T7 ? A A
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THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAWS-THE GUARDIANS OF OUR LlBERl f
Vol. XL VI.
HILLSBOROUGH, N. C., AUGUST 8, 1866
:. No. 2248.
ii I rc i in riv hi
UTTER FROM HOI A. H. STEPHENS.
PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION.
! tkt Editort of the National inleltigcnrer.
Genusmam. I place in your co
lumns for the enclosed letter tome from the
lion. Alexander II. Stephens. In com
mitting it to the pre" I am taking a ques
tionable liberty with him, for the letter is
marked private. But in the present cir
cumstances of the country, I think it so de
sirable that the people should know the real
temper el the South, that I feel justified in
publVhing this letter from one who, at tie
outbreak of the war, was the representative
man of the Union party of the South, and
it the recognized exponent of the Southern
smtimrnt at this moment.
President Lincoln had great confidence
in Mr. Stephens, lie told me repeatedly
that he had offered him a seat in the Cabi
net, and he retained great regard lor hiio
to the last,
Yours, respectfully,
M. RLAIR.
Moetf omerj county, MJ , Julj IS , 1864.
Crawfol?ill,Ga..Julj S3.
Han. Mont gomtry Blair, Wahinflon,D C.
' Dear Sir i Your letter ol the ITth instant
is beioie we. 1 thank you heartily fur it.
No loan in the United States did or could
s3rr cwrtliatly apptove and endorse the ob
jects of the prtnikrd Union Contention at
Philadelphia (a I understand them) than I
did; and yet. Iiom conilrtion f expe
diency, I doubted the pi opnetr f my uk
iog atlite pt in it. I aUo in doubt,
to eoie ettent, whether, 'with u l.cr views
41 the part of thoke wlu made the call, the
words were not so phrased in the call as to
exclude all w ho occupied a similar potUioii
to ray own, and from other c moderations
as those which 1rad occurred to me.
Your letter relieves me fri the last c!as
of doubts, but those of the o her class till
eiist, notwithstanding your strung view
t the 'contrary." Individually my whole
soul is enlikfed in the caute of a speedy,
lull and perlect ietration of the (Jovern
went under the t'uiitituiio,i, ad it per
inanency under that Constitution as it now
stands. Tim-re is nothing within my pow
er that I am not willing cheerfully to do to
effect and accomplish that end. Indeed,
(sua will excuse me to saying it, but it i
trie truth,) I would be willing to offer up
any life itself, if by so doing I his great re
sult could be obtained and peace, union,
harmony prosperity, happiness an.l convti
lutioaal liberty be thereby secured to the
millions now living, and the untold mil
lions hercalter to lite on this continent.
There are manv personal embarrass-
ments or difficulties in the way of my going
to .the Convention these I alluded to be
fore but I am utolttd to be thereby can.
In no event shall it be ever truthfully said
of ni e that 1 failed to do everything in mv
power to save the country and its institu
liens.
1 did in 1800 eiert my efforts to their ut
most extent to avoid the late most lamen
table war, and to save the Union on con
stitutional principles without a conflict of
arms. This 1 did, too, w hile many f those
- - I a .
now an clamorous lor wnat they call
Union cause" were giving encouragem
at least, to the extreme men at the South
by clearly and decidedly intimating, if not
Lilly expressing a perfect willmsueas. 'on
their pait, that "the Union might slide" if
the people of the South an willed it. I was
I ...T.I. I . . ..
ccn lumiKii wiui muravuring lo liold our
people on lo a Union that was no longer
rated for by IcaCing men of the dominant
party at the North. I withstood these
taunts even when 1 knew or was informed
truly, as I believed, that there was an or
ganized body of men in Savannah to seize
the Custom House, Fort Pulaski, &c., in
ae the State did not secede, All this I
stated to yea, and to which you allude in
i our letter brfure me; nor should I have
my hesitancy in stating it to the public if
any public good could thereby be effected.
The public good is my only object. How
best to subserve that, consistently with
truth, honor tod uprightness, is the only
question with inc. Personal interests have
nw influence with me whatever. Ai lent
I think so, and may be excused for saying
so. I ll I been governed by personal feel-
injs, I should have ad nothing to do with
me tate trounies, lurtner than entering my
earnest protest against them. And had I
been governed by personal feelings, I
u..f.l ..... . I. - : . 1. . .... m
mmum imii niiw ue in me situation i am.
If the Union shall be restored under the
Constitution, as I earnestly desire to see it
done, (and Lain willing to do all I can to
wards that end,) it is my fixed purpose to
retire lorever Irom all connection with pub
lic annrs. So that while it would seem
that my present efforts are tending lo a
result in which I have more or less person
al interest that is, toy admission as a Se
nator in Congress vet I assure you I ne
ver expect or intend to hold that position
long, even if the seal should be awarded to
me. Yours, trulv,
ALEXANDER II. STEPHENS.
THE PHILADELPHIA CONTENTION.
