.
' M'esnr. of grace I as the Know-Nothings ern
-1,1,,y. On IthContrary, these means 'will
a O,
confirm their ( aith, and multiply their num
b,crs. Welk e, aome,aliens among us; and
Know-Nothingisin aims to keep them so per
.petually, in fact and in feeling. Its effect is
jest the reverse of its avowed design, in all
things. , It deprecates Catholicism -; yet
makes more Catho:ics than all other causes
ccimbited. It eOinptains of foreign sympa
thies; yet
t epels, the, tendency Ito American
ussiinilatio . . It! grumbles that aliens eonfed-
crate; yet ;compels theta to do so in self-de
ferice. I ''s
" But tc! say nothing of its purposes, its
•
means are,sulffi ciently odious to repel every
honorable iman from its association. *. • ik
Copying the 'very vices it pretends to depre
cate, it, hai- instituted here, in oppasition to
the whole Spicit :of our. government, that very
system,of secret!proseription and persecution
whichcould only exist insemi-barbarousSpain
- by the assent and, co-operation of the govern
ment itself.. It its purposes are honest,- let
there be prosecuted by honest means.
,
" In the wholOhistory of the too often de
praved polittcs Or our country; nothing has ;
done so Much tic demoralize our people as
Know-Nothingisra. Its tendency Is to de- '
preciate-the tone. of honest and manly morals.
it d4.*.- then to pitiful evasions and to down
rigVelying. Thne and againitave we known
men to deny, in one form or another, all
knowledg*of or participation - in this dis
graceful bUsineis, when we knew as well as
He that t i nide ;Ahem, that they lied. We
- have seen l the rankest perjury even in our
courts of justice; and by the very men who
complain:of Catholic,s that they owe para..
mount allegiance to other than our civil au
, thori ty.--4These things have perhaps done
more than'imy thing else to effect the grati
fying change in public sentiment which is
now in progress. Good men have become
alarmed at the; appalling demoralization this
folly induces fend we know of multitudes - of
Protestant clergyinen, who would not, if they
' could exterminate Catholicism at such fright
ful Cost..",- : • . .
. , [CoMidUniCiiTED.] . •
.I.fEScri.S. EniTom; The last issue of the,
..
2?eputliran through the voice of " Cayenne "
undertakes to..excuse its abuse on. Mr Grow
in a peculiarly repentant manner. It looks
. very much like curing an old sore by siiead
,
ing upon it r. fresh blister.' It arraigns hint
for publicly denouticine Gov. Bigler and then
i -
voting for him, under the." pressure" of par
ty dictation; and strips him of all manliness,
. and makes him the mere tool of party disci
plir,e, ag l inst his better judgment, and open
profession,a. it says, "he voted for Gov. Big
ler, whiskey, Nebraska, Slave Pens and all,"
'while he'claiMed to be anti-slavery free soil
er, and apertili,danoupee l
d Gov. Bigler for hii
pro-slave! . pinciples; and then attempts to
. excuse itielf by telling him to take no offence ;
for My were only driving at the democratic
party.
I leave Mr.!Grow to take care of himself, as
be is abundantly able to do so ; but' I have a
few ; words to isay in vindication of myself,and
the Denoeratic parti,e this County, against
the false piisition which the Itepublican would
place uSin,hyifalaifyini the true principles of
Gov. Bigler, ape* which we sustained . him.
Gov. ;Bigle i r did say that be was in:favor
of,the 'N j ebraika Bill, without the clause re 7
pealing! the Missouri Compromise; as be
deeniedjit necessary to organize those Terri
tories,: t,ift he also said that after that clause
was a4lea, lie opposed it in his private ca.:
pacity,- 4 —thatin his public capacity he had
nothing to do, with it. Was his language
not sufficiently plain, that he was opposed to''
the bill! passed Congress I Yet the Re
pub/iCaln: . assumes the falsehood that he was
in favor of if:, .
I deny that "Gov. Bigler opposed the
Law.',' It "Contravenes not only his
personal examples, but all that he has ever
said or done 'on the subject of tiinperance—
and the charge only adds to the list of false
hoods-,[which have been before published by
the Register, and now re-asserted under its
new niime., I should advise that iheet, to stop'
repeating its old falsehoods; for in tp doing it
exposes the Coon's fait and'ils real lineage.,
" This is the position be occupied, i and these
are the principles represented by him as a
candidate for the suffrages of the people." -
He'did hot fall by reason of the unsound
' cress of his principles (as Judge Black and
Mott =were i elected by large majorities stand
ing utoon the same Platform;) but was vic
timised by corrupt bargains to make place
for N. Pollock in tke chair of State, and Mr.
Wilniot in the United Stet& Senate. Mr.
Polio :k has already received the fruits of the
compact, nod before the ~.es s of February
shall have passed, Mr. Wilmot will learn
whether the promises made by his Whig al
. lies have been redeemed. It is feared that
the result will remind 'him of the old proverb,
that r w'hoever trusts the whips will get Claes
ted."! If this should be 'his fate, as it unques
tionably will, will he anchor his fate and fu
ture hope 'with his new allies, who havechea
led and betrayed him! or will he come back
to the democratic party (whom himself hat
betrayed) and ask to be received ? or will be
stake lilt late with a class of men called
Snow Nothings ? or in the -strength of des
peration ! will he combine all parties
. into one_
fusion,' aid Amid forth their chieftain!
