«•, YO t. 0' A% ;^.* -^ "^ -^ ^*^' »,::oL'* "^ ° " • t *o v\^'^ V;, o > o ^ •?; BEI> A REVIEW OF THE POSITION OF PARTIES IN THE UNION, AND A STATEMENT OF THE POLITICAL ISSUES ; DISTINGUISHING THEM ON THE EVE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CAM- PAIGN OF IS56, BY JAMES P. HAMBLETON, M. D, J. W. RANDOLPH, 121 MAIN STKEKT, RICHMOND, VA, 1856. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, BY JAMES P. HAMBLETON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Virginia. PRINTED BY JOHN NOWLAN. TO THE DEMOCRATIC PRESS OF VIRGINIA, FOR ITS POWERFUL INFLUENCE IN THE GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1855, THIS SKETCH IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. PEEFACE. The Gubernatorial Campaign in Virginia, in 1855, will long be remembered as one of unprecedented excitement, of unu- sual bitterness, and of a character and caste unknown to her States Rights citizens. \Vhen all other States had faltered and wavered under the wily and Protean forms of Federalism, the true conservatives of all sections looked, and that not in vain, we are proud to say, to the " Mother of States and Statesmen," to bear aloft, untarnished and untainted, that flag of principles, the strict adherence and unfaltering devotion to which have alike made us the most powerful, the- most happy, and the most respected among the States of the Union. The politics of Virginia in 1855, was never, in all her history, in a more critical and alarming condition. Assailed, as she was, on all sides and in all places, by emissaries, tricksters, and all man- ner of invisible influences, her situation at that time was one of inexplicable delicacy. The people of Virginia knew their responsibility ; and that their course in the contest then pending, would more or less govern the elections of the Southern States. With this know- ledge, aniinated by their love of Democracy, they resolved to preserve the dignity and reputation of their State, and to rise in all their majesty and power, as terrible as an army with ban- ners, and, headed by her noble and gifted son, who knew no defeat, to fight the great political battle, then to come otf, of the nation. It is of him we now ofier to give the merest sketch, leaving the interim of his life, with the particulars of his antecedents, which would fill volumes, and his subsequent course, which will doubtless fill more, to be chronicled by one more skilled, more competent, and more practiced, than the subscriber. James Pinkney Hambleton, M. D. Pittsylvania C, H., December 1855. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. THE BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND ANCESTRY OF HENRY A. WISE. Henry Alexander Wise was boni December 3d, 1806, at Acco- mack court-house, called Drummondtown, Tlie hou|e iu which his father lived at that time is now (1855) occupied as a tavern-hoiise by William Waddy. His parents were John and Sarah. His father, John Wise, was the son of John Wise, a commissioned colonel of the king, and one of the earliest immigrants to the Eastern Shore of Vir- ginia. He was a man of distinction and consideration in his day. He and his brother TuUy, came from the North of England and pur- chased lands upon the Chesconessex and Deep creeks in Accomack. John Wise, the great grandfather of Henry A., bought iOOO acres of land, upon the Chesconessex, from the Indians, for seven Dutch blan- kets. Upon a farm of the old original Dutch blanket tract, called Clifton, lie the bones of most of the Wise family. After the death of Col. John Wise, this estate descended by primogeniture to John Wise, the father of Henry A., at his death was devised to his two eldest sons, George Douglass and John James Wise. George died unmarried and intestate — and John James took the whole of the manor tract ; and his two sons, John James and George Douglass Wise, (nephews) of Henry A., now own it under the original grant. The mother of John Wise was Peggy Douglass, one of the daughters of George Douglass, a Scotch lawyer, who was the first immigrant of this family to this country. His Law books, the old English Reporters, and elementary works, such as a Natura Brevium of the first edition, Coke upon Lit- tleton, printed in 1629 — are still in the possession of Governor Wise. The father of Governor Wise was married twice. His first wife was Mary (called Polly) Henry, daughter of Judge James Henry of Fleet's Bay in Northumberland county, Virginia. By her he had two sons, George Douglass and John James. By his second wife he had four children, William Washington, born in 1800, and died in 1813, Margaret D. P.. Henry A., and John C. Wise who is now residing in Vlll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Princess Ann county, near Norfolk, and has seven children living, four boys and three girls. The mother of Governor Wise was Sarah Corhin Cropper, the daughter of General John Cropper of Bowman's Folly in the county of Accomack, on the sea side. Her mother was Margaret, called ^""sggy, Pettitt. The Croppers were English, the Pettitts Scotch. This cross is called by some genealogists, the " Bulldoci; with the Mange,''^ meaning the English for the Bull^ and the Mange for a cer- tain cutaneous eruption that was at one time common with the Scotch, called the ^^ Scotch Fiddle.'' Governor Wise's grandfather, Gen. John Cropper, was descended from John Cropper, one of the very earliest im- migrants, who came with Sir Edmund Bowman from England and set- tled at Folly oreek. The first John Cropper, the great, great, great grandfather of Governor Wise, was a carpenter by trade. He was fami- liarly known as the •' Little Carpenter." The knight. Sir Edmund Bowman, had three daughters, one married Col. Eyre, one Col. Scar- borough (called conjurer) the ancestor of the Hon. George P. Scarbo- rough, the man who put the Broad Arrow of Virginia upon the door- posts of the (Quakers near Cambridge, Maryland. The third, and youngest, married the "little carpenter" or John Cropper, against the wishes of the aristocratic Bowman family. After the death of Sir Edmund Bowman, the landed estate upon which he resided, called Bowman's Folly, descended through the " little carpenter" to Colonel John Cropper, from original grant, and remained in his possession until his death in 1821, when it fell into the hands of Thomas R. Joynes. The life of Col. John Cropper was eminently eventful and patriotic. He was born to wealth, and at the age of eighteen married Peggy Pettitt. At nineteen he was commissioned Captain in the Matthews regiment in February 1776, and that year marched to the Northern campaigns, leaving his wife, 7 months enciente with Governor Wise's mother. He fought under Washington at Germantown, Princeton, Monmouth, Trenton, Chadsford, Brandywine, and every where until the war changed its scenes to the South. He returned, after an ab- sence of two years, upon furlough, a Lieut. Col., commissioned upon the grounds of merit by General Marquis de La Fayette, the auto- graph of which is now in the possession of Governor Wise, On his arrival home, he saw, for the first time, his daughter, then about eighteen months old, whom they called Sarah Corbin Cropper, and who in after life married the father *of Henry A. Wise. In 1779 Congress commissioned him full Lieut. Col. of the Virginia Line on Continental establishment. He was wounded in the thigh by a bayo- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. IX net thrnst at the battle of Brandywine, where he fonght as Major, his Col. was killed and Lieut. Col. fled ; and he brought the ninth Vir- ginia regiment off the field, cut to pieces, under a Bandanna hand- kerchief tied to a ramrod. Afterwards General Knox met him at Chester bridge, when he sprung from his horse and exclaimed to Wash- ington, " The hoy whom wc thoufiht lost is founds This won for him his spurs. When he returned to Bowman's Folly in the fall of 1778, it was with a furlough of 190 days. But whilst at home within three miles of Accomack court-house, he was aroused in the night by the tories. Kidd, with his "refugees," had landed iii barges, surrounded the house and took him out of bed with his wife. They bored the muzzles of their pistols in his temples and denounced him as a d d rebel, threatened his life, &c. Peggy Pettitt — his wife— of whom he always spoke as a "keen ground razor," procured for him a chance to escape, by stealthily raising the latch of the eastern door of the house, when with a powerful effort, he leaped the heads of the guards, two soldiers with crossed bayonets, and made his way to Thomas Bayly's, who had gone to his goose blind. But there he found a man by the name of William Lilliston, a soldier of the army, who had returned home with him. He and Lilliston procured three old Tower muskets, which they well loaded, and returned to his house. When they got in sight, tlie whole dwelling appeared illuminated. His wife, with her daughter Sarah Corbin, had been removed to a place of safety, whilst a train of powder was being laid to blow up the old family residence. Just at this critical moment Col. Cropper fired a gun and cried out "come on my brave boys." Lilliston dropped his gun and fled; but Col. Cropper still fired another and" another, when the "refugees" took to their heels and their barges !! ! Thus he saved his house from flames. When he examined it he found it robbed and riddled. They had broken open and sacked every piece of furniture in the house, smashed all the crockery, and carried off all of his jewelry and family relics, together with his mother's and father's watches. They also had bound and taken to their barges some thirty odd of his staves. The next day he sent a flag of truce by Lilliston, demanding his property, especially his filial keepsakes, his father s and mother's trinkets. The reply he got was in substance thus : " The property whom you call slaves are liege subjects of his Majesty George the 3d, who don't desire to re- turn to the bondage of a rebel subject. We have no other property of yours except a paper of pins of the manufacture of your d d allies the French: in lieu of that we send you a paper of pound pins X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. of good and liege manufacture, knowing as we do that your women have to go to the thorn-bushes to get the pins to tuck up their smocks." That was all Col. Cropper ever got, except a remarkable death caused by that very paper of English pou?id pins. Thus he was compelled to ask for an extension of his furlough. He rode all the way from Accomack to Valley Forge to get it. The diary of his trip is still in the possession of the family. The result was, his furlough was indefinitely extended, in consideration that he had served through the Northern campaigns, and was not drafted for the Southern under General Greene. He returned, but remained active in service. Governor Nelson commissioned him county Lieut, for Accomack, and as such, he had to bring the cannon out against the tories at Accomack court-hoase, and fought the battle of Henry's Point, where his life was saved by his body servant George Latchom. He took this command temporarily until he should be again called into the service. As county Lieut, he was in constant correspondence with Governor Nelson, and furnished the army at Yorktown with many supplies, particularly peach brandy, for which the Eastern Shore has long been noted. At last his struggles for independence ended, but not until the very last day of the Revolution. Kidd with his " refugees" had been scouring the whole coast of Maryland and Vir- ginia. The States at that time had their separate fleets of barges. Commodore Barron was in command of the Virginia, and Commodore Whaley of the Maryland fleets. These fleets consisted of barges about eighty feet keel, carrying sixteen oars and a swivel, or giui upon the Long Tom principle, in the bow, upon the Chesapeake bay. Just such had Kidd. The Accomack and Northampton regiment had been cut up and taken prisoners at the battle of Germantown. Among them was Capt. Thomas Parker of Accomack, afterwards Col. Parker. He with Col. Levin Joynes were exchanged artd came home. Com- modore Whaley with his second Lieut. Levin Handy of Md. came to Accomack C. H. and told Cols. Cropper, Parker and Joynes, that Kidd was coming down the bay, outside of Tangier, with six barges, and that he had five in Watts' island or Pocomoke Sound, and that if he could get another barge from Virginia, he could meet and capture the enemy. Cols. Cropper. Parker and Joynes immediately volunteered and got seventy-five picked men to join them upon condition that Com. Whaley and his second Lieut. Handy was to command them. The condition was accepted, and the barge Victory was then lying in Onau- cock creek ready. She was hauled up and caulked, equipped and made BrOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XI out into the bay. Kidd and his six barges were in the northwest, about ten miles distant from the mouth of Onancock creek. Robert Handy, first Lieut, and brother of Levin Handy, was about the same distance in the north. Whaley made signal for the Maryland barges to join the Virginia barge Victory. Listead of doing so they turned and fled to the mouth of Pocomoke. This so chagrined Com. Whaley that he begged the Virginians to fight, but declined to command them to do so, as his own barges had so ingloriously fled. His volunteers cheered him into action, and one barge, the Victory, went up into action against six, gun- wale to gunwale, and had made three strikes, when alas, her magazine took fire, blew up the barge and all overboard, dashing everything to atoms, and killing every man on board except Cols. Cropper, Parker, and a Scotchman by the name of Gibb. They were picked up out of the water as prisoners of war. Col. Cropper received a sabre cut on his head as he was taken into the barge of Kidd that well nigh cost him his life. Col. Cropper said the last he saw of the gallant Lieut. Handy (a few moments before the blow up) his right arm was hanging by a shred of flesh, and with his left hand he was throwing cold grape- shot at the enemy. This battle was fought the very day the definitive articles of peace were signed at Paris. Maryland has Col. Cropper's report of this bloody action, but has never told it to the world, as we have ever .seen or heard of, although her Goldsborough wrote a his- tory of Naval warfare. Her gallant Whaley, the hero of the fight, still lies upon the banks of the Onancock with not a stone to comme- morate his patriotic ashes. This was decidedly one of the bloodiest engagements during the Revolntion. The three prisoners were ex- changed at Accomack C. H., and the friends were dressing the wound of Col. Cropper, when his wife appeared with her infant daughter, Mar- garet Bayly, (the mother of Gerieral Thomas H. Bayly,) sobbing, say- ing "you deserve it, a Continental army oflicer, to be leaving your wife and children to fight sailors on the water." Her sobs were hectic, and in pinning her child's dress with one of the English pound pins in her month, she inhaled it into her lungs and was killed. Washing- ton gave Col. Cropper command of the fourteen lower counties, when about to raise the Provincial army, with a letter of compliment, which I suppose all the wealth of the Indies could not buy away from the pride of the family. He was President of the Cincinnati So- ciety of Virginia, was in the State Senate, made and died a Brigadier General of the Eastern Shore regiment in the month of January 1821, aged 65 years. His mother was Sarah Corbin, the daughter of a Col. Xn BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Gorbiii of a numerous family in the Low Lands. Col, Cropper's first wife was Peggy Pettitt. By her he had two daughters, Sarah Corbin, the mother of Governor Wise, and Margaret Pettitt, the mother of the Hon. Thomas H. Bayly. His second wife was Catharine IJayley, daughter of Thomas Bayly of Accomack. She died in 1854. Her eldest son. Thomas Bayly Cropper, was for some time commander of one of largest San Francisco steamers. The politics of Mr. Wise's ancestors — his education, profes- sion AND FIRST MARRIAGE. The ancestors of Governor Wise on both sides were Virginia Fede- ralists. His father was a man of sound practical mind, charitable and liberal. He acquired considerable fortune by his profession, the law. Prior to 1800 he was Speaker of the House of Delegates, and accord- ing to the recollection of Judge Stanard, was a supporter of the cele- brated resolutions of '98 and, '99. In the hasty arrangement of this sketch, we have not had the opportunity to examine the House Jour- nal of that day. We are inclined to doubt the fact as to Mr. Speaker Wise's supporting those resolutions, because their passage created an epidemic in the ranks of the Federal party and its aliases, from which they have never recovered. At the time of the birth of Governor Wise his father was clerk of the courts of Accomack. H!e died in 1812. After the death of Mr. Wise's father, in 1812, and his mother, in 1813, he was taken to Bowman's Folly, the old family seat of his ancestor, the knight, Sir Edmund Bowman. Soon there- after he was sent to Accomack court-house, and for the first time put under the charge of an old friend of his father, a childless man with a good wife, John Y. Bundick, to commence his education. He was only sufiered to remain with Mr. Bundick a very short time, when he was placed under the care of two paternal aunts, at Clifton, on the Chesconesse.^ creek. His elder aunt, Mrs. Outen, taught him his let- ters and the Lord's prayer. He remained at Clifton two years, and was sent to Margaret academy. This school is said to have been wretchedly conducted. The boys that were sent there learned no- thing but mischief, and to murder Greek and Latin. Consequently, the time he spent at Margaret academy was almost squandered. He was sent from there, in his sixteenth year, to Washington college, Pennsylvania. He reached there in 1822, and, with much difficulty, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. xiu entered the Sophomore class. The college at that time was under the dominion of the Scotch Irish Presbyterians. Dr. Andrew Wylie was the President and the head and front of the institution. It is said he was a gentleman', a philosopher, a linguist, and a metaphysician — a blue stocking who loved gallantry and high game in his pupils. He was also a cavalier who loved virtue for virtue's sake, truth for truth's sake, and his fellow creatures for their own sake. At the time Mr. Wise commenced his collegiate course at Washington, Pennsylvania, there were two most excellent literary societies, the Union and the Washington. He joined the former. It was the custom with these literary societies to contest every spring with each other the palm of debating, of original oration, of essay writing, and of select oratory. In the spring of 1823 Mr. Wise had given such evidences at this early hour of his oratorical powers, that he was selected by his society as the champion to deliver the original oration. Mr. Tomlinson, about twenty years of age, from near Cumberland, Maryland, was the champion of the W^ash- ington. The. orations were delivered and decided by the judges in favor of Henry A. Wise. Mr. Tomlinson declared from that time eternal hostility to all beards; for, said he, "it was the beard upon my Aice that caused a child to strip me of my honors." Mr. Wise was chosen orator by. the Union society three times during his colle- giate career, gaining the victory twice, and the third time bringing the judges down to a tie vote. He graduated in 1825, a short time before he was nineteen; divi- ding the first honor with a young man by the name of Mitchell, from Maryland. William H. McGuffey (Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Virginia) would have taken the same honor without any opponent had he remained the session out. He was tried and sus- pended for thrashing a fellow student. Mr. Wise volunteered his de- fence before the faculty. He pleaded guilty. His young a/^mey justi- fied his course, and came well nigh sufftn-ing the penalty of his client. The standing of Mr. McGuffey \vas such that the faculty gave him a diploma without examination. He left college before^ the commencement. This was the first case in which Mr. Wise appeared as a lawyer. How now stand these gentlemen of the same Alma Mater? One adorns the chair of Moral Philosophy in xhe greatest, best regulated, best conducted and most Republican Univer- sity in the land ; and the other presides over the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mr. Wise left college in 1825, returning through Canada and New York home. He commenced the study of law by reading Xiv BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Blackstone, in the school of Henry St, George Tucker, in the winter of 1S25-26. He remained with Judge Tucker until the fall of 1828, when he returned home and cast his maiden vote for General Andrew Jackson for President in the election of 1828. In 1827, whilst Mr. Wise was at Winchester, he addressed his first wife. Miss Ann Eliza Jennings, daughter of the Rev. O. Jennings, D. D. of Washington College. He became enamored of this lady whilst at college, and never rested until the marriage rites were celebrated, on the 8th day of October 1828, in the city of Nashville, Tennessee, where her father had been called as pastor of the Presbyterian con- o-ref^ation of that place. Mr. Wise had made his arrangements pre- viously to leaving Virginia to settle in Nashville, which he did. He soon formed a copartnership in the law with Thomas Duncan, Esq., who was soon afterwards accidentally killed in Louisiana. Mr. Wise had some cases in the Supreme Court of the State, and a respectable practice for a young man and a stranger. But still he sighed for the •• milk of the ocean," his " own" native Virginia. To g/atify his wife, he made every effort to be satisfied in Nashville. But despite all that he could do, he was unhappy outside his native State. There is some- thin^ peculiar about Virginians in this respect. We rarely if ever find one, no matter how well he may be doing, satisfied for any length of time in any State but his own. Why it is, remains yet to be solved. Finally, to gratify this wish of his heart, he determined, with the con- sent of his wife, to return to Accomack : which he did in the fall of 1830. When he arrived home, the scenes of his boyhood exhilarated and enlivened a feeble frame which had almost fallen a prey to melan- choly. The hallowed associations of youthful days were brought fresh to his recollection, and once more with buoyant spirits and a hopeful heart, he was ready to launch forth into the world to breast all storms, and to meet and grapple with every obstacle. As soon as the' spring opened, he entered upon the duties of his profession. He found at the bar, as competitors, George P. Scarburg, Carter M. Brax- ton, P. P. Mayo, M. W. Fisher, and Vespasian Ellis, now editor of a paper at Washington City called the Oroau, which professed at one time to be the mouth-piece of the late Know Nothing party, but now shows strong proclivities for being an ally of Horace Greeley. Mr. Wise's abilities and legal proficiencies soon brought him into com- mand of an extensive and lucrative practice, which he continued to hold so long as his mind was drawn from political matters. His great forte as a lawyer is his great power before a jury. He has no supe- rior as a criminal lawyer. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. , XV The commencement of Mr. Wise's political life. His first ELECTION TO CONGRESS. DuEL WITH RiCHARD CoKE. ReMOVAL of THE DEPOSITS. CaPTAIN OF THE AWKWARD SQUAD.' There is no politician who ever lived, who has ever been half as much misrepresented as Henry A. Wise. Born, it is true, like a majo- rity of our early distinguished men, of Federal parents, yet he, as early as 1824, when only eighteen years old, declared himself in favor of Wm. H. Crawford of Georgia, the States Right candidate for Presi- dent. Owing to indisposition Mr. Crawford was withdrawn from the field, when Mr. Wise declared in favor of General Jackson, and would have voted for him had he been of age. In 1828, John Q,. Adams Henry Clay and General Jackson were candidates for the Presidency. He cast his maiden vote, as we have before mentioned, for General Jackson. He was sent from the York district in 1832 a delegate to the Baltimore National Democratic Convention. In that Convention he supported General Jackson in preference to any man, but when Martin Van Buren received the nomination for the Vice-Presidency, he arose and said, " Mr. President, in the vernacular of the negro's souir, ' if I had had not come here, I would not have been here.' I will not not vote for your nominee for Vice-President, my vote shall be cast for Philip P. Barbour of Virginia for that office." Mr. Wise, with many others, voted for Jackson and Barbour. The electoral college of Alabama did the same thing. In 1832 and '33 the mania of Nullification raged. Mr. Wise es- poused the principle expressed in the celebrated resolutions of 1798- 99, as reported by James Madison : '• that each State for itself is the judge of the infraction and of the mode and manner of redress." Consequently he was opposed on the one hand to the Federal heresies of the Proclamation, Force bill, &c., and on the other hand to the re- medies of South Carolina. His views in full upon this subject are set forth in his first address to the York district in 1833. We will here introduce an extract of a letter, with the comments of Father Ritchie upon the position Mr. Wise occupied at that time. Extract of a letter, from "Norfolk Borough, March 21. " I was at New Kent Court, this day week, where A. Stevenson delivered an excellent Speech, opposed by Mr. Robertson who also spoke ; and from what I could see and hear, Mr. A. Stevenson's Speech was liked much the best. On Monday last I was at York Court, where I heard more speaking. Mr. Henry XVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. A. "Wise from Accomack spoke for three hours, and Mr. Richard Coke replied to him, until he gave out, which was until night. Some parts of Mr. W.'s Speech bqre very hard upon Mr. Coke. Mr. W. in the first place asked Mr. C. if he was in favor of Nullification. Mr. C. replied in words to this elFectj if a State was opprfessed, she had a right to nullify. These might not be the exact words; but they amounted to this. Mr. W. then spoke of some letters which Mr. Coke had written te gentlemen on the Eastern Shore, giving them authority to contradict any report about his being a Nullifier — declaring that he was no Nullifier. — Mr. Wise asked, " If you are no Nullifier on the Eastern Shore, where they are opposed to it, and a Nullifier at home, where they are in favor of it, I do not know how you can be both." Mr. Coke then stopped Mr. Wise, ani said that he spoke of private letters, and he should consider it as a personal affair, and should treat it as suclt* Mr. Wise said, " very well, Sir, I am ready for you in any way ; but I insist upon it, that these letters were not private, in- asmuch as you authorized these gentlemen to circulate what is contained in them ; and no matter how disagreeable it is to you at this time, you must bear it." I thought they would have made a personal affair of it, but it turned out differently. Mr. W. also said how many copies of the " Jeffersonian and Vir- ginia Times" had been franked and paid for, and sent to persons in that section who had never ordered it — Mr. W. is opposed to Nullification, and for Virginia State Rights, and in favor of the present Administration. He said he had un- derstood that Mr. Ritchie had declared that he (Mr. R.) did not think he had written his Address — but Mr. W. said that was a small matter, and they could judge of that for themselves. He is a very clever man — about 27 years of age." B®^ Mr. Wise has been misinformed. We have never uttered the idea that he has attributed to us. We have not the pleasure of being personally ac- quainted with him — but every account that we have heard of him, from those in whose opinions we confide, is of the most favorable character. We understand that he possesses talents of a high order. His Address is a masterly refutation of many of the errors of the day — the doctrines of Consolidation as well as of Nallijicaiion. We had intended to lay copious extracts of it before our readers — but the long talks of the Orators at Washington have hitherto prevented it. We disagree with him in what he says of a Bank of the United States ; though he does not seem to relish the present Bank. Mr. Wise has been bitterly as- sailed by the Nullifiers — but he is fully able to defend himself. He asks no quarter from them — and he will give none. — Editors. Upon examination we find that Mr. Wise sustained the administra- tion of General Jackson principally to preserve the Union at that time from the threatening attitude of South Carolina, but still condemned the course of General Jackson, thinking that other and milder means should have been used at that particular crisis. Mr. Wise was as much opposed to the cause that bronght about Nullification as John C. Calhoun or any other citizen of South Carolina ; but after a high pro- tective bill had passed he thought as Mr. Calhoun did, that the bill was unconstitutional, and could be compromised before the ordinance of South Carolina was passed, as it was afterwards. In sustaining the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XVU Proclamation, therefore, he was only supporting the executive of the nation, and nothing more. In 1833, Mr. Richard Coke of Williamsburg, the former incumbent of the York district in Congress, was a candidate for re-election. Mr. Coke had represented that district as a Jackson Democrat ; but after the appearance of the Proclamation, he turned to be a Nullifier. There was an appeal made from the Western Shore, for a candidate to oppose Mr. Coke on the part of the Jackson party from the Eastern Shore. Several gentlemen were solicited, amongst whom was Mr. Wise, and when all others had refused to accept the nomination, he consented to become a candidate, and announced himself as such at Northumberland court, the second Monday in January 1833. He im- mediately wrote the address which we have before referred to. This document we consider thoroughly States Right, and Democratic in every particular, with the exception of its sanction and advocacy of a United S^^tates Bank. Mr. Madison and the Republican party with Mr. Calhoun at their head, adopted a scheme of this sort soon after the war of 1812, not that they considered it constitutional, but be- cause that party considered it expedient and as a matter of sheer ne- cessity. Mr. Wise, from want of experience in legislation, contended that if a United Slates Bank was necessary and expedient it was con- stitutional. This opinion was readily and quickly changed after ma- ture reflection. But to find a contrast of leading politicians of the land upon this much mooted question, we have only to cite the hosti- lity of Henry Clay to a United States Bank at one period of his life, and at a later period being its chief advocate. The speech of Mr. Clay, made whilst opposed to the bank, could never be answered by him or its advocates at any time during the popularity of that great engine and vehicle of political corruption. Who is to be censured most, he that advocates a scheme that is thought to be beneficial and whole- some, but finding it unconstitutional and baneful, turns from it with loathing disgust ; or he that supports it, knowing it to be by experience and by the laws of political economy the most dangerous, undermi- ning, unconstitutional and corrupting of all measures either State or Federal ? This proposition we consider a clear one ; hence it can be easily decided who is the most censurable, Henry Clay or Henry A. Wise. The contest between Mr. Wise and Mr. Coke was severe and acri- monious. The result was the election of Mr. Wise by four hundred ii Xviii ■ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. majority and a duel with Mr. Coke. Mr. Wise accused him of great inconsistency, having represented the district four years as a Jackson Democrat, and as soon as Nullification turned up in 1833, denouncing Jackson and going off with Calhoun, and dating his hostility to the administration of the " Old Hero" as far back as the rupture in the cabinet in June 1831. This Mr. Wise considered the grossest incon- sistency, when it was a notorious fact that Mr. Coke professed to be a warm supporter of the Jackson administration until the mania of Nul- lification arose. Upon this point Mr. Coke suff'ered, and justly, se- verely. He was so chagrined at his defeat that nothing would atone his grief but blood. Mr. Coke challenged, Mr. Wise accepted. They fought the 25th day of January 1835, over the Eastern branch of the Potomac, on the road leading across the Anacostia bridge, in Mary- land, not far from Marlborough. Mr. John Whiting was the second of Mr. Coke, and Mr. John Wray the second of Mr. Wise ; both se- conds from Hampton, Virginia. Bailie Peyton, Eilbeck Mason and James Love of Kentucky, attended as the friends of Mr. Wise, and Dr. Hall of Washington City, as his surgeon. George Southall at- tended as the friend, and Dr. Byrd of Gloucester, as the surgeon of Mr. Coke, General Roger Jones of the army attended as the friend of both parties. At one o'clock P. M. they fired, Mr. Wise's ball frac- turing the right arm of Mr. Coke, but fortunately not maiming him for life. Thus ended this affair of honor. Mr. Wise was elected to Congress in April 1833, and in the month of October of that year General Jackson removed the public deposits. This act of the execu- tive was looked upon by many of both parties as high-handed and bordering on absolutism. It had the effect of driving from his side a number of his warmest admirers, Nullifiers and Anti-Nullifiers. And amongst these were John C. Calhoun and Henry A. Wise. The ex- citement following the removal of the deposits was tremendous, long continued, and of a most acrimonious nature. After much discussion and wrangling in the halls of Congress on the subject, seventeen De- mocrats of the House and several of the Senate filed out of the Jack- son ranks. They were called the "Awkward Squad." This was because they could neither go with the administration upon the remo- val of the deposits, nor with the Federal opposition. This act of General Jackson, although attended at the time with a monetary de- pression, eventually proved to be one of the best and most judicious moves any public officer ever made. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XIX Re-election to congress in 1S35. Reminiscence of the death OF John Randolph of Roanoke. In the spring of 1835, Mr. Wise was again a candidate for Congress. He was opposed the second time by his former competitor Mr. Coke. Mr. Coke was only a candidate for a short time, abandoning the can- vass at York, and forever afterwards voting at the polls for Mr. Wise. Mr. Wise has been accused by his enemies of attempting to imitate the eccentric John Randolph of Roanoke. This is a false accusation. He never attempted to ape any pecularity or the eccentricities of any man. He is a man sui generis. Mr. Randolph, it is true, was elected to Congress in 1833, but died in the City of Philadelphia be- fore the session opened. Mr. Wise never, in all his life, saw Virginia's distinguished orator and biting satirist. We hazard the assertion that an imitator of John Randolph, in the strict sense of the term, never did and never will exist. What Byron said of Sheridan, we think equally applicable to Mr. Randolph: " Sighing that Nature formed but one such man, And broke the die — in moulding Sheridan !" . There was one thing that happened to Mr. Randolph that also hap- pened to Mr. Wise, when they took the oath as members of Congress. Mr. Randolph being, it is remembered, elected at the age of 24, had a very feminine and youthful appearance, so much so that the Speaker enquired of him whether he was of the constitutional age, that is, 25. The tart reply was •' Ask my constituents, sir." John Y. Mason introduced Mr. Wise to Mr. Speaker Andrew Stevenson, when he enquired, " Where is Mr. Wise?" Mr. Wise then standing before him, whom he took to be one of the pages of the House. Mr. Mason whispered to the Speaker, and told him " that was the gentleman to whom he had just been introduced." The Speaker smiled, and pre- sented the Bible with a pleasant remark about his youthful appear- ance. In Mr. Wise's speech upon the removal of the deposits, he quoted a remark of Mr. Randolph, about the " rara «i?/s," the " Black Swan," and alluded, episodically, to the fact, that his death had not been an- nounced in that House, saying it was no fault of his. This called out, a/ew days afterwards, Mr. Randolph's successor, Judge Bouldin, who took the floor and commenced giving the reasons thus : " I will XX BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. tell my colleague the reason why" — here his head went back, the veins in his temples became corded, his face for a moment was dis- torted, and he fell back a dead man ! What is strange about this whole affair is. that the only allusion to the death of Mr. Randolph ever made in the House of Representatives, caused the death of him who filled his seat ! ! ! Presidential Campaign of 1836. Pet Bank system. Death of Mrs. Wise. Re-election to Congress in 1837. The Presidential campaign of 1836, opened with party rancor and animosity, running mountain high. The National Republicans or Federalists, who had gone for John Q.. Adams and his bill of abomi- nations, and his light-houses in the skies, in 1828, formed one reserve that wished to elect a President. They held a Convention and nomi- nated Gen. William Henry Harrison of Ohio, for President, and Francis Granger of N. Y. for the Vice Presidency. The regiment that had wheeled out of the Jackson line upon the issues of Nullification and the Removal of the Deposits, formed another reserve. These two re- serves at first made an effort to blend themselves into one great party. They for the first time agreed upon a common name, that of " Whig," but still they could not agree upon a common ticket ; consequently, the National Republicans, or Federalists, finding there was no chance for an amalgamation, nominated Harrison and Granger. The Nulli- fiers and those who had been opposed to the removal of the deposits, and had not confidence in the political honesty of General Jackson's ^^ favorite^'''' Martin Van Buren, nominated for President Hugh L. White of Tennessee, and John Tyler of Virginia, for Vice-President. The Jackson Democrats put forth for President Martin Van Buren of New York, and Col, Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, for Vice-President. The unbounded popularity and influence of Gen. Jackson insured the election of his '-'■favorite.'''' Van Buren and Johnson were easily elected. It seems that the leading Southern Democrats in 1836 would not have been as hostile to Mr. Van Buren as they were had they not distrusted him upon two questions that were of vital importance to the South. And those questions were the subject of slavery and the annexation of Texas. As it turned out, Messrs. White, Tyler, Calhoun, Poindex- ter, McDufiie and Wise were right in manifesting their distrust as to the unfitness and dishonesty of Mr. Van Buren. Although he showed no tangible signs of Abolitionism during his administration, yet he evi- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXI dently retarded the annexation of Texas, and on his rejection by the people in 1840, he soon showed that he was hostile, and that in the most deadly shape, to the most cherished principles of Southern Demo- crats. Mr. Van Buren never would have been made President had he not deceived the " Old Hero" upon the Texas question. Gen. Jack- son had the annexation of Texas in view as early as 1828; and his ^'favorite''' had given him every assurance whilst Secretary of State and Vice-President, that he co-operated with him upon that favorite question, Mr. Van Buren kept the cloven foot of deception concealed from public demonstration until after his defeat. Then it was shown in all its frightful and hideous deformities ; and with disastrous con- sequences to the Democratic party in 1848. During the spring of 1837, before Mr. Wise reached home from Washington, his dwelling-house with nearly all of his valuable books and papers were consumed by fire. His family were removed to a friend's house in the village of Drummondtown, ana that house, in a very mysterious manner, was set on fire also. This so affected the nervous system of his wife, that she never recovered from it, and died in the month of June following. She was the mother of seven chil- dren, but left only four living. Mary Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Alexan- der Y. P. Garnett of Washington City; Obadiah Jennings (the eldest son), who received the appointment of Secretary of Legation to Ber- lin during the administration of Mr. Pierce ; Henry Alexander Wise, Jr., who, at the writing of this sketch, was attending the Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Virginia ; and Ann Jennings Wise, the second daughter, is now with her father at Richmond, and who was an infant at the death of her mother. In 1837 Mr. Wise was a candidate for re-election without opposi- tion. He stood before his district as the advocate of the principles espoused by Hugh Lawson White and John Tyler. That is, opposed to the Pet Bank system, Benton's Sub-treasury, and the reference of Abolition petitions to special or any committee ; and the fearless ad- vocate for the annexation of Texas, a tariff for revenue only, &c. The Graves and Cilley Duel. Upon no subject has there been so much misunderstanding, misre- presentation, and wilful and unblushing falsehood as upon the unfor- tunate meeting between Messrs. Graves and Cilley. And upon no sub- ject have there ever been such general excitement and deep-grounded XXll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. prejudices aroused. It was the peculiar and unavoidable misfortune of Henry A. Wise to be connected with this sad affair. Not that he could not have avoided it, but not as an honorable man, in an honor- able way, to an importunate friend. This subject has been a fruitful theme with the enemies and traducers of Mr. Wise, to arouse, excite and prejudice the popular mind. This effort of his foes has to some extent been successful with those who were ignorant of the particu- lars of this duel, its antecedents, &c. We have used every exertion to get possession of all the facts connected with the affair, which we now submit in. as condensed a form as possible : In 1837 political excitement was greater than was ever known in the Congress of the United States. The House of Representatives was composed of a number pf able and fiery debaters, and the issues then before that body frequently brought the talent of the House in col- lision. The Hon. Jonathan Cilley of Maine took issue on one occasion, upon some subject, with James Watson Webb, editor of the Courier and Enquirer, of N. Y., and made what he considered a legitimate at- tack upon him. Mr. Webb took exceptions to the language used, and de- manded satisfaction. He called upon the Hon. Wm. J. Graves, of Ky., to act as his friend. Mr. Graves, without the knowledge, counsel, ad- vice, information, or suspicion of Mr. Wise, carried a letter from Mr. Webb to Mr. Cilley. The letter that was carried has never to this day been seen by Mr. Wise. Mr. Cilley declined to receive the letter, as Mr. Graves alleged, on the ground that he did not choose to be held accountable for words spoken in debate, and would not recognize Mr. Webb's right to call upon him for words spoken of and concerning him on the floor of the House. All this had happened at least a week before Mr. Wise knew a syllable of it. Finally Mr. Graves took ex- ceptions to Mr. Cilley's not receiving the letter of Mr. Webb at his hands, and consulted with Mr. Clay upon that point several days before he mentioned the subject to Mr. Wise. When Mr. Graves came to Mr. Wise for the first time for advice, he said to Mr. Wise that his only anxiety was to do his full duty to his principal, and nothing more. Mr. Wise then advised him that Mr. Cilley's ground was perfectly tenable, and could not be excepted to, as he did not choose to be held accountable for a constitutional privilege — for words spoken in debate — because he did not consider that he had as- sailed the character of James Watson Webb as a gentleman. This explanation satisfied Mr. Graves in that respect ; but he said Mr. Cil- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. . XXIII ley had expressed his grounds to him verbally, and then refused to commit them to writing in the form which he had inferred from the first interview with him. Mr, Wise then advised Mr. Graves to ad- dress Mr, Cilley respectfully, in writing, and request of him to say upon what ground it was he then declined to accept the note at his hands from James Watson Webb, Tjiis Mr. Graves did, but not through Mr. Wise. Mr. Cilley's answer was unsatisfactory in this: that it did not admit what Mr. Graves had stated to have passed ver- bally between them in their first interview. This raised a question, seemingly,. of veracity. But still Mr. Wise advised Mr. Graves not to go farther than to demand whether Mr. Cilley meant to assail his state- ment as untrue. Mr. Graves then saw Mr. Clay as his chief adviser, and after some day or t\f o of delay, came back to Mr. Wise to take his challenge to Mr. Cilley. Mr. Wise declined to do so, and begged him to sleep upon it at least for one night. The next morning he went to Mr. Wise's room, and again urged him to bear Mr. Cilley his chal- lenge, Mr, Wise then discussed the matter, and told him he saw no reason qr ground for a challenge save that of a question of veracity : that if he called upon that ground, he was sure Mr. Cilley would disclaim all impeachment of his veracity, and there would be an end to the whole affair. And in doing this, Mr. Cilley was still not bound to disclaim imputation upon the character of James Watson Webb : — he could plead his privilege only, without affirming or disclaiming anything as to him. He then, at the instance of Mr. Wise, drew up his challenge, placing it expressly on the ground that Mr. Cilley had assailed his statement as to what occurred when he first carried Webb's note. Mr. Wise again refused to be the bearer of the challenge. Mr, Graves then urged him to go with him to Mr. Clay's room. They went, and submitted each their respective differences of opinion, when Mr. Clay took the challenge which Mr, Graves had written, and pronounced it to be improper, because he had based his call upon the wrong ground — that of veracity. Mr. Clay said that there was but one issue in the case, and that was, that Mr. Cilley had declined to receive Mr. James Watson Webb's note at the hands of Mr. Graves ; and unless Mr. Cil- ley would disclaim imputation upon Mr. Webb as a gentleman, that he. Graves, was bound by the code of honor to step into Webb's shoes, and to challenge directly for that cause. Mr. Clay then threw the challenge aside, as written by Mr. Graves, and drew the form of one, which was afterwards taken by Mr. Cilley, with his own hand and pen. Mr. Graves then copied it again, and proposed to Mr. Wise to XXIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. be the bearer. He declined again, on the ground that he did not ap- prove the form in which the challenge was written ; and, moreover, as the challenge then stood, it was upon a point of punctillio which never could be adjusted in any case without blood. By this period of the interview, Mr. Menefee of Kentucky had come in, and sided with Mr. Clay against Mr. Wise. Mr. Wise still declined to bear the challenge. Mr. Graves appealed to Messrs. Clay and Menefee to bear witness that on one occasion, in the absence of Mr. Wise from the House of Representatives, he had, without asking the right or the wrong of Mr. Wise's controversy, taken up his personal quarrel, and was ready to fight for him, — that he had more confidence in him than any one else, as his friend, on the ground; and that if he (Wise) suf- fered him to go upon the field without guarding his life and his ho- nor, and he was brought back a corpse, he desired his wife, his chil- dren and his friends to know that he (Wise) had failed to stand by him after he knew he was determined to fight, whether he (Wise) went to the ground with him or not. Is there an honest, courageous and chivalrous heart that beats in the breast of man that could have withstood such an appeal, coming as it did. under such circumstances, and at that particular time ? After this appeal had been made by Mr. Graves, Mr. Wise told him that if nothing else would do him but to fight, and that against his advice, he would consent to guard his life and his honor. Mr. Wise then carried the challenge to Mr. Cilley, copied by Mr. Graves from Mr. Clay's manuscript. Mr. W^ise then resolved in his own mind to prevent, if possible, the hostile meeting. After nightfall, General George W. Jones brought an acceptance, and the terms proposed — eighty yards, with rifles. Mr. Wise demurred. Mr. Clay instantly exclaimed : '-No Kentuckian can back out from a rifle." Mr. Wise's object still being that of delay, he met Gen. Jones, the next morning and said he must have time to go to Philadelphia for a rifle, as he did not know where else to get one that was reliable. Mr. Jones replied: "Certainly, sir, there must be a gun which can be relied on in the whole District of Columbia!" 'At this answer Mr. Wise was some- what vexed, and replied, "if you know of one, sir, T would be glad if you would furnish me with it." Thereupon, the next morning, a rifle, powder flask, bullet moulds, &c., were found upon Mr. Wise's table, with a polite note tendering the rifle, &c., to Mr. Graves. This was no doubt done bona fide upon the part of Gen. Jones, but it cer- tainly had the bad efi"ect of hastening the duel. This doubtless would BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXV not have happened had General Jones understood the object which Mr. Wise had in view — that of delay. The arrangements being thus far made, there was no lime for parleying. • Mr. Graves went out the. morning previous to the meeting to practice with the rifle. He proved himself to be a very bad shot at a mark. His hand w^as so huge and clumsy, his fingers so course, that he could not ^^ iaste^ a hair trigger. He would invariably fire before the word was given, and could not hit a barn door at eighty yards. By this time Mr. Wise had procured a fine, large rifle from Mr. John C. Rives of the Glohe^ and filled it with vinegar the night before the duel, for the purpose of cleansing it of rust ; and by the appointed time Mr. Wise had Mr. Graves ready and upon the field. He was accompanied by Henry A Wise as his armed second, aided by Hon. John J. Crittenden and Hon. Richard H. Menefee, of Kentucky. Mr. Cilley was accompanied by Hon. George W. Jones, as his armed second, aided by Mr. Schaumburg and Mr. Bynum, and by Dr. Duncan, as surgeon. Before these gen- tlemen went out, propositions of adjustment were written for the guide of Mr. Graves' second, in case an adjustment should be pro- posed. Mr. Graves won the position, Mr. Cilley the word. Mr. Graves' second selected the west, because the wind was setting from the northwest, from a knowledge of the fact that Mr. Cilley was a crack shot, thinking that he would not make an allowance for the wind against his ball, the variation of which, from the effects of the wind in the distance of eighty yards, would be six inches. This arrange- ment, and nothing else, saved the life of Mr. Graves. Mr. Cilley stood east ; Mr. Graves west. They fired at one o'clock, P. M,, nearly across the rays of the sun ; Mr. Graves' face in the light, Mr. Cilley's in the shade. Mr. Graves was ordered not to fire until he had good siRht, and at the word " three." At the first fire Mr. Graves obeyed orders coolly, but clearly missed his aim. Mr. Cilley's ball struck the ground about forty yards from the place in which he stood. The loss of his fire evidently made him anxious for another exchange of shots. A second shot being determined on, Mr. Menefee placed the rifle in the hands of Mr. Graves, and upbraided him for being so slow. All being ready, and the combatants appearing cool and collected, at the word " fire,'^ the rifle of Mr. Graves went off, his ball striking the ground about ten paces from his feet. Mr. Cilley raised delibe- rately and shot with dead aim at about two and a half count. All eyes were then turned to Mr. Graves, who dropped the breach of his rifle as his second ran up to him, thinking he was certainly hit ; but iii XXVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. it turned out that he had only been pulling at the trigger^ when he very calmly blew into the muzzle, exclaiming : " Why, the gun is off," He did not think he had fired. This mortified him. Then came his time for demanding a third fire, for the same cause that in- duced Mr. Cilley to desire a second shot. Mr. Gravss demanded, and would have a third //-e. Had Mr. Graves' coat been unbuttoned^ the second ball of Mr. Cilley's rifle would have passed through the lapel of his coat. This conclusion was arrived at from the position in which Mr. G. stood and v/here the ball struck the fence behind him. As to the propositions of settlement, they were never made, excepJ! to enquire what was then to be done. Mr. Cilley yielded nothing ; and there was still cause for the duel unmoved, unexplained,, unad- justed, and a point of punctillio vv^hieh can never be explained. Mr. Cilley was obliged to demand a second and Mr. Graves a third fire. Being ready for the fire, they both appeared cool an^' collected, and there was never a fairer exchange of shots. Mr. Cilley fired a little first, and in one fourth of a second received his mortal wound in front of the left hip, the ball passing entirely through him, severing,, no doubt, the aorta. " His rifle fell out of his hands, he beckoned to his second, and died in a fev/ r^omenls, without a struggle or appar rently a pang." After the death of the unfortonate Cilley, the public mind was so- excited and indignant by the innumerable falsehoods and sland&rs ema- nating from the misinformed, and the enemies of those who were en- gaged at owQ time in an attempt at reconciliation and adjustment, thati the House of Representatives appointed a committee of inves'tigatiori,. the report of which now stands as a public record. When the con(> mittee sat, one of the objects was' to tbrov/ the onus of the whole affair upon Mr. Wise, Mr. Clay heard of the intentions &f the com- mittee — told Mr. Wise to tell them to cali upon hina — that although he had shed tears over the "^nine days bubble," yet he was cognizant of all the connected facts, and would take great pleasure, a6 aM times, in setting the misrepresented in their true position. Mr. James Watson Webb, in 1842, alleged, in the Courier &nd En- quirer, that Mr. Wise had instigated the duel. Such a charge was totally unfounded, unjust and cowardly, from the fact that anything of the sort should emanate from a man like Mr. Webb^ who was di- rectly and knowingly connected with the whole affair. Soon after this slanderous and malicious allegation appeared in the Courier and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXVll Enquirer, Mr. Wise published the facts of the case in the Madisonian. Mr. Ciay, finding that explanation might injure him for the Presidency in 1S44, or some future time, wrote to Mr. Graves, and got him to say that he (Clay) had no part whatsoever in the advice, counsel, or pre- paration of the duel. Mr. Clay published that letter in the National Intelligencer as true. Whereupon Mr. Wise wrote to him categorical questions, which he placed in the hands of Dr. Linn, of Missouri. Mr. Clay replied, and admitted his whole part in the affair, and gene- rally justified Mr. Wise as well as himself. For this act of injustice, Mr. Wise could never (nor justly) forgive Mr. Clay. How unjust and unkind is it to accuse innocent men of being the instigators of that which is at all times exceedingly offensive to the masses ! Mr. Wise used all possible and honorable means to prevent a hostile meeting between these gentlemen ; and never did he consent to ac- company Mr. Graves until he told him that he was determined to go upon the field, whether Mr. Wise accompanied him or not. Mr. Wise once put a challenge into the hands of Hon. S. S. Prentiss, of Mississippi, for Hon. Mr. Gholson, of the same State ; but Mr, Pren- tiss refused to carry it because he said the onus was upon Mr. Gholson and not upoij Mr. Wiss. • Mr. Wise also challenged Hon. Thos. H. Bayly of Acomaek, but he refused to accept, upon what grounds we have never heard. Re-election to Congress in 1839. Presidential Campaign en 1840. Second marriage. In 1839 Mr. Clay, no doubt, was more anxious to receive the nomi- nation for the Presdency than he was ever before or afterwards. And to make the chances of his nomination more certain, aud his election a fixed fact, it was necessary in the opinion of himself and friends, to procure the support and influence of that portion of the Democratic party that had favored the election, in 1836, of Hugh L. White and John Tyler. For this purpose to be secured. Judge White had to be consulted. Mr. Wise being a bosom friend of Judge White, Mr. Clay got him to make the requisite enquiries. In reply to the enquiry whe- ther or not he had any aspirations for the Presidency? he said he had none, and should not have allowed his name to have been placed in that situation in 1836, had it not been to assert his political and per- sonal independence. As for supporting Mr. Yan Buren, whom he con- sidered unsound in toto upon the questions of Slavery and Texas, he XXVlll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. could not think of such a thing. As for Mr. Clay, he held him in the highest personal consideration, but politically, as he understood his policy, they were diametrically opposed to each other, upon the five great cardinal principles that divided the Federal and Republican par- ties. He could not support Mr. Clay or any other man Avho advocated a U. States Bank, Protective Tariff, Internal Improvement by the Ge- neral Government, Distribution, and the right of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia and the Territories. Mr. Clay au- thorized Mr. Wise to say to Judge White that he stood thus upon these five cardinal issues: 1. Bank. "He said he had not changed his opinions since 1816. That he had avowed some change in respect to the constitutionality of that measure, which he had always regretted. That he was sorry he had not adhered to the grounds that he had first taken upon that subject. But then, though he believed in the constitutional power of Congress to incorporate a Bank for Treasury purposes, yet such was the force of circumstances and events, existing then in 1839, he was compelled to conclude that a re-charter for many years would be im- politic, unsafe, and inexpedient. It would never be safe to re-char- ter a U. States Bank whilst there was a popular minority even op- posed to its institution. The friends of such an incorporation were bound to await the arbitrament of enlightened public opinion." — " And that he would never again recommend a re-charter of the U. States Bank, unless it should be called for by the popular voice, approaching such unanimity as would increase general confidence and safety." 2. On the Tariff he prided himself as being "its Pacificator, in be- ing the author of the Tariff Compromise of 1832. He considered that the North had obtained its consideration in the first five years of the act, and that it would now be bad faith to deprive the South of the benefits it had bargained for in reduction and in equalization of duties upon protected and unprotected articles alike." He emphati- cally pledged himself not to disturb his own compromise, but to allow it a full and fair operation. 3. Upon Internal Improvements, he said, " the great design of his ' American^ system, as it had been called, was to stimulate the States to enterprises of improvement : that he had never thought that these works could be accomplished as economically and as faithfully by the General Government as by the States, and by private companies and individuals acting under State authority. That he had effectually at- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXIX tained his end. By t!ie appropriations to works, and to surveys al- ready then made, the States had been stimulated to intoxication. That they had run into an enormous debt of 200 millions. He would rather then assuage the fever, and would arrest all farther sti- mulus until the State debts were paid." 4. Upon the subject of Distribution of the Proceeds of the Public Lands, he said, " He never proposed a distribution of the proceeds, except when there was a large surplus in the treasury. That by his bill in 1832, he had limited the operation to such a time, only five years, as would exhaust the surplus. As long as the revenue was re- quired for the payment of the public debt, or for any proper object of expenditure, he would never propose a distribution amongst the States. There was then, 1S39, a debt of about forty millions, and likely to be a deficiency of revenue unless the tariff was raised, which could not be done without violating his compromise. It was morally cer- tain, then, that if he was nominated and elected^ there would be no surplus during his term. He would not distribute a deficiency at all." 5. On the subject of Slavery, he admitted that he had advocated the opinion that Congress had power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia and in the Territories ; but further remarked, that he had openly avowed since that time, in the Senate, that he regarded the exercise of that power by Congress, without the consent of the States of Virginia and Maryland, inexpedient and dangerous, and that he would resist the wrong with arms ; that he would resist the exercise of the power, as if the power was unconstitutional. Thus we find Mr. Clay in 1839, although on constitutional grounds opposed to the Democratic party upon every cardinal issue, yet pledg- ing himself to be practically with that party. These pledges being given by Mr. Clay through Mr. Wise to Judge White and his friends, they immediately advocated his nomination in preference to that of Mr. Van Buren. But before the pledges were made, Judge White predicted that Mr. Clay would be shelved by the influence of Mr. Webster, and his influence by what was called the " Triangular Correspondence." This name was given to a correspondence that had sprung up in Rochester, Utica and New York for the purpose of throwing a damper upon the claims of Mr. Clay previous to the meeting of the National Whig Convention at Harrisburg. Judge White was right in his predictions. The name of General Scott was used to defeat Mr. Clay through the Webster influence ; William H. Harrison and John Tyler receiving XXX BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. » the nomination. But before the Harrisbnrg Convention met, and af- ter Mr. Clay had made his Anti-Whig pledges to Jndge White, he pre- pared an elaborate speech, the notes of which he showed to Mr. Wise previous to going to the Taylorsville dinner. Mr. Clay delivered this speech with great force, .beauty of style, and with the happiest effect. Mr. Wise was invited with Mr. Clay to attend the Taylorsville festi- val, but it so happened he could not go, but wrote thus to the com- mittee of invitation : That " the Presidency could not add one cubit to his statue, and I wish all the world could be there to hear him." Mr. Wise wrote thus, and wished thus, because he knew what Mr. Clay would say, as he had just made the foregoing pledges and shown him the prepared notes from which he would speak. The policy which he promised to 'carry out, should he be made President, was, beyond question, practically Democratic. Moreover, there was a de- sire to get Mr. Clay back into the ranks from which the '' Puritan" had enticed him, and with his powerful arm to strike Nationalism or Whiggery a crushing blow. This intention was certainly laudable, righteous and patriotic. When the Nationals or Whigs. met in Con- vention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, having largely the majority over the anti Van Buren Democrats, they claimed the privilege of placing on the head of their ticket General Harrison. And as John Tyler had been upon the ticket with Judge White in 1S36, the anti Van Buren Democrats, knowing that the Senate of the United States was nearly divided upon many issues of momentous importance, claimed the right to nominate a man who, by his casting vote in the Senate, would guard and protect the principles of tlie States Right party. Consequenty Mr. Tyler was placed upon the ticket for the Vice-Presidency by the anti Van Buren or States Rights Democrats. They could safely do this because the Nationals or Whigs were pledged by their greatest leader, Henry Clay, agxiinst Bank, Tariff, Internal Improvement. Distribution, Abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and the Territories by the power of Congress, &c. W^hen the Nationals or Whigs assented that Mr. Tyler should be placed on the ticket for the Vice-Presidency, with General Harrison, it was considered a sure guarantee of the pledges made by Mr. Clay. Mr. Tyler received the nomination as a sort of compromise, indepen- dently of Mr. Clay's pledges, through the instrumentality of Mr. Wise. Yet this compromise was not effected without some diffi- culty by the anti Van Buren Democrats who distrusted the Nation- als or Whigs from a knowledge of their antecedents, notwithstand- . BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXXI ing their pledges. This was arranged by Mr. Wise, very adroitly and justly. William C. Rives had expunged Mr. Tyler from the United States Senate, and in turn had become a Conservative late in the day upon the Specie Circular, and appealed to the opposition votes in the Virginia Legislature to send him back to the Senate. The question then arose before that body, " Shall the victim or the iiisirument of ex- punging be sent to the Senate ?" But what was strange about the affair was, that Mr. Clay and his friends, favored the return of Mr. Rives to the Senate. At that time Mr. Wise had a few friends in the Virginia Legis- lature, at the head of whom was John M. Gregory now of Richmond. These friends held the balance of power in that body at that time. The day for an election of United States Senator finally came off, when the ballotings comparatively were almost as numerous as they were for Speaker at the meeting of the 34th Congress, when Richardson, Banks and Fuller were candidates — and for some time with the same effect. The Legislature refusing to elect Mr. Rives, caucuses were held at Washington City and emissaries sent to Richmond; but still no election could be had. Finally it was found out that Mr. Wise and his friends checked their operations, and then an efibrt was made to bully Mm into subjection and party influence, but to no purpose. The party at Washington then arraigned Mr. Wise in caucus, when he defended his position by telling them that '• he never intended as long as it v/as in his power to prevent it, that the instrument of expanction should be placed over its victim by Whig or anti expunging votes." At last Mr. Wise suggested a compromise; and it was, that his friends would allow Mr. Rives to be elected, if Mr. Clay and his friends would allow Mr. Tyler to be placed on the ticket with General Harrison, to preside over Mr. Rives, and by his casting vote guard the cherished principles of the States Rights Democracy. This proposition was readily assented to, but unavoidably by the Whig party. And but for Mr. Tyler be- ing placed upon the Whig ticket in 1840, Mr. Wise would have re- mained neutral in that contest. He never would have voted for Har- rison and Granger regardless of the pledges of Mr. Clay. He was from the beginning a Tyler advocate, knowing that Mr. Tyler was an undeviating and unflinching defender of States Rights. It was under- stood that if Mr. Rives was elected to the Senate, that Mr. Tyler should be the nominee for Vice-President. These facts will certainly show- to the world that the election of John Tyler to the Presidency, was the overthrow of the United States Bank and many other odious Federal favorites ; and will account for Mr. Wise's being the main stay and XXXU BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. bulwark of the Tyler administration, which will compare in point of ability to any, Jas. K. Polk's not excepted. Mr. Wise was actuated in the course he took in 1840, through the most strictly Southern Rights conception of the Constitution. And through Mr. Wise, as we have before stated, John Tyler saved the country from Yan Burenism, which, like Know Nothingism, is but another name for Abolitionism, or the essence and quintessence of all that is rotten, corrupt and loath- some. '^ On the 4th of July 1840, Mr. Wise was in the city of Philadelphia, and uttered that sentiment whicli became so general a watchword of influence, " The Union of the Whigs for the sake of the Union." This was a piece of pure philosophy, as well as a watchword of party. It recommended a union of the Whigs, or those who stood upon the pledges that Mr. Clay had given to Judge White through Mr. Wise, with the National Republican W^higs, not for thetnselves but for the Union. This expression, in fact, was a hint to the Nationals or Whigs, that they were to respect and sustain the principles of the Democratic party. That they were not to use their party for a selfish policy, but to unite with the Democracy to protect the country against the party of Martin Van Buren. The convictions arrived at by Mr. Wise, and that portion of the Democratic party which acted with him, were as true as prophecies, and by his almost superhuman exertions in plac- ing John Tyler upon the Harrisburg ticket, he saved Texas and the Union, and placed the country and the Democratic party in an attitude that insured their success brilliant under the banner of Polk and Dallas in 1844. In November 1840, Mr. Wise married his second wife, Miss Sarah, third daughter of the Hon. John Sergeant of Philadelphia. Extra Session of Congress, 1841. Rejection for the Mission TO France. Re-election to Congress. Elected Minister to Rio Janeiro. Returns Home in 1847. The last session of Congress that met under Van Buren was in 1840 and '41. In the spring of 1841 Mr. Wise met with Mr. Clay and Thomas W. Gilmer soon after the election, and was congratulating himself to Mr. Clay thus : Well, sir, said he, " We have fought a good fight in Virginia, sir, and although we did not exactly win the victory, we came off with the honors of war." Mr. Clay replied : "I congra- tulate myself, sir, that Virginia has gone for the enemy." Why, said BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXXIU Mr. Wise, " I thought you once said, you would prefer defeat with your mother State for you, to victory with her voice against you." "Sir," said Mr. Clay, "we will no longer be embarrassed by her peculiar opinions.'' This was the language and sentiment of that great, adroit, astute and disappointed politician Henry Clay. Mr. Clay's interpretation of the whole matter was this: as he had not re- ceived the nomination for the Presidency over General Harrison at the Harrisburg Convention, he no longer considered himself bound by his pledges to Judge White. The question now arises, would he have abided those pledgesliad he been made President? What does the philosophic politician say? For ourselves we shall not hazard an opinion of the man of whom John C. Breckenridge said, " His country- men had wove for him a laurel wreath, and with common hands had placed it upon his venerable brow and sent him crowned to history." The first thing that was done after the Log Cabin triumph in 1S40, was to call an extra session of Congress — so anxious were the successful party to commence the war of extermination, and disvow every pledge to which they had sworn eternal fidelity, and promised a sacred allegi- ance. Very soon after Mr. Wise reached Washington in the spring of 1841, he saw that it was evidently the intention of the victors, under the leadership of Mr. Clay, to call an extra session. To make all ne- cessary arrangements for this purpose, they assembled in caucus, and gave evident signs by what policy they were dictated and influenced. Mr. Wise not only opposed the extra session, which was gotten up to snatch a bank charter from the arbitrament of enlightened public opi- nion, which was not be waited for, but to pass harbor and river im- provement bills ; to distribute a deficiency in the Treasury ; to revise and increase the Tarift'; to violate the Compromise of 1832; to give new life to Protection ; and to agitate a Slavery issue ; but he opposed the whole Federal scheme from beginning to end, in a speech deli- vered in the House of Representatives in the month of January pre- vious to the inauguration of General Harrison, and at a time when the Whig party had just swept nearly every State in the Union. Immediately after the death of President Harrison, Mr. Wise was the first man that rushed to the side of President Tyler and advised him by all means to veto the United States Bank bill, and use every effort to procure the speedy annexation of Texas. Mr. Tyler was de- nounced as a traitor by a party themselves false and faithless to the most sacred pledges. Mr. Tyler's political career, which has been eminently States Right XXXIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. and Conservative, stands now upon the public records of the nation for the judgment of posterity. In 1842 Mr. Wise's name was sent to the United States Senate, through the instrumentality of his friend. Bailie Peyton, for the mis- sion to Prance. A Whig Senate rejected him. In the spring of 1843 he was a candidate for re-election. Mr. Hill Carter of Shirley, was his opponent, who was induced to run by a Whig clique in the city of Richmond ; but although the district had just given Harrison and Tyler IGOO majority, they sustained Mr. Wise against a Whig Senate and triumphantly returned him to Congress by liis old majority. 