Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-10-19
the Augusta. ga Chronicle.
The Rest Letter of the Season.


We present the following letter from
''AEB' VANCE, former member of the o. S.
Congress from the Asheville District, as the
soundest, most honest and patriotic that the
times have yet produced. We insist on two
points in regard to the military service and
the thirst for civil ofice-irst, that # any
man is efficient in the military service he
cannot be spared from that service while the
war continues; and second, that if he is not
e6fceint, the mere fact of his being in the ser
vice does not entitle him to any civil Office:
HEADQUARTERS, 26th Reg't n. c.. T.,
Camp BurgWyn, near
Morehead City, Ne. Sept. Is, 1861.
DEAR SIR-Your letter of the End inst,
addressed TO my brother. was forwarded by
him aud received this day. In it you ask,
If will be a candidate for Congress? and
I'd. If not a candidate, will | consent for my
name to be run? To both questions l answer
in the negative. To this course l am impell-
ed by what consider the most conclusive of
reasons.
You remember we'll the position oecupi-
ed upon the great question which so lately
divided the people of the South. Ardently
devoted to the old Union and the forms which
the Fedral fathers established, / chung to it
so long as thought there was a shadow of q
hope oflpreserving, purifying or reconstruct
ing it. And you will also remember that in
the last official communication l had the hon
or to make to my constituents as their repre-
sentative, l pledged myself in case all our
efforts for peace and justice at the hands of
the North should fail that their cause was
mine, their destity was my destiny. and that
all I had and was should be spent in their
service Those hopes did fail as you know.
signally and miserably fail; civil war was
thrust upon the country and the strong arm
of Northern despotism was stretched out TO
crush and subdue the Southern people.
Immediately volunteered for their defence,
in obedience not only to this promise, but
also as L trust, to patriotic instincts. and l
should hold this promise but poorly fnlhlled
should l now, after having acquired sufficient
knowledge of military affairs 10 begin 10 be
useful TO my country, escape its obligations
by seeking or even accepting a civil appoint
ment.
Certainly, if there lives man in North
Carolina who ought 10 do all aad suffer all
for his country, am that man. Since the
time of my entering upon mans estate the
people have heaped promotion and honors all
undeserved, upon my head In everything
l have songht, their generous confidence,
their unfailiug kindness has sustained me.
Whilst can never sufficiently repay it, am
determined, God helping me, to show them
was not altogether unworthy of their regard.
am therefore not a candidate for Congress
nor will consent for my name to be run.
am perfectly satisfied to be represented again
by the sound sense and sober judgment of the
gentleman who has so lately represented US
at Richmond. or by dozen gentlem who
live in our district not connected with the
army-some of whom l hope the common
peril and the common cause will induce cur
people to elect without pickering and strife.
cannot close this hasty letter without
surfing you that / am not insensible' to the
conveyed by your own and
hundred other similar interrogations which
have reached ne from different parts of the
district No man can feel prouder or more
grateful at such manifestations. Surely God
has never blessed a man with more sterling
and devoted friends than can number In the
district! May my name perish
from the memory of my wife and children
when cease to remember these friends with
gratitude. Among the many who have ad-
hered so faithfully to my poor fortune through
good and through evil report, L am always
proud to remember you, untalteringly and
Please to accept IN conclusion, every ap-
pearance of my regard and good wishes for
you and yours. Most truly yours.
Z. B VANCE.
N. G. Altman, Esq, Franklin, N. C.