Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1858-08-17
From the Rana,ohG Republican
Mr.. Letcher and DIR. Ruffher's Pamphie'
tE Again.

MFs Letcher and Dr. Runners dmPhie
@ Again. 4
Feltoa0 Citizens Of Virginia:
Since my statement of facts concerning my
pamphlet on slavery was printed, l have re
ceived letter and copies of some printed ar
tices on the subject from Lexington, Va, where
the pamphlet originated.
In the "Valley STAR" the democratic paper o
that place, an article under the editorial heac
says, in reference to the Richmond Enquirers
construction of Mr. Letcher's letter,-"Dr. Ruff
ner is too well known in this community tc
have any imputaiion of fraud or forgery put up
on him by any of our citizens. 1h@t mr. Letche'
intended no such imputation, zoe haze the 0ery
best mems of knoWing"
Now, although Mr.. Letcher's letter was con.
strued by others as well as by myself, in the
sense of dishonorable imputation on my con-
duct in that publication, yet since he publicly
disavows any such mputation, cIieertully &C
cept the disayowa $, far as that point Is con-
cerned, ali ground .ot controversy between ue is
removed.
l wish the article in the Valley Star had been
equally satisfactory in the following paragraph.
The writer says,-"There was nothing extreme
| ly wonderful in material 0aridnce between a
speech delivered in Feb'y and an essay printed
in the following September, the speech Lot hav-
ing been written out before delivery; and If DR..
Ruffner had been inclined to find fault with those
who discovered and asserted the variance, we
presume he would have done it at the time AIR.
Letcher and other gentlemen declined on that
ground to subscribe to the expenses Of the PAM
phlet."
This paragraph modifes considerably the as
sertion in Mr.. Letcher's letter, that my pam
phlet contained $50 many exceptiona6le things
not in the speech | was requested TO publish,
that he and the 10 other gentlemen with per-
haps one exception refused to contribute 10 the
cost" Still the paragraph (unintentionally, pre-
sume) misrepresents the facts of the case. Ii
enormously assumes that was requested to pub
fish the speech merely; that was informed by
Mr.. Letcher and others, that they declined to
subscribe to the expense on the ground OF ina
terial variance" between the pamphlet ard the
speech, and that applied to them to subscribe, u
after the pamphlet was published &c.
But in fact they requested me to present to
the public, not simply the speech, but 1.-THE whole
argument" in favor OF removing the negro pop
uation from West Virginia, and they SUBJ
scribed written obligation to share the expense,
before consented to publish. This paper was
left with one OF the sgners (not Mr. Letcher)
and when, some time after the pamphlet was
published, | enQuired for it, this gentleman told
me that another had gotten it out his hands,
requested that it might be found, as the prin-
ter had called for the amount of his bill (nearly
5000. | waited a short time for the paper, and
hearing nothing of it, | paid the bill myself ;
and suspectiDg that for some reasons unknown
to me, portion of the subscribers We're unwill-
ing to pay, | said nothing anu heard nothing
more of the matter. have now received au-
thentic information, that several OF the subscri-
bers called on the printer to pay their quotas,
but were told that had paid the bill, and was
unwilling to receive assistance. This report may
have prevented Others from offering to pay
Who or how many besides Mr.. Letcher declined
to pay, because the pamphlet varied from the
speech. l know not. But this know, that the
pamphlet went forth with their letter requesting
the publication on its front, and that not one OF
them ever publicly or to me, objected to its
tents. or Withdrew from it the sanction OF his
name until Mr. Letcher's letter was published
some weeks ago.
That the pamphlet, written under excitement
produced by long debate, contains some cpl
thets and phrases concerning slavery rather
harsh and coarse readily admit. saw after
the pamphlet came out, that they were in bad
taste. was not surprised to see that the enc
mics of our scheme selected these, some or 6
in number, as specimens OF the whole pamphlet
of 40 octave pages, and used them as texts tor
their vituperation of the whole work. This was
easier than to answer the arguments, which Mir.
Letcher and the other 10 gentlemen pronounced
to be uuanswerable, and which none OF the dough-
ty assailants ofthe p9nRhlst eyer attempted to
answer or dared SO much as to quote Tor the in
formation of their readers Instead of graphing
with Sampson, they walked round him, and sly
! " picking some NOTES out of his coat. tail, held
/ these up trumphantly, as evidence that he was
shabby fellow.
! From the articles 81 the Lexington papers,
discover that GER 'piIe0 two immaterisi errors
| in my former statement. hot having access TO
the records of the Franklin Society, | mistook
in supposing that my speech on slavery was de-
! livered in the spring or summer Of 1S47. 1learn
now that it was in February of that year.
| find also that the main question CONCERNED >di
vision of the State by the line Oft the Blue Ridge,
and Involved all the relations of West Virginia
to the Eastern section. a contest was then GO
| ing on between the Two sections concerning "the
white basis" of rep. esentation, internal improve
ments, &C., though the slavery question was the
main topic of debate, and banished the rest from
nv memory. But now am reminded how
came to introduce my argument on slavery with
series OF remarks on the injuries which West
Virginia suffered on account of her weakness
in the legislature, and to argue that "the white
basis" and the slavery question should be con.
nected in our discussion with East Virginia.
l only spoke the expressed sentiments of those
who requested the publication of my pamphlet.
But now, if my statements are suffered to pass
uncontradicted, shall not trouble the public
with another word on the subject. l esteem
Mr.. Letcher as a gentleman and an able politi-
clan, and freely exonorste him from any inten-
ton to wrong me, since he has disavowed the
| imputation which he was understood to lay
upon me. HENRI RuFFNEh.
REPORTED RAID AGAINST SoNoRA.-If our in
telgence from the Southwest can be relied upon,
General Walker, the INSCRIPTIONS aud hereto
fore incompetent adventurer, is off upon another
maraudng expedition, and this time with pros
pect of success that scarcely belonged to any of
his Central America exploits. A despctch from
St. Lonis announces that Mr. Cronin, who had
arrived in that city from New Mexico, reports
passing three hundred and seyenty.fve mounted
men, on the Pawnee fork of the Arkansas, on
their way to aid in the INVASION And the same
individual states that he had learned at III Paso,
that Walker had passed through that place q
short time previous, at the head of eight hun
dred mounted men, armed with Mimic rifles and
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