400. On Mr. Wise's return to Congress it was discovered that his physical health was giving away rapidly from the constant excitement of about tea years. Consequently his friends sent his name again to the Senate for the Court of Rio Janeiro. The same iniiuence that had defeated him for the French mission was about to be brought against his name again, with the additional ofience he had committed in denouncing the great leader of the Whig party, Henry Clay, in his then recent canvass with Mr. Hill Carter. But before any decision was made in his case, William S. Archer, Senator from Virginia, sought an inter- view with Mr. Wise, and asked him, why was it he had been so bitter in his late canvass against the apostle of Whiggery, Henry Clay ? Mr. Wise then enquired of him "if the French mission, the Brazilian missioif and all the rest of the missions belonged to Mr. Clay ? And was subserviency to him a necessary qualification for office ? Were personal ditferences, and not public considerations, to govern in select- ing foreign ministers? That it was the office of a Senator to enquire, not whether the nomination is fit, is he faithful to the country, but is he a friend of a political favorite who was not in power? In conclu- sion, he informed Mr. Archer to go back to his friends and tell them that if they would act like men worthy to be called friends of their idol, they would resent his insults, and would do so in their proper per- sons, and would not do it by abusing their public offices." Mr. Archer made no report to the caucus, but demanded that Mr. Wise should be sent to Rio Janeiro, which was done. On the 8th day of February 1844, he resigned his seat in Congress, and sailed from New York for Rio in the month of May following his resignation. His course in Brazil met with the entire approbation of Presidents Tyler and Polk, and their Secretaries of State, Calhoun and Buchanan. He returned home in October 1847. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXXV Retires to private life. State Elector for the State in 1848. Election to the State Convention. Death of his second wife. Elector again for the State in 1852. Third marriage. Per- sonal appearance. Conclusion. After Mr. Wise returned from Brazil he retired to private life, in- tending to resume his profession, havmg been in public life from 1833 to 1817. But the campaign between Cass and Taylor coming on, he was called by the Democratic party of the State to act as one of the electors at large. He immediately buckled on his armor and went boldly to work. In 1850 he w^as elected to the State Convention which revised the Constitution. His course there is recently known. During the session of the Convention he received intelligence of the death of his second wife. She was the mother of seven children, leaving at her death only four living ; Richard Alsop, Ellen, John Sergeant, and Spencer Wise. In the month of November 1853, Mr. Wise was married the third time, to Miss Mary EHzabeth Lyons of the city of Richmond, sister of Mr. James Lyons, a distinguished lawyer of that place. We shall see, in future pages of this volume, under what circum- stances and in what manner, he was elected in May 1855, by the peo- \ pie, Governor of the Commonwealth ofi Virginia for four years, com- mencing January the 1st, 1856. Mr. Wise is five feet eleven inches high ; his average weight is 130 pounds ; he is remarkably lean ; was originally fair skinned, but is now swarthy; his hair is a light auburn, and was, when young, almost flaxen, which he generally wears long, and behind his ears; his head is large, wnth great depth between the temples; his forehead is low, but broad ; his eyes large, gray and deep set, arched by a heavy and remarkably expressive brow, which by turns shows all the workings of the inner man ; his nose is large and prominent, and is w^hat might be termed a Virgiiiia nose; his mouth is capacious; his lips rather thick; his jaws lank and florid; chin broad and prominent, with fur- rough from the centre downwards; he was originally very strait and active, but begins to stoop a little. Upon the whole he is not a hand- some man, but one that will in any assemblage impress the beholder with his manly and defiant features. He is an excessive chewer of tobacco, but never smokes, and rarely drinks anything of an alcoholic character. Mr. Wise is remarkably abstemious and regular in all his habits except chewing tobacco. XXXVl BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Thus we have sketched, in as succinct a manner as possible, the life of one of the most illustrious men ever reared in this commonwealth. Mr. Wise combines qualities that eminently befit him to steer the helm of State through troubled times, especially through this threatening cri- sis. Thoroughly acquainted and largly experienced in the. machinery of government, possessing wide and comprehensive views of the re- quirements of the nation, firm, decided and inflexible, the fearless tri- bune of the people, he is competent to the highest -duties of State. His course, and triumphant defence of the Democratic faith in the late gubernatorial campaign in this State, entitle him to the highest consi- sideration and lasting endearment of all who love and wish to per- petuate the Union of the States. Jefferson has made his memory immortal as the author of the Declaration of Independence and Religious Toleration ; Mason as the author of the Bill of Rights ; Jackson by severing Bank and Govern- ment ; and Henry A. Wise by "crushing out," from all law-abiding States, that most detestable, insidious, loathsome, Protean-like, bane- ful, and contemptible of all isms — Know Nothingism. He is the great benefactor of the people of the nineteenth century. Long may he live to enjoy with his fellow citizens the fruits of his labours. May he wear, with republican simplicity and fidelity, the honors of his country, and preserve unspllied and untarnished those that still await him. A HISTORY OF THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA Iiq" 18 5 5; WITH A BIOaRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HENRY A. WISE: BY JAMES P. HAMBLETON, M. D. J. W. RANr>OLPH, 121 MAIN STREET, RICHMOND, VA 1B56. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by JAMES P. HAMBLETON, [n the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Virginia. JOHN NOWLAN, PRINTER, TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF VIRGINIA, FOR THEIR UNFLINCnma DEVOTION TO THEIR TIME HONORED PKINCIPLES: THE CONSTITUTION AND STATES RIGHTS AND FOR THEIR UNCOMPEOMlSINa HOSTILITY TO ALL ISMS OPPOSED TO THE PURE JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR. INTRODUCTION. In presenting this work to the pnhlic, it is our aim to give a full account of the operations of the secret political society known as the Know-Nothing Party, in Virginia, in 1855. In doing this, we hope to present something useful to the living, and which may guard the unthinking in after generations against the machinations of any secret sect, clique or party, that may have for its ohject a usurpation of the government and its spoils, by other tenure than the popular voice. If we succeed in this we shall have accomplished our chief aim. AVo shall present the arguments of the ablest men in the land, both as speakers and as writers, against Know-Nothing- ism, coupled with their defence of the time honored principles of the Democratic party. This work will l)e compiled principally of such newspaper articles and speeches as were elicited in the Avar against Know-Nothingism during the gubernatorial canvass of 1855. The newspapers from which we have drawn most copiously, are the Richmond Enquirer, Examiner and Whig. In prefacing these compiled extracts, Ave have giA^en our opinions succinctly, conscien- tiously, fearlessly, and unreservedly. James Pinkney Hambleton, M. D. Pittsylvania C. H. Va. } December^ 1855. ) CAMPAIGN OF 1855. DEMOCRATIC MEETING IN NORFOLK COUNTY IN THE FALL OF 1854.— HON. HENRY A. WISE'S LETTER UPON KNOW-NOTHINOISM. [During the latter part of the summer of 1854, the newspapers of Virginia began to direct their attention to the gubernatorial canvass that was to come off in our state in the next year^ Various prominent individuals were spoken of by their respective friends, when, in the early part of September 1854, the citizens of Norfolk county determined to hold a meeting and cor- respond with these distinguished gentlemen in order to obtain from them an expression of opinion in regard to the new party then said to be organ- izing in the state, under the cognomen of Know-Nothings. The committee of correspondence appointed by this meeting wrote to the following gentle- men, viz: Ex-Governor William Smith, Lieut. Governor S. F. Leake, Hon. John Letcher, Hon. James A. Seddon, and Hon. Henry A. Wise. All of these gentlemen very promptly answered, and all satisfactorily, with the exception of Ex-Gov. Smith. He answered after a long time, but evasively. Mr. Wise's ansvrer was prompt, plain, satisfactory and elaborate. In his letter to this committee was recognized the true spirit of a southern republi- can and statesman. There was no document that appeared on the subject which bespoke so truly the sentiments of the Democratic party of Virginia in their utter detestation of secret political societies and religious intolerance. We give this masterly production an appropriate insertion in the beginning of this compilation: Only, near Onancock, Virginia, > September 18th, 1854. ] To : Dear Sir: — I now proceed to give you the reasons for the opinions I expressed in my letter of the 2nd instant, as fully as my leisure will permit: I said that I did not "think that the present state of affairs in this country is such as to justifij the formation, by the people, of ajiy Secret Political Society." The laws of the United States — federal and state laws — declare and defend. the liberties of our people. They are free in every sense — free in the sense of Magna Charta and beyond Magna Charta ; free by the surpass- 8 ing franchise of Americnn Charters, which makes ihem Sovereign and their wills the sources of constituiiojis und laws. If the archbishop might say to King John, " Let every Briton, as his mind, be free ; His person safe ; iiis property secure ; His house as sacred as the fane of Heaven ; W atching, unseen, iiis ever open door. Watching the real;n, the spirit of the laws ; His fate deternlined by the rules of right. His voice enacted in the common voice And general suffrage of the assembled realm. No hand invisible to write his doom ; No demon starting at the midnight hour, To draw his curtain, or to drag liim down To mansions of despair. Wide to the world Disclose the secrets of the prison walls, And bid the groanings of the dunge; n strike The public ear — Iiniolable preserve The sacred shield that covers all the land. The Heaven-conferr'd palladium of the isle, To Briton's sons, the judgment of their peers. On these great pillars : freedom of the mind. Freedom of speecii, and freedom of the pen. Forever changing, yet forever sure, The base of Briton rests." — we may say that our American Charters have more than confirmed these laws of the Confessor, and our people have given to them "as free, as full, and as sovereign a consent" as was ever given by John to the bishops and the barons, " at Runnimede, the field of freedom," to which it was said — " Britain's sons shall come. Shall tread where heroes and where patriots trod, To worship as they walk !" In this country, at this time, does any man think anything? Would he think aloud .'' Would he speak anything.? Would he write anything.? His mind is free, his person is safe, his property is secure, his house is his castle, the spirit of the laws is his body-guard and his house-guard ; the fate of one is the fate of all measured by the same common rule of right; his voice is heard and felt in the general suffrage of freemen ; his trial is in open court, confronted by witnesses and accusers ; his prison house has no secrets, and he has the judgment of his peers; and there is nought \o make him afraid, so long as he respects the rights of his equals in the eye of the la\V. Would he propagate Truth.? — Truth is free to combat Error. Would he propagate Error.^ — Error itself may stalk abroad and do her mischief and make night itself grow darker, provided Truth is left free to follow, however slowly, Avith her torches to light up the wreck ! Why, then, should any portion of the people desire to retire in secret, and by secret means to propagate a political thought, or word, or deed, by stealth .? Why band together, exclusive of others, to do something which all may not know of, towards some political end .? If it be good, why not make the good known ? Why not think it, speak it, write it, act it out openly and aloud .? Or, is it evil, which loveth darkness rather than light? When there is no necessity to justify a secret association iov political ends, what else can justify it? A caucus may sit in secret to consult on the general policy of a great public party. That may be neces- sary or convenient; but that even is reprehensible, if carried too far. But here is proposed a great primary, national organization, in its inception — What ? JYobody knows. To do what ? .J\''ohody knoivs. How'organized ? JVobody knows. Governed by whom? JVobody Imoivs. How bound? By what rites? By wliat test oaths? With what limitations and restraints? Noboc]}^ nobody knows!!! All we know is, that pcvsons of foreign birth and of Caiholic faith are proscribed, and so are all others who don't pro- scribe them at the polls. This is certainly against the spirit of Magna Charta. Such is our condition of freedom at home, showing no necessity for such a secret organization and its antagonism to the very basis of American rights. And our comparative native and Protestant strength at home repels the plea of such necessity still more. The statistics of immigration show that from 1820 to 1st January, 1853, inclusive, for 32 years and more, 3,204,848 for- eigners arrived in the United Slates, at the average rate of 100,151 per annum ; that the number of persons of foreign birth now in the United States is 2,210,839; that the number of natives, whites, is 17,737,578, and of per- sons whose nativity is ''unknown," is 39,154. (Quere, by the by: — What will " Knoiv-J\'othtngs" do with the " unknoum ?") The number of natives to persons of foreign birth in the United States, is as 8 to 1, and the most of the latter, of course, are naturalized. Ta Virginia the whole number of white natives is 813,891, of persons born out of the State and in the United States, 57,502, making a total of natives of 871,393; and the number of persons born in foreign countries, is 22,953. So that in Virginia the num- ber of natives is to the number of persons born in foreign countries, nearly as 38 to 1. Again : — the churches of the United States provide accommodations for 14,234,825 votaries ; the Roman Catholics for but 667,823; the number of votaries in the Protestant to the number in the Roman Catholic in the United States, as 21 to 1. In Virginia the whole number is 856,436, the Roman Catholics 7,930, or 108 to 1. ^ The number of churches in the United States is 38,061, of Catholic .churches 1,221; more tnan 31 to 1 are Protestant. In Virginia the number of churches is 2,383, of Catholic churches is 17; more than 140 to 1. The whole value of church property in the United States is $87,328,801, of Catholic church property is $9,256,758, or 9 to 1. In Virginia the whole value of church property is $2,856,076; of Catholic church property, $126,100, or 22 to 1. In the United States there are four Protestant sects, either of which is larger than the Catholics: The Baptists provide accomniotlations for 3,247,029 The Methodists for 4,34:?,:579 The Presbvterians for 2,()7<),690 The Conirfejralionalists for 801,835 Afifgregate of four Protestant sects, 10,472.073 The Catholics for 667,823 Majority of only four Protestant sects, 9,804,250 Add the EpisLopaliaiis for * 643,598 Majority of only five Protestant sects, 10,447,843 In Virginia there are five Protestant sects, either of which is larger than the number of Catholics in the State. Baptists, 247,589 Episcopal, 79,684 Lutheran, 18,750 Methodists, 323,708 Presbyterian, 103,625 773.356 Catholics, 7,930 Majority of free Protestant sects in Virginia, 765,426 10 Ornearly 98 to 1. Thus natives are to persons of foreign birth In the United States, as 8 to 1 In Virginia, as 38 to 1 The Protestant church accommodations are to the Catholic In the United States, as 21 to 1 In Virginia, as 108 to 1 The number of Protestant churches is to the number of Catholic In the United States, as 31 to 1 In Virginia, as 140 to 1 The value oi Protestant church property in the United States, is to the value of Cath olic church property as 9 to 1 In Virginia, as 22 to 1 There are four Protestant sects, each of which is larger than the Catholic, in the United States, and the aggregate of which exceeds the Catholic by a majority of 9,804,250 votaries, and, adding one sect smaller, by a majority of 10,447,848. In Virginia there are five Protestant sects, each larger than the number of Catholics in the state, and the aggregate of which exceeds the Catholics by a majority of 765,426 votaries. Now, what has such a majority of numbers, and of wealth of natives and of Protestants, to fear from such m?iorilies of Catholics and naturalized citi- zens ? What is the necessity for this master mr.jority to resort to secret organization against such a minority ?/l put it fairly : Would they organize at all against the Catholics and naturalized citizens, if the Catholics and naturalized citizens were in the like majority of numbers and of wealth, or if majorities and minorities were reversed? To retire in secret with such a majority, does it not confess to samet/iing which dares not subject itself to the scrutiny of knowledge, and would have discussion Know-Nothing of its designs and operations and ends? Cannot the Know-Nothings trust to the leading Protestant churches to defend themselves and the souls of all the saints, and sinners too, against the influence of Catholics ? Can't they trust to the patriotism and fraternity of natives to guard the land against immi- grants ? In defence of the reat American Protestant churches, I venture to say in their behalf, that the Pope, and all his priests combined, are not more zealous and watchful in their master's work, or i?i the ivork for ike mas- tery, than are our Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and Congregational clergy. They are, as a whole church militant, with their armor bright; they are zealous, they are jealous, they are watchful, they are organized, embodied, however divided by sectarianism, yet banded together against Papacy, and learned and active, and politic too as any brotherhood of monks. They need no such political organization to defend the faith. Are ihey united in it? Do they favor or countenance it among their flocks? To what end? In the name of their religion, I ask them — Why not rely on .Godi And do the Know-Nothings imagine that the pride and love of coun- try are so dead in native hearts, that secret organizations are necessary to beget a new-born patriotism to protect us from foreign influence ? Now, in defence of our people, I say for them that no people upon earth are more possessed ^\W\ nationality ■d.'s, a strong passion than the freemen of the United States of North America. Nowhere is the filial and domestic tie stronger, nowhere is the tie of kinship more binding, nowhere is there more amor loci — the love of home, which is the surest foundation of the love of country — nowhere is any country's romance of history more felt, nowhere are the social relations on a better moral foundation, nowhere is there as clear iden- tity of parentage and offspring, nowhere are sons and daughters so "educated to liberty," nowhere have any people such certainty of the knowledge of the reward of vigilance, nowhere have they such freedom of self-government, nowhere is there such trained hatred of kings, lords and aristocracies, 11 nowhere is there more self-independence, or more independence of the Old World or its traditions — in a word, nowhere is there a country whose people have, by birthri,2:ht, a tithe of what our people have to make' them love that land which is their countri/, and that spot which is their home! I am an American, a Virfjinian ! Prouder than ever to have said, "I am a Roman citizen!" So far from Brother Jonathan wanting a national feeling, he is justly suspected abroad of a little too much pride and bigotry of country. The revolution and the last war with Great Britatn, tried us, and the late conquest of Mexico found us not wanting in the sentimentality of nation- alism. Though so young, we have already a dialect and a mannerism, and our customs and our costume. A city dand}'- may have his coat cut in Paris, but he would fight a Frenchman in the cloth of his country as quick to-day as a INIarion man ever pulled the trigger of a Tower musket against a red- coat Englishman in '76. And peace has tried our patriotism moi-e than war. What people have more reason to love a country from the labor they have bestowed upon its development by the arts of industry ? No: as long as the memory of George Washington lives, as long as there shall be a 22d of Feb- ruary and a 4th of July, as long as the everlasting mountains of this conti- nent stand, and our Father of Waters flows, there will be fathers to hand down the stories which make our hearts to glow, and mothers to sing " Hail Columbia" to their babes — and that song is not yet stale. There is no need to revive a sinking patriotism in the hearts of our people. And who would have them be selfish in their freedom ? Freedom ! Liberty ! selfish and exclusive ! Never; for it consumeth not in its use, but is like fire in magni- fying, by imparting its sparks and its rays of light and of heat. Is there any necessity from abroad for such secret political organizations ? Against whom, and against what, is it levelled? Against foreigners by birth. AVhen we were as weak as th?-ee 7ninions, we relied largely on foreigners by birth to defend us and aid us in securing independence. Now that we are tw'enty-two millions strong, how is it we have become so weak in our fears as to apprehend we are to be deprived of our liberties by foreigners ? Verily, this seemeth as if Know-Nothings were reversing the order of things, or that there is another and a different feeling from that of the fear arising from a sense of weakness. It comes rather from a proud conscious- ness of over-weening strength. They wax strong rather, and would kick, like the proud grown fat. It is an exclusive, if not an aristocratic feeling in the true sense, which would say to the friends of freedom born abroad : " Wq had need of you and were glad of your aid when we were weak, but we are now so independent of you that we are not compelled to allow you to enjoy our Republican privileges. We desire the exclusive use of hu- man rights, though to deprive you of their common enjoyment will not en- rich us the more and will make you 'poor indeed !' " But not only is it levelled agaiast foreigners by birth, but against the Pope of Rome. There was once a time when the very name of Pajm frightened us as the children of a nursery. But, now, now ! who can be frightened by the tem- poral or ecclesiastical authority of Pius IX ? Has he got back to Rome from his late excursion ? Who are his body-guard there ? Have the lips of a crowned head kissed his big toe for a century ? Are any so poor as to do his Italian crown any reverence? Do not two Catholic powers, France and Austria, hold all his dominions in a detestable dependency ? What army, what revenue, what diplomacy, what church domination in even the Catholic countries of the old or the new world has he ? Why, the idea of the Pope's influence at this day is as preposterous as that of a gun- powder plot. I would as soon think of dreading the ghost of Guy Fawkes. No, there is no necessity, from either oppression or weakness of Protes- tants or natives. They are both free and strong; and do they now, because 12 thev are rich in civil and religious freedom, wish, in turn, to persecute, and exclude tlie fallen and the down-trodden of the earth ? — God forbid ! 2d. But there is not only no necessity for this secret political organiza- tion, but it is against the spirit of our laws and the facts of our history. ^om^ families \n this. Republic render themselves ridiculous, and offensive, too, by the vain pretensions to the exalting accidents of birth. We, in Vir- ginia, are not seldom pointed at for our F. F. V.'s of ancestral arrogance. But, who ever thought that pretension of this sort was so soon to be set up by exclusives for the Republic itself ? Some of the ancient European people may boast of their "protoplasts," and of their being themselves " autoch- t/iones" — that they had fathers and mothers from near Adam, whom they can name as their first formers, and that they are of the same unmixed blood, original inhabitants of their country. But who were our jjrotoplasts? English, Irish, Scotch, German, Dutch, Swedes, French, Swiss, Spanish, ItalTan, Ethiopian — all people of all nations, tribes, complexions, languages and religions ! And who alone are " autochthones" here in North Amer- ica ? — Why, the Indians! They are the only true natives. One thing we have, and that more distinctly than any other nation: we have our " epony- mas." We can name the very hour of our birth as a people. We need re- cur to no fable of a wolf to whelp us into existence. It may be hard to fix Anno Mundi, or the year of Noah's flood, or the building of Rome. Rome may have her Julian epocha, the Ethiopian their epocha of the Abys- sines, the Arabians theirs of the flight of Mahomet, the Persians theirs of the coronation of Jesdegerdis ; but ours dates from the Declaration of Inde- pendence among the nations of the earth, the 4th day of July, A. D. 1776. As a nation v;e are but 78 years of age. Many a person is now living who was alive before this nation was born. And the ancestors of this people, about two centuries only ago, were foreigners, every one of them coming to the shores of this country, to take it away from the Aborigines, the " autoch- thones," and to take possession of it by authority, either directly or deriva- tively, of Vapal Power 1 His holiness the Pope was the great grantor of all the new countries of North America. This fiction was a fact of the history of all our first discoveries and settlements. Foreigners, in the name of the Pope and Mother Church, took possession of North America, to have and to hold the same to their heirs against the heathen forever! — and now al- ready their descendants are for excluding foreigners and the Pope's follow- ers from an equal enjoyment of the privileges of this same possession ! So strange is human history. Christopher Columbus ! Ferdinand and Isa- bella? What would they have thought of this had they foreseen it when they touched a continent and called it theirs in the name of the Holy Trinity, by authority of the keeper of the keys of heaven, and of the great o-rantor of the empire and domain of earth ? What would have become of our national titles to north-eastern and north-western boundaries, but for the plea of this authority, valid of old among all Christian Powers ? Following the discovery and the possession of the country by foreigners, in virtue of Catholic majesty, came the settlements of the country by force and constraint of religious intolerance and persecution. Puritans, Huguenots, Cav- aliers, Catholics, Quakers, all came to Western wilds, each in turn persecuted and persecuting for opinion's sake. Oppression of opinion was the most odious of the abominations of the Old World's despotism — its only glory and grace is that it made thousands of martyrs. It deluged every country and tainted the air of every clime, and stained the robes of righteousness of every sect ivith blood, with the blood of every human sacrifice, Avhich was honest and earnest in its faith, the hypocrites and hinds of profession alone escaping the swords or the flames of persecution. The colonies were jblackened by the burnings of the stake, and were died red with the blood of intolerance. 13 The American revolution made a new era of liberty to dawn — the era of the liberty of conscience. If there is any essence in Americanism, the very salt wherewith it is savored is the freedom of opinion and the liberty of conscience. Is it now proposed that we shall go back to the deeds of the dark ages of despotism ? That this broad land, still unoccupied in more than half of its virgin soil, shall no longer be an asylum for the oppressed ? That here, as elsewhere, and again, as of old, men shall be burthenod by their births and chained for their opinions? I trust that a design of that intent will remain a secret buried forever. I have said this organization was against the spirit of our law^s. Our laws sprang from the necessity of the condition of our early settlers. They brought with them from England their Penates, the household gods of an Anglo-Saxon race, the liberties of Magna Charta, the trial by jury, the judg- ment of the peers, and the other muniments of human dignity and human rights secured by the first English Charta. These, foreigners brought with them from Europe. Here they found the virtues to extend these rights and their muniments. The neglect of the mother country left them self-de- pendent and self-reliant until they were thoroughly taught the lesson of self- government — that they could be their own sovereigns — and the very experi- ence of despotism they had once tasted made them hate tyrants, either elective or hereditary. Their destitute and exposed condiLion trained them to hardy habits and cultivated in them every sterner virtue. They knew privation, fatigue, endurance, self-denial, fortitude, and were made men at arms — cautious, courageous, generous, just and trusting in God. They had to fight Indians, from Philip, on Massachusetts Bay, to Powhatan, on the river of Swans. And they had an unexplored continent to subdue, with its teeming soil, its majestic forests, its towering mountains, and its unequalled rivers. Above all thmgs, they needed population, more fellow-settlers, more foreigners to immigrate, and to aid them in the task of founders of empire set before them, to open the forests, to level the hills, and to raise up the valleys of a giant new country. Well, these foreigners did their task like men. Such a work ! w'ho can exaggerate it ? They did it against all odds and in spite of European oppression. They grew and thrived, until they were rich enough to be taxed. They were told taxation was no tyranny. But these foreigners gave the world a new truth of freedom. Taxation with- out representation was tyranny. The attempt to impose it upon them, the least mite of it, made them resolve, "that they would give millions for defence, but not a cent for tribute." That resolve drove them to the neces- sity of war, and they, foreigners, Protestants, Catholics and all, took the dire alternative, united as a band of brothers, and declared their dependence upon God alone. And they entered to the world a complaint of grievances — a Declaration of Independence ! This was pretty well to show whether foreigners, of any and all religions, just fresh from Europe, could be trusted on the side of America and liberty. One of the first of their complaints was : " He (George III.) has endeavored to prevent the population of these states, for that purpose obstructing the laws for naiuralizaiion of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their emigration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of land." There is the proof that they valued the naturalization of foreigners and the immigration of foreigners hither, and they desired appropriations, new appropriations of land, for immigrants. Anotheir complaint was, that they had appealed in vain to " British breth- ren." They said : " We have appealed to their ?j«/a)e justice and magnanimity; and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these 14 usurpations, &c. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and con- sanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends." There is proof, too, that Nativism can't always be relied on to help one's own countrymen, and that brethren, and kindred, and consanguinity, will fail a whole people in trouble, just as kinship too often fails families and in- dividuals in the trials of life. " And," lastly, "for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." There was tolerance, there was firm reliance on the same one God ; there was mutuality of pledge, each to the other, at one altar, and there was a common stake of sacrifice — "lives, fortunes and honor." And who were they? There were Hancock the Puritan, Penn the Quaker, Rutledge the Huguenot, Carroll the Catholic, Lee the Cavalier, Jeflerson the Free Thinker. These, representatives of all .the signers, and the signers, representatives of all the people of all the colonies. Oh! my countrymen, did not that "pledge" bind them and bind us, their heirs, forever to faith and hope in God and to charity I'or each other — to tolerance in religion, and to "mutuality" in political freedom? Down, down with any organization, then, which "denounces" a "separation" between Protestant Virginia and Catholic Maryland — between the children of Catholic Carroll and Protestant George Wythe. Their names stand to- gether among "the signatures," and I will redeem their " m.utual " pledges with my "life," my "fortune," and my " sacred honor," "so far as in me lies — so help me. Almighty God !" I think that here is proof enough that "foreigners" and Catholics both entered as material elements into our Americanism. But before the 4th day of July there were laws passed of the highest authority, to which this secret organization is opposed. On the 12th of June, '76, the Convention of Virginia passed a "Declara- tion of Rights." Its Hth section declares: "that no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in consideration of public services ; which not being de- scendible, neither ought the olfices of magistrate, legislator or judge to be hereditary." Now, does the Know-Nothing organization not claim for the "■native born" "set of men" to be entitled to exclusive privileges from the commu- nity as against naturalized and Catholic citizens ; and thus, by virtue of birth, to inherit the right of election to the ofiices of magistrates, legislator or judge, which are not descendible? They set up no such claim for the individual person native born, but they do set up a quaUtij for nativHii, to which, and to which alone, they claim, pertains the privileges of eligibility to offices. Again: — Does this organization not violate the 7th section of this de- claration of rights, which forbids "all power of suspending laws, or the exe- cution of laws, by any authority without consent of the representatives of the people, as injurious to their rights, and which ought not to be exer- cised ?" When the laws say, and the representatives of the people say, that Catholics and naturalized citizens shall be tolerated and allowed to enjoy the privileges of citizenship, and eligibility to otfice, have they not organized a secret power to suspend these laws and to prevent the execution oif them, by their sole authority, without consent of the representatives of the people ? This declaration denounces it as injurious to the rights of the people and as a power which ought not to be exercised. 15 Again : — Does not this organization annul that part of the 8th section of this declaration, which says: "That no man shall be deprived of his liberty, except by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers?" This don't apply alone to personal liberty, the freedom of the body from prison, but no man shall be deprived of his franchises of any sort, of his liberty in its largest sense, except by the law of the land or the judgment of his peers, the trial by jury. Has, then, a private and secret tribunal a right to impose qualifications for office, and to enforce their laws by test oaths, so as to de- prive any man of his liberty to be elected ? Again: — Is this organization not an Imperium in Imperio against the 14th section of this declaration, which says: "That the people have a right to uniform government, and, therefore, that no government separated from or independent of the government of Virginia, ought to be erected or estab- lished witkin the limits thereof.'^ It is not z. governmejit, but does it not, will it not, politically govern the portion of the people belonging to it, differently from what the ])ortion of the people not belonging to it, are governed by the laws of Virginia? Again: — It does not adhere to the "justice and moderation" inculcated in the 1.5th section of the declaration. And lastly, it avowedly opposes the 16th section, which declares, " that religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence ; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of con- .^cie?ice ; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbear- ance, love and charity towards each other." But this organization not only contravenes the rules of our Declaration of Independence and Rights, but it is in the face of a positive and perpetual statute, now made a part of our organic law by the new Constitution — the Act of Religious Freedom, passed the 16th of December, 1785. Against this law, this Know^-Nothlng order attacks the freedom of the mind, by im- posing-" civil incapacitations ;" it "attempts to punish one religion and to propagate another by coercion on both "body and mind ;" it " sets up its own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible ;" it makes our " civil rights to have a dependence on our religious opinions ;" it "de- prives citizens of their natural rights, by proscribing them as unworthy the public confidence, by laying upon them an incapacit}^ of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless they profess or renounce this or that religious opinion;" "it tends to corrupt the principles of that religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honors and emoluments, those who wall externally profess and conform to it ;" it lacks confidence in Truth, which " is great and will prevail," if left to herself ; that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to Error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate ; it withdraws errors from free argument and debate, and hides them in secret, where they become dangerous, because it is not permitted freely to contradict them. Let it not be said that this is a restraining statute upon government, and is a prohibition to "legislators and rulers, civil as w^ell as ecclesiastical." If they even are restrained by this law% a fortiori, every private organization, or order, or individual, is restrained. The Know-Nothings will hardly pre- tend to do what the government itself, and legislators, and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, dare not do. If such be their pretensions they claim to be above the law, or to set up a higher law — then, sic volo, to compel a man to frequent or support any religious worship, and to enforce, restrain, molest, or burthen him, or "to make him suffer" on account of his religious opinions or belief; or to deprive men of their freedom to profess, and by 16 argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion, and to make the same diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities. No, when our Con- stitutions ibrbid the legislators to exercise a power, they intend that no such power shall be exercised by any one. Not only is the law of Virginia thus liberal as to religion, but also as to naturalization. So far as " Know-Nothingism " opposes our naturalization laws, it is not only against our statute policy, but against Americanism itself. In this it is especially anti-American. One of the best fruits of the American Revolu- tion was to establish, for the first time in the world, the human risht of ex- patriation. Prior to our separate existence as a nation of the earth, the des- potisms of the old world had made a law unto themselves, whereby they could hold forever in chains those of mankind who were so unfortunate as to be born their subjects. In respect to birthright and the right of expatria- tion, and the duty of allegiance and protection, and the law of treason, crowned heads held to the ancient dogma: " Once a citizen always a citi- zen." If a man was so miserable as to be born the slave of a tyrant, he must remain his slave forever. He could never renounce his ill-fated birth- right — could never expatriate himself to seek for a better country — and could never forswear the allegiance which bound him to his chains. He might emigrate, might take the w'ings of the morning and fly to the utter- most parts of the earth, might cross seas and continents, and put oceans, and rivers, and lakes, and mountains between him and the throne in the shadow of which he was born, and he would still "but drag a lengthening chain." Still the despotism might pursue him, find and bind him as a subject slave. If America beckoned to him to fly to her for freedom, and to give her the cunning and the strength of hife right arm to help ameliorate her huge pro- portions and to work out her grand destiny, the tyrant had to be asked for passports and permission to expatriate. But they came — lo ! they came ! Our laws encouraged them to come. Before '76, Virginia and all the colo- nies encouraged immigration. It was a necessity as well as a policy of the whole country. Early in the revolution, the king's forces hung some of the best blood of the colonies under the maxim, " Once a citizen, always a citi- zen." They were traitors if found fighting for us, because they were once subjects. AVashington was obliged to hold hostages, to prevent the applica- tion of this barbarous doctrine of tyranny. At last our struggle ended, and our independence was recognized. George HI. Avas compelled to renounce our allegiance to him, though we wei-e born his subjects. But still, when we came to our separate existence, we were called on to recognize the same odious maxim, still adhered to b}' the despots of Europe: "Once a citizen, always a citizen." Subjects w^ere still told that they should not expatriate themselves, and America was warned that she should not naturalize them without the consent of their monarch masters. Spurning this dogma, and the tyrants who boasted the power to enforce it, the 4th power which the Convention of 1787, that formed our blessed Constitution, enumerated, is : "The Congress shall have power 'to estabhsh an uniform rule of naturaliza- tion.' " The meaning of this was, to say by public law to all Europe and her com- bined courts, " Your dogma, 'once a citizen always a citizen,' shall cease forever as to the United States of North America. W^e need population to smooth our rough places, and to make our crooked places straight; but, above and beyond that policy, we are, with the help of God, resolved that this new and giant land shall be one vast asylum for the oppressed of every other land, now and forever! " That is my reading of our law of liberty. Those born in bondage might raise their eyes up in hope of a better country ! They might, and should if they would, expatriate themselves, fly from 17 slavery and chains, and come! — Ho, every one of them, come to our country and be free \\\i\\ us! They might forswear their allegiance to despots, and should be allowed here to take an oath to liberty and her flag, and her free- dom, and they should not be j)ursued and punished as traitors. When they came and swore that our country should be their country, we would swear to protect them as if in the country born, as if natives — i. e., as naturalized citizens, and they should be our citizens and be entitled to our protectio7i. And this was in conformity to the only true idea of " Naturalization," which, according to its legal as Avell as its etymological sense, means, " when one who is an alien is made a natural subject by act of law and consent of the sovereign power of the state." The consent of our sovereign power is written in the Constitution of the United States, and Congress, at an early day after its adoption, passed the acts of naturalization. The leading statute is that of April 14th, 1802. It provided that any alien, being a free ivhite person, may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States, or any of them, on the following conditions, and not otherwise : 1st. That he shall have declared on oath or affirmation before the supreme, superior, district or circuit court of some one of the states, or of the territo- rial districts of the United States, or a circuit or district court of the United States, three years {two years by act of May 26th, 1824,) at least before his admission, that it was his bona fide intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, whereof such alien may at the time be a citizen or subject. 2d. That he shall, at the time of his application to be admitted, declare on oath or affirmation before some one of the courts aforesaid, that he will sup- port the Constitution of the United States, and that he doth absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty whatever, and particularly, by name, the prince, potentate, state or sovereignty whereof he was before a citizen or subject; which proceedings shall be recorded by the clerk of the court. 3rd. That the court admitting such alien shall be satisfied that he has resided within the United States five years at least, and within the state or territory where such court is at the time held, one year, at least ; and it shall further appear to their satisfaction, that during that time he has behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Con- stitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same ; Provided, That the oath of the applicant shall in no case be allowed to prove his residence. 4Lh. That in case the alien applying to be admitted to citizenship shall have borne any hereditary title or been of any of the orders of nobility in the kingdom or state from which he came, he shall, in addition to the above requisites, make an express renunciation of his title or order of nobility in the court to which his application shall be made, which renunciation shall be recorded in the said court: Provided, That no alien who shall be a native, citizen, denizen, or subject, of any country, state, or sovereign, with whom the United States shall be at war at the time of his application, shall then be admitted to be a citizen of the United States. The act has other provisions, and has since been modified from time to time. This statute had not operated a legal life time before Great Britain again asserted the dogma: " Once a citizen, always a citizen !" The base and cowardly attack of the Leopard on the Chesapeake, at the mouth of this very bay, in sight of the Virginia shore, was made upon the claim of right to seize British born subjects from on board our man-of-war. The star-spangled banner was struck that day for the last time to the detestable maxim of tyranny : — " Once a citizen, always a citizen." It must not be 2 18 forgotten that it was upon this doctrine of despots that the Right of Search was founded. They arrogated to themselves the prerogative to search our decks on the high seas, and to seize those of our crews who were born in British dominions. In 1812, we declared the last war. For what? For " Free Trade, and Sailors' Rights" That is, for the right of our naturalized- citizen-sailors to sail on the high seas, and to trade abroad free from search and seizure. They had been required to "renounce and abjure," all "al- legiance and fidelity" to any other country, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to the country, state, or sovereignty under which they have been natives or citizens, and we had reciprocally undertaken to p7-otecf them in consideration of their oaths of allegiance and fidelity to the United States. How protect them ? By enabling them to fulfil their obligations to us of al- legiance and fidelity, by making them free to fight for our flag, and free in every sense, just as if the}'^ had been born in our country. Fight for us they did ; naturalized, and those not naturalized, were of our crews. They fought in every sea for the flag which threw protection over them, from the first gun of the Constitution frigate to the last gun of the boats on Lake Pontchartrain, in every battle where " Cannon's mouths were each other greeting, And yard arm was with yard arm meeting." That war sealed in the blood of dead and living heroes the eternal, Amer- ican principle: — "The right of cxpatiiation, the right and duty of naturali- zation — the right to fly from t3^ranny to the flag of freedom, and the recip- rocal duties of allegiance and protection." And does a party — an order or what not, calling itself an American party, now oppose and call upon me to oppose these great American truths, and to put America in the wrong for declaring and fighting the last war of independence against Great Britain ? Never ! I would as soon go back to wallowing in the mire of European serfdom. I won't do it. I can't do it. No; I will lie down and rise up a Native American, for and not against these imperishable Amer- ican truths. Nor will any true American, who underetands what Amer- icanism is do otherwise. I put a case : A Prussian born subject came to this country. He complied with our naturalization laws in all respects of notice of intention, residence, oath of alle- giance, and proof of good moral character. He remained continuousl}^ in the United States the full period of five years. When he had fully filled the meas- ure of his probation and was consummately a naturalized citizen of the United States, he then, and not until then, returned to Prussia to visit an aged father. He was immediately, on his return, seized and forced into the Landwehr, or militia system of Prussia, under the maxim : " Once a citizen, always a citizen!" There he is forced to do service to the king of Prussia at this very hour. He applies for protection to the United States. Would the Know-Nothings interpose in his behalf or not } Look at the principles in- volved. We, by our laws, encouraged him to come to our country, and here he was allowed to become naturalized, and to that end required to re- nounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to the king of Prussia, and to swear allegiance and fidelity to the United States. The king of Prussia now claims no legal forfeiture from him — he punishes him for no crime — he claims of him no legal debt — he claims alone that very allegiance and fidelity which we required the man to abjure and rei^ounce. Not only so, but he hinders the man from reiurning to the United States, and from discharging the allegiance and fidelity we required him to swear to the United States. The king of Prussia says he should do him service for seven years, for this ■\yas what he was born to perform ; his obligations were due to him first, and 19 his laws were first binding him. The United States say — true, he was born under your laws, but he had a right to expatriate himself ; he owed allegi- ance first to you, but he had a right to forswear it and to swear allegiance to us ; your laws first applied, but this is a case of •political obligation, not of /eg-ff/ obligation ; it is not for any crime or debt you claim to bind him, but it is for allegiance ; and the claim you set up to his services on the ground of his political obligation, his allegiance to you, which we allow him to abjure and renounce, is inconsistent with his political obligation, his allegiance, which we required him to swear to the United States ; he has sworn fidelity to us, and we have, by our laws, pledged j)rotection to him. Such is the issue. Now, with which will the Know-Nothings take sides? With the king of Prussia against our naturalized citizen and against Amer- ica, or with America and our naturalized citizen ? Mark, now, Know-Noth- ingism is opposed to all foreign influence — against American institutions. The king of Prussia is a pretty potent foreign influence — he was one of the holy alliance of crowned heads. Will they take part .with him, and not protect the citizen? Then they will aid a foreign influence against our laws! Will they take sides with our naturalized citizen? If so, then upon what grounds ? Now, they must have a good cause of interposi- tion to justify us against all the received dogmas of European despotism. Don't they see, can't they perceive, that they have no other grounds than those I have urged ? He is our citizen, nationalized, owing us allegiance and we owing him protection. And if we owe him protection abroad, be- cause of his sworn allegiance to us as a naturalized citizen, what then can deprive him of his privileges nt home among us when he returns ? If he be a citizen at all, he must be allowed the privileges of citizenship, or he will not be the egual of his fellow-citizens. And must not Know-Nothingism strike at the very equality of citizenship, or allow him to enjoy all its lawful privileges? If Catholics and naturalized citizens are to be citizens and 3'et to be proscribed from otfice, they must be rated as an inferior class — an ex- cluded class of citizens. Will it be said that the law will not make this dis- tinction ? Then are we to understand that Know-Nothings would not make them equal by law ? If not by law, how can they pretend to make them unequal, by their secret order, without law and against law? For them, by secret combination, to make them unequal, to impose a burthen or restriction upon their privileges which the law does not, is to set them- selves up above the law, and to supercede by private and secret author- ity, intangible and irresponsible, the rule of public, political right. In- deed, is this not the very essence of the " Higher Law" doctrine? It cannot be said to be legitimate public sentiment and the action of its authority. Public sentiment, proper, is a concurrence of the common mind in some conclusion, conviction, opinion, taste or action in respect to persons or things subject to its public notice. It will, and it must control the minds and actions of men, by public and conventional opinion. Count Mole said that in France it was stronger than statutes. It is so here. That it is which should decide at the polls of a Republic. But, here is a secret senti- ment, which may be so organized as to contradict the public sentiment. Candidate A. may be a native and a Protestant, and may concur with the community, if it be a Know-Nothing community, on every other subject ex- cept that of proscribing Catholics and naturalized citizens ; and candidate B. may concur with the community on the subject of this proscription alone, and upon no other subject ; and yet the Know-Nothings might elect B. by their secret sentiment against the public sentiment. Thus it attacks not only American doctrines of expatriation, allegiance and protection, but the equality 'of citizenship, and the authority of public sentiment. In the affair of Koszta, how did our blood rush to his rescue ? Did the Know-Nothing 20 side with him and Mr. Marcy, or with Hulseman and Austria ? If with Koszta, why ? Let them a^k themselves for the rationale, and see if it can in reason abide with their orders. There is no middle ground in respect to naturalization. We must either have naturalization laws and let foreigners become citizens, on equal terms of capacities and privileges, or we must ex- clude them altogether. If we abolish naturalization laws, we return to the European dogma: " Once a citizen, always a citizen." If we let foreigners be naturalized and don't extend to them equality of privileges, we set up classes and distinctions of persons wholly opposed to Republicanism. -We will, as Rome did, have citizens who may be scourged. The three alterna- tives are presented — Our present policy, liberal, and just, and tolerant, and equal; or the European policy of holding the noses of native born slaves to the grind-stone of tyranny all their lives ; or, odious distinctions of citizen- ship tending to social and political aristocracy. I am for the present laws of naturalization. As to religion, the Constitution of the United States, art. 6th, sec. 3, espe- cially provides that no ?-eligious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. The state of Virginia has, from her earliest history, passed the most liberal laws, not only towards naturalization, but towards foreigners. But I have said enough to show the spirit of American laws and the true sense of American maxims. ,-''^rd. Know-Nothingism is against the spirit of the Reformation and of Pro- testantism ? What was there to Reform ? Let the most bigoted Protestant enumerate Avhat he defines to have been the abominations of the church of Rome. What would he say were the worst? The secrets of Jesuitism, of the ./lufo dafe, of the Monasteries and of the Nunneries. The private penalties of the Inquisition's Scavenger's daughter. Proscription, Persecution, Bigotry, Intolerance, Shutting up of the Book of the Word. And do Protestants now mean to out-Jesuit the Jesuits ? Do they mean to strike and not be seen? To be felt and not to be heard? To put a shudder upon humanity by the Masks of Mutes? Will they wear the Monkish cowls? Will they inflict penalties at the polls without reasoning together with their fellows at the hustings ? Will they proscribe? Persecute? Will they bloat up themselves into that bigotry which would burn non-conformists? Will they not tolerate free- dom of conscience, but doom dissenters, in secret conclave, to a forfeiture of civil privileges for a religious difference? Will they not translate the scripture of their faith ? Will they visit us with dark lanterns and execute us by signs, and test oaths, and in secresy ? """ Protestantism ! forbid it ! If anything was ever open, fair and free — if anything was ever blatant even — it was the Reformation. To quote from a mighty British pen: "It gave a mighty impulse and increased activity to thought and enquiry, agitated the inert mass of accumulated prejudices throughout Europe. The effect of the concussion was general, but the shock was greatest in this country" (England.) It toppled down the full grown intolerable abuses of centuries at a blow ; heaved the ground from under the feet of bigoted faith and slavish obedience; and the roar and dashing of opinions, loosened from their accus- tomed hold, might be heard like the noise of an angry sea, and has never yet subsided. Germany first broke the spell of misbegotten fear, and gave the watchword ; but England joined the shout, and echoed it back, with her island voice, from her thousand cliffs and craggy shores, in a longer and a louder strain. With that cry the genius of Great Britain rose, and threw down the gauntlet to the nations. There was a mighty fermentation ; the waters were out; public opinion was in a state of projection; Liberty was 21 held out to all to think and speak the truth ; men's hrains wevo. husy ; their spirits stirring; their hearts full; and their hands not idle. Their eyes were opened to expect the greatest things, and their ears burned with curiosity and zeal to know the truth, that the truth might make them free. The death blow which had been struck at scarlet vice and bloated hypocrisy, loosened tongues, and made the talismans and love tokens of Popish superstitions Avith which she had beguiled her followers and committed abominations with the people, fall harmless from their necks." The translation of the IJible was the chief engine in the great work. It threw open, by a secret spring, the rich treasures of religion and morality, which had then been locked up as in a shrine. It revealed the visions of the Prophets, and conveyed the lessons of inspired teachers to the meanest of the people. It gave them a common interest in a common cause. Their hearts burnt within them as they read. It gave a mind to the people, by giving them common subjects of thought and feeling. It cemented their Union of character and sentiment ; it created endless diversity and collision of opinion. They found objects to employ their faculties, and a motive in the magnitude of the consequences attached to them, to exert the utmost eagerness in the pursuit of truth, and the most daring intrepidity in main- taining it. Religious controversy sharpens the understanding by the subtlety and remoteness of the topics it discusses, and braces the will by their infi- nite importance. We perceive in the history of this period a nervous, mas- culine intellect. No levity, no feebleness, no indifference; or, if there were, it is a relaxation from the intense activity which gives a tone to its general character. But there is a gravity approaching to piety, a seriousness of im- pression, a conscientious severity of argument, an habitual fervor of enthu- siasm in their method of handling almost every subject. The debates of the schoolmen were sharp and subtle enough; but they wanted interest and o-randeur, and were besides confined to a few. They did not affect the gen- eral mass of the community. But the Bible was thrown open to all ranks and conditions "to own and read," with its wonderful table of contents, from Genesis to the Revelations. Every village in England would present the scene so well described in Burns' " Cotter's Saturday Night." How unlike this agitation, this shock, this angry sea, this fermentation, this shout and its echoes, this impulse and activity, this concussion, this general effect, this blow, this earthquake, this roar and dashing, this longer and Icuder strain, this public opinion, this liberty to all to think and speak the truth, this stirring of spirits, this opening of eyes, this zeal to know — not nothing — but the iruth, that the truth might make them free. How unlike to this is Know-Nothingism, sitting and brooding in secret to proscribe Catholics and naturalized citizens ! Protestantism protested against secresy, it protested against shutting out the light of truth, it protested against proscription, bigotry and intolerance. It loosened all tongues and fought the owls and bats of night with the light of meridian day. The argument of Know-Nothings is the argument of silence. The order ignores all knowledge. And its pro- scription can't arrest itself within the limit of excluding Catholics and natu- j ralized citizens. It must proscribe natives and Protestants both, who will/ not consent to unite in proscribing Catholics and naturalized citizens. Nor , is that all; it must not only apply to birth and religion, it must necessarily extend itself to the business of life as well as to political preferments. The instances have already occurred. Schoolmistresses have been dismissed from schools in Philadelphia, and carpenters from a building in Cincinnati.^ 4th. It is not only opposed to the Reformation and Protestantism, but it is opposed to the faith, hope and charity of the gospel. Never was any triumph more complete than that of the open conflict of Protestants against the Pope and priestcraft. They did not oppose proscription because it was a policy 22 • of Catholics ; but they opposed Catholics because they employed proscription. Proscription, not Catholics, was the odium to them. Here, now, is Know- Nothingism combatting proscription and exclusiveness with proscription and exclusiveness, secrecy with secrecy, Jesuitism with Jesuitism. Toleration, by American example, had begun its march throughout the earth. It trusted in the power of truth, had faith in Christian love and charity, and in the certainty that God would decide the contest. Here, now, is an order proposing to destroy the effect of our moral example. The Pope himself would soon be obliged, by our moral suasion, to yield to Protestants in Cath- olic countries their privileges of worship and rites of burial. But, no", the proposition now is, " to fight the devil with fire," and to proscribe and exclude because they proscribe and exclude. And they take up the weapons of Popery without knowing how to wield them half so cunningly as the Catho- lics do. The Popish priests are rejoiced to see them giving countenance to their example, and expect to make capital and will make capital out of this step backwards from the progress of the reformation. Protestantism has lost nothing by toleration, but may lose much by proscription. 