THE STAR OF THE NORTH.
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VOLUME 7.
THE STAR OF THE NORTH
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CHOICE POETRY.
PRIDE.
BY JOHN G FA XT.
'Tie a curious fact as ever was known
In human nature, but often shown
Alike in castal ar.d cottage,
That pride, like pigs of a certain bred,
Will manage to live and thrive on " feed" |
As poor as a pauper's pottage.
Of all the notable things on earth,
The querest one is pride of birth,
Amqpg our ".fierce Democracy!''
A bridge across a hundred years,
Without a drop to save it from sneers—
Not even a couple ot rotten Peers—
A tiling for laughter, fleers, and jeers,
Is American aristocracy!
Depend upon it mv snobbish friend,
Your tamily thread you can't ascend, I
Without pood reason to apprehend,
You may find it waxed at '.lie farther end,
By some plehian vocation !
Or, worse than that, your boasted line (
May end in a loop of stronger twine i
That plagued some' worthy relation !
Because you flourish in worldly affairs,
Don't be haughty and put on airs, i
With insolent.piide of station!
Don't be proud, and turn up your nose
At Morer people in plainer clothes,
But ream for the sake oS your mind's repose,
What wealth's bubble thai comes, and goes! 1
And that nil Proud Flesh, wherever ilgrows, !
Is subject to irritation.
America as Reviewed by an Englishman.
Great Britain has yet a long score to settle
up in relation to this country. Only a feu
years have gone by, since the abuse of the
United States formed the staple of many of
Hie leading London Journal*, as well as of
not a few of the popular novelists. It is
now admitted that the Americans are a Deo ;
pie, that their progress has been more extra- '
ordinary- than that of any other modem na
tion, and that if they be true to themselves
ayd their fnture will be still more remarka.
ble. Witness the following from the last
number of the Westminster Review :
American "emigrants subdue the wilder
ness. establish their own munioipal institu
tions, coalesce into a "Territory," receive
judges from the central executive, and final
ly, when their numbers reach the requisite
point, can demand to be accepted to the
Union as a constituent, State," OD submit
ting to a few broad and necessary principles, i
notorious and universal. 'This point deserves
the more attention, because. Ebgliah Whigs
throw dnst into our eyes, by ascribing the
superior well-being (which they cannot de
ny) of the American millions, to the abun
dance of unoccupied land. Why ! in Cana
da and in Australia there is as little lack ol
land as in the United Stales ; but our aristoc
ratic cabinets at first jobbed it auay in vast
grants to favorites or to the church—so as to
keep it wild and obstructive—and now cith
er let it in wide tracts or refuse In sell, or
sell it so atVitrariiy that it is no resource to
our poor. In this whole matter," it is by,
fairness, by publicity, by bail unchanging
end judicious princi|i'e,thal the United States
Ims.produced so great results; and Canada
has begun to thrive, just in proportion as she
> lias become emancipated from English con
trol. The cardinal point is, that the Ameri
can system promotes freehold cultivators,
while our Colonial Office snuggles to keep
rioh landlords, and indigent peasants or
shepherds; workiug for wages—that is tho
secret of the whole; our rulers do not wish
Ibe lower classes to be independent.
But thirdly, the Moral Movements ot the
United Slatea ate carried on with . an energy
lo which there is no parallePJn England.—
The very fanaticism which mixea-ilself up
with the Abolitionists, testifies to the earn
estness of ihinr sjruggle. The war against
intoxicating drinks (whatever may be our
auguries as to its final success,) is an evi
dence of the thorough going determination
to strike at the moral mischief, and top off
tlw'tng vices. The efforts
of "be Free States tor .Vn'iona! .Education
(about which we talk much and do hiiie)
ore unparalleled in all the world, and hold
out a obeeriug hope of American futurity, in
•pita of the dark shadow which slavery
casts. The coursge.with which all ridicule
is despised, in the effort lo open employ
ments for females, and qualify females for
employments, deserves all honor; it will sus
tain the morality of the sex, and (except so
far as foreign immigration interferes) prevent
the formation ol that curse of " Christian''
Europe—Parian casts in the great cities.—
Even now, Ihs jails of the Free States have
hardly any native born Americans aa their
inmates. Orphanhood of course must exist;
i>ut orphans are adopted in families with a
freedom rivalled, we believe, only in Tur
key. These are speolmons of moral energy
'in a community, which augur lot it a splen
did future,
HP New York City, ii getting to be an
old villege, as it was ineerporated one hun
dred and ninety years sgo, on
1685.
BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1855.
A Chapter on Angling,
NV C. r. SEYMOUR.
"A contented mind," says the proverb," is
a continual feast," and a contented mind, as
a continual feast, is the peculiar prorerder
of the brotherhood of the angle. I have been
living on contentment for the past week—
with a few trifling exceptions—and as the
good nature and liberality of anglers are
world-famous, I propose in this letter to
diffuse a little of the articles among my read*
era.
It is well to premise that I am a mere dab
ster in the 'gentle art.' My experience in
the way of fish hooks is of a limited charac
ter. I have not yet overcome the difficulty
of catching myself, before essaying the fisb.
I am invariably the first hooked, and the
last. Until my line is fairly in the water, I
experience no personal security, and when I
get a bile, 1 must confess it is not unattended
with personal apprehension. There is an
impossible amount of science required in
pulling out a big tisb, which rather distresses
me. Ii is perhaps an open question whether
I catch the fish, or the fish catches me, inas
much as the former, as a general thing, re
gains his liberty quicker than I regain mine.
The theory of angling reduces itself to this
formula: Ist. Extracting the hooks from_
the tail of your coat, where, by a perversity
of their crooked nature theju invariably fix
themselves; 2d. Untying impossible knots
in running tackle; 3d. Rescuing the said run
ning tackle from the loving embrace of six
foot weeds; 4th. Trying to catch a fish ; sth.
Trying hard to catch a fish; 6;h. Managing
a bite; 7;h. Catching a fish; Bth, Olh, 10th,
11th, ar:d 12th. Landing him.
This lake has some reputalion*Tor its fish
ing. If the natives are to be believed, every
thing that ever s* am can be caught in it.
You ask if there are any trout : the answer
is, "Not hereabouts, but plenty a few miles
down." The same with salmon ; you have
only to gel into deep water (wherever that I
may be) and you can pull 'em up at every
two or three second''. 1 intend to inquire if
any whales have been seen taken here late
ly, and fully expect the answer will be, ' Not
here, but plenty a few miles down the lake."
There is one great advantage in this invaria
ble answer. If you should happen to have
a bad day's sport, it is easily accounted
for—you havn'l been far enongh down the
lake. c
There is, I fancy, plenty of fish to be caught
if one can only lake them while they are an
the humor—a difficult thing to do. Rass of a
large size are continually being miked about.
1 myself have bragged about a bass weigh
ing four pounds to every one wbo was not in
the secret. An ambitious and unscrupulous
native has recently raised his weight a pound,
so that for the honor of New York, my next
quotation must be six pounds.
The most perfectly distracting occupations
I have ever attempted is catching the baits.
Grasshoppers are used itcre nearly exclusive
ly. They are found among the high grass
everywhere, but around most plentifully in
the churchyard. Thither I went with a tin
box, a pair of spectacles, and a superabund
ant faith in my own agility. The process of
catching a grasshopper may seem to the su-
I perficia! and flippant a trivial matter. But
I, Sir, who have undergone it, am prepared
I t'p pronounce it one of the most absorbing
and intense occupations in the world. Any
one can dig a worm. You have but to turn
, up Ibe soil and grasp the object of your re
' searches; it may squirm more or less, but it
cannot get away. But with a grasshopper it
is entirely'different. You have to contend
with a power—the power oflocomolion—and
in addition to that, an intelleatual force
which will not be coerced, and loves free
dom.
The way I secured a few grasshoppers
was this: Having wiped my spectacles so as
to secure a goad vision, I crept stealthily into
the high grass. Immediately twenty or thir
ty grasshoppers darted upwards in as many
directions. By the lime I had considered
which one to pursue,they had all disappeared.
Another step ot two produced a similar re
sult, bqt instead of reflecting this time, I sur
rendered myself to instinct, aud followed him
who first caught my eye. Now it is not easy
to follow a grasshopper, for he dives into deep
places where you cannot find him, unless you
have been accustomed to extract a needle
from the historical bottle of hay; and he pos
sesses also the happyfacully of changing his
location at the moment he thinks it insecure.
