Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-02-08

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Shall Wc not see to it, that that rule
neither by its utteranees, nor 6y an equGlLs
eEpEcssire Stlence, shall mot tender to the
people, with all the solemn sanctions ot
the public authority, sons deadly erroI
that shall poison ut its very fountain, the
life blood Of the State.
We have all listened here to the occa.
sional and incidental, but most touching
rcCitals of the .dclusious into which masses
of our people have fallen, who are in.
yolved in the meshes of this terrible re.
belliou. will not say that these extenu-
auOns as thus uttered, do not do honor ia
the heads and hearts of gentlemen con.
cetying them, But what has CAUSED these
binding delusious2 God help us.alll 70,
fear that none of us arc wholly innocent
IN this business. Our. own slave code-or.
gapic and. sta te, written and dnWffttenz
has furnished the fruitful soil whence has
sprung full armed--perjury and rebellion,
and treason and war. have somewhere
heard tho story of watch, most elabOr-
htelY and artistieally fashioned, which
should have gone always right, but which
did go always wrong. Il was examined
and re-examtned and re.adidstcd, with the
same result, until a magnet was discovered
near the balance wheel, which disturbed its
every motion. This removed, all worked
well. Our old system, il left unrestricted
in the new State machinery, will provo in
the future, as in tho past, the ctFectual dis.
turber of its action.
know very well that sentiments such
as these have not been often heard, Of lato,
in Constitutional Conventions of this State.
But ! know as well, that they havc been
heard in Virginia's purest days, and from
the =IfnH
and but repeat MS n leoruer, the lessons
they havc taught me. Beginning with
Washington with Jefferson,
Madison, Henry, and. q host OF others in
that unriTallcd galaxy of names,-disap-
prevails of the system as a question of
principle, ns well as on political grounds,
everywhere abound. AadI may say fur
theT, that up to q comparatively recent PEE
riodI not. single utterance can be found
from any prominent American statesman,
South or North, which in substance differs
from this testimony. Nor has the old
voice lacked response, oven in later
times, Tho most eminent citizen Of Vir-
ginia birth, since the former period-thc
echoes of whose voice still lihger in the
vallies Of his own adopted Kentucky,
ronstDs her gallant sons to the support Of
that Union which, living and dying, he
loved so well-left, almost with his parting
breath, rs his legacy to his countrymen, his
testimony to. the wrong of the system, and
his scheme for its, removal, knoY that
this Convention will justify mo when ] say
that this is goodly fellowship, and that
the place for reproach to any American
citizen, is noti PteadEastly adhering to It,
whatever may be said in the case. of his
Offering from 4. IL Ishnte been led ffuto
opR esd
modern light yet daWned upon me which
has caused mo TO distrust or discard such
teachers.
Gentlemen tell us iu glowing strains Of
their deep devotion to Virginia, aud of
their pridein their share of her glory
But the inquiry is pertinent Que To
which Virginia do gentlemen refer :? for i
insist that not merely geographically, bpt
and intrinsically, therc are
two. Do shey refer to the Virginia of the
Fatherof his Country, and his illustrious
compatriots, who were at once, aud in
great part, the founders of the Republic,
as well as tue fathers of the Statel Or do
they refer to the Virginia of Wise, and
Floyd, and Letcher, and Pryor, and the
rest! Shades of the mighty dead tor-
give me the saCreligious juxtapositiOu of
your nnmesl But to which Virginia do
gentlemen rcfer2 Is it the Virginia of
Washington, or the Virginia of the infa-
nous Ex-Governor, who, far surprising
any professions hero made Of his devotion
to Virginia, gave as his latest proof of the
intensity of his lore, his raid into one Of
her fairest aud most fruitful yallies, bar
.barously laying it waste with fire and
sword2 Surely it must belt cannot be
otherwiso-that it is Virginia as she was,
and not rs she is, that gentlemen love so
well and in this all good men everywhere
will join them. And for me also to lore
there is still another, born out of tempests
and storms, and toiwtieh this body has
given name. To-tLe people of West
Virginia, who, faithful among tho faith
less, have clung as with the grasp of death,
to the old Union, which. their fathers loved
so wisely and SO we'll, my devotion goes
forth without measure or stint. In all
selE-respectfuI truthfulness, say it: from
my inmost soul, honor and reverence
them. Every man of them whether a
1Weller in the mountains or in the city, is
my brother aud my friend; and God being
my helper, am his to tho end. But by
the same rule, and in The same measure,
from my soul, and by my very manhood,
loathe, and detest and abhor, SO much OF
that other and degenerate Virginia. as at
tempted, not ten months ago. through q
portion Of its representatives, to transfer
me and mine, and my neighbot aud his-at
night aud in secret-with our all of honor
and liberty and life, to the FulO Of the
most infamous and diAbolical usurpatiOn
and despo potism, that the annals of time re.
cord. IS
f-pfopobe in the next place, to consider
CHS proposition in the light Of ezPedienOy
It is always expedient TO do igdtI .sat il
what has already been advanced, be adj
mitted as true, the present inquiry is al
ready answered. But. let as proceed e
the practical question. What do the best
interests OF the people Of. West Virginia
demand at our hands to-day take II
for granted that we all desire, In behalf oi
the new State which We are seeking to In
aqgurate, that shall e once. and Wtthne