Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-08-10


sion after Mohammed, heard of the death of his
predecessor, Abu Beer, he is said to have ex-
claimed: "May God have mercy on the soul of
Abu Beer; but he has left his successor differ
cnt pattern to follow" If such is not the out
and out exclamation, it must be, we are sure,
the internal cogitaton of John Letcher, the
Governor elect of this good Old Dominion, as
he witnesses the speedy drawing on of the day
when he is to walk into the succession of Henry
A. Wise. Not that John thinks that, in the
divers qualities of mind that go to make up the
proper abilities of administration, he isn't fully
up to the standard of his renowned predecessor;
oh no,-"by no means, under any consideration
whatever" Honest John has, by far, too good
IN opinion of himself, to entertain any such I'M
worthy an idea as that. Nor is it because that
in benevoIence and piety, and religious devotion,
(such as distinguished the good Islanite, of
whom we were speaking) Wise has left pat
tern hard to initiate, for these are in no respect
eminent characteristics of the man.
1t is in something beyond these, that Wise's
example is supremeIy and utterly inimitable. 1t
is in his letter ,Oriting! Letcher can never fol.
low him in this respect, and must submit to lag,
thousands of leagues behind in profound hope.
lessness of ever coming within good telegraph
ing distance Of him. John is pretty good
SCHOLAR" no doubt, and in the way of literature
isn't to be snu6el at, as the reading Of his nu-
merous Congressional speeches, and of the beau
tiful euiogy once pronounced by him on GER
tain 'tRuffner Pamphlet" will convince any man.
Still, even in these points, so essential to good
letter-writing, and IN which he comes the near
est initiating him, he can hardly be said to
equal Wise. In the nervous, ornate, energetic
style, Wise is hard to beat.
The point wherein Letcher's predecessors let.
ter.wrting supremacy consists, is in his unbound
ed capacity to write many and long letters. No
matter what may be the subject the political
tapis of the State or the nation, other men
have become rightly aware that it is on the tapis,
there is whole regiment of letters from "Gov.
Wise, Of Virginia" marching in formidable col.
umns through all the newspapers in the land,
from Florida to Minnesota. Bang, whang are
they fred off, in fierce succession, from every
point of assault, and no sooner has the din and
rumble of the terrible volley ceased to rever-
berate, when Gas Burke said of Junius), souSc
he comes down upon US again, wtth-if any
difference-redoubed fury and rcdoubled nunl-
bsrs.
Some of these letters Gas a remark we let
fall above Instantly intimatcs) are OF the most
murderous longitudinal proportions. Many a
piteous drop has twinkled in the eye Of the in
nocent printers "dcvil" as he was handed
for copy" one of these same epistles. The
unfortunate Albanian upon whom he in
ficted the notorious thirty column monster
(per Richmond Enquirsr,) if he has in any
manner revived from the effects of heroic
though almost suicidal determination to read it
through, has, we feel assured, come out of the
task with some permanent tokens of its hard.
ships, in the way of shattered constitution
and impaired intellect.
Some people may say that letter-writing
pattern of Wise isn't such a one as is to be or
must be followed But we beg such people TO
reflect minute. Wise has hailed them down
so necessarily that they have become, in the
eyes of the good people, appertaining to the
office of Governor, n permanent Virginia insti-
tuition. They peculiar institution, it is
true, but not "the peculiar institution" and
every body knows how tenacious the people are
oftheir institutions. The people will demand its
perpetuity--without detriment and without
abatement. Then the burden falls on Letcher,
and how is he to support it? Alas how is he
to do it?
The Spiritual Telegraph says that Mr.. An
To- nr- = ~.