The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-08-23
evening State aonraat.
MIR. LYONS LETTER

| the Hon. James Lyons for the proof of his
assertion that Mr.. Greeley had used the
| language attributed to him in his Freder-
icksburg letter, which reflected so scandal
ously on the women Of the South. Mr..
Lyons replies in note to the Enquirer Of
to-day, in which he states that he has been
endeavoring for weeks to procure the PAM
phlet named by the Tribune on" Miscege-
nation" but has failed to get one, though
applying through the book trade. He also
accompanies his note with the copy of a let
ter sent by him to Pomeroy's Democrat, in
answer to inquiries made by the editor of
that paper. The letter of Mr.. Lyons speaks
for itself, and requires no comments at our
hands: "It a .Ia3a .4esaf"d htc4 +
~ RICHMOND, August II, 1872.
H. J. Brent, Esq, Associate Editor efPomeroys
Democrat i-.t oil. D.. ~. #Ei Pr. nat
DEAR SIR-T received your letter of the
9Th, asking for the authority for the quota
ton of Greeley's utterance as to Southern
women, and would have replied to it sooner
but that the weather has been terribly hot,
and very unwcll from it, and | have been
expecting a certified copy of the quotation
from the Tribune. .fa.T.Ll
| used it from manuscript sent me by
Col. Duncanin letter which | now have.
When the Tribune and the W'orld spewed
up their filth upon me because used it, |
wrote to Col. Duncan for the evidence
and | hand you on the opposite page a cory
of his reply. aag 81 .a.5sH 3y .ls.a.s. .t1
To the 1Forld l am yearly subscriber,
and read all its articles on "the Greeley
craze" y .asa, ...r.a.s1-s 49,. =
You will remark that the article from
the Tribune pouring out its filth and pro-
Tossing to deny the quotation, admits that
the language quoted 9oos used in the Tn
bune but AYERS that it was quotation from
the pamphlet called :" Hiscegeaation," and
it was quoted for denunciation. 'l' .fi
This is what we lawyers call in pleading
confession and avoidance, and the confess
sion is good and conclusive until the avoid
ance is proved and the oa,ts 1'robandtis
changed from the accuser to the accused.
1t is for the Tribune, therefore, to produce
the quotation from the pamphlet, with the
denunciation of it, and until that is done
Greeley is convicted by confession. .ga s.-r
| cannot produce the quotation from his
paper because | do not know the date, but
he can, because he does know the, date, and
il he fails to do so he is convict because,
by the plainest rule of evidence and com
mon sense, if a man accused of a crime
says he is in possession of evidence which
viii repel the prfna facie case made against
him, and acquit him, and upon bis trial he
fails to produce it, the prina face case be-
comes conclusive by his failure and convic-
ton follows. savst. .a..s. .5,,s. gs.r .gs \
If the Tribune will produce the article
upon which it relies, and it is such as the
Tribune says, | will at once publicly ac-
knowledge that have been led into error.
But must at the same time say that it
will not change my opinion of Horace
Greeley and his heart, if he has any, be-
cause he has used other language almost,
if not fully, as bestial as that quoted
language proving him to be a man of the
most brutal and yindictiye nature, utterly
unfit for the society of refined women; and
if it should please God in His wrath to
place the animal in the Whits House can
not conceive how any Southern man can
permit his wife or daughter to cross its
threshold. ~, E..
When Butler was playing the Greeleyite
in New Orleans, he issued an order which |
shocked all Christendom as much as the
famous and infamous order of Haynau, in
which he said that any Southern woman
who should, by acord, gesture, or mocenaent,
show contempt for any officer or soldier of
his army, should be treated as q prostitute
piping her rocation.
For Butler there might be found some
mitigation possibly in his situation; and
believing we bad no right to outlaw him, as
a member Of the Confederate Congress, |
opposed his outlawry. But for Horace
Greeley there is no such mitigation.
In cold blood in the city Of New York,
he deliberately aorote ON the goth of Decem-
Der, 1862, that the order of Butler ''was
most righteous, timely, and wise" The
man who uttered this sentiment could we'll
conceive and utter the other, and have no
difficulty IN believing that he did so.
Allow me to add that the attempt by the
toadies of Greeley to make it appear that |
am opposed to peace and reconciliation is
simply ridiculous falsehood. All who
know me know that / have been for peace
and reconciliation ever since The war ended;
that | have no unkind feeling towards any
man who opposed or even fought against
us, if he deported himself like a gentleman;
and, in published letter, said believed
the whole South would vote for General
Grant if he would enforce his maxim,
g Let us have peace - and now will vote
for him against Horace Greeley, the most
indiscriminate libeller who ever held pen.
But it will be in vain to talk of peace and
reconciliation if the most vindictive enemy
and libeler of the South shall be selected to
rule over her. alag &UA
You may use this letter as you please.
+ AN Very sespectfully, I4aG5.L4 "A 4
[Signedl lAl @2l JAMES LYONS.