Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-03-18
Aitbmon0 Enquirer.
LETTER FROM TIE HON. SHELTON F. LEAKs.
III RlrCMlg DUNNAvANT, TYLER 1 WISE.

FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH Is, 1859.
LETTER FROM THE HON. SHELTON p LEAKE.
In to-day's Enquirer" vii! be found letter
addressed to us by the Hon. Shelton +. I.eake,
defending himself and friends from the rchcc-
tions contained in the correspondence, publish
ed in the Enquirer" Of the lth inst, between
r. II. Carter aud others, Of Albemarlc, and the
| Hon. Paulus Powell.
| As Mr. I.eake refers 10 and extracts from the
editorial with which we accompanied the pub
licatiOn Of that correspondence, wc repro
duce the editorial of the llth inst in full. Ii
is headed "rhc Sixth Congressional District"
and NOT THE RedLand District, us Mr. Lcake
says, and is as follows:
| THE SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
II will be seen by H.. correspondence published in
our i.s.c OF to-day Tia. The Hon. Paulu> Powell las.
Il, .!c instance Of number %. !.s friends, a:.d IN
consequence q. a,!oSei "n;a:- proceeding, Ii he
nlectn; IL .t..cmar!c. nnr'iarc! himself taa":-
dr:c for reelection 20 Congress.
| Before rr;vrus into iuli t:.,rIs-or o. this MAJ;
tsr we .h. wai. iar ::,, information Nevertheless.
nc .ccl . iuc % :Ec g"i.lrca tOnco:ECi - express
some opinion on ID. = = strong er.ml ti':s T!"w
' now Presented 20! OIL! ctilS!trTat.hil.
We hnvc cui,j-c:.l.y advocated :l!c co.. o: iGi-iy
constituted convention - decd: o: me comic'in.
claims a.! Democratic candidates, aEi We regard :: -
d,,ty whch ever pe:nccT.! o%tS his party {" SITS
tain the regular mncincc. Il H.. do 50 co-i> i>:cr,!r
with scli-re-!-c. and patriotic principle. BIZ; Il"
honorable c,. L. expected 20 -'b''it, EndcE any
and I'll c;.cu,:.'ac.. - he action o c"Ercn:!oI.
| AIa.r. from he ra>e Of 4 Eonncc unworthy TIE
SuuIor orto.cri,c .c,., wc hold H., ay ..c.::ry
or urfsrnc-s wha.Tc. j.. The organization or ma
rugrncm: Of tonyeL::o:: Is NJ. sI.ci.n: 20 Justify.
and IL RIOS. INSTANCES, - :cITi:e disregard .: H.
decision. !. !, 81. u ;.incs McE oc ;e: - r:St ~.
harmony o., perry t:u:. 20 sacrifice IL .i::Sgrv .ni
public man gay do H.Uc!. more injury ov s':hnH-
,i.iy % u wrong ttnn III, mc-t volen: partisan ,,o-
tcs ca, possibly eject. III" right T;!o is u s.b
to fair Convention, aEG no.nin, but . .i: onrci-
ton; % ask no,i:.:!g w:ch !. not neh., ind - sub
mi, 20 nothing tia. ia wrong. A mere passive ac-
quicscenc: in Ee acton, right nr wroGg. 0: :. Cor
vent.on Is - destructive o. the Interests Of parry
il i, incompatible s;:h the cbarctc. Of man r. {" hc
trusted viii, the management q. GI!:c Affairs. Iiu,c-
serving and :.n:;t acGrc- ,'noc arr 70. -" "HH ct
of which eitcen: and T".:n:Hc iaen a:e ''aicd 20:
| any station in .:c.