Ile the parties! Ho has already ex
hausted ,N;s genius to accomplish this in' this
Judicial,:pistriet, but it has met with a total
-faihg-re l , and its' future is doomed to a still
more _pertain defeat. Although the demo
oraiieOrly. has been defeated, standing by
its Principles, by the misunderstanding and
tern)lorary alienation of comparatively a few
,of their ritnks, yet those who" have done ao,
put,of patriotic - motires and conscious duty,
-are' still democrits--their nature is not
ehanged—henee they will come home as soon
'as those blight differences ate settled *tick
:cauted their • departure. Thus united,_ they"
•
will again bold the power of vhidicatiag their
priaciples in the Commonwealth, and of de,
ela ; their sentiments-on all Federal ques
tions ..under e..o;)istittitiOnsl guidance. Thus
'har A pi4ised_they, Will feel quite as competent
to judge and, aot; on the question of slavery,
.as they, WouldAndafthe dictation of MT. Wit
mot when-Ai:9o WO big (=Pool. Hence it
snU:beidle fOt i i to eskulste on drawing
!gni ,po4in-ofhiliforco; 49mc'erat
'io party. \,
And 'When be tarns towards 'tug W3»gs
undAboli(ionists, he.can see-bid a MinOntY,
; Oen,::combined ;—nor , --has ,Itatnieti their
'c'-46 1 ;i-cP.. They distrust him' for his ante-
1 ,
eedents on general questi9ne of poli cy.. They
also distrust his sincerity On -the siibjet of
slavery, for the reason that they have wit
nessed-his treadiGy to the Party that nutter ,
ei hint into manhood, :and bastowea upon
him their confides ce and highest honors. Mi.
Wilmot-then instead of becomill the chief'-
tain of a giganti c partyonust relate from the
field of politics w i thout the anticiipated friths
of his overgrownambitiop, and even vrithout
the laurels which he might have retained.
Viiutt,o'st fgleit!,o.tat.
THE LARGEST CIRCULATI‘K I I! SoR I TIIERII PERS'A.
E. B. CEASE & ALAIN DAY, Ei*ons.
itontrose, Thursday, IFdir. 16, ISNI.
To clarrespeoudents.
We bare a number or i communications on
file, which shall appear as soon as we can
make room for them. ;
Now Lk Out.
Mr. WlLstor having railed to Obtain' the
Know-nothing support tpr United State Sen
ator, the people of this ttistric.t may now, ex
pect him to becouie *elf eloquent in denun-1
ciations of that Order. ilie will endeavor to
recover himself byi being very zealous in the
cause of correct-principles, and in placing
himself by the side of those who have sus
tained them While he was fishing in the mud
, dy waters of Know-Notllingism for the Senate.
Will the people believeihtm sincere !,
they put faith in hitt latter day. conversion
Let us wait and see.
Erg, ft" The self-stylad' '.Republican appropri
ixtes nearly a column in its last issue, to en
comiums - upon a late!, publication, entitled
"Stanhope Burleigh." ; The bOok wai writ
- 1
ten with a view to adiance and encourage
the Know-Nothing Conspiracy and- is well
calculated to foster those, prejudices, growing
out of superstition and bigotry. It is one of
those fictitious, over-drawn pi,Cturot, designed
to inflame the worst passions' and bring up
on the subject, of which it treats,, by girce of
denunciation, the mtst;bitter hatrbi. Its as
sertions and statements, unsupported by facts,
are such as are readily devotirei-by those of
perverted taste and mi4ied judgMents,inciting
them to - action, thih-fruits of which are dan
gerous to liberty. 'S i Och, publications ought
t 6 be discouraged, and the Press that devotes.
its columns to "puffsi' in behalf of them,
gives abundant proof of the baseness that
controls it. Our neighbor islthus ustiwittiOg
ly fixing upon himself; the stain of: Know-
Noihingism.
Seward ,and Wilmot.. ;
WILLIAM H. SEiVAIID, ©f New York and
DAVID WILMO ,Of ItennsYlvania for some
years have held a large share of attention as
public men of this conatry. F Both have been
notable for their viewi upon the queition of
slavery in the l!iorth; ttgreeig in principle on
that question, and each wielding considera
ble influence in the tivo &eat and contigu
ous States of the tni4n. We propose briefly
to contrast the men and their course of polit,
ical action.
After the repeal Of the ltiissouriCompro
mise by Congress, and when the whole North
war organizing to rebue the spirit of arro
gance and bad faith: which . '. attended that're
peal, Mr: SEWARD, with the eye of a sagac-
ions statesman saw a; fiew "o rganization :iris
ing, under the name :of Know Nothings, the
discussion of whose 'Principles must overshad
ow the question of siavery,„, distracting its or- ,
ganizations and parsOyzingtheir power. Now
mark the man. He; savi the organization ex-
tending its triumphs and ,achieving victories
in every contest: He saw politiclians, in ev
ery quarter, abandoning awl\ principles and
rushing
-for safety: f:o the' embraces of the
Know Nothing lodge's. revolu r
tion was careening the country, but what did
'Mt. SEWARDI He was ca r ndidate for
election to,the Semite, but did he bow. his t
head to -the beast Did he forsake his grin-1
ciples in the hour of adveriity and fawn ati
the feet - of this_ new land Mysterious power for t
support? Not at all. Arming himself with
his principles, he. ieliberittely arose in the
Senate and exposed; to the gaze of the world
the cruel 4 iesigns,-4the winked -and deceptiv«
purposes Of this Order. li e y o hi n t e ' ere d t d
walk boldly - into the face of - the battery, rel
solved to die by, his principles, or die with
them. Look at thisequel. Every r
powe
that Order possessed ,ash brought to bear on
his defeat., but likela man. of nerve,—like
man of primlipte,i-,not 7 a demagogne,—he
met them at every turn, prostrated them at
every encounter, broke OP their infamous ot : -
ginization in his State, sad was triumphant
ly returned to -the Senate! We admire • a
man of nerve,i r —a man `moral courage,
though he may .be wrong in his conviction.
