Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-11-30

on tne county Tp2u, WHICH may nA'c atliaIteu
his attention. Neither the constitution nor the
laws of the State make it incumbent on the
Governor to assume the functions Of police
officer
Had Governor Wise ordered conscrvator OF
the peace to issue warrant for Mr.. Pryor's ar
rest, such conservator would in no manner have
been bound to obey such an order Of usurpation;
and il he refused to obey. the Governor would
have possessed neither the right nor the power
to compel obedience
Had Governor Wise placed Mr.. Pryor under
military arrest, he would only have laid him
self liable to oil action for false Imprisonment,
and the Governor had no power Of civil ar
rest.
Had a conscrva,or Of the peace issued Il war
rant, the execution Of which was opposed by a
mob; and had the conservator applied to the
Governor for assistance, the former would only
have been reminded of his own power, which
the Governor does not possess, to summon a
civil posse Only in case this ordinary course
Of proceeding" had failed, only in case the civil
posse had proved Intellectual, could the Cover
nor have called out the militia, and thus taken
care that the laws be faithfully executed.
. There is indeed another case. in which the
militia may be called ont. Chapter 90 Of the
Code provides
3 II sudden invasion nsurreetlon shall happen
In any county corporation imminent danger thereof
Of
sla order part the whole Of the militia under ,
eommand to reIel ,uppr.s: or prevent the same and
II necessary, shall call on the eonlmandans VI adjacent
regiments, who shall forthwith In like manner furnish the
additional force that may be necessary"
Now, if Charles Irving deemed the expected
duel equivalent TO threatened insurrecton,
he should have applied, not to the Governor,
but to the commandant ofthc regiment, to pre-.
'cnt it. II would then have been incumbent
on Col. August to decide whether he ought to
interfere TO prevent the "insurrection; and il
50, how much Of the force under his command,
or whether his whole force assisted BY the
troops of the coinnandantS Of adjacent rcgi-
iments, would be required to-arrcst Mr..
Pryor and Dr. fnncy
The Slandcr against Governor Wise also in
wolves n most unwarrantabc mputation Of dis
honorable conduct on the part of Mr. Pryor,
viz: that he, expecting to receive challenge,
and having signified willingness to accept it,
went voluntarily with his own second, and per-
mittcd that second to state these facts to con-
scryator Of the peace, bound by an oath 10 pro-
cure an arrest and prevent the duel. II cannot
he believed that Mr. Pryor was guilty Of this
cowardly and diShonorable conduct, now impu-
ted to him by his own second. Mr.. Pryor's
conduct is entirely yindicated by the same
! facts which place Governor Wse's conduct be-
yond the reach of malice.
! Nor is this all. In order to ussai Governor
WiSe's integrity. Charles Irving has not only
! rcSorted to slandcr against the very man
whose honor he undertook to defend, hut
stands self-convicted of having wilfully be-
I travcd the honor and confidence Of the same
! friend, on the occasion referred TO. According
to Irving's own statement after having con-
sented to receive challenge for Mr.. Pryor, and
bear his acceptance, Irving went with his prin-
cpal into the presence Of apublic officer, mhom
! he Irrin1) BELIEVED at the time TO be con.t'.
rdfor efthe peacr. md as such bound ny an
oath To prerent he dueLrepcatcd to this sup
posed conservator Of the peace all the circum-
stances which threatened ducl-eXpected, at
the time, that this exposure would prevent the
duel and finally went away "disgustcd," he
cause this supposed conservator OF the peace
! did not interfere to prevent the duel.
But enough Of this 1t is useless to enter
; into any further demonstration Of the fact that
Charles Irving is, and was at the time referred
to, unworthy to take any part whatever in an
affair Of honor
( We only wish to refer TO the fact, that the
sclfconviction of this person, is not sufficient
to convict Gov. Wise Of perjury, or Mr. Pryor
! Of a dishonorablc exhibition Of cowardice
Chas. Irving next proceeds to repeat his
bullet moulding" slander:
Gov Wise next denies that ne advised the mould
ng Of bullets Of shot instead Of lead In reply have
simply 10 say that this question must necessarily remain
question Of yrracity between VI. lhave never asserted
that any one heard the suggestion Gov Wise too cool
In nj, malice ever to hazard much by It's exhibition. H.
Joy Wis, never heard OF the charge before M
publication, his ignorance singular as mentioned 10
.omr of nv friends before the late controversy With his son.
and among Others unless am very much mistaken 10 Dr.
Conway the surgeon Of his upon the field, In the sdar
with hr. Clemens.
| The author of the above evidently misappre-
! hends the force Of Gov. Wisc's denial. The
! Governor does not mean TO say that he had
never heard the r,lnior Of some slander about
! the preparation OF bullets, having been repeated
! by Charles Irving. The Governor had heard
of such ru,nor. in the same shape US it reach
ed u.s. viz: that Irving accused Mr. .. Jennings
! Wise of having poisoned" the bullets used in
! the late duel with Mr. Clemens.
The Governors language was as follows -
"As to the story Of Mr.. Irving about moulding
bullets of shot, instead of lead for the reason Of
their being harder and more fatal, protest
that tie idea OF such n fact is new to me, for |
never heard Of it before read Mr. lrvings card
! this morning.
Governor Wise intended by this not only to
! denv that he had advised Irving to mould bull
lets Of shot, but to state that unould hare been
inpossi6lc FOR him to giee such ddoiee. The
"fact." referred TO. Of which lic had mo idea,
is the alleged fact that bullets moulded from
shot arc 'harder and more fatal than those
moulded from bar lead Even now, he does
not believe that bullets moulded from shot are
harder" :" and if harder" he would suppose
them less fatal, because pure lead il the hcavl-
est as we'll as the softest, has consequently
greater momentum, and must be, therefore,
"morc fatal" than the harder bullet. Nor has
he ever been informed, nor does he now be-
licvc that bullets moulded from shot arc p''s'
onous. and, therefore, more fatal than those
moulded from bar lead
Equally with the Governor, We are disposed