TO THE PEOPLE, OF TEE SE- should they be subjected to this malig- CO'xi) CONGRESSIONAL LIS- nant cri,ic i sm . ? /" r the - sake of th ? T RT r T OF THF let 1C be conceded that they J. K1L I Ob JJJJi, SI AIL Ob have proposed to send commissioners to ALABAMA. , Washington "to open irregular nego- Fellow citizens: A serious question of tiations for peace." These coiumis- propriety has arisen between me and 'he sioners mi 'lit be sent with no other. House of Representatives, of which 1 power than to confer and consult with deem it my duty to- advise you, and the authorities there on terms of an which will be betier explained by an ex- honorable peace, with instructions to animation of the following proceedings of report the results of such conference to the House, as published in the Sentinel the President and to this House. Such of the 17th instant, to which I invite your attention : Mr. Orr, under leave of the House, rose to a personal explanation. He had the Clerk to read an article from t\\eSen~ tinel of the 14th instant, headed "Treason." He then said: Mr. Speaker, the editor of this paper negotiations would be "irregular" and yet they might, I think would, if rati- fied by the treaty-making power, secure an honorable and satisfactory peace. — , Who but a madman would denounce these means-and this result " as treachery of the mostinfamous character" ? From the^supposed relationship of this is the public and private printertof this | journal to iiien in power, it may have House, and it is the commonly received organ of the Executive. This is my apology for noticing the slanderous ar- ticle which I have had the Clerk to read. It is apparent to this House, and to those who are familiar with our proceedings, that the article is intended as a criticism upon the report from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted by me on "last Thursday. It is no less, then,, than a grave charge of treason against that com- mittee, and an implication of like import ajrainst the members of this House, who were cognizant of the substance of the report, and voted to receive it in secret session. 1 trust that the reputation of the members composing the committee is sufficient to satisfy the country that the article is false - and slan- derous. The deliberations of the com- mittee upon the leport were presided over by the venerable, pure and distin- guished member from Virginia, Mr. Rives Would he have so presided, from week to week, where treason was plotted ? — Would he have voted, as he did in open session, to go into secret session to .re- ceive that report ? Would his colleague (Mr. De Jarnette) ; General Atkins, of Tennessee;' Mr. Witherspoon, of South Carolina ; Mr. Turner, of North Carolina, and Mr. Smith, of Alabama, have given their sanction to a ■' treasonable" report ? Are they capable of " treachery of the most vrifwmovs character" ? Are they "'traitorous Congressmen^ ? Can it be that they have brought forward "a disorderly, ruinous anSftifial proposition" — " repre hensible and intolerable,"' and having "neither dignity, honor nor safety" in it? Rut of the Virginia delegation, Messrs. Rives and He Jarnette were not alone in voting to receive the port : Mr. Wickham, Mr. Baldwin and Mr. McMul- lin voted with them, aware, at the time, of its substance ; and thus they, too, fe.l under the rod of the power behind the throne of the Sentinel. In refuting- this calumny against members of this House, it is unneces- sary to divulge the contents of the re- port, or the action of the House thereon, although it is with me (as announced when I presented it)-a matter of indif- ference whether it should be considered }n open or secret session. If the wri- ter of the article ever saw the resolu- tions, he has knowingly falsified them. If he has not seen them, but supposes them to be as he states, then, according to his own report, he betrays gross igno- ^f-rance in asserting that "a resolution to *~) open irregular negotiations, through coidiiiUsioners, with Mr. Lincoln for Kj peace" would constitute treason, and" ~ % greater criminality in presuming to ar- -') raign worthy and patriotic men for some- thing of which he is ignorant. Whv been intended, in indulging in bitter de nunciation, to have the effect of intimi- dating the advocates of an honorable and peaceful settlement of the war. If this was the design, allow me to assure you, Mr. Speaker, that a greater mistake was never mad*g. Denunciation will be met by defiance. This movement is not in the hands of timid or time serving men. Sustained, as they are, by a volume of sentiment in the country and in the arm)', and by their own sense of duly, they are determined that, in some form, the states- manship of the country shall be invoked in an honest effort to end this carnival of death by negotiation. 