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II
BY W. LEWIS. ,
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From the Washington Union.
The Duty and. the Destiny of the Dem
ocratic Party.---No. 1.
After the great speech of Mr. Hayne, in
the United States Senate, in reply to Mr. Web
ster in .1830, the latter, before proceeding to
respond to his antagonist, made use of the
following memorable language :
"When the mariner has been tossed for many
days, in thick weather, and on an unknown sea,
he naturally avails himself of the first pause in
the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to
Lake his latitude, and ascertain how-far the el
ements have driven him from his true course."
And now that the whirlwind of fanaticism,
which hag so far driven the public opinion of
this country from its accustomed and its so
ber channels, has partially ~,subsided, it is
well that we should take a look-out upon
the still boisterous ocean of politics, and-as
certain not only the extent of the damage
which has been inflicted, but, so far as we
may, the present condition and future pros
pect of our country.• It is too early to write
Ahe history of recent and of passing events,
novel and extraordinary as they ate ; but
there is an existing necessity for practical ob
. servation and preparation which we cannot
deny, and which it is impossible to evade.
Not to go back to ascertain the cause of
popular tumults, or of popular changes, it is
enough for us to say that, in the general
wreck of experiments, one great party has
been wholly broken up, and byn strange in
fatuation, many of its numbers have sought
what they supposed to' be a refuge in the
caves and carriers of the factions of the day.
• By a strange coinr,idence the two chiefs of
this party passed from the stage of life a few
years ago, and almost at the same time, after
rendering unequalled services to their coon
try ; and - their departure seemed to leave
their followers not only without guides, but
• almost without hope. Even those who had
"!';:,. echoed the opinions and worshipped the ex
ample of these champions appear to have
hn
ried their energies in the graves of Webster
and of Clay. The vacum thus left remained
an "aching void;" and nothing could be
found of the vitality and vigor of past days
brit the unconquerable aversion to their for
mer adversaries on the part of some of those
leaders who should have boldly presei ved
the old whig organization. A party thus
de
prived by an act of Providence of its most
brilliant lights, and thus deserted by Ili o A• c _.
Who should have kept it in the field, was al
ready, half demoralized. It was this condi
tion that made it an easy prey for sectional
adventurers—that absorbed most of its rnern
: bers in the abolition factions of the North
and in the secret lodges of the South.—
Doubting and fearing this now state of thing's,
those who . yielded to it could not honestly or
heartily co-operate with their new associates;
and the final catastrophe, following so inev
itably on the heels of a sudden and extended
' success, was as much the consequence of
the want of faith in the majority of the com
bination as in the fatal seeds of politjtical
• decay which bad been deeply planted in its
bosom by its inventors and its authors. And
this is the present condition of all the sev
eral divisions and difference's distinguished
under the general title of TIIE OPPOSITION TO
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
The only homogeneous. and truly national
organization that has maintained itself
through all these snuggles and changes is
the democratic party. Refusing to disband like
_ the whig party—impelled, indeed, by every
consideration of fidelity to pledges and devo
tion to principle, to opposition to the new
order of things—thd first effort of the com
bined factions was to remove such an obsta
cle from their pathway. To this end they
invoked the prejudices 'of section against
section, and for the moment, at least in the
northern States, they sunk
_their noisy na
tionality.and rallied under the banner of the
abolitionists. But this very concentration
made the democracy more resolute and firm
for future conflicts. It disclosed the tactics
of the secret party. And although the north
ern States, misled and excited in the firSt
onset of a new party with old heresies, al
lowed that democracy to ennunter a series
of defeats, such was the vigilence, ability, and
courage of the latter in the midst of its. tlis-
asters, that when the desolation of proscrip
;•, lion and intolerance had devastated the
the South was armed to the teeth for the in
vader and re-asserted, in aseries of brilliant
victories, not alone its own_rights, but at the
• same time reanimated and strengthened the
constitutional men of the North. The tide
that rushed so fiercely for the first few
months, threatening to overwhelm the most
sacred covenants, and to prostrate the most
monuments of patriotism, has be
•,-,ogun to ebb with fearful rapidity, leaving
• •,2.more than one reckless leader stranded, and
~ n istrewirfg the shore with the broken hopes
, :,emend eleventh hour regrets of those who were
• eager to float into power upon any and ev
:',:,7:.;4.ery wave of fanaticism.