With the best of intentions, however, you
creep up to the spot where you saw him
alight; sure enough he is there, running along
a biauc of crass; in the face of such an en
couraging tac^l> al you betid your fingers in
to a good grasping position, ami make a
grab: you perceive at the same instant that
a grasshopper has made a bolt, but faith be
ing strong in the human breast, you do not
apprehend it is jours. So rising slowly into
an upright and rather proud position, yon
begin to draw out threads of grass one by
one, firmly persuaded that the residum will
be a grasshopper. Presently the idea occurs
to that if such were the case, your captive,
being gifted with very strong hind legs,
would surely use them. A cloud of suspi
cion crosses your brow, and yon determlhe
at any sacrifice to investigate the truth. With
i heroic intention you slowly unbend your fin
gers, and at the laat critical stage, when
I thought is suspended by tbey very breath
tessnes* of expectation, you discover that you
have seized a— -stinging nettle.
For an hour or two I prowled about the
churchyard,making desperate grabs at every
thing tbel bore the remotest resemblance to
what I wanted. If poor fancy can*picture
Guy Pawkes in spectacles, with a tin canis
ter in bis hand instead of a lantern, you will
realise your correspondent in his arduous oc
cupation. After a while industry was re
warded—for, during the day, I succeeded in
capturing at least half a dozen grasshoppers.
This comparative wealth was not unattended
with trials and tribulations, for every addition
I made to it exposed me to the risk of ruin.
You must know, Sir, that the aperture to the
tin canister was of a fatal size, imperfectly
barricaded with a knot of paper. Like the
gales of a citadel, it was much easier for the
inhabitants to march out than for a stranger
to march in ; and so when I had an addition
to the general population, consisting of one,
1 generally experienced a desertion, consist
ing of two—so, that, in the long tun, it was
not my interest to hunt grasshoppers for more
than an hour at a time. If J continued the
occupation for along period, 1 worked stead
ily backward to the point whence I star
ted.
I believe I am a very earnest sportsman,
but I confess the tranquility of catching noth
ing surpasses, in my estimation, the excite
ment of catching one, beyond which number
it is not easy to progress. Why should I be
expected to pull out a fish every time one
br.es ? Why convert a delightful contempla
tive pastime into a laborious occupation?
It better suits my idiosyncrasy to sit with the
line in my hand, sr.d know there is a fish at
the end—lo-pull it up occasionally—not cru
elly, with intention of breaking its jaw by
extracting the hook, but fondly, as something
that belongs to myself, than to lug liirn to
the shore. And if the beggar should happen
to get away—as I confess the little beggar
very often does—l philosophize on the insta
bility of piscatorial riches, and fling another
grasshopper to the Fates, with a contented
mind and a virtuous resignation. But to pull
up my 1 ne every lime an erratic perch or
greedy bass chooses to seize the bait, would
be work, Sir; and I came down to play—not
to work.
Next to the passion for angling, the strong
est in my nature is- gunning. I have had
some sport here lately in tho wild duck way-
CHANGES OF CLIMATE.
The following, from the Scientific American,
contains some interesting facts, and treats of
a very feeling subject, worthy of a careful
investigation :
History it-.formes us that many of the
countries of Europe which now possess very
mild water;, at one time experienced severe
cold durine this season of the year. The Ti
ber, at Home, was often frozen over, and
snow at one time lay for tort) days in that
city. The Euxine Sea was frozen over every
winter duiing the time of Ovid, and the ri
vers Rhine at Rhone used to be frozen so
deep that the ice sustained loaded wagons.—
The waters of the Tiber, Rhine and Rhone,
now flow freely every winter: ice is un
known iu Rome, and the waves of the Eux
ine dash their wintry foam uncrystalized
upon the rocks. Some have ascribed these
climate changes to agriculture; the cutting
down of dense forests, the exposure of the
upturned soil to the summer's sun, and the
draining of great marshes. We do not be
have that such great changes could have
been produced on the cifinate of any coun
try by agricnlture, and we are certain that
no such theory can account for the contrary
change of climate—from warm to cotd win
ters—which history tells us has taken place
in other countries than those named. Green
land received its valleys and mountains;
and its cast coast, which is now in accessi
ble, on account of perpetual ice heaped
upon its shores, was in the eleventh century,
the seat of flourishing Scandinavian colonies,
all trace of which is now lost. Cold Labra
dos was named Vinland by the Northmen,
who visited,it A. D. 1000, and were charm
ed with its then mild climate.