5th. It is against the peace and purity of the Protestant churches and in aid of priestcraft within their folds, to secretly organize orders for religious combined with political ends. The world — I mean the sinner's world — will be set at war with the sects who unite in this crusade against tolerance and freedom of conscience and of speech. Christ's kingdom is not of this world, and freemen will not submit to have the Protestant any more than the Catholic churches attempt to influence political elections, without a strug- gle from without. And the churches from within must reach a point when they must struggle among themselves and with each other. Peace is the fruit of righteousness, and righteousness and peace must flee away together from a fierce worldly war for secular power. And the churches must be corrupted, too, as evil passions, hatred, and jealousy, and ambition, and envy, and revenge, and strife arise and temptations steal away the hearts of votaries from the humble service of the " meek and lowly Jesus." Protes- tant priestcraft is cousin germain to Catholic ; and where is this to end but in giving to our Protestant priests — the worst of them, I mean — such as will "put on the livery of heaven to serve the devil in" — a control of political power, and thus to biing about the worst union which could be devised, of church and state ! The state will prostitute and corrupt any church, and any church will enslave any state. Corrupt our Protestant priests as the Catholics have been, v.ith temporal and political power, and they will be of the same "old leaven" — the same old beast — the same old ox going about with straw in his mouth! And where will the war of sects end? When the Protestant priests have gotten the power, which of their sects is to prevail.' The Catholics proscribed, which denomination next is to fall? The Episco- pal church, my mother church, is denounced by some as the bastard daughter of the whore of Rome. Is she next to be put upon the list of proscription ? And when she is excluded, how are the Predestinarians and Armenians to agree among themselves ? Which is to put up the Governor for Virginia or the President for the United States? Which is to have the offices, and how is division to be made of the spoils ? Sir, this secret association, founded on proscription and intolerance, must end in nothing short of corruption and persecution of all sects, and in a civil war against the domination of priest- craft, Protestant or Catholic. Indeed, it is so, already, that a real reason for this secrecy is that the priests, who have a zeal without knowledge against the Pope, are unwilling to be seen in their union with this dark-lantern movement! Woe, woe, woe! to the hypocrite who leaves the work of his Master, the Prince of Peace, the Great High Priest after the order of Mel- chisedeck, for a worldly work like this ! 23 6th. It is against free civil goverhment, by instituting a secret oligar- s chy, beyond the reach of popular and public scrutiny, and supported by \ blind instruments of tyranny, bound by test oaths. If the oaths and pro- ceedings of induction of members published be true, they bind the noviciates from the start to a passive obedience but to one law, the order of intolerance and proscription. •Men are led to them by a burning curiosity to know that they are to Kiwiv-JS'othing ! The novelty of admission beguiles Ihem into adh'erence. They assemble to take oaths and promise to obey. To obey whom? Do the masses, will the masses, is it intended that the masses of their members shall know whom? Where is the central seat of the Veiled Prophet! In New York? New England? or Old England? /Who knows --^ that. Know-Nothingism is not influenced by a cabal abroad — by a foreign influence ? Whence passes the sign ?— Of course from a common centre somewhere. Is that centre in Virginia, for the orders here ? If not, is it not alarming that our people in this state are to be swerved by a sign from somewhere, anywhere else, to go for this or that side of a cause, for this or that candidate for election ? Those orders must have degrees ; the degrees are higher and lower, of course, and the higher must prescribe the rule to govern" Each degree must have its higher officers, and all the orders must . , be subject to some one.' Now, how many persons constitute the select few \l of the highest functionaries, nobody knows. Nobody knows who they are, where they are, or how many of them there are. They exist somewhere in the dark. Their blows can't be guarded against, for they strike, not like freemen bold, bravely for rights, but unseen, and to make conquest of rights. Their adherents are sworn to secrecy and to obey. They magnify tlieir numbers and influence by the very mystery of their organization, and the timid and time-serving fly to them for fear of proscription or for hope of reward. They quietly warn "friends not to stand in the way of their axe, and friends begin to apprehend that it is time to save themselves by Know- ing Nothing. They threaten their enemies, and some of their enemies skulk from fear of offending them. They alarm a nation, and a nation, with its pohtical and church parties, gives them at oncce consideration and respect as - a power to be dreaded or courted. Thus, in a night, as it were, has an oli- J garchy grown up in secret to control our liberties, to dictate to parties, Jo^ gulde'elections, and to pass laws./ They are estabhshing presses, too, but we ^ cannot define from their positions a single principle which we can say Know- Nothings may not disown and disavow. The Prophet of Khorassan_ never gave out words more cabalistic — words to catch by sounds, and sounding the very opposite of what they really mean. When they have men's fears, curiosity, hopes, the people's voices, the ballot boxes, the press, at their command, how long will our minds be free, or persons safe, or property secure ? How long will stand the piUars of freedom of speech and of the pen, when liberty of conscience is gone and birth is made to " make the man ?" He is a dastard, indeed, who fears to oppose an oligarchy or secret cabal like this, and loves not human rights well enough to protect them. 7th. It is opposed to our progress as a nation. No new acquisition can ever be made by purchase or conquest, if foreigners or Catholics are in the boundaries of the acquired countries ; for, surely we would not seek to take jurisdiction over them; to make them slaves; to raise up a distinct class of persons to be excluded from the privileges of a Republic. If not for their own sakes, for the sake of the Republic we would save ourselves from this example. As early as 1787, we established a great land ordinance. The most per- fect system of eminent domain, of proprietary titles, and of territorial settle- ments, which the world had ever beheld to bless the homeless children of men. It had the very housew^arming of hospitality in it. It wielded the 24 logwood axe, and cleared a continent of forests. It made an exodus in the old world, and dotted the new with log-cabins, around the hearths of which the tears of the aged and the oppressed were wiped away, and cherub child- ren were born to libertv, and sang its son2:s, and have o;rown up in its strength and might and majesty. It brought together foreigners of every country and clime — immigrants from Europe of every language and religion, and its most wonderful effect has been to assimilate all races. Irish and German, English and French, Scotch and Spaniard, have met on the western prairies, in the western woods, and have peopled villages and towns and cities — queen cities, rivalling the marts of eastern commerce; and the Teu- tonic and Celtic and Anglo-Saxon races have in a day mingled into one undistinguishable mass — and that one is American!" — Ameiican in every sense and in every feeling, in every instinct, and in every impulse of Ameri- can patriotism. The raw German's ambition is first to acquire land enough upon which to send word back to the Baron he left behind him, that he does not envy him his principality! The Irishman no longer hurra's for " my Lord " or "my Lady," but ex- claims in his heart of hearts that "this is a free country." The children of all are crossed in blood, in the first generation, so that ethnology can't tell of what parentage they are — they all become brother and sister Jonathans — Jonathans to sow and plant grain — Jonathans to raise and drive stock — Jona- thans to organize townships and counties and states of free election — Jona- thans to establish schools and colleges and rear orators, sages and statesmen for the Senate — Jonathans to take a true heart aim with the rifle at any foe who dares invade a common country — Jonathans to carry conquest of libeity to other lands, until the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of American- ism ! As in the colonies, as in the revolution, as in the last war, so have foreigners and immigrants of every religion and tongue, contributed to build up the temple of American law and liberty, until its spire reaches to heaven, whilst its shadow rests on earth ! ! If there has been a turnpike road to be beaten out of the rocky metal, or a canal to be dug, foreigners and immi- grants have been armed with the mattock and the spade ; and, if a battle on sea or land had to be fought, foreigners and immigrants have been armed with the musket and the blade. So have foreigners and immigrants proved that their influence has not impaired the genius, or the grace, or gladness, or glory of American institutions. At no time have they warred upon our religion in the west, and they have been at peace among themselves. The Pope has lost more than he has gained of proselytes by the Catholics coming here. No proscription but one has ever disturbed the religious toleranceof the •west, and that one was to drive out the religion of an imposter which struck at every social relation surrounding it. If Know-Nothings may tolerate Mormons, I can't see why they leave ihem to their religious liberty and select the very mother church of Protestantism itself for persecution and proscription. But the west, I repeat, made up of foreigners and immigrants of every religion and tongue, the west is as purely patriotic, as truly Ameri- can, as genuinely Jonathan, as any people who can claim our nationality. Now, is not here proof in war and in peace that the apprehension of foreign influence, brought here by immigrants, is not only groundless but contra- dicted by the facts of our settlements and developments ? Did a nation ever so grow as we have done under land ordinances and our laws of naturaliza- tion ? They have not made aristocracies, but sovereigns and sovereignties of the people of the west. They have strengthened the stakes of our do- minion and multiplied the sons and daughters of America so that now she can muster an army, and maintain it, too, outnumbering the strength of any invaders, and making "a host of freedom which is the host of God !" Now, shall all this policy and its proud and happy fruits be cast aside 25 for a contracted and sclfit^h scheme of intolerance and exclusion? Shall the unnumbered sections of our public lands be fenced in against immigrants? Shall hospitality be denietl to foreio;n settlers ? Shall no asylum be left open to the poor and the oppressed ot^ Europe ? Shall the clearing of our lands be stopped ? Shall population be arrested ? Shall progress be made to stand still ? Are we surfeited with prosperity? Shall no more territory be acquired ? Shall Bermuda be left a mare chiusum of the Gulf of Mexico, and Jamaica, a key of South American conquest and acquisition, iii the hands of England; Cuba, a depot of domination over the mouth of the Mississippi, in the hands of Spain, just strong enough to keep it from us for some strong maritime power to seize, whenever they will conquor or force a purchase, Central America, in the gate-way of commerce between our Atlantic and Pacific possessions — lest foreigners be let in among us, and Catholics come to participate in our privileges? Verily, this is a strange way to help American institutions and to promote American progress. No', w^e have institutions which can embrace a world, all mankind with all their opinions, prejudices and passions, however diverse and clash- ing, provided we adhere to the law of Christian charity and of free toferation. But the moment we dispense with these laws, the pride, and progress, and glory, and good of American institutions will cease forever, and the°memory of them will but goad the affections of their mourners. Self- ishness, utter selfishness alone, can enjoy these American blessings, M'ithout desiring that all mankind shall participate in their glorious privileges. Noth- ing, nothing is so dangerous to them, nothing can destroy them so soon and so certainly, as secret societies, formed for political and religious end.^^ com- bined, founded on proscription and intolerance, without necessity, against law, against the spirit of the Christian Reformation, against the whole scope of Protestantism, against the faith, hope, and charity of the Bible, against the peace and purity of the churches; against free government by leading to oligarchy and a union of church and state ; against human progress, against national acquisitions, against American hospitality and comitj', against American maxims of expatriation, and allegiance and protection, against American settlements and land ordinances, against Americanism in every sense and shape ! Lastly. What are the evils complained of, to make a pretext for these innovations against American policy, as heretofore practised with so much success and such exceeding triumph? 1st. The first cause, most prominent, is that the native and Protestant feeling has been exasperated by the course pursued by both political parties, in thelast several Presidential campaigns ; they have cajoled and " honey- fugir/efl' with both Catholics and foreigners by birth, naturalized and un- naturalized, ad nauseam. Foreigners and Catholics were not so much to blame for that as both par- ties. And take these election toys from them, and does any one suppose that they would not resort to some other humbug ? Is not another hobby now arising to put down both of these pets of party ? Is not the donkey of Know-Nothingism now kicking its heels at the lap-dogs of the " rich Irish brogue" and the "sweet German accent," for the fondlings and pet- tings of political parties? 2nd. Both parties have violated the election laws and laws of naturaliza- tion, in rushing green emigrants, just from on ship-board, up to the polls to vote. This, again, is the fault of both parlies. And this is confined chielly, if not entirely, to the cities. It don't reach to the ballot boxes of the country at large, and is rot a drop in the ocean of our political iniluence. In New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and New Orleans, the abuse, I ( 26 venture to say, don't number, in fact, 500 votes. It is nothing everywhere else, in a country of universal suffrage and of twenty millions of free peo- ple. And would perjury and fraud in elections be arrested by the attempt to exclude Catholics and foreigners by birth from office ? — or, by extending the limitation of time for naturalization ? — or, by repealing the naturaliza- tion laws ? Either of these remedies for the error would innltiply the per- juries and the frauds and the foreign votes. Then there would be a pre- text for obtaining by fraud and force what was denied under law. By mak- ing naturalization rather to follow immediately upon the oath of allegiance, and that to depend on the will and the good character of the applicant, fraud and perjury would rather be stripped of their pretexts. The foreign- ers would be at once exalted in their self-respect and dignity of deportment, right would enable them to exercise the elective franchise in peace, and the country would escape the demoralization resulting from a violation of the laws, and from the means employed to set at nought their force and effect. 3rd. Foreigners have abused the protection of the United States abroad. If they have, it was a violation of law. They cannot well do it, without the want of care and vigilance in our consular and diplomatic functionaries abroad. Citizens at home abuse our protection, and they are not always punished for their crimes. 4th. Catholics, it is urged, have been combined and obeyed the signs of tlieir bishops and priests in elections, and have been influenced in their votes to a great extent by religious and exclusive considerations. If they have, that is one of the best reasons why Protestants should not follow their example. It is evil, and the less there is of it the better for all. Let bigotry and proscription belong to any sect rather than to Protestants. When they follow alleged Catholic examples, which they arraign, as danger- ous and mischievous, then they themselves become as Catholics, according to their own opinions, dangerous and mischievous. .5th. Catholics and Catholic governments, it is urged, have always ex- cluded Protestants from religious and social privileges in their countries. And how much have we gained upon them by following the opposite poli- cy? -By tolerance we have grown so great as now to make them feel the necessity to respect our title to comity and right to a separate enjoyment of the privileges of Protestants. Our government is interposing in that behalf, and I fear it will not be assisted any in its negotiations by the attempt here to proscribe Catholics and strangers by birth. 6th. It is complained that in some instances, in New York particularly, the Catholics have been arrogant, exclusive and anti-republican in their at- tempts to control the public schools, and to exclude from them the free and open study of the word of God. Plow can this bigotry be subdued by bigotry, which retires itself in secrecy and proscribes all who don't proscribe Catholics ? There is no hoincepathy in moral disease. Proscription and bigotry and secrecy must not be prescrib- ed for the maladies of proscription, bigotry, and hiding of the word ! The diseases would then be epidemics among Protestants, Catholics, and all. The open and lawful and liberal means for either prevention or correction of this evil are simple and efficacious if righteously applied. 7th. It is urged that Catholics recognize the supremacy of the Pope and submission to priestcraft, which might, under circumstances, be destructive of our free government. Suppose that to be so, there are worse sects among us, whom Know-Noth- ings pretend not to assail. There are the Mormon polygamists ; there are the necromancers of Spiritual Rappings ; and there is a sect which aspires not only to destroy free government, but the great globe and all that it in- habit — the millenial Millerites. And, it is about as likely that Millerites will 27 set the world on fire in one day, as tiiat Popery will ever be able to break up or bow down this republic. The prophecies must all fail, and Christ's dominion upon earth must cease, and printing presses and telegraphs and steam must be lost to the arts, and revolutions must go backwards, and the sky must fall and catch Know-Nothings, before the times of Revelations are out, and the Pope catches "Uncle Sam." No, no, no — there is not a reason in all these complaints, which is not satisfied by our laws as they exist, and not an error, which may not be cor- rected by the proper application of the lawful authority at our command, without resorting to the extraordinary, extrajudicial, revolutionary, and anti- ^ American plan of a secret society of intolerance and proscription. I belono- to a secret society, but for no political purpose. I am a native Yivgimiin^irihcs et in cide, iiYh-gmim-, my ancestors on both sides for two hunllred years were citizens of this country and this state — half English, half Scotch. I am a Protestant by birth, by baptism, by intellectual belief and by education and by adoption. I am an American, in every fibre and m every feeling an American; yet in every character, in every relation, in every eenseTwith all my head, and all my heart, and all my might, I protest ao-ainst this secret organization of native Americans, and of Protestants to proscribe Roman Catholic and naturalized citizens ! Now, will they proscribe me? That question weighs not a feather with Your obedient servant, HENRY A. WISE. THE FIRST APPEARAXCE OF KNOW-NOTHINGISM IN VIRGINIA. It is unknown to the unitiated at what precise time Know-Nothingism made its entrance into Virginia ; but, from the most reliable information we can gather, the first council w-as organized in the town of Clrarlottcsville, some time in the month of July, 1854, and very soon after another in the city of Richmond. These councils, in pursuance to the Know-Nothing Ritual, were organized by the authority of the Grand Council of Thirteen of the city of New York. From this time until about the latter part of October, we have no newspaper account of operations. But during this interim of nearly three months, it is our impression that the Grand Council of Thirteen was very industriously organizing councils in the various towns and cities of the state. After the state had become well checkered with councils, the Grand Council of Thirteen delegated one Rev. Mr. Evans to establish a state council in the city of Richmond. This state council was empowered by the parent body in New York to grant charters for the establishment of councils in every nook and corner of the state ; and the consequence was, that in nearly every secluded grove, retired school-house, and concealed recess, could be found a band of men, veiled in secrecy and under the cover of darkness, administer- ing Jesuitical oaths and teaching cabalistic signs to the thoughtless, indis- creet and unsuspecting noviciates. The citizens of this commonwealth should keep it fresh in their minds, that a portion of her citizens were once engaged in the work of palming upon them a political heresy, through the 28 instrumentality of a Northern emissary, coming under the specious guise and cloak of religion. New York was the hot bed of corruption from which a northern plague was to sweep the home and resting-place of Washington and Jefferson. The Richmond Enquirer noticed, in the following spirited manner, tiie organization of the state council by the Rev. Evans, of New York : Know-Nothing Council in Richmond. — ft is not generally known, we suspect, that a state council of the Know-Nothing order is to be held in this city to-day. In spite of the severe secrecy of their movements, this fact has transpired ; and with it comes the additional intelligence that one Reverend Mr. Evans is present as representative of the "Grand National Council of Thirteen," of which Barker of New York is President. This emissary brings along a redundant supply of the venom of intolerance, "wherewith to inoculate the brethren in tliis region and to corrupt the native generosity of the Vii'ginia character. He imports, also, a copious supply of pass-words and other cabalistic signs, and is in every way equipped for the work of drill-sergeant and hierophant. Is it not a shame that such crea- tures should come here, and, under cover of darkness, deposit the poison of intolerance and proscription on the soil which Jefferson has consecrated to civil liberty and to freedom of conscience .? The movements of the order are diiected and controlled by a cabal in New York, and thus, should Know- Nothingism triumph in this state, the government of Virginia will be the creature of the " Council of Thirteen." Esteeming themselves competent to the management of their own affairs, Virginians have been proverbially jealous of foreign influence ; nor will they now submit to the usurpation of this conclave of New^ York Know-Nothings. The sentiment of state-sove- reignty and the pride of personal independence are equally outraged by the attempt thus to subjugate us. Our neighbor of the Dispatch, with commendable forethought, has warned persons attending the Fair against the depredations of the thieves w-ho rifle pockets in the confusion of the crowd. It is our business to admonish all good citizens of the presence of the Know-Nothings, who, adopting the cun- ning artifice of pick-pockets and burglars, have availed themselves of the confusion and excitement of this occasion, to mature their plot against the security of society.- THE STAUNTON DEMOCKATIC CONVENTION. After the claims of the various candidates spoken of for Governor had been thoroughly discussed through the public journals, delegates were sent from various counties of the state to meet in Convention at the town of Staunton, November 30th, 1854, for the purpose of making a proper selec- tion of candidates for the office of Governor, Lieut. Governor and Attorney General. This Convention was one of the largest and most talented that ever assembled In the state for a political purpose. Its proceedings were very animated. Parties soon resolved themselves into two, one of them supporting Mr. Wise, the other Mr. Leakk. Its session lasted three days, and Mr. Wise w'as not nominated until the morn- ing of the third and last day. As its proceedings were marked by great 29 excitement and warmtli of feeling, and only an elaborate and detailed rehear- sal of them, too voluminous for our space, could do justice to all who partici- pated in the debates and ballotings, we shall confine ourselves to a mere skeleton recital of its leading transactions. The Convention was organized by the appointment of Oscar M. Crutch- field, Speaker of the House of Delegates, President, and Wm. F. Ritchie, editor of the Enquirer, and Ro. W. Hughes, editor of the Examiner, Secre- taries. The great debate and turning point of everything done by the Convention was upon the original resolution presented by Mr. Shackelford, and upon an amendment which was oflered by JMr. Garnett, of Essex, to the same. Mr. Shackelford's resolution was — Resolved, That this Convention will not make a nomination for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General, unless the candidate receive votes of this Convention sufficient to represent a majority of the whole Dem- ocratic vote of the state. To this resolution, Mr. Muscoe R. H. Garnett, of the county of Essex, ■who was the leader of Mr. Wise's friends, offered the following amendment : Resolved, That it shall require a majority of the votes cast to nominate candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. This amendment was opposed with great ability by many of the leading men of the Convention. The speeches of Messrs. Fauntleroy, Irving, Aylett, James Barbour, N. C. Claiborne, J. W. Massie and W. H. Harman were of great ability and eloquence. It was the most spirited and able off-hand debate that ever transpired in a political convention. The debate was continued into the night of Thursday, the 30th November, 1854, the first day of the session. The vote was then taken, and was scaled on the principle of allowing each county represented a number equal to its Democratic vote in the presidential election of 1852. The process of scaling the vote was so tedious, that the Convention adjourned over until the next morning in order to allow the secretaries time to compute the result. Friday, Dec. 1. — On the meeting of the Convention this morning, the result of the vote on Garnett's amendment was announced as follows: For the amendment, 35,212 Against the amendment, 26,194 Majority, 9,018 So decided was the opposition manifested to this result, and to the amend- ment, that a re-considcration was at once moved, and a long and most ani- mated debate was kept up through the greater portion of the day. Finally, a second vote was taken on the same proposition as at first with the follow- ing result : > For the amendment, 32,903 Against it, 29,059 Majority, 3,844 30 This vote, of course, settled the question, and the Convention decided that the majority of the votes cast in the Convention should nominate a can- didate for the party — without reference to thirty unrepresented counties. The contest on this important proposition was warm and excited from the fact Ihat the adoption of Garnett's amendment was equivalent to the nomina- tion of Mr. Wise ; while the adoption of Shackelford's resolution, if not equivalent to the nomination of Mr. Leake, by requiring a vote larger than Mr. Wise's friends could have polled, would have resulted in the nomination of a compromise candidate. This amendment having been adopted, the Convention proceeded at once to the nomination of a candidate for the ofhce of governor. Mr. Douglas, of New Kent, put Mr. H. A. Wise in nomination, and Mr. N. C. Claiborne, of Franklin, presented the name of Shelton V. Leake. Pro- minent among the speakers during the evening were Messrs. Berry of Alex- andria, Fauntleroy of Winchester, Skinner of Augusta, Brown of Kanawha, Browne of Stafford, Meade of Petersburg, Kenna of Kanawha, and English of Logan. All of these speeches were creditable, and many of them eloquent and tell- ing. It cannot be said that they were sermons inculcating doctrines of affec- tion and brotherly love. Although the speakers were personally courteous, yet their political reviews, comments, &.c., on public men were the bitterest it is ever one's fortune to listen to. An excited audience, by loud applause and boisterous manifestations of approbation and displeasure, rendered the whole scene one of extraordinary excitement. The large badly lighted hall seemed the theatre of the bitterest and most envenomed feelings during this long and acrimonious debate. Such a scene was never presented in a Dem- ocratic Convention before, and we hope never will be presented again. Tli« most violent and pointed assaults upon the prominent men of our own party were the most loudly applauded. Late on the night of the second day of the session a vote was taken, and the Convention adjourned over until the next morning. Saturday, Dec. 2. — The first thing done was the announcement of tha vote for the nominees for Governor, as follows : H. A. Wise, S. F. Leake, Wm. Smith, Alex. R. HoUaday, J. A. Seddon, Faulkner, 63,289 Necessary to a choice 31,645. Wise falling short of a majority 229. Some further debate took place. Ex-Governor Smith was put in nomi- nation by Mr. Hiner, of Pendleton, and withdrawn. Finally another vota was taken, and the result was — 31,416 25,762 2,125 1,236 2,491 259 31 Wise, 34,034 Leake, 28,009 Scddori, 973 Holladay, 67 Smith, 290 63,373 Necessary to a choice 31,687. Majority for Wise 2,347. And Mr. Wise, was declared to be nominated. The result of the second ballot was announced on Saturday afternoon, and in consequence of changes in the vote of Halifax and Greenbrier, Mr. Wisa was nominated, getting a majority of 2,347. A proposition to make it unan- imous failed. The Convention then proceeded to the nomination of a candidate for the office of Lieut. Governor. Dr. C. R. Harris of Augusta, A. G. Pendleton of Giles, Henry A. Ed- mundson of Roanoke, Elisha W. McConias of Kanawha, and Dan'l H. Hoge of Montgomery, were all put in nomination ; but all except Dr. Harris and Mr. Pendleton were afterw^ards withdraw^n. After zealous and urgent appeals for the candidates, a vote was taken, and the result was — Harris, 29,126 Pendleton, 27;859 McComas, 1,121 Edmundson, 2,880 Hoge, 1,015 Necessary to a choice, 31,002. No election. The names of Dr. Harris and Mr. Pendleton were withdrawn. Mr. McComas was again put in nomination, and Col. W. H. Harman was also nominated. A spirited series of eulogies of the nominees ensued, and the vote being taken, was announced, after a recess, as follows : McComas, 32,520 Harman, 26,447 Mr. McComas was declared duly nominated ; and on motion of Col. Har- man the nomination was made unanimous. W. P. Bocock, the then Attorney General, was re-nominated by accla- mation. Mr. McComas being present addressed the Convention. The following resolution was adopted: Resolved, That the official career of Franklin Pierce has been marked by a perfect observance of the limitations of the Constitution and an entire fidelity to the principles upon which he came into power; and therefore ha is entitled to the confidence of the friends of Constitutional Liberty in every section of the Confederacy. So the result of the proceedings of the Convention was the following tickcjt I For Governor— HENRY A. WISE, of Accomac. For Lieut. Governor— ELISHA W. McCOMAS, of Kanawha. For Attorney General— WILLIS P. BOCOCK, of Richmond. 32 The Convention adjourned si7ie die a little after twelve o'clock at night, the Chairman making a brief valedictory address. The closing scenes were quite uproarious, but not acrimonious as those at an earlier period of the session had been. COMMENTS OF THE PRESS UPON THE STAUNTON NOMINEES. These nominations did not give general satisfaction to Ihe Democratic party throughout the state. The principal objection was to Mr. Wise who had voted for the Whig nominees in 1840, and been a very warm op- ponent of General Jackson in Congress. Although Mr. Wise had been a strict adherent to the party since 1841, and been honored as a public ser- vant by John Tyler and James K. Polk, and performed efficient service on various occasions; yet it was the disposition of many not to give him their support. He was held up to the party as an inconsistent, self-willed, dan- gerous, and unstable man. The Know-Nothings affected great satisfaction at the result of the Staunton deliberations. No candidate*ever went before the people for any office under more discouraging circumstances than Mr. Henry A. Wise. Never was a candidate before so little understood, or so much misrepresented and slandered; but we shall see how gallantly and success- fully he surmounted these difficulties : From the (Rockingham) Valley Democrat. Our Nominees. — In obedience to the behest of the Democratic Conven- tion held in Staunton last week, we proudly throw our banner to the breeze, inscribed on its ample folds the names of Wise, McComas and BococK, the chosen standard-bearers of the Democratic party in the coming guberna- torial contest. We frankly acknowledge the nominations are not our first choice. We preferred others, and endeavored to secui-e their nomination in Convention. We, however, were disappointed in our wishes, the majority thinking the above ticket the most acceptable one to be recommended to the Democracy of Virginia. We, therefore, surrender our predilections upon the altar of our party, and shall use our utmost exertions to secure the election of the ticket. _ It cannot be denied by any that the ticket is composed of men of the highest order of intellect. They are men around whom any party may be proud to rally. Our candidate for governor, Henry A. Wise, the fearless tribune of the people, will sweep the state like an avalanche. As an emi- nent Southern and fearless advocate of civil and religious liberty we could desire no better leader. His eloquent voice will summon the Democracy to the contest like the red cross of Murdock the sons of Clan-Alpine to tlie fight. It will arouse the latent energies of the old and excite the enthusiasm of the young — a blaze of enthusiastic fire will burn from every crag and from every cliff, and be reflected from the broad waters of the Ohio to the billowy ocean. Its echoes, like the shrill whistle of Rhoderick Dhu, will arouse the Democracy from the lowlands and the highlands, before whose resistless march the contemptible ism of the day and miserable trumperies of an hour will be scattered like autumnal leaves before the rao-ins: whirlwind. 33 We deem it superfluous to spealc of his political character. In the halls of legishition he has won a national reputation, and stands before the country as a brilliant orator and accomplished statesman. Like Portia, his private character is above reproach. The breath of suspicion has not even dared to dim its lustre and brightness. Our candidate for Lieutenant Governor, E. W. McComas, is a young man of ability and of the strictest integrity. As a member of the late Re- form Convention he distinguished himself as an able and eloquent debater, and fearless advocate of the people's rights. He is eminently qualified for the position, and cannot fail to make an excellent presiding officer of the ienate. He has borne the flag of his country on the burning plains of Mex- ico, and won the. distinction of a brave and generous soldier. He will ably sustain the leader of the Democracy in bearing aloft the democratic banner, and is entitled and should receive the cordial support of the democratic party of Virginia. The name of Willis P. Bocock, our candidate for Attorney General, is familiar to the people of Virginia. He has proven himself to be a sound and able lawyer, pre-eminently qualified for the position to which he has been elevated. We trust the democracy will honor him again with their confi- dence. Our candidates are now in the field, and it behooves every lover of demo- cratic principles to buckle on his armor and go forth to battle against the hosts of Federalism and Know-Nothingism. The old flag ship of democracy must be kept on the old democratic platfortr of Jefferson and Madison. If the democracy do their duty we doubt not the r'^sult. With such chivalric spirits as Wise, McComas and Bocock as leaders, the democratic party proudly go forth to the battle, and challange our opponents to marshal their forces under whatever flag they may see proper. We care not whether it- be under the banner of Federalism or the contemptible, droopino- and cowardly oriflamb of Know-Nothingism ; we shall meet them with the same pleasure, confident that our gallant champions will fearlessly and gallantly bear the States-Rights banner triumphantly to victory. Democrats of the Tenth Legion ! sleep not at your posts! If you would fulfil the just expectations of your party, and acquit yourselves with credit, you must prepare for the contest. Let action, action! be your motto — plant the standard of democracy upon every hill-top and in every valley, and rally beneath its broad folds, with unity of feeling and sentiment, for Wise, McComas and Bocock. Not less emphatic w^as the endorsem.ent of the Richmond Examiner,, which had most earnestly, of all the Democratic journals, remonstrated against the nomination of Mr. Wise. We extract its declaration of adhesion to the Staunton nominations: From the Richmond Examiner of December 8th, 1S54. We should feel sorry, indeed, if there could be any doubt as to the course we and those who acted with us at Staunton shall pursue in the canvass now commenced. We shall go for the ticket. We have attested the sincerity of our preferences for men, openly, honestly and sufficiently. We have done so without reference to the maxim which modern political ethics have made a cardinal rule of conduct with successful candidates, that they have friends to reward and enemies to punish ; for we went to Staunton under the convic- tion that we should not be able to overcome the vote by which our preferences were defeated. The question between men has been decided against us by regular and authoritative adjudication. The only question now is between the ticket of the Republican party of Virginia and that of the opposition \o 3 34 it, of whatever hue, form and creed. There is but one honorable choice ; and, whether the opposition comes from the bosom of the Democratic party itself, or the dark caverns of secret conspiracy, or the veteran, scarred ranks of the ancient, open, declared Whig adversary, or from all quarters com- bined, we shall defend the Staunton nominations. We have no fulsome eulogy for the distinguished nominees. We are more skilled in the language of censure than of laudation. Panegyric is not our forte, nor man-worship our besetting sin. But we will say, that Mr. Wise is eminently worthy of the confidence and support of the Virginia people. His brilliant qualities as a man will reflect lustre upon the office for which he is recommended. He is a man to whom we have never felt but one objection personally, and that was, that though as sound in politics now as the strictest Republican of the Virginia school, his career had been incon- sistent and his record contradictory in a manner and to a degree which ren- dered it difficult for the party speakers and writers in this canvass to defend him, according to the old mode of party reasoning. We have said this fre- quently, and v/e do not mean to unsay it in the canvass at hand. But of all claims to public office, those of the mere party men are the flimsiest and most wretched. Consistency, in the mere party sense — that of having voted the party ticket blind, on all occasions, %'right or wrong, through thick and thin — that of having sworn and argued that a measure was right whenever it was endorsed by party, and wrong whenever not — consistency of this base, cheap, description, is anything but "a jewel." The man who is ever faith- ful to his own convictions, scorning to submit his judgment to the behests either of party or of any other influence but his own conscience, is a true man, and is very apt to be fit recipient of public trust. The man who holds no opinion of his own, and who boasts to have never differed from his party in any act or thought of his life, is more apt to be a demagogue than a states- man. True consistency lies in fidelity to one's convictions of duty, however changing; and he is the safe politician who boldly avows and bravely adheres to those convictions under all circumstances. It is remarked that all the really great women the world has produced have held peculiar notions on the point of virtue. It is certain that the greatest statesmen of our country have been distinguished for their political inconsistency. Even Jefferson himself repu- diated in the w'ritings from Monticello the anti-slavery principles to which the prime of his life had been devoted. Jackson went into the executive office advocating some of the worst measures of the Federalists, proclaimed during his administration the most alarming and arrogant Federal dogmas, and yet laid down the reins of government with the merited reputation of a hero and champion of state rights. Calhoun, the honest politician, the Cato of his day, may be quoted on both sides of almost every great measure of public jx)licy. Honesty, fidelity, capacity — the JefTersonian tests — these, at last, are the true qualifications for office. Consistency, in the vulgar accep- tation, belongs oftener to the demagogue and ignoramus than to the honest politician and the capable statesman. Those high personal qualities which make us love, admire, and trust in men, belong oftener to the rash, impul- sive and brave, than to the cautious, calculating, and "consistent." If j^ou judge Mr. Wise by the acts of his life, we admit that, in our opinion, he has few claims to consistency. But if you judge him by the impulses of his nature, and the fidelity and chivalric bravery of his adherence to them, the verdict in his favor is emphatic and beyond question. The political horizon is filled with admonitions of trouble. The recent elections at the north reveal a state of feeling very portent^ous to the south. We are upon the eve of times which will try men's soul^. Let us have a tried, brave, true southern man in the executive office of Virginia. At a time like this, let us look to the metal of our men, rather than to their 35 "records." The Democracy of Virginia have declared at Staunton that they care not for political antecedents or partisan animosities, twenty years gone by, in the presence of the danger now threatening the south. They have resolved that old and obsolete diflcrences, such as used to divide them from their political opponents at home, are not to be remembered against the true southern man in a contest upon that issue above all other issues — north- ern aggression against southern rights, There is significance in the nomination of Mr. Wise. The Democracy of of Virginia have resolved, in disregard of past domestic animosities and old differences of opinion, to manifest their stern, uncompromising temper on the sectional issue by the man they mean to place at the head of affairs. When we make Henry A. Wise governor of Virginia, the north will know what we mean. Mr. McComas is comparatively a young man ; but has already distin- guished himself by valuable public service. He has fought gallantly and won enviable laurels upon the field of battle. He was a member of the Re- form Convention of 1850-51 ; and served with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He has always been a zealous advocate of the doctrines of State Rights; and, since he was entitled to a vote, has been an active, efficient and consistent Democrat. Mr. Bocock has already passed the ordeal of the polls; and has proved an industrious, faithful and eminently able officer. The testimony to his efficiency, capacity and industry in the office of Attorney General, is unqual- ified and conclusive, and is alike creditable to himself and to the party which conferred the office upon bim. The reasons in favor of rallying to this ticket are conclusive; and we in- voke all the Democracy of Virginia to a zealous and active support of it. W"e repeat our sincere and candid opinions : The party will do its duty : — There is no danger of defeat. CONFIDENCE OF THE OPPOSITION. The opposition v.'ere so confident that the Staunton state ticket had produced schism and discord in the Dem.ocratic ranks, that the Richmond Whig made bold to forewarn the Democracy of their coming fate, in the following language : " The indications of public sentiment throughout the country, as far as we can gather it, from the tone of the Whig and Democratic press, and from our private correspondence, foreshadow a gloomy prospect for the nominees of the Staunton Convention. In the Whig ranks there is union of senti- ment, harmony of action, and resolution of purpose ; in the Democratic ranks there is discord, apprehension, and a general and growing mistrust. * * * We can assure our neighbor that the great W^hig party is vital ia its existence — firmly united — and fully prepared for a successful campaign. At the proper time, and in due form, and with united forces, it will unfold its banner, and we fear nothing for its success." As soon as it was known in other parts of the Union that the Democracy of Virginia were ready for the conflict, with the hitherto invincible Know- Nothings, all eyes were turned upon the state. It was well known that the Democracy had to contend with a formidable, wily and insidious enemy, flushed with victory. The Democratic party felt its danger and the respon- 36 sibility of its position. Their brethren of the southern states felt a deep anxiety for the success of the Democracy of a state that had always repu- diated and withstood Federalism in all its Protean characters. The Wash, ington Sentinel contained the following article counseling the party against the snares of the enemy, the boasts of the new party, and calling upon Vir- ginia to preserve her escutcheon untarnished : The Virginia Elections. — The state of Virginia is regarded at this time with great interest by all parties. In a few months elections for state ofTi- cers and members of Congress will be held, and more than ordinary prepa- rations are now being made for the opening canvass. The ancient renown of that venerable commonwealth, her undeviating consistency, and her poli- tical influence, attract to her a large share of public attention. Thoroughly and consistently Democratic, as she has ever been, the Demo- crats are naturally solicitous that she should maintain that character. When other states have faltered and fallen, she has been irue and unflinching, and hence it would be a signal triumph for the opposition if they could gain her. To that triumph they proudly and ambitiously aspire. Already they begin to boast. Months in advance of the election, here in Washington, they be- gin to claim the victory. They have rolls, lists and records. In imagination they have elected their governor and stricken down several Democratic members of Congress. They give the figures with great precision, and holdlv aver, that all arrangements to secure their success have been com- pletely consummated. It is meet that the free citizens of Virginia should know that grand coun- cils have gravely assembled to decide for whom they shall vote, and that instructions have been issued which they are imperiously required to obey. The time was when they owed allegiance to their state. That time has passed. The time was, when they announced their opinions and their pur- poses in the open streets and in the public highways. That time, too, has passed. Those mysterious men who sprung up from the gutters of New York and commenced their remarkable career by carrying city elections, have swept with a success almost unparalleled the abolitionized state of Massachusetts, where Democrats were odious, and even Free Soil Whigs were wanting in rankness — these mysterious men have taken the good old state of V^irginia under their especial guardianship. In the secret lodges — at the midnight conclaves, in Boston and in New York, in Chicago and Syra- cuse, they pray and they weep over the proud old commonwealth. They have vowed to win her, and no effort will be spared to execute that vow. We are told that here in Washington plans have been consummated by which the fate of Democracy in Virginia is sealed ! Of course we attach no importance to the information. It is but the boast that is designed to dis- courage Democrats and encourage the opposition. The opposition ! What is it ? It is not that old and respectable and avowed Whig opposition that we were wont to encounter, with Bank, Tariff and Distribution inscribed on its banners. It is not that opposition that Clay led and Webster battled for. It is a fusion, an amalgation of isms. For the first time fusion is proposed in Virginia. For the first time an ism has dared to rear its crest in that ancient Dominion. Those who join this opposition will not do as our opponents of the olden time were accustomed to do. They will not stand up and declare their sen- timents like freemen. When these men meet in the open streets and the public highways, they will give mysterious signals — that none but the initi- ated can understand. They dare not talk out like honest men. Has the Old Dominion fallen so low that her sons are afraid to proclaim 37 their sentiments? Are thone who are wont to Intercliange their opinions on public affairs, when they met at court greens, at country stores, or at cross roads, struck dumb by a secret and a despotic association that had its origin in a distant state, with different institutions? We devoutly pray that no such degeneracy will curse that good old state, whose greatest fault has been that she uttered her sentiments too boldly. Yet, it cannot be denied that the opposition to Democracy, in Vir- ginia, has resolved itself into this mysterious organization. Most of those who were Whigs, are Whigs no longer. Without pretending to be convinced of the unsoundness of their principles, they have renounced those principles, and gone over to a party- that professes its willingness to support either a Bank or an anti-Bank, a Tariff or anti-Tariff, a Distribution or an anti-Distribution man. Indeed, although nearly the whole of those who belong to this opposition to the Democracy of Virginia are Whigs, they declare, privately and publicly, that they would rather sup- port Democratic than Whig candidates. Two contradictions are involved in this declaration. First, that being Whigs, they should prefer Democrats ; and, secondly, that, prefering Democrats, they should oppose the regular Democratic nominees. This contradiction, or rather these contradictions, are explained in this way : They want to get disappointed and disaffected Democrats to run against the regular nominees, in order to relieve them- selves of the odium of being a Whig organization, and in order to entice Democrats into that organization. But we are happy to say that the better sort of Whigs — those M'ho scorn impure alliances, those who love open honesty and manly independence, and who will not agree to be controlled by a secret society that sprang up outside of Virginia and in an anti-slavery state, will not act in conjunction with this opposition. They will do as many of the strongest Whigs of Illinois did in the recent election in that state. They will vote for the Democratic candi- dates. If they are forced to quit their party, they will rather vote with an open, a manly, and an honest party, than with a secret and a mysterious order that has disbanded and scattered them. ; A state rights Whig is more a Democrat than a Know-Nothing. THE CRY OF DISAFFECTION. A report was industriouily circulated throughout the state that many of the most prominent men of the party were not only dissatisfied with the Staunton ticket, but would not give it their support. This had not only a great tendency to dissatisfy a large portion of the masses, but almost threat- ened a rupture, the very object aimed at by the Know-Nothing party. The report was false. It was true that there were some dissatisfied individ- uals who had had the confidence of the Democratic party; but these were, for the most part, or had been regarded, to use a popular term, as " fishy." It was these persons, claiming prominence and position in the party, and considering their claims for ofhce and honor overlooked, that exhibited these disloyal pro- clivities. But the report was wholly untrue in regard to the sound members of the party. The Charlottesville Jeffersonian disposed in the following very effectual manner of the report in regard to several prominent and influential men: 38 From the Charlottesville Jeffersonian. One of the many means resorted to by the Whigs, in order to produce disafFection in the Democratic party towards their nominees, is the state- ment which has been going the rounds of the opposition press, to the effect that five of the Democratic members of Congress from Virginia, (viz:) Messrs. Bayly, Letcher, McMullen, Smith and Powell, would not sustain the nomination of Mr. Wise. Now, for the satisfaction of our Democratic friends, we are authorized to state upon authentic information, that this ru- mor is a sheer fabrication of the enemies of the Democratic party, and that all the above named gentlemen, together with the entire Virginia delegation in Congress, will 'support Mr. Wise and the rest of the ticket. We Avere assured by Mr. Powell himself, in a personal interview Avith him, that the entire ticket would receive his support. The friends of Mr. Leake should not permit any such influences to induce them to withhold their support from the nominee of our party. We have been assured by Mr. Leake himself, that he, too, would give a zealous support to the nomination of Mr. Wise, and he urf!;es that all of his friends should do likewise ; since, in refusing to support Mr. Wise, they may lose everything, and cannot by possibility gain anything. They may not only lose the governor, but also their delegates to the Legislature, and their representatives in Congress. Issues of momen- tous importance depend upon the triumph of the Democracy in the approach- ing election. The New York Herald and its co-adjutors boast that they have for the present prostrated the administration party in the North, and they urge upon their friends in Virginia by all means to defeat Mr. Wise, or they regard his election as a test of the strength of the administration, and of Democratic States Rights principles in Virginia. They regard Mr. Wise as a champion of the administration in its support of the constitutional guarantees of the South. They know, moreover, that his election would crush out Nnow-Nothingism in this section of the Union, and would present an impassable barrier to tlie progress of that fusion which in the North has resulted in the election of a majority of anti-Nebraska and anti-Fugitive Slave Law men to Congress. Hence their anxiety tO' have him defeated. As we intimated above, in the approaching election, not only the supremacy of the Democratic party in the executive department of our state government, but the political complexion of the next Legislature, and of the Virginia representation in both Houses of Congress are involved. Upon the next Legislature will devolve the duty of electing two United States Senators, in the place of Messrs. Mason and Hunter, whose terms will soon expire. We, therefore, regard the success of our county delega- tions, and of our candidates for Congress, and the consequent ascendancy of the Democracy of Virginia in both branches of the National Legislature, as of paramount importance. For it is evident already, that another great bat- tle must be fought on the floor of Congress, with the anti-Nebraska, Know- Nothing Fusionists of the North, who, 'tis said, have now a majority in the House of Representatives. We would entreat our friends, then, for the sake of the success of our county delegations, and of our faithful and sterling representative in Congress, Hon. Paulus Powell, if from no other considera- tion, to come up unitedly to the support of the nominees of the party, and present an unbroken phalanx, as in days past, to the common enemies of Democracy. 39 MK. WISE OPENS THE CANVASS-HIS ANTECEDENTS. The Hon. Henry A. Wise, after publishing a list of appointments, opened the canvass at Ashland Hall, Norfolk city, January the 5th, 1855, in the manner thus described by the Argus newspaper of that city : The campaign was commenced on Wednesday evening at Ashland Hall by our gallant and glorious nominee for Governor, in an address to a most crowded^audience. The room was filled to overflowing by the most eager listeners, whom the eloquence of his \ ords held strictly attentive for over two hours. The address was his own — such as he alone can deliver — forci- ble, well arranged, argumentative; abounding in the most bitter sarcasm and the most soothing appeals. It was one of his noblest efforts. Ot its effect, we can say, as our neighbor of the J\'ews, that "we can only judge by the strict order maintained, the earnest attention with which it was heard, and the frequent bursts of applause that followed his telling, sabre- like flashes of eloquence." His words "were as fire that ran," and thrilled the whole audience. He reviewed briefly and lucidly his opinions on those principles upheld by the Democratic party for government, both federal and state — the great fundamentals of all republican institutions, and the safety of our own glorious Union. He, in every way, surrounded himself by arguments and illustrations that were unanswerable ; and when he burst forth upon the principles that underlie the Know-Nothing question, he portrayed the real views of this secret organization; the fallacy of its positions; its proscrip- tion on account of religion ; and exposed fully the dangers that were to fol- low from the success of a secret political party. His views were such as to render conclusive to the mind of any man as to which side he should take in this new sect — that of openly expressing whatever touches on po- litical questions. It would be useless in us to attempt to give even a sy- nopsis of his speech. His manner is so original, his style so pecuharly his own, and the force of his remarks such, that in attempting to give them in synopsis by our own words, would be futile and weak. We may recur again to this subject. One must hear Mr. Wise for himself. With us it is as with Job — our language must be, " Whom I shall see [and hear] for myself, and not for another." As soon as Mr. Wise thus sounded the note of battle, the Know-Nothing and Whig press commenced an examination of his political antecedents. Their great effort was to prove that he had been an active Whig in the vigor of his life, had been an acknowledged and most distinguished leader of that organization, and that he now proclaimed that he had " no recan- tations to make." Never was the political history of any man so little under- stood by the masses as that of Henry A. Wise, during the late canvass in Virginia. We will here introduce Mr. Wise's own explanation as appeared in Uie Richmond Engidrer, April 14, 1843. This explanation is satisfactory to every unprejudiced mind, and did much to allay the prejudices of the "old line Democracy" against him: 40 MR. WISE IN 1843. To the Editor of the Enquh-er : NORTHUMBERLAKD, ApRIL 4, 1843. Dear Sir : — Yesterday was a great day in old N'orthumberland. Mr. Wise was here, and the high character he brought with him, acquired in Congress, and from the hustings, drew out an unusually large concourse of persons. I had often heard of his powers before the people ; but his efforts on this occasion exceeded my most extravagant calculations. He enchained the attention of his audience for about four hours, in a speech characterised for ability, eloquence, and the most withering sarcasm. He commenced by giv- ing us a history ( f his political career, begun about ten years ago in the Congress of the United States, and showed, conclusively, that so far as tfie great principles which at present agitate the country, the Bank, the Tariff, Internal Improvement, Distribution, and Abolition are concerned, he has not changed one jot or tittle. The evidence he adduced was irresistible. No candid and unprejudiced mind could have listened to him and not been con- vinced. He stated, (what I have no doubt was the fact,) that John Tyler was nominated at Harrisburg, because of his States Rights Republican Whig principles, and that there was in that Convention a union of National Republicans and States Rights Whigs, for a common object, (with the un- derstanding that the states rights doctrines were to be carried out, if they succeeded,) and that object, the defeat of Mr. Van Buren, to whose re-elec- tion Mr. Wise was then opposed — that this same republican portion of the Whig party was that fragment of the old Jackson party that had gone off under the white flag of '36 — that as soon would oil and water unite, as the principles of the old Hamiltonian federal party, and those of the republican states rights portion of the Whig party of 1840 — and that, upon their ascendancy to power, should they, (the federal portion of the Whig party of 1840,) at- tempt to carry out the federal doctrines, the states rights portion, who had no sympathy for them in principle, would rebel — and that the party common of 1840, must be dissolved into its original elements. This, Mr. Wise de- monstrated, as with a pencil of light, was the relative position of the repub- lican and federal wing of the great Whig army, when General Harrison came into power. In relation to his Hanover letter, to which allusion, in eome way by speech, sign, or manner, was made, he explicitly said, before he ever pledged his support in any form to Mr. Clay, he obtained a distinct avowal of his sentiments, and a pledge in regard to Jive cardinal points. Said he, "Mr. Clay, we differ widely upon fundamental principles, which must ever be a gulf between us, unless relinquished by you. How do you stand on the subject of a bank ? Virginia is opposed to one." " Why, my dear sir," replied Mr. Clay, " this is a subject, which, whatever may be my theoretical views, the public mind is not now ripe for, and T am perfectly "willing to leave it to 'the arbitrament of public opinion." " But, Mr. Clay, on the subject of the Tariff, you are looked upon as the father of this system, and you are so wedded to it, you could hardly be tempted to give it up. I am uncompromisingly opposed to it." "Why," said Mr. Clay, "all I wanted in the first instance, was to give a stimulus to the manufacturing interests of the country. That is already done. I am perfectly willing to abide by the compromise act — however much we differ upon the subject, theoretically, practically, we will be together." " But then, Mr. Clay, on the subject of internal improvement, how are you?" "Why, my dear sir, all I wished was to encourage a spirit of improvement among the states, and this has been carried already too far by the states themselves." " But on the subject of abolition of slavery in the District, Mr. Clay, you admit the 41 power of Congress to'act upon the subject, upon the principle of 'exclusive legislation,' " ° " My dear sir," rejoined ]Mr. Clay, "while these are my opinions conscientiously formed, I am a son of Virginia, and a slaveholder of Kentucky, and I would suffer the tortures of the inquisition, before I woukl sign a bill having for its object the abolition of slavery in the District, or in any manner give countenance to the subject," Now, by these pro- fessions and tests, how wide were Mr. Clay and Mr. Wise, prndicalhj apart? and had not Mr. Wise every reason to suppose that Mr. Clay, as a gentle- man, would literally fulfil these pledges ? Let those who are holding up this Hanover letter in judgment against Mr. Wise, take it in connection with these pledges of Mr. Clay, and Mr. Clay's own Hanover speech, and they are w^elcome to all the advantage they can derive. Mr. Wise admitted he had undergone more changes with respect to Mr. Clay, as a man, than he had ever done towards any one in his life — that he went to Congress the first time with strong prejudices and no very kind feelings towards him — that it was a long tim'^e bef'ore he had an introduction to him — and that when political co-operation brought them together, he felt the fascination and power of the charmer. Now, Mr. Wise says, for reasons which he assigned, and which are perfectly satisfactory to every unprejudiced and honest mind, he has no opinion of Henry Clay, either as a politician or as a ma?i. Ha has forfeited his respect forever as to both. But to return to the canvass of 1840, and the events which have suc- ceeded. In 1840, pending the contest of that memorable campaign, whilst Mr. Clay was looking forward to succeed General Harrison, and to be "the power behind the throne, greater than the throne itself," — in his administra- tion, he was the enthusiastic admirer of Mr. Wise, never meeting him after a separation, however short, but with the utmost cordiality and kindness. After the election, and Virginia had gone against General Harrison, what was his manner on meeting Mr. Wise in Washington ? Cordial as before? No, says Mr. Wise, but with the cold salutation :" " How do you do, sir ? I con- gratulate myself that Virginia has gone for Mr. Van Buren ; we will no longer be embarrassed by her peculiar opinions." Well may this expression hav-e struck Mr. Wise w'ith amazement. The cloven foot was shown — the policy of the Federal Whigs was developed by their leader. " No longer embarrassed by her peculiar opinions," by which he intended contempt and derision of " Virginia abstractions," or of a strict construction of our glori- ous Federal Constitution. From that hour, Mr. Wise's confidence was gone, and Avho could blame him for indulging feelings of indignation towards a man who had wormed himself artfully into his confidence, and when he had seen the Whig ticket triumph despite of the opposition of Virginia, turned his^ back" upon his pledges, and disregarded those courtesies and civilities which characterize the intercourse of mutual friends? With such a man, ambition is the vortex which swallows up every kind feeling of the human heart, and leaves scarcely a redeeming quality behind. An extra session of Congress was called, and, though Mr. Clay had agreed praciicalhj to go along with Mr. Wise, all those measures which had been renounced and o-iven up by Mr. Clay in 1840, were sought in hot haste, through his instru- mentality, to be palm"ed off upon the nation. The bank question, which was to be left to the enlightenment of public opinion, was snatched from the people — a rivalry was begot between Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster, in conse- quence of General Harrison's preference for the latter ; and ere the old chief had been killed by the annoyance of hungry office-seekers, (the Simon Pures of 1840,) and the course of political aspirants for the presidency, Mr. Clay secretly aimed at his admmistration the artillery of war. All this Mr. Wise proved, and proved satisfactorily. The compromise act was violated, and an 42 odious bankrupt law passed, contrary to every pledge Mr. Clay had made Mr. Wise. Mr. Wise, in the course of his address, triumphantly vindicated John Tyler against the charges of treachery, Lscariotism, Arnoldism, immorality, fraud, dishonesty, and the thousand and one coarse and malicious epithets which have been heaped upon him by Federal Whiggery, without stint and without measure. He proved, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that Mr. Tyler had always been opposed to the constitutionalit}^ of a bank, and that he could not have signed a charter without peijury — that there was no evidence to show that even General Harrison would have signed a bank charter; and he quoted the letter of the General in '22, wherein he states, the Bank of the United States is unconstitutional, it not being necessary to carry out an expressly granted power, and that had he the power, he Avould issue ^ fieri facias, and revoke the charter — and, also, the Whig address in Richmond in 1840, wherein it is claimed for General Harrison, that he is as much opposed to the United States Bank as any man could be, and far sounder upon that sub- ject than Mr. Van Buren. Mr. Wise said he advised freely with Mr. Tyler upon the subject of a bank — that he differed from him as to its constitution- ality, but, at the same time, urged him to take that course which his con- science dictated, without regard to whom it might offend or whom please — that if he could do so, as did Mr. Madison, according to the principle of stare decisis, to do so, but to take care and sign only a full-blooded animal, no mongrel — only such as would confer most benefit upon the country — but to take his own course in the matter, and not to compromit by his advice, his character, his conscience or his honor. Mr. Wise said he had frequently witnessed the agony of that man upon this very question, and had seen him almost sweat drops of blood, and wished that he could have been in his place, as he believed he had the nerve to look down with scorn and contempt upon his revilers and slanderers, and those reptiles whose business it is to assail private character to subserve party and ambitious ends. Mr. Wise farther said, they had tried every way they could to entrap John Tyler, and that the very bill prepared by Mr. Clay himself contained the same objectionable feature as that of Mr. Ewing, which Mr. Clay had contemptuously denomi- nated "a rickety concern" — that any bill John Tyler could have framed, or any friend of Mr. Webster, would have met his unqualified condemnation — that he wanted the credit himself of preparing the bill, and getting through Congress all the Whig measures, that he might retire to Ashland upon the dignity of these measures, become the idol of the Whig party, and the can- didate for the succession. Mr. Wise, in defining his position upon the bank question, said, though he differed from Mr. Tyler, and knew he differed in 1840, he had merged that into questions which he considered of far srreater magnitude. Though he believed a United States Bank constitutional, the time had passed for chartering onr. The first effect of a bank, he contended, was depletive, and he cited in proof the history of the country from 1816 to 1825. He assimilated the condition of the country now to a patient who was already prostrate from the loss of blood, and asked if, in this state of things, a physician would be found so rash and foolish as to think of taking more blood, and thereby sink the powers of the system beyond the point of reaction. He said the fate of the United States Bank and the Bank of Penn- sylvania, which was but a continuation of it; the cries of orphans and widows who had been reduced to penury and want hy its explosion ; and the fact that Nicholas Biddle, with all his financial knowledge, once standing high in public estimation, had failed to make it a benefit, and himself become a bankrupt in character and person, all admonished us that no such institu- tion could ever again find favor with the people of the United States. 