| /, is by ;- rue that would have Mr. Powell =
cond;c, triel before The fs.pe .. Ii. .is.Tc. AID
| here W.. MIS-, premise ,ta, Nr pnw,irs wc-kr"wlI
.hu.lc:cr for EishniuGed and honorable dealiag in
Al! instance in whch h. las Ei;hcr.o been Pr: TO t
test. will rsh;flv c.tt -troi: presumption N his
| favor before .Ee pee; lie wEn haze ~ long l'2"!c"
ln viii; .l,c- coi,E ,.ncc Moreover he is III a grcG,
[
,c.cn hv the vc- circumstances .! lie lie has
no. acted on h.n own Gic.ns. Euirhtr 0: highly &c
,pectabie cen:.enen his tried ss-tc;a., AID warm
pcrsora! AMI ro:cn! friends. have cocc forward 20
es.fy 10 The iilr; that action LGs been taken ~ ~:
friends OF Nr Ieake. wc!; render, tho srhniis>ior
| of Mr. Powc!"s clairs 20 n Convention altogether
inconsistent wi.h drc sel!resprc: and ra.'.y :i:ac-
| pendence OF charac:c- CEdcr Gc-c circumstances
DR. Powell, has br, two alternatives upon either Of
which loyal gentleman coC.d pcrl! Ein,c.. {" ac,
i- must ci.he: discreet, the s.;ccr! ard ignore the
action Of his own friends, or adoP. hci- s:c:rr! .,
! rur and conform hi, action 20 theirs
Tia. he ha- chosen .hc which lie believes 20
he inst we have 10 doub. whatever Tha. bis conr>c
is i,s. the very -c-pcc:sbc testimony upon which le
has uc,ed GOES far 20 establish Among tic list Of
names apiendU. u the letter GdtrcSscd him, VIC tnd
uon- known 10 II, personally or by reputation, which
docs 10, designate wi:neS, 70 "Eom sc *o"!d :cc
bound 20 arc"rd 'ull credit.
F;inc facic, then. the case i, very strong in Mr.
Poweis favor, nId IN event, can lie be nc.d 20 a>-
count COR ore than al rndue e2aeenee N 'he 'nen's
whose action hv ha, made tie basis Of his own.
On The other hand, Il Mr. Leases friends have
committed the unturncss o! which they Hccrscd
NJ. Powell's action Is iushabie 2'he i'!!cs: e&ten.
Irdced. under this suppcsl:,on, he tG no ciioce e
Wa. IN homo. bound "a act precisely IS Ee Rs actcd
And il Mr. Le:,kc ,!.all b.. proved 10 have been in
any r.:.nncr pr:y 10 his ae;cd unfair management
VIC ere bold say that such pr:yIv is OF i,se sHh-
to e.isqnay Kim 70 re?:e,cr;: Virginia Constituency!
1t will be seen that our remarks are entirely
hypothetical, and that we made no charge
whatever We knew nothing concerning the
Albcmarle meeting Of our own knowledge, and
our remarks were predicated upon the state
| inents made over the signatures Of tweaty-four
respectable and honorable gentlemen. We
charged fraud, aotairnsss and Unfair manage
meat, upon neither the meeting nor Mr.. lcakc
We merely argued upon the statement made
by highly respectable gentlemen, and conclud-
ed our remarks as quoted by Mr. Lcake: - lr
Mr.. Lcakcs friends have committed the un-
fairness Of which they are accustd. We did
not say that "Mr. Leakc's friends had COM
mit,ed anv unfarncss--for we knew nothing
concerning the meeting, except what the pub
lished correspondence set forth We continued
alphabetically, "Ir Mr.. Lcako shall be proved
to have been in any manner privy to this al
leged unfair management"-thus again making
no charge Of our own, but merely arguing
upon the correspondence.
We have taken no part in this matter-we
have espouscd the cause Of neither Mr.. Powell
nor Mr.. Lcake Mr.. Powe!ls friends had
charged unfairness, and we said IF this te
so. IF there has been unfairness. then We APP
prove Mr.. Powels course. Mr.. Leake should,
therefore, have been more explicit in his letter
and have distinctly stated to whom he referred
when he considers himself bound 'to repel the
assaults made upon them" This fricnds.l To
whom does he refer? to the Enquirer or Mr..
R H. Carter and others? Having made quo
tatioa from the enquirer" he should have
stated whether his subsequent remarks wer'
intended to Apply to US or 10 the gentlemen
corresponding with Mr.. Powell. We made no
assaults or animadversions" uron either MIR.
Leake or his friends What We then Sill We
now repeat if he or his friends, with his prl'i'
ty. have committed any uniairneSs. he is not
worthy to represent Virginia constituency
We d, not know that Mr. Leak, or his friends
have committed any unf,irness, such rs has
been charged by respectable men, AMI denied
BY m,n equally respectable; the frleni' oi
| each candidate have mi lie different and con-
acting statements We know nothing but
what is now before the public. And VIC are
bold to say, that unfairness BY either candl
date, or the friends OF either, should diS1ualiiy
that candidate for Congress.
With these remarks We submit Mr.. Lcake's
letter and the correspondence between hitnsel
and Mr.. Powell:
To The Editors Of The Enqpirtr:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, March 18th, 1853.
Gentlemen In your issue OF the I'm INST.
is an article, headed The ked Land Li,trict
the concluding paragraph Of which Is as follows
ION the other hand. if Mr.. Leake 5 irienu'
have committed the unfairness ot whicn tnel