THE HUNTINGDON GLOBE, A DEMOCRATIC FAMILY JOURNAL, DEVOTIA_D TO LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS, &C.
TH I GLOBE.
Cirenlation—the largest in the county
illanrirEllinDOE,, P.A.
Wedliesday, July 2, 1856
FOR PRESIDENT,
JAMES BUCHANAN, of Pennsylvania
• FOR TICE PRESIDENT,
JOHN C. .BRECKINRIDGE, of icy
FOR CANAL COWIISSIONER,
GEORGE SCOTT, of Columbia county
FOR AUDITOR GENERAL,
JACOB FRY, Jr., of Montgomery co
FOR SURVEYOR GENERAL,
TIMOTHY IVES, of Potter county
Interesting reading matter will be
found on every page of this paper.
SPEECH OF HON. WM. B. REED.—On our
first page will be found an abstract of the
speech of the Hon. IV - 1". B. REED, delivered
at the great democratic ratification 'meeting
in Philadelphia. We commend the speech
to the attentive perusal of our readers, Whigs
and Democrats.
The speech of the Hon. JOIIN L. DAIVSON,
Of Pa., delivered in the Cincinnati Conven
tion on the announcement of the nomination
of Buchanan will also be found on the first
page. Read it.
"TEN CENT JIMMY."—Such is the epithet
applied to Mr. BUCHANAN by the know
nothing and black-Republican organs—and
they go on to say that he at one time advo
cated a reduction of the pay for labor to a
standard of "ten cents" a day, &c. These
gentlemen know that Mr. Buchanan never ad
vocated any such measure—they know that
in making the charge they are trying to de
ceive the people—yea, further, they know
they are lying most foully. Were it not so,
would they not produce the proof ? Would
they not lay it before the people, and at a
single stroke drive every man from his sup
port—for no man opposed to the just and
full reward of honest toil could expect any
favor from the American people, no matter
to what party he might belong ?
The speech in which Mr. Buchanan is
charged with advocating ten cents a day for
labor was delivered in the U. S. Senate, in
June 1840. If such doctrines were advoca
ted in that speech, why not publish it, or at
least the part of it containing this highly im
portant matter.
This would be honest. This would let the
people see for themselves what Mr. Buchan
an said. This would be much more fair
than to publish the speech of John Davis of
Massachusetts, in order to show what Mr.
Buchanan said.
What dishonesty! As well might the the
ologian undertake to prove what the scrip
tures say, by producing the writings of Vol
taire, Tom Paine, and such atheists.
The Old Line Whigs of Ohio
We note down from our exchanges another
goodly list of "Old Line Whigs" and other
opponents ofthe Democracy, who at the pres
ent time arc rallying under the banner of
the Union borne alone in this compaign by
Buchanan and Breckinridge, and whose suc
cess is necessary to its preservation. The
last number of the Belfontaine (O.) Gazette,
published in Logan county in that State,
comes to us with the names of Buchanan and
Breckinridge at its mast-head for President
and Vice-President of the United States.—
The Gazette has always been under the man
agement of its able editor, Mr. Hubbard, an
Old-line Whig sheet, and last fall it even sup
ported Chase for Governor. From the Ga
zette's well written article defining its posi
tion, we make the following extract:
There is really but one absorbing question
now before the people. In the solemn mag
nitude of its presence all others are hushed.
This question is at last presented in a tangi
ble form. Shall the Union be preserved ? or
shall the first step be taken toward the entire
disruption of the States of the Union by a
severance of the North from the South ?
Looking at the political aspect of the times,
with this question staring us in the face, we
make our choice of candidates. The nomi
nees of the Cincinnati Convention make the
preservation of the Union the matter of per
manent interest. Other principles are advo
cated ; but, if any principles are to be com
promised, all of them may be subservient ;
but "the Union must be preserved."
On the other hand, the precervation of the
Union is a minor and secondary principle
with those who have met in convention un
der the title of Republicans. With them the
preservation of the Union is to be tolerated
as a matter of contingency. Mr. Banks com
mitted the first overt act of treason in declar
ing in the halls of Congress that he was in
favor of "letting the Union slide," unless a
favorite crotchet of his own and his associates
could be indorsed.