43 IMr. Wise'showed, and showed from the record, the Whig address of 1840, that if all deserters are to be shot, Mr. Tyler and himself should not be selected as the victims, but those who put forth their princij)les in 1840, and have since abandoned them; and humorously said, that if such were the sentence, and the words "take aim, fire" to be given, you would see no little dipping and doging in the crowd, among the old Hamiltonian National Repub- lican Federalists, who had long cherished and often lauded the doctrines of Hamilton, Pickering and Adams to the stars. He also satisfied all who heard him, that in regard to the Ciiley duel, the mountain of odium, which he had borne, should properly have rested upon the shoulders of another. He said that it was a fair duel — but that if censure and odium attached to any one, it should be to Henry Clay, for he was the counseller and adviser, and dictated the terms of the duel — that he (Mr. W.) protested against the rifle and the language of the challenge, which closed the door to an adjustment of the ditliculty, but was overruled by Mr. Clay — that he expressed an unwilling- ness to be the bearer of a challenge so uncompromising in its character, but at length yielded to appeal from Mr. Graves, who reminded him that he had been his friend on a similar occasion. The development of these facts was made by him, because, when his character was assailed, and assailed unjustly, as Mr. Clay knew, Mr. Wise appealed to him to do him justice, and put this matter right before the nation, Mr. Clay avoided all opportunity to do so, and no alternative was left Mr. Wise but to suffer the odium, or else give the facts to the public. Mr. Wise, in conclusion, said his private vote was his own, and he should tell no one how or for whom it should be given in the coming presidential election. But he would not hesitate to say for whom it should not be given: that he could never vote for Henry Clay, as constable, or anything else. He said he believed, to the fullest extent, 'in the right of the people to instruct their representatives ; and if the election went before Congress, and his dis- trict had voted for Mr. Clay, he should deposit his vote for him. Mr. Wise, upon the whole, made a most favorable impression. As a Virginian, I feel proud of him, and do applaud him for the gallant manner in which he has stood by Mr. Tyler, Virginia's own son, in one of the most trying positions in which man was ever placed, when slander with her thousand tongues was at work, and everything done by a reckless party to destroy the fair fame of an honest and upright man. THE ISSUES OF THE CANVASS. Know-Nothingism was introduced in Virginia under the specious guise of a great conservative organization ; knowing no North, no South, no East, no West; repudiating all sectionalism, and utterly discarding old party lines and old party issues. It professed to be national, republican, and constitu- tional in all its tenets and intentions. In the month of December, 1854, the Richmond Whig denied in the most emphatic terms, that the Know-Nothing party would supercede the old Whig party, counselled against the abandon- ment of a single Whig tenet ; but advised, nevertheless, a fusion with Know- Nothingism in a common effort to "expel the Goths and Vandals," who had so long ruled and plundered the state. Whig orators, Whig editors. Whig letter-writers and Whig politicians took up the role thus assigned them, de- claring that the Know-Nothing organization was no Whig trick, but a great 44 party of reform, embracing alike Democrats and Whigs. Rather than sub- mit to the victorious Democracy, the Whig and its party preferred to foster, encourage, uphold and advance a Northernism untried upon Southern soil. Thus were presented to the Democracy the old issues of Federalism, coupled with religious intolerance and proscription of foreigners. The Enquirer published the following commentary upon the issues of the canvass, January 8th, 1854: The Whig Flag in the Dust — Amalgamation with the Know- NoTHiNGs. — When, in its issue of the 25th December, the Richmond Whig scornfully repelled the suggestion that the Whig party of Virginia should abandon their organization and submit to the sway of Know-Nothingism, we did not suspect the sincerity of its purpose, nor mistrust the strength of its resolution. Nor for one moment did we entertain the thought that the Whig could be driven from its manly position by the threats of the American Or- gan, and be forced to accept, with expressions of satisfaction, the very over- ture which it had just rejected with an air of insulted dignity. From an article in the Whig of Wednesday, which proposes to indicate the present policy of its party, we select the following extract : " We remark, then, that our first impressions were in favor of holding a Whig State Convention. But subsequent reflection, and an impartial survey of the whole field, and a calm review of all the circumstances by which we are surrounded, have conducted us to an opposite conclusion. The Whig party, at the last trial of strength, was in a large minority in the state, and Avhile we believe that we might, and probably would succeed alone, consid- ering the elements that might perhaps combine in our favor, yet it is better and safer, in our opinion, not to rely too confidently upon our own unaided strength, but to so act as to gather to our side, men of all parties and per- suasions who are sick of misrule and wish for reform. We counsel not the abandonment of a single Whig tenet, but only urge a course which will, first, effectually expel the Goths and Vandals, and ultimately, probably im- mediately, result in putting Whig measures and Whig policy in the ascend- ant. We, therefore, respectfully and kindly suggest to such of our friends as entertain a wish for a convention, to abandon it at once — at least for the present. If unforeseen circumstances should hereafter arise to render one necessary, March or April will be early enough to consider the matter." The contrast between the spirit of its former declaration, and the temper of this paragraph, is suthcientiy striking to convict the Whig of a very fla- grant inconsistency. But, it is not to this point that we wish to direct the attention of the public. The article in the Whig is not cited for any purpose of controversy, but to exhibit the policy of its party in this important crisis of public affairs. We have here the distinct avowal of its recognised organ that the Whig party of Virginia no longer exists as an independent organiza- tion, but is disbanded and merged into Know-Nothingism. And we have moreover the declaration, that the motive of this extraordinary proceeding springs from no higher impulse than an appetite for the spoils of office. We are reluctant to believe that the VVhig party of Virginia will submis- sively adopt the advice of their organ. The opinion we entertain of their character forbids the inference that they will consent to desert the flag under which they have fought so long and so gallantly, and transfer their principles and their allegiance to the up-start order of Know-Nothings. We may be deceived, but we will not admit the possibility of an absolute and ignomin- ious submission of the Whigs of Virginia to the insolent dictation of the Know-Nothings, until the surrender is ratified by the party. The leaders we know are too often ready to adopt any expedient that may gratify their lust of 45 power, but the honest masses of the Whig party are exempt from tlic influ- ence of any such motive, and, if we be not mistaken, they will indignantly refuse to play the menial and the lackey to a secret and suspected cabal of bigots and demagogues. The Whig, anticipating certain success from the coalition with the Know- Nothings, exultingly predicts the speedy ascendancy of Whig measures and Whig policy. If any well-meaning Deinocrat has been misled by the deceit- ful promises of Know-Nothingism, this declaration will startle him from his delusion, for it is equivalent to an avowal that the Know-Nothing organization is but a contrivance for the restoration of the Whig party to power. The article from the Whig is suggestive of much instructive reflection to the people of Virginia, and we propose to resume its consideration to-mor- row. Meanwhile, let it be borne in mind that the Richmond Whig recom- mends a fusion of Whigs and Know-Nothings, for the purpose of effecting an immediate restoration of Whig measures and Whig policy in the govern- ment of Virginia. " We counsel not the abandonment of a single Whig tenet, but only urge a course which will first effectually expel the Goths and Vandals, and ulti- mately, probably immediately, result in putting Whig measures and Whig policy in the ascendant." — [Richmond W/iig, Jan. 3. In the beginning, the Know-Nothing organization was represented as a protest of the people against the selfishness and corruption of politicians, and its ostensible aim was the reform of abuse and the rescue of the government from the despotism of party. Under this specious pretence, Know-JVothing- ism was introduced into Virginia, with a pledge from its advocates of equal antagonism to the Whig and Democratic parties. Its deceitful promise of neutrality and reform, seduced some Democrats from their party, and im- jDarted strength and impulse to the organization. We never mistook the character and tendency of Know-Nothingism. From the start, we denounced it as an imposture. We detected the falsity of its pretensions, and exposed the hidden purpose of its authors. We affirmed that it was at bottom a political movement, and foretold that if not aaTested it would result in the overthrow of the Democratic party. Our suspicions were justified, and our prediction fulfilled, in the progress of events. The political aim and party affinity of Know-Nothingism were soon developed in its successes. Every Know-Nothing triumph was achieved in alliance with the Whig party, and was in effect a Democratic defeat. Still the organs of Know-Nothingism protested its independence of party,, and persisted in the endeavor to seduce Democrats into its embrace. At last an alliance between the Whig party in Virginia and the Know- Nothings, has been concluded, and although its conditions have not been communicated to the \Vorld, an organ of one of the high contracting parties has very distinctly foreshadowed its effect. The prodigious boasting of the British journals, after the accession of Austria to the alliance of the Western Powers, is eclipsed by the excessive exultation of the Richmond Whig over tlie league between the Know-Nothings and the Whig party in Virginia. It will result, exclaims the Whig, in an ecstacy of enthusiam, "in the expulsion of the Goths and Vandals" — that is, the Democrats — from power, and "in the ultimate, if not immediate ascendancy of Whig measures and Whig policy." We thank the Whig for this candid avowal, and we trust that its simplicity and nnivete will not be corrupted by the associations into which it will be thrown by its alliance with the Know-Nothings. If the deceptive pretences of Know-Nothingism have seduced any honest Democrat into the order, he will make haste and come out of it, after learn- 46 ing that he is aiding in the ascendancy of Whig measures and Whig policy. It' any Democrat who has not yet foresworn allegiance to his party, imagines that there is nothing in the character or probable issue of the present canvass, to incite him to the zealous support of Wise, he will learn, from the declara- tion of the Richmond Whig, that the defeat of Wise will result in the expul- sion of the Goths and Vandals, and the ascendancy of Whig measures and Whig policy ; and learning this, he W'ill repress every feeling of disappoint- ment and disaffection, and exhibiting the disinterested devotion of a patriot, will throw himself with all his soul and all his might into a struggle on which depends the triumph or defeat of his party and his principles. The coalition is not animated by an impulse of personal hostility to Henry A. Wise, nor is its object limited to his defeat. It makes war upon him as the champion of the Democratic party, and it con-templates nothing less than the expulsion of the Goths and Vandals, and the ascendancy of Whig measures and Whig policy. The pretence of neutrality and independence of party, by which Know-Nothingism seeks to allure recruits to its standard, is a deception and a snare, and the aim of the organization is the ascendancy of Whig measures and Whig policy. Again we thank the Whig for its manly, out-spoken candor. Disdaining to practice a deception on the people, the Whig frankly avows what it ex- pects to accomplish by its alliance with the Know-Nothings. Let no man reproach it with indiscretion ; it saw the advahtage of secrecy and dissimu- lation, but chose rather than compromise its character, to apprise the Demo- cracy of the aim of the coalition, and to admonish them of the necessity of vigilance and etfort in defence of their principles. THE KNOW-NOTHING EITUAL EXPOSED. The Know-Nothing party or organization was the first political party in the history of this government that undertook to follow the example of the Ja- cobin clubs of France. This Know-Nothing part}'^ was one of the deepest and most skillfully panned, and most dangerous political movements that was ever concocted in any country. There were many true patriots that were deluded into the organization, some of whom had, and many of whom had not the courage to withdraw ; but we trust we shall be pardoned for express- ing the decided conviction that the leaders of the order should have their names classed in history with those of Burr and Arnold. This new party had a regularly prescribed ritual, to which every man who became a mem- ber had to conform. This ritual was composed of oaths, pass-words, signs, and ceremonies of initiation. Many who went through these ceremonies were offended with their puerility, and it is not surprising that some few, shocked at the incendiarism thus inculcated should, from a patriotic con- viction of duty, have resolved to lay them before their countrymen. We here introduce the ritual in full, as published in the various Democratic pa- pers of the state ; the authenticity of which was repeatedly acknowledged by members of the order. Mr. Wise was the first Democrat in the state that came in possession of the ritual. It was first exposed in the state of Illinois, and as soon as Governor Lybrook procured the ritual he endorsed it to Mr. Wise. Through Mr. Wise it was published simultaneously in the 47 Richmond Enquirer and Examiner, then copied by Democratic papers throughout the state. After the conclusion of the canvass, Mr. Wise en- closed it to the sender. Governor Lybrook. The Demecracy of Virginia re- turn to (iovernor Lybrook their sincere thanks for his efficient and timely service so considerately rendered to our gallant standard bearer. The Know-Nothing Ritual or "Constitution op the Grand Coun- cil OF the United States of North America — Adopted unani- mously, June 17, 1854 — the Anniversary of the Battle of Bun- ker Hill." article i. This organization shall be known by the name and title of The G?'and Council of the United States of JS'orth America, and its jurisdiction and power shall extend to all the states, districts, and territories of the United States of North America. ARTICLE II. A person to become a member of any subordinate council must be twenty- one years of age; he must believe in the existence of a Supreme Being as the Creator and Preserver of the Universe ; he must be a native born citi- zen ; a Protestant, born of Protestant parents, reared under Protestant in- fluence, and not united in marriage with a Roman Catholic; Provided, nev- ertheless, that in this last respect, the state, district, or territorial council shall be authorized to so construct their respective constitutions as shall best promote the interest of the American cause in their several jurisdictions; And provided, moreover, that no member who may have a Roman Catholic wife shall be eligible to any office in this order. ARTICLE HI. Sec. 1. The object of this organization shall be to resist the insidious policy of the Church of Rome, and other foreign influence against the in- stitutions of our country by placing in all offices in the gift of the people, or by appointment, none but native born Protestant citizens. Sec. "2. The Grand Council shall hold its annual meeting on the first Tuesday in the month of June, at such place as shall be designated by the Grand Council at the previous annual meeting, and it may adjourn from time to time. Special meetings shall be called by the President on the written request of five delegations representing five State Councils; Provi- ded, that sixty days' notice shall be given to the State Councils previous to said meeting. Sec 3. The Grand Council shall be composed of thirteen delegates, from each state, to be chosen by the State Councils ; and each district, or territory where a District or Territorial Council shall exist, shall be entitled to send five delegates, to be chosen from said Councils ; and when no Dis- trict or Territorial Council shall exist, such district or territory shall be en- titled to send five delegates, if five or more Subordinate Councils shall exist in such district or territory; Provided, that in the nomination of candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, each state shall be entitled to the same number of votes as they shall have members in both houses of Congress. In all sessions of the Grand Council, thirty-two dele- gates, representing tiiirteen states, territories, or districts, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Sec. 4. The Grand Council shall be vested with the following powers and privileges : It shall be the head of the organization for the United States of North 48 America, and shall fix and establish all signs, grips, pass-words, and such other secret work as may seem to it necessary. It shall have power to decide upon all matters appertaining to national politics. It shall have the power to exact fiom the State Councils quarterly or an- nual statements as to the number] of members under their jurisdictions, and in relation to all other matters necessary for its information. It shall have the power to form state, territorial or district councils, and to grant dispensations for the formation of such bodies when five subordinate councils shall have been put in operation in any state, territory or district, and application made. It shall have the power to determine upon a mode of punishment in case of any dereliction of duty on the part of its members or officers. It shall have the power to adopt cabalistic characters for the purpose of writ- ing or telegraphing — said characters to be communicated to the presidents of the State Councils, and by them to the presidents of the Subordinate Coun- cils. It shall have the power to adopt any and every measure it may deem neces- sary to secure the success of the organization ; provided, that nothing shall be done by the said Grand Council in violation of the Constitution ; and pro- vided, further, that in all political matters, its members may be instructed by the State Councils, and if so instructed, shall carry out such instructions of the State Councils which they represent until overruled by a majority of the Grand Council. ARTICLE IV. The president shall always preside over the Grand Council Avhen present, and in his absence the vice president shall preside, and in the absence of both, the Grand Council shall appoint a president pro lempore ; and the pre- siding officer may at all times call a member to the chair, but such appoint- ment shall not extend beyond one session of the Grand Council. ARTICLE V. Sec. 1. The officers of the Grand Council shall be a president, vice presi- dent, corresponding secretary, recording secretary, treasurer, two sentinels and such other officers as as tlie Grand Council may see fit to appoint from time to time, and the secretaries and sentinels may receive such compensa- tions as the Grand Council shall determine. Sec. 2. The duties of the several officers created by this Constitution shall be such as the work of this organization prescribes. article VI. Sec. 1. All officers provided for by this Constitution, except the sentinels, shall be elected annually by ballot. The president may appoint sentinels from time to time, or otherwise. Sec. 2. A majority of all the votes cast shall be requisite to an election to any office. Sec. 3. All officers and delegates must be full degree members of this organization. Sec. 4. All vacancies in the elective offices shall be filled by a vote of the Grand Council, and only for the unexpired term of the said vacancy. article VII. Sec. 1. The Grand Council shall entertain and decide all cases of appeal, and it shall establish a form of appeal. Sec. 2. The Grand Council shall levy a tax upon the State, District or Territorial Councils, for the support of the Grand Council, to be paid in such manner and at such times as the Grand Council shall determine. ARTICLE VIII. The Grand Council may alter or amend this Constitution, at any regular 49 annual meeting, by a two-thirds' vote of the members present; provided such amendment shall be adopted by a two-lhirds' vote of the Grand Coun- cil at its next succeeding annual meeting. On page 11 commences the "General Rules and Regulations," which occupy pages, 11, 12 and 13, and are as follows: GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS. Rule One. — Each state, district or territory in which there may exist five or more Subordinate Councils working under dispensations from the Grand Council of tiie United States of North America, or under regular dis- pensations from some itate, district or territory, are duly empowered to establish themselves into a State, District or Territorial Council, and when so established, to form for themselves constitutions and by-laws for their gov- ernment, in pursuance of and in consonance with the Constitution of the Grand Council of the United States ; provided, however, that all district or territorial constitutions shall be subject to the approval of the Grand Council of the United States. Rule Two. — All State, District or Territorial Councils, v.'hen established, shall have full power and authority to establish all Subordinate Councils within their i-espective limits ; and the constitutions and by-laws of all such Subordinate Councils must be approved by their respective State, District or Territorial Councils. Rule Three. — All State, District or Territorial Councils, when estab- lished and until the formation of constitutions, shall work under the Consti- tution of the Grand Council of the United States. Rule Four. — In all cases where, for the convenience of the organization, two State or Territorial Councils may be established, the two councils together shall be entitled to but tliirteen delegates in the Grand Council of the United' States — the proportioned number of delegates to depend on the number of members in the organization ; provided, that no state shall be allowed to have more than one State Council without the consent of the Grand Council of the United States. Rule Five. — In any state, district or territory, where there may be more than one organization working on the same basis (to wit: '•Lodges" and " Councils,") the same shall be required to combine; the officers of each organization shall resign, and new officers be elected ; and thereafter these bodies shall be known as State Councils and Subordinate Councils ; and nevr charters shall be granted to them by the Grand Council. Rule Six. — It shall be considered a penal offence for any brother not an officer of a Subordinate Council, to make use of the sign or summons adopted for public notification, except by direction of the president ; or for the officers of a council to post the same at any other time than from midnight to one hour before daybreak ; and this rule shall be incorporated into the by-laws of the State, District and Territorial Councils. Rule Seven. — The determination of the necessity and mode of issuing the posters for public notification shall be entrusted to the judgment of the State. District or Territorial Councils. Rule Eight. — The respective State, District or Territorial Councils shall be required to make statements of the number of membei-s within their respective limits at the next annual meeting of the Grand Council, and annually thereafter at the regular annual meeting. Rule Nine. — The Grand Council of the LTnited States shall pay from it9 treasury the necessary expenses of its members in attendance upon its ses- sions. Rule Ten. — Each State, District or Territorial Council shall be taxed ten dollars per annum for each Subordinate Council under its jurisdiction, said 4 50 tax to be paid in semi-annual instalments of five dollars each, payable in the months of June and December. Rule Eleven. — The following shall be the key to determine and ascer- tain the purport of any communication that may be addressed to the presi- dent of a State, District or Territorial Council by the president of the Grand Council, who is hereby instructed to communicate a knowledge of the same to said otficers : Rule Tw^elve. — The clause of the article of the constitution relative to belief in the Supreme being is obligatory upon every State and Subordinate Council, as well as upon each individual member. Pages 15 and 16 treat of " Special Votes," viz: SPECIAL VOTES. First. — This Grand Council hereby grants to the state of Virginia two State Councils — the one to be located in Eastern and the other in Western Virginia, the Blue Ridge mountains being the geographical line between the two jurisdictions. Second. — The president shall have power, till the next session of the Grand Council, to grant dispensations for the formation of State, District or Territorial Councils, in form most agreeable to his own discretion, upon appli- cation being made. Thjrd. — The delegates from the several states, districts or territories, who were elected for, or in attendance upon, this Grand Council, shall hold their seats for one year ; and the State, District or Territorial Councils are hereby authorized to fill up their respective delegations ; provided, that when there are two or more organizations in any one state, district or territory, the dele- gation shall be chosen after the union, as provided for by the Constitution of this Grand Council. Fourth. — The next meeting of the Grand Council shall be holden at Cincinnati on the third Wednesday of November, 1854, at 3 o'clock, P. M. Fifth. — Messrs. D , of New Jersey, D and S , of Massachusetts, are appointed a committee to examine, revise, correct, and prepare for publication, the constitution, general rules and regulations, and special votes of the Grand Council, with a list of the ofhcers and mem- bers, with their autograph address in full, and the states, districts or terri- tories they represent, and such other necessary matters as may be deemed expedient and judicious to publish, and forward the same to the printer; when issued, to the number of five hundred, a copy to be sent to each mem- ber of this Grand Council, and the residue to be placed at the disposal of the president. RITUAL. FIRST DEGREE COUNCIL. OUTSIDE. Marshal. — Gentlemen: Are you candidates for admission to this organiza- tion? [Each answers, "I am."] Marshal. — Before proceeding further it is necessary that you take an obli- gation of secrecy. Are you willing to take such an obligation ? [" I am."] Marshal. — You will now place yourselves in a position to receive it. [Po- sifioii. — Place the right hand on the Holy Bible and Cross.] Obligaiion. — You do solemnly swear* upon this Holy Bible and Cross, *In cases where candidates are known to be conscientious about taking an oath, ;o of habeas corpus — in a word, the privileges of trial which we ex- tend to the vilest negro. The other law — that against sedition — was intend- ed to close the mouths of the people, to prevent free discussion, to muzzle the press, to check the constituent from commenting upon the acts of his representatives, and to render the President sacred by penal enactments. The humblest mechanic, or editor, who should express in print his opinion of the President or any member of Congress, chai-ging them with faithlessness in the discharge of their duties, was liable under the Sedition law, to im- prisonment and a fine of two thousand dollars. Each single soul within the compass of this Union, native or foreign born, great or stnall, rich or poor, who uttered, whispered, or declared anything containing a charge against the President, was subject to the penalties of this abominable law. We have said that both the Alien and the Sedition laws were intended for the oppression of foreign born citizens. The Alien law was intended to bear upon none others than foreigners ; the Sedition law, as Adams well knew, would operate expressly against that class. During the administration of John vVdams, the brilliant and most uncompromising opponents of his unconstitutional measures, were the political refugees from other countries. These men having suffered from the oppression of monarchical laws at home, were naturally the advocates of a republican form of government. They believed with Thomas Jetlerson, in his letter to IMazzei, that under the blighting influence of Federalism, — " In the place of that noble love of liberty and republican government wliich A carried us through the war, an Anglican monarchical and aristocratic party had sprung up, whose avowed object is to draw over us the substance, as they have already done the powers, of the British government." And another authority informs us that: " There were then two hundred papers published in the United States; one hundred and seventy-eight were in favor of the Federal administration ; about twenty-two were opposed to the measures then adopted, and a greater portion of these were in the hands of foreigners." — Williams' Adminisira- iion of John. Adams, p. 133. This affords a clue to the secret reasons which governed the Federal party in passing the Sedition law. It was to crush these twenty-two independent presses — to put down all opposition to the monarchical and unconstitutional proceedings of the Executive and a corrupt legislature. The first piosecu- tions under this act were of four editors, three of whom w^re foreigners. The treatment of Callender, Cooper, Lyon and Holt, furnish the best com- mentary upon the Sedition law. Peters, Iredell, Addison, and Chase, were the judicial blood-hounds let loose upon these foreign born Democratic edi- tor*. Mr. Lyon, an intelligent Englishman, in a Democratic paper, called "The Time-Piece," spoke of " the ridiculous pomp, idle parade, and selfish avarice " of John Adams. — (Wood's Suppressed History of Adams' Admin- istration, page 164.) — He was arrested, tried and convicted by a packed jury, and Judge Iredell, after commenting upon the heinous crime of ridi- culing the President, passed sentence : "That you be imprisoned four months for the costs of this trial, and fined one thousand dollars." — W/iarfofi's State Trials of the U. S., page 337. "This unfortunate man was then conducted out of court and thrown into a dungeon six feet square, where he was left to starve during a rigorous win- ter." — Wood's Suppressed History, page 156. We might multiply, if it was necessary, the cases of cruel prosecution and i^. 58 persecution practiced by the Federal judges and Federal officers upon our for- eign born citizens during the administration of Adams. They wei-e hunted byoilicial blood-hounds, remorseless as Mohawks, convicted by packed juries, and sentenced by judges as corrupt as Jeflries. These were the blessings, this the protection afforded to foreign born citizens by the Federal Whig administration of John Adams. All the power, all the influence of that administration, were directed against the foreigners who sought refuge in this country after the revolution — for they were Democrats. They took grounds for Thomas Jefferson, and against the Federal party, and they were hunted down for this crime, as if they had been beasts of prey, and unworthy of the protection which the negro now enjoys. They were torn from their homes at the discretion of the President, and the social rights of freemen, open accusation, habeas corpus, and trial by jury, denied. They were incarcerated if they dared to arraign a public oflicer for political misdeeds. The Native American party of the days of John Adams was more respecta- ble, both in numbers and measures, than any that has since existed. It had for its leaders nearly all the educated aristocratic members of that Federal party which, during George Washington's eight years' administration, was omnipotent in the United States. It had the prestige of education, wealth, talent, posi- tion, office, and members. It is idle to suppose that any subsequent organi- zation of Native Americans, under any name or disguise, will ever equal in strength or influence the Native American organization of 1796. The first had for its executive head a patriot of the revolution, John Adams ; the last has for its head the drunken senator in Congress of one of the smallest etates in the Union. So odious did Native Americanism become in ISOO, that the Democratic party, formally organized only two years before — led on by two great Virginians — crushed the party that originated the Alien and Sedition laws, and elevated Jefferson to the Presidency. The present Demo- cratic party was formed for the purpose of repealing the Alien and Sedition laws. "Justice to the oppressed foreigners," was the cry of the Democratic masses who rallied to the resolutions of r798-'99. Those resolutions the national Democratic party unanimously endorsed at Baltimore in 1852. The Old Dominion, God bless her, ever true to the Constitution, was first to raise the battle-cry in defence of persecuted foreigners, who were every where falling victims to the Alien and Sedition laws. The Virginia resolutions of '98 and '99, and the report of James Madi- son in their vindication, prove this. The following constitutes the fourth of the series : " That the General Assembly doth particularly protest against the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution in the two late cases of the Alien and Sedition acts, passed at the late session of Congress ; the first of which exercises a power delegated to the Federal government, and which, by uniting legislative and judicial powers to those of the Executive, utterly subverts the general principle of a free government as well as the particular organization and positive provisions of the Federal Constitution ; and the other of which acts exercises a power not delegated by the Constitution ; a power which, more than any other, ought to excite unusual alarm, because it is leveled against that right of freely examining public measures and character, which has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right." The 8th of the series is not less emphatic. Speaks of the Alien and Sedi- tion laws as " Acts which assume to create, define, and punish crimes, other than those enumerated in the Constitution, are altogether void and of no force, and that the power to create, define and punish such other crimes, is reserved, 59 and of right appertains solely and exclusively, to the respective states, each within its own territory." Indeed, so indignant was the Whig Central Committee at Washington with the Democratic party, for having reatfirmed their former anti-Native American resolutions of i798-'99, that it burst forth during the canvass of 1852 in the following tirade against the fourth and eighth resolutions: "These resolutions constituted their political Bible, from which they are constantly preaching doctrines utterly subversive of the government, and which would, if entertained by a majority of even one or two states, involve us in the horrors of civil war." The Democratic party, under the lead of .lefTerson, acquired, by advoca- ting a repeal of the Alien and Sedition laws, a popularity in the country which it has never lost. A wise and prevalent change of the policy of the general government towards foreign born emigrants characterized the ad- ministration of Thomas Jeflerson. In his first annual message he recom- mended to Congress the adoption of naturalization laws calculated to attract intelligent emigrants from all portions of Europe. The Democratic party, during the first session of Congress after Jefferson's election to the presi- dency, lost no time in repealing those infamous and unconstitutional Alien and Sedition laws by which the "first Native American party in this country oppressed the friendless strangers of every clime. The liberal, humane and republican policy of Jefferson towards our foreign born citizens was imitated by Madison, and tended greatly to increase the emigration to the United States. Thousands of useful men flocked to this country. The repeal of the original naturalization laws, which required a residence of fourteen years previous to the naturalization, took place during Jefferson's administration. The war of 1812 was declared and conducted by the Democratic party mainly for the purpose of protecting our foreign born citizens from the British pretence that Enirlishmen could not get rid of their allegiance. This doctrine was, as we have seen, the popular one with several leading federalists who were members of the Convention of 1787. It was denied by the Democratic party of the United States, and as Great Britain proceeded to practice it, war war the result. This was as usual, the Whigs of that day considered damnable and accursed, and all Native Americans, Yankee cowards and New England parsons denounced the war, Mr. INIadison and the foreign born citizens, in the style with which the war with Mexico was abused. The Whig party not only opposed the war for the defence of our En- glish born citizens, but called a convention to abuse and villify the authors of the Avar and to burn blue lights for the enemy. The convention is pretty generally known as the Hartford Convention, and was composed of a varied assortment of Whigs, Federalists, cowards, traitors, Yankee demagogues, and parsons, every man of whom richly deserved hanging. In this conven- tion, the proceedings of which constitute the most nefarious chapter of our political history, there was again manifested the most settled and deep rooted hostility to the foreign born citizens. The sentiment which blazed in 1787, which was embodied in the Alien and Sedition laws of 1796, and which was crushed in 1800 and 1801, burnt fiercely in 1812. The following extract, from the proceedings of the Hartford Convention, will be worth the perusal of every Democrat who contemplates resorting to any other political organization than the party of Madison and Jefferson : " Seventhly. — The easy admission of naturalized foreigners, to places of trust, honor or profit, operating as an inducement to the malcontent subjects of the old world to come to these states in quest of executive patronage and to repay it by an abject devotion to executive measures. " Another amendment, subordinate in importance, but still in a high de- 60 gree expedient, relates to the exclusion of foreigners hereafter arrivin"- ia the United States from the capacity of holding offices of trust, honor or profit. " That the stock of population already in these states is amply sufficient to render this nation in due time sufficiently great and powerful, is not a con- trovertible question. Nor will it be seriously pretended, that tlie national deficiency in wisdom, arts, science, arms, or virtue, needs to be replenished from foreign countries. Still, it is agreed, that a liberal policy should offer the rights of hospitality, and the choice of settlement, to those who are dis- posed to visit the country. But why admit to a participation in the govern- ment aliens who were no parties to the compact — who were ignorant of the nature of our institutions, and have no stake in the welfare of the country but what is recent and transitory? It is surely a privilege sufficient, to admit them, after due probation, to become citizens for all but political pur- poses. To extend it beyond these limits, is to encourage foreigners to come to these states as candidates for preferment. The convention forbear to express their opinion upon the inauspicious effects which have already resulted to the honor and piece of this nation, from this misplaced and indis- criminate liberality. " Sixth. — No person who shall hereafter be naturalized shall be eligible as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the United States, nor capable of holding any civil office under the authority of the United States." Here we have Know-Nothingism with a vengeance. Neither the Native American party of 1844, nor its nameless off-pring of 1854, can boast of much progress since the days of the Hartford Convention of 1812. Every odious feature of the modern creed seems to have been embodied in that of the traitor and cowards, who met at Hartford to plot and conspire against their own countr}' in time of war. Really Native Americanism, although possessing a long pedigree, will hardly venture to boast of its disreputable ancestors. Its blood has certainly coursed through very dirty and unclean channels ever since its birth in the Convention of 1787. Nativeism is a foul and ugly eruption that has broken out upon the body of the Federal Whig party every twenty or thirty years for the last sixty- odd years. Democracy found a cure for the disease in 1787, in 1800, in 1812 and in 1844, and it will do so in 1855 and 1856. The swilling Sena- tor of Delaware is no match for those who 'fight for the great principles of Jefferson and Madison. The influence and opinions of two such dead states- men are ample, in the old Dominion, against the machinations of twenty thousand midnight politicians in disguise and without a name. Temporary defeat — if defeat were possible — in the defence of the largest civil and reli- gious liberty guaranteed to all by the Constitution, would but nerve the Dem- ocratic party to a more vigorous and determined struggle. God never intended this fair land to be ruled by people who register their decrees for the destruction of the Constitution in secret and midnight conclaves. Foreign Born Democratic Martyrs. — The subject of martyrdom, Popi.sh and political, has become a theme of much popular excitement and of great general interest, and we expect soon to have a series of awful reve- lations from Sam disclosing the existence of Spanish inquisitions in every hamlet of a thousand inhabitants in the land. Mrs. Partington is also said to entertain and to have expressed the opinion that the Jesuits are at the bottom of Know-Nothingism, and that a thumb screw can be found in the breeches-pocket of every member of the second degree of the secret order. There is an interesting chapter of domestic martyrology to which justice has never been done, and when the next edition of Fox's Martyrs appears, we 61 hope to SCO it incorporated in its far-famed pages. We refer to the foreign born citizen* of this country who were, fifty-.seven years ago, persecuted by the early Know-Nothings, or Federalists, for exercising liberty of the press and of speech. For Democracy, in its infancy in this country, had to contend against a Know-Nothing, proscriptive, Native American spirit, more ferocious and intolerant than that which now, in secrecy and at midnight, is seeking to trami)le the Constitution under foot. From the very commencement of our government, the more intelligent political refugees and foreign emigrants instinctively attached themselves to the old Democratic party. When that party was weak, and in a hopeless minority, our foreign born citizens were loyal and true as they now are. When the Federalists, with aristocratic pomp and splendor, misruled the land, they failed to win the confidence of the emigrants who had fled from monarchy and slavery at home to find lib- erty and Democracy in this country. The early emigrants to this country were men of education and intelligence. The political disturbances of the latter part of the eighteenth century drove them across the Atlantic by thousands. Jeflerson, from his distinguished sympathies for the cause of liberty all over the world, was the object'of their especial admiration. Long suffering and tyranny at home having made them familiar with all the odious phases of aristocracy, however skilfully disguised, they saw through the thin and semi-transparent mask of republicanism with which the elder Adams and his party sought to conceal their opinions and purposes. Hence, the peevishness and notorious irascibility of that testy old gentlemarl were kept constantly at boiling point by the foreign born Democracy. There were, in 1787, only twenty-two Democratic newspapers in the United States, and of that number twenty were edited by foreigners. Their assaults drove the Federal party almost to madness. Jefferson records in his "^rt//*"how Adams and his political associates writhed under the as- saults of these men. The Federal party, however, was then powerful in numbers and resources. Adams had inherited the abundant popularity of his great predecessor, but to lose it by his folly, tyranny and aristocratic proclivities. He was too proud to correct the errors of his administration, and held his Democratic opponents, native and foreign, in too great contempt to attempt to conciliate them. He endeavored to put down Democracy, as Know-Nothingism proposes to crush out Catholicism, by persecution. For- getting that in a republic, all laws rest upon public opinion, he thought to strangle Democracy by unconstitutional enactments against aliens and the liberty of the press, the attempt was made, and "the blood of the mar- tyrs became the seed of the church." A Federal Congress readily obeyed his wishes and enacted the alien, and sedition laws. Armed with those stat- utes for two years he wreaked his vengeance mainly on Democrats of for- eign birth. At the end of that time the Democratic party arose like a young giant, and dashed the whole structure of Federalism to the earth, hurled the old party from power, and inaugurated the great National Demo- cratic party of this country. From that day to this, foreign born citizens have been ever faithful to the Democratic party. The reasons for this last- ing friendship are honorable alike to both parties. The only Democratic martyrs of this country were foreign born citizens, and when the Demo- cratic party waxed strong they blotted from our statute books all the uncon- Btitutional laws by which our foreign born citizens were once placed at the mercy of a Federal Executive. For the express purpose of depriving this class of citizens of their rights and liberties, the following laws were enacted by Congress, July 6th, and 14th, 1798. As the Knov/-Nothing.i are endeavoring to manufacture a pro- acriptive 'spirit in the United States precisely similar to that of the year 62 1798, it may be well for the people of Virginia to learn a few timely and instructive lessons from a perusal of the laws in question. The Sedition Law enacted — "That if any person shall write, print, utter, or publish, or shallj cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered, or published, or shall knowingly and willingly assist, or aid in writing, printing, uttering, or publishing any false, scandalous and malicious writings or writing against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either house of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them into contempt or disrepute, or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States, * * * * # j^e shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not ex- ceeding two years. — 1 Peters' Statutes at Large, p. 598." The '' Ahen Act," the provisions of which are too long for insertion in exienso in this article, provided — " That the President of the United States shall be and is hereby author- ized, in any event aforesaid, by his proclamation thereof, or other public act, to direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States to- wards aliens * * * * the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be subjected, and in what cases and upon what security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those who, not being permitted, to reside in the United States, shall refuse or neg- lect to depart therefrom. — 1 Peters' Statutes at Large, page 577." It is with difficulty that the present generation can be taught to believe that such laws as we have given above once disgraced our statute books, abridging the liberty of speech, and leaving aIiens\ipon our soil completely at the mercy of the President, denying them the right of trial by jury, and of confronting their accusers. Not only, however, were there such laws, but, as we shall presently see, more than one foreign born Democrat was martyred for his hatred of feder- alism and love for the principles of Jefferson. \.— The Case of Mat hew Lyon.— [American State Trials, pp. 333, 343.] Mathew Lyon was an Irishman by birth, who came to this country uneducated and destitute. By energy and honesty he arose from the position of an apprentice to that of a representative in Congress from the state of Ver- mont. Whilst a member of Congress he distinguished himself by his patri- otic devotion to the cause of Democracy, and his spirited opposition to Adams' administration. In exercising the privileges of his office as a representative in Congress, he addressed a series of articles to his constituents, commenting upon the char- acter of the administration of John Adams. In consequence of this, on the 5th of October, 1798, he was indicted for a seditious libel, and the indict- ment set forth the following libellous matter: "As to the executive, when I shall see the efforts of that power bent on the promotion of the comfort, the happiness, and accommodation of the peo- ple, that executive shall have my zealous and uniform support; but when- ever I shall, on the part of the executive, see every consideration of the public welfare swallowed up in a continual grasp for power, in an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation and selfish avarice ; when I shall behold men of real merit daily turned out of office for no other cause but independency of sentiment; when I shall see men of firmness, merit, years, ability and experience, discarded in their applications for office, for fear they possess that independence, and men of meanness preferred for the ease with which they take up and advocate opinions, the consequence of which they 63 know nothing ; when I shall see the sacred name of religion employed as a state engine to make mankind hate and persecute one another, I shall not be their humble advocate." Although this language was as just as it was proper and legitimate, yet a packed jury of Yankee Federalists found the defendant guilty, and a Fede- ral hack, Judge Patterson, pronounced the following sentence: " Rlathew Lyon, as a member of the federal legislature, you must be well acquainted with the mischiefs which flow from an unlicensed abuse of the government, and of the motives which led to the passage of the act under which this indictment is proved. * * Your position, so far from making the case one which might slip with a nominal fine through the hands of the court, would make impunity conspicuous, should such a fine be im- posed. What, however, has tended to mitigate the sentence, which would otherwise have been imposed, is, what I am sorry to hear of, the reduced condition of your estate. The judgment of the court is, that you stand imprisoned four months, pay the cost of prosecution, and a fine of one thou- sand dollars, and stand committed until this sentence be complied with." The mildness of early Know-Nothing despotism is here beautifully illus- trated. A foreign born Democrat addresses a letter to his constituents, com- menting upon the executive department of the government, as was his duty as their representative ; he is tried for it by a packed jury and a federal court, found guilty, and assured by the judge that the magnitude of his offence is greatly increased by his being a member of Congress, and that the only regret of the federal Jeffries is, that the smallness of the defendant's fortune forced him to fine him only one thousand dollars. All of Lyon's sentence was rigourously enforced. He was at first denied the use of pen, ink, paper and books, and confined in a cell sixteen feet wide by twelve long, (see Wharton's State Trials, p. 341,) the common receptacle for horse-thieves, money-forgers, runaway negroes, and other rascals and felon;*. A Federal newspaper thus gloated in coarse and inhuman joy over his imprisonment, precisely as a Know-Nothing organ of the present day would do if a foreign born Democrat was to be ejected from office : " The Lyon of Vermont. — To-morrow morning, at 11 o'clock, will be ex- posed to view the Lyon of Vermont. This singular animal is said to have been caught in the bogs of Hibernia, and when quite a whelp transported to America; curiosity inducing a New Yorker to buy him., and moving to the country, afterwards exchanged him for a yoke of young bulls with a Vermonter. * * His pelt resembles more the wolf, or the tiger, and his gestures bear a remarkable resemblance to the bear; this, however, may be ascribed to his having been in the habit of associating with that species of wild beast on the mountains. He was brought to this place in a wag'^^on. — Porcupine Gazette, June 6i/i, 1797." But this poor man, whilst languishing in a foul and unwholsome prison during the cold months of a New England winter, the victim of a tyrant whose native American antipathies the Know-Nothings of .the present day appear to have adopted, was not forgotten by a faithful constituency. They espoused his cause, and whilst in the clutches of his Federal oppressors, re-elected him to Congress — the records of the day showing the following vote : Lyon, (Democrat, and in prison,) 3,482 Williams, Federalist, 1,554 Lyon's majority, LD^S Released from prison amid the tumultous rejoicings of his friends, he 64 repaired to Philadelphia to take his seat in the Congress to which he had been elected whilst in jail. The insolent Federal majority in the House of Representatives met him vith the following resolution : "Resolved, That Mathew Lyon, a member of this House, having been convicted of being a notorious and seditious person, and of a depraved mind and wicked and diabolical disposition, and of wickedly, deceitfully and ma- liciously contriving to defame the government of the United States, and of liaving, with design and intent to d«fame John Adams, President of the United States * * * be therefore expelled from thi^ House." The Federalists were all willing to expel this persecuted foreigner ; but Mr. Nicholas, of Virginia, eloquently defended him, and they could not ^ei a two-thirds' vote. Again the great Federal organ of that day aimed its envenomed darts at poor Lyon's head, February, 1799: '■ Lyon looks remarkably well for a gentleman just out of jail. This man's re-election, whilst confined as a criminal, is a new and striking proof of the excellence of universal suffrage. # # * Happy the nation where there is but one step frsm the dungeon to the Legislature. Well might the pathetic Mr. ftlurray, (speaking of the old alien law,) express his fears that the influx of foreigners would " contaminate the purity and simplicity of American manners." This is a very fair specimen of Know-Nothing sentiment fifty-six years ago. The persecuted Lyon lived, however, to wrest the state of Vermont tem- porarily from Federal misrule, subsequently rernoved to the state of Ken- tucky, represented that state in the House of Representatives from 1803 to 1811, refused the office of commissary for the Western army, which was tendered to him by Thomas Jefferson, and died at the advanced age of jeventy-eight. He survived the old Know-Nothing or Federal party more than a quarter of a century, and on the 4th of July, 1840, Congress refunded to his representatives, with interest, the iniquitous fine of one thousand dol- lars, imposed upon him in 1799. Next m the list of foreign born citizens who braved fine and imprison- ment in defence of Democracy, and by fierce denunciations of Federalism, »tands — l\.—The case of Jlnihony HosivcII.—Amev. State Trials, pp. 584, 687. Anthony Hoswell was born in England in 17S3, a gentleman by birth and education, who espoused to cause of freedom, and fought on the jside of the colonies during the revolutionary war, and perilled his life at Monmouth. He subsequently became distinguished as a Democratic editor, and especially by his boldness and talent excited the hatred of the Federal party. In 1800, at Windsor, in the state of Vermont, he was, under the "Sedition act," indicted for publishing, as the Federalists avered, the following libellous matter: To the enemies of political persecution in the Western district of Vermont : Your representative (Mathew Lyon) is holden by the oppressive hand of Usurped power in a loat-hsome prison, deprived almost of the right of reason, and suffering all the indignities which can be heaped upon him by a hard- hearted savage, who has, to the disgrace of Federalism, been elevated to a station where he can satiate his barbarity on the misery of his victims. But in spite of Fitch, (the marshal) and to their sorrow, time will pass away, and the month of February will arrive and bring with it the defender of our right? No. Without exertion it will not. Eleven hundred dollars must 1$ paid for his ransom, 6^'c. 65 Although the prisoner proved the truth of every allegation in Ihe matter charged as libellous, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the court sen- tenced the prisoner to a iine of two hundred dollars and impri.soriment for two months. The indignities with which this noble and bold Democrat was treated after he w'as arrested was the subject of bitter party feeling for a long time. He was arrested at night, and notified to prepare for a journey to Rutland early in the morning. Accordingly, at a very early hour, Mr. IIo^^weIl, alfiiough in very poor health and totally unaccustomed to riding, was com- pelled to mount a horse and ride sixty miles through the rain on a cold day ia October, to the jail at Rutland. Here he was thrown into a filth}' prison at midnight, notwithstanding his entreaties to be permitted to dry his clothes, which were saturated with the rain. Several of the most responsible men in Rutland offered any security the marshal might demand, to induce him to grant these requests, but in vain. The prisoner was thrown into the prison, and never afterwards recovered entirely from the shock thus given his health. His sentence was rigidly carried out, and at the expiration of his term of confinement, an immense concourse of people from the neighboring country assembled to welcome him back to liberty, and to signalize their disapproba- tion of his imprisonment. He marched forth from his quarters at the jail to the tune of Yankee Doodle, played by a band, while the discharge of cannon signified the general satisfaction at his release. [See Wharton's Criminal Trials, page 687.] This victim of early Native Americanism was, says a distinguished author, "highly respected, not only by his friends, but by his political opponents. He was distinguished in private life by exemplary conduct in the discharge of his duties, and by his devotion to the moral and religious improvement of society." [Wharton, page 688.] Mr. Hoswell was a gentleman, a brave revolutionary soldier, wedded to the cause of liberty; but as he was a Democrat, and a foreign born citizen, he was treated like a common felon by the Know-Nothings of 1798. But the list of foreign born Democrats who stood by our party in its infancy, and braved persecution and the torture of cruel imprisonment for their opinions, is a long one. HI. — The Case of Thomas Cooper. — [American Slate Trials, page 677.] The learned and celebrated Thomas Cooj)er was the next victim sacrificed to gratify John Adams' hatred of foreign born Democrats, whose blows were aimed principally at the accomplished Democratic writers whose pens were driving him to desperation. Thomas Cooper was an Englishman b}' birth, and a graduate of Oxford. He was the intimate friend of the celebrated Priestly, and a barrister, an au- thor of distinction, and a chemi.-t of great reputation. He was, at difi'erent periods in his life, a professor in Dickinson College, and also in the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania. He was for several years a presiding judge of one of the districts of Pennsylvania, and filled a professorship in Columbia College, South Carolina, for man}'' years previous to his death. His translation of the " Pandects of Justinian" is regarded as a master piece of admirable and classical scholarship by the legal profession to this day. He was an ardent Democrat, and one of the earliest and most devoted friends of Thomas Jefi'erson. Hence his appearance in the catalogue of for- eign born Democratic martyrs. In 1800, he was tried for what the Know- >fothings of that day called " ScdHious Libel," and the libellous matter charged in the indictment was as follows. As in the cases already cited, our readers will perceive that it was dangerous, in the day of the earlj 5 66 Know-Nothings, for a foreigner to say a word against the Federal party and their aristocratic president. But to the libellous matter: " At that time he (John Adams) had just entered olKce ; he was hardly in the infancy of political mistake : even those who doubted his capacity thought well of his intentions. Nor were we yet saddled with the expense of a per- manent navy, or threatened under his auspices with the existence of a stand- ins army. Our credit was not yet reduced so low as to borrow money at eight per cent, in time of peace, while the unnecessary violence of oflicial expressions might justly have provoked a war. Mr. Adams had not yet projected his embassies to Prussia and Russia, nor had lie yet interfered as president of the United States to influence the deci.'^ions of a court of justice — a stretx;h of authority which the monarch of Great Britain would have shrunk from — an interference without precedent against law and against mercy. This melancholy case of Jonathan Robbins, a native American, forcibly in"i- pressed by the Brilish, and delivered up, witli the advice of Mr. Adams, to the mock trial of a British court-martial, had not yet astonished the republi- can citizens of this free country; a case too little known, but of which the people ought to be fully apprised before the election, and they shall be. — [Amer. State Trials, p. 658."] As was usual in 1800, when Federal marshals, packed Federal juries, and Federal prosecutors and judges agreed in their interpretation of Federal laws, Mr. Cooper was found guilty, and the infamous Judge Chase, of Callender notoriety, sentenced the defendant " to pay a fine of four hundred dollars, to be imprisoned for six months, and at the end of that period to find surety for himself in a thousand, and two securities in five hundred dollars each." — [Wharton's Criminal Trials, page 679.] But the length of this article admonishes us to hasten on with our list of foreign born Democrats who were true to our cause when courage was more essential in the defence of our sentiments than at present. IV. — Case of WilUnm Dunne. — [American State Ti-ials, page 344.] — Wm. Duane was born in this country, but as his parents were Irish emigrants, he spent the early part of his life in Ireland, his mother having returned to that country after the death of her husband. He was the first editor of the cele- brated London Times, and the intim.atc friend of Home Tooke. He return- ed to this country in 1795, and became the editor of the leading Democratic organ of that day, the Aurora. Mr. Jefferson always declared that he was indebted to " Duane and the Aurora newspaper for his election to the presi- dency." The justice and severity of his attacks upon the Federal party rendered him the object of open violence. During Mr. Adams' administra- tion some troops of horse were sent from Philadelphia to Reading, to cut down the liberty poles of the Democratic party in "Old Berks," and to per- form other heroic achievements w^orthy of Adams and his primitive Know- Nothing friends. These body guards of the Federal despot lived very freely and indulged in all the license of an enemy's force in a hostile land. A letter was publishetl in the Aurora, complaining of their outrages. On their return to Philadelphia, a large party of otlicers proceeded to the Aurora office, and, placing sentinels over the printers, dragged out the editor of the Aurora, Mr. Duane, and beat him until he was insensible. Yet this Democratic martyr was a scholar and gentleman, a patriot and a soldier, whose works on education, history, military science, politics, and political economy, are well known to the present generation. His influence and instrumentality in building up the Democratic party, Jeflerson and Mad- ison both regarded as great as their own. To these cases we might add those of Callender, Reynolds, Moore, Cum- niing, Frothingham, and others, all foreign born Democrats — men of educa- tion and talents, who were the victims of Federal lawlessness and cruelty, 67 when, in 1798, the Native American party was sufficiently strong to deprive our foreign born citizens of the right of trial by jury, and of the liberty of speech, and of the press. The cases cited at length in this article illustrate the atrocious tendency of Native Americanism, when clothed with power under the forms of law, to oppress and persecute our foreign born citizens. The lessons of experience are always the best that can be read to an in- telligent people, — nor will they be lost upon the people of Virginia at this time, when, after the lapse of more than half a century, we have a party in our midst plotting in secrecy and at midnight to strip our foreign born citizens of their rights. No true Democrat, bearing in mind the political devotion of the foreign born citizens of this country to our principles and measures, from the days of their early, persecution by the Federalists to the present, can, or w-ill lend his aid to a band or conspirators, seeking, in open disregard of the Constitu- tion, to strip these innocent and faithful citizens of their rights. ORATORS OF THE CANVASS. We can safely assert that political excitement never ran higher in any state, than in Virginia in 1855. And we can moreover aver with truth, that there never was so general an interest manifested in the discussion of political issues. This was attributable principally to two things : in the first place to the facts and sound arguments set forth by the talented press of our State ; and secondly, to the stirring appeals and impassioned eloquence of our public speakers, They addressed the masses in every section of the State, appealing to the time-hon- ored principles of the Democratic party, dissecting the monstrous ritual of Know Nothingism, and inviting its devotees to meet them in open discussion. One of the first speeches of the campaign was a most powerful one, from the Hon. Stephen A. Douglass of Illinois, delivered in Richmond in the month of March ; but owing to some misunderstanding with the stenographer employed by the editor of the Examiner to report it, it was never written out for publica- tion. The speech produced a most profound impression in Richmond, and evi- dently exerted a great influence in the State, as he addressed an immense audience, many of whom were residents of the country. The Examiner contained the following extended notice of the Senator's oration. Judge Douglas in Richmond. — The citizens of Richmond had the plea- sure of bearing a speech, Tuesday night, 27th March, from the author of the Nebraska-Kansas act. Nothing but a verbatim report would present the address in its real strength and merit; for every sentence was an argument, and the speech possessed the characteristic of a sphere in compacting the greatest quan- tity of matter within the smallest extent of surface. His illustration of that great principle — of which himself may be pronounced the living emhodimcnt — of the absolute right of the people in each State, and territory, (about to become a State,) to decide upon its own institutions, subject only to the constitution, a principle which is the very corner stone of State Rights politics — was clear, beautiful and conclusive. His narration of the incident's of the last year's struggle in Illinois, to defeat himself for championing and the Democratic party for endorsing this, principle, 68 was interesting in the extreme. He said that this principle was opposed in Illi- nois by the Fusion, and he explained that to be a combination of Abolilionists, Whigs, Know Nothings and anti-Liquor men, against the great Nebraska prin- ciple, and against the Democratic party sustaining it. lie declared that the Fusion was thus constituted in every State at the North, except New York, where fortuitous circumstances had operated to qualify the rule in some degree. Ho admitted that some Democrats had left their own organization and gone into the Know Nothing councils; and while he admitted that many Know Nothings 1 were not Abolitionists, yet he declared that the Abolstionista and Free-soilers had the majority in their councils, and controlled the action of the Order, tha minority being sworn to co-operate with the majority. He also admitted the fact, that the Whigs did not all merge with the Aboli- tionists and the Know Nothings in the Fusion ; but that the high-toned und honorable portion of that once glorious party co-operated \^th the Democracy in the elections. He said that the Democracy of Illinois owed their triumph in the State elections by a majority of 3,000 votes, and in Col. W. A. Rich- ardson's district in the success of that gallant and indomitable State Ric-hts man — to Whig votes. He said that ten per cent, of the Whigs of the State had segregated themselves from the mass of their party, and, by rallying to tha side of the Democracy, had saved the State ticket and Colonel Richardson. We take pleasure in making prominent this declaration of Judge Douglas, for God forbid that any Southern editor should refuse to acknowledge a fact so dear to the whole South, and so honorable to the Silver Grays of the North. In tha same degree that we iterate and reprobate the fact that the Know Nothings of the North, as a party, and the great body of the Whigs of the North, as either Freesoilers or Know Nothings, oppose the great Douglas-Nebraska-State-Rights principle of popular sovereignty — do we rejoice in, exult over and reiterate the fact that an honorable, inflexible fragment of the old Whig party of the North still cling, even unto political martyrdom, to the Constitution of their country. Declaring that the Know Nothings everywhere at the North co-operated with the Fusion in ostracising and proscribing Nebraska men and warriag upon the Nebraska principle, the Judge went into a calm and most overwhelming argu- ment against that organization. He assailed it as hostile to thixt open, free dis- mission, which was essential to the health and vitality of popular government. His argument upon this topic was as clear and convinci^ig as it was striking and ©riginal. The Know Nothing Order not only shrank from full and open discus- sion before the people, but it struck a deadly blow at the principle of represen- tative accountability to the people, by substituting the secret club V/hich nomi- nated the legislator or the executive ofhcer, for the people at large, in whom ©nly is lodged the sovereignty of the State. He assailed their oaths in a powerful but calm and respectful argument. An •ath to obey the dictation of the club was an oath to disregard the dictates of conscience in all cases where the individual's opinion conflicted with-the decree «f the Order. It substituted, in a government where the individual and the people are sovereign, a conflicting sovereignty and a different and dangerous authority, that of a secret and irresponsible cabal. He said there were a great many honest men who saw the dilemma in which their Know Nothingism [ihiced them as good citizens, and yet were deterred from leaving the Order from conscientious scruples in regard to the oath they had taken in their initiation. He did not think an oath to violate one's conscience ©ught to be obeyed, and he cited the passage from St. Mark, reciting the oc- currence between Herod and the daughter of Herodias, as illustrating the fatal eonsequences of a vicious vow. *' For Herod himself had sent forth atid laid hold upon John, and bound hinx in prison for Herodias' sake, hia brother Philip's wife; for he bad married her. 69 For Jobn bad said unto ITerod, It is not lawful for tlice to have thy brother's wife. Therefore, Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him, but she could not. For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. Aud when a convenient day was come, that Herod, on his birth-day, made a supper to his lords, higli captains, and chief estates of Galilee ; And when the daughter of tho said Herodias came in, aud danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the King said unto the damsel, ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he swore .unto her, whatever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, even unto half of my kingdom. And she went forth, aud said unto her mother, what shall I ask? and she said the head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the King, and asked, saying, I ■wish that thou give me, by and by in a charger, the head of John the Bap- tist. And the King was exceedingly sorry ; yet /or Zt/'s oa^/i's sa^e, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her." The distinguished speaker advised the Democracy against an unlawful alliance with the Herodias of Federalism, and against pledging themselves to the damsel Know Nothingism, her daughter, by unlawful oaths and rash stipulations of the favors, contrary to conscience, to old friendship and to duty. He examined the (es(s, prescribed by the Order for office and suffrage, and was especially able and powerful in his exposition of their unconstitutionality and anti-republicanism. The first of these tests, was lirth, a test familiar in England, and in monar- chies ; but, until now, unknown in these free States, where the great test was merit. Birth was a thing over which men had no control and did not enter at all into the republican qualification of merit. It did not follow that everybody born on this side of the' Atlantic was fit for sufiVage and ofiice, any more than that all born on the other side were unfit. Everybody knew that America could produce rogues as well as honest citizens ; indeed he was not sure but that she could beat the world in rogues as well as in every other article. She certainly produced a larger proportion of honest citizens than any other country j for here merit had been made the test of qualification for office, and furnished an inducement to rectitude. The test of hirth was arbitrary and aristocratic ; the test of merit was philosophic, just, and democratic. It was a great demo- cratic test, and true Democrats could not abandon it for the rnonarchial, acci- dental and unjust principle, that merit, or qualification, or superiority, was de- pendent on birth. His allusion to his gallant colleague, General Shields, a soldier who had not shed blood enough for his adopted country to atone for the accident of his birth on Irish soil, was touching and eloquent. The test of religious lelief was arbitrary, unjust and oppressive. It was contrary to the Constitution, which expressly forbade that " any religious test should ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under this government." Every Know Nothing who took an oath binding him to try can- didates by this test, took an oath against the Constitution of the Union. He did not charge them with intentional culpability in this act, which he knew they must have done in thoughtlessness and without due examination, but he warned them against persisting in an oath in direct antagonism to the Consti- tution of their country. 