Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-04-22
Messrs. Goggin, Montague and Letcher, at Dinwiddie
Court House and Petersburg.

Correspondence 81 the Richmond Enquirer,
PErEnSHrRG, April 18th 1859.
MeSsrS. E.ditors:--Wc ell, so it is; MIR. Gioggin
was at Dinwiddic Court House, and so was Mr..
Montague there. The latter, it seems. did not
know that the former, on leaving Richmond
for Petersburg, was en- route for the more Ills
tant destination in the old county. Yet, you
say Mr.. Goggin had an opportunity when he
left Richmond oStensibly for Petersburg, to
have given notice to his competitor that he
would pass on through Petersburg to Dinwid-
die Court House. However 'the red fox fol-
lowed the doublings of the grey fox, and they
met at the Court House. \. discussion went
off to the satisfaction entirely Of Mr.. Month
CUES political friends. Mr.. Goggin' doubtless,
pleased his. In fact he amused us all, and aS
his competitor granted he had made the best
speech he had heard him make. y good thing
is a good thing any how. Mr. Montague told
his friend who spoke confidently Of being the
next Governor, that the Wings would out
crow the bravcst cock, always, until the close
Of the election, but now, rs heretofore. his
friend would find out on the evening OF the
4th Thursday that a cry would go up from the
valley to the mountain top, crRcyy Ian, ernci-
IN him. In the reply, Mr.. Gogsin asked that
il might be remembered by his hearers that 1t
was the best man that had been on earth who
was crurifed: and the speaker believed. that IN
| this instance as in that, when the returns Of the
election should be coming in on the third day
after the crucifrion, there would be a glorious
resurrection.
THE weighticr matters OF the law were
quite as we'll brought to bear Oh his competitor
by Mr.. Montague. He reminded him Of his be-
inc there without notice Of his intention to pass
through Petersburg. lie charged home upon
Mr.. Goggin that whilst he admitted that MIR.
| Lctchcr was OH honest man and n gentleman,
and had gone so far once, rs 10 say he was "inl-
maculate," vet he was still striving to make the
people believe that Mr.. Letchcr was not sincere
in the change Of opinion he had undergone, and
ayowed in 1850, so soon after his opinion was
EXPRESSED in lS47 unfavorable TO slavery IN
Western Virginia. He told Mr.. Goggin his po-
sition could only be accounted for on the sup
~nosition that a man could be honest as 4 man.
and a rascal as a politician-and if such should
be his explanation. rs in q former discussion
between them it was, he was ready TO say to
Mr.. Goggin that he was founding his explana.
ton on 4 ririoUS Sentimcnt-a distinction oil
character in the same man, which Mr.. Monta-
que did not think existed, and if it possibly did,
was unfit to be taught to the young and rising
generation. He told him that much had been
said by Mr.. Goggin's friends about Mr.. Letcher'S
! DENYING that he had voted for Wendell, which
| Mr.. Montague must insist, after a knowledge
of the development he was about TO make.
should so forth. would not be complained OF or
mentioned any more. II seemed that Mr..
Goggin had denied lis votes to tax tea and cof-
fee. those ncceSsaries Of life, &c. And Mr.. NJ.
producing the journals Of Congress, and
showing his votes, with telling effect, in
more WAYS than one, admonishcd Mr..
Gogsin to be charitable hcnceforth, to
believe that an honest man might make
mistakes, and even forget his votes. Mr..
Montague proceeded to show that Mr.. Letcher,
Notwithstanding his opinion expressed in 1871,
which was recanted in lS4o, had been, during
eight years in Congress, as true as steel to the
South. lie wanted to know if Mr.. Goggins
record was as clean: No.! no! exclaimed MIR.
Montague. And he reminded the crowd of the
'lone star'--that empire for the extension OF
the slave power-so valuable to the South-so
cherished by her true friends. And VIM. l.. Cog
gin voted against her admission into the Union.
And now, for such recrcancy to the South, he
seeks to escape the thundertoncd censnre Of
the South, by hiding himself behind some
paltry consideration, that the boundaries
were not well defined. Let Mr.. Goggin
he nut on the defensive. Defend that vote,
who CAM 1t were better for the slave
power of the South, that West Virginia
should never feel the hoe or the tread of Gully,
than that Texas should not have been annexed.
And so. and again, did Mr.. VI. bring down the
airy flights of ~Goggin-saying to him that the
$4,000 a session, in place of SIS n day, against
which Mr.. Lctchcr voted, was quite as grace
fully received at last by Mr.. L. jar his %sfrcireS,
as the eight hundred and more by Mr.. Goggin,
which was voted to him by q Democratic Con-
! grcss for the time he had spent in the service
of himself and his supporters in that contested
election. And so did Mr.. Montague speak,
until Mr.. Goggin was not lively enough to tell
another adccdotc, except that Of the good man
who declined receiving a debt of s. on the Sab
bath, thinking it sinful, but at the same time
turning his back on his debtor, hcld open ms
pocket and told him to slip it in there: 1t
seemed to me that the anecdote, n good one
and well told, applied atleast as significantly to
the $500 received by Mr.. Goggin, as to the
$4,000 received by Mr.. Letchcr.
There was an immense concourse at Phoenix
Hall in this city last night; it was fuller than
ut any sitting Of the Convention held there,
which you attended. Space only allows that
it he said that the general opinion was, that 1t
was q discussion well-Sustaincd on both sides.
The Captain did as well as the Lieutenant at
the Courthouse. The fatigue Mr.. Goggin had
undergone land it was right he should suffer
a little for skipping" to Dinwiddic) affected
his voice somewhat to his disadvantage. lie
is a very courteous gentleman and a citizen Of
whom Virginia may, without vanity, be proud,
Our standard-bcarer showed himself 4 states
man, as we expected, and ADLER on the musings
than we had supposed. [.
The Southern Commercial Convention.
Tie delegates to this Convention will assemble at
vicksburg. Mississippi, on 9th Of May next. As the
time i. fast approaching, it would be advisable for