Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-06-25
THE Il ENQUIRER.
TSE CHARGE AGAINST MI. LErcHEr.

TAE CHARGE AGAINST Mr.. LErCHEk.
Akenuemsu we'll acquainted with the history of
the,kuduer pamphlet called upon us yesterday and
Authorised VI to cay, in Mr.. Letcher's defence, that
the address as delivered by Dr.. Ruffner, was very dit.
fsrsnt from that published. That Mr. Ls,cher heard
the address upon the development of the great indus
Arial resources Of Western Virginia, and requested q
COPY for publication, but that Dr.. Rufner inserted III
the copy for publication the auti-slavery sentiments
30 repuRuant to every vireiDisn. We we're informed
that ]. G. Paxton was requested to sign the
letter Of request, but, looking at the names Of
nine old Wings and one Democrat exoialtn'
Cd "Those fellows never we're after any
good :" and refused to sign the ietter. Inc
lecturer and the signers Of this letter are hv'nH
their politics at present are a. follows: 3. McD
Moore and D. E. Moore, Wings then and now John
Letcher, Democrat, then and DOW; j q. Hamilton,
Whig then, now a pioLeHt Aboln,oaist tn Chicago
j. Horace Lscy, (now of Spot.ylvanis,) John Echols'
D. p. Curry, then Wings, now Democrats; Jacob
Fuller. George A. Baker and DR.. j. r. Jordan, were
the heads Of Know-No,bingism.
Mr.. Le,cher was certainly in yer, h.d ""nAr.nJ
put, Dsvsrtheless, the opposition cannot complain,
for they had nine signers to our one.
The "Wnig'' 10 Q msrplor; unable to defeat the
election of Mr. Letchsr, 1t has, for the last seven
year, "nurssd Its wrath to keep 1t warm" Messrs
Lacy, Eohols and Curry were then Whigs, and
nothing wss heard from our contemporary about
tho abolition pamphlet these gentlemen have left
that party-the Messrs. Moore are. not Of sufficient
importance 70 lose the opportunity Of defeating the
nomination Of Mr.. Lstcher. We have now drawn
the poisonous fangs from the Wing" Mr.. Le,cher
10 DOW aware Of the charges which would have
greatly embarrassed q canvass with him a. the
nominee, and can vindicate himself from these
charges We rspsat-lst the pamphlet be pub.
lshsd; let its sentiments, which Mr.. Letcher has been
ohsrged with endorsing and approving. be known to
tho party; let the party be fully advised as to the
nature of the charges that will be violently urged
againit Mr.. L-tnher; let it make its nominations, and ii
the Convention. fully satisfied with the vindicatioD
Mr.. L,tcher may make, shsll think proper 10 risk the
canvass With a nominee who lie charged with having
endorsed gu "atrocious libel 90 the social system o.
the South" the consequences vi defeat cannot be
attributed to ignorance We know many good and
sound Democrats who will never be sats6ed With
any nominee who has endorsed such an infamous
distrioe against slavery, as this charged upon Mr..
Lstcher.
"The South" attempts to veneer these chargea
with involuntary impressions OF prevailing pre-
judioe, rather than the deliberate conclusions OF
his own Judgment. This pstching up Of records
won't bear inspection. In lS47, when Mr.. Letoher
signed this letter, he was of matursd judgment, a
practising lawyer, and bad made all the reputation
that no has in that profession; he would not have
been guilty of the folly of signing a paper without
agreeing to the sentiments 1t contained.
If Mr.. Letcher did not intend, as THE South" a.
lsges, Ito endorse DR.. Ruffner's anti.slavery senti.
msnt, - and if DR.. 4, inteprolstsd views in the speech
- printed different from those OF the speech a. deliver.
cd, why did Mr.. Lssohsr allow this letter and pam.
phlet to circulate for eleven years without any s1pla.
nation or contradiction BY hint If this "mere mat.
ter Of form" a. it 10 styled by 1.-THE South" was an
endorsement of a diatribe against slavery" which
was not 'intentiona" on the part Of Mr.. Lstcher, why
did that gentleman suffer himself 10 be 90 misreprs
scented for nearly eleven years7 What facts Warrant,
THE South" in saying 1.-The letter was evidently pre-
pared BY s. Med. Moore" and presented to Nj. Lstch.
or. and no-h.r. -;suoa by uim IN utter ignorance oil
its contents T.
We know that il is not always the case that the
writer Of a letter for many signatures signs it first, but
that the author prssents it fret for signature to some
influential man in the neighborhood, and the authors
nsme may, Z" perhaps" appear second. But whether
8. Med. Moore or John Lstcher were the composers
Of this letter, Is an unimportsnt questien-both have
signed 1t, and are equally responsible, and not in the
order Of signatures.
While We have no mistrust for Mr.. Letcber's hdsli-
" to the South, We repeat that the Democracy having
defeated Mr.. Summers because in 1882 be hoated With
the torrent thar almost sweps slavery from its moor.
lngs In Virginia, 1t will not do to excuse and palliate
the s,ill greater offence OF MIR. L.tcher In ls47.