While we profess to be guided by our own
judgment in matters of political interest, it is
a source of pleasure to us to know that our
opinions respecting the merits of the Demo
cratic and Republican condidates is not uni
que among the members of the old Whig par
ty. When men of such eminence and hon
esty as Rufus Choate and Robert C. Win
throp, not to mention the scores upon scores of
old and tried Whigs of our acquaintance, and
in this vicinity, are coming out boldly for James
Buchanan, we are satisfied that this is an oc
casion that demands an energetic expression
of every old Whig who still loves his country
and race above any others.
Dar The fourth exhibition of the United
States Agricultural Society, will be held in
Philadelphia, on the 7th, Bth, 9th, 10th and
11th of October next. Twelve thousand dol
lars will be distributed in premiums.
THE TWO CONVENTIONS
The Issues Made Up
The full proceedings of the Philadelphia
black republican convention are now open
for such comments as their extraordinary
character are so well calculated .to provoke.
It can, in no proper sense, be regarded as a
national convention, but, in the strictest sense
of that term, it was sectional and geo
graphical. The few exotics from Maryland,
Virginia, and Kentucky, who appeared there
as delegates, have no constituencies at home,
and have no effect in relieving the conven
tion from the character of a strictly sectional
assemblage. Nineteen States, including all
the free States and three or four slave States,
(the latter only nominally represented,) had
delegates present. Nearly one half of the
States of the Union were without representa-r.
tives ; and yet this Convention is not only
claimed to be national, but to be animated by
sentiments of devotion to the coAstitution and
the Union.
The contrast between the Philadelphia
and Cincinnati conventions is too obvious to
require comment. The one was composed
almost exclusively of delegates from that
portion of the Union where the institution of
slavery does not exist—the other was com
posed of delegates from every State and front
every district of every State of the entire
Union. In the character of their organiza
tion and representation, therefore, the one
was exclusively sectional, whilst the other was
thorortghly national.
This difference inthe character of the dele
gations of the two conventions is not more
striking than that which marks the contrast
between the principles of the two organiza
tions. In fact, the sectional character of the
one, and the national character of the oth
er, are the necessary results of the difference
in their respective principles. The man who
entertains the opinions of the black republi
can in regard to the constitutional relations
of our government to slavery cannot be other
wise than a sectionalist, and hence a con
vention composed of such delegates is neces
sarily sectional. In like manner, the man
who stands upon the democratic platform in
regard to this question is necessarily a na
tional man, and hence an assemblage of such,
coming from every State in the Union, neces
sarily constitute a national convention.
The issues now made up by the action of
these two conventions exhibit the difference
in their principles in the clearest possible
light. The most prominent of them are thus
explicitly stated in their respective platforms:
DEMOCRATIC PLATToRm.-I.—Rcsolvcd, That, claiming fel
lowship with, and desiring the co-operation of, all who re
gard the preservation of the linion under the constitution
as the paramount issue, and repudiating all sectional par
ties and platforms concerning domestic slavery, which
seek to embroil the States and encite to treason and arm
ed resistance to law in the Territories, and whose avowed
purpose, if consummated, must end in civil war and dis
union, the American democracy recognise and adopt the
principles contained in the organic laws establishing the
Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, as embodying the
only sound and safe solution of the "slavery question,"
upon which the great national idea of the people of this
whole country can repose in its determined conservatism
of the Union—NON-INTERFERENCE BY CONGRESS WITII SLA
VERY IN THE TERRITORIES OR IN TILE DISTRICT OF COLLLMRIA.
2. That this is the basis of the Compromise of 1850, con
firmed by both the democratic and whig parties in nation
al convention, ratified by the people in the election of
1852, and rightly applied to the organization• of Terri
tories in 1854.
3. That by the uniform application of this democratic
principle to the organisation of Territories, and to the ad
mission of new States, with or without domestic slavery.
as they may elect, the equal rights of all the States will
be preserved intact, the original compacts of the constitu
tion maintained inviolate, and the perpetuity and expan
sion of the Union insured to its utmost capacity of em
bracing, in peace and harmony, every future American
State that may be constituted or annexed with a repub
lican form of government.
Resolved, That we recognise the right of the people of
all the Territories, including Kansas mid Nebraska, act
ing through the legally and fairly-expressed will of a ma
jority of actual residents, and, whenever the number of
their inhabitants justifies it, to form a constitution with
or without domestic slavery, and be admitted into the
Union upon terms of perfect equality with the other States.
