Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-02-09


A LETTER TO c. w. Russell, ESQ, OF WHEEL
1sG.-In the last number of the Richmond En-
au;rsr. we find letter to Chas. w. Russell, Esq
of this city in answer to letter of Mr.. Russels,
commenting on Gov. Wise's Tammany letter.
written some tine ago, for the columns of fight
ing Master Pryor's Richmond South. We havo
not seen Mr.. Russel's letter, and have no means
of knowing its tenor, save as we gather 1t
from the few extracts which this review OF
of it embraces Mr.. Pryor seems to have been
immensely tickled with Mr.. Russel's letter, for
he heralds it to his readers the production OF
San eminent Virginia" Statesman. We haveno
doubt it was good lettcr-for every one who
knows Mr. Russell, knows that he is man
who can write good letter. But we apPre-
bend from the extracts which are quoted, as
well as from Mr.. fighting Master Pryor's tre-
mendous endorsement of it, that it must have
been most decidedly ultra in its tone. The
comment upon it is long-bristling with quota
tions innumerable from public and private docu-
ments, and occasionally turning from these to
level sharp shot direct at Mr.. Russell Speak
ing Of Mr.. Russel's allegations concerning Gov.
Wise, this writer says:
Stlall not aIIetnp L 10 cIl4uIS lulO IhS OIAhS9
which have led you to commit these errors
Apart from such consideration, you have as
| sumed before the public the responsibility of
lrcprehending the conduct OF man who enjoys
high trust committed to him by the people OF
Virginia. You have cited him before the tribu-
nal ofpublic opinion, to charge him with hay-
ing misused the influence attaching to his posi-
ton. You charge, that by having published an
unofficial expression of individual opinion on q
question of public morals and public policy, he
has displayed tenacity of adherence to mere
theoretical abstraction, which has seriously mis-
led his Judgment on practical question of mo-
mentous interest to his party and his State
that he has thereby committed an act which
tends to ieopardize the interests Of both; and
that he has not been restrained from such
course of conduct "by any tenderness for the
anxieties of generous people who exalted him
to his present station, or by any reluctance TO
witness or to cause the eXultation OF their enc
mics"
Such is the substance of the charge contained
in your letter, and such the mildest form of
statement ofwhich it is susceptible. The accu-
sation is grave one. 1t amounts to nothing
less than this: that a statesman, who, during
quarter Of a century, has been almost uninter-
ruptedly employed in various positions OF high
national trust, has, after this length of experi-
ence, exhibited mental deficiency dangerous
to the public interests necessarily contlded IN
part to his guardianship by his present official
SIauOn, lou, SIT, make l1lS CuaTSc through
the medium of an organ of the metropolitan
press of Virginia, which heralds your accusation
as the production of an "eminent Virginia states
man." Permit to suggest such an accusation
should have be,n prepared with such cautious
scrutiny of all the circumstances ofthe case as
to leave no doubt whatever concerning the ac-
curacy of the recital, and accompanied by such
sufficiency of citation, illustration and argu-
gurnent as to leave before the public no mate
rial point entirely dependent on mere state
ment OF fact or of opinion expressed by the ac-
cuser 1t remains for the public TO decide
whether you have thus fulfilled grave respon-
sibility voluntarily assumed, or whether Gas
am bold to assert, without fear of refutation)
you have made this charge carecsSly, without
study and without deliberations, sufficient to in
form you accurate Of the facts involved, or to
instruct you i'll the principles to be considered
In conclusion, the writor offers 90 demonstrate
the following:
LIST. That the Convention of Kansas does, by
L its schedule annexed to and made part of the
/ ConstitutiOn. specifically deny its own authors
Ity to proclaim Constitution unsanctioned by
popular ratification.
I'd. That the mode of of ratification attempt
ed, is itself unsanctioned by any principle of re-
publican faith, or any precedent of republican
history.
Sd. That this reflection applies as forcibly to
the Slavery clause as to any other clause off
| Lecompton Constitution.
4th. That Governor Wise's dcnunciaton of
this ant-republican method by which it has
been attempted to fost on the people of Kansas
Constitution, adopted neither by a vote of tho
Convention, nor by vote of the people, is en-
trely consistent with the whole tenor of his let
ter of November last.
5th That an immediate acceptance Ly Con-
gross of the Lecompton Constitution, would in
Ivolve the grossest act Of congressional nterven-
/ ton in the domestic affairs of Kansas; that it
would impose upon Kansas-an anti-republican
form of government, by the mere force OF an UNI
constional exercise ofarbitrary power.
9Th That any such step would necessarily
prove the severest blow to the interests of the
Southern States, and to the entire democratic
party.
| JonS MtrcnELI TURNED Know THING
Irish John Mitchell, known for his attempts
once to get up a rebellion in Old Ireland, and
more recently for his attempts to get up Sepoy
sympathy in this country, has of late turned up
lin a (for him) new and eccentric character, viz:
a regular live Know Nothing, and is now aiding
and abetting the most radical phase "sam" ever
4 assumed Before going further, it may be as
roll f foil ,,, roo a, fIof ,,atriOF Tob, 10 non,