'i-;;k. There is a large class of conservative men
this free country, many of whom ern
barked in the enterprise of know-nothingism
pm honest motives. They had been whigs
7 der'Clay and Webster, and fell into the
'. - ands of 'the" new movement—first, becauee
their-antagonism-to the democracy; arid,
I&‘.-4
00 23 00
" 9 00 14
00 38 00
" 15 00 -25
" 25 00 40
secondly, because they could not conceive
that a surrender of what they had been
taught was a mere name would produce evil
consequences. These men have now dis
covered their mistake, and find that they have
been misled into an intolerance, which, in its
insatiate pursuit of is victims, would break
up all the foundations of society and of law,
and substitute for the peaceful system of a
government of opinion an oligarchy compo
sed of bigots in religion, fanatics in politics,
desperadoes in morals, and incapables in
statesmanship. It is easy to see how the
unsealing of such men's eyes must advance
and strengthen the only, existing and nation
al party, which opposes violence and error
in every State of the Union, and stands up
on truth fortified by experience and trial,
wherever the constitution of our country is
acknowledged and obeyed.
60 00
' The Duty and the Destiny of the Dem
ocratic Party.---No. 2.
The advantage of the democratic party in_
-the present crisis of political affairs is to be
found in this : that that party is immovably
flied upon the unchanging rock of principle.
In the midst of the ever-varying scenes of
the day—.when the crude theories of fanati
cism and, of intolerance are enabled to
assume substance and shape—and when the
public mind is beset with every imaginable
scheme, andbewildered by every dazzling
idea—it is impossible to over-estimate the
grateful anti healthy influences of the demo
crotiecreed, standing, as it does, upon those
philosophical truths which are so necessary
to the solid interests and constitutional
rights of all sections of the country. the
progress of liberal principles cannot be aided
by the ill-digested suggestions of inexperien
ced and selfish demagogues. "Men change
but principles live forever:" and no eat,
whether of legislation or of statesmanship,
will stand the test of tithe, and survive the
investigating spirit of the age, which is
not rooted in the unalterable and eternal jus
tice of things. Stability is vitally essen
tial in such a government as ours—not, in
deed, in the sense-in which it is understood
by the governments of the Old World, butin
that meaning of the term which decides every
new issue.by the inexorable standard of the
right, and rejects those dangerous and treas
onable designs which, disguised-in the robes
of expediency, too often supersede the meas
ures of consciencions and I xperienced patriot
ism. We find, in proof of this. that every ques
tion of finance, of revenue, of territory, and of
public policy, has in succession been adjust
ed by the demoratic party, upon principles
which, tried by the trial of years, have at
last overthrown allobjections, and are now
acquiesced in by a united, if not by a grate
ful public sentiment. same remedies,
if applied to the new troubles of the times,
must produce the same wholesome and en
during fr ruts ; and we , have already entered
upon the realization of this last ti tumph.—
That this ti it - Imph should not be allowed to
fail in the smallest particular, however, is a
pi incipal duty" of the democratic party. But
is it not humiliating that, when the whole
people are so profoundly and immediately in
terested in the success of a perrnarnent pub
lie policy—when every material institution
of society, every department of industry and
trade, every political and moral right, is con
cerned in the establisment of such a policy—
that a wild and wanton proscription, stimula
ted by the roost ignorant prejudices, and de
fended by the most dangerous malcontents,
should be permitted to run its course of fraud
and force, of bigotry and bloodshed, in dell-
I ance of the sober judgment of the country,
land too often assisted by the guilty indiffer
!Klee of the people'
! It is a course of the times that a few
i able and unscrupulous men are often able to
I carry off their partisans and friends upon the
most absurd and insubstantial theories. .Call
it what we may, it is by- no means a compli
merit to our national intelligence to see a
great body of American voters one day advo
eating the rights of the Catholics, (as in the
case of the whigs of 1852,) almost to the
exclusion of all other persuasions, and yet the
I next day (as in the case of the great body Of
the same party in 1855) turning about and
practically denyingthe Catholic his guaran
tied privileges at the polls, and his equality be
fore the laws in many other respects. Alexan
der Hamilton speaks in one of his letters of the
incalculable value of an honest and patriotic
public man; and we are often impressed with
the force of his observation when we see how
much injury a single dishonest public mart
can inflict, not only upon the national char
acter, but upon the very people whom he
hypocritically affects to serve. There is no
safety in that condition of things which per
mits a shrewd manager to sway the public
sentiment of his party as his hopes or ha
treds may dictate. Every right or guarantee
I must be unsettled if this danger should be-
come general enough to be national. Hence
Vitis that all parties who take position upon
the securities and covenantsi of the con
)'stitution are those alone who are fit to be
trusted by a free people. If the democratic
party was not always ready to suffer defeat
by tenaciously holding on to what was right,
(however odious the measure might be at the
moment,) it would become an object of de
served contempt, because it must then be a
mere corrupt and selfish conspiracy, intent
alone upon power, and ready to sacrifice
character and consistency at all times for a
miserable temporary advantage.