TUECE." EEPUBLICAti PLATFORM.-2. Resolved, That,
with our republican fathers, we hold it to be a self-ev
ident truth that all mon arc endowed with the inalienable
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and
that - the primary object and ulterior design of our federal
government were to secure those rights to all persons
within its exclusive jurisdiction: that a.s our republican
fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our nation
al territory, ordained that no person should be deprived
of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, it
becomes our duty to maintain this provision of the consti
tution against all attempts to violate it for the purpose of
establishing slavery in the United States by positive legis
lation, prohibiting its existence or extension therein:
that we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial
legislature, of auy individual, or association of individuals,
to give legal assistance to slavery in any Territory of the
United States while the present constitution shall bo
maintained.
3. Roared, That the constitution confers upon Congre:es
sovereign power over the Territories of the United States
for their government. and that in the exercise of this pow
er it is both the right and the duty of Congress to pro
hihit in the 'Territories those twin relics of barbarism—
pol gamy and slavery.
5. Iteolve. I, That Kansas should be immediately admit
ted as a State of the Union, with her present free consti
tution, as at onco tho most effectual way of securing to
her citizens the enjoyment of the rights and privileges to
which they arc entitled, and of ending the civil - strife now
raging in her Territory.
The two distinctive points of antagonism
between the platforms maybe thus briefly sta
ted.
The democrats maintain that the constitu
tion has conferred upon Congress no power
to "legislate slavery into a Territory nor to
exclude it therefrom," but they "leave the
people thereof perfectly freetofbrm and reg
tdate their domestic institutions in their
own way, subject only to the constitution of
the United States."
The black republiet. , ns maintain that the
constitution confers on Congress sovereign
power over the Territories for their govern
ment, and that it is both the right and the
duty of Congress to prohibit slavery therein.
It will be observed that both parties claim
to stand upon the constitution; the demo
crats contending for a limitation of the pow
ers of Congress, and the black republicans
for the exercise of "sovereign power" by
Congress. We doubt whether the old feder
al doctrine of consolidation and centraliza
tion was ever more openly avowed than it is
now done in claiming for Congress "sover
eign power" over the Territories. It is worse
than federalism in its most odious form—it
is absolute despotism—for which the black
republicans contend. On the other hand, the
democrats presentthe distinctive issue which
has marked their whole career as 4 party—
they deny the constitutional power of Con
gress to interfere with the domestic institu
tions of a people who are directly interested
in their regulation, and who are entitled, up
on .every principle of justice and reason, to
exercise their own discretion on the subject.
It is the issue between congressional sover
eignty and popular sovereignty, under the
constitution, in the Territories.
The other prominent point of difference
in the two platforms relates to the mainten
ance of the constitutional authority of the
laws in Kansas. The democrats maintain
that until the laws of Kansas are repealed, or
are declared invalid by judicial action, they
must be enforced and executed, and that in
dividual or associated resistance to them-by
force is to be regarded as insurrection, or re
bellion, or treason, and treated accordingly.
The black republicans assume to determine
the invalidity of the Kansas laws without ju
dicial investigation, and uphold their party
in the Territory in insurrectionary and rebel
lious resistance to their execution.
This raises an issue which, in our estima-
tion, is far more important than that invol
ved in the question whether slavery shall or
shall not he established in Kansas. To as
sert the right of any portion of the people of
Kansas, on their individual judgments, to
resist the laws of the Territory or of Con
gress as invalid for fraud or oppression, is to
maintain a doctrine which strikeS at the
foundation of all government, and proclaims
mob law or military power as the true arbi
ter of legislation. When carried to the ex
tent of an armed resistance of the constitu
ted authorities itbecomes treason, and it well
becomes all, whether in Kansas or out of it,
who contribute material aid in money or in
Sharpe's rifles, to carry on such resistance,
to consider whether the crime of treason does
not lie at their door.
The laws of Kansas, passed in pursuance
of the constitution and the organic law of
the Territory, are as obligatry as the laws of
a State or of Congress. The mode of test- -
ing their validity is the same in the one case
as the other. Who would ever justify an in
dividual, or any number of individuals, in
resisting with force a law of a State or of
Congress because, in the opinion of such in
dividuals, it was passed by fraud? Who
would hesitate to pronounce such resistance
either insurrectionary, rebellious, or treason
able, according to the character of the resis
tance ? And who would' hesitate to say that
the whole power of the government, State or
federal, should be applied to enforce such
law ? The case is in no respect different
when the laws of a Territory are resisted ;
and hence the broad issue is made up be
tween the democrats and the black republi
cans—the one maintaining that the laws
must be executed, the other excusing or jus
tifying forcible resistance to the laws. We
repeat, that this issue is of more importance
to the well-being of the government than the
question whether slavery shall or shall not
be established in Kansas.