'The Sentinel thinks it "foolish, trea- sonable ami ruinous" for this House to send commissioners to Washington, with powers limited, as prescribed. This is to assume that no terms could be obtained which would not be " ruinous " Is there any reason for this as>umption ? That journal professed a-ft-w days since, to abolish slavery for foreign intervention. Whoisauthorized to say that better terms cannot be obtained from the United States? Who is authorized to say th;it terms could not be agreed upon with them without abolition or reconstruc- tion? We certainly could make it to their interest to recognize us as an inde- pendent "people without involving either slaver)' or reconstruction ; and nations usually follow their interest. The ques- tion of reconstruction, however, does not arise in the proposition to negotiate, and 1 shall not, therefore, discuss it Nor is it "foolixh oi treasonable," and I will add that it is neither impolitic nor unmanly, while we are gathering up all our military strength to meet the enemy, to resort to every laudable and proper effort to give peace to a dis- tracted and bleeding country by negotia- tion. On the contrary, the statesman who would refuse to do this is a hideous moral deformity. When Mr. Orr had finished reading the foregoing, Mr. Lester, of Georgia, moved to sus- pend the rules in order to allow him to introduce the following resolution : Whereas, on the 14th of this mc nth, there appeared in the columns of the Richmond Sentinel a correspondence over the signature of "Q," and headed with the, words,' "Treason, Treason, Treason," printed in conspicuous capi- tals, and marked with points of excla- mation, in which the writer announced that it was rumored on the street that there was a resolution before Congress, in secret session, to "open irregular ne- gotiations, through commissioners, with Lincoln for peace," and asserting that such a proceecing ..was " not only trea- son, but, under the circumstances, treachery of the most infamous charac- ter," and avowing that " the people of Virginia certainly," and, in the opinion of the writer, " the people of the Con- federacy generally, would" not allow themselves to be sold by traitorous Con-, gressmen after this fashion" ; And whereas, the said correspondence was accompanied by an approving edi- torial, characterised by the same tone and spirit as the correspondence itself; And whereas, the said correspondence and editorial, headed and paraded as aforesaid, are calculated to mislead the publicjudgment, and, in their temper and spirit, impute to Congress folly, disloy- alty, treason and treachery, be it there- fore Resolved, That, so far as the state- i ments and imputations contained in the said correspondence ar.d editorial were intended to apply to this branch of Congress, they are false in fact and in- ference ; are an infringement of the privileges of its members; and merit the emphatic rebuke and unqualified denun- ciations of this House. The motion to suspend, to allow the introduction of the resolution, result- ed — ayes, 82; noes, 36. A two thirds vote being required to suspend the rules, the resolution was not introduced. When this was announced, I felt ex- tremely it dignant. You will appreciate my feelings when I say that, being a member of the assailed committee, look- ing upon the House as the natural guar- dian of that committee, and of all its committees, 1 expected protection, and not abandonment. I- immediately determined to withdraw from the House, not willing to sit there under the shadow of an impeachment. In pursuance of this determination,- I said : Mr. Speaker, I should not, myself, have paid any attention to the article in the . entinel. I should have allowed it to pass in silence, as 1 have ever made it a rule of action to let editors alone. But the vote of this House, in refusing to allow the introduction of the resolu- tion of the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lester) places this matter in a more se- rious aspect. I consider that vote as, to some extent, endorsing the Sentinel. As long as that vote stands as the sense of this body, I can take no part in its deli- berations. 'I say thi,s in perfect respect to the members here ; and I do not wish my withdrawal to be considered as at all contemptuous, but dictated solely by that self-respect which I feel, and by which I have, through life, endeavored to be go- verned. I accordingly withdrew from the House, and have no*t since attended its meetings. I appreciate the delicacy of my posi- tion ; and, holding myself as responsible to you alone for my course en the occa- sion, I expect to return home as soon as I can close up my business here, and will hold myself ready to act in accord- ance to your wishes. ' The article in the Sentinel did not re- fer to me in person, or to any individual member of the House, but was a sweep- ing charge against those members of Congress who favored the proposed peace measure. .What that measure is, I am not at liberty to say; but, as your re- presentative, I am under the deepest conviction that there are not one hundred men in the district who would object to it. I have the honor to be Your obedient servant, W. R. Smith. Ricumoxi), January 20, 1803. C; v