prone that had not the army
been ordered to march to the Texan frontier,
the Mexicans would not have invaded Texas -
but he is REALLY so simple as to believe" the