Tbe cause of these changes is an impor
tant inquiry. A pamphlet by John Murry,
civil engineer, has recently been published
in London, in which he edeavors to attribute
thesechanges of climate to the changeable
positioo of the magnetic poles. The magnet
ic variation or declination of the needle is
well known. At the present lime it amounts
in London to 23 degrees west north, while
in 1658 the line of variation passed through
England, and then moved gradually west
until 1816. In that >ear a great removal of
ice took place on the coast of Greenland,
hence it is inferred, that the cold meridian,
which now passes through Canada and Si
beria, in ay at one time have passed through
Italy, and that of the magnetic meridian re
turns, as it is now doing, to its old lines in
Europd. Rome may once more see her Tj
ber frozen over, BUtl (he merry Rhinelander
drive bis leam on the Ice of the classic river.
Whether tbe obanges of the climate men
tioned have been caused by tbe change of
the magnetic meridian or not, we have too
few facts before us at present to decide con
clusively ; but the idea, once spread abroad,
will soon lead to such investigations as will
no.doubt remove every obscurity, and settle
the question.
BV Mr. Jqseph Hiss, was expelled
from the Massachusetts Legislature, is sus
tained by the Know-Nothing council to which
ha belongs, in Boston, and it now the del
egate to tbe State counoll that will meet this
week.
t#" Tbe salary of the Governor-General ol
Canada ia leu thousand dollars a year more
than that of tbe President of the United
State*.
Troth and Right God and our Country.
Is There any Forgetting t
Dr. Rush tells ns that when he was called
upon to attend, on their death-beds, aged
Swedes, who for forty, fifty, and sixty yearn,
had lost the use of their native tongue, the
long suspended faculty would be recalled in
approaching death, and they woulJ talk,
pray, and sing in Swedish. Dr. Johnson,
also, when it oamehis turn to die, spoke not
in the march of his own majestic rhetoric—
passed by even the cadences of those Latin
hymns in which he onco had so much loved
to dwell—but was heard with his sinking
voice muttering a child's prayer which he
had learned on his mother's knee. Strange,
indeed, is the providence, and yet so wise
ly illustrative ol the absence of time as an
element in the divine economy, which thus
brings together the two extreme points of hu
man history, birth and death ! This same re
markable quality is thus touched npon by
Coleridge:
"In a Roman Catholic town in Germany,
a young woman of four or five and twenty,
who could neither read or write, was seized
with a nervous fever, during which she con
tinued incessantly talking Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew, in very pompous tones, und with
most distinct enunciation. The case bad at
tracted the particular attention of a young
physician, and by his statement many emi
nent physiologists visited the town, and ex
amined the case on the spot. Sheets full of
her ravings were taken down from her mouth,
and were found to consist of sentences co
herent and intelligible each for itself, but
with little or no connection with each other.
All trick or conspiracy was out of the ques
tion. Not only had the young woman ever
been a harmless, simple ciealure, but sho
was evidently laboring with nervous fever.
In a town in which she had been a resident
{ for many years as a servant, in different fam
ilies; no solution presented itself. The young
physician, however, determined to trace her
past life step by step ; for the patient herself
was incapable of returning a rational answer.
He at length succeeded in discovering the
place where her parents had lived ; traveled
thither; found them dead, but an uncle sur
viving, and from him learned that the patient
had been charitably taken in by an old Prot
estant pastor, at nine years old, and had re
mained with him some years, even till the
old man's death. Wi'.h great difficulty he
discovered a neice of the pastor," of whom
anxious inquiries were made concerning his
habits, and the solution of the phenomenon
was soon obtained. For it appeared it had
been the old man's custom lor years to walk
up and down a passage of his house into
which the kitchen door opened, and read to
himself with a loud voice out of his favorite
books. A"considerable number of these were
still in the neice's possession, and the physi
cian succeeded in identifying so many pas
sages with those taken down at the young
woman's bedride, that no doubt could remain
in any rational mind, concerning the true or
igin of the impressions made on her nervous
system.