In this connexion, it is proper to remark
that there is no issue between the democrats
and the black republicans on the question
whether slavery shall be established in Kan
sas or not. The issue is, whether Congress or
the people of the Territory shall determine
that question. To charge the democratic par
ty - with advocating the Kansas law and in
sisting on the enforcement of the laws in the
Territory for the purpose of establishing sla
very there is to make a false issue. They
advocate the Kansas law because it does jus
tice to all sections of the Union, and allows
the majority of the actual settlers to have or
not to have slavery, as they choose. They in
sist on the execution of the laws in Kansas
because they are passedby a legislative tribu
nal whose enactments must be regarded as
valid until set aside by legal means. They
do not approve the exertions of President
Pierce to enforce the laws there because there
by they wish or expect him to promote the
establishment of Aavery. His orders are di
rected to the military officers for the enforce
ment of the laws and the protection of the
rights of the free-States as well as the pro
slavery men. The south does not ask the
President to discriminate between pro-sla
very and anti-slavery men in the execution
of the laws. What they demand is, that the
Kansas law in its true spirit shall be jitith
fully carried out—that the actual inhabitants
shall be protected in their right to decide the
character of their domestic institution's for
themselves. These arc the true and para
mount issues made up between the two par
ties, and on them the democrats enter the
canvass with standard-bearers in whose wis
dom, experience, statesmanship, and patriot
ism they have implicit confidence, and of
whose success they have no doubt.
Mr. Buchanan's Letter of Acceptance
-IVe publish the Correspondence between
the Committee of the late Democratic Nation
al Convention to inform Mr. Buchanan of
his nomination and Mr. Buchanan. The let
ter of acceptance will be read with especial
interest at this time; embodying as it does a
calm, clear and statesmanlike view of our
National affairs, and presenting with force
and sound reasoning the duties and respon
sibilities of the Democratic party of the coun
try in the present critical juncture:—
LANCASTER., June 13th, 1856.
SIR: —The National Convention of the
Democratic party, which assembled at Cin
cinnati, on the first Monday in June, unani
mously nominated you as a candidate for the
office of President of the United States.
We have been directed by the Convention
to convey to you this intelligence, and to re
quest you, in their name, to accept the nomi
nation for the exalted trust which. the Chief
Magistracy of the Union imposes.
The Convention, founding their action up
on the time-honored principes of the Demo
cratic party, have announced their views in
relation to the chief questions which engage
the public mind ; and, while adhering to the
truths of the past, have manifested the poli
cy of the present in a series of resolutions,
to which we invoke your attention.
The Convention feel assured, in tendering
to you this signal proof of the respect and es
teem of your countrymen, and they truly re
flect the opinion which the people of the
United States entertain of your eminent char
acter and distinguished public services.—
They cherish a profound conviction that
your elevation to the first office in the Re
public, will give a moral guarantee to the
country, that the true principles of the Con
stitution will be asserted and maintained;
that the public tranquility will be establish
ed; that the tumults of faction will be still
ed; that our domestic industry will flourish;
that our foreign affairs will be conducted
with such wisdom and firmness as to assure
the prosperity of the people at home, while
the interests and honor of our country are
wisely, but inflexibly maintained in our in
tercourse with other nations ; and especially,
that our public experience and the confi
dence of your countrymen will enable you to
give effect to Democratic principles, so as to
render indissoluble the strong bonds of mu
tual interest and national glory which unite
our confederacy and secure the prosperity of
your people.
While we offer to the country our sincere
congratulations upon the fortunate auspices
of the future, we tender to you, personally,
the assurances of the respect and esteem of
Your fellow citizens,
JOHN E. WARD,
HARRY HIBBARD,
W. B. LAWRENCE,
A. G. Bnowx,
JNO. L. MANNING,
JOHN FORSYTH,
W. PRESTON,
J. RANDOLPH TUCKER,
HORATIO SEYMOUR.
lion. J..ums BucuANAN.