There is not a - State in this broad Union
-there is not a Territory—which is not now
affected by some, local mischief, aided by
some 'revengeful politician, and directed
against the democratic party. Co'ild -all
these elements be lastingly combined—if by
any principle of political chemistry ingredi
ents so repulsive to each other could be held
together—not only the democracy, .but the
federal compact itself, would totter to its base,
a mass of undistinguishable ruin. It is for
tunate that such a coalition is apolitical im
possibility. It is more than fortunate—it is
almost providential—that for every one of
these'rnischiefs a drastic and unfailing cure
may be found in the undying creed of the
democratic Party. The Albany Argus, in the
HUNTINGDON, SEPTEMBER 5. 1855.
course of a recent article on this subject, ex
presses this whole idea in the following brief
and striking passage: -
"On the other hand, the I.leincieratic party
has a national existence. It is organized on the
theory of embracing in its creed only such
principles as concern the conduct of our nation
al affairs, and of leaving to loc,d action those
which relate to State matters only. Its princi
ples, its affections, and its exertions, compre
had within their scopc'the whole country, and
frown upon everything like disunion, Upnn
the slavery qustion it will seek to stand where
the constitution stands,'and where patriotic men
of the North and Oftlic :-.•:outh can stand togcth.
er and labor in harmony. It will not be a sla
very partv. Upon the prohibition question, so
lin- as any principles affecting. that enter -its
Creed, it will oppose laws which- violate. con
stitutional safeguards, or trample upon the well
recognised rights of person and of property,
while will by no means stand in the way of
such wholesome legislation, within the range
of well-established principles, as will promote
the cause of morals and virtue. It will not be
a li3:zor party..
Sn, too, while resisting the attacks of
misguided men upon the rights, political and
social, of their equals, the democracy can
not he called a Catholic party or a foreign
party. The duty of the democracy and of
all parties in all these issues could not be
more clearly defined if it were written on
the arches of the sky. This duty is the in
destructible instinct that combines and con
centrates the friends of liberal principles on
the American continent. If the adopted cit
izen is sought to ba robbed or cheated out of
his tights, we are invoked to resistance to his
oppressors by the laws that have made him
our brother and our equal. If the
,furies of
theological bitterness and intolerance are let
loose at the throat of the Catholic, who sees
his God through his own forms of worship,
we find our 'course marked out, as by a sun
beam, in the familiar history of our forefath
ers, who came hither, pursued by the oppres
sor, to found a republic upon the broad basis
of religious and political equality. The con
stitution we are sworn to obey obliterates, by.
the very sanctity of the holy obligation that
binds us to it, all subsequent pledges that fac
tion may exact in, order to violate it. Those
who created that instrument, suffering the
while the initial pangs of the internal feuds
that have since beleagured our whole politi
cal fabric, made it strong enough to resist all
its futute enemies, come in what shape they
might, whether as the foreign agitator who
seeker to sow the seeds of division among a
family' of unrivalled republics, or as the do
mestic traitor who would plunge a free peo
ple into.intestine war in order -to liberate
from servitude those who would next be lost
in an irretrieveable social degradation, or as
the advocate of extravagant expenditures
and centralizing legislation, by which the
general government is gradually to ignore or
to destroy the sovereignty of the States.
Ho conspicuously these truths appear,
now that the last attempt of the factions of
the day bids fair to be overwhelmingly de
feated, and- now that we are. about to enter
upon a new contest for the presidency! But
the snake is "only scotched, not killed:"
and we shall next proceed to speak of the
duty which the democracy owes to itself, in
order that the inspiring indications of the
presrent may be abundantly realized.