"This authenticated case furnishes both
proof and instance, that relics of sensation
may exist for an indefinite lime in a latent
slate, in the very Bame order in which they
were originally impressed ; and as we cannot
rationally suppose the feverish state of the
brain to act in any other way than as a stim
ulous, this fact (and it would not be difficult
to adduce several of the same kind) contrib
utes to make it even probable that thoughts
are in themselves imperishable, and that if
the intelligible faculty should be rendered
more comprehensive, it would require only a
difierent and apportioned organization, the
body celestial, instead of the body terrestrial,
to bring before every human soul the collec
tive experience of its whole past existence.
And this—this perchance, is the dread book
of judgment, in whose mysterious hierogly
phic every idle word is recorded 1 Yea, in
the very nature of a living spirit, it may be
more possible that heaven and earth should
pass away, than that a single act. a single
thought, should be loosened or lost.— Presby
terian.
From the Middle States Medical Reformer.
" There are many scenes in the life of the
.physician, which are calculated to awaken
the strongest sympathies of his nature. He
is to witness disease, Buffering and distress,
in their various forms. His duties are alike
in all eireumstances and conditions of soci
ety. The rich and the poor are alike the re
cipients of his skill and attention. In mar
bled halls, with perfumed couches, adorned
with costly drapery, his services are re
quired ; in the cheerless hovel, with* its un
furnished apartment, and pullet of straw,
his attention is also demanded. Doctors are
public servants. Wealth makes no distinc
tion. The governor ond his subject, the
man of affluence, and the beggar at his
door, the philanthropist and the miser,
equally demand the ntteolj|atfndskill of
the physician."
■ ■■*
I ST Rashness borrows the asms of coar
.age, but it is of another race, and nothing
allied to that virtue; the one descends in a
direct line from prudenoe, the other from fol
ly and presumption^
tW Our very manner ia a thing of im
portance. A kind no is oltan more agreea
ble than a rough yet.
Travellers can now go from Allentown,
to New York, via Railroad, for *3,00.
Cheap.
OT Time is a grateful friend; use it well,
and it never fails fo make suitable requital.
The Democratic Convention
AT HARRISBURG.
haltols for Cu DO I commissioner.
ARNOLD PLOIER NOMINATED.
PROCEEDINGS, RESOLUTIONS, ffc. $-c.
WE give below a full report of the proceed
ings had at the Democratic State Convention,
which assembled at Harrisburgon the Fourth
of July. They will bo read with much inter
est.
The Convention assembled in the Hall of |
the House of Representatives on the morning
of the Fourth. At precisely 10 o'clock the
Hon. Hendrick B. Wright called it to order by
nominating John B. Guthrie ol Pittsburg for
President.
The nomination was unanimously confir
med.
On taking the Chair, Mr. Guthrie said :
Gentlemen of the Convention, I am sin
cerely thankful to you for this mark of your
confidence and respect. In the discharge of
my temporary duties I shall of course be very
greatly dependent upon your liberality and
kindness, and I hope you will lend me all
the aid in your power, that I may discharge
them faithfully and impartially, (applause).
The convention is now ready to proceed with
business.
The Convention proceeded to tho nomina
tion and election of the secretaries. Messrs.
Wm. B. McGrath of Philadelphia, Rielly, of
Schuylkill County, Joel B. Danner, of Adams
County, and Thomas B. McGuire of Cam
! bria County, were placed in nomination.
On motion of Mr. John Sherry it was re
solved : "That the two first gentlemen put in
nomination, act as secretaries."
Messrs. Reilly and Danner declined serv
ing. Messrs. Wm. B. McGrath and T. B. Mc
Guire were declared the secretaries of lhe
Convention.
The districts were then called over and the
delegates reported.
From Dauphin county there were two sets
of delegates, and it appeared that those who
were chosen by the regular Democratic coun
ty Convention of last fall were suspected ol
j being Know-Nothings, and also the majority
of the Standing Committee. One of these
delegates, Mr. Sailer; confessed that he had
been a Know-Nothing, but said that ho had
now left the lodge. A convention of the peo
ple and also the Standing Commilte had sup
plied his place after declaring his seat vacant.
