Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1856-05-23

| be no dispute OH that question: but ol"ei I,arr,.
will come up, sir. which Will be oil So'tl' Grnvcniiu,
| should pronounce upon. Do ynu mean 10 l.'i III b
these electors without letting them know WIFI i
the issues in this election fuuwould nave ncrni,
| in such an event, one one side advuculh, ,h
| views and another :hc other side auVoca'a ,n,
contrary | think that gentlemen upon ren. In
must say that il would be fatal to our ion,o
tai TO our success here, to adjourn with ING ,nrp
Of resolution endorsing Fillmore ana @ nssnrod
Let me say, in regard to our prospects, ,ht hin,
if YOU 90 and meet the enemy man To Ii"i, - vii
boldly calamity and rcsouely, that our hin hin
be certain aud now is the time we are 10 Vii 40 .,
in Virginia. Ihave no doubt but that we sn", NV
by taking the proper steps. 1t was Teia ,,a mads
gentleman who has been up before, lna .,a before
| better f,,ht last time than did ut any 'n'o r he
We poed fourteen thousand more votes .',d nbuu
| longed to the old Wing party. They Poi w,
| 60, 900 and We polled $4,000. lLoud enoe'' w,
ought to make bold fight, for another onJ if W,
have been the minority party in Virginia "' f,r RI,
exhibit any lack of vieor in our prtpa:a'o c;ve m
| contest. we are beaten in the beginning VI r,oL,
this committee; and if they say it Is oel'et ,,,ntee
no report, lot it be Let us have Inc nsces
however and let them determine whether u "
| sary to make report or not ,, that =
| Mr.. McCuE:-i concur with the gentleman tnI, -.
COMMITTEES will be necessary but sir, let 10 It ma
ourselves into a committee of the whole anu an,
| sir, nut forth platform upon which we an
stand--a platform upon which the whole An'e' h
psople can stand; and lot that platform DC W. az"
fh,io ,vnrs. ..rhnt we stand upon the Constitution
the compromise of the Constitution, Willard fi'''''o''
and Andrew Jackson Donelson." iCheerS'l
| Mr. GII.MER:-Good; 20 for that, anyhow. h
! Mr.. McCuE:-Thut is a platform broad en"uGh
long enough for us all to stand upon aiiu Il" W." nv
live in this country. We have not come mere OIL, ~
the purpose OF considering anything III reiersn De-,
thnt miserable Governor of ours in the city OF lt'cI
mond, Henry a. WISE want none, none to cons'u
ar Henry A. Wise, or any proposition when ne .'en
have urged against the American party. fla'lVfh';
are useful things when you have nen vi s'eau'a'
priuciples to stand upon them. When you nave mel
who present many different phases rs ms mai
Wise does, platforms are useless things-they are
useless when You have such men as Pierce and wise
whose sentiments upon the slavery question are ho'
known to tue American people When you nave
such men az Willard Fillmore, whose sentiments upon
this subject are known to the world, and whose ca.
reer is set down model worthy to be initiated ny
the greatest men Of any country, we want mons. No.
gentlemen, let rely upon ourselves; let us 70 into
this fight upon this platforms:
Let us strike for our altars and our hires
God and native land.
loud and long continued checrs.)
Col. ASUERsoE-As the gentleman from Richmond
city Mr.. Maupin,) objects to the withdrawal OF my
resolution, withdraw my motion to withdraw IT, l
have never seen any good done in committee oil the
whole in ny life. have always known business OF
this kind to be better prepared in committee room,
where they can sit down and deliberate quietly
There will be very little difficulty in revising their
action. will make another remark, sir. have been
misunderstood in the illusions which made 10 inc
Governor alluded to him in connection witt sys'
tenn which he himl II had inauSuruted-tha Is, the
system of universal prescription, which his party
throughout the Stste are eEdeavGrlDg ~ carry out
In the election uf county officers, now, .nr the Ers'
time an attempt is being made to apply ihls sy"'eh'.
Now for the first tins, the intention openly aFowcd
in pursuance Of recommendation enanatng IN high
place to carry out this system, with reference 10 tho
American party in every grade of offices III thb gt
of the people Of Virginia II ID designed to eaciule
the American party from all offices III The state II
a creson like this is not OF sufficient Importance lot
the confederation OF this Convention, cannot imagine
what Is. hoYa Ibis Convention will unite with Inc
in pronouncing agailst sc. system.
The question on the adoption o. t!:9 resolution was
put and carried. The President appointed COMMIT
lee of thirteen, Of which the Hon. Alexander It. H.
Stuart was chairman.
