Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-05-07

and proceeded to fill those Offices for {
term of six months, and to continue un,
til their successors were elected by tht
people.
1t was not the object of the Wheeling
Convention to set up any new government
in the State, or separate, or other govern.
ment than the one under which they had
always lived, They made single altera.
tton in the Constitution of the State, which
prescribes the number of Delegates in the
General Assembly, which shall be neces-
sary to constitute quorum.
The action of the Wheeling Convention
was not, as some have supposed, confined in
its scope to Western Virginia it goes
to the whole State. 1t is made the duty
OF the Executive to restore all Offices OF
every grade, civil and military, to be ad.
ministered by loyal men, in every county
in the State. AS test of loyalty, each
officer is required to take an oath to sun
port the Constitution of the United States.
and of the restored government of Virgin
la, as indicated by the Convention at Vince.
ling, which assembled on the 18th day of
June, 1861. On therefusal or failure of the
Office holder to take these Oaths, it is the
duty of the executive to delare the Office
vacant, and to order an election to fill the
vacancy.
In obedience to the ordinances OF the
Convention nearly forty counties have
been reorganized. Those holding office
who took the prescribed oatbs, retained
their position; of those who refused, the
offices were declared vacant, and loynl men
elected to fill them. They are now acting
tremendously under the laws of the
United States aud the laws of Virginia,
made before the ordinance of secession
was passed. In the Northwestern part of
the State, in section embracing n popu-
latton OF one hundred and fifty thousand.
where the people heartily approved ofthe ac-
uon OF the Wheeling Convention, they arc
prosperous, and have scarcely felt the eff
feet of the rebellion. AS fast as the army
OF the United States puts down the rebel
lion in the State, / shall proceed to reor-
ganIZe the government in every county.
BY having all the offices filled with loyai
men, that law aud order may again
prevail in every county. In this work, |
shall expect the active cooperation of all
well-disposed people in the State. The
Legislature has denounced severe penalties
against every person who shall do any
official acts in tho State without first hay.
ing taken the Oaths prescribed by the
Convention. ALI offending will be pun
ished.
Fellow-citizens of Virginia: What has
secession or rebellion brought on the
State? Whether farms. houses, or inter.
nal improvements, all is one common rnin
which lies in tue track of the rebel army.
But this is not the worst. Fathers and
mothers mourn in deep sorrow their sons
slain on the battle field, or who have died
IN sickly yCamPs-thOusands of widows and
orphans made by the rebellion, houseless
and homeless, are sending their bitter cry
up to heaven while tens of thousands
more are reduced to want by their subsist-
ence being taken to feed the rebel army.
There is not casualty which takes nlace
tn the held but brings n pang TO some
loving heart,
system OF guerrilla warfare was set
on foot by Wise and Floyd, in their raids
in the mountains of Western Virginia.
last summer, which extend from the Ken
lucky line to the Blue Ridge. This war
fare is marked by bloody cruelty that
would disgrace the painted savage. Theft.
arson, mmrder-nll the catalogue of crime
has been practiced on unOffending citizens.
And this conduct is encouraged and an
plauded by men boasting superior civili-
cation.
| repeat the question. What have you
gained by rebellion? Yon have been de-
ceived i'll everything. You were told that
the North was divided, and the President
could not bring an army into the field to
enforce the laws. You were told that
England and France would support you.
You suffered your minds to be deluded by
the idea that one Southerner in the field
was equal to five Northern men; aud, final.
ly, that all your slaves were going to be
liberated by somebody. In all of this you
were deluded-worsc, you were wilfully
deceived. Those who inaugurated tue re-
bellion, sent their Commissioners to Eng
land and France, aud authorized them 10
declare to those Governments, that the OBJ
ject of the Confederate States was not to
perpetuate slavery, and if these Govern
ments would acknowledge the nationality
of the conspirators' pretended government,
that they would pledge themselves to lib
crate all the children born of slaves after
such acknowledgement. Thus, those who
had fired the Southern heart by the cry of
Abolition" themselves, to secure political
power, were willing to become the princes
of Abolition.
But why Virgtnians should be willing
to form an alliance with foreign power
for the purpose of breaking down the great
Government Of the United States, is to me,
most incOmprehensible. A State in all its
commercial, geographical and social rela-
tons, SO intimately connected with the
Middle and Western States, to say moth
ing of its ancient history, and hallowed as.
sociations in the early struggles Of onr
fathers in achieving our glorious indepen-
dencei and why Virginia should have link
ed her fortune with South Carolina, whose
history is tainted with Toryism, Nulifica-
tion and Secession, is still more fncompre-
hensible. When the Convention was call
led which prssed the Ordinance of Seces-
sion, / am confident that not one tenth OF
the voters in the State were in favor of Sc
cession. A few desperate politicians,
without Office aud without fortune,
through a mob aud the metropolitan press
At Richmond, jostled the people for a time
from their propriety, and brought this Ca
lamity on the State. Ha
Was'itto secure property in slaves! No
sane man ever dreamed that Secession
would secure this. It's only safety was ID
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