Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1865-01-04

n. -''0n under his own hand for publication,
aae peace meetings were going on all this tim. n.
~ 1a'8 q was publishing the proceedings, and still
WV, 'anco and the Standard were apparently on
sooa Terms. We say apparsntly, and We mean th;.
'of nun, for We have since leaned that ~, 49,
y. e.eo then engaged in stabbing us in th. dark
""'ne letters to his particular friends warning
,neu - against US; and advising the formation Of
.o"'' party Ws acted in good faith. We treated
a',n WIN frankness and candor. We said nothing
o0."'u ms back that We did not say to his face
ana We iabored for months, with the utmost SINGER.
sy ano sngiehess Of purpose, to save him to tho
CONSERVATIVE party and to his real friends. II ne |
lalIed to do 80, it was no fault Of ours But for u.
~. nus letter to Mr. Haughton would have been pub.
..snea and il it had been, he would have been DO.
nucaAy dead and buried long before bis Wikesbor.
ooen speech. 1t is our opinion that he returned
from his visit to Richmond eAsnged man. What
wrought the change We cannot tell. It NAV have
oeen hsttery, or it may have been patriotism or it
may nave been the glittering reward of the Presi-
dency after Mr. Davis which was flashed before his
vision. He went there to demand justice for his
State, and he returned with his views on this sub
jet materially modified He went there inclined to
peace, and returned red hot war man. He went
there an DAVIS man. and returned more or less
Davis man. These are facts known to Gov
Vances intimate friends at the time, and he cannot
truthfully deny them.
But the Conservative says Gov. Vance set his
face against the called peace meetings" in 1863
and denounced them as hostile to the cause Grant
| this, and what theni Gov. Vance was opposed to
the peace meetings and to State intervention for
| peace Is that SO? Tho Governors own newspa-
per says it is Then We reply, he played double
game ON this subject for believe we could prove
that he endorsed the pesce movements in July, Au-
| gust, and September, 1858, in tho most emphatic
manner. Gov. Vance cannot truthfully deny this
| statement He cannot deny that be pennsd reso-
luton for friend in August, 1853, containing his
sentiments the subject Of peace which was adopt
ed at more than meeting, and which declared
it to be "our duty, Christians and patriots, to-
neglect no means Of negotiation which may effect
settlement Of our difficulties, and stay the she'd
ding of blood" This was while the $50 called
peace meetings" were going Oh. Afterwards, in
January, 1864, he endorsed the proposition for
State Convention as contaiasd in the Johnston Coun
ty resolutions and no doubt Mr.. Senator Boyle
could state that but day or two before Gov Vance
made his Wilkesborough speech in which be de-
nounced Convention traitorous measure, he
endorsed Convention resolutions which had just
been passed by . meeting in Alexander Comfy =
What do these things provei Why, that Gov.
Vance is utterly unreliable as . public man-that
be endorses proposition in one breath, and denoun.
ces it In another-that he is not crooked long
enough to be crooked" " nor strait long enough
to be "strait" The truth is, Gov. Vance is essen.
tally DsstructiUe in bis temperament and character.
He is violent, domineering. .dogmatical public
man. He is guided by passion instead of judgment
The consequence is he cannot even rely upon him.
SELF much less obtain the entire confidence Of 9TH
era 1t is an every day remark that be has not
kept faith with this one or that or that he has
made pledges and then broken them. This is be
cause he consults his passions instead Of his judg
ment, and because his temperament is Destruetius
And We verify believe, that but for the fact that BIZ
mind is somewhat imbued with the writings o
Blackstone, and but for the further fact that be va
educated politically far he could be- in the schoo
of Story, Clay, and Webster, he would have beel
from his youth up one Of the most violent and radi
cal Destructives in the State. Conservatism, will
him, means his way Of thinking and decding, gloss
ed over with a show offcspect in the abstract fo
constitutions and laws
Nor is it true, as stated by the Governors news
paper that tho Conservatives of the State dsap
proved the $50 called peace meetings." They wer
approved by vast majority Of them. And. the de
claration that the people endorsed Gov. Vance
views IN the late election adds insult to injury
The truth is it was no election st ALL so far as th
army and two thirds of the Counties were concern
: cd. Gov. Vance was re elected by the patronage
the Confederate and State governments, and by th
: bayonet 1t was no free election. Every bod
knows this.
> Gov. Vance suspects our fidelity to the Cor
federate government All our interests, attach
ments and affections are in and with the South
We have performed all our duties as . loyal, law
abiding citizen, from the time the war commence
, to the present moment We are as true to th
South As Gov Vance is, and We are truer, than
God, to North Carolina than he ID. live are "su'
, pected" because we ere the una;nchng advocate,t
civil liberty, and because We want peace then a
We proud that We are thus suspected" We wel
among the first to suggest State Intervention - Ii
only mode Of securing An honorable peace sad Y
hope to see the day, not now far distant when tn
: mode will receive almost universal approval
We have no apprehensions ss to the future. O,
! Conservatism needs no defence No pensioas
press is required to whitewash us. FIVE had bee
ss true to Gov. Vance Is We have been to prncipl
the Conservative party would now have been
thsrough wreck, with no rallying point tor tho
Who love liberty and desire Eeace, snd Dsssraati