The State convention was of the opinion that
he must first go back into the ranks and there
prove his fidelity by works before he could
pretend to be a leader in the Democraticpar
ly as the representative .ot honest men
He was voted out almost unanimously.
Messrs. Reel and Ferree, the other dele
gates chosen by the regular county conven
tion last fall were not proved to be Know-
Nothings by any other evidence than the fact
that they last winter favored the election ol
Simon Cameron, the Know-Nothing candi
( date for United Stales Senator. They were
voted out by a vole of 91 to 28, and their pla
ces supplied by Dr. Lewis Heck and George
Bowman, who had been chosen at an ir
regular county convention on the 2d of July.
I The Senatorial delegates were appointed
a Committee to select officers for the perma
nent organization of the convention.
A discussion here arose ou the propriety
of requiring a pledge from the Delegates pres
ent, in regard to Know-Nothingism.
Mr. Lougacre offered a pledge for the mem
bers to sign.
Mr. Orr wished them lo 6wear to it.
Mr. J. Richter Jones said that many of i
the delegates present, (and he among the
rest) were conscientiously opposed to taking i
extra judicial oaths.
Col. Black, of Allegheny—l offer the fol
lowing resolution as a substitute (pr the pledge
submitted by Mr. Lougacre:
Resolved, That in the estimation of this
Convention, any man who belongs to the Se
cret Order, commonly called Know-Nothings,
or iir hny way sympathizes with them, is not
and cannot be a Democrat—he is not fit to
hold a seat here or in any Dernocratio assem
bly. If any such man ventnred, or will ven
ture to claim a seat in this body, we denounce
him as a bass, black-hearted deceiver, and
easenlial liar, who deserves the scorn and
contempt of every decent man and woman
tn the country.
(Tremendous applause.)
If any man will vote aye on that, and yet
be a Know-Nothing, God forgive him. (Re
newed applause.)
Mr. Alricks— I move to strike out all those
hard names after 'man.'
Mr. Black—l would remark that there is
not an unkind word used in that resolution
in regard to any man wbo is a Know-Noth
ing. He may do just as he pleases, so long
as he does not interfere in our private affairs.
This resolution only applies lo that portioX
of the Know-Nolhlitga who came here to
practice frauds on us. 1 think they oan be
called essential liars, and .everything else
bard, and yet not get half_ what they deser
ve. We do not go among them as they come
fraudulently among ua. Let them aland on
their aide, aud we will stand on our*. We
want to fight them a fair, open fight, and God
be with the right, (applause.)
Mr. Alricks—Expressions of the kind made
use of, will detract from the dignity of the
*proceedings.
The yeas and naya were oallod for and or
dered.
Mr. Ludlow—Aa the question reltls, I must
vote no. 1 will not consent lo prostrate the
dignity ol this Slate Convention by the u*e of
such terms, and I will uot vote any other way .
than no.
A motion was here made (at five minute*
past one o'clock, I'. M.) to lake a recess un
til three o'clock.
The motion was agreed to, and the Con
vention adjourned.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The Convention re assembled'at 3 o'clock,
Mr. Guthrie in the chair.
Mr. Ludlow, from the commitlee appoint
ed to report officers for a permanent organi
zation, made the following report, which was
unanimously adopted.
PRESIDENT.
Hon. J. GLANCY JONES, of Berks Co.
Joel B. Danner, Adams
Cameron Lockhard, Carbon
Jesse Lenzear, Greene
John M'Carly, Phila. Co.
Nathan Worley, Lancaster
Thomas Adams, l'erry
J. R. Jones, Sullivan
Thomas Grove, Yotk,
John I'iatt, Lycoming, -
David R. Miller, Allegheny
Jesse Johnson, Bucks
Wilson Laird, Erie
Riter Boyer, Chester
-Charles CarleT, Beaver
Timothy Ives, Potter
Joseph Lippincoit, Philadelphia
Azor Lalhrop, Susquehanna
R. W. Weaviy, Columbia.
SFCRETAKV.
Nathan Worley, Lancaster
John A. Innis, Northampton
Thomas A. Maguire, Cambria
William B. M'Grath, Philadelphia
John Orr, Franklin.