Judre Curtis, formerly of the United
States Supreme Court, in a letter to the
Hon. O. H. Drowning, says or the op
preaching Convention :
" Its sctioo csuBot fail to be beneficial
to our country. The passions generated
in a ereat and divided people by long and
bloody civil war are deep and formidable,
- r i. . : ..
iney are ooi connneu 10 one section -me
victors as well as the vanquished areswiv-
ed by them. They connect themselves
with the purest and tenderest sensibilize
of our nature, with our love of lhoe who
have laid down their fives in the content,
with sufferings which war ia multiplied
lorms always brings to the homes of men,
and still more to the homes of women, and
which civil war, most of all, brings to the
homes of all; and thee pa$ions are made
the sharp aod ready totsof party spirit, of
self-interest, porveritv, and, most of all,
of that fierce infatuation which finds its
best satisfaction in hatred, and its only en-
j'tymcnt iu revenge. Ti statesman who is
acquainted with fie nature ut man, and the
necessities of civil government, can con-
template such passions without the deepest
concern, r fail to do what he fitly may to
altav them. Hard enough the work will
pro.e tube at the best, but a scrupulous
regard for the rights of all and a magnani
mous clemency are twice blesstd; they
both elevate and soften the powerful, and
they reach and subdue what law and bayo
nets cannot control."
(JEN. HNRY A. WISE.
This distinguished Virginian delivered
a lecture in Norlutk a few evening's since,
deferring to his own position and the " test
oath" he said:
' these oaths are not necessary, and can
not sccomplish any good result. They but
promote perjury, hypocrisy and general de
moral'tation ; and as being the condition
precedent of even making an application
lor a pardon, they are an absurdity and a
crime. A man must swear, not before he
is pardoned, but before he can even ssk to
be pardoned. In the kingdom of grace,
who ever heard of such a monstrosity?
And pardon ! For what to be pardoned ?
For himself he could ask no pardon, for the
reason that he had committed no offence
for which to be pardoned. The asking for
pardon admitted guilt, and for hiunell he
was conscious of no guilt. IK had olic ved
those who had the right to command. It
was not for him to decide whether there
was good ciue t fight. Virginia called
him lo the fild of blood, and duty demand
ed that he shotild obey that rail."
The position of (2uv. Wise i in the main
correct aid ilignified. Each state had
and still have a ri;ht to demsnd the ser
vices of a citi7.cn ia any fie'd he tnsy sum
mon him ; but, the central government hav
ing triurnphed through numbers and pre
scribed certain conditions to the parlies
sabdued, there was no alternative left the
gallant men of the South but to scent the
terms offered, and trust to future results for
expunging the foul records from the jour
nals of Congress.
Stewart, of New York, is estimated to
be worth f 50,000,000.
From the Petersburg Index, July 28. ,
ADJOURNMENT.
The first session of the Thirty-Ninth
Congrese closes to-day. It died amid no
regrets from any quarter. iTo a degree ut
terly without precedent in the history of the
United Slates, it has been distinguished by
a reckless disregard of principle and pro
priety, a rancor and passion, a contempt ot
law and libertj, an extravagant waste of
money and a neglect of wholesome legisla
tion. It found the woundsof civil war closing ;
it has re opened and inflamed them. It
found one-third of the Union unrepresent
ed; it leaves it unrepresented. It found
the currency bad; it leaves it wane. It
found the people g'oaoing under a grind
ing tariff; it has refused them alleviation.
Ii began by promise of amending the Cou
alitution ; it eaded by totally disregaiding
it. It found the statute book disgraced by
vindictive legislation ; it has deepened and
multiplied its penal featutes. It found the
people anxious to resume friendly rela
tions; it has rebuilt the crumbling wall of
estrangement. In the face of an admitted
necessity for harmonious administration, c
t ... .a 9
ORIENTAL SHREWDNESS.
A correspondent of the' New York Ob
server narrates the following incident of
a Persia governor, which reminds one of
the shrewdness of Solomon.
He is very shrewd, aa you will allow
when I tell you what he 'did last week.
A Jewish peddler was suddenly called
upon to pay fifty dollars. Not having it
at hand, he applied to a "hadji," or pil
grim, who had visited Mecca, lor the load
of that amount a short time. The hadji at
first refused, but finally consented when
the Jew agreed to leave his pack of goods
as a pledge. In doe time the Jew returned
with the money to redeem his property,
worth about a hundred dollars. The hadji
disclaimed all knowledge of any such trans
action did not know the manhad never
received any pledge from, nor given him
money. In vain tho Jew pleaded for his
tittle all. He finally complained to tho
Prince, who ordered the hadji to be brought
before him. The hadji came, and with
oaths, stoutly denied the charge; was great
ly enraged at the "dog of the Jew" tor ia
siouating that he . was guilty of such a
thiag. The Prince quietly heard hia
has inaugurated a bitter war upon the Ex - 'through, and then asked the Jew for his
O . .1 .w a a s a a. a .
ecuute. In the lace ol a large increase oi
official business, it has, to serve a factious
end, cut (Town the Judiciary. To reward
a lavorite, it disgraced the American name
at home ; to punish hottest criticism, it stole
the salary of a minister abroad. With the
right lurid, it extorted in taxation thejlast
dollar of unrepresented millions in one sec
tion, and with the left scattered in corrup
tion, blood, money and bribery, eaormous
treasures in another. To save the integri
ty of the nation, it refused to piss one ar
ticle of just legislation, while to reward
partizans or punish political enemies it
subverted the very fundamental law of the
laod.
