The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-12-18
Gke ~InteIiQetrrer
0ncei Nos 10 and VI Fourteenth Street.
DAVIS DODGE.
Tho Jefr Davis Letter That. Don. Sherman
r.. Referred to,

DAVID boOeAs
Tho Jcfr Davis Letter That Den. Sherman
Referred 10.
This Is tho letter General Sherman In,
been talking about in reference 10 Iii
charge that jeff Davis designed II dictator
ship after tho rebellion Ind broken out
General Sherman thus c~crlifes It:
''Sr. Louis, NO., Dec. 7, 1884.
"Tle follow Is u true copy OF an original
letter loaned INC by DR.. II. g. Robbins, Of
Crcston, Oglc county, Illinois, who was
formerly Surgeon OF tho l0lst Illinois In.
fantry, who obtained II ON the premises Of
II. Y. johnson, ut Sandy Grove, Georgia,
In tho autumn OF 1851.
W. 7. SHERMAN, General"
CHAMPIONSHIPS, Ga, April 5, 1864.
"MY DEAR SlR:-Iour letter OF tho 9TH
instant has reached nfe, and | devote n
few leisure moments to you In reply this
evening, because / do not know that |
sliull have time TO do 1t in the morning
before the mail closes.
~ wrote you a pretty long letter dry be.
fore yesterday, and feel no disposition to
prolong the discussion. II, after reading
that, you aro still Of the opinion that tho
net s%uspending the writ OF habeas corpus
in certain cases does not attempt to con.
fer upon the President and others under
him tho power TO arrest and 10 hold per.
soma arrested without proper warrant
under oath, n power that they Gould not
exercise without 1t, then 1t Is unless to
say more; and il, after reading that letter
and tho order OF General Cooper alluded
to in 1t, you are still Of tho opinion that
personal liberty is mot jeopardizedby it,and
that no blow is struck by it ut the very
'vitals Of liberty then, indeed, you would
not believe though one were to rise from
tho dead. So nc moro on these points.
81 wish barely to say a few things on
some other points. After speaking Of the
c%ommcndablc tone Of tho M%illedgeville
speech you say, Yet below tho surface
your antipathy to the President Is per.
ceptiblc to any n acquainted with your
opinions Of the man. (underscoring mani
and on this point you say: 4 think you
had rs well have fully unbottled your
wrath; for after all, you are rs well un.
dersi0od, in the estimatiQn Of tho country,
to be hostile, 40 II you had avowed iii
and you 60 on to say TINT ! will neces.
sarily be classed with those whose palp.
able object it is to organize a party in op.
position TO the Administration, (under.
scoring administration, and further on
you say that my antlpGthy to pqyis has
misled my judgment, or 1 have allowed
my antipathy to him TO mislead my judy
mcnt. EIsl
"For your candor and frankness In all
this | sincerely thank you, for it isl con-
elusive EVIDENCE 10 INC that such are your
opinions, and alludc TO these matters
for the solo purpose OF correcting an er.
roneous impression on your mind. l rs.
sure you | hale no antipathy toMr. Davis,
nor atn ! hostile him, aud ii there isan
object or intention or wish with anybody
- organize a party in opposition to the
Administration l known nothing OF tt
have heard nothing Of it. AS TO the late
movement on the action Of Georgia upon
the subject OF the haboas cnrpl;s, and the
resolution in relation to the terms upon
which peace should be sought. think
l know ns much rs anybody else. II any
one is responsible for IL nc one is more
so than myself. 1t is true that those resp
lutions were not drawn up by me, but
they were prepared by Luton after full
consultation. prepared at his hopse hel0re
lie went to Millcdgeville; and rs for Mr..
Davis and his administration, they had
but little to do with it-nothing in the
world, except In so far us they fall within /
the scope Of the point us stated. They
did not rise TO the dignity Of q moments
serious consideration or thought n way
or the other. Greater objects by far were
then cnsrossing my attention, and Tin
toms, too, I think.
AS for Mr.. Davis, | repeat again l have
no fcelinesof sympathy, much less hostili-
ty. What opinions You may think l en-
terrain OF him, Us you intimate, l know
not, but | have no hesitancy in stating to
you freely and frankly, and most conf
dentially what my opinions Of him are.
They are much more akin to suspicion
and Jealousy that OF luminosity or hate,
why | do not, and never have, regarded
him as q great man, or statesman on u
large scale, or q man OF any marked
genius, yeti have regarded him as q man
ut good intentions, weak md yaciilatine,
timid and petulant, peevishand obstinate,
but not firm. Am now beginning to doubt
his good intentions. I say doubt, for after
watching him closely l am not satisfied in
my own mind or arrived at any conclu-
sion whether some OF his shortcomings
are TO DO attributed to weakness or bad
purposes. These are my real sentiments,
and my reasons for them are these:
"Sincc his first elevation to power he
has changed many OF his former States
rights principles, as in case OF conscrip.
ton. His whole policy on the organiza.
ton and discipline of the army is per
iectly consistent with the hypothesis that
he Is aiming at absolute power. Not a
word has come from him OF military usur-
patton in the orders for martial law by
Bragg and Van Dorm, and the whole sys.
ten OF passports and Provost Marshals,
which is utterly wrong and without au-
thority Of law. After all that may be said
or written by myself and others against
the usurpntions, not one word has es-
caprd Mr.. Davis showing his disapproval
OF them.
"Agan, it is well known that tho sub
ject OF 4 dictatorship Inns been mooted,
talked OF and discussed in private and
in public journals, and That tho most ear.
nest advocates OF such n course, the vir-
tnal doing away with Congress and the
Constitution, have been editors near him
right under his nose, editors Of Journals
recognized by the Administration. Now,
it seems 10 Inc strange that this should be |
so, and that even holding and advocating
such sentiments for months, should hold
such neal relations to him il such senti.
ments were distasteiul 10 him. These
arc bad signs to Inc, yet they are not con-
elusive evidences Of bad objects or inten-
tons on his part. They leave mo In
doubt, but certainly awake my suspicion
and watchful jealousy. They teach me TO
be On my guard, and they should, in my
opinion, put the whole country on their
guard.
'Thu price OF liberty is eternal vigilance.
But again, assure you, l feel no more
hostility to him than l do to you and
great numbers l meet with who sec n O
danger in these things. My hostility and
Wrnth (and I havp enough nj A. IN hurct