The North-Carolinian., 1851-10-18
From the Portland Eastern Argus Oct L.
GENERAL SCOrT'S LETTER.

GENERAL SCOTS LETTER.
Gen. Scott had written letter to some
body in Pennsylvania, declining to give his
opinions on the great questions of the day.
The letter itself is SO remarkable that we
deem it worth while to place it Oh record
in our columns
WASHINGTON. March 26, 1851.
Sit have received your letter (mark-
ed . contidential'') in which, after COM
mitting the error of supposng me to be
:. fully before the country as the wng
candidate for the presidency" you pro.
ceed to interrosate me on many points of
grave public interest.
Permit me to say that, considering we
shall probably. only ha, e a whis candidate
tor the presidency through the national
convention, and that cannot be the nomi-
nee except by the force Of the unsolicited
partiai'ty OF large masses of my country
men
Considering. also, that, if my character
or principles be not already known, it
would now be idle to attempt to supply
the deficient information by mere paper
professTons of .wisdofn ansf svss1"e,~4"aac
for the OCCASION
And considering that. il l answer your
queries, | must 90 on. and answer others
already before me, as we'll as the long
series that would inevitably follow, to the
disgust of the public
[ beg permission to close this acknowl-
edgement of your letter by subscribing
myself, with great respect &c,
WINFIELD SCOTT.
P. s. must add that write and say
nothing on public subjects which am un;
willing to see published.
The General has no more mercy on the
English language than upon the enemy ir
the heat If battle. We wonder that while
he was penning the above the ghost oi
Lindiey Murray had not appeared ami
called for ''quarter.''
He talks of .'mere paper rofessions o
wisdom aud virtue,'' and declines furn ish
ing them to his correspondent. We doubt.
however, whether an honest, straight
forward. manly expressions of opinion
upon the various exciting topics Of the
day, and upon which the two great parties
are divided. would have been particular
~ heinous offence. Time was.when Gen.
Scott had a penchant for tetter-WrIting.
His pen was ready at a minutes warning
upon any subject. But he has burned his
fingers SO often with 'hasty plates ol
soup,'' that we presume he has determined d
hereafter to keep silent; or-which IS more
likely such men as Seward having taken
him in keeping. and. knowing his leak
iness, have ordered him to be mum. Very
likely it is a reaewal Of the committeeshi p
that Gagged poor old General Harrison.
..There is but one step from the sublime
to the redicuIous,'' and General Scott has
| taken that step.
n euera1, wrnes- correspondent,
ssthe compromise measures are vital to the
peace Of the Union; as you are a candidate
tor the presidency. will you say what your
opinion Of those measures is?'
mo sir,' responds the General. "Lool
to my character or principles.
..Wel, will you be good enough to tel
US what you think of the fugitive-slave Law
or the tariff? You see. General, we wan
to know for ,chat as welI as for ,Ohon, y.
vote. Neither your past character no
principles. enlishten US on these points.
.'Sir, con sider-'ng sundry objections.
shall answer nothing.'
This game Of stupidity has been playe'
By two whig generals with success, and :
third one thinks he can win in the sam
way. lie will find himself mistaken.
lie shows excellent good sense, by thu
way. in one paragraph; for he ,ays if h.
were to answer the queries put to him. ]
would be $40 the disgust Of The pubic.
We have not the slightest doubt Of It.
His postscript is magnanimous. nav
ing declined saving anything, he oo'"'
: avows that he is perfectly willing to nav
n what he writes and says psbi'sheo' e.