Mr Ludlow then conducted the Hon. J.|
Clancy Jones, Presidentelect, lo the Chair. |
On taking the chair, Mr. Jones eaid :
Gentlemen of the Convention, I sincerely
thank you for the honor you have done me
in selecting me to preside over the delibera
tions of this Democratic Convention of Penn
sylvania. I know q| no higher honor. The
Democratic parly, geniflrtien, at this partic
ular crisis, occupies a peculiar position be
fore the country. Surrounded by enemies,
well organised in their common hostility to
Democracy, although convulsed to the very
centre with the elements of disorganization
and demoralization, on all the great questions
of national and constitutional law. They
now present the nobie spectacle, not only lo
the country bnt to the world, ol an otganiza
lion resting upon the firm basis of unbroken
political national faith, bound together by the
ligaments of a constitution which, in all po
litical matters, reoogniz.es no h'gher law, and
exacts implicit observance lo a strict con
struction of its decrees.
I Efforts, it is true, have been recently made
j by other organizations in our country, to es
| lablish a National platform, which would en
] able them to go before the whole country,
and all the ingenuity and power of interested
: men have been brought to bear to effect this
J object. That it has signally failed, every
man in this Convention and in this country
knows. While d'scussions on the question
of platforms, occupy the papers of the day
for other organizations, the Dernocratio
party is spared the trouble; because in all the
essehllßis ot nationalities it is and has been
nearly always unanimous. This is a proud
position to occupy before the country:—it is
a proud position to triumpls upon, and the
proudest of positions to fall with. Who is
there in whose veins the true blood of De
mocracy runs that would not be proud even
lo fall in such a cause t Not only would be
fall upon principals pregnant with trutb, se
, curing his own self respect and the respect of
| all honorable men, but he would have the
j approval of hie conscience in the justice of
I his cause, and the dertainly of future success,
because it is just lo nerve him for renewed
efforts for his country, his whole couutry,
and nothing but his country. It is not for me
to pretend to diolate lo you what should be
your action, not do I intend to occupy the
time of this Convention in attempting it. We
do not assemble lo make a platform, but to
declare one. Our platform is already tnade
and understood. We are in power. Oursen
timents have gone before the country and
triumphed, and many years of practice in ad
ministering the government have changed
what was once theory in our political creed,
into fixed and sober historical facts by these
facts we are willing to he judged, which of
our enemies can say the name : is this a free
happy, prosperous country? if so, then what
purty T uot by loud professions of political faith,
but by actual government upon fixed princi
ples, has made and kept-it so let our enemies
be our judges ; history shows that all the lit
tle experimental success they ever had, has
been in the ratio of the incorporation into
(heir creed of our principles, _never it is true
voluntarily adopted, mnch less believed in,,
by (hem; but used for the occasion under the
stress of a popular necessity. Recently, our
party has met with some reverses; the cour
age of some began to fail, and those not hear
tily with us, took French leave, so as not to
be behind in the new organization, as they
were in the old one; but truth is mighty and
will prevail. This freshet has carried off the
drift wood of the party; what some feared
was going to be a permanent disease, has
only proved to be a slight epidemic, and our
party now rises prouder, nobler, and higher
than ever. (4ppleuse).
It is some years since I had the honor of
a seal in a Democratic Convention of the
State of Pennsylvania. On this occasion,
whenoalled upon by my oollaaguea to serve;
I availed myself of the opportunity of con
tributing my aid to my party if she needed
.my bumble services. I believed this Con
vention was not one merely for the purpose
of nominating a Canal Commiaiioner| but
[Two Dollars per Annaa
NtJMBER 25.
- one lo reiterate principles and whose acts
done this day we may not hear the last of
for the neat twenty years. We may differ
among ourselves about minor matte ft, bttt
in essentials we agree. In ntfa-eisetitiais we
agree Id disagree—in essentials the party hat
nearly always been a unit. Tho opposition
press with peculiar pleasure publish thai we
are divided into "Haids" attd "Softs," Ne
braska and anti-Nebraska, Free .Soil arid pfo-
Slavery, Temperance and anti-Temperance
factions. Tltey forget that in the Democrat
ic party every man may hare his own pri
vale opinions on all subjects not organic,
while on the essentials of the, National Dem
ocratic faith we are and aiwayb frlli be a
unit. I regard this Convention, therefore
in that light. The nominee pot forth Id tho
people is a secondary consideration. To rilif
the best recommendation is a character for
integrity and honesty, and I hare not adoubt
but <hat you will nominate just such a man.