In a word, it hardly surpasses the sober
limits of grave critical truth to say that it
has done no one thing that it ought to have
done, nor left undone one thing mat u
ought to have left undone,
It will be known in the history of Ame
rican legislation as the most arbitrary, re
volutionary and intolerant body that ever
assembled, and it will take ihe wise coun
sels of many a successor to repair its wrongs
and injuries.
In the midst of so dark a picture, one
redeeming ray of light may be found it
lies in the prospect that this Congress, by
its fury and wrecklessness, has rent into
. . .... i f-
liaginents the despotic and lawless lacuou
in whose name it wrought the evil works
of the last eight monlis.
Aw Ijirajtt aiLUCD it a RaT. We h
just received the particulars of a horrible
occurrence which transpired a few day
ago on Roberts stieet, in the seventh waro.
It appears that a young married lady placed
her sleeping infant a little cherub, three
months o d in a cradle and left the room.
A few ininutrsafterwardssheheardapierc
ing hriek from the little innocent, and im
mediately rushed to its'side. She arrived in
time to see a large rst jump from the cradle
and escape through the open door. Upon
raising the infant she found it Cold in death,
the i at having bitten through the lip and
cheek, producing spasms, in one of which
the child died. The corpse was Said out in
the parlor, and being left unguarded a few
minutes, a swarm of rats entered and at
tacked i!, devouring nearly the entire face
and arms before their presence was disco
vered. The house in question is literally
swarmed with large ravenous Norway rats,
-hich frequently attack grown perons,and
are a source of terror to me occupants.
VUhburg Caxttti.
Thr Fan. Elections. The first elec
tion this fall tskes place in Kentucky, but
not for members of Congress. Vermont
and Maine follow in the early part of Sep
tember, with Pennsylvania, Ohio and other
Western States in October, the elections
ending with Maryland, New lork and Mas
sachusetts, in November.
A Michigan city convict recently drew
a ai.vuu prize in a inicagv loucry,
proof, proof failed; aod the Prince turned
upon the the Jew, and berated him at a
earful rate lor presuming to impeach the
air name and character of one of the faith
ul. To use an oriental expression, which
I see you Occidents have adopted, the Jew
completely "dried up." He trembled,
turned pale with fright, and expected to
be dealt with very summarily. The Prince
. s t.
then turned to tne natiji, auu saiu:
"You are a good Mussulman, and doubt
less sav your prayersr"
The haiji piously rolled up his eyes, as
much a to say, " GmI is ray witness." .
" Very well; a good Mussulman always
pares his nails before prayer, and of course.
needs a knife: let me see yours."
The knife was produced.
" A good Mussulman aluavs combs his
beard before he prays: where ii your
comb?"
This was also forthcoming.
" A good Mussulman also carries the
sacred seal, with which he bows his head
in prayer; let me see yours
This too wss given up.
"A good Mussulman also usually car
ries a string of beads to assist him in his
pious meditations: where is joursr ' .
The brads were also transported to the
hands of the Prince, who then said to tho
Jew:" Take these to the wife of the hadji.
and tell her that the hadji ccmaaands her to
give you that p'ck of foods, and these are
the tokens." Ihe Jew ran tv the house
of the hadji, showed the tokens, and de
livered the message. Ihe unsuspecting
wife immediately produced the goods,
which were brought and placed before tho
discomfited hadji. The Prince then or
dered him to prison, saying :" After
Novrovz (the 81st of March, which is the
Mussulman's new yo.tr,) I will attend to
your case."
The new Roman Catholic Cathedral in
New York wilt require ten years to com
plete it, and, though it is estimated that
(-2,000,000 will do the work, we incline t
the opinion that 110.010,000 will be ex
pended when this temple is completed in
esch aod every part. In the rear is to be
a chapel, fronting on Madison avenae.
seventy bve leer, ami will itself oe luiiy as
large as au ordinary church. We could
better appreciate the immense size of thta
cathedral when we entered within the
walls, which are now laid to the height or
twenty feet. The interior looks like a
large field. At present only about forty
workmen are employed on the bnilding.
The Archbishop's house ia to be ia the rear
oa Madison avenue.
"I saw the Emperor of Austria pass,
pate, bowed with grief, and shrinking ill
the corner ol his csrriage, on his war to
the hospitals," writes a war correspondent
st Vienna, just slier the battle.
Official repons show a continual decrctto
f pauperism In Ireland.