Now what has; been the 1 1 course iof DAVID
Wu.stor ? Like lir. &aux]) he could blit
see that his pinciples" were being
overshadowed by- I the discussion of Knot
Nothingism; and like Mr. SEWARD he was a
candidate-for the Vnited:S.tates Senate! Hole
the Similarity endS, foi Unlike Mr. Seward he
joined openly in the eleition of the candidate
of the Know Nothings for Goi-ernor, joined
the Order" himselfiand elected 'leathers to the
Legislature elonging tI4 it, wherever he ,
influence, and their sought:. nomination from
their caucus at Herrisbitrg,frand an electiOn
from their hands in the Legislature ! In all
these he' has beeninglo#ously defeated, hay
ing. received the deserveid reward of such cOn
•
duct—the rewardithat men always receive,
whose ambitiott,fer pla . Ce leads them to sek
it through blind !avid devions paths; inste'fid
of standing uplike men of character, itstegri
ty.and honor, coMbating wrong and fearl.
ly defending the , . 1 I L
Mr. Wilmot had friends in this county thirho
would have saved him from
but he, in his blind infatuation, heeded them
not. He chose! to *flat them aside r tto
form alPsuces with Base who bad ever been
his bitter foes, and to, beconxt their leadej in
a eyed' crusade 4gainsi those lifho kad stood
as firmly by his :ide as the rock in the Motin-
Min% base --why had defendedihis - princiPles
against th eattaeis of his new allies t and bus
,
-.0
Wined him
in. the 4.r.rIPIA Ftruggle ,, of we
life. , But he was deaf to reason and. cold to
'the impulses of -fitiendiihip. - Onward .has he,
milted to hisdoom,—to meive-thet.ribu-',
it
tio:nalOClusticel and Faith. And wl ile his
.. 1 ,
coppeer, Mr. Stwarm, now stands before the
ocitintry, admired for his manliness and mor
ali4irage,—iespected for his integrity to his
prliMiples, by t)fozse even who believe those
- prineiples erroneous, Mr. Nirruloy can occu
-pyinone other 'than the very opposite position
wan all just-thinking men.
O take no delight in drawing such a pic
tue. or in contemplating its want of all that
. r i
is,beautiful among the political virtues. • But
it b 4 been spread out before us,—its hideous
fao hould be 'gazed upon by all,i that the
world may heedits . admonitions, find that
tho ,
sewho sea l , the honors of the government
slibirld learn frOm it that thet.emple of honor
can be reached only- through the Ways of in
tegrity to the p rinciples of
right -aid justice.
i: i ' Antagonisms. , _
qPolitical pa r ties derive }heir Character from
the real sentiments they represent. ! The pure
n .
stream 'lows n ot from the corrupt ;, fountain ;
not can we hOpe to reap the benefits of a wise
system of legiSlation from a party':whiCh is
biried upon aplatform narrowed by prejudice
and containing illiberal and proscriptive doc
trines. It is rnorally impossible fol. just and
eiinitahle measures to originate with an orga
nizstion formed for A deSpotic purpose. 'The
im I, . •
pulse that, gave it being must control it ;
the spirit in w hich , it originates must be infus
ed into everylmeasure it supports.: It was a
Common sympathy that impelled its, mem
bers
to unite and action consistent with the
L .
drminal iinpulse, is . the only thing'that can
hold them together in harmony. The mo
ment there' - ilia departure from the sPiijit that
drew them together, discord is at work and
dissolution the consequence. .It is a 'Parked
[ ,
fact that a party distinguished for its sincere
i -
dvotion to a measure calculated to benefit
t; e
mass!, and just and benificent in its pro
visions, is generally fouvd to pursue a - correct
[ 7
and libeisl pblicy. This course \is agreeable
to naitsre, while a contrary one would not
only subject Ithe party pursuing it to the I
charge of " inconsistency," but would cause
his speedy
r overth l row. ' Antagonisms cannot'
successfully co-operate for is long Period, if at
ail. Hostile in spirit, rind having' nu sympa
tildes in Common, they: battle, not embrace
each other. LTrue, a roan , in the pursuit of a
1 .
psrtieu sr obpet, may affect zeal for a cause .
the spirit and character of which are directly
;
opposite 'to the nature s pf the thing he pursu es .
So a party rimy profess . regard for a principl.
and belie its i professions by its deeds. If it be
impossible for a party to approve acid support
iinciples kirstile to freedom, and at the same
tame uphold another system of measures
friestilyito the rights of( man; •what are we
to expeel, of this new Republican movement,
iliose course is marked but and defined in
. oe . lodges of the KnowNethings. The plans
toncoet4d in those lodges are at war with
he fundSmental law of our country. They
seek to introduce a species of slavery more
'atrocious and intolerent than the system that
usurps the freedom of the blacks at the South.
IThproposition'they 1 , e
I Inot merely:to put tlai chains upon the limbs
lof the tnan', - to take the - Iroceedsl of his labor
twithouti regarding him for his toil, but to en
slave his censcience, to step between him and
this Maker 'and dictate to him the manner in
: i.
[which he shall offer up his petitions for mer
cy and Inisrine compassion. .