WHEATLAND, NEAR LANCASTER,
June 16, 1856.
GENTLEMEN :-I have the honor to ack
nowledge the receipt of your communication
of the 12th inst., informing me officially of
my nomination by the Democratic National
Convention, recently held in Cincinnati, as
the Democratic candidate for the office of
President of the United States. I shall not
attempt to express the grateful feelings which
I entertain towards my Democratic fellow
citizens for having deemed me worthy of
this, the highest political honor on earth—an
honor such as the people of no other country
have the power to bestow.
Deeply sensible of the vast and varied re
sponsibility attached to the station, especial
ly at the present crisis in our affairs, I have
carefully refrained from seeking the nomina
tion either by word or by deed. Now that
it has been offered by the Democratic party,
I accept it with diffidence in my own abili
ties, but with an humble trust, that in the
event of my election, I may be enabled to
discharge my duty in such a, manner as to
allay domestic strife, preserve peace and
friendship with foreign nations, and promote
the best interests of the Republic.
In accepting the nomination,lneed scarce
ly say that I accept in the same spirit, the
resolutions constituting the platform of prin
ciple erected by the Convention. To this
platform I intend to confine myself through
out the canvass, believing that I have no
right, as the candidate of the Democratic
party, by answering interrogatories, to pre
sent new and different issues before the peo
ple.
It will not be expected that in this answer,
I should specially refer to the subject of each
of the resolutions and I shall therefore con
fine myself to the two topics now most pro
minen:ly before the people.
And in the first place, cordially concur in
the sentiments expressed by the Convention
on the subject of civil and religious liberty.
No party founded on religious or political in
tolerance towards one class of American ci
tizens, whether born in our own or in a for
eign land, can long continue to exist in this
country. We are all equal before God and
the Constitution ; and the dark spirit of des
potism and bigotry would create odious dis
tinctions among our fellow-citizens, will be
speedily rebuked by a free and enlightened
public opinion.
The agitation on the question of domestic
slavery has too long distracted and divided
the people of this Union, and alienated their
affections from each other. This agitation
has assumed many forms since its commen
cement, but it now seens to be directed chief
ly to, the Territories; and, judging from its
present character, I think we may safely an
ticipate that it is rapidly approaching a "fi
nality." The recent legislation of Congress
respecting domestic slavery, derived, as it
has been, from the original and pure foun
tain of legitimate political power, the will of
the majority, promises, ere long, to allay the
dangerous excitement. This legislation is
founded upon principles as ancient as free
government itself, and in accordance with
them, has simply declared that the people of
a territory, like those of a State, shall decide
for themselves whether slavery shall or shall
not exist within their limits.
The Nebraska Kansas act does no more
than give the force of the law to this ele
mentary principle of self-government ; de
claring it to be "the true intent and mean
ing of this act to legislate slavery into any
Territory or State, nor to exclude it there
from; but to leave the people thereof per
fectly free to form and regulate their domes
tic institutions in their own way, subject on
ly to the Constitution of the United States."
This principle will surely not be controverted*
by any indivdual of any party professing de
votion to popular Government. Besides,
how vain and illusory would any other prin
ciple prove in practice in regard to the Ter
ritories. This is apparent from the fact, ad
mitted by all, that after a Territory shall
have entered the Union and become a State,
no Constitutional power would then exist
which could prevent it from either abolish
ing or establishing slavery, as the case may
be, according to its sovereign will and pleas
ure.
Most happy would it he for the country if
this long agitation were at an end. During
its whole progress it has produced no prac
tical good to any human being, whilst it has
been the source of great and dangerous evil.
It has alienated and estranged one portion of
the Union from the other, and has even seri
ously threatened its very existence. To my
own personal knowledge, it has produced -the
impression among foreign nations that our
great and glorious confederacy is in constant
danger of dissolution. This does us serious
injury, because acknowledged power and sta
bility always command respect among na
tions, and are among the best securities
against unjust aggression and in favor of the
maintenance of honorable peace.
