Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-02-01
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP

York Herald, who caricatured for that journal
the Petersburg speech of Mr.. Wise, vsntured
after that gentleman in Charlottesville when
he recently addressed the people there, and
publishes in the Herald still another wretched
caricature of that speech. There are points
in the personal controversy, which the Her.
aid, funnily epppgh, seeks to fasten upon
Mr.. Wise, which should be known to the
public as stated by the friends Of that gentle
man, and which, We may not inappropriately
add, II Is very clear he himself regards as be-
ing worthy of hardly as much attention at his
hands as would be the pertinacious buzsine of
fly around his nose. That the Stars readers
may get at the gist of this controversy, as be.
fore remarked, We herewith append the Rich.
mond Enquirsr's last notice of it, substituting
respectful terms fer the epithsts and person ii
disrespect to which the editor treats the fspor
ter, whose personal bearing in this city, we
have to say, has not been such as to warrant
them:
"That the influence Of the New York Herald
has been enlisted in the present canvass in
this State, and that its columns are daily filed
| with denuncistions Of Mr.. Wise and the Dem.
ocratic party Of Virginia, are facts with which
the public are sufficiently familiar. But, per-
haps 1t is not 80 we'll known to the good people
| of this Commonwealth, that the politicians of
New York, of which the Herald is the corrupt
instrument and the mercenary mOuthpiece,
have dispatched hi'her an agent to follow Mr.
Wise through the State, and TO misrepresent
his speeches and traduce his character. The
individual deputed for this work made his
first appearance ia Petersburg, but in cOnse.
quence Ut en- occurrence to which We shall
hereafter advert he threw up his commission
and retreated 10 Washington Reprimanded
no doubt by his employers for his inglorious
flight from the field, and encouraged by the
promise of larger stipend, he re-cOllected
| all his shattered energies, and encountered
Dir. Wise again In the town of Charlottesville
| In the couSse of his speech at that Place, Mr.
Wise disclosed the fact that be was logged
| through the State BIZ an emissary from New
York, AMI he detailed the circumstances of
his interview with him in Petersburg The
indignation of the auditory was excited to
| such a pitch, that the cry arose "put h,,n
| ont, put him Out," and but for the inter-
position of Mr.. Wise, he would have been
thrust from the house. Now mark his subse-
quent conduct. Thu sday the day after this
| occurrence, Mr.. Wise left Charlottesville to
fulfil an appointment in Greene SATURDAY. q
card appears in the Wing paper of Charlottes.
| vile, with the subscription of Ethan Allen
| which represents that said Ethan Allen" is
| the unlucky envoy from the Herald office In
| th card, Mr. Ethan Allen informs the
people of Virginia, that Henry A Wise had
| spoken falsely and had done other naughty
| things unbecoming gentleman {! Protesting
| that 1t Is not our purpose to betray the least
| respect for Mr.. Ethan Allen or considera-
ton for his word, we will state that so far as
his narrative of the interview with Mr.. Wise
| In Pe.ersburg-Gt which the writer was pres
| ent-impugns the courtesy or honor of Mr.
| Wise, it is wilfully and maliciously false.
| The approaches Of the gentleman were ed
with dignity and reserve, but with poIiteness
| That the allusiOn to his presence in the meet
| ing at Petersburg, was every way proper and
| legitimate, will be attested by The auditory
without distinction Of party. Yet be says
| he took the allusion as An insult and de.
manded an explanation, to which Mr. Wise
replied that he had no apology to offer
/ And there the matter was left; SO that, accord
| ing to his own statement, he q ietly submitted
to an insult, aggravated by refusal of atone
| ment But it Is not true that he demanded
an ezplaHatiCR. lie came into Mr.. Wise:
| room, after the speech, not with a straightfor
| ward and peremptory demand of satisfac ton
but with the purpose of arguing and disput.
ing about the matter. He betrayed feeling
| OF uneasine<s, and an anxiety for some con.
| cession from Mr.. Wise, but he manifested no
resentment and no disposition to exact repair
! alton tor the offence Of which he complains.
i We do not mean TO say that Mr.. ETHAN Al
len" Is not man Of spirit; the hectoring tone
| OF his card in the Charlottesville ddUocate ad
monishes Us Of the consequences of any such
imputation; but we DO afiI II that his denean
| or In Petersburg was not 50 defiant and belli.
cose as be would have the world believe.
| Mr.. Ethan Allen" incurs no hazard in
Safeguarding Mr.. Wise. There was no use
in his running ont Of the State, before the
publication OF his manifesto Ii does not fol
low, because the people of Charlottesville
wanted TO eject him from their presence. that
gentlemen viii resent his Spurious publica.
lions BIT. W. will hardly be diverted from the
\ Canvass by this Parthian arrow from him
The Army and Navy.-From present ap.
pearances, Congress will do nothing in the
balance Of the current session in the way OF
increasing the efficiency of these two SO i'm.
portant branches of the public service We
need lot expatiste upon the pressing necessity
for prompt and Efficient legislation on both
these matters, as it ia admitted by every
| member, and has been urged by the differ
| emit administrations IN power in the course OF
the last seven years. The condition Of the
frontier, too, tells the tale in language that
| must sink deep into the minds Of all our fel-
| low citizens VINO are blessed with hearts to
feel for the sufferings of those who cannot be
| protected by the administrative branch Of the
| Government, only because Congress have lit.
tie time TO p operly dispose of real business in
| their spells of relaxation between their pc
riodical rides on hobbies. At present, we
see but very little prospect for the c>nsum
nation of any real business whatever this
| session, except under the screw of the previous
question, and with, say, half the members al
most wholly ignorant of what Is 20 be the
effect Of their respective votes.
ssponsibih y Of Government for acts Of
III Authorized Agents. - In settling cases
wherein such questions arse, we hear that the
| Government accounting officers hold that o