TheY , propose to deny to man his natural
right of
,seorshiping his Creator " according ,
l l
to the dictates of , his own conscience ;" to
strip him of this mcost sacred privilege, by
disfranChiging him and convating him into
a slas4, What, though they claim ail ex
emption from the charge of proscribing men
for their religious Opinions ! Is the charge ,
not justified by the practical effect of the
course they 'are pursuing? . It is a sweet
consolatiOn to the man who places a high
value :npbn " freedom of conscience" to be
told ti4t he can worship. his- Creator 'as he
pleatictS; but if'he pleases to adopt a form, un
suited to the tastes of midnight conspirators,
his claints to citizenship and its benefits must
be ignbred. Restrict himthus and to all in
tents atid purposes you enslave his conscience;
the worst system of slavery that can b4n
forced is !thus directly imposed upon him. If
there he anyone trait of our institutions of
superibr and peculiar merit, it is that which
sectiro s te every man the ,sacred privilege of
prescribingiis own form of worship. This
' precibris:right is held to be dangerous, and
, .
incompatible with self government, in the
philoS)phy of a secret order, and iispurpose j
is to annul it. It is a right secured to us by
our fathers, which security was 1 the product
of a bleidy struggle, and to plant ourselves
in hoistility to it, is to pronounce, the early
trials' nf the Pilgrims, fruitless for good; their 1
theories of goenlment speculative and ab- 1
suni.: ! The spirit that enters into and dictates '
~
the polity of such an order is tyranical; it is
a spirit of persecution and to suspect it of
having ;sympathy with the rights of man in
any ;state, or' condition, would be a libel
u p o n its character: True, to' its baptismal
spirit ,and ratural sympathies, this Know
Nothing conspiracy gebs band in hand with
of the Southern slave
the cherished projects
holdii i . It eat?' into his plans and encour
ages bun in their support; it whispers words
of consfort in the ' ears of the slavery props
, gaudik: and . " puts its shoulder'to the wheel"
1 of eXtension to assist him in opening new
marketS for his property. This course of the
ordeos, natural ; it is in perfect harmony with
that', +Aber policy it ausintains, a controlling
the conscience of the individual, and dictgt
ing tit him a manner of worship. There is , a
symP, •
athy between these two systems of op
pression and wrong that consolidates their
1 adtiOn.l • Even were we deprived of means
wborrebiy to form an 'estimate of the course
puriued bYthe Order, upon the question of
"Slavery!, independent of
. its, nature and spirit,
there alone would be sufficient to fix upon it
Alte'coh sem:loxes of an alliance with the pro
slaverjr doctrines of . the south; But we are
. : • .‘
noleft, t o this method of ascertaining the
true pbsition of the order ; its • organs in
Vashingter, Boston and New:York arecon
t.!:-.-,iail, 1,-,:4-......, , ..:.q91 the purely Nat;onalehsr-
aster of the party, having iven the "cold
shoulder" ` to everything bearing the 'sem
blance •of Abolition. Endeavoring -to ap=
pear respectable is the eyesef southern: peli
tiein as, it makes Unnecessary concessione and
,w?th an ardor hitherto!. 'unmatched, endorsee
'their doctrinei fully and apparently without
••
reserve. Here in Northern Penn'a the Know;
Nothings and Republicans are identical.—
They arwso,, for the reason that the power
lies in the lodges of the former and the 'latter
; • 11
cannot in its ment condition and relations*
act indepenaently . and efficiently. The Or
gan of the so-called Republican party, in this
place, being under •the direction and centrol
of the secret Order, in its lodges, dnre not, if
inclined, take open and bold ground in behalf
Of Free soil.
. . -
The of the Ordet is to blunt and pal
sy every manly inclination .to fight the! bat
tle of freedom" with courage and sPirit:, The
unscrupulous course •of a few imbitione
;
ders-has had the - effect of planing those men
Who followedt them through sincere and hon
eet motives, in- a position 'where they
;their individuality and becomemere ciphers;
This mact is to be regretted, The know, Noth
ings can never claim to be Free Soil men, fo
it would be like Satan affecting Godliness, !
out of place,fio unnatural as to appear! ridic'
ulous.
Facts arc Stubborn Things!
The Know-Nothing organ of this place in
its anxiety to deceive the public, is continu•
ally misrepresenting the character of the Or
der it represents, claiming for it, a syMpath
'with Northern Anti-Slavery sentiment' an
feeling. We deem it prudent to lair a few
facts in the Case, before our, neighbor occsl
sionally, in the hope of awakening - him to
sense of the unmanly course he is puriping.
, .
Below we publish an extract from 'the IN
tersburg Intelligencer, a Know-Nothing pt
per, 'published in the " old_Pominioti." Ii
editor in speaking of the recent election I
WM. H. SEWARD to the United States Sci
ate. says: -
"His success was a triumph of fanaticisi
which every patriot must-himent. But die
Know-Nothings came out of the Strugg e
with clean hands. They did all they could
to defeat him, but they could not . oVerconlie
tbe obstacles.which were in their , way.- They
"fought a good' fight;" they "kept their
faith." But they have not "finisliedtheir
course?' Frustrated in their ga tient exer
tions tiy an enemy who was in the field with
all his' farces before the new combatants cou'd
gather sufficient strength for the enconntr,
they are not disheartened, but are determi-
ed to contidue the war - and dispute eve y
inch of ground, until they. retrieve Alio', f,, r
tunes of the day, and crush the legions lof
Abolitionism. With a confidence' tinshnien
and a courage undaunted, they will fight on
in the great cause which they have mills ed
in." . • .
• , What a sad commentary upoe the Pious
pretensions of our scrupulous neighbor !
Perhaps a few words fixp_,Daniel Ullniatin,
the great-champion of the faith, in the " im
pire State" will be palatable just 1113 W. • .4, a
letter to one of the faithful he uses the fol
lowing language : -
"I can assure our frie* is Virginia that
we are fully alive to the importance of,ide
feating Gov. Seward, and we are exerting ur--
selves to the utmost to secure avictory. our
friends, however, should remember, that our
Senate, which has equal voice with the As
-1 semhl3, , , was elected one year age lait Novem
ber; and that in that body Mr. SeWard start
ed with a clear majority of 7 out of 32. It
is very difficult to overcome such a majority
1 in so small a body."
