Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1861-04-30
sTAUNTON VIRGINIA., TUESDAY, =APRIL 5o 1851 .
Correspondence.
RICHMOND. April 21st. 1861.

| s9 ay15sa Correspondence. I'd 81 sfsa y
! ss &i II RICHMOND, April 2lst, 1861.
! GENTLEMEN: Learning from you that the
| town is filled with rumors and misrepresenta.
tiona which are poured into too creduious ears.
and that am charged with having advised the
| Administration to the warlike policy it has as
sumed, Iyield to your solicitation to give publi-
| city to my late communication to the Govern
ment-by which it will be perceived that moth
ing could be farther from the truth than what
has been alleged against me. sg-aav9 --s~,
assert that no man in this nation has strug-
lged more earnestly to preserve the peace of the
country than Ihave done, and have even reach
ed that point, that, with all my veneration for
the Union of our Fathers, am now supplicatng,
as did during my late visit to Washington, for
its peaceful dissolution, rather than our people
should encounter the horrors Of civil war.
That my patriotism and loyalty in a commu
nifty in which have lived for fifty years should
be distrusted and suspected is the most mortify-
ing event OF my whole life. slf there had been
one paper in Ricbmondto which Iacould have
appealed for Justice without humiliation, my po
sition would never hayas bssxa one of doubt
There are soane tnoso, sos6 Mould find fault,
though IspoEe aosth an 4ngsps tongue .s.
| Tsend you acopy of the letter asked for. which,
L
| Cabinet, and which [ hopeswill meet with the
aid of the Press of al parties and sections of the
country. s. blaaaa sasa
am very truly yours, af
t4 Eos JNO. M. BOTTS.
DIR. MARTIN BURTON, P.G. COSBY, and others.
e ..a5.4s y RIoHMoND, April 10th, 1861.
| MY DEAR SIE iIY cur 1etrer of Yesterday has
been received. Before this you will have learn
ed through the Press all that has occurred at
Norfolk and at this place; but cannot begin to
give you just conception of 4he excitement Gre
ated, not only here, but throughout the whole
Southern country, by the proclamation of the
10th, which, IN mapy respects, may be regarded
as the most unfortunate document that has ever
issued from the Government n Indhe absence of
that paper, this Stateeould never have been car
ried out OF the Union; Withit, the Union party,
and the Union feeling, has been almost entirely
swept out OF existence. En- Yon cannot meet with
| one man in q thousandMho is nolinfamed with
pdssa0n for soar, and every one seems to regard
the proclamation as declaration of war for the
subjugation of the entire South, and for the ex-
termination of slavery s reason with them on
this point would as soon arrest the motion of the
Atlantic, as it would check the current of their
passions. 8a 10
When ] saw you in Washington, some ten
"
other members of the Cabinet, as we'll as before
Mr. Lincoln himself, plan for the settlement of
| our troubles, through the medium of National
Convention, to give to the seeded States Ie0Ue
to Usth1rdso. l thought then, as | do now, that
the plan then suggested was the only solution of
the dreadful crisis which was upon us. Since
that time, matters have assumed far more
trightful aspect, and now venture to make one
more effort to save The unnecessary effusion of
brothers blood; and, in the name of liberty,
humanity, and Christianity, impore you to
give it your earnest and solemn deliberation.
| need hardly say that no man IN this nation
has held In higher appreciation the value of our
blessed Union. No man has labored more con
stantly and earnestly for its perpetuaton than I
No mans heart can bleed more freely for its loss
than mine; no man can mourn more sorroWfully
for its overthrow than will N man can con,
/ denim more severely the immediate causes that
have so unnecessarily leu Us fntss this awful and
terrible catastrophe than Ifdo Yet for the first
time, after an entire night Of seepless reflection,
when prayed as neves prayed before for wis
dom and strength todo ny duty, my mind has
been brought to the conclusion that dissolu-
ton is ar ineytable decree of fate. 4o
| am satisfied that a contest on the part of the
General Government, with its perfect military
organization, powerful Naval forces its command
OF the money, and its credit without limit, back
ed by eighteen or twenty millions of people,
against eight millions without military organi-
zatioD, without naval forces, and without money
or credit is not likely to be Of doubtful result in
the end-but after that what then? Gan the
| Union be preserved on such terms, or would 1t
be worth preserving if it could? After the best
blood OF the country has been shed in war,
which has passion, prejudice, and unnatural but
mutual hate for its Foundation. intensified by the
conflict could the two sections ever be brought
| together as one people again g-and would 1t not
require large standing armies, in constant active
service, to conquer and maintain peaces And
would not that end at last in a hateful, loath.
some military despotisms
II am right in all this, would not a peaceful
separation, not military necessity, but as a
triumph OF reason, order, law, liberty, morality
and religion, over passion, pride, prejudice, ha-
tired, disorder, and the force of the mob be far
wiser and more desirable solution of the problem
than such scenes as will result from purely
sectional warfare, (result as it may,) and from
which the heart sickens, and the soul recoils
with horror9 sss ~ 5eiss & 1aA sA@
| You may cut, main. kill end destroy; you may
sweep down battalions with your artillery you
may block up commerce. with your fleets you
may starFe out the thoEsands and tens of thou,
sands Of the enemies of the Government. You
AAAoJ AA'"J wv out "0e SSe~c0 thO
United South; and if yon could do all this, you
could not do it without nhctng an equal amount
of misery upon those who are its best friends,
| and who have steed IS long stheEe was a plank
to stand upon, by the side of the Union, the Con-
stitution and the laws Our streets may run red
with blood; our dwellings may be leveled with
the earth our fields may be laid waste our
bearthstones may elaid desolate; and then at
the last, what end has been gained2 Why, the
Government has exhibited its powerl which has
never been questioned, but by the idle, the igno-
rant and the deluded, and for the display of
which there will heAhundant opportunities, with
out an effort now, CHI either side, to cut each
others throats! ~ ..t 9p siasl
So far from its being regarded as betrayal of
weakness by the other powers of the Globe, will
| it not be looked upon in the present emergency
as an act of magnanilnity and heroism on the
part Of the more powerful party to propose terms
Of peacea Let me, then, as a strong, devoted,
unalterable friend of the Union, (ifst could be
maintained, )-let me as a conscientious and un-
changeable opponent of the fatal heresy of seces-
| sion. urge upon this Administration the policy