Arkansas true Democrat., 1860-01-25
Little Rock, January IS, 1860.

have kept me so busy, that have not had time to write to you. Before proceeding further with this letter, must stop to no- tice your attempts to convict me of inconsis- tency by quoting what you say said.- That quotation is of garbled extracts made by Hindman, when sentences are cut out and so dovetailed together that the whole is made to read very differently from the original. Some sentences where I state what others say are given as original state ments from me, and by the absence of inn portant words the whole thing is made to wear different aspect. You ought to have known better, for as general rule, Hind man is such falsifer that he cannot even quote correctly from one he hates Those extracts put me in mind of the anecdote of the preacher, who, when it was the fashion among the women to wear their hair very high and in huge punches, he resolved to preach against this folly or prsctice. So, one Sunday, he gave, as his text, these words: "Top knot, come down." And preached vehemently against the top knots of the ladies. His auditors, upon referring to their Bibles to find the text, saw it was in these words: Let him who is on the house-top, not come doacn." '-
 But to our subject. As to the sedition resolutions you say you are willing to father them, and then attempt to show some dis crepency between the charge that they were your resolutions and the other expression that it was believed you did not orignate them. They were in your handwriting But the trick, the scheme, the mode of warfare and everything connected with the stansaction, stamps it as the work of one little, interruptions politician, who to in iure those he hates sacrifices everything.- The want of judgment-the venom-the spitefulness are all Hindmanish You advocated the passage of these resolu- tions in speech remarkable for its bitter ness and its uncalled for denucations.- You assumed that the legislature was cen sured, when the article in question was defense of the legislature. But admitting that it was a censure, in this country the press is free The constitution of this State expressly declares that the liberty of the press shall be held sacred. Your plea that it was resolution, and therefore could not be compared with the sedition law is a subterfuge You could not have passed such law; it would have been nugatory- void; but you could get up a resolution which embodied all the substance, and con tained the spirit of the sedition law, yet would not have been liable to veto. It was foolish move. It made friends to the True Democrat and brought subscribers in by scores. It showed that the faction of disaffected then, who have since became open disorganizers, scrupled at nothing and stopped short of no measure to accomplish their ends.
 When you had finished your tirade and asked Hindman, if you had not said too much, you had done just what they wanted you to do. Had the members then had windows in their breasts that you might have seen their thoughts you would have been astonished to find that those whom you thought your friends were exulting over your self-degradation'.a and those whom you opposed and denounced, felt sorrow and pity for you.
 The faction had made you prominent, but it was not their policy to make you too prominent. They may promise to make you Governor, and their organs will puff you occasionally, but sir, it there was possi bility, let alone a probability, that you could succeed, they would turn and crush you without remorse. Hence the policy of getting you to write out the resolutions and advocate them. They knew that nc, man could go before the people of Arkansas with those sedition resolutions on his head and be elected. At the time you served them, you ruined yourself. You ceased to be rival, when you became the funkey of disorganizers. Gray, who offered the resolutions, had been Sebastian man. IT, ,,,oc ,,,o rI, od for +bo;r yopro.poo NNbor the per diem question came up and he be- came soured they worked on him till he was induced to present the resolutions Here they had their revenge. And you will notice, too, how the real leaders kept in the background and urged men who had voted for Sebastian to do this dirty thing. And the six know nothings present, want ing to see the thing carried through, yet too smart to join in such federal acts, paired off or rather, divided their vote.
 know the leaders of the faction better than you do. Two motives control them. These are, hate and love of office. While you can be of use to them they will flatter you and swear they are your best friends. Get in the way and they stab you under the fifth rib. They pursuaded you to do this for two reasons: first, to be sort of pipe through which to spit their spite at others, and second, to make you do that which would forever damn you with the people and prevent your being in the way. No man can ever hope to rise to political eminence in this State, or in any other where democratic sentiments prevail, and carry those sedition resolutions. He who endeavors to destroy the liberty of the press aims blow at the liberties of the people. It was foul blow, conceived in foul spirit and foully aimed. It fell short off its mark. It made the True Democrat sub- scribers by the score and by the hundreds It was miserable trick of, I am bound to believe, miserable trickster
 Are you not tired of this stuff about (" the family" the clique" or" the oligarchy?" Who are they? If may be allowed to