Finding it impossible to defeat,Se ward, be
makes haste to console . his Nirgi'iiia friends ;
with the fact that the Order is "fully alive
to the importance of defeating" him, thus
giving the best assurance of its Pro-daivery
sympathim .If further evidence,,lp .prof lof
the true character of this skulking copsira
cy, is desirable, it can by found in the! )
fol
lowing extracts taken from a lettisswritten by
John W. Bryce, one of the faithful leaders,
and dated at New York, Feb. Istil It will Le
seen that be devOtei himielf to the task Of
:,
repelling the charge of baring sympathy with
the' free-soil sentiment; infest ably does he
vindicate the order froureech a foul -
sion of its motives! Hear him :ii
. From, an early and intimate 1,
with the American 'party; 1 can safely pro
nounce the charge' of Abolitionism against
the Organization in the North tel be utterly
and entirely false. If gr. Sew Sid is beaten
in the Senatorial contestirtext wok, his de-
feat will be owing to the „efforts cif the Order;
and I venture to predict Oat if say member
411110 N. Y. Legislatum who hak .been I hith
erto affiliated, with the Americati Movement,
votes for Wm.'o l .Seward, he would hereafter
and foreverle,Spurned ; l and repudiated by
the order." I i
Choice- sentiments these, throwing! light
upon the subject, - that our neighbor sMks to
cover up, just now. Fiirther . on,-, Mr. Bryce
saj's the order "desires; 10 bur* in ohlivion
the slavery question, with the nit . rnory of all
the heart-burnings it hal occasioped."
This indeed is a mostlpatriott desire, but
the manner of doing the thing does of
it ,
ex
actly suit our taste. We ..,.; a can me no ropn
ety id burying that quOtion, in the w y the
South dictates--no proriety iriehec ng the
free utterance of Northern .sentiment upon it
—no propriety in chaining deli' imptilses of
honest, zealous freemen, by oaths administer
ed in darkness. If this question is to be 4
set
tied, let the North have its voile in mat=
'ter. 'kis entitled to that privilege and it de
-1 mends it. , t • I
- [Commustcattn.j;
itatnnzivaria, Feb: 8th,11855.
• •
Messrs. Editors :—liismiag been, fer some
years strongly tincture with *ree•aoil senti.;
nients, I was highly eaaspecated nt tha t crown-
lug outrage upon Northern f eeli ngse and North-
Nn rights, then. so reeently perpetrated' by the
slaivu power, in the passage of thl3 Nebraska Bill;
and in common with many other Free sOll Dem
ocrats, cut my vote for PollUek,lit thelkust elec.
Lion. I have sleet seat the folly Of such S eonrae,
i l k
however, and believe that a malty of e Dem
ocrats who did so purely npoy piiinciPle now see
their mistikko—ttat 04 hive h4Ped to achieve
It.
Know -Nothing thatead of afr 4011 +Airy..
zei
1 When the Republican party organ in th'
county, professedly for the mrpor of - u iting
North ..sgainst the thriller aggresaio i of
South, my sympathies were with the music=
and, for a time, I had a strong iticiltuitlOn to
1
list uodcr its banner: but remerobrwirig eh(
i • .
•tice which Mr. Wilmot' used always to give To
Democrats r , -to fight ihe question of slavery ih
he party and not go over to the Whigs to do ii,
r we would en, ay get cheated—l concluded
hat it was eminently wise and - judicious cella
l : for the Democratic, is at least, as sound on
the question as the Whig party.. , True, whin
out of power, a 0 that is the general rule, they
make loud pretensiens, but what have they ever
done when. in ? !Under whose rule was the Fu
gitive slave bill passed? A Zaw moreiodious; if
possible, and mdre immediately oppressive upon
us than the Nebraska Bill itself. A little ob4r
vation upon thelr movements and the character
of the leaders soon made me suspicious thai, the.
new . party was itothing more nor less, than the
"same old' Coo 6" in disguise. , So I hesitated
' and held back. 1 But when further developments
disclosed the fart that the whole thibg was con
cocted in, and +trolled by Know Nothings In
their secret • meetings—this settled me. I aiia a
free-soiler yet; )ut I aim a Democrat and a gdn
eine Republican, and therefore not only have no
sympathy with,i but detest and abhor this dark
conspiracy agast the rights of our adopted Cit
izens. I regar dthis issue, at this time, as pzira
mount to every other. The Democratic party
has planted her elfin open, u ncompromising rar
upon this new 1 ism and new political "Order,"
and I stand with her. \ •
Some of my i 'ret:•..soil Democratic Merida, know
ing my sentiments, have strongly, solicited me to..
discontinue yo4r paper and subsciibe for the• R
e.
publican; but I told them that so long as I was
convinced that both the Editors
.of that piper
were memberslof the K. N. lodge in 'Montrose,
and the paper was really the organ of that order,
I would see thin --- before I would ttl'ucli it.
If any word of approval and encouragement Rem
me in regard toyour course:in exposing andde
nouncing the iliquities of that order, would ell eer
you-ok, you have it.• Keep-up the fire! give
them " more gripe !"—not upon The individuals,
for.there aro many of theta - honest-dupes: oohe
wiles and false profession of its corrupt leaders
=but upon the orminization—its secret, danger
ouso •
character, And the Ellie ideas upon which it
is founded. -
; •
By the wayi before I close this hasty commu
nication, as Editors are always suppoied to know
. -
everything and a little more, I wish to ,askiyou
to inforin the 'public and myself, through your
columns, whether Mr. Wilmot is really a mem
ber of the Kn'uW Not;ting order. I ?frequently
hear it asserted that he is, and occasionally Ae- .