Yon are now one year in advance of Ihd
j Presidential election, and you are declaring
a platform out of Which yod dare not-take
one plank in this nor the next election. ,Ydu
are'now planting the seed and this fall and
next fall you will reap the harvest. Wheth
er that harvest will be good or etVil your dct*
this day will show. "[Applause.] I have
j unlimited faith in our parly—l have the ful
, lest confidence in you its representatives.
I Gentleman—l shall endeavor to discharge
j the duties you have imposed upon me with
impartiality, and to the extent of my ability.
I hope, therefore, that I may have not only
an indulgence but your cordial support.
[Great applause.]
The first business before lite Convention is
the appointraent[of a committee on resdill
tions.
A motion was made by a delegate to make
the number of the committee one from each
Senatorial District.
Mr. Chase moved lo amend by adding that
the delegates from the respective districts
choose one their number to represent them
in the Committee.
Mr. Wright objected to making the num
ber oftlte Committee so large: •
The question was then put on the amend
ment, and it appeared that the ayes had it.
A division was called for and taken—47 vo
ted In the affirmative; and 43 in the nega
tive.
The question then recurred on the motion
as amended, which was that a committee of
one from each Senatorial District, selected
by their respective representatives, be ap
pointed to draft resolutions.
On this question a division was had—
-52 voted in the affirmative and 45 in the neg
ative.
The resolution as amended was therefore
adopted.
The committee were then appointed, by
the respective delegations.
Mr Black—l offered a resolution this
morning intended as a substitute for the res
olution, accompanied by a pledge. It seems
that some of the expressions used in my res
olution are not agreeable to the general sen
timent of the Convention, and I-therefore ask
leave to withdraw it, provided that the gen
tleman who offered the other resolution will
withdraw his and allow the whole matter to
go to committee.
Mr. Longacre withdrew his resolution and
pledge, and, on motion, both his and Mr.
Black's resolutions were referred to the Com
mittee on Resolutions.
Mr. Wright— f no* ttioVe to proceed to Ihd
nomination of a candidate for Canal Com
missioner.
The motion was agreed to.
The following gentlemen were put in nom
ination:—Messrs. Geo. Scott, of Columbid
county; Wm. S. Campbell, of Allegheny
county; John Row, of Franklin oounly; John
P. Hoover, of Centre county ; Bernard Red
ly, of Schuylkill county; Robert Irvih, of
Chester county; H, P. Hacker, of Lycoming
county; James Worrell, of Daupbin county;
Arnold Plumer, of Venango county; Murray
Whelan, of Erie county; General John Wi
rel, of Lebanon county; and Alexander Small;
of York county.
A motion was made that the successful
nominee of the Convention should give td
the State Central Committee a pledge which
they should prescribe, in relation to the sub
ject of Know-Nothingism, and thdt If he de
clined to lake such pledge, that then Ihd
State Central Committee be authorised to
make a nomination in his stead.
An amendment was offered to the motion
that the State Central Committee be author
zed to call the Convention together, to nom
inate another candidate. *
The President—The chair ia of opinion
that the amendment ia not in order.
The question was put on the amdnJrtient,
and it was not agreed to.
The question was then put on
motion, and it was agreed 10.
Mr. Guthrie asked that the pledgd of Win.
S. Campbell be read.
The Clark read the pledge, and also a let
ter from Arnold Plumer.
The Convention then proceeded to ballot
for a candidate for Canal Commissioner, with
the following result:
Ist. Ballot—Arnold Plumer, 30 ; Wm.
S. Campbell, 37 ; John Rorr, 9 ; Geo. Scotl,
7; Robert Irwin, 4 ; Alex. Small, 4; John
P. Hoover, 4; Murray Whelan 3; H. P. Pack
er, 3 ; Bernard Reillyt; 4. 124 vote*, neces
sary lo a choice 96 votes.
The friends of Messrs. Robert Irwin, Jal
Worrell, Murray Whelan, H. P. Paoker, Jno.
P. Hooper and Bernard Rielly,herrf
their names.
2J. Ballot—AtnQld I'lammcr, 90; W. 9 .