The national Republican., 1861-04-03
VIRGINIA.,

VIRGINIA.
The Baltimore American of Monday pub.
fishes extracts from letters received BY Hon. j.
Morrison Harris, from members Of the Con.
vention now sitting at Richmond, and other
distinguished gentlemen Of Virginia.
One Of these letters, March rs, from men,
Der of the Convention, says:
"No ordinance Of secession can pass, and If
it did, the people would vote it down by fifty
thousand majority"
In another letter, March 26, which is stated
to be from "lJe-long Democrat, holding a
high position in the State is found the fol.
lowing:
ain reply to your last inquiry, give you
the opinion of some of our most intelligent
and well.informed citizens from different sec.
tions of the State. They agree that if the Con.
vention we're to adopt an ordinance of seces.
sion, the people would vote it down by thou,
sands"
In this condition of the popular feeling in
Virginia, and which is testified to from all re.
liable sources, it is the plain duty Of the Con:
vention either to adjourn sine die, or to pass an
ordinance of secession, to be referred to the
people, and have the question ended in that
way. This would settle the position of Vir-
ginia, extinguish the hopes ofsupport from her
which now keep up the failing courage of the
GulfState conspirators, and afford strong,
and perhaps decisive support to the Govern
ment and the Union. Patriotism and policy
demand either the one or the other of the
courses, the interests of Virginia demand it,
as she suffers, in common with the rest Of the
country, from the existing distrust in the sta.
bility of public affairs, and in many respects,
suffers peculiarly. Her banks have suspended
payments, and pecuniary distress is so general
within her borders, that even a stay law has
been seriously agitated.
But everything is to be sacrificed to the
petty schemes ofpoliticians, and this Richmond
Convention, instead of doing something to put
an end to the present distraction, is devisng
measures to keep it alive, to give it wider
range, and in manner which portends the
worst results. In fact, if it is possible to plunge
Virginia into disunion, as happily it is not, the
managers Of this illomened Convention seem
determined to bring about that disaster.
One of Mr.. Harris's. correspondents, who is
said to stand high among the friends Of the
Union," says:
Sour present expectation is, to adopt a
scheme Of amendments to the Constitution
the Peace Conference propositions slightly
moditied-with a preamble announcing some
general principles, call a conference at Nash
vile, or Frankfort, of the slave States remain.
ing in the Union, and submit them there for
consideration, adjourn over until the fall, and
wait events. In the mean time we shall make
the spring campaign most active one on the
issue of Union or Dsunion, and carry the
Legislative and Congressional elections as far
as possible"
The scheme Of these agitators, is thus to in
flame the public mind of Virginia with desire
for changes Of the Constitution, of no sort of
consequence to the interests of Virginia, and
for which the people of Virginia, if let alone
by the demagogues, would never think of ask.
ing; to get together revolutionary, upconsti.
tutiona border State conference, or Hartford
Convention and then to "adyou,n orer" them.
selves, and ",oait epents"
But in the mean time they are going to do
something for their own personal account, in
the shape of "spring campaign" for popu.
lar Office, the burden of which campaign is to
be an infammatory discussion of the slavery
question. If under such precious doctoring as
this, Virginia is not hopelessly infected with
the mania of secession, it is because the people
there have more sense than the miserable poll.
ticians who assume to represent them.
We are glad to observe that one of Mr..
Harris's correspondents, who is described as
Zone Of the ablest members cfthe Convention"
condemns this border.State conference as
"against his decided convictions cft,we policy"
The proposition for such a conference has
resulted from the weakness of certain men, who,
although probably themselves in favor of the
Union, have committed the folly of endorsing
the Democratic position, that slavery must have
new guarantees and that the Union can only
be saved by changing the Constitution The
longer this folly is persevered in, the more
difficult it will be to retreat from it, and the
more dangerous it becomes. None of these
preposterous guarantees which are demanded
will be granted by the country, and to insist
upon them as ultimatums, is only to make