May we not hope that it is the mission of
the Democratic party, now the only survi
ving conservative party of the country, ere
long to over-throw all sectional parties and
restore the peace, friendship and mutual con
fidence which prevailed in the good old time,
among the different members of the confede
racy. Its character is strictly national, and
it therefore asserts no principle for the gui
dance of the Fcderal Government which is
not adopted and sustained by its members in
each and every State. For this reason it is
everywhere the same determined foe of all
geographical parties, so much and so justly
dreaded by the Father of his Country. From
its very nature it must continue to exist so
long as there is a Constitution and. a Union
to preserve. A conviction of those truths has
induced many of the purest, the ablest and
most independent of our former opponents
who have differed with us in times gone by
upon old and extinct party issues, to come in
to our ranks and devote themselves with us
to the cause of the Constitution and the Un
ion.
Under these circumstances I most cheeful
ly pledge myself, should the nomination of
the Convention be ratified by the people, that
all the power and influence, constitutionally
possessed by the Executive, shall be exerted,
in a firm but conciliatory spirit, during the
single term I shall remain in office, to restore
the same harmony among the sister States
which prevailed before this apple of discord,
in the form of slavery agitation, had been
cast into their midst. Lot the members of the
family abstain from intermeddling with the
exclusive domestic concerns of each other,
and cordially unite, on the basis of perfect
equality among themselves, in promoting the
great national object of common interest to
all, and the good work will be instantly ac
complished.
In regard to our foreign policy, to which
you have referred in your communication—it
is quite impossible for any human foreknowl
edge to prescribe positive rules in advance, to
regulate the conduct of the future adminis
tration in all the exigencies which may arise
in our various and ever changing rehltions
with foreign powers. The Federal govern
ment must, of necessity exercise a sound
discretion in dealing with international ques
tions as they may . occur ; but this, under the
strictest responsibility which the Executive
must always feel to the people of the United
States and the judgment of posterity. You
will therefore excuse me for not entering in
to particulars; whilst I heartily concur with
you in the general sentiment, that our foreign
affairs ought to be conducted with such wis
dom and firmness as to assure the prosperity
of the people at home, whilst the interests
and honor of our country are wisely, but in
flexibly maintained abroad. Oui foreign pol
icy ought ever to be based upon the princi
ples of doing justice to all nations, and re
quiring justice from them in return ; and
from this principle I shall never depart.
Should I be placed in the Executive Chair, I
shall use my best exertions to cultivate peace
and friendship with all nations, believing
this to be our highest policy as well as our
most imperative duty ; but at the same time,
I shall never forget that in ease the necessity
should arise, which I do not now apprehend,
our national rights and national honor must
be preserved at all hazards and at any sacri
fice.
Firmly convinced that a special Providence
governs the affairs of nations, let us humbly
implore His continued blessing upon our
country, and that He may avert from us the
punishment we justly deserve for being dis
contented and ungrateful whilst enjoying
privileges above all nations, under such a
Constitution and such a Union as has never
been vouchsafed to any other people.
Yours, very respectfully,
JAMES BUCHANAN.
Hon. John E. Ward, W. A. Richardson, Har
ry Hibbard, W. E. Lawrence, A. G. Brown,
J ohu L. Manning, John Forsyth, W. Preston,
J. Randolph Tucker and Horatio Seymour,
Committee, &c.
Address cf the Democratic State Cen
tral Committee.
The Democratic State State Central Com
mittee of Pennsylvania performs a pleasing
duty in directing the attention of the people
-to the nominations made by the National
Convention, on the Gth of June, 1856. The
incidents which preceded, accompanied and
followed that decision of the representatives
of the National Democracy, have inspired
the felicitations of patriotic men in every
part of the country. The voice of the peo
ple, faithfully represented at Cincinnati,
gratefully responds to the action of the Con
vention. The result had scarcely been an
nounced before it was welcomed in every
State of the confederacy, and the rejoicings
of the people confirmed the earnest, all per
vading and deep seated sentiment in favor ofour
distinguished statesman. Since the time
when the masses proclaimed their prefer
ence for the hero of New Orleans no such-de
monstration has been witnessed in the Uni
ted States. The harmonious example of the
august body which selected our candidates
was promptly followed by the endorsement
of the most distinguished intellects in the
Democracy party. The voice of the venera
ted CASS, first raised aethe Capital of the
Union in support of these candidates, was
re-echoed by the patriotic Donon.N.s, and the
upright Chief Magistrate of the Nation.—
The great cities of the North and of the
West, and of the far South, caught up the
enthusiasm which ratified the nominations at
the Convention itself, and a national ovation,
unprecedented in our annals, was crowned
with the voluntary tributes to our cause of
many of the most eminent men heretofore in
the ranks of the opposition.