70 We bave glanced rapidly over, and stated loosely some of the leading topics of JuJge Douglas's speech. It is possible that we may succeed in obtaining from the distinguished Senator, a full report of it; but fearing we might not be able to do so, we could not refrain from presenting to our readers the fore- going abstract of an address which will long be remembered in Richmond, and which was as dignified, national, statesmanlike and able as was ever delivered be- fore the people of this city. As some cynical objections are rife among the opposition to a citizen from a Northern State having thus taken part in our domestic contest, it is due to Mr. Douglas to say that it was with great difficulty he could be induced to speak here, on his rapid transit through the State, as we personally know. If there is a man in the Union in whom such a " crime" would be uo crime, it is in the author of the Repeal of the Missouri Proviso. MR. HUNTER'S SPEECH IN RICHMOND. The speech of Senator R. M. T. Hunter was one of the most argumentative and unanswerable that was delivered in the whole campaign. This speech was published and extensively circulated, and that with telling effect during the canvass. It is a document which will ever repay an attentive perusal. Fellow Citizens : I appear before you this evening, not merely to show my appreciation of the courtesy of your invitation to address you, but also because, in the present critical condition of public aifairs, I desire to commune with my friends and constituents. I also wish to speak to the people of this good city, who have proved, by their past history, that whenever the safety of the govern- ment or the honor of the State demands a service at their hands, the call will not be made upon them in vain. I stand here this evening to appeal to you,ia the name of both these high considerations, and if I fail to make good that appeal, it will be owing to my fault, and not because the occasion does not justify it. Peace has its trials as well as war; and the same spirit which gathered your sons around the flag of the country in the war of 1812, will rally them to the defence of the political banner of their native State, if they see it about to be prostrated and trampled in the dust] I have said that the present is a critical condition of public aft'airs; and, truly, the signs of the times are such as to warrant me in thus characterizing it. In the world without we have war, and should it continue much longer, or enlarge the field of its operations, it is im- possible but that some of its agitations must reach us also. Within, the ele- ments of domestic strife are already maturing in angry discontent, as if in pre- sage of the coming storm. The cloud which for so long has hung in the northeastern quarter of our horizon, grows larger and darker, and is visibly Bearing us in the distance. When was it ever before, that a majority of the popular branch of Congress would probably be in favour of abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia; of abolishing what is called the domestic slave trade ; of abolishing slavery whereever it may exist iu the Territories; and to repeal the fugitive slave law, to say nothing of the restoration of the odious Missouri restriction, now so happily removed ? More than one of the Southern States have declared that the execution of some of these measures would pre- sent, in their opinion, the "casus fivJeris" itself; and yet to such extremities will the present House of Representatives be probably willing to drive us at the next session. Such are the trials for which we have already had warning to prepare. For the present, a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate 71 stand, as "the lion in the path," between them and the execution of their measures. IJut these anti-shivery men boast that they liave already secured " the Church, the School and the State," the great natural corporations of all human society, as they have been not inaptly denominated ; and that they are thus possessed of all the main avenues through which public sentiment in the North may be concentrated, and poured upon the devoted South. And what are our preparations for this contest? It is evident that we must depend upon Truth, the. Constitution, the sacred compact of Federation, and such defences as Mfe may make in their behalf, for our safety and peace. Are we burnishing our armor for the fight ? Are we making ready for the contest ? These are some of the topics upon which I desire to commune with you this evening. Fellow citizens, it seems to me there is yet another circumstance which must make us more anxious with regard to the future. It is, that these issues have been precipitated upon us with the assistance of a new and strange party, which has arisen in our midst, which, by some wild freak of taste, or in some fit of reckless levity, has called itself " the Know Nothing party,'' whose opinions upon many important subjects are unknown, and whose principles in regard to some other subjects, so far as known, would seem to be highly mischievous and dangerous. I have said that these isms had been precipitated upon us with the assistance of this party in the North. Can there be a doubt of it? They constituted a portion of the " fusionists" who sought to turn out young Dodge of Iowa, who had been so true to the Constitution and just to the South, and to substitute a free-soiler in his place. In Illinois, too, they acted in like manner towards the gallant Shields. In Massachusetts, the Know Nothings constituted a m;ijority of those who sent Wilson to the Senate of the United States, where his decla- rations have been such as to leave no doubt of his extreme and dangerous opi- nions upon the subject of slavery. Indeed, I heard Judge Douglass, iu a debate in the SenatCj declare that, in the non-slaveholding States, this now party, so far as he was acquainted with its history, had invariably cast its vote for the anti-slavery and auti-Nebrasbra candidates, and he challenged an instance to be produced, in which they had voted for a candidate in favor of the Nebraska bill. The case could not be produced, except that Governor Seward mentioned some one man in New York, who had been elected to some oftice by the vote of the Know Nothings. To which Judge Douglass well replied, that in New York there were two Know Nothing parties, one the '' bogus," and the other genuine, so that there might be grave mistakes in referring to their action in New York for an explanation of their principles. Now, all this proves one of two things, either" that this party, in the North, is deeply infected with the abolition feeling, or else, that it is so indifferent upon the subject, that it is willing to elect men ■who would drive the South to any extremity, and expose us to the most severe and dangerous trials. How, then, can we affiliate with men who seem to con- sider the peace and safety of the South, as the cheap material upon which rash experiments may be tried with impunity ? Ought it not to make us anxious to find that the overtures for affiliation, made by such a party, have not been in- stantly rejected by Southern men with scorn? ^' — -,>._^^ /it seems to me, that the very apparition of such a party in our midst, is cal-^ culated to inspire feelings of distrust and apprehension. When was it ever heard of before, that a party could be organized for political purposes in this State, which deliberated and acted iu secret, and veiled the very names of their members in impenetrable mystery ! When was it ever before that a party could have existed here, avowing itself to be strong enough to seize upon the administra- tion of public aflairs in this great confederacy, and yet refusing to declare its opinions upon all the leading questions which have heretofore characterised our political divisions ? When it ought to speak, it is silent, and some of the sen- timents it does speak, in my opinion, ought neither to be entertained nor ut- 72 tered. But what can be the purpose of a secret political society in this country, or what can be its legitimate object? Under the despotic guvernuieuts of the old world, we have heard of such organizations, but their object was to strike at the ruling power in the State; they concealed not only their deliberations and actions, but also the names of their members, because if either had been known, their rulers would not only have frustrated their purposes, but punished the individuals who entertained them. Under such circumstances, we can see some reason for their secrecy, but what excuse can be offered for a secret polit- ical organization in this country ? Here the ruling power is that of the people; it is popular sovereignty which governs. Is that the power which this new party strikes at? is it popular government which they wish to subvert? Why conceal themselves and their action from its supervision, unless they fear it; and, why fear it, unless they are opposed to it ? What they profess upon this Bubject we do not know ; this may be amongst the secrets of the prison house^ ~ But this we do know that they refuse their sympathies to the people, and strike at the wholesome and legitimate influences of public opinion, by acting secretly and withdrawing from its jurisdiction. Nuw I say, that the party which strikes at the just influence of public opinion, and refuses to submit its political action to that wholesome jurisdiction, strikes at popular government itself, for it is through the action of the former that the latter becomes practicable or even pos- sible. Why is it that we so often hear it said of such, and such a people, that for them a popular and free form of government is impossible? Because there exists not amongst them a suiBciently free and enlightened state of public opin- ion to enable the peoj:>le to direct properly the affairs of their government, j^ut how can public opinion be either purified or enlightened, unless there be free thought, free speech, and a free press; and how can the people think, speak, and print freely, if the proper subjects for such action are concealed from their yiew ? To make a popular government possible, that government must be di- rected by popular opinion, intelligently formed upon the subjects of its action, and not by chance-sentiment or impromptu emotions. In the one case, law is a rule prescribed by the supreme authority in a State, and government becomes systematic and regular; in the other, law is a mere matter of impulse, and government a succession of shifts and contrivances to avoid anarchy. But how can the people form an opinion with regard to the subject of their political ac- tion, unless the deliberations before them be open and public? The framers of our Constitution felt the necessity for publicity, in regard to political action, so deeply, as to prescribe, that "each Huuse shall keep a jour- nal of its proceedings, and, from time to time, publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered upon the journal." This journal was to be kept, and published, in order that iha people might understand, and criticise, and regulate the proceedings of their servants, who are thus made to act under a constant sense of the supervision of the constituent body. Even so small a minority as one fifth, were authorised to order the yeas and nays, that each member should be held to his individual responsibility, and that tlae weaker party, when it felt itself aggrieved by the stronger, might appeal to the great bar of public opin- ion, where probably under the influencos of truth, reason, and just feeling, judgment would be pronounced by the supreme authority in the State, a judg- ment which would always command respect, and, in most instances, carry along with it conviction also. Without the practises corresponding with these pro- visions in the constitution, representative government would become impossible, and justice a thing no longer to be expected. To satisfy ourselves of the truth of these conclusions, let us suppose, for an instant, that the American Congress, deliberated and acted in secrecy. How long would its representative character endure, and for how long afterwards could it probably be reckoned amongst the free governments of the earth? All individual responsibility would be gone. No man could tell how any member voted. Accordingly as the act was popular or unpopular in his district, he would be entitled to the presumption of having voted for, or against it. The reasons upon which a mea- sure passed could never be given ; the propositions made and rejected, would be unknown, and thus a power far more irre.>^ponsible than any ever exercised by either ( jEsar or Czar, would be wielded by this many-headed monster. J)ut the old fathers of our state left us still more conclusive evidence of their estimate of the importance of publicity in political proceedings. They wcve not content with exacting it from the re[)reseritative, but enforced the principle on the constituent body also. They rccjuired each elector to vote, not by the dead letter of the secret ballot, but with the free and manly utterance of the " living voice." And thus it is, by wise and ancient prescription, that the Virginiaa has ever given his vote in the light of day, and before the world. Preserving the "o,s sublime," and presenting a brow as open to the inspection of his neigh- bor as his heart is clear to the search of Him who made it, he stands at the polls, proudly conscious that he is there the master, not as the man, and willing himself to meet all his fair responsibilities to public opinion ; for that act of power, he justly expects a return of the same generous confidence from his fel- low citizens. But, gentlemen, I have shown you the probable effect of this secrecy upon the representative. Should we mend matters much by transferring it to the constituent body, or rather, to the portion which seeks to rule it? Popular government, to be good, must be the result of public opinion, formed with all the aids of a free interchange of thought and sentiment, but this interchange becomes impossible, when a portion of the people seclude themselves from their fellows, and conceal from them their thoughts and purposes. Popular government, to be just, must command the assent of a majority, or, as some have thought, of even more than a majority; but here is a scheme of a secret political organization, by which a minority may rule a majority, with- out the least responsibility to public opinion. In the first place, their very mys- tery gives them power, and conveys an exaggerated idea of strength to the pub- lic mind ; for it is the way of the world, to take " Omiii I'f/notum pro inai/ni/ico." Next, their organization and discipline may make a minority an over match for the undisciplined majority who act from individual impulse. Lastly, their rules of proceeding seem designed to secure this predominance of the minority. Whatever may have been the individual differences of opinion within the lodge, outside of it they act as one man ; so far as the order itself is concerned, there are before the public eye neither majorities nor minorities. The minority must give up their opinion ; and thus the order acts by the force of its whole num- bers. A measure may have been adopted within the order by a small majority, but before the public it carries with it the weight of the whole mass. The or- der itself, as compared with the great body of the people, may be in the minor- ity, but by its superior organization it may divide and rule them ; and thus a measure may be passed, although a large majority of the people are really op- posed to it, if its enemies within and without the order are estimated together. It is no matter then where you establish this secrecy with regard to political ac- tion, the effect is the same: you destroy the just influences of public opinion, nay, you make the existence of a public opinion impossible, and thus popular government itself, becomes impracticable. ■ — Fellow-citizens, we have heretofore felicitated ourselves upon the idea, that the power of public opinion in this country was becoming so much greater and more enlighted as to relieve our form of government of some of the subjects of its hitherto necessary jurisdiction, and to increase its capacity for extending over greater areas of territory and larger masses of people. But it seems that we are to renounce these long cherished ideas, and a retrograde march is fast N 74 becoming the order of the day. In the name of Heaven from when?e do these BOW lights spring, which are so to uproot the fixed opinions of centuries ? He who seeks to destroy the influence of public opinion, or to deprive it of judis- diction, strikes at the moving principle of human progress itself, and raises a fratricidal hand against the best hopes of his race. It is this influence, which has given the greatest impulse to the march of human improvement ; and a3 the mighty sphere of its jurisdiction enlarges with the growth of time, the gov- ernments and institutions of man are called up, one by one, to answer at that great bar where reason is free to plead, and truth, when once revealed, pronoun- ces its irreversible decrees. The Church, the 8tate, and the School all contribute to the stream of thought, •which swells the mighty tide of public opinion, and each profits by the modify- ing influences of the judgments which are pronounced on their ideas at that bar, by way of return. Here, indeed, is the great and conservative tribunal, before which all must in turn appear. It can elevate the weak to the level of the strong, and the most powerful is strengthened by its aid. Through doors of oak, and bolts of iron, it penetrates into the closed council chamber of princes, where its voice, if not obeyed, is at least respected and feared. It whispers the word of warning into the secret ear of the ruler, and through the long watches of the night he tosses in sleepless anxiety to ponder upon its meaning. None are so high as to be above its influence, and he must be poor indeed, who is beneath it. The weakest and humblest of human beings, if he be strong enough to make his moan audible, may summon his oppressor to appear at the bar from whose sen- tence he can neither appeal, nor escape, no matter what may be his power or his place. It was to public opinion that Martin Luther appealed, when he took is- sue with the See of Home, whose power at that day was nearly co-extensive with Christendom, and, before that bar, the poor monk became the peer of pontiff's and Caesars, and a judgment was pronounced in that cause, which toppled down many a place of strength, in which human authority had dreamed itself to be secure for centuries yet to come. It was to public opinion that John Locke appealed, when, stripped of his living and fellowship for opinion's sake, by the cruel edict of an arbitrary prince, he was sent forth, a wanderer upon the world, a houseless and homeless man, and, as was vainly supposed, crushed alike ia fortune and aspiration. But his proud spirit refused to be down, and he spoke the great work in his essay in favor of religious toleration, which could no more be hushed, or silenced, until the test acts, and persecuting ordinances of his na- tive land had fallen before it, and the great doctrine of liberty of conscience had been established, wherever his own English was the vernacular tongue. A poor Scotch philosopher, whose views when first published, would have been scouted upon "change," now exercises, through the force of public opin- ion, a larger influence over the laws which regulate the trade of the world, than all the merchant princes and statesmen of his day. Dynasties which have withstood the destroying efforts of a Charles the Great, a Tureuue, or a Marl- borough, and defied the arts of their political, or strategic skill have fallen be- fore the breath of public opinion, when put into motion by some poor scholar or unheeded philosopher, who spoke from the narrow precincts of his neglected cell, or dreary garret. The ideas of Luther and Locke, and perhaps of llous- seau, have, through the force of public opinion, written more changes upon the face of human institutions and governments, than the arts or the arms of the statesmen and the generals of whom I have just spoken. This jurisdiction of the only earthly tribunal, where the strong and the weak must meet upon equal terms, where reason is free to speak, and truth alone is powerful, is that of all others, which this new party, by some strange perversity of opinion, would seek to destroy. What a sin against human progress, what an outrage upon the best hopes of man for social and political improvement ! But why should this party so fear public opinion, unless they believed that it would pronounce against 75 them ? If they supposed the contrary, would they not seek its mighty aid by prockimiug their purposes to the world ? There can be but two motives for concealing their action upon political affnirs, which concern the welfare of all, and these are either the fear of public opinion, or a distrust of the people. Is this a country where we can afford to encourage a party wliich acts upon such ideas ? But, fellow-citizens, there is another reason special to ourselves for regarding secret political associations as mischievous and dangerous. Mr. Calhoun used to say, that after all, the political issues in every country grew out of the contests of two parties, which belong to all organized humaa societies — the one, he called the " tax consuming party," and the other, the " tax paying party." The tax consumers are those who receive more money from tiiO Treasury, in the shape of patronage, than they contribute to it in the payment of public dues. They look, therefore, to the government for the means of support, and vote, not as citizens seeking moral benefits, but as indi- viduals in pursuit of personal interests and pecuniary gain. The tax paying party are those who look to government for political good only, and contribute more in money to the Treasury than they receive in return. If the former obtains the chief power in the State, then, sooner or later, there must be an end to free and popular government. The very ends of their organization require them first to increase the taxes as much as possible, in order to swell the fund ■which is to be converted to their own uses ; and next, to appropriate this mo- ney unequally, that they may secure themselves the lion's share. In such hands, government is administered for the personal benefit alone, of those who manage it, and not for those for whom it was made, if its original form was popular — a species of tyranny which no people have ever long tolerated, when there were so many to be served. In the downward progress of free institu- tions, when their doctrine takes this direction, the first symptom is the appear- ance of factious which look not to the general good of society, but to the par- ticular interests of themselves. Headed by such men as Sylla and Marius, cruel oppression and bloody proscription become the order of the day, until the people, weary of their sufferings, seek protection from them all under a Cassar, preferring the "dead level of an Oriental despotism," to the unequal exactions and diversified tyranny of this many-headed monster. Now, in this country, the tem])tutions and facilities for the formation of such a party, are so great as to make its appearance a thing to be feared and guarded against. The fund which constitutes the object of plunder is already great and daily growing to be enormous. Furty or fifty millions of annual expenditure, soon to be increased, probably, as our country grows and enlarges, to sixty or seventy millions, con- stitutes a fund which holds out a great temptation to those who may be dis- posed to struggle for it as prize money. The facilities too, for forming such a party are by no means small. It may be a combination of two particular inte- rests, to live upon exactions from a third. Such was believed, by some, to be the effect of the old American system, which united the manufacturing and in- ternal improvement interests against the agricultural. Or the combination may consist of two sections against a third. If the taxes are raised and expended unequally, the majority, who control the government, may be interested in swelling the public resources, whose burden falls on a part and whose benefits are mainly appropriated to themselves. Last and worst, the day may arrive x when a mere combination of oflice-holders, by means of their numbers and su- \ perior organization, may be strong enough to administer the government for their own particular benefit. Any, or all of these events, which are possible, would destroy our popular institutions. What has been our protection against this danger heretofore ? It has consisted in the publicity of political proceed- ings. Parties were forced to divide upon principles — principles which looked, or professed to look, to the good of the whole, and not of the part. Political issues were thus forced to be broadly taken, and argued upon general and gene- . 76 rous views. The one or the other party was wrong, of course, but still the country could not be much injured by either ; because, if the good of tie whole was really the object of pursuit, their measures, when adopted by the govern- ment, would be abandoned, if proved to be injurious. The people, too, are thus saved, as far as it is possible to save them, from the selfish combinations of which I have been speaking. So long a» political action is public, they observe the fact, if men of opposite political opinion are suddenly found voting togeth- er, and suspecting selfi.sh views, by a sort of instinct of self-preservation, they are sure to strike at the combination. But, destroy all this, convert the public meeting into the secret association for political purposes, and what is to save us from the domination of such a party as that which I have been describing? There is the strongest temptatiim for such action, and you remove the most effi- cient restraint. The " fear of Hell," says the poet, " Is the hangman's whip, To hold the wretch in order." The same conservative influence is exorcised by the fear of the retributive jus- tice administered by public opiuion. Within the secret conclave of this associ- ation, there can be no such fear to restrain. The action of an individual and the very fact of his membership, are concealed. Individually, he is responsible to the world for nothing. Before the puble, there is no such thing as individ- ual responsibility, or opinion, within the whole hosts of the Order. All must obey the edict, all must vindicate the opinion, when once it is determined upon, Plere the disappointed office seeker may hide his blushes under the shades of secrecy and of night, as he drives the perfect bargain, by which his principles are to be bartered away for renewed hopes of the prize, which he failed to seize before. Here, too, combinations for the most sefish and dangerous purposes may be formed, without the fear of punishment or detection. If they do nob exist now, will any man say that they may not be soon expected, with such temptations and facilities for their formation ? Permit me, fellow citizens, to expose the dangers of such an association, by an illustration, which I think ought to strike every one. We have seen that the action of the last Congress upon the Nebraska bill, severed the Whig party North and South. For the re- peal of the Missouri restriction, not one vote was given by a Northern Whig. The Southern Whigs very properly, refused to act as a party with such confed- erates. If there are men amongst them, or elsewhere in the South, who pre- fer office to the peace and safeCy of their States, and who, feeling that the auti- Blavery sentiment is predominant in the free States, which constitute the majo- rity in the government, would be willing to unite with them in order to secure their own personal interests, still, they would not dare to seek such an alliance, whilst political action is open and public. Such a man would b« afraid to do so ; he would fear the public opinion of the South, the censures of nearly all. Whig and Democrat, and the scorn of his fellow-citizens, who would regard him as a renegade and traitor. But adopt this contrivance of a secret political association, and how easy may it be for such persons to effect their purposes. The union may be formed, and yet none can know it, except those who are bound to vindicate it. If this association fails in its objects, the world is none the worse for it ; if it succeeds, they win the golden prizes of office and power, for which they are willing to risk much more perhaps; than they have put in peril. Then, upon this dangerous question of slavery, the South would lose one of its great defences, and lose the power to enforce the united action of her sons. What, after all, has been our chief security in the fierce agitation of this question ? Has it not been in the timely warning which was given us, by the publicity of political proceedings ? If a dangerous anti-slavery agitation, sprang up at the North, it was open and pub- 77 He. The conservative press of the country took the matter in hand, and an opportunity was given for oxchiinging sentiment between the different sections ; the consequences of such measures could be pointed out, and thus, even in the most excited states of the public mind, an opportunity was afforded for the so- ber second thought of the people to come to the rescue. But now, large mas- ses may be secretly committed to the most dangerous opinions, and the men may be selected to carry them out, without time for previous warning, or expos- tulation, so that opposing sections may be suddenly brought into the presence of each other, and precipitated upon the most dangerous issues, when retreat is dj^eult, and compromise becomes impossible. / But, fellow-citizens, the dangers of these secret associations do not end here. vlf this one succeeds, others must follow. In self-defence, those who do not be- long to this order, will use the same means by which it has acquired power; and the open political action for which this country has been distinguished, will be converted in a warfare of secret associations. Instead of the open, manly, 8tand-up mode of fighting, so characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo- American race, we shall substitute the dark intrigue and stiletto warfare of the Italian. That such a change in our political habits would have the effect of transforming the moral character of our people, is not to be doubted. Is there a man present, who would desire to see such transformation ? Fellow citizens, let me beg you to beware of these secret political associations. Beware of the mysterious blandishments of this new seducer. It is said to be but the first step that costs. You may be tampering with a danger of whose whole character you are little aware. / Far up on the Missouri, near to Fort Benton, upon a high cliff, which com- mands an extensive view of the surrounding country, it is said, that a Bhickfoot Indian Chief directed himself to be buried on horseback, with his face turned down the stream, to look out, as he said, for the white man, the destroyer of Lis race, when he should come up the river. If you would look out for the jdestroyer of your free institutions, and popular form of government, fix your eye upon the door of the secret political association; — from that door, the worst enemy of all, will come. But I have not told the whole story against this new Order. As I said be- fore, they have avowed opinions upon certain subjects, which, in my judgment are highly dangerous and mischievous. They propose to destroy the liberty of flonscience itself, by proscribing the members of the Roman Catholic rolieople. (Cheers.) She wants her poj^ular instruction. I do not mean to recommend to you, or to any people within the limits of Virginia, any little day school, night school, common school, a b c, single rule of three, or Peter Parley 3'ankee system of instruc- tion. (Laughter.) I want Mr. Jefferson's policy, that he originally recom- mended to the state, to be consummated — an enlarged system of science, of literature, of learning, to be given to all classes of our people, to leaven the whole lump. (Applause.) I care not how blue a FederalL-^t that man may be who curses his red waistcoat, but Thomr.o Jefferson has three thingi recorded upon his tomb — that he was the writer of the Declaration of the Lidependence of our country, the founder of the Unirer^ity of Virginia, &nd the author of the act of religious freedom. (Cheers.) For these three good works alone, every man — Democrat or Federalist — may kneel, patriotically kneel, at his grave. (Cheers.) The great apostle of Democracy never intended that the University of Virginia should be like Michael Angelo'a dome in the heavens, without scaffolding or support — never. He intended that it should be a dome over roof and cornice, and walls of colleges and academies, and of common schools; that it should be « do.ne indeed, but the dome of a grand structure for the whole people. He intended that the Uni- versity should superintend the colleges, and that there should be a college for every centre ; that the colleges should superintend the academies, and that there should be an academy for every centre ; that the academies should superintend the common schools, and that there should be a common school for every centre. He knew what equality was. He knew what Democracy was. He knew that the republican institutions of this land were based upon no other, no surer foundation than Intelligence and virtue. His Democracy did not drag men down from their elevation into the mire ; but his Demo- cracy levelled upwards. He knew that if this man's son had all the means of education, of common school, of academy, of college and of university, and then might travel abroad for his learning, he could not be the equal of the son of the father who had to work for his daily food. He knew that if it was inhuman for the parent to starve the body of a child, it wa« much more inhuman to starve the mind of a child. (Cheers.) He knew that if you could afford to raise taxes for alms-houses and pauper-houses, to feed the bodies of the poor, it was much more the duty of the state mother to furnish mental food to her children. His Democracy was like the principle of Christian charity — like the great virtue of Christian charity — it elevated men to the highest platform of elevation — high as king's heads; made them sov- ereigns indeed, to stand equal foot, equal head, uncontradicted, except by th^' 7 9a laws of God — with equal opportunities for all. It reached down, to raise rnen up to the common level of the hiijhest. He knew that property — pro- perty which must be taxed for instruction — had no other muniment, no other defence, no other safe reliance for its protection, but intelligence among the people. (Applause.) Is there a rich man, then, in this assembly that loves a dollar better than the intelligence of the people ? Is there any old bache- lor among you, who has no child of his own, who is too mean to support some poor man's daughter as his wife, or to be rich in having some rich man's daughter to support him ? (Laughter.) Is there a man in the state who has already educated his sons, who is now unwilling to be taxed in order that his poor neighbor's children may be educated — educated not only in the common school, but in the academy, the college, the university? If there be, let him remember that before he dies his title to his property may have to be tried by a jury to say whether that property be his own or not, and if God shall let him live till he dies (laughter,) and he can keep Avhat property he has, let him remember that there is such a thing as what law- yers call devisahit vel non, that a jury may have to decide whether or not he had sense enough to make his will when he died. An ad valorem tax upon property is the appropriate tax for the education of the children of the peo- ple. Property owes its defence to the virtue and intelligence of the people, and property ought, therefore, to be taxed for the education of the people. (Cheers.) We want one school for this state that will revive our agriculture. We want a school like the Mechlin Institute of Prussia — an institute of ap- plied sentence — an institute not to teach political economy and send young gentlemen to the legislature before they have hardly picked in their tuition ; but an institute that will teach them domestic ecomomy, the proper relation between floating and fixed capital at home — how much money a man must have to buy — how much land, hcv/ much stock, and how many impllments he must have ; an institute that will teach the physiology of animals and plants; an institute that will teach natural philosophy and the diseases of an- imals and plants. Then, gentlemen, the father who has spent his life in acquiring real estate, in spreading out his broad acres, in adding family to family of slaves, may die with a &z\\ instructed how to manage the estate. You will then have, or it will be your opportunity to have, the same privilege that the German baron has, of sending your son for his two, or three, or four, or five years' apprenticeship to an institute of that kind that will teach him agricultural chemistry and every other science necessary to enable him to manage an estate of lands and negroes. The present condition of thing.? has existed too long in Virginia. The landlord has skinned the tenant, and the tenant has skinned the land, until all have grown poor together. (Laugh- ter.) I have heard a story — I will not locate it here or there — about the condition of the prosperity of our agriculture. I was told by a gentleman in Washington, not long ago, that he v/as travelling in a county not a hundred miles from this place, and overtook one of our citizens on horseback, with perhaps a bag of hay for a saddle, without stirrups, and the leading line for a bridle ; and he said, " Stranger, whose house is that .^" " It is mine," was the reply. They came to another. "Whose house is that ?" "JMine, too, stranger." To a third : " And whose house is that ?" " That's mine, too, stranger; but don't suppose that I am so darned poor as to own all the land about here." (Laughter.) We may own land, we may own slaves, we may own roadsteads and mines, we may have all the elements of Avealth, but un- less we apply intelligence, unless we adopt a thorough system of instruction, it is utterly impossible that we can develop as we ought to develop, and as Virginia is prepared now to do, and to take the line of march towards the very eminence of prosperity. She is in the anomalous condition of an old state that has all the capacities of a new one — of a new state that has 99 all (he capacities of an old one. Unite with me, tlien, I implore you; unite witli each other; lot us as Virf^inians resolve that there shall be a longj pull, a strona; pull, and a pull altogether, without distinction of party, without prejudice of party — that there shall be a united brotherhood of Viri:^inians to rear the head of the old mother commonwealth out of the dust. (Cheers.) Jf I am elected governor of the state of Virginia, it shall be my devotion, my earnest endeavor, in season and out of season to promote her public credit, her internal improvements, her commerce, Iier agriculture, her mining and manufacturing, and her popular instruction.. Well, now, gentlemen, is not that enough ! Are these topics not sufficient for an election for chief magistrate for the state of Virginia? Is thereany- thing else worth considering? With conscientious, with considerate men — with men determined to cast aside minor things, mere prejudices, whether personal or political — is there not enough in these six cardinal points to guide your votes and to govern this election ? What more do you want? Why, you are in the habit of discussing federal politics ; and permit me to say to you, very honestly and very openly, that next to brandy, next to card-play- ing, next to horse-racing, the thing that has done Virginia more harm than, any other in the course of her past history, has been her insatiable appetite for federal politics. (Cheers and laughter.) She has given all her great men to the Union. Her Washington, her Jefferson, her Madison, her Mar- shall, her galaxy of great men, she has given to the Union. When and where have her best sons been at work, devoting their best energies to her service at home ? Richmond, instead of attending to Richmond's business, has been too much in the habit of attending to the affairs of Washington city, when there are plenty there, God knows, to attend to them themselves. (Laughter.) If you want my opinions upon federal politics, though, I shall not skulk them. The most prominent subject is that of the foreign war. It is said that this administration is a "do nothing administration." To its honor I can claim of every fair-minded man of you — to its honor T can claim that it is at least preserving our neutrality in the foreign war. (Loud and prolonged cheers.) I concur with them in that policy, and here let me say, that, so far as I am concerned, my sentiments are utterly opposed to any fillibustering in any part of the world. (Cheers.) Then you have the question of the public lands. We are told, now-a-days, that all the old issues are dead. It is not so. If there has been one thing next to the Constitution of the United States more than another among our institutions which has been grand, and ereat, and good, it has been the ope- ration of the great land ordinance of 1787. It came, like most of the insti- tutions of North America, by inspiration from Heaven. There is no proto- type of the land system of the United States in ancient or modern times. There is nothing like it in the feudal system. There is nothing like it in any of the examples of modern Europe. Its very beauty is its simplicity. An eminent domain ; a virgin soil, richer than any that God's sun ever shone upon, or heaven's dews ever watered; the simple system of sectioning the public lands by north and south, east and west lines, making them the homes of the brave and of the free, clear of all litigation — selling them at the lowest price, at a minimum that is within the reach of the poorest man, and gradu- ating the price before exposed to sale at the minimum by an infinitesimal graduation — those who have been denouncing the graduation of the public lands ought to remember that there never has been a time when the price of the public lands was not graduated; that they have ever been exposed first to public sale before they have been exposed for sale for the minimum price of a dollar and a quarter. You had an eminent domain, which was a sacred trust, for the common use and benefit of all the states of the Union. You had that eminent domain under your own care, to which the poorest man, 100 the forlornest man of the east, might go for a home in the west. You had room there for the frontierman, for the actual settler, armed with the simple implement of the logwood axe to hew out unto himself a home for settle- ment, to strike the light of the log cabin, and to invite the oppressed of every land to our land for an asylum, w^ilh a soil rich enough to grow a vine luxuriant enough to shade him and his dwelling all over, where there were none to make liim afraid. (Cheers.) If you ask me for my opinion in rela- tion to the public lands, I will tell you that first and foremost, next, at least to preserving the sacred trust as a source of revenue to ease taxation by customs, I would protect, by all the protective policy in my power, the actual settlers upon our public lands. (Cries of "good, good.") I have been in the west ; I have seen the frontiersman ; 1 have broken hi3 bread; I have drank of his cup ; I know his enterprise; I know his man- hood ; I know his privations ; I know his courage ; I know his endurance ; and I know that he is the best of the right arm of the power of his country. (Cheers.) I knovr that with his logwood axe alone, he has laid the empires of no less than seventeen sovereignties in our confede- racy. I would protect him, while at the same time I would conserve the eminent domain of this country, as a source of revenue to be held as legislation of Congress. I would prevent the public lands from being sacred as the revenue by customs. I would protect it from the partial the prey and the plunder of politicians. I would protect them from land- jobbers and politicians. I would prevent them from becoming a source of corruption to Congress, thereby destroying our state rights and our state sovereignty. (Loud cheers.) I would protect them from the electioneering of parties ; and any bill that has these ends in view has my concurrence. The President of the United States tells us that 23,000,000 of acres of the pub- lic lands have been disposed of during the past year, and that only 7,000,000 have been sold. Thus, without law, while 7,000,000 have been sold, 16,- 000,000 have been given away ; and the price of the public lands, without chano-ing the minimum, has been reduced and graduated with a vengeance. As to the subject of internal improvements that, too, is alive and kicking. That part of " the American system " is not a dead issue. Congress has been passing harbor and river bills. It is a part of the system of the light-houses of the skies of 182S. It is a part of "the American system," and I thank God that not only has there been a Hickory and a Tyler, but that now there is found a Pierce to thunder his veto against such measures. (Great cheer- You are told that the tariff is a dead issue. That, too, is alive. Such are the energies and resources of this country, that we have paid the debt of the war of the Revolution, we have paid the debt of the second war of In- dependence, and we have paid the debt of the war with Mexico; and now there is a proposition for a reduction of the revenue. A question arises, shall that reduction be made upon the protected or the unprotected class of ar- ticles ? On that subject, I stand where I have ever stood — a free trade man. (Loud cheers.) But, gentlemen, I am hurrying over all these topics to get at one which is the subject of the day — the fatal subject of discussion. I mean the inter- state relations of this Union on the subject of slavery. I have had a very severe training in collision with the acutest, the astutest, the archest, enemy of Southern slavery that ever existed. I mean the "Old Man Eloquent," John Qnincy Adams. I must have been a dull boy indeed if I had not learned my lessons thoroughly on that subject. And let me tell you that, ao-ain and again, I had reason to know and to feel the wisdom and the saga- city of thatdeparted man. Again and again, in the lobby, on the floor, he told me, told me vauntingly, that the pulpit would preach, and the school would 101 tench, and the press would print, among the people wlio had no tic and no association with slavery, until, would not onl_y be renchcd the slave trade between the states, the slave trade in the District of Columbia, slavery in the District, slavery, in the territories, but slavery in the states. Again and again, he said that he would not abolish slavery in the District of Columbia if he could ; for he would retain it as a bone of contention, a fulcrum of the lever for agitation, agitation, agitation, until slavery in the states was shakea from ita base. And his prophesies have been fulfilled — fulfilled far faster, and more fearfully, certainly, than ever he anticipated before he died. When I left the House of Representatives at that capitol, ten years ago, had I said to Mr. Adams, " Sir, to me it seems that the Congress of the United States can carve out a piece of slavery territory and make it free soil," he would have said, "No, sir; Congress will not dare to attempt such a thing; it would be a casus belli if they did." And yet, have you not seen that Congress has carved out, in round numbers, 44,000 square miles from the slave state of Texas? Have you not seen a brigadier general (Riley) of the United States army, with his epaulettes on his shoulders, cocked hat upon his head, and sword at his side, in full panoply of uniform, acting as a briga- dier general of the standing army of the United States, go into the territory of California, and there, with the right arm and the left arm of executive power — the army and navy — at his command ; have you not seen him, I say, under the pretext that the army and navy could not protect persons and property, proclaim from the camp a territorial Legislature, a territorial judiciary, from fribimales superiores down to the alcade ! Have you not seen him constitute himself chief executive — territorial executive? How dared a brigadier general of the United States standing army thus to assume the power of usurping territorial government? Had he been court martialed he would have produced his order from a Delaware secretary of state (Mr. Clayton) and he would have replied that the sahis populi — the safety of the people — required this territorial usurpation by a brigadier general of the United States army. Well, if it did require the civil power — as well as the army and navy — why, the plea of necessity was met. There was the Legislature, there was the judiciary, there was the civil executive, as well as the brigadier general, who had at his command the navy and the army that was there. How dared he then, to go further, after the plea of neces- sity was sufficiently met, and after the safety of the people was secured? How dared he go forth and proclaim the time, place and manner of holding elections? Elections for what? Elections for a Convention. Convention, for what? To form a constitution. A constitution, for what? To create a state — a sovereignty. Yes, by proclamation from the camp of the brigadier general of the standing army of the United States, elective franchise was created. He gave it to Chilean, to Chinese, to Patagonian, to Peruvian, and — last, though not least — to a Georgia representative in Congress (Thomas But- ler King.) And after creating suffrage to create a convention — the highest act of the people — convention to create a constitution, constitution to create a state, a sovereign state — the highest act of creation that can be performed by human power — an act next only to those of Deity — no higher act can the people themselves exert — he inducted California a free soil state into the Union. Thus free soilism has been proclaimed from the camp of the stand- ing army. And what has been the result? "Acquiesce" was the word ; " acquiesce." They have traded on the pious attachment of the people of the United States to that palladium of liberty, the Union of the states. They have traded upon the feeling of alarm for the Union which was never in danger — never, never. They made "acquiesce" the pass-word for the people. ^And what did we get in return ? We got a free soil law. (Derisive cheers.) We got the grant of the constitution itself — the glorious privilege 102 of catching runaway niggers.: For that, for that we have submitted to 44,000 square miles of slave state territory being taken and converted into free soil territory. For that we have acquiesced in the proclamation of free soil California from the camp of the standing army of the United States, without authority of Congress. Aye, but they tell me it was all sanctioned by the people. The people ! The word people has two signiiications. It is either a mere aggregate of human beings, or it is an organized aggregate of human beings. Nothing short of an organized aggregate of human beings in Cali- fornia could ever have sanctioned this usurpation ; there was no organized aggregate of human beings, either to permit the usurpation or to sanction the usurpation. But we got the fugitive slave act. But how execute it? Can we execute it? A master from the state of Maryland, directly after the act was passed, went to Pennsylvania to recover his property ; he was murdered ; and judge and jury could not be found to execute the law, to render a verdict or pass judgment upon the crime of murder itself, in that case. At last a Virginia master, from this town, I believe, went to Boston to have the law- executed, and to execute it the marshal had to call on the President of the United States — and thank God, there was a Democratic New Hampshire President of the United States, who was ready to obey the call. (Cheers.) The army and navy were ordered to protect the marshal in the performance of his duty. He did perform his duty, at an expense of $13,000 to the city of Boston, and of more than $100,000 to the government and to individuals; and the captive was brought back by reclamation to Virginia. And what has been the consequence? Now we come to the dragon's teeth. Mr. Adams' prediction has been fulfilled. The preachers have begun. The three thousand preachers of Christian politics opened their battery from the press. I have here a specimen of one of their sermons, which I beg leave to read to you, 1 hold in my hand a discourse called "The Rendition of Antony Burns, its causes and consequences ; a discourse on Christian politics, delivered in Williams' Hall, Boston, Whitsunday, June 4, 1854." — I beg you, gentlemen, to remember that date — 4th of June, 1854 — because some prophecies are made in that sermon which are wonderful prophecies, if this preacher did not know something — (laughter) — "by James Freeman Clarke, minister of the church of the Disciples," published by request — h^econd edition of two thousand — printed at Boston. It commences with introductory services. There is — first the reading the psalms — (laughter) — second, a hyrnn; third, selections from the prophets; fourth, prayer; fifth, reading of Scripture — selections from the lamentations of Jeremiah — (great laughter) — sixth, a hymn : — "Men, whose boast it is that ye Come from fathers brave anrl i'ree — If there breathes on earth a slave, Are ye truly free and brave ? They are slaves who dare not speak For the fallen and the weak. They are slaves who will not choose, Hatred, scoffing and abuse. Rather than in silence shrink From the truth they needs must think — They are slaves who dare not be In the right with two or three." (Great laughter.) These are cabihstic terms, gentlemen, — " Two or three." Then comes seventhly, the sermon : — " Is this the city, which men call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the 103 whole earth ? Her gates are sunk into the ground. He hath destroyed and broke her bars. Her kings and princes arc among Gentiles. The law is no more. Her prophets also find no vision from the Lord." That is the text. The preacher says : " I have invited you here this morning to meditate on the facts of the •v\-eek — the phenomenon which has occurred in the streets of Boston. The slave power which has triumphed in Congress over the rights of the north, which has violated sacred compacts, and broken contracts, has * * * come north to Boston, taken possession of the court-house, so as to govern our Avhole police force, our whole miUtary force, and suspend and interrupt the business of our citizens, until its demands can be satisfied. * * * The slave power drove the Indians out of Georgia, brings on a Florida" war, and, at last grown bolder, proposes to annex Texas as a slave state, and after a struggle carries the main feature of that transaction. It was done avowedly to pre- vent the abolition of slavery and to strengthen the slave power. Not only was this purpose declared in Congress by Mr. Henry A._ Wise and others, but also by Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of State, in diplomatic correspondence with Mr. Pakenham, the British Minister. * * * A blind adherence to party is another cause of our present position. The mere names of Whig, Democrat, or Free Soiler are now worth nothing." Do you not hear some talk like that now ? " We must have men to vote for — upright, downright and outspoken. In that is your last hope — your only security." Again — "The sibyl, each time we reject her offer, demands a higher price. What she would have done in 1850 she will not do now. What she will do now she will not do five years hence. * * The country is at last awaking. The great w^est is awaking. Ohio is wheehng into line, and will be perhaps the leader in the coming struggle." What coming struggle? How did this preacher know that Ohio was wheeling into line as early as the 4lh of June, 1854 ? Again — " Northern enthusiasm, when fully aroused, has always been more than a match for southern organization — northern conscience." Oh! gods! (Great laughter.) Northern conscience ! Take a shark skin, and let it dry to shagreen — skin the rliinoceras — go then and get the silver steel and grind it, and when you have ground it, then take the hone and whet it till it would split a hair, and with it prick the shagreen or ■tne shark skin, and then go and try it on northern consciences. (Cheers and laughter.) " Northern conscience, slow but stubborn, more than a match for southern impetuosity ! So may it be still. If right is very apt to be overthrown at first, it is sure of victory in the end — Careless seems the great avenger, History's pages but record, One death struggle in the darkness, 'Twixt old systems and the " word ;'* Truth forever or the scaffold. Wrong forever or the throne. Yet that scali'old sways a future. And behind tlie dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow. Keeping watch above his own." And this is the first time that this preacher of Christian politics has named God in the whole sermon : — " May to-da}', he continues, be a Pentecost to the cause of humanity; to- day may the servants of Christ be every where speaking with one tongue, 104 as the Spirit gives them utterance. May all our devotions and aspirations be — " This is fusion. "That all true lovers of liberty — whether they call themselves Whig, Democrat, Free Soiler or Abolitionist — be united in one calm and honest purpose, that once again all may be of one speech and one tongue. We must be united ; we must sacrifice everything to unite in one great northern party all the friends of freedom and humanity. Let us forget the past, and gladly receive help from all. Let us reproach none, because those who come in at the eleventh hour — whoever lepent and do deeds meet to repentance, even if he has been a servant of kidnappers, a United States Commissioner or Marshal, the editor of a sham Democratic paper, or worse than all, a lower law Doctor of Divinity. Whoever will repent let him be welcome. Let us be calm." And " calm," there, means not only composed but silent and secret. *' Let us put the calmest, coolest man in front to lead us ; let the most cautious advise and tell us what to do; let those of us who for years have been speaking, now listen for words from those whose turn has come to speak. The anti-slavery platform welcomes its new orators from State street and Long wharf. Let us not by any rashness lose the opportunity of uniting all men. As regards the southern threat of dissolving the Urtion, that has now lost its terror. If we had disregarded it ten years ago we should not have been in such danger of dissolution of the Union as we are to-day. The majority of the north to-day have no objection to a dissolution of the Union. In this community, where one man was opposed to the Union a week ago, a hundred men are opposed to it to-day. The danger of dissolution of the Union now is from the north, not from the south, if some effective measures are not taken to prevent the rendition of another fugitive from the northern states. We can all determine to support no man hereafter for any public office in the federal or state governments who is not openly pledged to five things ; first, the abolition of the obnoxious clause of the Nebraska bill; second, the right of trial by jury for fugitives; third, the exclusion of slavery from the territory; fourth, the admission of no more slave states; fifth, the abolition of the Union, if these things cannot be obtained." That is what they call " Christian politics" in Boston. (Laughter.) What is the result of such preaching, such teaching, such printing ? What has been the result of the pulpit, the school-houses and the press at the north upon this subject ? Gentlemen, but a short time back. New Eng- land — Massachusetts especially — had but one ism within her limits, and that was Puritanism, the religion of the good old Covenanters and Congre- gationalists — Puritanism, full of vitality, full of spirituality — Puritanism that made even the barren rock of Plymouth to fructify, that made the New Englanders a strong people, that made them a rich people, that made them a learned people. But since they have waxed fat, since they have begun to build churches by lottery, begun to moralize mankind by legislation, begun to play petty providences for the people, begun to be Protestant Popes over the consciences of men, begun to preach " Chri.-tian politics," such as you have heard, Puritanism has disappeared, and we have in place of it Unitarianism, Universalism, Fourierism, Millerism, Mormonism — all the odds and ends of isms — until at last you have a grand fusion of all those odds and ends of isms in the omnium gatherum of isms, called Know-Nothingism. (Cheers, laughter, and hisses.) What is it ? Now I wish not to offend any man in this assembly, because I would fain believe of our Virginians who are uniting themselves with this association, that, tjieir motives and their acts are as innocent as mine.' I would fain believeN that no man in the state of Virginia means more than simply some political / 105 end by uniting himself with this association, and to such men — conscien- tious, thinking men, who mean no more than to pick up a stick with wjiich ., to bruise the head of democracy — T will only say, beware ! my friends ; you may be picking up a serpent that will sting you_ as deadly as it will democracy. (Cheers and stamping of feet.) I assail no motives here. You may'te, according to that passage of Scripture which we sometimes read — that 11th verse of the l.'Jlh chapter of 2d Samuel, which tells us that two hundred men went out from .lerusalcm with Absalom, when he left his father ; that they " went out in their simplicity, and that they knew^ not any- thing." (Laughter.) And Bishop Hall most emphatically comments upoa that^by saying that the two hundred went out in their simi)licity, not know- ing anything, and they were merely loyal rebels ; but Absalom knew what he was about; he knew something; he knew that when the trumpet blew behind, it should be understood by the people that Absalom reigneth in , Hebron; and I tell you that there is an Absalom at work with Know-/ Nothingism. (Gjceat cheering a«d some hissesA-' " What is it.