Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-11-23

apprising me of what lie had done ddo"f
the time, ant befare IL 'cas published! Are
We to infer from this that he had given me no
ticc of his having dispatched his letter to the
enquirer in time to countermand IFS publ
cation, if / disapprovcd it: If so, he is ei.
tirely mistaken, for his letter to the Enquirer
was in the hands of the printer before ms pri-
yate lettcr.w was uritten: the letter which Is now
before me, being dated the Goth of August, the
former, the 9th of the saIne month. II hau
been apuriscd then of the precise character and
contents of his public letter, it was too late,
when I received the notice, To have arrested It's
publication. His private letter was written on
Sunday, August 9th. and received by me on
Monday, the very day, | believe, for have no
COPY of the paper containing it, on which Mr..
Clemens card was published in the Enquirer
II is thus demonstrated, from the face OF Mr..
Clemens statement" itself, that | never did
state to him that he was authorized to announce
to the public, through the columns of the press
or otherwise, that | declined to allow the use
of my maine in any way. in connection with
the pending Gubcrnatorial canvass in Virginia.
or that | would decline the nomination If ten
dcrcd.
But the same conclusion is equally well cs-
tablished By Mr.. C.'s course after ! reached
Wheeling. His letter addressed to Inc there,
and my reply toit, were published in the Wheel
ing papers on the very next day, not at my in
stance, but by the special request of Mr.. Gle
mems himself. When | sent him my reply,
through the hands of his friend, | had no ldca
that would ever see it in print, for the reason
that I supposed it must be very unsatisfactory
to him. diSclaimcd, indeed, all imputa-
ton Of his entering into an intrigue against
or acting treachcrouSlv towards me, but l ue-
clarcd explicitly that he was not justified, IN
my Judgment, in dcducing the inreffnre he had
done from our conversation at Grafton. let
it be remembered, that here again he treats
his conclusion Is 4 mere inference. VIZ: TIA !
authorized him to say that declined the use
of my name in any way, Though did not eT-
act(gsay So" i'll did not eractty say so, on 4
point on which exactneSs was of the last impor-
lance. Mr.. Clemens was not er1ctiy warranted
in affirming that | had said 50. But again: on
the evening of the dav on which he received
nv reply, Mr.. Clemens called at my room, and
found me engaged in conversation with several
friends, after a brief participation in which, he
said he wished to have q private interview with
me. We retired together to the piazza attach
cd to nv room at the 'Sprigg House. What
passed between us then is known only TO him
and to myself. lie said that he had received my
reply; that he had left the whole matter 10 me-,
andthat he was satisfied with il, though he would
have been gratified if could have remembered
the language afterwards imputed To me in his
statement to wit: that authorized him
to state nv position. 1t was then that re-
marked to him, that though | did not rcmcm-
Der having used that language, it was quite
probable that he was correct in his rccollec-
ton. AS | wished my position known by all;
that my complaint was not that he had
given publicity to my position, but that he had
wholly Inexperienced it. lie admitted most
uncouivocallv that he had committed a great
indiScrction, but protested that he had acted
from pure motives. The carncStnc>s OF his
protestations was such as to inspire me with 4
very poignant regret, that he had placed him.
self in such n dilemma. He said that I at least
had no cause to regret what had passed, for
that the publication of his letter in the In
%auircr," had elected many iiatterins compll-
ments to Inc, which otherwise would not have
been uttered. He inquired if | had seen the
copy of the fredericksburg Recorder which
he had left for me, pronouncinga most glowing
culogy upon me, 1.-THE text Of the editors dis
course being Mr.. Clemens letter.: | told him
that Mr.. Caldwell had handed it to me by his
request, and that | had read it. We concurrcd
as to the authorship of the pancgyrlc. He
also referred to n very complimentary notice OF
me in the Richmond Dispatch cmanating
from the graceful pen of my friend Baldwin,
| told him that | had read that too, that those
things were of course gratifying to ne. and
that it was not on my own account, but IN his,
that | regretted his indiscretion. This regret
was as warmly expressed as it was sincerely
felt. He concluded by saying that he would
probably not see Inc again, as he would take
the cars in the morning for the East, and that
he had called specially to say that our CORES
pondcnce would appear in the "lntcllisencer,
and Times" of the next morning. II did ap-
pear accordingly, but without comments. the
editors avcrring that they iorbore all comments
by special request. We parted that night with
out the slightest feelings Of unkindne>s on
either side, as | verify believe; certainly with
out 4 trace Of it on mine. have not seen Mr..
Clemens since. BY publishing my letter under
these circumstances, and also forwarding 1t to
the Enquirer" with a note expressing the
hope that the editors had no wish to do him
injustice. and asking its publication rs an act
of Justice to him, he fully endorsed its state
ment, and estoppcd himself, upon every
principle of law and reason, from saying
or insinuating that | had acted with dupli-
city towards him. | submit, then, that
from the admissions made by Mr.. Clemens in
his statement from those orally expressed
in Wheeling, and from those necessarily implied
from his course there, | am abundantlv justified
in regulating his authority to omlnit Inc As
he had done. lie compelled me to pursue that
course, and | rejoice to know, especially in
view Of subsequent occurrences, that while !
.-1.-.l ,,-o1c trnatn1 him with thn
greatest possible charity and tenderness. II
also results from these admissions, by words
and acts, that he had precluded himself from
raising any issue of veracity with me by his
Statement and that, consequently, it ought
not to be construed as making the effort. In
Justice to Mr.. Clemens, | repudiatc such a con-
s%truction altogether. ] am well persuaded that
he designed no such thing. lie intended, as
lawyers would say, to put in n plea of comics
sion and avoidance, not the common traverse.
So regarding it, ! have no objection to that line
of defence. Tdid not impute impure or cor
rlpt motives to him, at the inception of the
controversy; still less will do it now that he
has been so great n sufferer from it. But while
choose to take this favorable view of Mr..
Clemcns's conduct, ] am assured from various
quarters that his statement is understood aS
an impeachment of my %vcracity. ] iorcsaw
all this from the peculiar circumstance of his
position, and my own, and hence the great re-
~iuctancc with which | yielded to the earnest
suggestions of my friends in Charleston. twllcre
| happened to he when the statement was
published to forcgo my declared purpose of
making an immediate reply. | knew that
careless and superficial readers would he apt
to draw that conclusion from il, and that former
friends, whose friendship was turned into
dire hatred simply because | had placed
myself right before the public, would indus
triously propagate the idea, and even con
strue my silence into an admission of the
truth of the "Statcment," rs they chose to con-