Mr.. srgAa1, in obedience to loud calls frola all
parts of tn. hail. dseeLoe4 the platform, and address
ed the Convention as follows. -:tr. President anu
gentlemen of the Conventional beg you t. fc"ePt
nv cordial thanks for the compliment when you
have besLcEcd upon Inc in inviting me TO address
you. wish that Wes prepared to deliver an al
dress worthy Of this occ6sidb tE Of this enlighten
ed audience but have to acknowledge E.,aelf On.
tireiy uupfer AIRED; aud even If had the ability,
should not Erve the time, without trespassllS upon
the patience OF this CcnyeutG now, TO present the
views which you'd Ike TO er6Dlt &c sEetn: Inc
sues which divide the co7ntry, lies before me. Inc
difficulty would be- not in fiuGIg material to present
NOT in determining the mode in wiGii that material
should be used, but the difficulty arises out CT TIE
very abundance Of the causes Of complaint when
-. have against our adversares, aud the abundance
of sYyLueDts BY which we could sustain the cause
in which We s.c :cw engaged. | would Ike, II
had the time TO eddrsss yC ucon the history OF par
ties that existed from tl:e tnuhdatG. x lbs govern
r;eut down tn the present me. you'd like 10 shC%
4 ,,,l, t,urptAS hail .II nr.
panized. \ wGul; .,,.e to show tue great missions
which they have been cs4.c:, non to fulfil aud to
sL,w that when they have successfully NJ He'd Their
MISSIONS, t!:ey died away, aud gave pace 70 3thFs
wh% are TO 1ry ~ s Pnrs "nr S o Of S
country. But, gentlemen, my iime rg:!d tail mt
Alt!,uagE L you'd be important 20 rrfe:stshG he
political iss1es u5=t divide the country yet
must forego this nppurlLTily Gf giving my views
UPON them. aud address mysslr to e4e qF two to.
pcs which lie before nee. | will prein,ss il.at
the compliment which has been beloved upon me-
IS net &c Gyse-I regard the fact OF my being called
upon by .his CVGysgtion to address them as ell
tir.ly oyirl 20 the pecriisr TsqtIons which have
sustained to the dstingaisUee nCE-Ees Of :he Anne
Iicau parry and that under those circuTtstaEces,
might be prepared to bear some testimony to bis
patriotism and his high lofty qualities 4 shall, then'
Commence the remarks which prupGss 70 submit to
70 ufrom the time of my official CONJUNCTION with Mr..
Fillmore. II WAS in the month OF Septenber' isao,
that was called into the national cOunclls unex-
pcctadly 10 myself was summoned 10 taAs seat IN
The Cstire cMr. Fillmore You all recol!ect the con
dton Of tue CO., ntry It .hst tne' you recolasc' we
treat ouestions w:;Gh aS:.sieG IT, cG"ntry You
recol.ct the important topics which lad teer GA
cussed in the Congress of tbs United States TIE Srcht
measures which hud then been debated th0rei you
recolIect about that time our indignation at The tGet
ti.e gIe; measures of pacication which had been
introduced by Ms. Llsr had been Defeated you re-
collect The gloom which orsrsr.cG the'whoe country
the deep feeling which agated tbs PeLFG; s. well us
the leaders Of the people you rocoileGt 'hh' SGer
the eys Of the future of that great oil weit nenre
the count lie. even the humblest citizen ie that
the institutions Gu. country were IN danger lhese
measures we're renewed. nc. l. such violent lorms
rs they were originally submittud " ,ir. tIay, but
brought forward independent pTop"sI'tonA' eIs'
Lfa,ed in different bills but tue whole series OF meas
one system Of distractions which were
urged upon the count Ev the combined wisdom OF the
leaders of the eocratiG vel ~ the wing party. IL
was question of doubt whether these measu'cc would
secure the sanction of the Congress OF the lh'tea
States and many Entertained serious Tears whehGr'
thew should Laca through the two houses ot Con-
yress they would receive .;e Executive SANCTION
The country filled With :uro:s az. even 1t these
bills were passed they would receive IN EtecvtI2e
Veto TO the call made upon Inc, gave qualified
answer IN tie sirlnaiye. agreed to accept condi.
tionaIly; agreed tlat would 90 in and hold an in.
teryiew with the President and tlGt that would de-
termne whether would participate ~ his tEeoutve
Council. Accordingly vent to washington, IT.
tie before the middle Of September, 1891. On my
way to the city heard the news that Tho Fugitive
slave bill had passed, and that it about this tihu
Eer- presented to the Executive for his signature.
Crest rLepaiess felt among the passengers 40 to
what would lie ;ie result of that measure in the
hands of the Executiye On Re evening OF M arrl
val | had ar interview with tue Grssi!ent, which
lasted about two hours. And what was i.G .e-.,lt'
I fuund, felluw-citizeus. what I expected to
aud-l;.es there was no faltering, that there
was no waverirs, that there was no doubt rest
ing upon his MUD as &c liz constitutional duty
| saw that he had perfectly ,c!aa: perception
,,f the position in which he was placed.
from lis cyn declarations that he WIS perfectly
nppriseG that VIXEN he put his signature to
that bill he signed bis own BocsI death warrant
lie felt that, in the tlen excited cqu";t;ons of the
oouory, the fixing Of bis signature 10 tkEt tin
eouivaiout iG kia own abandonment Of his political
In relation u the succession 70 the pces: