Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1869-01-20

LETTER FROM HENRY A. WIsE-Mr. Hen
ry A Wise has addressed letter to the Peters
burg (Va.,) Express in reply to note from
the editor, asking his opinion of the move
ment of the prominent Virginia gentlemen now
in Washington who are proposing universal
suffrage and universal amnesty. Mr.. Wise
says that he does not concur IN the movement
and protests against every reason they have
urged for their conclusions and their course
He urges that their expression OF willingness
to accept what he and others cannot consent
to take, will probably prevent Virginia from
getting what little more endurance and pa
tient abiding of its time might have obtained
by a still firm faith In the obligations OF writ
ten constitution, and in the returning sense OF
Justice and patriotism in the minds OF the ma
tion to observe them. The willingness to ac-
cept what is so distasteful to the people OF Fr-
9inia, he suggests, may persuade their enemies
of such weakness on their part as to tempt
them to turn another screw upon them, which
will not prevent what was Inevitable in the in
tended course of their enemies, nor mitigate
its severity in the least He adds:
Gentlemen say it is to be forced on US, and
therefore they consent. My reason for not
consentiDg is that it is to be forced upon US
Why help the force to wrong US? Why strip
ourselves Of all plea before judicial tribunals or
the tribunal of the worlds public sentiment?
Why not save our honor? Ca bono, | repeat,
to consent? Is there not something better for
us than either of these alternatives? Ifnot, then
for one will fold my arms and take what force
may dictate | am not sure that it will not be
better than prominent gentlemen may bar
gain for. They are too weak in numbers aud
in Influence to be my national attorneys in fact,
and | don't approve OF their programme Of
action. | don't know what their instruc-
tions are, beyond the principles they
have avowed and | can't endorse. And
so far as | am concerned, L prefer to be
Illegally and nstituionally disfranchiSed
by force, rather than be illegally and unconstltu
tionally enfranchised By consent, in such a case,
involving hOuOr as we'll as right liberty aud
public law. What better can we do, do you
ask? Anything | say, is better than to con-
sent to the violation of both State and federal
constitutions, in yielding every point against
which we have been contending and thus far
holding out. But there is something far bet
ter than either the Alexandria or the Black
Crook constitution.
Mr.. Wise then asks what has become Of that
constitution OF Virginia under which she, as
body polite, was existing when Congress OBJ
tanned her consent to form the State of new
Virginia while the war was raging, or OF that
constitution under which she sent Senators
and REPRESENTATIVES to the Congress OF the
United States before the war began and before
new Virginia was formed 10y and with the con-
sent Of old Virginia? He contends that she
dld not expire in the act OF cOnSenting to have
that EVe-like rib taken from her side, and
that she has conStitutionyet surviving, under
which she may well live long enough at least
to take Il new lease for living. lie proceeds to
consent thatthe constitution OF Virginia. in every
respect, constitutes the being and action of a
State, and that though there may be no officers
OF State, yet the State itself exists, and must
continue to exist, notwithstanding the person
mel of its officers be destroyed, either by dis
qualification or even actual DEATH
He then proceeds to state and comment
upon the following proposition
'Ihe late war between the Southern COnfed-
eracy OF States and the Federal Union of States
was not foreign war, inter gcateS, but it was
n civil war, an unsuccessful revolution oil States,
the failure OF which exposed neither States nor
persons to the Jus Jelh, absolute under the laws
OF nations, but exposed persons only to the
penalties for rebellion and treason under the
constitution of the United States"
In conclusion, Mr.. Wise promises another
letter upon the "perils of the commonwealth. F"
To PREVENT SHRINKING IN FLANNELS-
A correspondent of the London Field says;
IN washing hannels, or other wooden articles,
have the suds ready prepared, by boiling up
and 50 dissoving small pieces OF soap In rain
water. without soda; but do not use the sudS
when boiling; let them be lukewarm only when
the articles are put in. The hannels should
rot be rubbed with large piece of soap, nor
should the material itself be rubbed, as in
washing linen, &c. the ibres Of the wool con-
tain numberless little hooks, which the rubbing
knots together; hence the thickening of the
fabric, and consequent shrinking in dimensions
Well sluice the articles up and down in plenty
OF suds, which afterwards squeeze mot wrlngl
out After rinsing, squeeze out the water, and
dry 10 the open air, if the weather is such as to
admit OF the articles drying quickly; II not,