Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1865-11-02
JEFFERsoN COUNTY.

/ 10 General James -. UHeU;
My DEAR STR-You have doubtless seen
Governor, Boreman's Procl@qationj Of the 9th
inst, relating to the alleged condition of affairs
in Jefferson county and calling upon the mil
itary .authprities of the United States teintey-
pose their strong arm 10 fresqta certain elcr7
ton, which the good people Of this county con
l.tenaplafcd holding on tifie 10Th Of the present
month, and presume tooIyouI have noticed
the coarse and unmanly fling made at me per-
sonally in-one of your rewspap ers and which
has been copied into The Baltimore .a0ie'lcdn.
To- this latter, from motives which you Will
appreciate, do not, of coarse, propose to make
any reply; and the committee appointed under
one of the resolutions passed at the public
meeting here of the 23d uts charged with that
duty. will pay their respects to the Governor
proclan,atioii, so far as To- vindicafc those en-
gagged in that movement, from what we are
constrained torcgard and pronounce an attempt
! to cast upon us imputations wholly unfoundeti,
and unworthy Of the high position which his
Exccllency occupies pa . 1''@
But as | harc been singled outpcrsonally ;
aud as my agreeable and kipdyrelations here
tofore, with, many in your city ;, and IN What
| was formerly the Northwest, renders me by no
means indifferent to their coed opinion, and es-
pecially to yours, i take thelibertyof address
sing this communication to you; which you
may publish if you see proper. ss.q e,,5il,r.-
/ First then, as to my connection with tue late
rebellion $50 calledt The amount of my Of
Tending, if an offence it be- istothis extent, and
no further; that upon the breaking ont of the
late unhappy war; which, in truth, no la
bored harder to avert than did j, adhered
with all the Jealous devotion Of which was
lcapable. to the fortunes of my native State, the
venerated commonwealth of Faginiasa Unjust
lv and, unconstitutionally invaded, as i con-
scientiously believed she. was, j only regretted
that was too old and infrm, to so INTO the
field and therefore devoted myself with all
my energy to her civil councils, having been
first elected, without solicitations and by sin
gular unanimity, to the House Of. Delegates, and
subsequently to the Senate in which service
I continued up to the close Of the struggle;
having at no time been in the service, or held
Office of any kind, under the Confederate Gov
ernment, as seems to be SO generally supposed.
Nine-tenths Of the people Of, Jefferson pursued
the same course. adhcring to the fortunes
and abiding the fate of their yenerated State
live erred in this, we did so, conscentiousiy,
and dearly have they, and |, paid the penalty;
as witnessed blythe loss Of our loved ones and
the desoatioll all around us, i have heard few
complaints from our people. | have never ut
tered one fnyself and never will; having count
ed the cost from the beginning. But, now,
having in all sincerity accepted the situation,
and availed myself of the Presidents profiered
amnesty, and restoration to citizenship, Cover
nor Boreinan must pardon, me for repeiling
with some indignation the qnfounded imputa-
ton contained in ms proclamation, that i, and
those acting with me, have, in any manner,
failed in keeping our newly aplighted faith to
the United States Government. The proceed
| ings of the meeting referred to- will show the
reverse. SO far at least as our declarations can
60, and we defy proof to the contrary unless,
| indeed. our contestingsthe constitutional right
of West Virginia to exercise jurisdiction over
MS, shall be deemed ldisloyaltY to the Federal
/ Government; and even rs to this the Governor
/ IL he had carefully considered our proceedings,
| would have found that at lcastlone of the res
olutions adopted, recognizes his ds fdcto author
| ity over us. svrs 80
, For my own part, permit me to say, that
| from the day of Gen. Lees surrender, | have
uniformly counseled both to citizens and SOL
diers, a frank and manly submission to. the
new order of things brought about by the re-
suit of the war; and as cordial return into
the Union as human nature, under the circusl-
stances, and without hypocrisy, was capable of.
And this have no hesitation in saying is the
universal sentiment of our people. ~ =,
| But this is somewhat apart from the imme-
date question in issue; and ] may be excused
from making these statements simply because
| the Governor has gone cut Of his way to assail
us on this point. / therefore dismiss the sub
iect by saying briefly with all due respect to
the high position, the Governor occupies, that
| the insnuation, contained in his proclamation
| in this regard, is both untrue and cahimnious
He has been msled by misrepresentation,
| going to him from quarter that we are fully
aware of; but he would have better maintained
| the dignity of his Office had he been more eau
| tious, and little more considerable of the feel
! ings of gentlemen who claim to be bis equals
| though located here at this outpost of his do
main, and under the ban of, the, .anti-bullet
heroes of the late war. In a word We are the
roughly submissive to the powers that be but
are not either dogs or slaves to submit tamely
to an attack upon all that is left to many of
us; our self respect and our honor. 100
But it seems we have not been duly submits
sive to the authority of West Virginia, and af-
ter what has occurred, it may surprise even yolI
General; to learn, jllat l, the designated chief
of these proclaimed sinners. have uniformly,
ever since my return from Richmond, last spring,
inculcated upon every one here the duty ofreh-
dering obedience to its constitution andjilaiys,
as being the only show of civil administration
we had and that even TO the extent, when re-
CURED, of taking the oath to support the cop7
stitution; it being found upon examination,
that onelof the proper Specifications of this
word support" is oa,'endurc,H or perhaps
more properly in this connection, to obey
and that notwithstanding few here doubt that
the jurisdiction claimed and exercised over US,
is. for the present at least, clear usuupation.
True |, and those acting with me, have siren
uously opposed certain departures from, and
/ gross abuses of the laws even of West Virginia,
sought to be carried out here, particularly in
the matter of taxation land Governor Borenan
may be assured, that both as to these, as. well
the general question Of jurisdiction over US, We