The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1880-10-14
sTAUNTON, VIRGINIA, OCTOBER "A, 1880.
Letter from Gen. w. G. Wickham, OF
Hanover.
HANOVER c. H., April %, 1865.


Hanover.
HANOVER C. H., April %, 1865.
| Franklin Stedrns, Esq, Hdm0oer County:
Nv Dear Sir,-It is matter Of vital Importance
that the wisest means that can be devised shoud Ut
adopted for bringing people back as speedily al
possible on the road to prosperity from Whcn tne9
were az heartIessly thrust by designing politicians
in the selfish endeavor to retrieve their own 1aen
fortunes; and who, careless OF the snHerlngs tae9
would to be inflicted on millions OF tnelr lei
low beings drove them by appeals to their passions
and prejudices to a course which has been produc
tive Of almost irretrievable ruin to every Southern
State and in its results fasihed every declafa
ton made by them in the advocacy OF their vast oe
signs. ~, =,
great end is to revive in the hearts OF our people
that devotion to the Union which was as deeply I'M
planted there before the war as IN those oi Iie
pie of any the other States but which mas pecoe
either held in allegiance by the force OF the Conleo
crate dynasty crushed out by the false teachlhg
of the leaders of the Secession movement. MY OWL
opinion is that the great of the people of this
never their reverence or their attach
ment for the Government Of the United States ano
that they have only wanted freedom of speech and
liberty Of action avow their attachment for 1t.
The result of the contest has taught those wfo
really wished the separation that the power OF
the government too great to enable them TO sue
coed in their unhallowed design of overthrowng ~
and think we may safely say that lne nIa
which declared that we had central government
with the name and not the power OF government
has met with observed and violent death. on
n letter published in the Richmond wing. Apr" z'
1866
The above extract from letter Wrltteh
by Gen w. c. Wickham to Franklin
Stearns, ESQ.,. Immediately after the sur
render of the Confederate forces and the
collapse of what was called the southern
Confederacy," is reproduced by the Wha9
now as the text of an appeal to the people
of Virginia to condemn publicly the writer
of it.
When the letter was penned, we were
Just fresh from bloody struggle to give
life and enduring substance to the doctrine
of State Sovereignty. 1t was written by an
.sold-line Union Whig," who was educated
to believe the theory Of secession heresy
vet when his State seeded he entered the
service under her flag, and fought CALAMITY
through the war to the close OF the contest
Comprehending the situation, he brought
TO the aid of his understanding moral
courage which few possessed, that enabled
him to boldly declare his convictions and
point out the path he believed it was the
duty of the people of Virginia to pursue
To that declaration he has been consistently
true In no instance has he turned to the
RIGHT or left from it, He placed his motives
above suspicion, in the fact that he sought
no personal favors from the government ;
asked for no office. but on the contrary re-
fused the tender of position. He at once
identified himself with the Republican par
ty, as the proper association to give practl-
cal force to the views he had expressed and
in doing so exposed himself to flood OF
denunciation and ostracism that few men
had the nerve to endure. He stands now
precisely where he stood when he wrote the
significant letter above quoted
There is not sentence or a sentiment in
that letter as quoted, that we do not fully
and emphatically endorse, and which fifty
| thousand majority of the people of Virginia
would endorse, were they to per-
NIT their judgments and not their preill-
dices and passions to control their ac-
ton. We are willing TO accept it as a
party platform, upon the particular idea
announced, and to challenge discussion OF
the principle presented with the represen-
tatives of either of the factions OF the Dem
| ocratic party. The sentence to which par
ticular attention has been called and the
wrath of the people Of Virginia invoked be-
cause of it, is this p: 1.-The result of the con-
test has taught those who really wished for
the separation that the power of the Gov
eminent was too great to enable them (the
,,o1itioia c,H RI cucoand in their
| unhallowed design Of overthrowing it :; and
Think aoe may safely sag that the ABsTRAC-
| TION uhich declared aoe had central gor-
crnment Nth the name and not the pooer Of a
| government, has met Nth deserved and ~
client dedth.'''
We challenge any Funder or Re-adjuster
Democratic speaker or writer to publicly
declare his adhesion to the doctrine which
Gen. Wickham so boldly and justly de-
nounced in 1865. 1t was but few weeks
ago that Gov. Wade Hampton proclaimed
| in the Opera House, at Staunton, that the
principles for which Lee and Jackson
| fought and the Southern soldiers died. were
| the same that he and the Hancock Democ-
racy were now contending for. And when
| we faithfully reported what he said, and
| legitimately criticised his remarks, a howl
| of Indignation was raised by the wild
young men, of the Democratic party that
we had ''maliciously and designedly" mis-
| REPRESENTED what he said and meant. Gen
| Hampton only asserted what Gen. Wick
tho. ri Of Stata
ereignty-the ''abstraction which declared
| that we had central government with the
| name and not the pover of government
and for which he is now sought to be placed
under the ban of the people.
| Notwithstanding the declaration of Gov.
Hampton and similar sentiments expressed
| by other Democratic speakers notably
Gov Vance, Congressman Ellis, and DR..
Moffett-and the Juror aroused by few
sensational political novlces, in this place,
| we assume that the declaration OF Gen.
| Wickham is nearer reflection Of the SEN
| timent of the great mass of the intelligent
and thoughtful people of Virginia, and es-
pecially of the Valley, than. that of Gen.
Hampton, and that down in their hearts
they sustain our exposure of the false and
mischievous sentiments which were pro-
claimed in this place by the South Carolina
Senator.
What is it that Gen. Wickham said had
met observed and viol Mt death 20 The
'abstracion'' of secession, or the right OF
the State to determine the method OF re-
dress for real or imaginary invasion OF the
proper rights of the State-instead OF an
appeal to the Supreme Court OF the United
States as the final arbter in such matters
and the authorized exponent OF the Consti-
tutional relations of the States to the Ma
tional Government. The success OF that
abstraction, in the trial to which it was sub
jected, would have been the establishment
of the Southern Confederacy, with that
'sabstraction'' and human slavery as the
chief corner-stones. How long would it
have continued, had such been the result