The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-06-03

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noiite IN Ma manner, never suffering any
| Interruptions to disturb him, he continued
| the cruea task which he had undertaken.
wish j had space to report the argument
which he made upon the RECONSTRUCTED laws
which General Wickham said he fully en-
dcrsed Ibis analysis Of the: beauties of the
Virginia Constitution which General Wick
ham was so non-committal about. It would
make q capital campaign document. III can
only give few detached sentences, which
will give your readers AN -ideaef how he
enacted his part in the tragedy. @sjE
He commenced by expressing his gratif-
cationyat meeting with ahis old friend and
conrade-ia-arnss Genera. Wickham. They
had; fought many q battle together in,the
ranks OF the old Wing party in the good old
days gone by. Side by side they. had bat-'
tied iT thsr Convention or Virginia against
the, dissolution OF the Union. Side By side
they had entered the Gonfe derstes services
and his friend had won D fame there which
many might envy. They had always been
friends. He supported General Wickham
for the Confederate Gongreses He read the
Generate letter accepting fthe. nomination,
in which he pledged |" his practical wisdom
and all his talents to support the fortunes
Of our young Confederacy." And now he
met him in old Hanover, the birth place Of
Clay and Henry, advocating before his old
friends, who had heretofore honored him,
the policy Of the foes against whom he
had fought, and calling that party which is
pledged to the humiliation of the white peo-
pie Of Virginia &C our party" He could
not understand it. Indeed, he could not
understand what the General intended to
do here, to-day. ! he. said that he came to
advise the celored people. Well, he, had
listened, but he could not tell what, specific
advice he had given. s What has he told
you to do9 p ,. .-.'t...,.,r, -r...r,,ax go:
ST kin tell you," said the solemn negro.
"H He ,tole us to pursue to de trufe, and not
to kick agin de brick, Glory to Ginral
Washington.'
"That is about the substance Of his ad-
vice, think. I think you have hit it ex-
actly, ~; said the Colonel, but 1t IS little
indefnite.o General Wickham would not
argue the Constitution, but he could stand
here and express his admiration of Congress
sional tyranny, and his excessive sdmira-
ton of that poodle-head, General o. s.
Grant. He could praise him and tell you
how kind he was, and how he interfered to
protect General Lee and others. He (Colo-
mel Johnson) had parole in:hispocket, and
had, nevertheless, been arrested on the
street soon after the surrender, and q Yam
kee official cut off his stars. =: ~. 3
General Wickham: "sThe gentleman
ought to have had the good sense to take
the stars off himself" s&'a #@f -
Colonel johnson: ,"Ah! fellow-citizens,1
have not the good sense Of General Wickham.
He had the good sense to support the Con-
federacy when its cause was prosperous,
and be General in its service to try and
defeat General Grant, and when Grant is
successful and in power he has the good
sense to praise him and declare that he IL
the best man mall the world for President"
/ wish / could tell you with what terrible
effect Colonel Johnson quoted the Stearns
letter and the Rives letter, and how Gene
raj Wickham twisted and turned and jump
ed to his feet and stormed, interrupting
Colonel Johnson every five minutes. One
sentence / must give. !" Do you mean,"
said General Wickham, " to censure me for
the course / pursued in the Confederacy 7"
:" Censure your" said Colonel J. eyes
ten thousand censures upon the head of q
man who could think the thoughts, and the
hand that could pen the words that you
wrote in that Stearns letter., A Confede-
rate General, member of Congress, to say
that the people-his comrades and brethren
with whom and for whom he had fought
had met with o deserved fate Yes. sir,
would bury you in a grave of political in
fanny so deep that you could never again be
found" a...r ,.-..,,t r
And thus he continued to hold his. posi-
ton up to scorn, convincing all, think,
that there never was more completely
used-up man on earth. -: 49,
My letter grows too long. must close
with mentioning that Colonel W. r. VIM
made very able argument against the
proposed Constitution. 1t was very mas
terly, Colonel Aver, of the Freedmen's
Bureau, replied. 81 sG;rL .sgz-~ta,,
Burwell Toler (negro) Of course spoke
the usual amount of nonsense, and said that,
although nominated for the Legislature, he
intended to decline; and then the meeting
adjourned: S. C. Redd, ESQ.,, one of the
Conservative candidates for the Legislature,
Was present. and made few remarks, l.'oi
After the adjournment, Mr., James held o
little meeting Of twenty.slx negroes, ana !,
placing a negro in the chair, whispered and
wrote O few minutes, and then 1t was an,
nounced that four delegates were appointed
to a convention at New Kent Courthouse to
nominate d candidate fos the State Senate !;
and then Mr.. James went home bcamlng
and smiling and thus we: had the farce
after the tragedy sa:. $50 n.
PETERSBURG LETTER.
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