Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-09-27
FIR tie ENQUIRE,
~ TT 10y
Hon, John (. lsrcckiHrid"e,

Messrs. Editors At a public meeting OF int
citizens Of Westmorcland county, Va, at tht
! Court House, on the 23d Of September, being
court day, Col. j. F. Harvey having been call
ed to the Chair and Vim. r. Dozier requested
to act as Secretary, the following preamble
and resolutions were offered by Col. S. L. Lewis
and unanimously adopted:
Whereas, the "irreprcsSikle conflict" Of the
North against tie South, commencing years
| since, has culininatcd in war and an effort oil
sutjugation ty the President OF 4 Northern
sectional minority party, and sustained by
great armies Of hired vandalS. to overrun the
faircSt portion of our glorious Confederacy; and
in this attempt the Constitution and laws and
all established rules Of civilized warfare have
been totally disregarded, and the odious doc.
trine of Beauty and Booty and nice little
farms in Virginia substituted in their place;
And whereas, in attempting the consum.
nation of these execrable doctrines and com.
plete our suhjusatinn, the President Of this
hybrid party has transcribed the prerogative
OF Kings; has usurped the Legislative, Judicial
and Executive powers, and concentrated them in
his own imperious mandate; has declared war,
and raised large armies and fleets and biochadcd
oar rivers and haSbors; has suspended the great
Magma Charta of the citizen, the writ Of habeas
corpus, and imprisoned f~reernen, in utter VIC
lation of law, merely by the tyrannic order Of
a military commander; has suppressed liber-
ty of speech and freedom Of the press; and
has made his hired mercenaries invade quiet
hompsteads, seize defencclcSS men, women and
even children, ard immune them in filthy
prisons in defiance of all law and d~ecency; has
shed the blood Of our own citizens upon their
oSn soil, and yet, after rerpetrating all these
uulragrs, few of the statesmen in his Congress
had the manly independence and courage, ITO
beard the Lion in his den," or say a word in
vindication Of the violated Constitution, or in
defence Of Law, liberty ard the rights Of the
citizen.
Resolved. therefore, rs j testimonial Of our
appreciation Of the chiralrous bearing, and
manly cloquence in defence of his country and
her constitutional rights, by the Hon. John c.
breckenridge in the late L. S. Senate, amid
the cry of treason, treason, 10y the traitors, and
theats to throw him over the "Tarpian rock"
That we, the citizens Of WeStmoreland, the birth
place Of Washington, tho great apostle Of lii
erty and defender Of the Constitution, estab.
lished by hi,u and our fathers, respectfully
and cordially invite the gifted and distinguished
son Of Kentucky "to shake the dust off his
feet upon the fossil remains Of statesmen and
of liberty, now slumbering in his native State,
and take up his residence in the Southern Con-
icderacy, a cline prolific Of distinguished
statesmen, and where he will be properly ap-.
preciatcd and cherished.
Resolved, That the proceedings Of this meet,
ing be signed by the Chairman and Secretary,
and furnished TO the Richmond papers for
publication.
The meeting her adjourned:
j. F. HARVEY, Chairman.
WV. r. DoZIER, Secretary.