The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-08-08

~ S"ii PuoiiSn tiis OF NOT, as you choose.
but can say to you that there h one North
Caroiinian who would dare thus speak ont
II ne had press at his command. p.
July %, 1865.
For the Standard.
To the Hon. Thomas Rufin, late the
Chief Justice Of the supreme Court.
SR:I have read, with amazement and
sorrow, your letter published II, the vii.
mington Jeurn9 bearing date. July 2tl. III.
wnich y0u m1ln>etn IT, the people ~ ilie4
State, whom you have SO long and 81 hon
orably served in its judicial departments.
that the Convention called in pursuance Of
the directions of the President, is an illegal
and unconstitutional body; that the Con-
stltutlon proposed is the offspring of des-
potism and tyranny, and cannot, and ought
not, II adopted, to have any weight with the
people OF the State; advising the people
that it is entitled to no consideration as a
law, and that they ought, by all peaceful
means, to resist it.
NOW, Sir, there is no man to whose mere
legal opinions would sooner Weld nv own
matured as they are by long life of study.
than to yours; but allow me to say. that the
doctrines inculcated in your letter are SO
radical, and so subversive of our present
status, that, if true, we are, politically and
clvllly, just where we were on the 14tb dav
OF April, 1s65-under military law in every
respect, and for all purposes. in every mart
OF the State, conquered by the might of a
superior power, claiming to be the risbtfnl
as it certainly has been the successful cnn'
queror OF the Confederacy Although am
satlsned that your argument is predicated on
erroneous assumptions, shall not, at present
(but In vindication of the Convention. what
ever may be the result of the vote on the
Constitution, shall at a future day) combat
your premises. Having ever been forward
to throw the veil of oblivion over fhe un-
fortunate past, and to pave the way for re-
union, ! have been, and am now, prepared to
overlook the errors in the policy (if errors
there be) OF President who has been ever
anxious to restore the State to tile Union.
and has been ever ready to hear the applica-
tons for pardon of the distinguished old
men Of the State, however deeply engaged
they may have been in the late armed resis
lance against the national authority.
Now, Sir, if the Convention called by his
proclamation has been a mere usurpation.
then all things done under it arc void. It
was maintained by many that all civil law of
the State had been nullifed by the rebellion.
did not concur in that conclusion but. in
order to avoid all argument upon that point.
the Convention, at its first session. under
took to validate all the laws then existing.
which were consistent with the Constitutions
of the State and United States. This ordi-s
nance relieved both our own Courts. and /,
those of the United States of question.
which, had it been decided adversely to the
existence of those laws, would have been
followed by awful consequences, indeed
l need not unfold them to your Imagination:
but they would have been, both in macni
tude and number, enough to fill the whole
land with sorrow and mourning. Sir, if your
opinion be true, that the Convention was an
unlawful, void assembly, and that all its acts
are void, then all that has been done under
its authority is void. The Judges who have
been appointed since it sat- are mere usurp-
ers OF their seats-the Justices of the Peace
are so too. The Governor is an usurper. and
the Legislature also. All the acts done by
virtue OF any authority of the Governor,
Legislature, Judiciary, Sheriff, revenue Off
GERS, &c, are likewise void Each and every
one of them is liable to suits for damages
done to individuals, and indictments for op-
preston, outrage and murder, at the instance
OF persons who shall have been imprisoned
or convicted and punished for crime under
authority deriving its powers directly or.
secondarily through the Convention.
Now, Sir, allow me, in all candor, to ask,
why it was, that, entertaining the opinions
expressed with such confidence in your let
ter, you did not denounce the call of this Con-
vention, when first proposed by the Presi-
dent or subsequently before the day of its
election, with the objections so recently given
to the public? And, If you were not then
prepared, for want of confidence in theny.
why did you not advise the people, who had
heaped on you, for so long time, the dis
tinguished honors so worthily and for so long
time, worn by you, after it was called, Of
its usurping and illegal natures A great ex-
pense to the impoverished State might have
been saved its delusive and illegal acts
might have been arrested: A new, and, in
your opinion perhaps, legitimate source Of
authority might have been inaugurated and
to day we might have been on thehigh. road
towards reunion; at least as.far asswe now
apparently are, without having the spectacle
of long continued usurpation in all the de-
partments of State authority, and the cheer
less task of going over all that has been done.
Again, Sir, there was along pause of time
between the conclusion of the first, and the
beginning of the second, session of the Con-
vention. | am not at liberty to conjecture,
that your views, as recently expressed, were
not matured until lately, ifin fact they were
formed. Allow me to suggest, that, as since
no f,ff Il,
deemed it. becoming your position to warn
your fellow citizens, it will be the subject Of
irrepressible inquiry among them, why it
was not deemed more becoming that posi-,
ition to have given them the warning long
before. Had it appeared earlier it might
have been considered, debated and even VEL
ded to; but as it appears on the eve Of the
election, it may serve to raise doubts which
the reflections of calmer times might have
dissipated. saG
Sir, considering that nearly twelve mouths
have elapsed since the call Of the Convention
was announced; that ten months have pas
sed since it began its work; that seven
months intervened between its sessions. and
that you waited till so short time before the
new Constitution was to be put before the
people on its ratification or rejection. It will
ever he unfortunate for the reputation ~
your, letter, that it came too late to do anv
good, and just in time to do much miscllief.
H,by its counsels, anarchy again shall prevail
in our midst, I hope that you may be as able
to check its evils, as the untimely counscls
will have been prompt to give them. birth.
A MEMBER OF THE CONVENTION.
-------e-s -ep--
Five mobiles the Earl Of Breadalbane, the
Dukes Of Argyll, Athole, Sutherland, and
Buccleuch-are said to own one-fourth of all