Died by some j l of his 'friends, who say that in4ri
rate conversation he denounces them moit;un
sparingly andjin his very emphatic way of ding
such things. ;Then Why did he nut do so ip!his
• Icing political speech at the Republican meeting
some weeks awe? As he• is a candidate ;for
election to thl U. S, S., the public have some
right to kno7 his 'sentiments on this sulbjec as
well as on tile TaTiff question, or the NebiAka
Bill. There are many, 'who have beretoforOiCien
his warm friends end' Erpporters,sho would like
to know what his "my principles" are on' this
matter um lhan any other.
, REMARES.—There is a tone of frankness
1 , 0
and sincerity in the communication of, our
correspondent that entitles it to the coCiikler•
ation stud
. regard, especially of those; who
like him, iwa moment of popular enthuithtSin„
fell into an alliance fatal to their cherished
free-soil . principles. He seems to hal: dis
covered lui Mistake, and what is more, has
the courage and manliness to admit it: This
i
admissiogt of his error is not only. indie live
of his good sense, but of the purity.of his
purposes. His example is worthy •of imita
tion and weidoubt not will commend itself as
such to the !candid of all parties. Theinqui-1
ty at the ciase of his communication is a
reasonable One. The right of a constituent
to know the position of the man he stipports
should ever;' be held sacred.. This right exists
with us, and must. be preserved, if we hope
to perpetuate our, admirable system of self=
government, The presumption of our :corres- '
pondent that " Editors know eierything" is
entirely to broad, yet we will. endeavor to
give him alfew facts, leaving him to draw
his own conclusions from them . 1 He must
know that We are not privileged to "rook he
hind the curtain lV and see what is tianspir
,
ing there. The drama, is played in darkness,
and even though Judge Wilmot. be the hero
of the play, the " old guard" to whose efforts
he is indebted for his• many viclories in the
past is not admitted to gaze 'upon hitti,in his
new. chara'eter. Like Murat at Moicem he
may be led bytes feigned admiration otthe
Cossacks into the perfOrmance of foolish an
tics, and We
. confess that we have strong
reasons to' believe that he has given himself
up to "evil, deeds" under cover of night. The
fact that be is said to have:denounced the
order in his "aliphatic" style, 'in private c6n
veriation,is no evidence to our mind; of actu
al hostility to it, for it is said to be part of
the Knovr Nothings duty, enforced by his
oath, to deny his connection with the order.
'lf the Judge has no sympathy with this"mid
bight conspiracy" he could easily have satis
fied the Public of that fact in his late speech
at the Know Nothing meeting in this place.
Surely he is man enough to proclaim his
principleS, when,he has' any.., He hoasta of
being sulh.at' all events. HO should know
that with the friends of the CTistittition, and
the men Of honest' free-soil.sentiments "Si
knee-is d ime" when the one, is treacherously
attackedland the Other being, prostrated by a
combine ' ion of men, in their midnight hiding
places. lit addition to the evidence afforded
by this 'mina/ silence, is the fact that the'
KnoW Nothing organ in this place, is very
anxious to have the Judge made U.S., Sena
tor: It r the object of the order to get their
men iuto the National. Legislature,' as that is
the field for action. It may be ea. that the
Judge, Professing an- attactiment to free-soil
doctrines; could not consistently .iinite with
this rieW ally of the slave ,power:; very true,
there isla 'wide gulf between the two, and if
the Jitape has joined in this mode 6 crusade
against ,be rights of the adopted 'itizen, he,
has, by ibis own choice, placed.hiaiself in hos
tility to those principles, for whicb he - pro
fesses t/ have battled so ably bothin and out
of Congress. , It is with fettlingli of mortifica
tion thiirwe aree - compelled to entertain suit:-
: picion,4if the man, on whom the bent - mm(7
of this pistrict has, lavished honois witheut
3 iS. stint. :Our faith in the political Integrity of
the the mar is being shaken. We are to
~
the believelthat when he so debases _himself; as to
barter' away bit Tariff principles i to wows.
itd-1 the v+ of yroteetioni4t : s, that hit would sell
himself upon' any question, for office. The
Democracy stood faithfully by him, when he
was true to the Constitution and to the char
sad of a man. We must regret his deep
'disgrace, . • . .
"Then pay the reverence of oldday's
To his dead fame; I . ' • .
Walk backward with averted gaie,
And hido the shame."-
;
RETURNED PRODIGAL;
if the above facts and , indications will as
sist " Returned Prodigal'? in coming to a con
clusion, as to what position the Judge occu
pies he is welcome to them; istia unpleas
ant- task for us to be called upon to, reeord
exibitions of ingratitude,, and deception oa
the , part of a man, from 'whom we' , expected
better things.-
_Would that - there . was no oc
casion for such a recori. 1 The visions, of pow.-
er and tune that flit across- the mind of the
Judge have bewildered him, and are fast lead
ing hira.on to an early political grave.—.
When he shall fully realizethe consequences,
of 'a rash disregard, of principle, When the
fruit of his madness shall have ripened, in the
depth of his disgrace, hecaii. most appropri,
•
ately say, . - . I
. "Now my charms are, rill o'er thrown
And what strength I have's mine own,
: Which is most faint.'?
T.,4itori4l Cor,rtsgon49trt.
