Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1849-10-01

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il is desirable 10 have, I canno, BIZ lieve, even though they
had been met by no reply from any spuIce. And ] think
il highly pfobabls thai | stand. in the public estimation,
already fully indicated as TO all Of them. Some circum-
stances. however. are referred to as evidence Of my hav-
ing had knawledgeo Of the rumor in relsiinn 10 the al
legged defalca,ion Of Mr.. Osborne whilst ] favored his e.
lectirn, and Of my having received Information as 10 the
wishes Of the people Of Lynchburg that Ought 10 have in
dnccd q difeIent csufse from that psrsssd b. ina in ,he
election Of a President of The Company. which, in the alb.
sence of reply, nigh, possibly. by some. he regarded as
furnishing apparent %foundaiiun fr the charges made a
gainst me in those particulars. Conscious that have
done nothing IN the matter which ought 10 subject me In
The slightest censure, and having IL in my power. as |
believe, 10 remove all doubt. If any exists. as IN the pro
pretty Of my whole copduc, in the Transaction, I have
though, that justice TO myself, and TO others, perhaps re.
offending the public taste. by aiding in giving perhap rs too
much prominence 10 The affair, and in attaching To the
charges an Importance which they may no, be thought
o possess, ] shall briefly notice each Of them.
As to the first. The proceedings Of he Council at
their Two several meetings must. ! think, satisfy every
impartial mind on this head. And, even surprising that
] had entertained any soch feelings Of hostility 10 Col.
Bondurant or Mr.. Cabell as might possibly bias my
judgment in the election, every honorable man must re-
cognize the ~proprieiy Of tho course which ! adopted, to
wit 10 lnfurm those whom | expected to represent, Of
my own preference, and TO request Of them that II they
desired their vote 10 be given for Col. Bondnrant. they
would either appoint another proxy or instruct me az 10
heir wishes. To show tina. | used the proper efforts to
have this Information given; ard that it was given, | re-
fer to the letter of Mr.. Deane.
As to the second. l, is true that Mr.. Thomas o. AGREE,
one OF the members of the Council, was present at the e.
lection. IL is true, also, that we spoke to each other,
and entered into some conversation; but il is not true that
he said any Thing TO me. in reference To the election, or
The persons in nomination. lie is, presume, the indidviu-
al 10 whom the "Whig'' has reference. His letter will
accompany this communication. Mr.. AGREE is, believe,
The only member Of the Council who was at the election.
There was, however, another member in tIlecity about
the time of The election, and 10 exclude the idea which
might possibly be entertained by some who may have
known OF his being in the city al the time, that he made
some communication to me on the subject. and might be
the person referred to by the "Whig," | send his letter
also. also forward the statement Of the President Of
The Council, showing that received no communication
whatever from him on the subject other than what |
stated in my letter Of the l7th ofJply.
As 10 III. third. The proceedings Of The Council VI the
l9'h July show that at the time Of appointing heir Proxy,
no reference was made as To the policy desired in relation
To 'hetinfiher prosecution Of the James River and Kama
wha improvement. From The course, however, hereto
lore pursued by the people Of Lynchburg. aud from infoI-
inaiioH derived, from Intercourse with the stockholders
and citizens If that place on former occasions, had rea-
son 10 believe they were in favor Of extending The canal
as lar as 10 I ovington, and would not myself have been
willing to select as President of the Company one whom
Knew to be IN fdvor Of stopping it short of that pint.
AS l nave beiore remarked, IN my letter 10 the "Nhig,"
stated that. DESTROYS of being informed as 10 the views
oi Mr.. Osborne, in relation to the prosecution Of the i'm
%provement, | had some time before the election consul.
ted, on this subject, gentlemen friendly 10 his election,
aud supposed To be acquainted with his sentiments, and
had been informed by them he was in favor Of the exIeu-
sion OF the canal, as far as to Covington, aud Of leaving
the Company u~ncommilted as to lis future policy in re
la'Ion TO the further prosecution of this work. About the
date OF my letter TO the 'ANhig," MIR. Osborne also ad-
dressed a card To the editors, in which he states, among
other things, tina, in reply to those desiring him to be a
candidate, no had said that "he feared he might differ
WIN the present Board as to the policy to be pursued in
me further prosecution of this improvement This pas
sage is relied on by the editors Of the Wing, for the pur-
pose of showing that Mr.. Osborne was opposed to the
further extension Of The canal. By a reference to Mr..
osborne's card, it will be also seen, however, that he
states that he distinctly informed the gentlemen desiring
lin 10 become a candidate, that if he went into the office,
he must go u~ntrammelled as to any particular course
Of policy" After the publication of my letter, Mr.. Os-
borne published another card. in which he succinc,ly
states, so FAR as relates 10 this matter, that my views Of
his opinions "were in the main correct" In one Of the
editorials of the "Whig," no, before mentioned. and not
now bei"re me, these Two cards are contrasted with each
other, aud my letter. and an effort is made to show that
they are irreconcilable. do not perceive that there is any
inconsistency in the two statements Of Mr.. Osborne, but
upon the snpposition that that there was, it will be seen
that there is nothing in either which tendsi in the slightest
degree to sustain the charge against me, or 10 impeach
my statement. The substance Of the charge, SO far as it
impules improper conduct TO me, is that ! knew MI. o.
borne to be opposed to the further extension Of the canal,
and voted for him, though | also knew that those repre-
scented were IN favor of it. | repeat that | sought iDfor-
nation on the subject from several gentlemen and receiv-
ed from them the replies before mentioned. In this Con-
necton | refer to the letter of Mr.. J. j. London.
As u the fourth As il is not possible for me to prove
the negative and to show that whilst | favored the cleo
ton Of MIR. Osborne | did not know Of The existence of the
rumor of his alleged deialcation, | might stand fully vim
Dictated by the mere declaration that The insinuatio is
without any foundation in trnth. The public will per
ceive that this forms no part of The original charges pre-
terred against me, but is brought forward by the editors
in their reply To my letter, rather by way Of insinuation
han Of direct charge and as an apology to the public
for failing to withdraw the imputa,ions upon my motives
made in their first editorial on the subject. 1t will be
seen that in the first article of the "NNhig" in which the
assault upon me is commenced, the improperly Of con
dnct imputed TO me was that | had endeavored to procure
the election Of Mr.. Osborne whom ! knew to be hostile
to the further extension of the canal, and this in viola
ton OF a pledge. known to exist, on the part OF the peo-
pie oil Lynchburg. that they would do nothing to oppose
1t and that had voted against Col. Bondu ant whilst
those l represented were VIGOROUSLY in his favor. 1t will
be seen also, that IN accounting for the course pursued by
Mr.. Baxter and others acting with him, it is stated that
they were willing to take Judge Mason, whose opinions
were unknown, "on the ground that one who might pos
sibly be their friend. was preferable 10 one who was Ger
ialnly their enemy. Hostility on the part Of Mr.. Osborne
TO the extension of the canal is what. according 10 the
statement, made ii so desirable to procure his defeat and
my supp 1T OF one 'bitteriy opposed" TO the extension OF
the canal under the circumstances before mentioned, in
preference 10 Col Bondutant, is made the groundwork
Of the assault upon me.
In a subsequent article of the Wing. however, this in
situation is made to assume the shape of distinct charge,
and Is Tade the foundation for others, until il is at last
charged that advocated the election of Mr.. OsbuIne be-