The Duty and the Destiny of the Dem-
ocratic Party---No. 3
The unanimity of sentiment and action
which pervades the democratic party in all
the States and Territories of the Union was
never more signally manifested than in the
position of that party on the question presen
ted to the country by the new secret organi
zation. The patriotic duty of opposition to
this conspiracy seems to have animated the
democracy everywhere as by an irresistible
instinct. In the midst of the misrepresen
tations and the clamor of the whi t s and the
abolitionists on the subject of Nebraska, the
project of proscription came in as a new
element of political controversy, and was
gladly seized upon by the latter as the sure
and only way of effectually destroying the
democratic party. With equal promptitude,
and with a much more general acquiescence,
the democratic party took the other side; and
the contest commenced. Thousands of
whigs saw the progress of this anti-Christian,
anti-republican crusade, and refused to sec
ond it; and many who had followed the va
rying fortunes of the old Clay and Webster
leaders painfully realized the utter humilia
tion of their new condition, and preferred neu
trally or open opposition to the responsibili
ty of any longer connexion with a-party
which had proved itself only too willing to
seize upon every fanaticism that might help
it into power. As long, however, as the
know nothings and abolitionists Could use
their kindred excitements in the northern
States, particularly in the impulsive and ex
nocrerated condition of the public mind, few
Whigs could be found actively to oppose the
combination'; and the first fruits of the coali
tion were so many disastrons• defeati to the
democratic'party. It was only when Virgin
ia threw herself into the arena that the torrent
was arrested; and reflection led to a healthy
and a rapid reaction. The victors in the North
became the victims in the South; and, as they
recoiled before the onset of a triumphant de
mocracy, thousands whom they had first de
luded saw their error and abandoned their
connexion with the know nothing conspira
tors. All that is now required to complete
the work, so happily begun in the South is a
fair opportunity and an open field to the
democratic party in the free States. Such
is the reward of adherence to principles; such
the issue of a duty well and fearlessly per
formed; such the realization of the prophecy
of, the. Washington Union when fife know
nothing epidemic first broke out, and when
this Journal declared that, let the storm -rage
as it might—let the batteries of intolerance
and of prosription mow down' their thousands
—yet that success, would, be sure to come
soon, if only the democrats planted them
selves upon the right, and refused to compro
mise with the wrong. They did so; and the
Consequences are before us.
This duty well discharged,' another and .a
weighty obligation remains to be adhered
to. This is the duty of purging the ranks
of the democracy from all who persist in cling
ing to the know nothing order.
it is because the leaders "of the old whig
party did not at once take - this course that
thousands of whigs have fallen into the toiis
of the proscriptionists. In many States,
where the whits were at. first doubtful what
to do, the know-nothings silently usurped
the machinery of the whig organization;
-and-now when a whig meeting is called, the
-know-nothings quietly take possession, vote
in their own officers under the pretext'of
being whigs, and quietly select their own
friends for the offices. This has become so
favorite a practice with the • honorable' and
high-minded conspirators against toleration
And equality, that in many places it is not
safe for the - whigs to call a meeting. Such
is one of the injurious results of having for
party leaders men whose aspirations are all
selfish, and whose whole idea of principle is
resolved into opposition to the democratic
party.
The ern ocracy, on the other hand, pursue
an -entirely different course—the course at
once of duty and of principle; and they are
saved from a host of afflictions by it. The
moment they find themselves betrayed by
any one who professes to be a democrat, af
ter he has put on the chains of the inquisi
t ion they repudiate _him with indignation.-1
- Every State, every county, almost every elec
tion district throughout the - Union, can fur
-nish examples of this kind. We have yet
to find the first instance in which the demo
crats have failed to reject and eject those
who have thus outraged all honor and truth.
It has been the same in the North and in the
-South—in the East and in the West. No,
matter how the offender might prevaricate,
he was compelled to disgorge his dark secret,
and to go but with "the scarlet letter" bran
ded upon his brow. If he contrived to get
upon a democratic ticket, his name was ta
ken off, and sent forth as the synonym of
treason to truth and to manhood. if he crept
into a nominating convention, he was avoid
ed and expelled. At every democratic meet
ing that is held the pledge of relentless and
unceasing war upon the proscriptive con
spiracy is renewed and adopted by accla
mation. Every convention to select candi
dates for place is installed by a rigid exam
ination of every delegate on the question of
know-nothingism. And while this is the
tone of the masses of the democratic party,
the nominees of that party are alike bold
and uncompromising. Whether it be Wise,
of Virginia ; Medill, of Ohio ; Johnson, of
Tennessee ; Johnson, Of Geotgia ; Wickliffe,
of Louisiana ; Winston, of-Alama ; Pease,
of Texas ;.Clarke, of Kentucky, Or any oth
er democratic candidates for governors in
other States or any of the candidates for any
other stations, the tone of opposition to the
know-nothings is emphatic and unequivocal.