LlAaßisnuno,Teb. AO 1a55
The long agony is over,. the great Know-
Nothing caucus has met and made its nomi
nation fOr United States Senator,;quarrelled
and adjourned, to ratify its choicenext!Tues
-day in convention of the Houses;— . in other
words, to elect SIMON' CAMERON •tO the Uni
ted States Senate ! \Glorious result,-7unpar
alleled victory ! let all Know l';lotbingisti` ie
jpiee ! 1 •
Insober.eartiot, laSt bight the Know Noth
ine, members, of both branches of the Legis,'
1
lature, met in caucus in - the East Committee
Room of the Rollie; and after six ballots, and
a rota, unanimously deClared General Sixto:4
CANianot , i their nominee for U: S. Senator.—
.Tbey met at 71 o'clock. The Ifouse,.Senatr
Chamber and Rotunda were filled from that
time till nearly two in the morning, with aux
ions friends, curious spectators and trembling
; •
expectant& After the caucus organized an
effort was made to adopt the two' thirds rule'
with reference•to the nomination,Whielt failed.
A Motion was made to vote by secret ballet,
which was carried.. This was soon known be
low and -regarded as. ;triumph for CAMERON.
Bets were freely offered on his success, blit
pot - melt taken: • The first ballot was soon
announced, resulting- as follows on the pr4m
-inentcandidates. Cameron 27; ACtirtain 11;
Johnson 10, Cooper 6, and Wilmot 5! •
carnerOn's stock went up,—friend's looked
happy, foes daggerous.. Second ballot,iCam-
Cron 29, Curtain,l2, Johnson; 6, and Wilmot
as . before. -Third ballot, Cameron 35, Curtain
17, and the - rest scattered in. 4'S.and s's.
Fourth ballot Cameron 38,- Curtain 21, and
rest'at oddsd and- ends: Fifth ballot, Came
ron 46, being one Majority, of all votes cast,
and then ensued ngeneral fight and stampede,
the opponents of Cameron declaring it a cheat,
and Iris friends as warmly layirig,the cheaton .
the other side, it appearing that one more
vote 'was polled than' there were'members of
the caucus. 'baths - and imprecations,. rain
gled with shouts and stamping of feet, fairy'
shaking the Capitol, ,announced to the outsi
ders that the work Was done. - Soon the doors
were burst open trona the inside, and out
rushed a dozen sons 'of the veritable "Sam,"
swearing and shaking their fists, avowing that
I the whole - Know Nothing party was'a hum
bug and a fraud, worse even than Popery and
Jesuitism, and that they would ,break upthe
whole d=nd Order , in the State,•and expose
itS,Corruptions- to the world . So away they
went down town, as though old Sam," was
after them, and' up to this writing bad not
been seen or hearth from. 'After wrangling
bral quarelling till nearly two o'clock ; anoth
er,ballot was consented toy when it appeared
that Cameron had 44 and all others 25,.ma
king 69- votes cast, and then on motion,the
nomination was - declared unanimous; and the
caucus. adjourned to . get drunk and carouse
till daylight: 0 KnoW Nothings ! .0 Wil
mot ! O. Frie Soilers, Who struck down Big
ler and brought Know' Nothingism into iow
er, look upon your 'work in" Pennaylvanial—
God save the Commonwealth," and
en preserve her Fame ! -
a ,From the Know Nothing 'organ of our
county, the Republiciurof week .before last, I
make the• following extract in reference -to
the U. S. Senator election; vhich is now com
mended to the carefulire-consideration of that
gaper:, _
".We believe the members from this , see,-
tion of the State agre,l with us that Judge
Wilmot is emphatically the man far the po
sition, at this crisis of national affairs: But
whoever it may be, lei him be a decided friend
of freedom, and notTa truckler to Slavery like
Gen. CAmarton.•
/
And 'yet this same, party of the Reptddi
pan, in its caucus nominated Cameron over
WilmOt by a vote of mom than ten to one !
Will not Wilmotpow denounce Know Noth
ingism I Surely he has nothing to lose q
it! Will he say now as he did at Montrose
last'Court, when some friends - urged him to
warn free soil men net to become, entangled
with it, that if anybody wanted to know what
he thought of the Order they might come
and ask him,—that he' should not disease it
itt, public! Will he not now make up his
mind that there is never anything gained by
winking at wrong to get office? Look at
Seward,—look at Wilmot,-what a triumph
for the formerii 7 —what a fall for the latter l-'-'
And let all our free , soil Democrats, who vo
ted for Pollock last fall, look one moment
upon their victories!! Are they not splendid
—are they not glorious I We told you.then
that you never made a bargain with the
Whigs that you did not get cheated, and will
you 'not now believe we were honest. n what
we to you! But, you said Bigler should
have co trolled Coagress,the Legislature, and
the Convention ag:iinst 'the Nebraska Bill.—
then should' not 'Pollock have.at least can
trolled the Legislature in which be has a ma
jority of more that, two thirds, and prevented
Ot e election of Cron 'I Do gentlemen be
e, ! ' ousistent. now, an 4 apply the rule both ways,
then acknowledgelhat you have been band=
somely sold, and return with a right good
will to the old dernoeratlie fold-,
.where you
• ,•
may rescue yoor country from the 4eiraila
tion which is settling doin upon her.
Mr. Buckalew will probably be tite.Derao
erotic nominee. -More ;hereafter.
Eco3ial UNwATEIfiI
ktio‘v-NOthingiSM.