^" Where did it come from ? What can it be? Did it full from the sky ? Did it rise from the sea ? I tell you that there is no wonder about it. I tell you that I know it from A to Z. I know where it came from. I know where it was engendered. I know what it has done, and I can exchange with you, my friend, every sign, every grip, every pass. (Laughter.) I know its white triangles and its red triangles, its red arrowtops and its white arrowtops. T know your odd numerals and yonr even numerals. I know your odds from A to M in- clusive, and I know your evens from N to Z inclusive. (Laughter.) Now, where did it come from ? It is no new thing. "^It is no strange thing. Al- thouo-h it is a wonder here, it has been operating for years and years in Old England. You that will go to a bookstore and buy Dickins' novel of " Hard Times" will see a portraiture of the thing, and how^ it has operated in a country with an aristocracy and a queen, with lord proprietors of facto- ries and of lands, which they rent to middle men Avho grind down the opera- tives. There, in England, the secret association of the operatives against grinding capital, I grant you, has done much good. There, there is some necessity for it; there, where men's noses are held to the grindstone by oppression ; there, where all the luxuries are free, and all the necessa- ries of life are taxed ; there, where the operative is made to bear all the burdens of society ; there, where there is a crowned head and an aristocracy — there, dark-lantern, secret association, test oaths have brought forth some reforms. Well, seeing its effect in that country — Exeter Hall — the aboli- tionists of Endand sent it over to the preachers of " Christian politics" in Boston and New York, to apply its machinery to the north and the non- slaveholding states. (Cheers and hisses.) They brought it over. They have tried it, and they had it organized as early as June 4th, 1854. They knew its potency. They knew its effect. Therefore it was that Mr. Free- inan Clarke could tell you that he knew that Ohio was wheeling into line. This thing was all planned — all organized — and it did sweep Massachusetts, and New York, and Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and Delaware, and Ohio, and Indiana, and Illinois, and Michigan, and Iowa. It has swept them with tlie besom of destruction. (Cheers and laughter.) Go now to Massachusetts, and you find among her hundreds of legislators but one friend of the Constitution left. Sixty-two of these preachers of " Christian politics" have been returned to sit in the seats once filled by such men as John Hancock. There, in the neighborhood of Faneuil Hall, in the land of steady habits — in the land of the Puritans — Theodore Parker, but the other day, received 122 votes to be a chaplain. A man anti-Christ, so much devil incarnate that he can hide neither tail nor hoofs, receives in a Massa- 106 chusetts lep;islature 122 votes to be a chaplain. Massachusetts! Massa- chusetts ! the elder sister of Virginia, who in the night of the revolution gave her pass-wo;-d for pass-word, sign for sign, cheer for cheer, in the rnidst of our gloom ! iJVIassachusetts has thrown aside her Puritanism, her Chris- tian religion, her constitution, and has given. Jierself up to Know-Nothingism and anti-slavery. (Tremendous cheering.) Let us see the working of Know-Ncthingism in Massachusetts. I hold in my hand the otiicial address of his excellency Henry J. Gardner to the two branches of the legislature of Massachusetts. You see here upon one page of it, "not through a glass darkly," but plainly, an intimation of amalgamation itself. " It is a great pro- blem," he says, "in statesmanship wisely to control the mingling of races into one nationality." Can you give that the grip ? (Roars of laughter.) Another specimen of Know-Nothingism is a recommendation in this message that the right of suffrage shall be limited to those who can read and write. Do the Know-Nothings of Virginia give that grip too? The only illustrious painting that this country has given to the fine arts has been the picture of the Saviour of mankind healing the sick. This message recommends that the sick foreigner sliall be tumbled out of the hospital bed into the Calcutta hole of the emigrant ship, and sent back again to Liverpool ! This, then, is a samjile of the charitableness and religion of Know-Nothingism. But, gen- tlemen, here is the governor's doctrine in relation to the Nebraska bill. Mr. Wise then read a passage from -the message in relation to the repeal of the compromise, which the governor characterises as "a violation of the plighted faith of the nation," and declares that "the ultimate effect will be to determine us manfully to demand the restoration of this broken compact, and to jealously guard each and every right that belongs to Massachusetts." That is in exact correspondence with the preaching of Mr. Freeman Clarke. But the governor goes on : " V/hile we acknowledge our fealty to the Constitution and laws, the oft- repeated cry of disunion heralds no real danger to our ears." Of those lights which Massachusetts is jealously to regard, it seems the two cardinal ones are the habeas corpus to take the fugitive slave out of the hands of the United States commissioner; and trial by jury, to have the title of the Virginia master subjected to the verdict of twelve abolitionists! "It is submitted," says the governor, "whether additional legislation is required to secure either of these to our fellow-citizens." Gentlemen, that is not ail. This Know-Nothing legislature has just elected one of the most notorious, one of the most inveterate of their abolition lead- ers, to the senate of the United States, and I beg to read to you a passage from a Boston paper which came to my hand this evening. It is the Boston Daily Chronicle, and I presume no one will say that it misrepresents the position of the Know-Nothings in the state of Massachusetts: Mr. Wise then read a long report of a lecture on the "evils of and the remedy for slavery," delivered at the Tremont Temple, Boston, by Mr. An- son Burlingame, one of the Know-Nothings elected to Congress, in which he took ground in favor of the repeal of the Nebraska bill, the repeal of the fugitive slave law, the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and the prohibition of slavery in the territories of the United States. Speaking of the Nebraska bill, this lecturer said : " One of its fruits was the election of a senator at the state house yester- terday, (great applause and calls for Wilson, who was on the platform,) one who would take the place of one who was false to freedom and not true to the slave, (thus denouncing Edward Everett.) He himself, on going to Washington, should so endeavor to conduct himself as to truly represent his native place." The report continues : — 107 "After Mr. Biirlingame had concluded, I\Ir. Wilson was called for most heartily, and came forward. He stated that cverylhini; lAIr. Burlingame liad uttered he would endorse. He intended, in accepting hi.s post, to yield nothing of his aati-slavery sentiment to anybody or for anything. He would comprehend in his action the whole country, of every color; but, in saying the whole country, he included Massachusetts and the north." Governor Gardner was called for, and amid loud cheers rose, but modestly declined to speak. There is a Know-Nolhing member elect from Massachusetts to the Con- gress of the United States. There is a United States senator elect of the Know-A^othings, who confesses the accusation which I make, that the new party of Know-Nothings was formed especially for the sake of abolitionism. (Cheers and hisses.) And there is a Knovv-Nothing governor — one of the nine who are all ready to take the same ground. (Stamping of feet and some hissing.) Then, gentlemen, I have here an act of the Know-Noihing legislature of Pennsylvania, which proposes to give citizenship to the fugitive slaves of the south. I have here, also, an article which is too long for me to read, exhausted as I am, from the Worcester Evening Journal, an organ of governor Gardner and senator Wilson, which says to you boldiy that the American Organ at Washington is a pro-slavery organ, that it is not a true Know-Nothing organ, and that they speak for the north when they claim that they have already one hundred and sixty votes of the non-slaveholding states organized, eleven more than sutficient to elect a president of the Uni- ted State's without a single electoral vote from the slaveholding states. Now, gentlemen, having swept the northern and the northwestern non- slaveholding states of the Union, the next onset is on the soil of Virginia. This Worcester Journal boasts that Maryland and Virginia are already almost northern states ; and pray, how do they propose to operate on the south ? Having swept the north— Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and all those other states — the question was : How can this ism be wedged in the south ; and the devil was at the elbow of these preachers of " Christian pol- itics," to tell them precisely how. (Cat-calls, derisive cheers, and other manifestations of the Know-Nothing element of the meeting.) There v>'ere three elements in the south, and in Virginia particularly, to which they might apply themselves. There is the religious element — the Protestant bigotry and fanaticism — for Protestants, gentlemen, have their religious zeal wfthout knowledge, as well as the Catholics. (A voice, " True enough, sir.") It is an appeal to the 103,000 Presbyterians, to the 300,000 Baptists, to the 800,000 Methodists of Virginia. Well, how were they to reach them? Why, just by raising a hell of a fuss about the Pope. (Laughter.) The Pope! The Pope, "now so poor that none can do him reverence," so poor that Louis Napoleon, who requires every soldier in his kingdom to be at Se- bastopol, has to leave a guard of muskets at Rome ! Once on a time, crowned heads could bow down and kiss his big toe; but now, who cares for a Pope in Italy ? Gentlemen, the Pope is here. Priestcraft at home is what you h ;ve to dread more than all the Popes in the world. T believe, intellectually, and in my heart as well as in my head, in evangelical Christianity. I believe that there is no other certain foundation for this republic but the pure and undefiled religion of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And the man of God who believes in the'Father, in the divinity of the Son, and the Holy Ghost — the preacher in the pulpit, at the baptismal font, by the sick bed, at the grave, pointing The way to heaven and leading there, I honor. No man honors him more than I do. But the priest who deserts the spiritual kingdom for the carnal kingdom, he is "of the earth, earthly," 108 whoever be be — Episcopalian, Baptist or Methodist — who leaves the pulpit to join a dark-lantern, secret political society, in order that he may become a Protestant Pope by seizin>^ on political power — he is a hypocrite, whoever he be. (Some applause, and cries of "good.") Jesus Christ of Nazaieth settled the question himself. I have his authority on this question. When the Jews expected him to put on a prince's crown and seat himself on the actual throne of David, he asked for a penny to be shown him. A penny was brought to him, a metal coin, assayed, clipped, stamped, with the image of the state, representative of the civil power, stamped with Ctesar's image. "Whose image and superscription is this?" "It is Ciesar's." "Then, render unto Cssar the things that be Cfesar's, and unto God the things that be God's." (Applause.) " My kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is a spiritual kingdom." C?esai''s kingdom is political, is a carnal kingdom. And I tell you that if I stood alone in the state of Virginia, and if priest- craft — if the priests of my own mother church dared to lay their hands on the political power of our people, or to use their churches to wield political influence, I would stand, in feeble imitation of, it may be, but I w'ould stand, even if I stood alone, as Patrick Henry stood in the revolution, between the parsons and the people. (Applause and a cry of " Fm with you.") I want no Pope, either Catholic or Protestant. I will pay Peter's pence to no pontiff — Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, or any other. (Applause and cries of "good.") They not only appeal to the religious ele- ment, but they raise a cry about the Pope, these men, many of whom are neither Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Congrega- tionalists, Lutherans, or what not — who are men of no religion, who have no church, who do not say their prayers, who do not read their Bible, who live God-defying lives every day of their existence, are now seen with faces as long as their dark-lanterns, w-ith the whites of their eyes turned up in holy fear lest the Bible should be shut up by the Pope ! (Laughter, ap- plause, and derisive cheers.) Men who were never known before, on the face of God's earth, to show any interest in religion, to take an}'- part with Christ or his kingdom, who were the devil's own, belonging to the devil's church, are all of a sudden very deeply interested for the word of God and against the Pope ! It would be well for them that they joined a church which does believe in the Father, and in the Son, and 'in the Holy Ghost. (Good.) Let us see, my friends, what Know-Nothingism believes in. Do you know that, gentlemen? (Holding up a small pamphlet, amid great laughter and excitement. That is your formulary of the Grand Council ot the United States of North America, from the press of Damerill £c Moore, No. 10 Devonshire street, Boston, 18.54. A voice — " Is it January ?" Mr. Wise — Yes, it is January. It has been used. Here is one of 5'our charters, (holding up a printed document,) and now, if you can see it, you will perceive it has been used by one of your lodges. (Cries of " Read it — drive along. Old Virginny.") Yes I will read from your own book. But I am on the subject of your religion now — you want to put down one of the evangelical churches of the country, which does believe not only in the Father, but in the divinity of Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost — a Trini- tarian church. I want to ask the Episcopalians, and the Presbyterians, and the Methodists, Avhether they are going to put down that Trinitarian church by a secret association ? Your sphere consists of the 26 letters of the al- phabet. You number your letters from A to M inclusive, with the odd numerals down to 26. Thus, A 1. B 3, C 5, D 7, E 9, F 11, G 13, H 15, I 17, J 19, K 21, L 23, M 25. The last thirteen letters of the alphabet are numbered with even numbers. Thus, N 2, 4, P 6, Q 8, R 10, S 12, T 14, U 16, V 18, W 20, X 22, Y 24, Z 26. And now let us see how the 109 books read. The first page of the cover of the blue book — and it is not only blue — real Boston blue, but it is a JMazarine blue, (lighter) — contains the following in tabular form. Now listen to Know-Notliing readin'^-. (Manifestations of intense enjoyment among the Know-Nothings, and of interest among the uninitiated, and cries of "go it, old boy.") 1 will o-o it, if you will be patient and let me reason with you: 12 IG 6 10 9. 25 6, that reads " supreme," 4 10 7 9 10 means " order," 4 11, "of," 14 15 6 " the " 12 14 1 10, " star," 12 6 12 13 25 9 7, " spangled," 3 1 2 2 9 10, " banner!" That is square spelling and square reading. "Supreme Order of the Star Spangled Banner." (Cheers, applause, hisses, and manifestations of all kinds.) The fourth page of the cover, contains the foUowino- table — 12 6 17 10 17 14, "spirit," 4,11, "of," '76, "spirit of '76." That is the title page and the formulary of the Grand Council of the United States of North America, from the press of Damerell & JMoore, No. 16 Devonshire street, Boston. Next come the ofticers of the Grand Council. President, (that is for the past year, but I beheve it still continues,) James VV. Barker, of New York. (Cheers.) Vice President, W. W. Williamson, of Alexandria, Va. (Roars of Laughter, cries of "here he is," and "three cheers for Williamson.") Corresponding Secretary, Charles D. Deschler, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Recording Secretary, James M. Stevens, of Bal- timore. Md. Treasurer, Henry Crane, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Inside Sentinel is John P. Hilton, of Washington, D. C. (Laughter, and cheers from Washingtonians in the crowd.) Outside Sentinel, Henry Metz, of Detroit, Michigan. Chaplain, Samuel P. Crawford, of Indianapolis, Indi- ana. Now, gentlemen, I want to show you their religion. I read from the blue book — " The organization shall be known by the name of the Grand Council of the United States of North America. Its jurisdiction and power shall ex- tend to all the states, districts, and territories of the United States of North America. A person, to become a meniber of any subordinate Council, must be twenty-one years of age. He must believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, as the Creator and Preserver of the universe," No Christ acknowledged! No Saviour of mankind! No Holy Ghost! No heavenly Dove of Grace ! Go, go, you Know-Nothings, to the city of Baltimore, and in a certain street there you will see two churches — one is inscribed, " Monos Theos" — " to the one God;" on the other is the in- scription, "As for us, we preach Christ crucirled — to the Jews a stumblino* block, and to the Greeks foolishness." The one inscribed "0 Monos Theos" is the Unitarian church; the other, inscribed, "We preach Christ crucified," is the Catholic church! (Cries of " good, good," and cheers.) Is it — I ask of Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Baptists — is it, I ask, for any orthodox Trinitarian Christian church to join an association tliat is inscribed, like the Unitarian church at Baltimore, " O Monos Theos" —to the one God? Is it for them to join or to countenance an association that so lays its religion as to catch men like Theodore Parker and James Freeman Clarke ? I put it to all the religious societies — to the Presbyteri- ans, the Episcopalians, the Methodists, and the Baptists — whether they mean to renounce the divinity of Christ and the operation of the Holy Spirit when they give countenance to this secret society, which is inscribed to the one God? But, gentlemen, these Know-Nothings appeal not only to the religious element, but to the political element — not only to the political element, but to the agrarian element. Not only do they appeal to Protestant bigotry — not only do they ask Protestants to out-Herod Herod, to out Catholic the Catho- lics, to out Jesuit the Jesuits by adopting their Machiavellian creed, but they appeal to a forlorn party in the state of Virginia — a minority party, broken 110 '.'.own at home and disorganized, because their associates have become abolitionized at the North — they appeal to them as affording them a house of refuge. [Cheers and laughter.] There is a paper published in this town by one of the most respectable gentlemen of the state, who some time ago published an article which, I must confess, I did not expect to see in print from his pen. The Alexandria Gazette, one of the most respectable of the Whig papers of the United States, edited by one of the most conservative and respectable gentlemen that I know of among my acquaintance, one who has been advocating the doctrines and practice of conservatism ever since I knew him, is now proposing a fusion between the Know-Nothings and the Whig party, simply for the reason that "the Whigs are tired of standing at the rack without fodder." [Voice in the crowd " Oh, go along," and laughter.] One who used, as I well remember, to denounce corruption and the spoils very sweepingly, is now actually maintaining that the Whigs v.'ill not and cannot go upon principle any longer and adhere to conservatism, because they are tired of waiting for office. [Laughter and cheers.] Not only that, but my friend, the editor, has lately pubhshed this short article : — " We are pleased to see that with regard to Mr. Wise, the Democratic candidate for governor, the opposition is generally conducted with entire respect to his character as a citizen and a man, and with a full acknowledg- ment on all hands of his many excellent personal qualities. The opposition do not think he is the best qualified man for the office of governor, but they admit his talents. In seeking his defeat, they mainly desire to defeat the political organization which he upholds." , Remember that, ye Democrats, vvfho have joined with Mr. Snowden in upholding the Know-Nothing cause — that the very object of the Whigs in joining the Know-Nothing society is to break up the organization to which you belong. [Cheers.] You Democrats have these gentlemen in a minority out of doors, but the moment they get you into a Know-Nothing lodge, they have you in a minority in doors. [Renewed cheers.] But the article- goes on : — "They contend that, as a former violent opponent of the party, at whose head he is now placed, there is too jsiuch political inconsistency to entitle him to the position he seeks." How then, can Mr. Snowden — how can the conservative Whigs of Alexandria, to punish my inconsistency, join hands with Democrats and go over to them in Know-Nothing lodges ? [Cheers.] They tell us they can- not give the grip in public to the Whigs of the North, because the Northern Whigs have become abolitionized. Here are two gentlemen who cannot shake hands with one another in our presence — one is a Whig of the North and the other a Whig of Alexandria. They cannot any longer keep up their Whig organization ; but let the Whig of the north, abolitionised as he is, become a Know-Notlnng, and let the Whig of the South, pro-slavery as he is, become a Know-IIothing, and then behind the curtain, these gentlemen can shake hands and hunny-fuggle with one another. [Much laughter.] This is what is called conservatism. This is what is called consistency. The article continues : "They are resolved to unite in a strong and determined effort to break up the present political organization, which directs the destinies and controls the action of the state in all its departments. Mr. Wise cannot expect the support of those who desire to see this change effected." If Mr. Wise cannot expect the support of conservative Whigs, or of any Whig, because the desire of the Whig party in joining the Know-Nothings is to defeat the Democracy, how can they expect Democrats to join them.? But there is a last and worst element which they address, for which they Ill can, as conscrvatlvos, offer me no excuse, and I come to it boldly. It is tlie most difficult and the hardest subject to deal with in public in a slave-holding community. Gentlemen, the last constitutional convention of Vir!:,nnia betrayed the important i'act to the north, as well as to ourselves, that out of the 125,000 voters in the state of Virginia, but 25,000 or 30,000, are slave- holdin"- voters. About 1 voter in 5 is a slaveholder. I say it boldly, and no man Avill dispute it who has been to Norfolk and Portsmouth, that the last and worst element that is appealed to is the agrarian element— appealing to the w^hite laborers of the state against the black laborers of the state. (Cheers.) Go all over the state and tell me where Know-Nothingism is rankest and most violent. [Voice in the crowd, " Dov^n on the wharves," and great laughter.] I tell you that you'll not only find it down on the wharves in Alc'xandria, as has been said, and well said, in the crowd, but you will find it v.-orse than anywhere else around the wharves of Portsmouth and in Ports- mouth navy yard. The very men who, for ten years, have been petitioning the secretary of the navy to forbid the employment of slave labor in Gosport navy yard — the very men who petitioned the last convention to frame a new constitution for Virginia, to make it a part of the organic law of the state that slaveholders should not allow their slaves to be taught the mechanic arts — these are the men who are the very hot-bed of Know- Nothingism. Voice in the Crowd — Send them to h — 11. It is impossible to say what effect these three combined elements are to have upon us. I ask the Protestant church, to recur to this religious ele- ment, how they expect in future — if they think that Catholicism is not a pure and undefiled religion — to succeed in preaching against the Pope and Catholics? Where a preacl|^r has risen in the pulpit, in times past, to arraign the Pope and the abominations of the church of Ptome, he has been regarded as a vital spiritual preacher of Protestantism ; he has been regarded as one looking to the spiritual kingdom; but let a preacher now rise and preach against the Pope and against Catholicism, and whether he is sincere or not, his congregation feels that he is preaching for Know-Nothingism. Why, the other day, in Isle of Wight, I saw a man from Canada, or I heard of him there, Avho was distributing the Bible to the state of Virginia. Well, he may have been the very best colporteur in the world ; he may have been a man of as honest intentions as Father Hannell, v.'ho is your travelling dis- tributer of the Bible; but he came all the way from Canada down to the Isle of Wight to distribute Bibles ? He was asked why he distributed Bibles among us ?° Did he take us to be heathen ? Our churches are distributing the word. Our bishops are distributing the v/ord. The Bible is found in every steamboat saloon, and in every chamber of every hotel in the state. Did he take us to be heathen ? Oh, no; he was glad to hear that we had the Bible here, but he thought that perhaps he would be doing us great service to bripg the Bible, as the Pope and Bishop Kughes wanted to make it a sealed book. He was called upon to take his departure, as he was known at once to be a Know-Nothing agent. He pretended merely to visit to distri- bute the Bible, but the fellow was all the time privately carrying his dark lantern and lucifer match in his pocket to apply the test oath. (Laughter.) We gave him warning to go hence, and I hope he has gone. So it is with the preachers — your Protestant preachers. It is utterly impossible that they can make any inroads against the Pope and against Catholics so long as they are suspected of political motives — so long as they are suspected of attempt- ing to become Prote:4ant popes ; and to seize political power. What wan it, I ask them — what corrupted the Roman church ? There was once a time when the Bishop of Rosne was the head of a pure, primitive church— when he was armed only with eleemosynary, with spiritual and with ecclesiastical 112 power. But the very moment he laid his hand upon the imperial purple and crown of the Ctesars, that very moment the " whore of Babylon" put on her scarlet and began to play her abominations before the eyes of the people. She played the^e abominations till the times of Calvin, and Luther, and Melancthon and Roger Williams. These great reformers were men who did not go into secret places, who did not use dark lanterns, who not epeak in whispers, but who thundered in the tones of Whitfield himeelf. The moment the Pope laid hold of political power — the moment he became part and head- of the civil state — that very moment the state corrupted the church, and the churchdestroyed the liberties of the state. So it will be here, if, under the pretext of defying the Pope, of proscribing Catholicism, you allow your priests — Protestant or other — to lay their hands upon political power, and put on the imperial purple and the crown of the Cfesars — that very moment the state will corrupt the church, and the church will destroy the liberties of the state. As to the proscrip- tion of foreigners, let me ask the Know-Nothings themselves to return to that passage of the Bible to which I have already referred them. If they will take the fifteenth chapter of Second Samuel, and read not only the whole verse, but the whole histoiy of Absalom, the traitor, they will find that while Absalom — not only native born of the land, but native born of the loins of king David — was turning traitor, while the sweet Psalmist of Israel was driven towards the wilderness with his "fcllowers, he turned and saw Ittai, the Gittite, and said to him : " Wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to thy place, and abide with thy king, for thou art a stranger and also an exile. Whereas, thou earnest but yesterday^ should I this day make thee go up and down with us ? Seeing I go ,whimer I may, return thou and take back ihy brethren : Mercy and truth be witl^ thee." And Ittai, the exile ancl stranger, who came but yesterday, answered the king and said: "As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be — whether in death or in life — even there also will thy servant be." And remember that the case of Absalom and of Ittai is but the prototype of an Arnold and a Lafayette. (Applause.) Who sent you alliance ? You tell the people that Catholics never gave aid to civil liberty ; that they never yet struck a blow for the freedom of mankind. Who gave you alliance against the crown of England ? Who, but that Catholic king, Louis XVI ? He sent you, from the court of Versailles, the boy of Wa:-h- ington's camp, a foreigner who never Vv'as naturalized, but who bled at the redoubt of Yorktown. (Applause.) And not only did Lafayette bleed at the redoubt of Yorktown, when an Arnold, a native like Absalom, proved traitor, but when the German, DeKalb, fell at the field of Camden, on south- ern soil, with fourteen bayonet wounds transfixing his body, and, dying, praised the Maryland militia — Gates, the yankee native, ran seventy-five miles without looking behind. (Applause and laughter.) And not only that: In that intense moment when the declaration of our independence was brought into Carpenter's Hall by Rutledge, and Franklin, and Jefferson, and laid upon the table — that holy paper, which not only pledged life and honor, but fortune, too — realize that moment of intense, of deep, of profound inte- rest, when the independence of this land hung upon the acts of men — when, one by one, men rose from their seats and went to the table to- pledge lives and fortunes and sacred honor ; at length one spare, pale-faced man rose, and went and dipped the pen into the ink, and signed " Charles Carroll," and when reminded that it might not be known what Charles Carroll it was, that it might not be known that it was a Charles Carroll who was pledging a principality of fortune, he added the words " of CarroUton." (Cheers.) He was a Catholic representative from a Catholic colony. (A voice in the crowd — " But he was a native born American.") 113 And, sir, before George Washington was born, before Lafayette wielded the sword or Charles Carroll the pen for his country, six hundred and forty years ago, on the 16th of June, 1214, there was another scene enacted on the face of the globe, when the general charter of all charters of freedom was gained, when one man — a man called Stephen Langton — swore the barons of England, for the people, against the orders of the Pope and against the power ofthe king — swore the barons on the high altar of the Catholic church at St. Edmundsbury, that they would have Magna Charta or die for it. The charter which secures to every one of you to-day trial by jury, freedom of the press, freedom of the pen, the confronting of witnesses with the accused, and the opening of secret dungeons — that charter was obtained by Stephen Langton against the Pope and against the king of England, and if you Know-Nothings don't know who Stephen Langton was, you know nothing sure enough. (Laughter and cheers.) He was a Catholic Arch- bishop of Canterbury. (Renewed cheers.) I come here not to praise the Catholics, but I come here to acknowledge historical truths, and to ask of Protestants what has heretofore been the pride and boast of Protestants — tolerance of opinion in religions faith. (Applause.) All we ask is tolerance. All we ask is, that if you hate the Catholic^J because they have proscribed heretics, yout won't out-proscribe proscription. If you hate the Catholics because they have nunneries and monasteries, and Jesuitical secret orders, don't out- Jesuit the Jesuits by going into dark-lantern secret chambers to apply test oaths. If you hate the Catholics because you say they encourage the Machiavellian expediency of telling lies sometimes, don't swear your- selves not to tell the truth. (Cheers.) Here are the oaths — the oaths that bind you, under no circumstances to disclose who you are or what you are, j and that bind you not only to political, but to soqjal proscription. Here is i your book — your Bible — which requires of you to stick up your noticesbe^ ' tween midnight and daybreak. (Laughter.) I don't object to secrecy. I am a member of a secret order, and I am proud to be a brother Mason ; (loud cheers;) and I am at liberty by my order to say, that as to its ends, its pur- poses, its designs, Masonry has no secrets. ("Renewed cheering.) Its end, its purpose, its aim, is to make a brotherhood of charity amongst men. Its end is the end of the Christian law of religion. I know not how any Mason can be a Know-Nothing. Masonry binds its members to respect and obey the laws of the land in which we live; and when the Constitution of the LTnited States declares that no religious test shall be made a qualification for office, Masonry dare not interpose by conspiring, in a secret association, to attempt to make a religious test a qualification for office. When Virginia has an act of religious freedom — an act that is no longer a mere statute law^, but is now a part of the organic law. and which says that no man shall be burdened for religious opinion's sake — Masonry dare not conspire to burden any man for opinion's sake. Masonry has no secrets but the simple tests by which it recognizes its brotherhood. It is bound to respect the law and to tolerate differences of opinion in religion and politics. I do not complain of secrecy, but I complain of secrecy for political objects. What is your ob- ject ? It is to, assail the Constitution of the United States, to conspire to contradict the Constitution and laws of the land; it is to conspire against the- Constitution and laws, and swear men by test oaths — the most odious instru- ments of tyranny that intolerance and proscription have ever devised. It is not only to proscribe Catholics and foreigners, but it is to _proscribe Protes- tants and natives too, who will not unite with you in proscribing Catholics and foreigners. It is further than that : It destroys all individuality in the man. You bring in your noviciate, you swear him to do — what? To give up his conscience, his judgment, his will, to the judgment and the conscience and the will of an association of men who are not willing that others should / 8 114 enslave them, but their test oath enslave themselves. And to what are they sworn? They are sworn to passive obedience — to non-resistance — to take sign and grip. Here is your organization. (Holding up a document.) I will not take time to read it ; but I will state the fact that your Grand Na- tional Council of the United States is organized by the appointment of thir- teen men from each state, a council of thirteen, an oligarchy of thirteen from each state, who assemble outside of the state to form the Grand Council of the United States, with Mr. Barker, of Wall street, New York, as president. Power over original judgment, power over appeal— all power — is concentra- ted in that National Council. And has it come to this ? Has Virginia been so provincialized in the Union that her sons will consent not to be guided by their own individual wills, by their own individual consciences, by their own individual judgments, but consent to qe sworn by a test oath, to take a sign which comes from outside the state, and which may be passed to you from Mr. Barker, of New York. -«-- When that is submitted to by the people of Virginia, no longer call your- selves a free, sovereign, and independent state. You are subdued — you are conquered — you are provincialized — you have. lost your individuality. And not only are these appliances brought to bear upon us, but, gentlemen, em- missaries are everywhere at work. The New York Herald has taken up this election, and has proclaimed to the world that it is arranged in New York already, whence the sign will come, I suppose, that Mr. Wise is to be defeated in Virginia. Bennett, the political Fagan, the cross-eyed, whining demon of politics, who has made himself a millionaire by black mail — Ben- nett, whose paper I never would allow to come into my family — Bennett, who has fed the vultures with the very lambs of society — the man who has regarded no purity, no sanctity, nothing that was holy or sacred — Bennett has dogged me in this canvass, without an open competitor, with his reporter for his paper — sending here that instrument to catch the words of the Vir- ginia stump — our own domestic stump — in order that he might travesty and misrepresent and belie. And, too, at this mom.cnt, I have to endure that the Whig presses of the state have forgotten Avhat they owe to the state — not to me — so far as to publish, not only his reports, but his cards, which insult the state as well as me.. That is tolerated. T care nothing about that minion of the Herald. I am looking at higher game. I am look- ing at the Absaloms, at the Arnolds, at the traitors of the north, who, wielding the power of the Herald, have thought to put me down. And I suppose the Know-Nothings are very confident that they will succeed. Let me tell them that I would as lief die a martyr in this cause as in any other cause. Let me say to them, where you have fastened together Whigs and Know-Nothings and Democrats, when you get those who are blindly leaving their party to place themselves in machinery — those who are either seeking office or are disappointed in not getting office — and when you have thus put me down, when you have crushed the slaveholding power in my election, why then follows a total revolution — a social and political revolution, not only in the state of Virginia, but in the whole south. Gentlemen, what is to follow from this ? Where is it to end? The}' have swept the north. They have nine governors. They claim that they have got a majority elected to (he next Hoiise of Representatives. They are now trying to ob- tain, by the end of the next three years, a majority in the Senate of the United States ; but if I am elected governor of the state of Virginia, what will be the state of things ? The next Congress will assemble on the first Monday in December next. If I be elected governor of the state of Vir- ginia, I shall be sworn in on the first of January next. And now I tell you what will be the consequence. When I take the oath to support the consti- tution of the state of Virginia, I will remember me that I will be invested 115 • with the militia power of the state of Virginia, to repel invasion and to sup- press insurrection. No man loves and adores the Union of this land more than I do. I have been taught to venerate and to cherish the Union of these states. It is the holiest of all holy things. I would gladly give my life, my blood, as a sacrifice to save it if required. But I know that the main pillars of the Union, the main props and supporters of this palladium, are the pil- lars of state rights and state sovereignty. (Applause.) If you place me with your sword in hand by that graat pillar of Virginia sovereignty, I pro- mise you to bear and forbear to the last extremity. I will suffer much, suffer long, "suffer almost anything but dishonor. UBut it is, in my estimation, with the union of the states as it is with the union of matrimony. You may suffer almost anything except dishonor; but when honor is touched the union must be dissolved. (Loud and prolonged cheering.) I will not say that. I take back the words. I will not allow myself to contemplate a dissolution of the Union. (Renewed cheering.) No, we will still try to save it. But when the worst comes to the worst, if compelled to draw the sword of Virginia, I will draw it; and by the gods of the state and her holy altars, if I am com- pelled to draw it, I will flesh it or it shall pierce my body. (Enthusiastic cheering.) And I tell you more : we have got abolitionists in this state. (Voice in the crowd — " D — n the Know-Nothings," and great laughter.) If I should have to move, some of the first, I fear, against whom I should have to act, would be some within our own limi|ts. But if forced to fight, I will not confine myself to the state of Vir^iniaJ My motto will be — Woe to the coward that ever he was born, That did not draw the sword before he blew tlie horn. (Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, I was in a very poor plight to speak to you to-night. Perhaps I have spoken already too long, although I have not said half what I would say to you, or produced half the evidence which I have with me. All I have to say to the Democracy is, that all you want is active, earnest organi- zation. (Cheers.) Remember that if these Know-Nothings hold together, the}^ are sworn, compact committees of vigilance. Go to work, then. Or- ganize actively everywhere. Appoint your vigilance committees, but take ■ especial care that no Know-Nothings are, secretly and unknown to you, upon them. (Cheers.) Be prepared. I have gone through most of eastern Virginia, and in spite of their vaunting I defy them to defeat me. (Great cheering.) There are Indians in the bush, but I'll whack on the bayonet, and lunge at every shrub in the state, till I drive them out. (Renewed and enthusiastic cheering.) I tell therar4istinctly there shall be no compromise, no parley. I will come to no terms, t They^shall either crush me or I will crush them in this state. (Great applause.)-! Of the conscientious and considerate and conservative men of the Whig party, I would ask where they can find any- thing in form, shape, tendency or result, that promises so much destructive- ness as Know-Nothingism ? I challenge them to compare Know-Nothingism with Democracy, and to tell me what it is in Democracy that they cannot touch iii comparison with Know-Nothingism. I will say that I do expect that the Democratic nominations in this election will gain the support of some of the brightest jewels of the Whig party in the state. (Cheers and laughter.) I hail them and extend to them the right hand of fellowship; and I believe that if Know-Nothingism can claim no other good deed, it will at least effect a reorganization of the Democratic party of the state of Virginia upon higher ground, more affiliated, stronger and abler, better to serve itself and the countrj^ than it has been for the last twenty-five years. Let them, then, boast of their 30,000 and 40,000 and 50,000 majorities. We will take our old and usual majority — I will be satisfied with that. (Cheers and laughter.) 116 And to obtain it, I would not flatter you, the people, " if you were Neptune, for his trident, or Jove for his power to thunder." I will deceive no man ; I will hunny-fuggle no voter. (Laughter.) I will condescend to nothing unbe- coming a gentleman. I will conduct this canvass throughout in such a man- ner as will command your respect and preserve my own self-respect. God grant that I may live through the campaign. If I continue to speak as I have been doing, I doubt very much whether I can survive it. But, "sink or swim, live or die,'' I will do my duty ; and "if Rome falls, I am inno- cent." Mr. Wise then retired, amidst enthusiastic cheering, and the meeting at once dispersed. DISTINGUISHED DEMOCRATIC ORATORS OF THE CANVASS. Among other distinguished gentlemen who took the stump in the eastern part of the State, during the campaign, were the following. Hon. Shelton F. Leake, of Madison ; Messrs. James Lyons, and Patrick H. Aylett, of Richmond, (this gentleman especially deserves the thanks of the Democracy for his arduous labours and repeated dissections of Know Nothingism); Maj. James Garland, and Charles Irving, of Lynchburg; Roger A. Pryor, of the Richmond Enqui- rer; A. D. Banks, of the Southside Democrat; R. K. Meade, of Petersburg; Col. William M. Howerton, of Halifax ; Senator James M. Mason, of Frede- rick ; Dr. Clement R. Harris, of Augusta; William M. Treadway, of Pittsyl- vania ; Henry L. Hopkins, of Powhatan, late Speaker of the House of Dele- gates; William Cabell Flournoy, of Prince Edward; and others. In the western portion of the State, very great and arduous services were rendered. Conspicuous among the Democratic speakers, was Mr. Elisha W. McComas, who made an active and most successful tour through almost the entire west. Ex-Governor John B. Floyd, of Washington county, did herculean service, and, by his judicious arrangements for the canvass in his district, pro- duced a majority there unprecedented in the political annals of " Little Tennes. see." In tbe northwest, conspicuous among the speakers, were Hon. Sherrard Clemens, of Wheeling, and Mr. Benj. W. Jackson, of Pleasants county. In the Valley, Col. Wra. H. Harman, of Augusta, and James W. Massie, of Rockbridge, were very able and efficient. The Examiner had the following notice of the canvass in that important dis. trict of the State — " Little Tennessee." Glorious Little Tennessee. — We hear daily more and more encouraging tidings from the Democnxcy of this Heart of Midlothian. In spi e of the fal- lacious asseverations of the Know Nothings to the contrary. Little Tennessee will give the Democratic ticket a majority of two thousand at the very lowest figure. McMuLLiN will beat both bis Know Nothing competitors — Trigg and Martin — by a large majority. The services of Mr. Wm. H. Cook, of Carroll county, have been efficient and invaluable in the canvass. He has met Trigg twice on the stump in a manner that neither his poor victim nor the people who witnessed the onslaught will ever forget. He has had Carroll and Grayson in his especial keeping, and the result in those two counties will attest the effectiveness of his labors in the Democratic cause. 117 Nor has Col. Ben. Rush Floyd, of Wytheville, allowed the imperative calls of his profession to interfere with his duty as a Democrat. His speeches at Wytheville are pronounced the most powerful ever delivered in that county, and has told with crushing effect upoa the Know Nothing cause. The election of Graham, in Wythe, is set down as a fixed fact. Thos. L. Preston, Esq., has surpri.sed his warmest admirers by the ability and eloquence of his speeches in denunciation of Know Nothingism. He has gone from precinct to precinct, and man to man, crying aloud and sparing not. The Order boasted that they had secured the county and fettered its voters be- fore the canvass commenced ; but Mr. Piieston has knocked the scales from the eyes of the people, broken up the plans of the enemy, and completely de- stroyed the work of the Order. His election, in Smyth, we arc assured, is a certain event. But what shall we say of that brave man — that fearless champion of Democ- racy through evil and through good report — who can neither be driven by trea- chery nor seduced by flattery from the cause in which he was born and reared, for which he has lived and fought, and which has never yet failed or faltered in his district when he was in the field — the Achilles of the Southwest — John B. Floyd ? The secret Order had already stolen a march upon the Democracy in Wash- ington county. They already boasted to have captured and bound and fettered, by oaths and pledges, a majority of the freemen of the county. The Demo- crats were taken by surprise, and had already been surrounded before they knew that the prowling enemy was near them. They turned to Floyd, and appealed to hir^, with odds already counted against them, to take the field and attack the enemy in his fortifications. With a noble unselfishness he consented to be a candidate for an office he did not want. He took the stump, spoke in every nook and corner, saw every man, and addressed every dozen men in the county. He burst up lodges, and scattered dismay and consternation among the follow- ers of the dark kntern. He has redeemed the county by a series of speeches surpassing even himself in ability and power, and, as a Whig adversary, distin- guished for intelligence, and no friend of Mr. Floyd, says, never surpassed be- fore in any political contest in this country. He has crushed the puny adver- saries that have been pitted against him — as the president of a Know Nothing council and adversary tells it, taking them by couples, and knocking their block heads together, and jarring out every grain of sense they ever contained. Having secured his own county, he has gone into the unvisited counties of Lee and Scott, crushing out the Order by his ponderous blows, and speaking everywhere with a power never before known there. In Scott, last Monday week, he spoke with peculiar ability, and with such effect that an old Methodist minister exclaimed, as he closed, " Grod never made the man who- ever delivered such a speech as that." Amongst the distinguished Whigs who took ground against Know Nothingism, and acted with the Democracy, were the following : Thomas J. Michie, of Staunton; Judge Robertson, of Richmond; John Y. Gholson, of Petersburg; and Maj. John T. L. Preston, of the Virginia Military Institute. We here insert the letter of Mr. Michie, as distinguished for its ability and the influence it exerted over the popular mind. MR. MICHIE'S LETTER. Staunton, April 9th, 1855. My Dear Sir: — On my return to-day from Shenandoah, where I had been for the last week, attending a session of the Circuit Court of that county, I re- 118 ceived your kind and flattering invitation to address the people of Eicbmond City. Permit me to tender to yourself and the committee from whom it emanated, my grateful thanks for the honor you have done me. But I fear that constant and unavoidable professional engagements, will place it out of my power to visit Richmond between this time and the 4th Thursday in May. On the I'lth inst., I must be in Rockbridge, and thence to Highland, this place, and Alber- marle, in rapid succession. Nothing, I assure ynu, would give me more plea- sure than to address the intelligent people of Richmond, on the interesting questions of the present canvass — to tell them how blighting to the free spirit of our country the secret mystery of Know Nothingism must prove — how de- moralizing it will be to our own children, the hitherto high-minded, open- hearted, bold youths of Virginia, to be educated in the sneaking arts of secrecy and espionage — to be taught by their fathers to spy out all the political actions of their fellow men. and yet, to keep their own actions and " objects," in refe- rence to matters which necessarily concern all, a profound secret — to publish platforms of pretended principles, suited to every latitude and every taste, for the purpose of gaining proselytes, while they feel the degrading consciousness that they are prohibited, by horrible oaths, from ever revealing their real objects and principles outside of their Order — and while a disgusted world is forced to conclude, either that their platforms are filled with false professions, intended to mislead, or that those who publish them are perjured. "Has any party a right to political secrets ? In private associations men may conceal matters which concern themselves alone. Rut politics, relating neces- sarily to the affairs or conduct of a government, in which every citizen has an equal stake, how can a party be tolerated in withholding, from any portion of our citizens, information on a subject which vitally concerns every one of them ? In a small partnership, if a portion of the partners were to conceal from the rest their designs in reference to the social funds, their associates so excluded, would be justified in forming a conclusion of dishonesty, and a- court of justice would interfere. In the ordinary intercourse of life, an honest man of ordinary humanity, possessed of a secret which concerns his neighbor's interests, feels bound by a high moral obligation to disclose it to him whom it interests. Yet here is a political party intermeddling in the dark with the affairs of govern- ment, which involve your and my life, liberty and property, and those of our children, and of millions of others, and yet they coolly refuse to let us know what their objects are until we shall be informed by such result as they may hereafter produce. By their own showing they are enemies of popular govern- ment — for in such a government the whole community participates. But they show their enmity in various other forms. They practically deny the capacity of the people to govern, and therefore establish aristocratic coun- cils, with a great consolidating and controlling head, located most fitly, some- where near " the five points" in the city of New York. Power with them, in- stead of being vested in the people and emanating from them, is vested in these aristocratic councils. The theory of our government requires an appeal from aristocracy to the people. Know Nothingism reverses that theory, by providing in all cases an appeal from the people to aristocracy. If the people had capacity for self-government, this self-styled American (quaere. Aboriginal?) party deny their honesty. Therefore, they are never trusted except under oath. And again, while the spirit of our institutions re- quires every citizen to exercise his own best judgment in voting for all officers of government — this wonderful invention of Yankeedom requires him to bind himself by solemn oath, not to exercise his own judgment at all, but to give his vote as the majority of a caucus, itself subservient to the mandate of a supe- rior caucus, may order. These are startling novelties to an American ear. V Yet, Know Nothingism, bold in this respect alone, in all others skulking, 119 '\ denying its name, denying its association, refusing to make known its ob-'^ jects, hiding in dark caverns with bats and owls, denounces all as anti- American who will not adopt its dogmas ! I should like to discuss and dissect the monster, not only under the preceding head, but many others, and especially its Federalism. I should like to show the people of Kichmond, and the whole South, the cunning device of the Know Nothing nominee for Gover- nor, int-tilled into him, no doubt, by the same masters under whom he learned his " Americanism," by which he asks the people of Virginia to deprive them- selves of all ground of resistance hereafter, to the Northern plan of interven- tion in our domestic affairs — by intervening in a crusade against Catholics and foreieners, not because she is suffering any inconvenience from them herself, but/' in order to rid her sister States of the nuisance. But I console myself, under my inability to obey ynur call, by the reflection that if I went, it would only contribute the feeble light of a candle, to that glorious sun which has shone and which continues to shine among you and en- lighten you till the day of election. Wise and Douglas, and a host of others, have told you more than I can tell. But as I have been a Whig— only say for nie to my old Whig friends, that I have looked carefully under the cloak of Know Nothingism— have lifted with a daring hand the veil that covered the face of the Prophet Sam, and satisfied myself well that it is not Whig- gery, as I had always understood it, and as I knew it was understood and pro- fessed by thousands of honest and patriotic men, but monstnim liorrenduin in- fonni imjens itni lumen redempfum. Yes, as blind as a bat, and as dark as Erebus. Let them beware of it, as they love their lives and high reputation. History informs us of many secret political parties, but not of one that I re- member, which has not been damned by impartial posterity. This party has much besides its secrecy to give it an earlier and deeper condemnation than that which has fallen to the lot of its predecessors. If the Democratic party should follow its lead, what a Hell upon earth their underground fight would make, yet it would plead example, and the responsibility would be Sam's. With high regard, THOS. J. MICHIE. VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATION. The Democratic party, not deeming it wise to despise their secret foe, and wishing to hand down to their children the political escutcheon of their State untarnished, thought it provident and well to organise efficiently, in order to .go into a contest with unbroken column and solid phalanx. Accordingly their executive committee for the State met, Feb. 12th, and appointed the following congressional, senatorial and county electors. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTOES. First Congressional District — Ro. L. Montague of Middlesex. Second District — Mordecai Cooke of Norfolk City. Third District— P. H. Aylett of Richmond City. Fourth District — R. K. Meade of Petersburg. Fifth District — A. Hughes Dillard of Henry. Sixth District — Wm. J. Ptobertson of Albemarle. Seventh District — Benj. H. Berry of Alexandria. •120 Eighth District— Thos. M. Isbell of Jefferson. Ninth District— Geo. E. Deneale of Rockingham. Tenth District— Sherrard Clemens of Wheeling. Eleventh District— Benj. W. Jackson of Wood. Twelfth District— A. A. Chapman of Marion. Thirteenth District— Jno. B. Floyd of Washington. SENATORIAL ELECTORS. 1st Senatorial District— L. J. Bell of Accomac. 2fi do. Hunter Woodis of Norfolk Citj. 3d do. S. Wheeler of Norfolk County. .' 4th do. James F. Crocker of Isle of Wight. ^^^ do. E. W. Massenburg of Southampton. 6th do. Thos. Wallace of Petersburg. ^th do. Lewis E. Harvie of Amelia. Sth do. Alex. Jones of Chesterfield. ■ 9th do. Wm. C. Flournoy of Prince Edward. lOfc^ do. Wra. B. Baskervill of Mecklenburg, lltti do. J. Red 1 Smith of Pittsylvania. 12th do. Wm. M. Howerton of Halifax. 13th do. Arch'd Stuart of Patrick. 14th do. Austin M. Trible of Bedford. I5th do. Tho. do. Oliver H. Gray of Botetourt. 39th do. Wm. H. Cook of Carroll. 40th do. G. W. G. Browne of Tazewell. 4l8t do. Isaac J. Leftwich of Wythe. 42d do. Sam'l. V. Fulkerson of Lee. 43d do. T. Dunn English of Logan. 44tb do. R. F. Dennis of Greenbrier. 45th do. Jeremiah Wellman of Wayne. 46th do. A. J. Smith of Harrison. 47th do. James Neeson of Marion. 121 48th Senatorial District— Benj. Bassell, Jr., of Upshur. 49th do. Win. G. Brown of Preston. 50ch do. Campbell Tarr, Jr., of Brooke. COUNTY ELECTORS. Arcomac — J. W. H. Parkor. A/bettinrle—Bi: W. G. Rogers. Alexandria — George L. Gordon. AJlcijhani/ and Bath — Samuel Carpenter. Amelia — Wra. Gregory. Nottoicay — Thomas Kowlett. Amherst — Dr. S. C. Gibson, Appomattox — S. D. McDearmon. Auynsta — James H. Skinner. Barbour — A. G. Keger. Bedford — Samuel G- Davis. Berkeley — M. S. Grantham. Botetourt— Ji. F. Miller. Oraiy—Ko. M. Wiley. Braxton and A^icholas — Jonathan Koiner. Brooke — Wm. DeCamps. Hancock — Tlios. Bambrick. Bruv.ncick — Robt. D. Turnbull. Buckinijharn—E. W. Hubard. Cabell— Feter C Buffingtou. Campbell— ^Ym. T. Yancey. Caroline — Jno. Washington. • Carroll — Jno. Carroll. Charles Citj/, ~) James City, and ',- E. Waddill and H. T. Jones. Neio Kent, ) Charlotte— Wm. H. Dennis. Chesterfield — Alex. Cogbill. Clarke— E. W. Massie. Culpeper — Jno. W. Bell. Cumberland, and \ Creed D. Coleman. Poxvhatan, ] Henry L. Hopkins. Din loiddie — James Boisseau. Doddridge and Tyler — Chapman J. Stewart. Elizabeth City — ^ James B. Hope. Warwick — [Wra. G. Young. York — { J. B. Cosnahan. Williamsburgh — J Talbot Sweeney. Essex — ) J. M. Matthews. King and Queen — ) J. M. Jeffries. Fairfax — Jno. Powell. Fauquier — Silas B. Hunter. Fayette and. Raleigh — Aaron Stockton. Floyd — Harvey Deskins. Fluvanna — Ro. H. Poore. Franklin — Wm. H. Edwards. Frederick — F. M. Holladay. Giles — James Johnson. Gilmer — Sam'l L. Hays. Wirt—n. S. Brown. 122 GIoiiceMer — Wra. E. Taliaferro. Goochland— W. W. Cosby. Grayson — Sam'l McCainant. Green and ] Wvatt S. Beazley. Orange — J Jno, Welch. Greensville and ] 0. A. Claiborne. Sussex — I Richmond F. Dillard. Hal'ifax — Woodson Hughes. Hampshire— K. W. McDonald; Jr. Hanover — Edw'd W. Morris. Hardy— 3. F. W. Allen. Harrison — llobt. Johnston. Henrico — Dan'i E. Gardner. Henry — Geo. Ilairston. Highland — Adam Stephenson, Jr. Isle of Wight— Q. B. Hadeu. JacJiwn — H. Fitzhue, Jr. Jefferson — S. Iv. Donavin. Kanaii'ha — Jno. A. Warth. King George and Stafford — Chas. Mason, Jno. C. Moncure. King William— Wm. Hill. Lancaster and N'orthumhcrland — Addison Hall. Lee — S. S. Slemp. Lewis — Jno. Brannon. Logan, Boone and Wyoming— '^t. Clair Ballard, James Shannon. Louisa — Pv,. B. Waddy. Loudoun — Geo. Rust. Lunexdmry — Wm. J. Neblitt. Madison — Thos. J. Humphreys. Marion — Wm. J. Willey. Marshall— '^^x%\^ W. Price. J/asrw— John Green Newman. Matthews and Middlesex — Alcx'r K. Sheppard, Geo. L Nicolson. MecklenLurg—M&r\i Alexander, Jr. 3Iercer— Geo. W. Peai'is. Monongalia — Dr. M. Dent. Monrte—li^&i\i'\ Harrison. Montgomery — James C. Taylor. 3Iorgan — Peter Djche. JVansemond — H. H. Kelly. M'lson — Dr. L. N. Ligon. Norfolk City— Geo. Blow. Norfolk County — Tapley Portlock. Northampton— Myers W. Fisher. Hagc — Andrew Keysey. Ohio— John T. Russell. Patrick — Edward Tatera. Pendleton — A. S. Norm en t. Petersburg — Francis E. Rives. Pittsylvania — Walter Coles, Jr. Pleasants and Ritchie— B.. C. Creel, L. A. Phelps. Pocahontas — J. S. Bradford. Preston— 3. A. F. Martin. Prince Edward, Prince George and Surry — Sam'l C Anderson, Thomas H. Daniel, Dr. M. Q. Holt. Princess Anne — E. H. Herbert. 