And it is only by maintaining this stand, and
discharging this high duty with courage, that
the democrats will be able to meet the-ex
pectations of the country.
Consistent with this inexorable rule of ac
tion, however, is that other duty of the dem
ocratic party, to rescue, as "Crands from the
burning," all such as have been deceived in
to the midnight inquisition. Some of the
very best men of both the great parries have
been thus deceived ; and such as these, daily
breaking out from the dens into which they
were entrapped, are gladly welcomed back
to their old principles. There is a wide and
deep difference between men in this catego
ry, and those who enter . the order with the
deliberate purpose of defrauding and betray
ing their friends.
When these duties are well and energeti
cally fulfilled; the hearts of patriotic men
palpitate in sympathy with the party capa
ble of ,such intrepidity ; and a dazzling des
tiny is sure to crown the exertions of those
who are not afraid to be true to their princi
ples and themselves.
The Duty and the destiny of the Dem-
ocratic Party.---No. 4.
tlre arenot disposed to deny that the orga
nized proscription, under the name of know
nothings, has done good. There is a saga
cious and an elevating philosophy in the the
ory of Friar Laurence when he says:
"For nought so vile that on the earth doth live
But to the earth some special good cloth give."
We are, therefore, indebted to the know
nothings, not because they have ushered up
on the public stage a brood of evils, social
and political, but because they have -exposed
to us the weak places in our system, and
have thus unconsciously admonished us of
the necessity of adhering to the'sacred prin
ciples of our constitution. Their advocacy
of dangerous doctrines has compelled the
people to look for an antidote to the bane.—
Thus, in the combat with evil thoughts and
evil deeds, men nre prone to resort to those
high principles of public and private virtue
without which no government could stand
and no 'community thrive. We are apt to
forget these elements of national and individ
ual safety, and we are often painfully recal
led to a keen sense of their value by some
sudden convulsion of. popular feeling, or
some successful demonsttation of fanatical
violence.
But a more immediate benefit has been
conferred upon the democratic party by the
recret conspiracy. Tt has been a sort of res
ervoir which has received such unsound
members of our organization as have for
years dung to it, simply to corrupt and to
weaken it. In every State of the - pion the
democratic party has.suffered from these in
fectious influences. Affecting to adhere to
its usages, and falsely professing its princi
ples, they were enabled to wound it by their
secret treachery, and to bring it into discred
it by their odious association with it. But
the know-nothing organization was a temp
tation they could not withstand. They were
at first attracted by its well-whited sepulchre,
and afterwards captured by its rapid though
temporary accession to power. .The conse
quence'was, that they deserted in numbers,
and that in every State of the Union the de
mocracy seemed to grow stronger, as they
certainly did grow purer arid better, after a
onmimatiOn so' long and devoutly prayed for. ;
•
For every loss thus gained, moreover, we ;
have been enabled to record honest accessions Ina late letter on the subject of Know
from the ranks of our former opponents.
leothingisni, Gen. BUSre, -- United States Sen-
The organization and the usages of the de- ator from Texas, says:
mocracy have, however, played a conspicue "Their secrecy is highly objectionable.--
ous part in the recent struggle with the fac- No party can be safely trusted with power
tions of the day. Unaided by the machinery who do not openly and distinctly avow their
of oaths, which constitutes the strength of ' principles. The oaths which it is understood
the know-nothing conspiracy, and scorning - they take are illegal, tyrannical and at open
the practice of binding a great party in the 1 war with the fundamental principles of our
chains of a bribed or terrified majority, it ; government. They are a direct encroach
has fairly and publicly nominated its candi- j merit upon that personal liberty and individ
dates for office, and voted for them at the I ual responsibility , which is the very ground
polls. In some cases unexpected treachery, I work of our free institutions. It is the high
the spawn of the proscriptive lodges, contri- , est privilege as -well as the sacred duty of ev
ved to defeat the democratic candidates; but ; cry American' e eitizen to vote for measures
in others—in those contests more especially and men under the guidance of his own best
, - of a later date--the expedients and the frauds judgment. How .can he surrender that right
of the enemy having been exposed, the dem- to a midnight council, and bind himself by
ocratic nominees have been triumphantly oath to carry out wh e at they may dictate, and
carried. 'And now, in the midst of the teas- fulfill his obligations to himself, his country
lion that , always succeeds the detection of and his God as a freeman ? The thing is ab-•
dishonest practices, especially in politics, the surd ! lie must, in the very nature of things,
democratic party look forward to coming frequently go against either his judgement or
contests, proud and strong not only in the his oath:, and that too where the most vital
basis of their organization—the enduring interests of his country may be involved."
