Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1859-11-29
From the New York Herald.
TISe Panic I'm YiURania.

The Char estown add camp of the Com
mander-ln- Chief of the naval and military
forces Of Virginia appears 10 have been Sc
lected by these malignant jokers as the butt
OF their il,-timed pleasantries. All sorts
OF ridiculous stories are paimed off upon
i this unfortunate Colonel Davis, and
Through him upon the Executive authori-
ties al Richmond and upon the people at
large, until, as our Richmond correspon-
dent asserts, the citizens have been worked
up TO state of alarm that passes all COM
prehe nsion, and are as bewildered as If
they were under the influence of profess
sor of the black art. ..
This bewilderment. assumes variety Of
shapes. At one time it is hostile encamp-
ment on the mountains. The colors of
the invaders can almost be discovered in the
distance. The alarm drums are beaten
and soon the military are under arms pre-
pared to meet the foe. Some one brings
telescope; and 10, the delusion is dispelled.
The molten that is seen, and which sug-
gested the idea of rifiemen on march, pro-
ceeds from the waving branches of a few
sombre pine trees. All present feel the
righteousness of the scene. but no one
ventures to laugh openly; for such An Of
tense would be construed into an act bor-
dering on treason.
At another time a Joker rides into
Charlestown at fosm:ng speed, announc-
ing that band of several thousand aboli-
tionsts have crossed the Ohio at Wheel
ing, and are marching to the rescue of
Old Brown. A trooper is instantly de-
spatched to Harper's Ferry, with tcle-
graphic dispatches TO Richmond, Wash
ington and Baltimore, imploring imme
diate reinforcements to repel invasion, and
the troops are actually on their way before
the joke is discovered.
Other equally laughable though very
improper jokes are perperated. The burn
ing of a corn stack is magnifed into the
laying waste Of the Old Dominion with fire
and sword, and portentous are the prepars
lions made by the military under Col.
Davis command to emulate the three hun
dred Spsrtsns under Leonidas, and make
one of the passes of the Bue Ridge a new
Thermopylae. Doubtless they would do
it; but their patriotism and valor are not
put to the test The spark from a nigger's $
pipe or a fleemans segar caused all the
trouble. ......
And then comes that cruelest Of all
jokers, Smith Crane, Esq, who tells the
Leonidas of Chsrestown that he had over
heard a conversation about "band of FIVE
huudred' preparing to ride
Into the midst OF death,
! Into the mouth Of hell,
- for the rescue OF Old Brown. IfSmith
Crane, Esq has not been appropriately
punished for the last "sell," no time
should be lost in giving him his deserts.
He is one Of the practical jokers Of Vir.
ginia, and he ought to be taught that there
is more cruelty in such jokes than there
was even in the Harper's Ferry invasion.
They keep up needless and very deplors-
bic slarm and excitement throughout the
State, and under that excltemen'very in
excusable things are done. A Richmond
militia man, for instance, is threatened with
Imprisonment and prosecution for treason
because he ventures to have an opinion OF
his own on the subject of the ire pressible
conflict, and to be manly enough to express
it. A Norfolk dry goods man, who in tie
confidence of his business, happens to say
something which his customer construes
into want of admiration of the peculiar
institution is brought to summary set
Element and banished from the State
And Virginia gentleman, whose fidelity
to slavery is unquestoned, comes very
near being mobbed because he has the i'm
prudence to present Massachusetts bank
note in payment for drinks al tavern
The passport system is established in its
most repulsive form throug ghout the State
, Strangers are dogged and scrutinized, and
menaced wherever they turn, The cen,
sorship of the press is more rigid and in.
tolerable than was ever dreamt of by 8
Napoleon or Boarbon. Governor Wise
has a project for getting up Landwher or
The Ian OF Russia or Hanover; and lastly
all residents who are known to be in favo,
of free, as opposed to slave institutions
are notified by resolutions of county meet,
ings to depart in peace within sixty days
or abide the. Consequences ~ When it is
recolected how close the contest was on
the question of emancipation at the as
Constitutional Convention uf Virginia ten
years ago, this last movement will be seen
to be fraught with immense mischief 20 the
interests of The State. ioar-5
While making every allowance for the
natural exasperatiSn of the people of Vir-
ginia at seeing their State invaded by q
band of crazy desperadoes, we cannot but
regret that their excitement and alarm
. should have carried them so far as to sub
iect them to ridicule We believe thai
since the capture of Brown and his party
not an abolitionist has crossed the Poto
mac or the Ohio with hostile intentions
or is likely to do so; and that fact is one
of the strongest evidences of the little sym,
pathy felt with Brown by the masses a.
the North, however much aboitionists
presses and abolitionisl preachers may try
to get up such sentiment. Let some
body take care of Colonel Davis, and le
: Brown be hanged without any mole fuss
, ~ Thomistocles, the great Athenlar
! general, being asked whether he woulc
rather choose to marry his daughter to ar