123 Prince William — Chas E. Sinclair. Pulaski— 1\. M. Craia:. Putnam — Dan'i B. Washington. Randolph — Sam'l Crane. Rappaliannoch — Rob't S. Yass. PJrhmond Oit^—Wm. V. Watson. Richmond County and TFcsi!morc?a?u7— Henrj T. Garnett. Roanoke — Wni. M. Cook. Rorkhridgc — James B. Dorman. Rockivfjham — E. A Sbands. Russell — George Cowan. Sroft — H. A. Morrison. iShenandoaii — Sam'l. C. Williams. Smyth — Hiram A. Greaver. Soidhamjiton — Francis ilidley. Spotsylvania — Gabriel Johnson. Taylor— 3. T. Curry. Tazetoell—^^m. P. Cecil. Upshur — Rich'd L. Brown. ^¥arren — Hanson Dorsey. Washington — Isaac B. Durua. Wayne — Jos. J. Mansfield. Wd?:el — Presley Martin. Wood — John Spencer. Wythe — Alex. Matthews. On motion of Mr. Hughes, the following resolution was adopted : Resolved, That this committee recommends that meetings of the party be called in each of the election districts of the counties, at the earliest practicable day, for the purpose of appointing vigilance committees for the election districts, and that each of such districts "appoint two members of a general executive committee for the county, and that the electors for the counties be requested to aid in promoting the object of this resolution. JOHN RUTHERFOORD, Chairman. Wm. F. Ritchie, Secr'y. At a subsequent meeting they adopted the following address : ^jTo the People of Yirginiaj^ Fellow citizens : The Democratic State Rights Republican party have presen- ted to you their candidates for the Executive oflSces, which are to be filled by your election, on the fourth Thursday in May next. Those candidates have been selected by our usual organization, as faithful representatives of the prin- ciples of our party, and as men eminently qualified to perform all the duties of the high places for which they are proposed. Recognizing the vital importance of the'^result of the approaching elections to our party and to our country, 'Jhe "State Democratic Executive Committee" make an earnest appeal.for your co- operation in the contest which now engages the attention of the whole Uniom Our party had its origin in the earliest days of the present Confederacy. When the Constitution was first put in, operation, two antagonistic parties strug- gled for ascendancy. One sought to confine the Federal Government within the strict and defined limits of the Constitution, — avoiding the exercise of all doubtful powers, and aiming only at those objects which the framers of the 124 Constitution had designated in unequivocal terms as legitimate to the Central Government. This party exacted an unhesitating homage to the wisdom of the august authors of that instrument, and sought to administer the government in rigid conformity with the written provisions of the Constitution. The other party sought, by a latitudinarian construction of the Constitution, to obtain in the actual administration of the Federal Grovernmeut all tlie power which, in the judgment of those in authority, it might be expedient to exercise. This characteristic division has continued to separate the Democratic party from the old Federal party, and, since its overthrow, from the various parties that have been in opposition to the Democracy. That the Democratic party is orgauiz.'d upon the true principles of the Con- stitution, is signally demonstrated 'by the fact, that it is the only party which has maintained a permanent existence coeval with our present Constitutional system. The history of our party is s» fortunately identified with the history of our country, that the prosperity and glory of the one have been coincident with the success of the other. The fact that its leading measures are now in full operation, and have been sanctioned repeatedly by the approval of the coun- try, and that no open organization now opposes them, stamps it as the constitu- tional party of the Union, and renders it unnecessary to set out her in detail its principles, already so familiar to the people of Virginia. In the career of its history, the Democratic party has had to encounter the op- position organized in different forms, and bearing different designations. So far, it has overpowered all resistance, and annihilated the national organizations that have opposed it. The Whig party, which for some years past has combined the elements of antagonism to Democracy, has apparently succumbed. The opposition seems once more to be arraying itself in new forms and under new names. Taught by past experience, those who oppose the Democratic party dare not risk themselves any longer upon a fair comparison of principle and policy before an enlightened popular judgment. We have to meet, in the impending canvass, a party which avoids an open encounter, and withdraws from public observation its discussions of political topics and its deliberations upon public affairs. This new party artfully adapts its appeals for votaries to the national and religious prejudices of the country, while it proposes to retain, by the most rigid and imposing party discipline, those who may be enticed into its ranks. If it suc- ceeds in the effort to obtain control over the Federal Government, it must use Its powers for purposes not now disclosed — perhaps not contemplated by many of its adherents,; It must have its measures upon the great subjects which are so frequently agitated in Congress— the Tariff, the Finances, the Public Lands, Internal Improvements and the Constitutional Rights of the slaveholders. Ifc can have no measures of material importance relating to the avowed objects of its organization — the immigrant and Catholic population. If it goes into power, It goes with purposes unavowed and unknown on tho.se great subjects concern- ing which its action may be of the last consequence, while it flatters the public prejudices respecting subjects upon which it can really accomplish little or nothing. The Federal Government, with all its departments combined, can apply no eflfective remedy for the alleged evils incident to the residence of the immi- grant population within our limits. The naturalization laws may be amended or repealed. But irrespective of those laws, the most valuable privileges may still be granted to the alien by the State Governments. The right of re'sidence, the right to acquire and hold lands, and the right of suffrage, may all be be- stowed upon the alien by the State authorities, without regard being had to the naturalization laws. The power to refuse residence to the immigrant population appropriately belongs to the State governments. The power of the Federal Go- vernment to expel any portion of the alien population, whose residence is per- mitted by the State Government, was indignantly repelled by the Republican 125 party in 1798. The celebrated alien law provided for the expulsion of a por- tion of the resident aliens. Both Virginia and Kentucky denounced the law as an unconstitutional usurpation. In the address to the people of Virginia accompanying the resolutions of 1798, it is emphatically declared that " there is nothini' in the Constitution distinguishing between the power of a State to permit the residence of natives and aliens. It is, therefore, a right originally pos- sessed and never surrendered by the respective States, and which is rendered dear and valuable to Virginia, because it is assailed through the bosom of the Constitution, and because her peculiar situation renders the easy admission of artizans and laborers an interest of vast importance to her." The fourth Ken- tucky Resolution of 1798 — drawn by Mr. Jefferson — asserts " that alien friends are under the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are : that no power over them has been delegated to the United States, nor pro- hibited to the individual States, distinct from their power over citizens." Mr. Madison's Report of 1799 maintains similar positions. It is presumed that this exposition of the Constitutional powers of the State and Federal Govern- ments, over this subject, will not be questioned in Virginia at this day. Each State has the exclusive right to determine for itself, to what extent the residence of alien immigrants in its limits shall be permitted. The Govern- ments of the respective States alone have the right to refuse residence to such of the immigrant population as may be considered objectionable by them. While some of the advocates of a latitudinarian construction of the Federal au- thority contend that the power of the States over the admission of aliens is limited, in certain respects, by the power of the General Government to regu- late commerce, the absolute power of the States to exclude alien paupers and convicts is universally conceded. The power to permit or refuse residence to objectionable aliens belonging thus appropriately to the States, the subject is beyond the control of the Federal Government, and affords no legitimate object for the organization of a national party. The right to acquire and hold real estate, and the right of suffrage, are equal- ly subject to State authority. The powers of the States over these subjects have been too often exercised and too generally admitted to need any discussion at this time. Probably all the States permit resident aliens to acquire and hold real estate prior to naturalization, — Virginia certainly does. Some of the States confer the right of suffrage upon aliens who have declared their intention to become citizens, while others require them to be fully naturalized before they are allowed to vote. The whole subject of suffrage is exclusively regulated by the State constitutions. It may be confined to native-born citizens, or it may be extended to all resident aliens, at the sole discretion of the State sovereign- ties. The naturalization laws affect the subject only so far as the State consti- tutions may direct. It is wholly impracticable for the Federal Government to control the right of suffrage through any laws which it would enact. Those who seek to curtail the privileges enjoyed by the immigrant population can accomplish no essential object through the agency of the Federal Govern- ment. So long as the alien enjoys, under the State government, the right of residence, the right to acquire and hold property, and the right of suffrage, he can experience but little inconvenience from the want of the few additional priv- ileges which full and formal citizenship would confer. The only appropriate theatre for the operations of a party, organized to effect the professed objects of Know-Nothingism, is to be found in the States where the immigrant population abounds, and where the alleged evils of foreignism may exist. Those evils are essentially local, and can be properly remedied only by the local authorities. They afford the appropriate subject for municipal and police regulations. Five- sixths of the foreign born population of the United States are resident in the non-slaveholding States, and even there nearly one-half of it is accumulated in the cities. The whole of this population in the United States numbers 126 2,224,648. Of that number, only 43,531 are in the Southern States, with a native white population of 2,342,255, and 105,335 in the Southwestern States, with a native white population of 1,973,531. A considerable proportion of this class of our population in the slaveholding, as in the non-slaveholding States, are congregated in the cities. These facts strongly display how singu- larly local must be the alleged evils of foreignism. A full investigation, per- haps, mi^ht show that the real evils (if such there are) are confined to the cities, which, according to the census returns, contain nearly one half of all the foreign-born residents in the Union. The entire repeal of the naturalization laws would not materially diminish the number of that class of immigrants, who come here seeking employment for their labor, and accumulate in the cities. They come to make a living, not to acquire the right of suffrage — allured by no espectation of easy naturalization, but by the prospect of higher wages and more constant employment than they can find in the country which they leave. Of the foreign-born males over the age of twenty-one, in the city of Bost«n, the returns for 1845 and 1850, show that five-sixths were unnaturalized. It is fair to presume, that a similar proportion in the other cities have failed to avail themselves of the advantages of our present naturalization laws. The other ostensible object of the Know Nothing organization is entirely beyond the reach of the Federal Grovernment. It cannot touch Roman Catho- licism by any Constitutional action. The folly of attempting to arrest the pro- gress of a religious creed by persecutions and civil disabilities, has been so often demonstrated that it is surprising to see it revived in this age and country. A distini^uished advocate of religious liberty declared, nearly a half century ago, that even in Great Britain, nearly all its opponents had been silenced — some had been taught sense, others inspired with shame, until none were left upon the field, except those who could neither learn nor blush. The principles of religious liberty are cherished in Virginia with peculiar affection. Our act for the establishment of religious freedom, asserts in imposing and authoritative lano'uagc that " the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence, by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolu- ment, unless he profess, or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which in common with his fellow citizens he has a natural right; that it tends only to corrupt the principles of that religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing, with a mono- poly of worldly honors and emoluments, those who will externally profess and conform to it, that though, indeed, those are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way." In the struggle which terminated in the complete emancipation of religion in this State, the dissenting Protestant sects, under the energetic lead of the Bap- tists, bore a conspicuous part. The act for the establishment of Religious Freedom, was eminently a Protestant achievement, and Protestantism in Vir- ginia rudely despoils itself of the fairest ornament with which it is decorated by history, when it violates the letter or the spirit of that celebrated law. The men who now seek to renew the dogmas of religious intolerance, pay an appro- priate homage to the virtue and intelligence of this country, when they conceal themselves from public observation. Those who are afraid to meet the Roman Catholic arguments in the field of fair discussion, may well be alarmed at its anticipated progress ; but its more intelligent opponents v/ill regard with com- posure what they consider its errors, so long as reason is left free to combat them. For every Roman Catholic Priest in the United States, there are some 25 Protestant preachers; for every Catholic altar, there are 30 Protestant pul- pits. Scarcely one-twentieth part of the population of the Union is attached to the Roman Catholic religion. If Protestantism is not safe with these heavy odds in its favor, its ascendancy will not be maintained by persecutions and ci- vil disabilities imposed upon its opponents. Know Nothingism may do more 127 to advance the Catholic cause than all its Priesthood, and place Catholicism on the right side and Protestantism on the wrong side of the great question of Religious Liberty, by a course so illiberal and unwarrantable. This is attemp- ted to be justified by an absurd exaggeration of the political influence of Catho- licism in this country. Mr. Chandler, of Pennsylvania, addressing the House of Representatives a few weclcs since, declared that he knew of but one Catho- lic besides himself, who was a member of that House of Congress. We may, then, at least pronounce the Legislative Department to be free from Catholic control. There seems to be no occasion to organize a new party to protect that branch of the Federal Government, and the Catholic influence is equally feeble in the Executive and Judicial departments. What then can Know Nothingism accomplish upon the subjects which it undertakes to agitate ? It may expel from the Executive department a few naturalized citizens who are incumbents of office, — but as nine-teuths of the Federal offices are said to be already filled by native citizens, that can scarcely be an object worth the attention of a national party. Those who originated and expect to control this organization, must have other and undivulged objects in view. Temporary prejudice and excitement on the subjects of Foreignism and Catholicism may serve to place them in power. How will they use power when so acquired? We may well recall the eloquent warning of a great Eng- lish statesman, and beware of *' so trying a thing as new power in new persons, of whose principles, tempers and dispositions we have little or no experience, and in situations \vhere those who appear most stirring on the scene may not be the real movers." What is this new party expected to do upon those great sub- jects of practical interest to which we have before referred ? The elections iu which they have already triumphed afford us suflicient data to infer their policy upon the most important of these subjects — SLAVERY. Know Nothingism has had its origin and growth in those quarters of the Union where Abolitionism is most powerful. At the very instant that Know Nothingism has swept over the non-slaveholding States, Abolitionism has ac- quired an ascendency to which it never before aspired. Every election in which Northern Know Nothingism has triumphed, has enured to the benefit of Aboli- tionism. Every individual whom the Northern Know Nothings have elected to either branch of the Federal Legislature, is committed to the most violent views of the Abolitionists. They have prostrated, wherever they had the power to do so, the same men whom the Abolitionists wished to prostrate. They have sus- tained every man whom the Abolitionists wished to save. Know Nothingism, in the ascendant throughout the non-slaveholding States, does not elevate into power a single friend to the South. No solitary exception breaks the gloomy uniformity of the scene. Everywhere they are doing the work which Aboli- tionism has, been unsuccessfully attempting for years. And yet we are required to believe that they were not organized to perform this part, but only to do those other things which, as we have endeavoured to show, no such party can effect. It must be apparent to every intelligent observer that the anti slavery senti- ment now domineers over the public mind in the non-slaveholding States. la all the recent elections in that quarter of the Union, the ordinary political issues have been made subordinate to the slavery subject. Is it not surprising that Southern men should, at such a moment, be expected to waive this issue, and elevate a nevr party into power, without even inquiring their purposes upon this subject ? Just at the time when the Northern States are uniting in an assault upon the vital interests of the South, ought we to abandon the vigilant care of our own afi"airs, in a gratuitous eS'ort to purge Northern society of a disease which may afllict them, but does not disturb us ? We appeal to Southern men, without distinction of party, to ponder the consequences before they co-operate with this organization. The secrecy with which its proceedings are conducted, afford ample ground for caution and suspicion. A party which conceals all its 128 operations and designs from the public, may conceal some of its ultimate pur- poses from that portion of its own votaries to whom a premature disclosure might be hazardous. The same principle of political ethics, which justifies de- ception upon those outside the order, might excuse partial concealment from those within. When you enter this order, you assent to the propriety of con- cealment as an agency in partisan contests. How can you complain when it is practiced upon yourselves by your own confederates ? Know Xothingism does not pretend to disclose to its Southern adherents its designs upon any of the questions concerned which Federal Legislation can really affect Southern inter- ests. Will you persist in arming this party with all the powers of the Federal Government, without enquiring and approving its purposes upon those questions, simply because you may happen to agree with its views upon two subjects of no practical importance to you, and concerning neither of which can any material action be had by the Federal Government ? The fact, that it discloses to you its views upon those subjects, while it carefully conceals them upon more vital topics, ought, of itself, to awaken your apprehensions. While it attempts to delude you with the fiction that Opposition to Foreignism and Catholicism is an issue which overrides all others, it is actively and rapidly filling the halls of Congress with men pledged to measures of fearful import to your interests. If the designs of Know Nothingism were even free from censure, it should still be repelled from your midst. In giving countenance to a secret political organization, you are introducing an instrument which may be applied to the most dangerous purposes. Before you bring the wooden horse within our gates, be sure that no armed enemy is concealed in the fatal structure. If any party in our midst ever assails the institution of slavery, its first approaches will be cloaked in a secrecy similar to that which now conceals Know Nothingism. The World's Convention of Abolitionists, at London, recommended the formation of anti-slavery societies in the Southern States. Popular sentiment opposes a for- midable and unsuperable barrier to the public execution of this plan. But when the operations of parties have become secret, how soon may we not expect such an organization as the World's Convention has advised? We respectfully and earnestly beg you to consider whether any good which this organization may be expected to effect can compensate for the least of the evils that may folio vv in its train. What have we to expect from the action of this party upon those other sub- jects which the Democratic party has been accustomed to regard as so important in the administration of the Federal Government 'i After the arduous contests •which we have maintained for so many years — just as the Democratic policy is fully established, and the country is gladdening under its influence — shall we blindly elevate into power a party which may revolutionize the whole system ? However carefully they may conceal their political views, it cannot be denied that this party is principally composed of the same materials which, combined under a different name, have been heretofore in opposition to the Democratic party. The same indiscriminate hostility to naturalized citizens that now dis- tingui.-hes Know-Nothingism, characterized the Federal party in the times of John Adams and of the Hartford Convention. The Democracy, under the lead of Jefferson and of Madison, have successfully encountered it heretofore, and are not afraid to meet it again. The annihilation of the Democratic party in the Union is a leading object of the Know Nothing organization. Flushed •with its Northern triumphs, it comes here upon Virginia soil to encounter a party that wears the insignia of its victories through half a century, and that has never known defeat. Whenever disaster has overwhelmed the Democracy of the Union, they have always looked to the Party in Virginia to retrieve the fortunes of the day. Once more we are called to perform that duty. If we arrest the progress of this new enemy, and lift the trailing banner of our party, we rally the Democracy of the confederacy for a successful struggle in the Pre- 129 sidential contest of 1S56. If we are defeated in Virginia, we disappoint the hopes of the best friends of the Constitution. We are looked to with hope or with fear by the whole confederacy. Let the Democracy of Virginia be equal to the enieruilcliugs, and watchmen, keepers of bridges, &c., under bis control. Penitentiary, . - - Total, 286 35 THE DErARTMENT OF STATE. The following is from the Department of State. It will be observed that the j)roportion of foreigners holding office under this department is somewhat greater than usual ; and the reason obvious : a number of the consulates do not pay a livinf compensation. American citizens cannot and will not accept ot such ap- poiurmcnts, and they are given to foreigners simply because no body else will take them : Department of State, August 28, 1854. The following is a statement respecting all persons now employed either in or under the supervision of the Department of State : I. — Emploi/ed Abroad. 1. Ministers, commissioners, secretaries of legation, and agents connected with tbem — whole number, 42. Of these, 4 were born abroad, C of whom have been naturalized, and 1, the United States despatch agent in London, has not. 2. Consuls and commercial agents — whole number, 220. Of these, 49 were born abroad, of whom 21 have been naturalized, and 1 has . not; and 1 was born under the flag of the United States; the rest, or 26, may have been naturalized, but of this the department has no evidence. ll.—Emphijcd in the United States, or their Territories, as Governors, or Seeretaries of Territories and dispatch agents — whole mmlcr, 16. Of whom 13 were born in the United States. The rest, 2 of whom are dis- patch agents, were probably so born ; but of this the department has no direct evidence. III. — Emploi/ed in this department — whole numler, 40. Of these, G were born abroad; one of whom came to the United States in his third year, and is of American parents, who at the time of his birth, were tem- porarily residing abroad; 4 of the others so born have been naturalized, and 1 soon will be : 6V(:rZ:s.— William Hunter, Rhode Island ; A. French, New York ; Frs. Markoe, St. Croix, of American parents; A. H. Derrick, Pennsylvania; James S. Mackie, Ohio; J. P. Polk, Delaware ; R. S. Chilton, New Jersey; II. D. J. L. F. Tesistro, Ireland; Edward Stubbs, Ireland; H. D. Johnson, Massachu- setts ; R. S. Gillett, New York ; C Gr. Baylor, Kentucky. Messenger. — Calvin Ames, Massachusetts. l\tcker.—\Nm. P. Faherty, Maryland. ^Yatchmen. — Wra. II. Prentiss, District of Columbia; James Donaldson, District of Columbia; R. Harrison, England; A. Best, Germany. 136 Lahorers. — James S. Martin, Maryland ; William Lueus, District of Colum- bia; E. W. Hansell, Pennsylvania; W. A. Scott, Pennsylvania; Thomas Thomas, Virginia ; James Williamson, Virginia; Charles H. Brown, Maryland ; John JlcQuii-e, Ireland. Recap it ulat io n . 21 clerks — 18 native born; 1 born of American parents, transiently abroad ; 2 foreign born. 1 messenger — native born. 1 packer — native born. 2 watchmen — native born ; 2 watchmen — foreign born. 7 laborers — native born; 1 laborer — foreign born. 35 in all — 30 of whom are native citizens ; 5 of whom are foreijrn. TREASURY DEPARTMENT. In the office of the secretary of the Treasury and bureaus, including the of- fices of the assistant treasurers and mints, there are 430 Americans, 26 foreign- ers, and 3 not known. Revenue cutter service — Americans, 65. Light-house keepers — Americans, 238 ; foreigners 32 ; not known, 132. Customs — Americans, 1,845; foreigners, 227: not known, 20. Total number of persons employed under the State Treasury, Post Office and Interior Departments, is as follows : Americans, 3,346 Foreigners, 430 Not known, 330 Whole number of employed, 4,106 In the House of Representatives on the first of October, 1853, there were fifty-four persons employed — all of whom, except one, were Americans. The statement of the Fusionists is, therefore, shown to be the reverse of truth in every particular item covered by this document from the Union ; and the in- ference is, of course, irresistible, that it is so in all its items : — Fahum in nno fahinn in omnibus. It asserts the foreigners employed in the several depart- ments to be two to one over natives ; while the fact is there are seven to one natives over foreigners. It claims that there are nine to one foreigners over na- tives in the Custom Houses ; while the fact is, that there are nine to one natives over foreigners. For the sake of contrast, we give below the Munchausen statement on the left hand and the official statement on the right. It is amusing. Look here, upon this picture, and on this : Munchausen Sta tement. Official statement. Native. For. Native. For. State Department, Treasury Department, Dep. of Interior, 12 139 838 26 278 500 30 5 430 26 286 35 House of Representatives, Post Office Department, 10 11 40 80 53 1 88 12 Total Munchausen, 510 914 Total true, 887 79 Ministers and Consuls, Light-house keepers, Custom House officer.«?, 151 106 31 392 216 1837 208 54 238 32 845 227 137 ^ The Absurdity of Fearino the Catholics.— It is the characteristic of all >^ one-ideaistiis, that they are sure to make fanatics of their advocates; whatever ^ degree of intelligciice* and elevation of mind and feeling they always before have possessed. We are sure that if tliere was a broad and substantial founda- tion of merit and patriotism in the Know Nothing movement, its intelligent members would scorn to appeal to religious bigotry and prejudice for tbat pop- ular sympathy which the cause would command without sue-h unworthy recourse. Out of about one million, and a half of human beings in Virginia, there is but the little handful of 7,030— o«fi luilf of one. per cent, of the wVio/fi— who pro- fess and worship according to the Catholic faith. What must be said of a party which dares not trust its cause to reason and argument in such a State as Virgi- nia ; but, to carry its point, is obliged to appeal to the religious feelings, preju- dices and jealousy oi fourteen hundred thonsand Protestants against en/ht thou- sand Catholics, under the cowardly, mean, malignant and false pretence that such a majority is in danger of subjugation from such a handful of proscribed people/if there be rcal'and imminent danger of the sort, where have been the sentinels that are just raising this sudden alarm, for the last ten, or twenty, or tifty years gone by ? It has only been within a twelve month that the new paity'have monopolized to itself all the Protestantism and genuine Americanism of the country, and raised, sudden as a fire-bell at night, the alarm against the ^olf__t[jo Pope— the poor Italian Prince Pio Nino. Either the learlors have been long very neglectful of duty and lukewarm in patriotism, or they talk gammon, to gull the ignorant million and alarm the amiable but weak and easily terrified spinsters of the country, when they cry out against the temporal power of the Pope. Wm. Pitt, while Prime Minister of England, contemplating an act of justice to the Catholics, solemnly proposed a set of interrogatories to several of the most celebrated Catholic "Theological Universities in Europe. The following questions were proposed : First. Has the Pope, or have the Cardinals, or any body of men, or has any individual of the Church of Ptome, anj/ civil avthorit^, power, jurisdiction or pre-eminence whatever within the realm of P^ngland. Second. Can the Pope, or Cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the Church of Rome, absolve or dispense his Majesty's subjects from their oath of allegiance, upon any pretence whatever ? Third. Is there any priuciple in the tenets of the Catholic faith, by which Catholics are justified in not keeping faith with Heretics, or other persons ditfering from them in religious opinions, in an// fransactlon.'i, either of a public or private nature ? To these questions the Universities of Paris, Louvain, Alcala, Salamanca and Valadolid, after ex- pressing their astonishment that it could be thought necessary at the close of the ISth century, and in a country so enlightened as England, to propose such enquiries, severally and unanimously answered : 1st. That the Pope, or Cardi- nals, or any body of men, or any individual of the Church of Rome, has not and have not any civil authority, power, jurisdiction or pre-eminence whatever, within the realm of England. 2dly. That the Pope, or Cardinals, or any body of men, or any individiaal of the Church of Rome, cannot absolve or dispense bis Majesty's subjects from their oath of allegiance upon any pretext whatso- ever. And, Bdly. That there is no principle in the tenets of the Catholic Faith, by which Catholics are justified in not keeping faith with Heretics, or other persons diff"ering from them in religious opinions, in transactions either of a public or a private nature. The Pope himself was written to upon the same question, and most solemnly announced that his See asserted no such claim. Surely this is better testimony than the self-contradictory declaration of a Dub- lin Catholic editor. We do not rely, however, in a matter of this sort, upon documentary evi- dence, or newspaper asseveration. We take the ground that the people are themselves sufficient to assert and maintain their independence of Popes of all 138 sorts ; and tbat thoj- arc in no danger of being deposed from the sovereignty with which their Maker and their Fathers endowed them in these States. Three thousand and fifty Protestant clergy will in vain \favl their anathemas against them from Yankee pulpits, and one Dublin editor may impotently pro- claim the Pope's authority over their temporal concerns, but while they have the right to manage their own affairs, spite of Popes and of secret clubs, they will always be ready and able to maintain and support that sovereignty. It is only an insult to the intelligence, the manliness and the Christian sentiment of the Virginia people to maintain the possibility of a priestcraft domination over them from any quarter or of any sort. But what are the historical evidences of the truth of this charge, that Catho- lics arc less attached to civil governments entitled to their allegiance, than other deuominatinns ? Surely the Catholic subjects of the British crown have had cause of ofllMiee against that government in its persecutions of Catholic Ireland. Surely the only Catholic province of that government, on this continent, might have been excused, while these persecutions of their Catholic brethren, in Ire- land, w^re going on, for seeking annexation to the United States. Surely the French Catholics of Canada have had incentives of animosity sufficient to shake their allegiance to the British Government in its numberless and bitter wars against Catholic Franca. Yet what is the present political status of Catholic, French, colonial Canada ? Hear how Lord Nugent refutes this idea of a half allegiance on the part of Catholics : " Your other colonies revolted ; they called on a Catholic power to support them, and they achieved their independence. Catholic Canada, with what Lord Liverpool would call her half-alliance, alone stood by you. She fonght by your side against the interference of Catholic France. To reward and encourage her loyalty, you endowed in Canada bishops to say mass, and to ordain others to say mass, whom, at that very time, your laws would have hanged for saying mass in England ; and Canada is still yours in spite of Catholic France, in spite of her spiritual obedience to the Pope, in spite of Lord Liverpool's argu- ments, and in spite of the independence of all the States that surround her. This is the only trial you have made. Where you allow to the Eoman Catho- lics their religion undisturbed, it has proved itself to be compatible with the most faithful allegiance. It is only where you have placed allegiance and reli- gion before them as a dilemma, that they have preferred (as who will say that they ought not?) their religion to their allegiance. How, then, stands tiie im- putation ? Disproved by history, disproved in all States, where both religions co-exist, and in both hemispheres, and asserted in an exposition by Lord Li- verpool, solemnly and repeatedly abjured by all Catholics, of the discipline of their church." — Lord Niujcnt's Letter to Rev. 'Sir Gcoryc Ijcc, Bart. Men might idly dispute till doomsday over the nice question in political ca- suistry of the extent of the Papal claim of temporal power outside of Home. But here are facts which illustrate how devoted Catholics may be and are ia the habit of showing themselves in the practical matter of allegiance. Yet it is due to candor to admit that there are historical instances in which Catholics have refused to obey the calls of the British government. The Irish Catholic Parliament refused to furnish taxes to support the war against the American colonies in their struggle for freedom. Then, too, there is this notable passage in BoTTA, pp. 236-'7 : "General Carleton, finding the Canadians so decided in their opposition, had recourse to the authority of religion. He therefore solicited Brand, the I^ishop of Quebec, to publish a mandament, to be read from the pulpit, by the curates, in time of divine service. He desired the prelate should exhort the people to 139 take arms, nncl second the solcriors of tlic Icing, in their enterprises agfiinst the colonies. But the bishop hi/ a mcmomhle example of piefi/ and rdujious mod- eration, refused to hud hisminisfn/ in this work; saying that such conduct would be "too unworthy the character of the pastor, and too contrary to the ca- nons of the Roman church. However, as in all professions, there are individ- uals who prefer their interest to their duty, and the useful to the honest, a few ecclesiastics employed themselves with great zeal in this affair ; but all their efforts were in vain : the Canadians (Catholics) persisted in their principles of neutrality. The nobility, so well treated in the act of Quebec, felt obligated in gratitude to promote in this occurrence the views of the government, and very strenuously exerted themselves with that intention, but without any better success." It is a well known fact that when Lord HowE, the first British commander of the forces designated at the breaking out of the American war for the inva- sion of this country, was ordered by the war department to prepare for embar- kation, he wrote that he could not trust the Irish Catholic soldiers of his army, as all their sympathies were with America; and the British government was forced to buy Protestant Hessians at the rate of sixpence a head from the Prince of Hesse Cassel. And the emissaries dispatched to Germany wrote more thau once to Lord North complaining bitterly of the German Catholics interfering with the enlistment of soldiers for America. There are facts, however, still later, and, if possible, still stronger than these. Catholic Louisiana fought full as bravely and effectually as Know Nothing Massachusetts against Catholic Mexico in the war of 184G-'47. Louisiana fur- nished seven regiments and 7,041 troops to fight against her brethren of the Catholic faith in that war of races and religions ; altho' Know Nothing Massa- chusetts, in the excess of her zeal against the Pope and his people, furnished but one regiment of 930 men to smi'te the Mexican priests; and furnished that number only by dint of most strenuous exertions on the part of the patriotic Democrats in her borders. If you ask which three States furnished the largest number of troops in that foreign war against a Catholic nation and a Catholic race, the archives of the country will tefl you that they were the Catholic States of Louisiana, Mi.ssouri and Texas. These furnished respectively 7,041, 6,441 and G,D55 men, or an aggregate equal to the total number supplied by all the other States in the Union ! Besides, it is notorious that the regular army of the United States was made up during that war so exclusively of Irish, (Catho- lies) that it was difficult to find natives enough for the non-couami>sioncd offi- cers. Surely the generous people of Virginia will consider the evidence of the muster rolls of the country a better tablet of Catholic patriotism, under all temptations of religious prejudice and bigotry, than the newspaper columns of oath-bound editors. Let those who, for political purposes, are seeking to excite the hatred of the magnanimous Virginia voters against that patriotic people, read these facts of history, and blush for their lack of generosity. The following articles from the Enquirer discussed other branches of the subject in a most able and conclusive manner. KNOW-NOTHINGISM AND CATHOLICISM. Without any very penetrating research or profound philosophy, a person rnay discover that Know-Nothingism rests upon the vicious principles and practices 140 the very abominations with which the Catholic Church is reproached by its en- emies. It is true both in a logical and historical sense, that Protestantism was a re- volt against the moral despotism of the Catholic hierarchy. The church of Rome, at first simple in its ritual, pure in its faith, and spiritual in its aspira- tions, in time decorated itself with barbaric pomp of ceremonial, and got cor- rupted by the worldly passion of political ambition. The ignorance, the debase- ment and the disorders of the Middle Age, favored the pretensions of the Church ; as men sought refuge under its wing from the rage of anarchy and the oppression of violence. We speak as a Protestant when we affirm, that the do- minion nf the Church of Rome in the dark ages, if not in itself legitimate and compatilile with the spirit of cliristianity, was a political contrivance of im- mense frdvantage to mankind and to the cause of civilization. We make this assertion on the authority of the accurate and dispassionate Ranke, and we are supported in the position by the facts of history. The spiritual sway of Papa- cy mitigated the ferocity of feudal tyranny, and put a bridle on the savage pas- sions of uncultivated man. There was no justice but within the precincts of the sanctuary, no religion out of the confessional, no learning beyond the shades of the cloister. The hopes of humanity were preserved from a deluge more de- destructive than that which swept away the traces of antediluvian existence, and the church was the ark in which the seeds of civilization were saved from the raging elements of universal violence and darkness. For this great service Humanity must thank the Media3val Church. But the Church issued from the conflict with pride inflated, ambition stimulated, and with an immense a cession of political power. Men recognized their obligation to the Church, and from a feeling of gratitude, as well as superstitious dread of its power, contributed still farther to its aggrandizement. The unclean spirit took possession of the Church, debased its holy nature, and perverted its high purpnse. It became corrupt, in proportion as it became rich, and persecuting as it got to be powerful. It arrogated absolute sovereignty over the mind and con- science of men, and established the dread machinery of the inquisition to en- force conformity to its creed and obedience to its will. But the conscience and the reason of men revolted against the despotism of the Church, and Martin Luther raised a cry for the LIBERTY OF private judgment. He asserted the independence of the reason ?ind conscience of the individual man, against the dictation of councils and the authority of the Pope. And he conquered. The living principles of Protestantism, are, perfect freedom of conscience, and the sovereignty of the individual reason. But the Catholic Church too was cleansed of many of its impurities by the spirit of the Reformation, and its pride and its power have melt.ed before the progressive civilization of the age. In every aspect. Know Nothingism is a preposterous movement. Affecting an apprehension of hierarchical domination, it assails a church which propitiates pity by its very weakness and helplessness. Declaiming against an alliance of Churcli and State, it drags religion into the arena of politics, and promotes the interests of party by inflammatory appeals to the pious prejudices of Protestants. Denouncing the "insidious policy" and spiritual despotism of the Papacy, it practices expedients of craft and imposture from which a Jesuit would revolt, and enforces a submissive obedience to its will with the cruel intolerance of an Inquisitor. y^ Protestantism is, in its origin and essential idea, a revolt against any external domination over the reason and conscience of the individual man. Yet, Know Nothingism pretends to serve the interests of Protestantism, by an organization which usurps absolute sway over the mind, and exacts the most rigid conformity to the supreme will of the Order ! No stronger contrast can exist, than between the liberal spirit of genuine Christianity, which elevates and ennobles the indi- vidual with a sense of infinite responsibility and a consciousness of absolute con- 141 trol over his destiny, find the stern despotism of an organization, which strips V its votaries of their manhood, denies to them the prerogative of free thoiiglit } and free speech, and binds them to a passive obedience to the mandates of a su- y perior power. / -^ We do nofraisconceive the nature of Know Nothingism. Its essential idea is the subjection of the individual to the will of the Order. Before initiation ho binds himself by oath, in all thini/s, ivtUikal, and social, io compl// n-ith the will of the Order. After initiation, he is the abject slave of the Order, and cannot escape from his bondage without the consent of the Order. This is the letter of its constitution : the Grand Council shall have power to decide 7t2)on all matters appertaining to National Politics. Thus the individual member barters away his independent judgment, and in all matters appertaining to na- tional politics binds himself to submit to the dictation of the Grand Council. If the Grand Council say the Nebraska bill is an iniquity, he can no more dis- sent from their decision, than a good Catholic can now dispute the immaculate conception of the Virgin. The Catholic takes his religious faith from Popes and Councils; the Know Nothing receives his political creed from a Council too — not a council of men distinguished for piety and learning, but an irresponsi- ble conclave of demagogues, without personal character or public reputation. Th'js is Know Nothingism obnoxious to the verj' charge of which it accuses Catholicism. Its indictment against the Papacy recites its own crimes against humanity. The Church of Home was never more intolerant, the Council of the Inquisition never more proseriptive, than this perfidious friend of Protestantism, this treacherous champioa of religious liberty. THE ASSERTED TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPE. * The Know Nothings of Virginia have placed themselves in the most ridicu- lous and discreditable position — they have shown themselves to be the most ar- rant cowards, frightened at the merest shadow. There are only 7,000 Catholics in Virginia, and about 800,000 Protestants — and yet the Know Nothings arc alarmed lest the 7,000 should swallow up the 800,000. Truly, as Major James Garland remarked, it would reverse the narrative of the Bible, for it would be nothing less than Jonah swallowing the whale! It is difficult to treat this sub- ject in any other light than that of levity and ridicule. liut since the alarming Catholic influence, and the overwhelming temporal power of the Pope of Rome, have been made prominent issues in the present contest, we deem it our duty to refute the absurd and groundless idea by a few facts from the records of past and present History. Wo shall first quote at length a declaration of the Eng- lish Catholics in 1789, utterly refuting the Know Nothing theory on the subject of the temporal power and influence of the Pope. When we see Catholics, under the monarchical institutions of England, proclaiming that thoy are en- tirely free from temporal allegiance to the Pope, is it not absurd to witness the hypocritical alarm ej pressed on this point by Know Nothings in our own country, where religion is free and where Truth is left to combat Error? The following' we extract from Rees' Encyclopedia, under the head of " Papists :" The Declaration and Protestation Sigiled hij the English Catholics in 1789. "We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, Catholics of England, do freely, voluntarily, and of our own accord, make the following solemn Declaration and Protestation. Whereas sentiments unfavourable to ws, as citizens and subjects, have been entertaioed by English Protestants, on account of principles which are asserted 142 to bo maintained by us and other Catholics, and which principles are dangerous to society, and totally repugnant to political and civil liberty ; — it is a duty that IOC, the English Catholics, owe to our country as well as to ourselves, to protest, in a formal and solemn manner, against doctrines that ice condemn, and that constitute no part whatever of our principles, religion, or belief. We are the more anxious to free ourselves from such imputations, because divers Protestants, who profess themselves to be real friends to liberty of con- science, have, nevertheless, avowed themselves hostile to us, on account of cer- tain opinions which ^ofi are supposed to hold. And we do not blame those Pro- testants for their hostility, if it proceeds (as we hope it does) not from an intol- erant spirit in matters of religion, but from their being misinformed as to mat- ters of fact. If it were true, that we, the English Catholics, had adopted the maxims that are erroneously imputed to us, we acknowledge that tve should merit the re- proach of being dangerous enemies to the State ; but, we detest those unchris- tian-like and execrable maxims: and ice severally claim, in common with men of all other religions, as a matter of natural justice, that we, the English Cath- olics, ou'rht not to suffer for or on account of any wicked or erroneous doctrines that may be held by any other Catholics, which doctrines ive publicly disclaim, any more than British Protestants ought to be rendered responsible fur any dan- gerous doctrines that may be held by any other Protestants, which doctrines they, the British Protestants, disavo.v. First, We have been accused of holding, as a principle of our religion, that princes, excommunicated by the Pope and council, or by authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or other persons. But, so far is the move mentioned unchristian-like and abominable position, from being a principle that we hold, that we reject, abhor, and detest it, and very part thereof, as execrable and impious : and we do solemnly declare, that neither the Pope, either with or without a general council, nor any prelate, nor any assembly of prelates or priests, nor any ecclesiastical power whatever, can absolve the subjects of this realm, or any of them, from their allegiance to his majesty King George the Third, who is, by authority of parliament, the lawful king of this realm, and all of the dominions thereunto belonging. Second, We have also been accused of holding, as a principle of our religion, that implicit obedience is due from us to the orders and decrees of Popes and general councils ; and that therefore if the Pope, or any general council, should, for the good of the church, command us to take up arms against government, or by any means to subvert the laws and liberties of this country, or to extermi- nate persons of a different persuasion from us, u-e (it is asserted by our accu- sers) hold ourselves bound to obey such orders or decrees, on pain of eternal fire : ■ "Whereas, we positively deny that vje owe any any such obedience to the Pope and general council, or to either of them ; and loe believe that no act that is in itself immoral or dishonest can ever be justified by or under color that it is done either for the good of the church, or in obedience to any ecclesiastical power whatever. We acknowledge no infallibility in the Pope ; and ?re neither apprehend nor believe that our disobedience to any such orders or decrees [should any such be given or made] could subject us to any punishment what- erer. And loe hold and insist, that the Catholic church hay no power that can, directly or indirectly, prejudice the rights of Protestants, inasmuch as it is strictly confined to the refusing to them a participation in her sacraments and other religious privileges of her communion, which no church (as we conceive) can be expected to give to those out of her pale, and which no person out of her pale, will, we suppose, ever require. And 7ve do solemnly declare, that no church, nor any prelate, nor any priest, nor any assembly of prelates or priests, nor any ecclesiastical power whatever, 143 hath, have, or ought to have, any jurisdiction or authority whatsoever within this realm, than can, directly or indirectly,' affect or interfere with the indepen- dence, sovereignty, laws, constitution, or government thereof; or the rights, liberties, persons, or properties of the people of the said realm, or any of them, save only and except by the authority of parliament; and that any .such as- sumption of pow#r would be an usurpation. Third, We have likewise been accused of holding, as a principle of our re- ligion, that the Pope, by virtue of his spiritual power, can dispense with the obliirations of any compact or oath taken or catered into by a Catholic ; that therefore no oath of allegiance, or other oath, can bind ?<.s ; and consequently, that Ke can give no security for our allegiance to any government. There can be no doubt but that this conclusion would be just, if the original proposition upon which it is founded were true ; but loc positively deny that we do hold any such principle. And wc do solemnly declare, that neither the pope, nor any prelate, nor any priest, nor any assembly of prelates or priests, nor any ecclesiastical power whatever, can absolve us, or any of us, from, or dis- pense with, the obligations of any compact or oath whatsoever. **Four(h, We have also been accused of holding, as a principle of our religion, that not only the pope, but even a Catholic priest, has the power to pardon the sins of Catholics at his will and pleasure, and, therefore, that no Catholic can possibly give any security for his allegiance to any government, inasmuch as the pope, or a priest, can pardon perjury, rebellion, and high treason. We acknowledge, also, the justness of this conclusion, if the proposition upon which it is founded were not totally flilse. But, ive do solemnly declare, that, on the contrary, ice believe that no sin whatever can be forgiven at the will of any pope, or of any priest, or of any person whomsoever; but that a sincere sorrow for past sin, a firm resolution to avoid future guilt, and every possible atonement to God and the injured neighbor, are the previous and indis- pensable requisites to establish a well-founded expectation of forgiveness. Fifth, And we have also been accused of holding, as a principle of our reli- gion, that no faith is to be kept with heretics; so that no government which is not Catholic can have any security from us for our allegiance and peaceable behaviour. This doctrine, that ' faith is not to be kept with heretics,' we reject, repro- bate and abhor, as being contrary to religion, morality, and common honesty ; and ice do hold and solemnly declare, that no breach of faith with any person whomsoever can ever be justified by reason of- or under pretence th;'vt such per- son is an heretic or an infidel. And ire further solemnly declare, that u-e do make this Declaration and Pro- testation, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of the same, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatso- ever. And we appeal to the justice and candor of our fellow-citizens, whether we, the English Catholics, who thus solemnly disclaim, and from our hearts abhor, the above mentioned abominable and unchristian-like principles, ought to be put on a level with any other men who may hold and profess those principles. The above Declaration and Protestation was signed by one thousand seven hundred and forty persons, including several peers, and two hundred and forty- one clergymen of the Catholic religion. We come now to a later day, and wo produce proof the most urfdoubted, that the Catholic Church most emphatically repudiates the doctrine that the Pope or the Church could absolve men from any just and binding obligation. The evi- dence we find in a letter of IMichael Dohen}', addressed to Henry A. Wise in the New York " Honest Truth." In 1825, the Irish Bishops were summoned before a committee of the British House of Commons. Amongst themselves 144 tliey selected tlie most eminent and learned of their body to represent ttem. Being apprised of the subjects of the enquiry, they had ample time to examine and weiiih and duly consider them. Their answers are brifiy cited : Docto^i' Doyle is asked — <' Can the Pope absolve the king's subjects from their allegiance ?" A. " No." Q. " Is it in his power to deprive the king of his kingdom T' A. " It is not, Q. " Can he by any means excuse a Catholic from his allegiance ?" A. " Most undoubtedly not?" Q. '< Is the claim that some Popes have set up to temporal authority opposed to Scripture and tradition ?" A. " In my opinion it is opposed to both." The llio-ht Rev. Dr. Curtis, Archbishop of Armagl in the same examination, and in answer to the same question, says : _ <'I do not think it is very conformable to it. I do not say exactly it is op- posed to it; but certainly he has received no such power from Christ?" Doctor Murray, Archbishop of Dublin — " The Pope's authority is wholly confined to his spiritual authority, accor?!ing to the words of our Savour, ' My kingdom is not of this world.' ^ His spiritual power does not allow him to dethrone kings or absolve their subjects from the alleo-ianee due to them ; and any attempt of that kind I would consider con- trary to Scripture and tradition." Dr. Kelly, Archbishop of Tuam— "It never was admitted as a doctrine of the Catholic church that the Pope had temporal authority outside his own dominions." Mr. Dobeny also refers to the evidence of tiie two most eminent men who had theretofore written on the subject in England — Doctor Milner and Father O'Leary and who had exposed the false pretence that the Pope could dispense with the obligations of an oath. He next comes to our own rimes and refers to the important case of the College of Maynooth in Ireland. It is (we quote his languaire) " a Catholic institution, endowed by the ultra Protestant Government of I^n'^laud, and has been now for over half a century the teeming cause of re- liinoub^ acerbity. No wonder that it should, when we consider that by London law a priest was a "felon," to be educated for the priosthood "felony," and to officiate as a priest " high treason." How there came to be a Catholic college is explained in this way : "Notwithstanding the law, priests were ordained and mass was offered, at first in caves and mountain gorges, and afterwards in out-of-the way places in broad day-light. The priests were educated abroad. France, Spain, Italy, opened asylums of education for the exiled Irish Catholics, and some came home as priests, at the risk of being led to the gallows. Strange thing.s foreshadowed themselves in the literature and feeling of the continent of Europe, and Eng- land, beginning to be afraid to bang the priest, and apprehending that his French education was Jacobinical or rather Jacobite, besought her of providing a home education for him, with a view to JcnationaUze him. Hence the college of Mavnooth — an '' invention of the enemy." However, it by no means an- swered' the end. The endowment, up to 1845, was only £ 30,000 a year. It was then increased to £ 50,000, but without, as it would seem, becoming any more h>yal. Since then, bigotry, biting at the wires of its cage, which grows narrower and narrower daily, has been nibbling at it, and notwithstanding all that has been said and sworn to the contrary, repeating the pretence that tho Pope claimed the deposing and absolving power. " In 1852 a committee was appointed to inquire into the orthodoxy of the College, who have just issued their report. They exan)ined the professors, and asked them the same questions the Bishops answered iu 1825. 145 ^'I quote first from Doctor O'lTanlon : *' With regard to the first doctrine of Gallioan Liberties, is it not a question in dispute among Roman Catholicd? It is ; tho' we may regard the opinion ■which attributes either direct or indirect temporal power to the Pope or to the church as being almost obsolete. Tlie only writers who have attempted to re- vive it in modern times are Dr. Brownson, a recent convert to Catholicity, and an editor of an American review, and the famous Lamennais, who has been condemned b}' the Holy See, for the extravagance and eccentricify of certain doctrines which he held. I might here observe that in a document addressed from Home by Cardinal Antoneii, to the Irish Catholic Prelates, so early r.s 1791, it is espressly affirmed that the Holy See regards that man as a calum- niator, who imputes to it the tenet, ' that an oath to kings seperafed from the Catholic communion can be violated, or that it is lawful for the Bishop of Borne to invade their rights and dominions.' Pope Gregory XVI., also, not only in his encyclical letter of 1832, but in his reply to the declaration of the Prussian government in 1838, lays down principles which appear to me to be irreconcila- ble with the opinion which invests the Pope or the church with direct or indi- rect temporal authority. lie adopts the doctrine of Tertullian, and some others of the early fathers, that no cause whatever can justify the deposition or de- thronement of a king, and that the people should patiently endure every sort of tyranny and oppression rather than have recourse to so violent and dangerous a remedy. The doctrine is as incompatible with the deposing power of the Pope as it is repugnant to the ideas of political writers of these countries. "I close with this quotation, hoping that I have satisfied you that in es- pousing our cause you have not committed 3'ourself to the rant of men like this Brownson, who trade upon credulity and superstition." This evidence should be sufficient to satisfy all reasonable men, but we mean to clinch the nail and to show what Catholics think and say, here at our own fireside.a, upon the soil of Virginia, in this metropolis of the Old Dominion. With this object in view, we ask attention to the following correspondence be- tween James Lyons, Esq., and the Catholic Bishop of Puchmond. His frank replies to the enquiries addressed to him, should satisfy all but besotted and bigoted Know Nothings, that the cliarge of the danger to our institutions, from the temporal power of the Pope, are the wildest fancies, the most unsubstantial dreams. No additional word of comment can be necessary to dispel the terrible alarm which has been conjured up by the patriotic and pious managers of the Secret Order, and their zealous co-laborers, the Know Nothing press and orators : "Richmond, April 18, 1855. \ To Bishop McGlll, Rev. Sir : — Having heard and read much declamation against the Catholk-s, because of the alleged temporal power of the Pope, I take the liberty to inquire of you whether the Catholics in Virginia do acknowledge any temporal alle- giance to the Pope; and whether, if this country could be and was assailed or invaded by the army of the Pope, (if he had one,) or by any other Catholic power, the Catholic citizens of this country, no matter where born, would not be as much bound to defend the Flag of America, her rights and liberty, as any native-born citizen would be; and whether the performance of that duty would conflict with any oath, or vow, or other obligation of the Catholics? My purpose is, with your leave, to make this note and your reply to it public. With high respect, your friend, &c., JAMES LYONS." 10 [ 146 " EicHMOND, Ya., April 19, 1855. I>v?ar Sir : — The letter, wliicb you have addressed to me, contuins three ques- tion-^, to which you ask au answer, with a view to publication. First Question. — " Whether the Catholics in Virginia do acknowledge any any temporal allegiance to the Pope ?" To this I anssver, that unless there be in Virginia some Italians who owe al- legiance to the Pope as a temporal Prince, because they were born in his States, and are not naturalized citizens of this country, there are no Catholics in A'^ir- ginia who ov/e or acknowledge any temporal allegiance to the Pope. Second Question. — <' Whether, if this country could be and was assailed and invaded by the army of the Pope, (if he had one,) or by any other Catholic power, the Catholic citizens of this country, no matter where born, would not be as much bound to defend the Flag of America, her rights and liberty, as any native-born citizens would be ?" Answer : To me, the hypothesis of an invasion of our countr}' by the Pope, seems an absurdity; but should he come with armies to establish temporal do- Hiinion here, or should any other Catholic power make such an attempt, it is my conviction that all Catholic citizens, no matter where born, who enjoy the benefits and franchises of the Constitution, would be conscienciously bound, like native-born citizens, to defend the flag, rights and liberties of the Republic, and repel such invasion. Third Question. — "Whether the performance of that duty would conflict with any oath, or vow, or other obligation of the Catholic?" , Answer: Calholics, reared in the Church as such, have not the custom of taking any oaths or vows, except the baptismal vows, " to renounce the Devil, bis works and pomps," Persons converted to the faith, or those receiving de- grees in Theology, may be required to take the oath contained in the creed of Pius IV. of obedience to the Pope, which, as far as I know, has always been understood and interpreted to signify a spiritual obedience to him as head of the Church, and not obedience to him as a temporal prince. Eishops, on their con- secration, also take an oath which, in our country, is different from the old form used in Europe. But none of these vows, oaths, and no other obligation of which I am aware, conflicts with the duty of a citizen of the United States to defend the flag and liberties of his country. In conclusion, allow me to ctate that, as we have no article of faith teaching that the Pope, of divine right, enjoys temporal power as head of the Church, vpbatever some theologians or writers may have said on this point, must, like my answers to your inquiries, be considered as opinions for which the writers themselves only can be held responsible. I Yours, very truly, &c. \ J. McGILL, Bishop of Richmond. To James Lyons, Esq." \ THE WINCHESTER CONVENTION. About five months after the Democratic f=tate ticket was put forth, on the 14th March, the Know-Nothing party, trying to imitate as much as possible the Hartford Convention, of Federal blue-light notoriety, assembled in secret at the town of Winchester, for the purpose of nominating a state ticket. Never before in the history of Virginia did any party, for the purpose named, assemble in privacy and secrecy to make a state nomination. We suppose 147 that t!io famous Gun Powder plot could not have been concocted under more binding oaths and cautious secrecy. Guy Fawkes himself would have owned its organization as his handiv/ork. We have never seen the names of but three delegates that were present, and these were appended to the schedule of Basis Principles which was soon promulgated in the name of the conven- tion and to the correspondence informing the candidates of their nomination. Who were there, and what was said and done, in all human probability will never be known to the generation now in existence. There could be nothing discovered by examining the registers of the hotels, for the delegates used fictitious names in recording themselves. What shall we think of a state convention Avliich meets and registers imdcr aliases? Are we to believe that this party loves darkness rather than liglit because their deeds are evil? The Examiner contained the following amusing notice of the body and its actions : The Winchester Convention. — After long and painful labors, com- menced in the long cotlin-like garret of Stebbins' china-shop, in this city, some weeks since, and adjourned over, for reasons unknown, to Winchester, a salubrious village of this state, the Know-Xothings have made their anx- iously expected nominations. A Winchester paper describes this gathering of midnight accouchers as a slim, dreary and melancholy squad of battered Whigs, the aggregate record of whose disappointments and defeats would fill a volume considerably ex- ceeding the dimensions of the doom's-day book. There were about airmany Know-Nothings in attendance, that paper says, as there were delegates to the celebrated Hartford Convention ; and, of that number, it is said that there was a soliianj Democrat, whose local habitation and name we have not heard. The rest were, of course, hungry and famished Whigs — ex-congress- men, ex-state senators, ex-members of the House of Delegates, ex-shonffs, ex-constables, ex-magistrates, ex-coroners and ex-militia otticers of every rank. It was a grand carnival of political cripples, the maimed, mutilated remains of defeats and disappointments without number. Dante, in his excursion through the infernal regions, might have stumbled upon such a conclave of the political damned, drinking hot brimstone punches, and toast- ing, at their leisure, on gridirons and pitchforks ; but never before in this state was there such a lifeless convention. The congressional, senatorial and muster precincts gave up their dead, and we question whether there wns as much vitality in the whole convention as there is in one healthy Democrat. We have said that this melancholy assemblage of Chelsea invalids was Whig. Its presence perfumed the little town of Winchester with the odor of church-yard Whiggery. The maimed survivors of many a sad a id luck- less fight, with the gallant Virginia Democracy, were seeking prominent places in the council chamber of the Know-Nothings, as the afflicted of scrip- tural times struggled to be in the front rank around the healing wafers of Bethesda. No man, we venture to say, from what we have heard of the Winchester Convention, could have been present, and beheld that collection' of Whig partisans and leaders, without denouncing Know-Nothingism as the very latest and most vicious invention of the old Federal enemy, that turns up with a new name, but the same old principles and vices, every few years^ There was nothing Democratic about it. The shameful spectacle was pre- sented to an intelligent people, of delegates appointed by secret lodges, bound' by frightful oaths, pledged upon the Holy Word of God to the work of pro- scription and persecution, meeting with closed doors, and seeking to take 148 from the people all free agency in the selection of their representatives. It presented the contrast of Cataline's gathering of disaffpctecl and disappointed colleagues to that of the people of Rome flocking in the open air to listen to the fearless eloquence of Cicero. There are times beyond question — times when nations, like individuals, become the victims of temporary insanity — when Reason, tired of sitting on her throne, vacates it for a while, when Folly "takes the chair," and misrule becomes the order of the day. Good and true men are, at such moments, disregarded ; and the temporary sove- reign appoints befitting courtiers. Such dynasties compress much evil in the few months of their existence, and then are overthrown and become, a by- word and reproach. Secret conclaves to select candidates for the people, in a country where the purity of the elective franchise depends upon its freedom from mystery and concealment, illustrate the inauguration of such an unfortunate era as we have just referred to. It is a new phase of that spirit of political folly and error which made the unreflecting and unprincipled fall down and worship log-cabins, coon-skins, hard cider, and other barbarous symbols, in 1840. It is a revival of that incarnation of insincerity, fraud and duplicity — "the no party movement" — by which the Whig party skulked into power in 1848, and then laughed at the silly Democratic gulls who were seduced from their party but to rue their treason in sackcloth and ashes. The Winchester Convention, in spirit, intent and arrangement, was a new device — a fresh snare of Federalism set fjpr that class of Democrats who have again and again been caught and plucked by a political adversary, who, like the modern Greek, substitutes cunning for boldness and courage. The solitar}- Democrat who is said to have formed the popular element in this Convention of, it is said, sixty-eight delegates, properly represents the exact proportion of Democracy in the Know-Nolhing party in Virginia. It is made up in the ratio of sixty-eight parts of rank, bitter and most uncom- promising Federalism to one of bogus, pinchbeck Democracy. The Federal pill is coated, not with fine white sugar, but with a compound of treacle and coffee brown. This new' organization the late ludicrous Convention at Win- chester has convinced every body, possesses no actual strength in Virginia. The proud, inflexible, consistent Henry Clay Whigs will never give up the banner of "the old Clay Gaard," torn and ragged as it is, to march under the black flag of a secret society. The unambitious, intelligent gentlemen of the Whig party, men depending upon their plantations, not upon otRce for sup- port, would sooner die than exchange pass-words, oaths and grips with slippery professional politicians in the garrets of china shops. They hold too sacred the memory of their great leaders to deny the name given them by the noble Kentuckian, and become Know-Nothings. In spite of the example of the solitary Democrat in the Winchester Convention, nine hundred and ninety- nine of our party would consider it a profanation to abandon the faith of their fathers, and become disciples of Judson, the convict, Bennet, the out- law, and Ullman, the Hindoo, and regard such a solicitation as affording ample justification for knocking the verdant author of the proposition down. Know-jSlothingism may fester in the, townis and villages, among Whig shop- keepers, but there is a power in the countr}', among the Democratic faimers, that will crush it out. . Sam's Unsuccessful and Successful Courtships. — It is a perfectly notorious fact, that long before the Winchester Convention, the chief con- spirators of the new order of Jesuits, in this state, like the " Father of Evil," went about covertly throwing temptations in the way of nearly every available and distinguished Democrat. Acting upon the Walpole theory, that "every public man had his price," they essayed to secure for their pur- pose a strong, healthy Democrat — thus confessing that there was no member 149 of the order who possessed the confidence of the people — not one who was sufficiently strong to bear the odium and opprobrium of avowed Know- Mothingiiim. At the very time when they were everywhere boasting of their strength, they were seeking for what they did not have in their organization — viz : a prominent Democrats. We could name a dozen Democrats who indignantly spurned their proposals, and kicked their bribes out of doors. Tliey crawled about like poor, rejected suitors, humbly entreating prominent Democrats to accept their nominations. But of the members of our party, with a single grain of vitalit}-, not one would touch their offer. It was only when they went down among tiie dead men that a few hungry ghosts snapped at their proposals. Letcher, Holladay, Brockenbrough, Leake, and other leading Democrats, are known to have declined the "honor of the alliance." Never was an ugly and uncouth suitor so unfortunate as was Sam. He ran the gauntlet of "kicks," and became the by-word and the laughing-stock of all well-to-do Democrats. His efforts to "get a live Democrat" were as fruitless as were the attempts of men of little capital and less credit to raise their bank kites during the monetary pressure of December. Sam's addresses were all re- jected, and his notes of entreaty^ protested by all of our first and second class Democrats. In the earl;; days of his courtship, Sam, like other unsuc- cessful gentlemen of our acquaintance, looked too high. He- fancied for his first loves Democrats in the bloom of youth, with good prospects, and a very broad margin between themselves and a state of collapsed and toothless old fogyism. He professed to turn up his priggish little Federal nose, (inush- room and parvenu as he is,) at the eldeily and neglected maiden and widow- ladies of our party, who, for the last quarter of a century, have vainly pined for a suitor, however uncouth and valueless the much courted article. Soured by a thousand disappointments, left behind, outstripped by younger and more vigorous rivals, these forgotten old Democratic spinsters and mouldering widows, would have taken the devil for a partner, rather than not have at least one grab at the fleshpots. When a hard and melancholy experience had taught Sam that no Democrat who had anything to lose by accepting his " honorable proposals " would listen to them, "he, for the first time, discover- ed that there was a small but excessively recherche assortment of verde antiques, coyly ogling him from the back benches, and recalling his youthful recollections of the song about — Foiir-and-twenty old maids All in a i-ow, , Dressed in yellow, pink and red, — Poor old maids. With whatever indignation blushing young misses like Holladay, Letcher, Brockenbrough, 8cc., &c., had repelled his advances, it was obvious that these ladies were of much easier dispositions, and they had what Sam wanted [but in an eminently diluted state] — to wit : " Democratic blood." Like the venerable females of a certain Italian city, who, when it was sacked by the French, after boldly waiting at the street corners all day, in the midst of the invaders, without experiencing any violence at their hands, Avent home grumbling that " they had heard the French were wicked fellows, but that they had not found them so," these antiquated Democrats had not ?