Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-05-06
THE CLOSE. GATHERING OF TUESDAY NIGHT.


TIE CLOSE" GATHERING OF TUESDAY MIGHT
We have delayed all account of the late OPP
position meeting in order to await the publica'
ton Of Mr.. Rives' speech, to which we.were
willing to accord a reading, as well as a hear
ing, before proceeding to discuss It's contents.
From the high character and reputation Of
this gentleman, the Opposition leaders of Rich
mond have confidently anticipated a great
rally of their scattered forces under the power
full incentive of Mr.. Rivcs' effort. Had Mr..
Riyes been furnished with 4 theme and 4 pur-
pose, such rs claimed his best e~xertions on
many a well-fought field, when he was wont to
uphold the Democratic banner, none can doubt
that a speech from him must have commanded
q powerful influence. What even William c.
Rives can do, in behalf of the present nameless
movement against the Democracy OF Virginia,
has, however, been amply demonstrated, to
the severe disappointment of Oppositionists Of
every shade and variety among his audience of
Tuesday night. Moreover, the oppositionist
leaders have done all that they could do to
COlupIVLlIl iS puSitiVA Ia WV ~
ginia public. Earnestly appealed to to permit a
Democratic speaker to meet Mr.. Rives, before
a Richmond audience, a request which a gen.
tlcman Of Mr.. Rivcs' known ability and cour-
tesy would never have refused, and which must
have been granted if LEFT to his decision, these
managers, who have so ostcntatiously taken him
in hand, have chosen 10 place him in the position
Of timidly Sinking a ~meeting-not only with
o picked man from among our city electors tat
the whole body Of whom the "Whig" of
Wednesday tries so hard to sneer)-but of
fearing to encounter such 4 man as James
Lyons or John Randolph Tucker. Either Of
these distinguished gentleman could have been
brought forward by the Democracy to meet
Mr.. Rives, had the Opposition managers per-
mitted.
But no. Under their management, Mr..
Rives was obliged to become an actor in a
"close corporation" pow-wow, where Opposi-
ton speakers should be shielded from the
inconvenience of contradiction and refutation,
where they could assert, denounce and con-
denim one party to the Slorifcation Of another,
as securely as if they were snugly ensconced in
a Know.Nothing lodge. We cheer(ully cxone-
rate Mr.. Rives from all wilful completely in this
exclusive arrangement.
We have awaited, as we said, the publication
Of Mr.. Rives' speech prior to a discussion Of
its merits, unwilling as we are to do injustice to
such an opponent.
Much the greater part Of the discourse is
devoted to defamation against certain alleged
financial corruption on the part of the General
Government. All this is general even to
vaguity. We look in vain for exact spcciiica-
lions, followed up by AN array Of proof. The
retired statesman seems only to have caught up
general impressions from the editorial columns
Of such opposition newspapers as have reached
his retirement In this connection Mr.. Rivcs
~ has placed his main reliance on the accusations
against the Navy Department, which have
been so amply refutcd by a publication in yes
terday's Enquirer" Thus. two-thirds Of his
carefully prepared effort is at once swept away
by an incontestible array Of stubborn facts.
The next portion of the speech is devoted to
defamation against the tyranny Of party.
Here Mr.. Rives should have taken occasion to
do an act of sheer justice to his old associates,
the Democracy of Virginia. The unanimity
with which the candidates, the press and the
general voice of the masses Of Virginia Demo-
Gratis have promptly repudiatcd every objec-
tionable feature Of the Presidents Message,
ought, in fairness, to have been referred to by
him, and specified as a noble instance of indie
pendent devotion to political principle-demon-
~strating, as it does, that the Democratic Or
ganization embodics the best and surest safe.
guard against every species of political corrup-
ton. The omission to perform this simple act
of justice is, we conceive, one of the worst OBJ
.~iections to which Mr.. Rivcs' effort is justly OBJ
noxious.
Next comes a severe Remuneration Of the
proposed transfer to the President Of the
power Of peace and war" This proposal, it
will be remembered, was promptly repudiatcd
through the Democratic press Of Virginia. But
Mr.. Rives should remember, that the Presi-
dent was at least encouraged to the
dation referred to, by the action Of the old
Wing party itself, under the Administration of
Mr.. Van Buren, when a bill placing the tempo
rary power Of peace and war, together with an
appropriation for the purpose, amounting to
$40, 900 900, at the sole disposal Of the Prcsi-
dent, passed the Senate by a unanimous vote.
and only encountered six dissenting votes in
the House Of Representatives.
Next, Mr.. Rives asserted the futility Of the
efforts Of the Democratic party for the cause of
Southern rights, contending that the bred
Scott decision is allsuficient in itself for this
purpose. The dangerous pretension, that a
single act Of q single department Of the Federal
Government will suffice to satisfy the coatinu-
Gus duty imposed by the Constitution, on each
and every department of the Government, is u
dogma which we did not expect to find accrc-
dited by a gentleman of Mr.. Rives' high cha
racter and attainments. But, suppose that even
this extreme position should be admitted, vii!
Mr.. Rives deny the continued necessity for a
compact union among Southern men, to crush
out a sectional party, who boldly proclaim, that
even this decision Of the Supreme Court shall
not be respected:
Mr.. Rives concluded his speech with an ap-
peal to the Opposition in Virginia to unite with
q numerous enlightened and patriotic body
of fellow. citizens" at the North, in Sinking
henceforward and forever" the issues apper.
tanning to the institution of slavery. What
does this mean? To sink" these issues, the
pro-slavery party, or the anti-slavery party