principles of equality and of justice—but This is well and forcibly put. If there
confident and invincible in the binding force were no other objection to Know-Nothing
of their organization and the sanctity of their ism, this one" f secrecy Would be sufficient
regular nominations. to secure our earnest and zealous opposition.
The wrecks which are scattered along the Its characteristics are slavery and proserip;
tracks of political history are not the wrecks tion—slavery of its own members and pro
alone of the men who have attempted to tear scription of all others. A man does not even'
down the monuments of principle and of law, become a member by his own free choice,-
but of those who, false to the obligations of but must be admitted at the will of others
honor, have attempted to maintain the dou- who; having got in themselves, have the pow
ble attitude of attachment to a party anti of er of keeping others out. If a person choo
bestility to its organization. Wilfully for- ses to unite with any open political party,
getting that it is in vain to talk of union up• has only to consult his own inclinations and:
on doctrines, if this union is to be impaired opinions !—No one has a right toe or can
by personal contests between those who as- keep him out, or prevent his erijoymentof all
pire to represent these doctrines, such men the rights and privileges of a freeman and at
have rio hesitation in binding themselves to party man. But if a citizen wishes to unite
abide the decision of the fairly-ascertained with one of these secret parties he must be
majority, and afterwards violating this cove- admitted by the votes of others sitting in see
cant with their party friends. There is no cret, where his character is canvassed with
moral difference between such faithlessness as out any opportunity of defence or reply. He
this and the deliberate infraction of plighted is not admitted, either, by a majority. The
honor by an individual in private life; and revelations published in the Chambefsburg
although the law may sometimes punish an Whig showed that it only took five black::
offence like the last, yet it is certain that the balls to nullify five hundred affirmative votes,•
man reckless enough to forfeit his-character thus giving to a few personal enemies, or
and to betray his political associates, is no persons interested in keeping another out, a
less worthy of reprobation and of contempt. power unknown to the whole spirit and na-
Strange to.say, that after a series of the tare of our government. Thus is the very
most violent denunciations of the democratic entrance to the secret party rendered humili
party on account of the fidelity which that ating to the last degree to a man of spirit'
party exacts to the fairly-ascertained wishes and self-respect.
of the majority, the very men most profuse If he gets in he is in no better condition.
in these denunciations have adopted a series Ue is required to take an oath to keep secrets,
-of despotic rules for the protection of their before he knows what he will have to keep,
secret nominations, before which even the and is rendered amenable to' a code of laws
hired t) rants of the Star Chamber would have or rules, irksome and offensive and wholly
recoiled. Their selections are first made by useless to enable him to discharge his duties
packed and oath-bound combinations, and as a citizen. Until lately he was not permit
then their followers are compelled to support ted to acknowledge his membership in the
these selections at the polls, or to stand be- Order, or the place of its meeting, or'admit
fore the world as "perjured to their country even its very existence. If he, was an up
and their God !" And why is it that the right man this led to, confinuardifficulties
nominations of the democratic party, made in and disagreeable evasions, as; disagreeable as;
the face of the public, and after the fullest disgraceful. That it led tctea, , wine-spread`
and most searching investigation, are sus- and systematic course of falsehood and de-
tained, while those of the know-nothings in ception cannot be denied. Even now a mern
most cases have recently failed to command ber is not permitted to tell who else are
respect? Because the democracy are uni- members, even when the question is direct
ted upon a common creed in every part of ly put. His only resort is silence or (ilia
the Union, and because they feel that a party sion.