The people, as if animated by one instinct,
flocked from different sections of the Union
to the scene of action to declare their prefer
ence for JAMES BUCHANAN. They had fol
lowed his record during a long life, until, at
last, as tlne after another the venerated re
presentatives of National doctrines disap
peared from the stage of action, he became
their spontaneous choice for the highest of
fice in their gift. At a period when faction
reigns supreme in one branch of Congress and
threatens to usurp control in the other ; when
the most alarming doctrines are asserted and
carried into effect in several of the States of
the Union; such a man as Mr. Buchanan be
comes a national necessity. Thirty-five years
of distinguished servicesto his country in the
National Council, thirty-five years unsullied
by a single mistake, thirty-five years of al
most constant association with the eminent
patriots of other days—thirty-five, years of
championship of the Constitution—render
him peculiarly the candidate for the coming
struggle. Pennsylvania after presenting her
favorite son at the liar of other National
Conventions, and after yielding with unmur
muring patience to their decisions, finds, at
last, that her fidelity to principle not been
forgotten, and that the nation at large accepts
her candidate amid the warmest expressions
of confidence and pride. May we not say,
fellow-citizens, to our brethren in other
States that when the day of trial comes, the
Keystone of the Arch will be found more
firmly fixed than ever in her position, and
will affirm the action of the Convention by a
majority unequaled even in her annals?
The candidate of the Democratic party for
the Vice Presidency, the Hon. John C.
Breckinridge, of Kentucky, is eminently
worthy of the universal joy which greeted
his nomination. Mr. Breckinridge was
thirty-five years of age on the 21st of Janua
ry last, and is now the candidate for the sec
ond office in the gift of the American people.
It would be difficult to find a man in whom
public and private usefulness so rarely com
mingle. Notwithstanding the early age at
which he will be called to occupy the high
position, lie possesses in a singular degree,
that firmness of character, that directness
and purity of purpose, which, whenever ex
hibited, are always sure to be honored by the
most sagacious people in the world. Mr.
Breckinridge has served in the Legislature
of his State, and was four years a distin
guished and eloquent member of the popular
branch of Congress. His speeches in the lat
ter body placed him in the front rank of
American statesmen, and won for him a per
manent place in the.affections of his political
friends. He was selected by President
Pierce as the American Minister at the Span
ish Court, which high position he was com
pelled to decline.
Previous to entering upon his Congress
ional career, he volunteered for the Mexican
war, and during a long and trying campaign,
he secured tha respect and confidence of his
fellow soldiers. He has nearer sought public
favor. The people have always called him
forth ; and it is because he has withheld
himself from exciting
. contests for popular
preferment, that the distinctions he wears so
gracefully have been so freely bestowed. In
this respect he resembles Mr. Buchanan,
whose nomination was the result of no efforts
of his own but the offspring - of that popular
opinion which commanded the respect of
that convention because it was based upon a
motive which entitled it to the highest con
sideration. The manner in which Mr.
Breckinridge refused to become a candidate
for the Vice Presidency, his fidelity to the
choice, excited in his behalf,- a sentiment of
admiration which could not be restrained
until it found vent in the expression which
made him the Democratic nominee for that
distinguished position.
It is vain to describe the . spectacle which
transpired when Mr. Buchanan's name was
finally agreed upon. The rivalry to second,
the enthusiasm to support, the eagerness to
endorse, the significant unity of sentiment
and of action which characterized that inter
esting period of the Convention, cannot be.
described. Scarcely had this event been an
nounced to an expectantpeople, before the' .
discordant branches of the Democracy of
New York were brought together and for'
the first time in many years started forwant
upon their way once more united as a balm
of brothers. It was amid such auguries and
under such circumstances that James Bu
chanan became the nominee of the Democra
cy for the Presidency.
Before the struggles for the nominations
came on, the platform of principles was adop
ted. It is constructed upon an enduring ba
sis ; it is founded deep in undying faith and
fidelity to the Constitution ; it renews, in
language of fervent patriotism, our devotion
to the union of the States ; it re-asserts our
gratitude to the sages of the past; it enun
ciates our duties with respect to coming
events and points out the dazzling destiny
in reserve for us on the North American
continent. The unanimous assertion of these
doctrines, in advance of the nomination, was
an assurance to the country that with the
Democracy principles arc always paramount;
and expediency and policy entirely secondary
and subordinate.