Democrats of Susquehanna County:—
_
Such of y t ou as attended ur m eet i ng,
last Court, caught au inspiration from that
spirit of victory,
which we then sagr inform
ed and animated the Densocratie . masses. They
have the Itrutli,—a. moral, as Well as political
truth, to Maintain with a bold, open, aim' fear- ,
less advocacy; nobly in .contrast • with that
_hiding, skulking error, which- crawls. left
dens, and cellars at midnight; and bars win- -
dows, and bolts doom lest some - lioneit mad,'
might,disticeier its retreat, and drag it out in-.
to God's light! - . -
This is the legitinsate work of the "pio
gressive Democracy, who are the hope of the .
- county. They were :'invested ;with terror,
once,Vien a simple, stern, and sublime truth ,
nerved the Patriet's arm battle with-the
ancient power of a King; and teach mankind'
the new doctrine of equality,and of self govetn- 1
ment ; and ever since that discipline, it lois
'been the mission of Demociticy) -i to illustrate
the same - truth, and ,:power, wherever igno'-
rance, ambition, or - crime have assailed her
principles. 1
Deeply as we.abhor the f' Know..nothine
spirit and priaciple; me have never felt the
extent of the evil. • • -
. .
A new danger has sprung up . in our midst,
that toecheo our conscience, alarms our. pa-
triotisid; comes home to .our
,very. firesides: -
and obliges us to lay asidetbe ordinary ques- -
tions of 'political action, and turn every:emir
gy, to meet this uuseen,, plotting, eager, rest-•
less enemy to every Republican idea.
Other dangers have assailed our - iiistitu- •
tions,—perverted the mciralsense,—and alarm
ed the, Patriot.. But they were seen danger's;
and truth was free to grapple with their worst
forms. • Now it .is mining., unieen, framing its
devices where no light Lit, and then springing
upon its objects suddenly, from some unex
pected quarter; and doingits whObkmischief
befOre the people recover frem Ithe ' shOck of
surprise and dismay. ' Especially in heated
times,no man knows to tvhat means they may
resort; or whose destruction they may-com
pass. We lose all iertse of security ; our won
ted confidence in our fellow-inen,in the might,
of law, and in the power of.light are shaken. ,
'Hitherto We have trusted to the- BALLOT-. •
nox,-,—that right arm of the people,--in every
time of danger. ;
,
Now that security is taken from .us, and
therein lies one of the most alarming mischiefs. •
connected with.tiiis wickediaess.
Aside from the dishonesty of 'practically
denying, to the naturalized eatkolic, rights se- _
cured to him by our own - Constitution,—
rights that are just as sacredas 'the right to
hold property, enjoy liberty, andlife,—it cor
rupts the. BallOt-box, upon whose "purity, de
pends all our rights. If you look into':our
Election Laws, you 'find many enactments •
carefully guarding the voter from bribesone
nace, disturbance, and every - influence tending
to bias his will, and disturb his judgment,
'while at the Polls.: He is to scrutinize gad
sift the men and- measures proposed and. to
Abe free from all bias and coiltrol.in' selecting
from among them. He is to be a very sov
ereign; in the exercise , of a freeman's only
sb - vereign act. This freedom, openneis, and
honesty at the Ballot-box,, lies at the founda
tion of-a popular government. Corrupt : , this
source of political power ; and all the streams
!lowing thence will be Corruptconverting :
this land,-where' we hoped the experiment of
"self-government" would become a very fact,
into one dreary; irreelaitnable despotism.
The" Know-nothings" are,bound together
,by some mysterious oaths, whose character,
'and pposed obligation, we are not permitted
to know,—their Candidates are selected by
some handful of Politicians met in midnight
"council,"—and all the tneasures; and devices
for carrying them through, are sworn secrets.-
' Every member is bound to YOte, not as
truth and his Conscience dictate; l . hilt as the
." Council" prescribes ! No, arignment, no
light, no resistance, is permitted._ If the
candidate's name is, known at all;'ofitside of
they Lodge" before Election ; and a Freeman
asks what are his principles, what his .meas-.
uses,. what his obligations, in order that.
he may judge. his fitness for the high trusts
he asks,—they laugh in his face!, . '
•If this were to continue, it ivitild beCome
the most dangerous, and irresponsible'tyran
ny that ever cursed the 'earth. •
Last fall they carried. the Elections here,
.
by midnight stratagem,--Xand we are not per
mitted to know how many "Know-nothings"
now hold our, offices. ' , The. People's ;ballot-.box is taken out : of their hands, and put into
the keeping of "linow-nothing lodges r
In Montrose, now, the people have no voice
in selecting the Borough officers,=that 'is
done iu the night, in a -Lodge,—the whip
fall in; and the democrats have no rest:tame -
but to fold their arms, and resign themselves
to any dispensation the " Order" prescribes.
Just so they aim to'govern'the.Couuty,andthe
State,—not in an open manly way,asdespots.
govern, their `subjects, by force of a standing
army, but in a mean, deceitful, dark, cun
niug way. ,
It is_ beneath the dignity of a many, stoop
to such intriguing alliance, and to 'surrender
his own judgement to the deems of the head
council: It is low and , groveling to sneak
round'corners, up dark lanes, and, crawl into
some hole` where political Work, way be dote
away from the popular eye. 'Would you trust
.
s,nch a-man with, office The duties pertain-
ing to American_ citizenship, are honorable
duties,—to Performed in the brit' fight
9 f day,lieforo the public ey. / W. a
Common interCaPin makin g law; and admin
istering. the governimmt;—if is a
poll d
brotherhood, where majorities govern, It is
true, but - by open, and honest means:. It is
veryman's eouhtry ; - and every -man ho- 4
righeiti 'know what' and te?to 'tan. triv. 44
. whether he belongs to the minority; or to 64
majority:
Why a few years ago . when the( Masai°
order was suspected olily, of compassing,
;. 8.. C;