which is a unit upon principle cannot afford In fact, in every aspect in which it can be
to di'bide upon the subordinate essential of the surveyed, a member of a secret political par
selection of the representatives of that princi- ty such as the Know Nothings is in a slate
plc. On the other hand, even the fear of be- of constraint near akin to moral and mental
ing denounced as "perjurers" cannot longer slavery on the subject of politics, which; to
bind the Whigs or know-nothings to a nom- an American citizen, should be the freest Of
,nation, because there is no national platform all other subjects., We cannot see how any
or common belief upon which they can stand voter posseseed ofproper sell-respect cansub
and challenge the support of their intelligent jest himself to such ,in tolerable constraint,
countrymen. whiclegoverns tied controls his whole polite
Hence it is that never before have the rise-, Reif condnet, arid even compels him -to vote
ges and tho organization of the democratic ' for certain iuclividuals however obnoxious, or
party been more rigidly adhered to and more not vote at all, and all this too, under the re
generally respected than at the present mo- sponsibilities of - an extra-judicial oath. It is
merit. In the selection of candidates for all utterly impossible that such a party can long
the offices in the gift of the people these usa- exist.—Pittsburg (Whig) Gazette.
ges are consistently applied.. A:11 our late
triumphs in the South are the triumphs of
democratic principles and regular nomina
tions ; and it is clear that the democracy of
the North are rapidly settling their dissen
sions, and uniting their energies upon the un
derstanding of union upon principle and eon-
cert in action
And these preparations are necessary to
our future success. It is right that we should
lay the foundations of our organization deep
and strong. It is necessary that the exam
ple of the dernocratic people in choosing
their representatives to the State and nation-
al legislatures, and to their national con ven-
tions ; should be zealously followed by those
The democratic people are
representatives
a unit upon democratic principles and dem
ocratic usages, and those who have been
elected to speak and act for them cannot too
often consult the sentiment and obey the
wishes of their constituents.
A WHOLE FAMILY POISON En.—We learn'
,from a reliable source, that a family by the
name of Dinsmore, residing near Cookstown,
in this county, were poisoned one day last
week, in the following manner :—The eldest
daughter was sent by her mother to make up
the bread, and mistaking a bottle of arsnic for
saleratus,- mixed the former in the dough.—
The family, consisting of Mr Dinsmore, 'his
wife, motherin-law, and three children, eat
of the bread, and at the last account, all had
died except Mr. Dinsmore, who is not ex
pected to recover. When first seized, it was
thought to be cholera but fhe true cause was
afterwards discovered.—Brownsville (Pa.)
Clipper, 15th.
Q :7' Francis Carr, who has taught school
in Indiana for several years, spas driven
from Moorsville a few evenings ago, by a
gang of seven or eight Know Nothings,
who shouted "kill him, knock his brains
out," Sze. The New Albany Ledger says he
is a peaceable, quiet man, and had commit
ted no, offence under heaven except being
born in 'lreland, and having a good ed
ucation.
Lazy rich girls make rich men poor,
and industrious poor girls make poor rr.en
rich.
VOL. 11, NO. 12.
Secret Political Rirtles.
sear Henry Clay;
—An old line whit of Tennessee lately han
ded to the Editor of the Nashville Union the
following extract from a speech delivered by
Henry Clay at a barbaeue near Lexington,
Kentucky, on the 13th of November, 1847 :
"What other rule can there be than to
leave the followers of each religion to their
own solemn convictions of censcientious du
ty- towards God? Who but the Great Author
of the Universe can judge in such a Vestiont
For my part, 1 sincerely believe and hope
that those who belong to all the depdaments
of the great church of, Christ, if in trath and
purity they conform to the cioctrines — which
the y.profess, will ultimately secure an abode
in those regions of bliss which - all aim final
ly to reach.
10 - Kossuth has written a recent letter to
the N. Y. Times, in which he argues with
much force that the know.nothingS, by them
selves adopting the governing priLciple,Of
*the Jesuit order, to wit secret emnbination,
to accomplish ends by means the most ques
tionable, morally considered,—will, - instead
of suppressing Jesuitism,' really be instru
mental in spreading its pernicious influences
into all our social and political movements.
He concludes with the following words of
advice and warning, which-:--albeit they come
from a foreigner—are worthy to be weigh
ed and remembered:
"If the old issues are gone, raise new
ones; but raise them on a principle. If the
old parties are worn out, form new parties,
but always on a principle. Of one . thing
however, I would warn America to beware,
and that is the introduction of race, tongue, religion into the arena of political contest.
Centuries may have to atone for the error of
one generation.
13:7- The Know Nothit=s of the Ashland
di s t r ict, Kentucky, have elected to Congress
the man who publicly declared that 'in his
"heart of heat ts he hated Henry Clay," over
the bosom friend of the great statesman and
the executor of his will.