And now, citizens of Pennsylvania, we
have placed before you our principles and
our candidates. Freely as the convention
has spoken the candidates themselves have
responded: Mr. Buchanan by therecord of
his life and the recent declaration of Ins
opinions ; Mr. Breckinridge by his manly
and beautiful address upon the floor of the
convention. Nothing is left to inference.—
Intolerance is rebuked ; proscription pro
scribed ; abolitionism denounced ; the rights
of the States re-affirmed ; the principle of the
Nebraska bill endorsed. There is a com
pleteness in the dignity and in the emphasis
with which all this has been done, which
show that it has been the work of men who
felt that they were dealing with an intelli
gent people, and acting as the trustees of an
exact and jealous, but at the same time con
! fading and conscientious Democracy.
The adversaries of the Democratic party
have dissolved the American Union in advance,
so far as by their own action they can con
summate that direful result.. They can no
longer assemble in National Convention ;
they congregate as the representatives of a
fragment of one half of our happy country,
and they arrogate to themselves the mastery
of the other half by attempting to consoli
date a fierce and fanatical sec; i u:,l n.e:ority
in every department of the government---
They declare that the country is on the eve
of unprecedented convulsions, and they pro
claim their purpose to arrest these convul
sions by ignoring and insulting fifteen sover
eign States of the Uuion.They talk of peace,
and in their conventions proclaim a policy
which must end incisil war. They appeal to
heaven to sanctify a movement, which, if suc
cessful, would destroy the fairest fabric of
freedom on the globe. They invite our coun
trymen to support their cause in the midst
of the most irreverent blasphemies of the
Constitution. They prate of exclusive Ame
ricanism, while they accept as leaders, men
who profane the sages of the past with incon
ceivable calumnies. But they deserve credit
for their boldness. They do not attempt to
conceal the fearful end which, should they
succeed, must crown their efforts. True to
the history of all sectional parties, they unite
men not by a love of country but by a ha
tred of national principles. Their bond of
action is a sympathy of antagonisms, not a
harmony of patriotic sentiments; and to con
summate their purposes they would sacrifice
every great material interest of society. They
have already succeeded in dividing the Chris
tian Church, and now they would lay their
hands upon the bulwarks of our liberties ;
they would wrest the Constitution from the
glorious purpose to which it was dedicated by
its founders ; and they would erect at Wash
ington a sectional despotism whose presiding
divinities would be hostility to the equality
of the States and the equality of the citizens,
and relentless war upon the domestic institu
tions of the south.
The democratic party, on the other hand,
represents our whole country. Standing up
on the firm foundations of the Constitntion,
its doctrines are the same on the shores of
the Pacific and the banks of the St. Law
rence. It addresses itself to no local feeling;
it involves no sectional support ;it protects.
the rights guaranteed by the fundamental
law, no matter what portion of the people is
directly interested in their preservation. Its
mission is a peaceful mission. Should the
nomination of the Cincinnati Convention be
sustained, as we confidently believe they will
be, the Democratic party will entitle itself to
the renewed confidence and gratitude of the
nation by exterminating every element of dis
cord that now disturbs our happy land. Un
der the guidance of a kind Providence, we
shall have in the Presidential chair a patriot
who will labor conscientionsly and courage
ously to render his administration worthy of
the expectations of his country. This accom
plished, he will have appropriately closed his
long career, and have made his name a bles
sed memory and a proud example throughout
coming generations.
The central committee in conclusion direct
the attention of the Democrats of the State
to the important work of an immediate and
thorough orpnization. The Committee is
doing and will continue to do its whole duty;
but in a cause like ours and in a canvass like
the present, every individual Democrat
should be active and vigilant ; every school
district should be explored by our youngmen,
and every nook and corner of the State filled
with truthful documents. That organization
is always the best which derives its vigor
from systematized primary associations. Our
adversaries are skilled in the work of circula
ting their dogmas among the people. They
long enlisted fanatical demagogues and agi
tators in their ranks, and they boast of hav
ing planted some of their most dangerous
doctrines in our goOd old State. If we add
to these facilities, the dark and secret plot of
.an oath-bound order, we shall be able at a
glance to understand what a foe we have to
contend with. Let us, then, arouse the sleep
ers if any there he. Let us continue the gen
erous rivalry _ and patriotic unity which new