^eQn much of Sam's reputed gallantry. Still they hoped on, and when Sam had failed to get the young ladies, in a fit of desperation he put the whole battalion of " venerable and unrecognized merit" in a flutter by seeking a consort from their midst. " Really," said Miss Madison Monroe Flexible, to 150 her aged friend, Miss JefTerson Giles Castaway, "this fellow Sam is a very nice young man," and she flirted with the aforesaid Sam after a very spa- vined and octagenarian fashion. And let us not be understood as blaming any of these venerable spinsters and matrons for their choice. Let no Dem- ocrat, in the flush and vigor of early youth, sit too harshly in judgment up- on those who, after pining, neglected and disregarded, for half a centu- ry, waiting for an eligible Democratic offer, in despair accepts even Sam. Pity the sorrows of our venerable friends, recollect their long, dism.al years of dreary waiting, youth sobering into middle age, middle age turning into the sear and yellow leaf of old age — and Sam the first oiler. Ye young, ad- mired and vigorous Hollrdays, Letchers, Leakes, &c., rejoicing in a pleni- tude of eager beaux, think kindly and sorrowingly of the forlorn and bereaved widow Beale, whose cheerless and neglected fireside in the far west Sam has gladdened by his refreshing presence. Recollect the long and involuntary • solitariness of that estimable person, and drop a tear rather than a curse upon the sin of disappointed old age. For when time and disappointments have sapped the best of us — when we have waited long and waited vainly for the expected bridegroom, and he overstays his time, we may at a weak moment pounce upon the first substi- tute that turneth providentially up. For there cannot be much love between Sam and his new brides. He took, we incline to the opinion, the venerable Beale and the flexible Patton, because the fresh, the young, the vigorous of our party refused him, and they, heaven forgive their old souls, took Sam because it was obvious that no Democratic suitor would ever claim their hands. It will be a barren union, and we predict a speedy divorce a vinculo matrimonii. They may not live long enough to lepentof their marriage with a fellow of low degree, but Sam will find that his Democratic consorts will bring him nothing but the recollections of their early loves and disappoint- ments, and that he will stand forth in the list of Bcale's lovers, and alas for his prospect for domestic happiness ! Mr. Patton treasures tender souvenirs of more political loves than did the scandalous Don Giovanni of affairs of the heart. Nor, if the character of Sam's Democratic conquests are understood by the public, will they allow him much peace upon their slender jointures of respecfiveh' fifteen hundred and seven hundred dollars per annum, v.liilst the Whig wife of his bosom, the luck}' and fascinating Flournoy, will get five thousand dollars a year, and a house besides. Whether successful or unsuccessful, he is destined to have no peace in his polygamous household. If Biigham Sam comes home ladened with the oj)ima spolin of Democracy, the disinterested Beale will flare up when she looks up from behind her official wash-tub and contrasts her homely attire and seven hundred dollars per annum, with the costly outfit and plentiful pocket money of Mrs. "Sam" Flourno3\ Nor will the generous and impulsive Patton regard the trifle of one thousand five hundred dollars per annum a sufficient recompense for his having given his talents and respectability to a plcbean like Sam. Indeed, much to the discredit of Sam, it is rumored -that the haughty Patton, whilst requiring the most ardent manifestations of affection from Sam, gives him nothing but the Platonic power of a name, and treats^ his warm-hearted ad- vances with marked coolness. It is idle for any rational man to suppose that' antiquated but aristocratic political dowagers, like Sam's legal consorts, when they bestow the odds and ends of worn out political affections upon such a mushroom, ever bring with them a large dowry of love. The idea of such a thing is laughable. Those who, in the enthusiastic and disinterested desertion of early blushing love, gave their hearts to the gallant Jackson, then transferred their more expe- rienced and matured affections upon the irresistible Clay, and then distributed 151 the small re.sitliium of in'uldle aged esteem among such men as Polk. Cass and Pierce, have notliing that is worth bestowinsr upon Sam. We reoret to • t • • • • ilistnrh his polygamous bliss by croaking predictions of unhappiness — but the; truth must be told. THE WINCflESTER TICKET. The result of this notable gathering was the nomination of the follov/hig gubernatorial ticket, viz : For Governor— THOMAS S. FLOURNOY, of Halifax. For Lt. Governor— JAMES M. H. BEALE, of Mason. For Attorney General— JOHN M. PATTON, of Richmond. The country had been led to expect that none but new men, uncontami- nated by party and undistinguished as partizans, would have been presented by an organization which eschewed all partisan prejudices and disavowed all partisan affiliations and objects. We shall discover, in the comments of the Democratic press upon these nominations, whether these anticipations were realized. The Examiner received the announcement of the nomina- tions in the following strain of ridicule and narrative : The Winchester Ticket. — The elements of the Know-Nothing ticket present a laughable illustration of Sam's utter disregard of his solemn pledges. The chief object we have heard for months past of this new organ- ization was the killing off of old and decayed politicians, and the promotion of fresh, talented and accomplished men, able and ambitious, yet bearing about them the marks of no disappointments and defeats. We expected that the Know-Nothings would not be mere political resurrectionists, and that they would at least refrain from giving the people of Virginia the dry bones of the forgotten dead. We had been led to believe that their nominees would possess all the fresh- ness, youth and virgin purity of the early spring flowers that so sweetly and modestly peep out of the bosom of mother earth about the Ides of March. Indeed, like a gallant young fellow, we all expected Sam's Winchester nom- inees to be a charming bouquet of early spring flowers — not a hoi-tus siccus of badly preserved specimens. Is there any of the violet's freshness about Flournoy, or of the lily's virginity about Beale, or of the daisy's simplicity about Mr. Patton ? We have a ticket made up of the survivors of past hon- ors and offices — from the head to the tail of the ticket we have " ex-honora- bles," all of whom had to be exhumed for their new missions. Thev were dug up, for there was no germinating or sprouting elements in them. As far as Messrs. Patfon and Beale were concerned — we speak knowingly when we say that, as far as their political prospects in the Democratic party were con- cerned — they were as dead as any ancient Thcban that Gliddon ever un- rolled. A close examination of the ticket will convince our readers of the truth of what we say. The Necrology and Resurrection of Thomas Stanhope Flournoy. It must have struck every one very forcibly when the Winchester ticket was announced, that it w^as constructed precisely like that famous animal, the Kangaroo, with all of its strength in its hind legs and tail, for, by some sin- gular freak, Mr. Patton, a man of distinction and decided talents, but of 152 flexible back-bone, was put at the tail, and Mr. Flournoy at the head of the ticket. The Kangaroo illustration will, however, help us to an explanation, for, as in the case of that animal, whilst the hind legs and tail perforin all the hard work, the weak and idle fore paws, being nearest the mouth, secure all tlie food. This interesting fact explains the construction of th.e ticket. * The majority of Whig Know-Nothings who cllected the Winchester nomi- nations were too keen for the spoils to give the executive chief otlice to the political iViends of the minority of Democratic Know-Nothings. The spoils department of the hybrid triumvirate is, as a matter of course, in the hands of a bitter, uncompromising Whig. Flournoy takes the oyster, and the two shells are divided with the most refreshing generosity between Patton and Beale, or rather Beale and Patton, for they appear to have put poor Mr. Patton to the foot of the table — even Beale taking precedence. To give the remnants of the Federal party in this state a chance at the flesh- pots of the state offices, the Federal Know-Nothings put one of their own men at the head of the distributing department. They had an eye, every one of them, doubtless, to the fish, flour, guano, tobacco, and lumber interests of the Old Dominion. Hence they have put Lepidus in the chair, and An- thony and Augustus at very humble side tables. If the ticket triumphs, Lepidus gets five thousand dollars, a handsomely furnished house, and control over the much coveted flour, guano, lumber, tar, and tobacco, whilst Anthony gets what will be equivalent to an overseer's wages every other year, and Augustus receives the salary of a tide waiter in the custom-house. Standing in front of his palace with a plate of broken victuals, Lepidus will whistle, and a huge flock of starving Whig cormorants M'ill flutter around him, each of whom will receive more than either of the other members of the triumvirate. We shall make no excuse for briefly attempting to explain to our readers who Mr. Flournoy is ! He is, in the first place, a gentleman by birth and education, and like Mr. Patton, (and for aught we know to the contrary, Mr. Beale,) a man upon whose private character there is not a spot or blemish. In chivalry and integrity he is every way the equal of Mr. Wise, or of any other Democrat or Whig in Virginia. But he is the very embodiment of Whiggery, a man, we believe, in whose veins there flows as much Federal blood as in those of any man in the commonwealth. He hates and loathes Democracy as he does a mean action, or even the Pope or an Irishman. His Federalism has been of the most consistent character, and his comparative obscurity alone prevents every Democrat from associating his name with bank, tarifl', distribution, and the rest of the Federal abominations now dead and buried. In that section of Virginia in which Mv. Flournoy once figured as a poli- tician, his memory is cherished through the broad expanse of several muster precincts, by the shattered remains of his party. For Mr. Flournoy's polit- ical life was of insect duration, and it was as brief as the constitution allowed. A valorous Democratic lion and chivalrous unicorn of the same political family were seven years ago fighting for a seat in Congress from the strong Democratic Halifax district ; Mr. Flournoy slipped in and transferred, for the brief period of two years, his obscurity from the county courts of Halifax and Charlotte to the halls of Congress. Our memory retains no vivid or distinct recollection of what he did during his two years of public life. Like most lucky men who have crept into office through a split or cleft in the Democratic party, Mr. Flournoy tried to repeat the experiment a second time, but " the party" closed upon him with the grip and snap of a first rate steel trap, and after a few convulsive jerks and wiggles, Flournoy died. Po- 153 litlcally he was declared, by competent judges, "a beautiful corpse," Avhich, no doubt, he was. His intended victim, but actual conqueror, that old and honored Democrat, Avcrett, thinking that the rash young man was dead as Julius Ca'sar, extri- cated him I'rom the trap which had closed with such fatal force upon him, buried him with pious and allectionate care, heaped up the dirt, and patted the mound as smoothly as possible, and wiping a tear from his eccentric- looking spectacles, went his way to Washington. It may be well to make a note of the fact, that the ever true and faithful Powell acted the sexton to Goggin that same year, but had to keep his purturbed ghost still with a cedar stake. Although as decently interred as man could have been, and killed, to boot, by a regular old school physician, Flournoy would not lie still and let the worms have their due, and the time which Averett spent, much to the benefit of his constituents as a true southern representative, in Washing- ton, the restless Flournoy spent in scratching out of his narrow red-land ten- ement. And when the estimable doctor once more started upon a grand tour through his district, the ghost of Flournoy, " thin and shadowy, traveled by his side." "Averett, does murder sleep?" shrieked the ghost of Flour- noy; and the dead man followed the living one, going through all the motions of a candidate for Congress, in a most shocking and heart-rending manner. But the people were so much shocked at the a})parition of their beloved and lamented Flournoy, flitting about from court-house to court-house, and shrieking its sepulchral notes t>om stump and hustings, that they determined, from feelings of humanity, to dispel the delusion under which the apparition labored, by electing Averett a second time. They did so, and the troubled ghost, exorcised of the ugly demon of ambition, sunk with a sigh into its grave, and Averett again heaped up the clay, and left the now quiet dead for a second visit to Washington. There was something so amiable, refined and respectable in the appearance of Flournoy's ghost, that Averett treated it with a mildness which, in the parallel case of Goggin, Powell could not con- sistently with his own welfare einploy. Thus terminated the brief and troubled career of the politician Flournoy. He came upon the stage when his favorite federal measures were tottering to their fall, and he went down with them, involved in the common ruin of his party. Sf^veral times since his death there have been ugly splits in the Dem- ocratic party in Flournoy's old district, but there was no Flournoy to slip into Congress. Nothing short of the trumpet of the Know-Nothing " Ga- briel" could have aroused him from his long sleep. For years ambition came not near the grave of Flournoy. All of him that was political, his friends said, was dead, very dead, and in the counties of the Halifax district the legal Thomas Stanhope Flournoy practiced his profession, we have heard, in a quiet, but most orderly and respectable manner. All political dress having been cast out of him, his explorations in the technical jungles of the Code, and his struggles in the quagmires of Mayo's Guide, are said to have been most creditable. Honest and industrious in the plain and unornamented details of his pro- fession, he is said to have secured the confidence of W'higs and Democrats. The fates, as we have seen, had decreed, however, that at the dead hour of midnight, the Know-Nothings should dig up the political remains of Flournoy, and thus end his career of usefulness as an attorney, without imparting over two months and a half of galvanic political vitality to the bones of the de- ceased. ' From the thousand rumors which have found their w'ay to the public, from the secret eouncils of the Know-A'^othing Convention, we entertain no doubt of its having resolved itself into a committee of resurrectioni.^s, surgeons and practical anatomists, to overhaul, compare and examine the remains of 154 every Whig politician in Virginia of the least note or notoriety. Tt is sus- pected that, knowing the character of the subject with which they had to deal, the delegates were well provided with all the implements for body- snatching, and with dark lanterns, chloride of lime, galvanic batteries and volatile salts. Each delegation, it is supposed, brought its local dead, and a sweet set they must have been. Phew ! Winchester will smell of them as long as Hartford will be fragrant with the odor of the old blue light Federal- ists. And what a set of mummies must have been then and there unrolled! What a charnel-house; what a rich rare and varied assortment of "Whig ex- hanorabjes"' in every stage of decay. The catacombs of Paris, the pyramids of Egyptian Cheops, must hereafter hide their diminished heads. The ana- tomical museums have been all eclipsed. To catalogue and systematically arrange this strange collection of relics of mortality, would be a task beyond our capacities. A second Tamerlane could scarcely make a decent pyramid of those battered skulls. The purpose and design of the collection was to ascertain whether there could be found, within the limits of the commonwealth, the remains of a single Whig sufficiently well preserved to respond, by a few muscular jerks, to the strongest charge af a Know-Nothing battery. Long and vain is s^aid to have been their labors. Down among the dead men they v^'orked long and sadly. There was hardly a semblance of life in the whole collection. They were as dead as if the ball of a Minie rifle had passed through the skull of each of them. They were of the earth, eaithy. The Valley delegation, it is said, brought, wrapped up in one of poor Fill- more's castaway suits, the gigantic bones of the once lively and ever astute Stuart, but the electric shock called into play no tough muscle still clinging to its appropriate bone. The canvass for the Reform Convention had left nothing in those remains tor a battery to get a muscular jerk out of. The Red Land district, it is surmised, respectfully submitted a petition in forma pav peris for an examination of Goggin's coffin, but a few broken bones and a little dust alone remained of that gallant Whig. The faithful delegation from ever loyal Screamerville pressed proudly for- ward with the sarcophagus of the terrible Botts, exclaiming, " IT3re's a man buried, but not dead — he'll kick and jump for you without touching him up with your infernal machine — he's alive, we tell you, don't you hear how he kicks and, bellows to get out." But 'the whole college of surgeons, holding up their hands and screwing down the corners of their hypocritical mouths, said : " Oh, you are mistaken ; Botts has been dead these many years — that's an evil spirit you hear kicking up that muss in his colfin, and, to keep it from getting out, drive in al few more nails!" And, as the indignant and sorrowing Screamervillians tottered off with the vivacious Botts, the chief doctor, placing his finger to the side of his proboscis, said sotio x^oce, with a wink, " Botts aint dead, but he's dangerous," and the sixty-eight Whigs and the solitary Democrat said, "Amen !" And, if street rumors are "to be cre- dited, the neglected Botts, although his sarcophagus was not opened, or the galvanic battery of the resurrectionists applied, is keeping up an awful shindy on his own hook, and frightening the secret order more than he did when he smashed their crockery over the china shop of Stebbins of Shockoe Hill. And thus the convention proceeded in its melancholy work, passing on from Pendleton to Strother, from Strother to Rives, and with no success. The mystery of Flournoy's nomination has not leaked out, but it is supposed that some de.'-perate individual threatened that if they did not make a selec- tion, he would uncork that powerful narcotic, "the extract of ShefTey," and the whole college, with a shriek of horror, declared that the remains of the next of the Whig defuncts should be honored with their choice, and Flour- noy's coffin was the next in order. ' 155 The Apotheosis of Reale. — The nomination of J. M. H. Beak, of Ma- son, was tlie most natural thinoj in the world. They couhl not do without a man from the portion of the State in which he lives, and Beale caught their eye, having fallen from grace in the Democratic party and kicked up a little filibustering campaign in his Congressional district, which had at the last accounts resulted in the partial defection of Mr. J. M. H. Beale. A gentle- man perfectly familiar with that section of Virginia from which IMr. Beale hails, tells us, that after a long and arduous canvass, Mr. Beale may emerge the triumphant leader of from five to twenty followers. Although a very well disposed person, and we hear, of good moral character, he is not a man whose most intimate friends have ever suspected of the smallest sciniWa of talent. And when, in addition to this, we tell our readers what everybody in his Congressional di>trict knows, that he is a worn out, brokendown poli- tician, turned out to graze by his party, they can form some idea of his strength in the We.-«t. It is the slrength'of a cob-web to hold an eagle, or of a child to check a locomotive. The only recommendation of Mr. Beale was, we imagine, that he wa^^ out on his own hook — solitary and alone— for Congress. Or it may have been a delicate compliment to the lone Democrat of the Winchester Convention, that led tha't body to nominate Beale. That poor delegate having seen half a hundred Whig coffins opened, his associates may have, in compliment to his fortitude, exhumed Beale. But if they thought to weaken the Demo- cratic party in the West by nominating Mr. J. M. H. Beale, that particular mistake may be put down as the richest in the whole Winchester^ comedy of errors. We can almost, in imagination, hear the peals of inextinguishable merriment with which the unflinching Democracy of the Trans-Alleghany country will greet Sam's expedient of seducing them by the blandishments of the complimentary Beale. W^e heard, some years ago, of a young gentleman's essaying to turn over the NaturalBridge with a' crowbar,"but that young man's verdancy was not equal to that of the W^inchester Convention in using Mr. Beale for turning over to Know-Nothingism the ever faithful West. We can see the hardy Democracy of that section of the state puLing down the lower eyelid, and revolving the four digitals, with the thumb resting on the proboscis for an axis, and asking the" unlucky Beale " if he sees anything green." What- ever may be his idea of colors, the unreduced Democracy of Western Vir- ginia will make him feel very blue before they are done with him. But enough of Mr. Beale. We should, perhaps, for the sake of our readers, have" before saying a word about him, recollected that '' de minimis lex non curat." Perhaps, however, the space devoted to him will be pardoned by those who, unlike the people of his own section of country, do not know what a harmless old gentleman he is. Hon. John M. Patton, the Nnow-Nothing Candidate for Attorney General. — The offence of Beale, in accepting the nomination of a secret Whig organization, is a very small matter. It is one of those trivial, harm- less misdemeanors over which the mayor exercises jurisdiction, a case for the local reporters of the daily papers, deserving a record in " Howison's Calendar of Crimes," and nothing more. But acceptance of a nomination from such a party by a Democratic o-entleman of Mr. Patton's ability, position, education, and antecedents, is an offence calling for harsh comment and the strongest language of reproba- tion. From what we have heard of Mr. Beale, we suppose that he does not understand the bearing of his defection if his example should be followed. But a man of Mr. Patton's sagacity must have long since discovered that Know-Nothingism, North, South, East and West, is a dangerous conspiracy, 156 having for its object the overthrow of the National Democratic party. Thus far tlrat secret organization to which he has lent the influence of an honored name, has been the deadliest and most cruel t'oc to slavery and the Union. At midnight, and stealthily as a serpent, it has sought to undermine that great temple, dedicated to religious liberty, Avhich Jefferson and Madison reared with such anxious and patriotic care. He has seen it, like some frightful reptile, creeping South, everywhere crushing in its folds the Na- tional Democracy. He has seen that it has everywhere availed itself, in the free States, of the temporary unpopularity of the Democratic party — an un- popularity growing wholly out of that party's devotion to the South. One by one he has seen the firm friends of the South defeated by the most reck- less and unprincipled of fanatical Abolition agitators. He has seen the. se- cret and stealthy foe drag down the flag of our party in New Hampshire, upon whose gi-anite hills it had floated for more than half a century. He has seen that no political services, how-ever eminent, have saved the friends of the South from the deadly hate of Know-Nothingism. He has heard its proud and insolent boasts, that in V^irginia, yes, that the enemy of religious liberty will wrest the land of Jefferson from his followers and his disciples. The infidels are to climb over the walls of the sacred city, and desecrate tlie memory and destroy the principles for which the illustrious dead of our own state struggled through evil and good report. He knows that if the Democratic o-arrison stands firm, we can "lau2;h a siea;e to scorn — but that if that noble party gives way in Virginia, all is lost — yes, all is lost; and that the National Democratic party falls beneath the feet of a secret political inquisition. At such a moment, W'hen the election in Vir- ginia is to decide the fate of Democracy and the Union, Mr. Patton has lent the influence of his name to the secret foe. Is it strange that this monstrous and unprovoked defection should excite the surprise, the grief, the pity, the indignation of those brave and loyal Democrats who, at this crisis in the histoiy of our party, expected, as in times gone by, to have heard Mr. Patton fighting for the principles, the altars, the household gods of Democracy. When in the midst of a battle, with a powerful and dangerous foe, we have expected prodigies of valor from a favorite General, and the startling news ol' his desertion is reported, is it strange that we should pity a man so dead to the good opinions of the world as to desert at such a time. We envy not the notoriety of that unfortunate human being who shall, by binding himself to this Know-Nothing movement, defeat the Democratic party in Virginia. Men have, by the magnitude of their offences, been oc- casionally hanged in chains by history, for the edification and amazement of posterity — but the Democrat who lets the enemy into this old citadel, will hang higher than any historical character of our acquaintance, either of ancient or modern times. It is useless for the apologists of Mr. Patton to say that he is "not a Know- Nothing, and that the office "of Attorney General is not a political office." He is on the same ticket with Flournoy and Beale : his and their fortunes are idissolubly connected, and if the -opposition ticket to the regular Demo- cratic ticket triumphs, Mr. Patton trium])hs. And if he is not a Know- Nothing, we cannot commend that caution which induces him to accept the aid of the party without incurring the odium of membership. We intend to indulge in no abuse of Mr. Patton, for respectability and talent entitle him to some esteem, even in the unhappy position which he now occupies. If over the ruins of the proud old Democratic party of Virginia, he is willing to walk into the office of Attorney General, and become the recipient of the magnificent salary of fifteen hundred dollars a year, let him, let him do so. 157 But the future of a man, in his position, cannot be enviable, whether suc- cessful or not. On the contrary, the rankness of his offence will be the same. For the secret organization, under whose black wing he rests, must run its career, from the cradle to the grave, in a few short years. Antago- nistic parties and associations, to the JNational Democratic party of this coun- try, have sprouted up and rotted down again and again. These short cuts to preferment, end invariably in quagmires, as the examples of Wilmot, Foote, &c. &c., suificiently demonstrate. It is, perhaps, fortunate that the tastes of men differ; ^ut, for one, we would not, for the Presidency and tifty thousand dollars per annum for life, be pointed at whilst living, and remem- bered when dead, as the Democrat who broke down the Democratic party in Virginia, and held oflice during the reign of the Know-Nothings. Of such living, as well as posthumous honors and fame, we are (thank God) not covetous. THE COUNCIL OF TEN". ^ The following able discussion of the dangers of the Know-Nothing plan of organization was republished with great eiTect in Virginia, from a New Hampshire journal: [From the New Hampshire Patriot.] About five hundred years ago a fearful and mysterious tribunal, bearing this name' was established in the republic of Venice. It gradually acquired des- potic control over the government and the people. Its deliberations and its actions were alike enveloped in the profoundest secrecy. Its meetings were held in secret ; it received denunciations against the most virtuous and patri- otic citizens in secret, and in secret it conducted its victims, in silence and in 'gloom, to a sudden and mysterious death. It inquired, sentenced, and pun- ished according to what is called "reasons of state." The public eye never penetrated its mysteries ; the accused was rarely heard ; he was never con- fronted with witnesses ; the condemnation was secret as the inquiry, and the punishment undivulged like both. This tribunal gradually acquired control of every branch of the government, and exercised despotic power over every question. It annulled at pleasure all decrees, degraded members from their offices, and even deposed and put to death the chief magistrate. It was an object alike of terror and detestation to those whom it oppressed under the pretext of protecting their rights. And yet its diabolical cunning prolonged its existence until the genius of Napoleon prostrated it in the dust, with so many other relics of cruelty and intolerance. People of New Hampshire ! there exists at this moment among you a Council of Ten, as fearful and as pregnant with danger to your liberties as was tliat of Venice to her oppressed citizens. You have been accustomed, in the bounty of your hearts, to look upon this republic as beyond danger. In company with your fellow-citizens of other states, you -have successfully resisted foreign intervention, and repelled with triumph the conquering legions of the most arrogant nation on the earth. You have advanced your triumphant banners to that proud city which Cortez gloried in adding to the Spanish empire. You have scattered the seeds of civilization throughout realms before untrodden by any human footsteps but those of the Indian. You have &CQn. your population advancing, your wealth increasing, and your country teeming with the fruits of physical and intellectual labor. And you fondly think that you are safe ; that each of you and your children are, for 158 lont:; years, to have a share in a f^ovprnment the very breath of whose nos- trils is freedom jof opinion — one of whose cardinal doctrines is an open and fearless avowal of principles; and you are proud that you live under a con- stitution which permits you to reward intelligence and uprightness by select- ing- for your public trusts those among you who are marked by such qualities. But be not deceived! The sceptre is even now passing from 5'our grasp, and will be irrevocably lost unless you trample in the dust the traitors who are clutching at it with all the despair of disappointed ambition. An unholy cabal of tifth rate pettifogging lawyers, mouldj political hacks, and Maminon- scekin"- parsons, is seeking to wind the coils of the serpent around you, and to strangle you in its embrace. The grand council of Knovv-Nothings have sworn by the only God they worship — that is, themselves — undying iiatred to political freedom and popular supremacy. These decayed aristocrats, these sliaineless bigots, these ravening political banditti, these utterly desperate traitors to the country that gave them birth, are organizing a scheme whose details would strike terror into your hearts if fully disclosed. They have combined to destroy every institution that stands in their way, and to pros- trate every man who will not do their bidding. Every town has its branch of the conspiracy. Secret signs and pass-words and mummeries are used to impress the imagination, and unlawful oaths are administered binding the unhappy members to subject themselves like slaves and vassals to the dicta- tion of "tills terrible oligarchy. r\Ieanwhile the Council of Ten, the control- ing power of this infamous conspiracy, squats in its noisome retreat like a toad sweltering in its ov^n venom, or a bloated spider spinning its web over the state. It sends forth its decrees to its bojid slaves. "Prostrate," it says, "this man, for he has too much education! Destroy that one; he is too intelli'^-ent 1 Ruin your best friend, for he has too much independence!" And with the spectacle before it of triumphant tyranny and bigotr}^ in Mas- sachusetts, it confidently expects a like victory over the freemen of New Hainpslilre ! But you had better write your names in characters of blood upon your thresholds, and escape with your wife and children to some far country by the light of your burning houses, than crouch to this insolent o!i"-arciiy ! VV hy would you live here when life has lost all that is worth livin"- for? when you maybe stabbed by an assassin in the back, or slain by an unseen arrow from him you supposed your dearest friend.' Are you content to crawl out at twilight like birds of evil omen, to creep into blind alleys, to hover around the back "slums" of your cities and villages, to start at every passing tread lest some honest man should see you, to move with mulUed face and stealthy step, and double upon your tracks as if you were a thiel' with the officers of justice in pursuit of you, and with this sickening consciousness of shame to group your way to the den where such animals herd, and with trembling hand give the mystic signal which admits you into this community of sin? And when you are admitted, and the door of the pandemonium is closed, are you content to leave all hope behind you, and renew before God the oath you have taken to do the bidding of your disreinj- table tyrants? It is incredible that any one worlhy of the name and rig!iis of a freeman can do this. You will not cast this disgiace upon the motlicrs who bore you, and whose veins are tilled with the blood of '76. You will not thus bastardize your descent from the men of the revolution ! No, leave that to the abolitionists, who, with philanthropy upon their tongues, have treason and murder in their hearts! Leave it to the traitors who prayed that the Mexicans would welcome your fellow-citizens " wilh bloody hands to hospitable graves." *• Is it supposed that this language is too strong, and that these are unwar- rantable charges? Depend upon it, the half is not yet told. No faction in the history of our country has ever struggled through its vicious life that ha3 159 been one-half so dangerous as this secret organization. Its only avowed bond of union is a shame and disgrace. It is a standing libel upon all that has made America the refuge of the oppressed. By it every man is pio- scribed who is either a Catholic himself or whose wife is a Catholic. This includes the patriotic Gaston of North Carolina, the venerable Charles Car- roll of Carrollton, and other signers of the immortal Declaration of Indepen- dence, as well as the present admirable and learned chief justice of the Uni- ted States, and many others as pure and patriotic men as can be found in the country. And every man is to be proscribed, no matter how honest and intelligent, who came to this country at the age of twenty, until he is forty- one years old! What shall we say, then, of the devoted Lafayette, the gal- lant Sterling, the chivalrous IMontgomery — of Pulaski, the brave and gene- rous — of the statesman Gallatin ? — of the thousands of noble souls wlio shed their blood for us, and counselled with our fathers in the stormy days of the republic ? But no! "America for the Americans," and the "Americans for the Know-Nothings !" This is the secret spur — this is the " exceeding great reward," that they shall lay the rod on the backs of the people, and the peo- ple shall kiss it, and smile and beg them, if it is not too much trouble, to lay it on a little harder! This they anticipate, and this they are determined to accomplish, though all the rights of humanity, the constitution, the laws, every public right, every private right, should stand in their way. The pal- triest pettifogger — the shabbiest political hack — is of more value than every man among us who ever breathed the air of Europe, in the eyva of this ruth- less and intolerant Council of Ten. Hereafter, when this wretched faction fills a dishonorable grave, and its carcass reeks with political corruption, how can any man stand up before the world without hiding his face, when it is cast up to him that he has labored to introduce that v.'orse than Egyptian slavery, when a free citizen dare not vote as he desires, but obeys the insolent orders of this tyrannical Council of Ten ? What will become of American honor, at home and abroad, when a mob of despotic adventurers shall make the laws? The follies and ab.-urdi- ties of Jacobinism in France were so extreme that it was said of it that "it would have been a farce if it had not been for murder." And so with this faction; its silly pass-words, its ridiculou-s ceremonies, its contemptible bal- derdash, would make it only a laughing stock, if all this nonsense did not conceal a deep-laid conspiracy against freedom. Compared with their intol- erant proscription, Austrian tyranny is endurable, and police spies become respectable. But, thank God, there is lile and vitality in American freedom yet. Altered, indeed, radically changed, must we be from the principles of our glorious ancestors, if our political liberties are to be delivered, bound and unresisting, into the custody of such a set of political jailors. There are despotisms maintained by such genius and adorned by such brilliancy that the imagination is led astray and the mind bows to a supeiior intellect. But what honor can there be, what redeeming considerations can there be, in subjection to a political mob which shamelessly disavows all political princi- ples, whose only rallying cry is proscription, whose candidates for oliice are selected not because they are men of education, or talent, or sagacitv, or in- tegrity, but because they are destitute of all these? Among the rabble of the Boston delegation to the Massachusetts legislature we look in vain for one man of character, one man of intelligence, one man of experience, one man possessing anything like the proper litness for a representative of a great city. Did the city of Boston, did the commonwealth of Massachusetts, ever, of their own free will, elect such a legislature as that about to assemble thei^, or can we conceive of their doing so, except at the irresponsible dic- tation of this modern Council of Ten ? People of New Hampshire ! To each and all of you we say, " touch not / 160 this accursed thing!" It will one day, should you do so, cause you to cover your heads with shame. Like a bubble of deleterious gas, it will explode, leaving behind it nothing but a pestilential odor. The finger of Providence has pointed out this country as the place where Catholicism may be purged of its abuses, and absorbed without harm into the system. Millions of poor and humble men in Europe are looking hitherward as the place where they and their children may enjoy those privileges of freedom denied them at home. But if you are content to kiss the rod that smites you, to place your republican freedom at the feet of a tyrannical oligarchy, if you can forget that there is scarcely a hill or a valley in New England but tells of some struggle of your fathers against religious and political intolerance, then is this such a country, then are you such a people, as will entirely suit the pur- poses of this obscure, shameless, and persecuting Council of Ten. To the same purport was the following article which appeared in the Riclut mond Examiner : Secret Societies and Republican Institutions — The Thirty Ty- rants OF Athens — The Council of Ten of Venice — The Supreme Know-Nothing Council of Thirteen of the United States. — The in- troduction of Secret Societies into the bosom of free communities, for the attainment of political ends, is the first symptom of the decay of free insti- tutions, and the chief instrument in their corruption and overthrow. We are not left to conjecture: we are not condemned to perform the whole ex- periment of Know-Nothingism in order to ascertain its eflects. We are not sentenced to submit to the manipulations of that hidden band of political jugglers in order to learn the results of their skill. The testimony of his- tory, the experience of other nations, furnish all necessary instructions on this point. It might almost be asserted that in almost every republic which the world has yet seen, the first sign and chief agency of the decay of free- dom was the prevalence of secret associations for the attainment of political purposes — chiefly for the acquisition of political offices. In Athens, in Rome, perhaps in Carthage, in Milan, Florence, and Venice, Secret Socie- ties first introduced disorder, dissension, disorganization, and civil war into the republic, and then inaugurated despotism, either by their own acts, or by the consequences of their acts. It must necessarily be so. As long as Republican institutions flourish, as long as they are acceptable to the people, the regular and constitutional modes of procedure, in the election to offices as well as in all other respects, are followed with reverence and acquiescence. It is only when those con- stitutional methods cease to be respected by a portion of the people that they are rejected, and the invention of secret machinery for election is ap- plied. This is at once an innovation at variance with free government, destructive of it, and adopted in a spirit of conscious or unconscious hostility to it. It is the substitution of new and unconstitutional modes of election, (or nomination, which is in spirit, if not always in effect, the same thing,) and of legislation for the republican practices previously in force. It is an attempt to ariest the legitimate development of free institutions by secret and underhand practices — and the moment that fidelity to a secret league or bond is regarded as paramount to the fidelity due to the Constitution and State, patriotism is at an end and the bonds of political organization is snapped like rotten flax. The Constitution ceases to be to each man the supreme authority, and the object of supreme attachment. His allegiance has been transferred to a secret league — the secrecy of whose deliberations, measures, and action, places them equally beyond responsibility and the reach of pub- lic sentiment. If the secret association is able to control the elections, the 161 secresy of their action disfranchises to all intents and purposes all who are not alliliatcd with them, and prescribes all political action and legislation without other restraint than the ineifectual oppcsilion which may be odbred in secret conclave. To maintain secrecy, and secure efficiency of procedure, the numbers who have the direct control in determining nominations, and in reo-ulatino- the policy to be pursued, must be limited. The tendency of either success or -defeat will be to restrict more and more the members of the di- recting council. Thus the ultimate effect is to substitute a hidden oligarchy, like the Council of Ten at Venice, for the regular executive authorities and the republican organization. If the secret association is not able to control the elections, it introduces factious oppositions, jealousies, unexplained and therefore irremediable dissensions, into the bosom of the community. And, after the first step of secret operation has been taken, the other steps of illegal practices, fraudulent misrepresentations, and criminal resistance, fol- lo\\°naturally and unsuspiciously, and arc taken before the members of the secret society are aware themselves of the tendency of their course. Thus secret political societies, commencing in the distrust and repudiation of con- stitutional authority and constitutional procedure, first disorganize the soci- ety in which they occur, undermine its free institutions, cashier its open, candid publicity of action, and finally eventuate in an oligarchy, which sometimes continues dominant, but more frequently transfers its power into the hands of a despot. This was the course of affairs at Athens, and in many other States of Greece, from the time of Pericles to the ascendancy of the Thirty Tyrants, directly put in power and sustained by the Hetcerife or secret political asso- ciations of Athens. This was the progress of events at Rome from Cincin- natus to Julius Caesar. And similar was the history of Venice before the In- quisition, of Milan before the Visconti, and of Florence before the ascendancy • of the second house of the Medici. In every instance secret societies — ori- o-inating among professed conservatives, or mainly sustained by them — pro- voking the establishment of other secret societies — opposing the regular constiUitional action of the ancient republican institutions — sapping these institutions — allying themselves with foreign enemies for the attainment of party ends and the conquest of the offices — abhorring the freedom and the Constitution of their country — sheltering or instigating crime — corrupting juries and coercing false verdicts — were the instruments in introducing at last the despotism of a few, after having ruined both the morals of the citi- zens and the pro^sperity of the state by intestine broUs and commotions. This is the clear and distinct testimony of the past. It is only necessary to read the detailed histories of Greece, Rome, and the Italian Republics, in order to see the course and tendency of Know-Nothingism — if not crushed like a young crocodile in the egg. The option presented to the American people — and now more particularly to the people of Virginia — is simply a choice between discord and anarchy under Know-Nothing impulses result- in"- in the abrogation of the Constitution and the establishment of an oligar- chy (more terrible in the exercise of its unlimited powers, because the Se- cret Council may be unknown) and tije maintenance of the Republican government, the free constitution, and the hberal principles conquered by the blood of patriots and martyrs. This is the only choice. If Know-Nothingism is sustained, farewell to- the liberties of America. The two things are absolutely and essentially in- compatible. They can no more co-exist than fire and water. The Know- Nothings among many other things which they do not know, do not know^ this. The heat, fanaticism, and mingled creduHty of partisans may prevent many from recognizing it, who would otherwise apprehend it at once. But 11 162. ^. . . history, experience, philosophy, reason, assert that there is no other alterna- tive. If Know-Nothingism is perpetuated, Republicanism is at an end. If Republicanism is to be preserved, Know-Nothingism must be promptly and effectually crushed. The evidences which it has furnished in its brief ca- reer, are sufficient to illustrate and confirm these allegations, though they might not have been sufficient to suggest them without the testimony of his- tory. What constitutional provision — what Republican principle — what polit- ical or social interest — what obligation between man and man has been re- spected, when it interfered with the purposes of the secret rulers of this secret organization ? These remarks are made not in the spirit of party — not as a mere Demo- cratic utterance, but as the plain, indubitable warnings derived from the lessons of other free states, which have declined from the influence of such I a society as the Know-Nothings in their midst. In a second notice, the Examiner dwelt more upon the details of the antece- dents of the Winchester ticket. We append also two notices of the ticket from the Enquirer and Lynchburg Republican : SOxME OF THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE KANGAROO TICKET. The people were promised a ticket of fresh names by the Know Nothings. Tbey were to be allowed to vote for men who had never been contaminated in the slightest degree by party politics, or implicated by the remotest participa- tion in the struggles of the old organizations for place, plunder and patronage. But these brave promises have been forfeited in a manner as unblushing as amusing. Instead of a ticket as fresh and pure as butter just from the churn, ■we have the most rancid platter of long packed away and accidentally raked up stuff that was ever offered in the political market. Mr. Flournoy is discovered to be one of the oldest and lamest Whig stagers in the State. In 1837 he sought to represent Halifax county in the House of Delegates; and failed of election by the small poll of 206 in more than 800 votes cast. The next year he ran the same race again, and the result was still worse, the vote being: For Edmunds, (Dem.,) 5.5.^); for Taylor, (Dem.,) .533; for Simjms, (Whig,) 310; for Flournoy, (Whig,) 295; the spavined. Flournoy being the very hindmost nag. Set back by a hint of this emphatic description from the people and his immediate neighbors, he remained quiet for several years, until a split in the Democratic ranks of the Halifax Congressional district tempted him once more into the field, when he was accidentally elected by a beggarly majority of two or three votes — which made the first and last of his successes in his own bailiwick. This irresistible and invincible tried it a second time for Congress in 1949, and Dr. Averett beat him 9 votes. He tried it again in 1851, and the Doctor smashed him to the tune of 300 majority. From this statement it will be perceived that Flournoy's mission on this naughty earth, is to be beaten to a je?!ly by the great Democratic party, and he has not yet fulfilled his mission. Yet his present, is drolly advertised as his "first appearance on the stage." His want of strength at home has kept him in a state of pickled and rancid obscurity so long that the public has forgotten his existence altogether; and the burning zeal which the braggarts and trumpe- ters who do the boasting for the new party, represent that his nomination has elicited throughout the world and among the rest of mankind, when tested by these domestic facts, turns out to be a fox-fire commodity. 163 Mr. Patton is an old stager still more'' unlucky in liis destitution of the quality of freshness, than the Napoleon of minorites in Halifax. Of which of the " old and broken down parties," which are the so great abhorrence of Know Nothint^s, has he not been part and parcel in his tortuous partisan career? He has tried all parties, and carried off, as he successively left them, some of the mud and contamination of all. The colored chart of his political history is as variegated as Joseph's coat of many colors ; or as the chameleon phases of Know Nothin^ism in the several States of the Union — by virtue of which fa- cile adaptation to the prevailing local prejudice and passion, it sweeps the tho- routrh Abolition State of IMassachusetts with as overwhelming a majority as it boasts its ability to carry the staunch slave State of Virginia. The idea of ]Mr. Patton's being unsoiled by the dust, and unsophisticated in the wiles of party strife, is droll enough. Why, it was only since the abolition of the executive Council, and the old Constitution, that he ceased to hold office; and, as late as 1850, in the great movement for reform, which even dashed its refreshing waves over starched and conservative Richmond, he ran and was beaten on the fogy ticket — under the flag that he still flaunts and swears by — of unequal rights and partial suffrage among the grown up white men of Virginia. But Beale is the very Koh-i-noor in this cabinet of fossil remains. Where will you find — what is a broken-down, worn-out politician, if Beale is not a cenuine specimen ? While in the Valley, he rode the Democratic party as the Old Man of the Sea rode Sinbad. He stuck to it like sponge to the ocean rock, and sucked it like the daughter of the horse leech. They choked him oif finally in the Valley, and- he sought new victims farther west. He forced him- self on t!ie party, in the Kanawha district, without a call or a Convention, at the instant lloBKRT A. THOMPSON started for the West, and gained his election at last by a promise to give way to men acceptable to the Democracy for the fu- ture. He went before the Democratic Sectional Convention, in 1852, for the Board of Public Works in ('ol. Armstrong's district, but was thrust out of it with as little ceremony as Fallstaff was turned hissing-hot into the Thames. Since that occurrence, he has been as discontented and restless as a bear with a sore head ; and, despairing of further favor among the Democracy, has been bountiful of blandishments, smirks and smiles for the Know Nothings. Thej have caught at the bait, and put Beale, the worn-out, cast-oft", and broken- down, number two on their ticket of /ms/t men. They are welcome to Beale. Such is the ticket that was to be free from all party taint, from flesh pot odor, and from loaf-and-fish contamination ? If such a ticket should sweep Virginia, •under Know Nothing auspices, then it may indeed be time to return to Mr. Patton's old doctrine of unequal rights und limited suffrage, and to make a man's poverty and want of education, as well as his alienagCj a disqual- ification for suffrage and for oflice. Those who are curious in regard to the metamorphoses of fossil politicians are likely to have their curiosity abundantly gratified with the relics of Mr. Pat- ton's early opinions of politics and politicians, that will be recovered from an- tiquity during this canvass. Here is a specimen of his satire in 1848 against the prospective Know Nothing party, its "Delphic oracles," and " Sybilline leaves." Here is his funeral oration over the great Whig party " quietly in- urned in the tomb of all the Capulets," and his requiem over their "defunct and buried principles." Here are the words in which he expressed his witty abhorrence of the trick of the Whig party, in 1848, in practicing the deception of the cat in the fable, and " hiding itself in the meal tub" of no partyisra. Here is his prophetic denunciation, in advance, of Know Nothingism, in boast- ing itself to be a great and prodigious " conservative" party, but " icithoiitj^o- lifical principles," and therein so unlike the " /i'i^^^'2^^es, seeing thai " one defeat, icliile standing hjj their jirinciplcs and never surrender Iikj their prino'phs, is icorth more than a thousand victories achieved hij the ahandoimcnt of tiiem all." Mr. PxiTTON said, in 1848, in addressing a Democratic meeting in Richmond j « We come to proclaim our unchanged and uncliangealle adherence to those great principles of Kepublican government, of practical expediency, and of constitutional construction, of which he (President Polk) has been for the last three years the exponent — principles which we deem essential to the perpetuity of Rcpnhlican fjovernrncnt, and to the union of the States. (Cheers.) We have no disputes to settle — no conflicting claims of rival candidates for the Presidency to decide — no Delphic oracles to expound — (laughter) and no Syhil- line leaves to interpret. (Laughter.) I presume we shall have no thunder (laughter) to shake our nerves, (laughter) and no flashes of lightning to be- wilder our senses. (Laughter.) There are no dark and portentous clouds low- erino' over us which require a thunder-storm to dispeJ. (Cheers.) The only clouds we have are light and floating vapors, far above our heads, which may make it doubtful with those that are not weatherwise whether the day is to be clear or cloudy, but which the first rays of a Democratic Sun will dissipate, and show that the skies are hriijht and brightening. (Cheers.)" The Whig Convention had " quietly laid the great embodiment of Whig principles on the shelf," and had " solemnly announced as their favorite candi- date a gentleman who, with the frank and honest plainness of a gallant soldier, takes especial pains to declare that he will not be their candidate [laughter] — that he will not be the exponent of their doctrines, [laughter] and that his life has been hitherto so much spent in the field that he has not had time to * con- sider or investigate great plitical questions,' nor has he attempted to do so. Notwithstanding this, they proclaim Gen. Taylor as their first choice. To this complexion the principles of the great Whig party have come at last ! [Laugh- ter.] Thus ends the great chapter of Whig principles, [laughter] quietly ' in- urned in the tomb of all the Capulets' by its own friends, and their embodiment quietly laid on the shelf ! [Laughter.] I think we may say of these defunct and buried principles — * Great Caesar dead and turned /rom clay, May stop a hole to keep the wind away.' "But, gentlemen, it becomes us more steadily to maintain our own ptrinciples. Since ^Esop's Pables, having been quoted by Gen. Taylor, are likely to become a political text-book, I think we may draw a lesson of instruction from that re- nowned writer on civil government. [Laughter.] We are told in a notorious fable of jEsop, of an animal more dangerous while hid in a meal tub than when running about with a bell around its neck, [Laughter.] Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. I am afraid our political opponents, dead, though their present principles be, may rise up again under their present, or in some other Jorm. They may possibly assume the name of the great conservative party, as suggest- ed by their President. [Laughter.] I was, myself, once a member of a little conservative party, [laughter] and I have no objection to a little conservative party with principles, but object decidedly to a great big one without political 165 principles. [Laughter.] But, inasmuch as they may to indisposed to take either of these names, they may adopt the suggestion of another distinguished champion of the hite 'indomitable Whigs,' and take the cognomen of the " hlinil mans huff." Therefore, gentlemen, it is not the less necessary that we should maintain, proclaim and stand by our principles— that we should adopt t^e means necessary to concentrate public opinion upon a man available to .sus- tain our principles, and to take care not to abandon our principles in order to o-et an available man. We should not have a man who has formed no opinions, but one who has formed opinions, is ready to avow them, and has proclaimed them in his past actions, in the public councils. [Cheers.] To such a man let us give our support, fearless of defeat, but prepared for either fortune. If we are destined to triumph, it will then be our proud boast, that it is a triumph of principle— and, if destined to defeat, we shall still have the proud boast, and the consolation, too, that one defeat, while standing by our flao, and ne- ver SURRENDERING OUR PRINCIPLES, IS WOkTII MORE THAN A THOUSAND VICTORIES ACHIEVED BY THE ABANDONMENT OF THEM ALL.— [Long continued cheering.]" THE HYBRID TICKET. The Know Nothing nominations have provoked from the Democratic press just such a display of defiant opposition as we anticipated. The device of an amalgamation ticket, while it has offended the pride and repelled the sympathies of iutelligeQt and independent Whigs, has not conciliated the least favor with the Democratic party. The association of Beale and Patton with a malignant Whig was not only a crime in morals but an egregious blunder in policy. It is not only a violation of principle and a mockery of every idea of political honesty, but it is a refinement of artifice, which, instead of damaging the party against whom it is directed, will wound and embarrass the cause it is designed to pro- mote. What must be the feeling of every honest Whig to whom this hybrid ticket is presented ? Will he not reject it with an indignant protest against so shameless a barter of p)rinciples for spoils? He is not so smitten with a lust for plunder as to sacrifice the convictions of his judgment and the^ pure affections of his heart, to any expedient which hungry politicians may think essential to the acqnisition of power. There are Whigs in Virginia who have caught some- thing of the chivalrous character of Clay. There are Whigsin Virginia who will never betray a cause in a crisis of peril, nor confederate with an obnoxious party on a promise of a division of the spoils. These gentlemeri see much dis- grace but discover no advantage in the coalition with Know Nothingism. " But stay," whispers a Whig politician ; "it is true we claim no principle and avow no party purpose, but we play a game of profound policy. Observe a staunch Whig a't the head of the ticket, and a couple of fishy Democrats^ at the tail, riournoy will engross all the power and patronage of the State, while Beale and Patton, like the prodigal son who deserted his father's house, are feeding on husks and herding with the harlots of our party, without the dignity of respec- table association or the luxury of a liberal reward. As we deny them any po- litical power, so have we effectually robbed them of the influence of personal character, by bribing them to perform this venal service. They are the help- less instruments of our pleasure, and if they choose, have not the ability to op- pose any resistance to the execution of our grand scheme OF expelling the GoTHS AND Vandals, and restoring the ascendancy of Whig measures AND Whig policy." To this development the honest Whig will reply : " That he scorns to perpetrate a fraud upon the people ; that if his principles have not enough of wisdom to command the public confidence, he will not seek to impose them upon the State by the secret agency of a corrupt conspiracy; that he will not disgrace himself and bis cause, by the false pretences of a perfidious policy j 166 that be is resolved, at least, to save bis bonor if bis party must sustain defeat." This is the feeliog and this the resolution of the independent and incorruptible Whigs of Virginia. They will not degrade themselves by the support of the Know Nothing nominees. On the other baud, the Democracy feel the indignity of the proffered bride, and instead of being propitiated by the Democratic tail of the Know Nothing ticket, they are excited to greater energy and enthusiasm in support of theR- own candidates and cause. In every quarter of the State curses loud and deep are muttered against Ik-ale and Patton, and vows of vengeance on their despica- ble treachery. The Democratic papers of the State manifest a zeal and ability in their assaults on the mongrel ticket, which betoken the pervading discontent of the popular mind. We have distinguished many of their stirring articles for publication in this paper, but are compelled to suspend our purpose in conse- quence of the pressure on our columns. We can assure our friends that the Opposition will reap no advantage from the expedient of a hybrid ticket. — Richmond EiDjuircr. THE MERMAID TICKET. Since tbe publication of the Know Nothing ticket, we bave been vexing our curiosity to find some prototype to it in the physical, animal, or mineral king- dom. We bave found one after much agony of brain. It is tbe mermaid. This animal has a doubtful existence. So has the Know Nothing ticket — its paternity being a matter of speculation. The mermaid is a sea animal, repre- sented to have the head and body of a woman with the tail of a fish. This Know Nothing ticket has the head of a Whig, while its tail is certainly com- posed of fishy Democrats. Nor does tbe analogy cease here. The mermaid is associated with that public imposter and general circulator of impositions, Phincas T. Barnum. This mermaid ticket is presented to the world under the auspices of a set of politicians whose experiments upon popular curiosity and credulity bave been as numerous as those of Barnum. It is like the mermaid in another light. One of the amusements of this half woman and half fish is to attract persons to its embrace by singings of tbe sweetest melody, and when its fated admirers come within reach of its scaly tail, to coil it round them, and dive with them to the depths of the sea, and there feed upon the bodies of the deluded victims. So it is with this political mermaid ticket. It too sings songs of American melodj^, but woe to the deluded wretch who listens to their treacherous music. Once within their slimy embrace, it will sink with them into the slime of Ocean's bed, and their gorge at leisure upon their unfortunate victims. We might run out this and other analogies, but tbe present is suffi- cient for to-day. — Lynclihurg Repuhlican. The Enquirer, in a subsequent article, discussed Mr. Flournoy's antecedents, as follows : HISTORICAL RESEARCHES OF THE HON. THOMAS S. FLOURNOY. Silence is at length broken. Know Notbingism speaks through its avowed organ. Its recognized candidate " endorses, fully, the basis of principles of the American party," and adopts them as his own. Nay, more, be expounds and enforces them, and invokes in their behalf the " teachings of all history." We design for tbe present merely to explore the depths of his historical researches. Hereafter we may work still further the rich mine revealed in his letter of ac- ceptance. 167 After advocating an exorcise of Federal power for the purpose of chocking foreign immigration, and thus conceding that the Fcderul Government n)ay use its power to increase or diminish at pleasure the population of a State, he con- tinues iu this fashion : ''Intimately connected with this question of foreign immigration, is the growth of the Roman Catholic Church in our country. Despotic, proscriptive and intolerant, its ascendancy, as all history teaches, has ever been destructive of freedom of opinion ; while I would uncompromisingly oppose any interfer- ence with the rights of its members as citizens by any legislative enactment, yet by a full and independent exercise of the right of suffrage and the appoint- ing power they should be excluded from the offices of the Government iu all its departments." Analyze this paragraph and we get the following result. All history teaches that the Roman Catholic religion has ever been destructive of freedom of opi- nion, and therefore, '' that its members should be excluded from the offices of the Government in all its departments." In other words, a duo regard for pub- lic safety requires the total exclusion of Roman Catholics from all participation in the Government of the country. Before proceeding to notice this most extraordinary dogma, we protest against a misconstruction of our design. We are not, and never can be, the apologists of the Roman Catholic religion. We are essentially Protestant, reared under Protestant influences and bound by the strongest ties of affection and reason to Protestantism. But we detest the rank injustice to Roman Catholics, daily and hourly perpetrated by the Know Nothing party, and now officially promulgated by its representative. History does not teach that free institutions are incompatible with the pre- dominance of Roman Catholicism, as the Hon. Thomas Stanhope Flournoy maintains. Indeed, the contrary is so notorious as to excite suspicion that history was not one " of the quiet pursuits of private life" from which he " was unwilling to have his attention withdrawn." We fear that his attention was directed more to the new Code and Mayo's Guide, than to the teachings of Hume and liullam. AVe shall, therefore, take leave to give him an elementary lesson iu history. Nothing is more distinctly taught by history than the inability of the Ro- mish Church to cope with free principles, supposing them, for argument sake, to be hostile. And that Roman Catholics themselves have waged the war in be- half of freedom against the head of their Church. To prove this, we shall select the history of a period beginning three hundred years before the advent of Protestantism, when the Romish Church was in the plenitude of its power, spiritual and temporal ; and we shall take the country whose history is best known to us. AVe maintain, in opposition to the historical theory of the ex-honorable can- didate, that nearly all, if not quite all, of the essential principles of our Repub- lican institutions originated among Catholics, and were developed by them. We take it that freedom of person, and security of property, stand foremost in the catalogue of these principles if they do not constitute their sum total. Ac- cording to Hallam, a Protestant and the most impartial of historians, these two principles were recognized and secured by Magna Charta, three centuries before the reformation. He says, that "the essential clauses of Magna Charta, are those which protect the personal liberty and property of all freemen by giving security from arbitrary imprisonment and arbitrary spoliation." (Hallam'a Middle Ages, page 3-12.) He then quotes from the Charter of Henry III. substantially the same with Magna Charter, this passage : " No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseized of his freehold, or liberties, or free cus~ 168 toms, or "be outlawed, or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed ; nor will we pass upon him, nor send upon him, but by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land." "It is obvious, (says Hallam,) that these words, inter- preted by any honest court of law, convey an ample security for the two main rights of civil society. From the era, therefore, of King John's Charter, it must hare been a clear principle of our constitution, that no man ci\n be de- tained in prison without a trial. Whether Courts of Justice framed the writ of habeas corpus in conformity to the spirit of this clause or found it already in their register, it became from that era the right of the subject to demand it." "That writ is the principal bulwark of English liberty." Thus it seems, ac- cording to this Protestant historian, that the principal bulwark of English lib- erty was erected by the hands of lloman Catholics. Other clauses of the Charter protected the subject from absolute spoliation and excessive fines, and "fourscore years afterwards (says Hallam) the grcnt princi'iile of parliamentary iao:atlo)i ivas explicitlij and ahsoluteli/ reeoynized." The principle which caused the American Ilevolution, and is justly regarded as the corner stone of our present institutions, was explicitly declared and ab- solutely recognized by Roman Catholics two centuries before Protestantism was born. » Nor was this passion for liberty, a passing flame, but a deep, unwavering, permanent attachment. Recurring again to Hallam, page 348, we find it stated that " the Great Charter was al"ways considered as a fundamental law. 13ut yet, it was supposed to acquire additional security by frequent confirmation." And what part did the Catholic Clergy act, with regard to it. The historian says "from the great difficulty of compelling the King (Henry III.) to observe the boundaries of law, the English Clergy, (Catholic of course,) to whom we are much indebted for their zeal in behalf of liberty during this reign, devised means of binding his conscience, and terrifying his imagination by religious sanctions. The solemn excommunication, accompanied with the most awful threats pronounced against the violators of Magna Charta, is well knoWn from our common histories." Not so. Mr. Flournoy never heard of it or dreamt of it, else he would not have maintained from the "teachings of history," that no Roman Catholic should be permitted to hold office. A cursory glance over the succeeding pages of the same historian, shows the progressive developement of free principles. The admission of the Commons to Parliament, the incorporation of Towns with exemptions from arbitrary con- trol ; the division of Parliament into two houses — the illegality of raising money without consent of Parliament — the necessity that the two houses should concur for any alterations in the law, and the right of the Commons to enquire into public abuses, and to impeach public counsellors; all of these principles were established upon a firm footing by the close of Edward III.'s reign, or about 150 years before the reformation. Hallam closes the history of the Plantagenets with this remarkable declara- tion, written as if to rebuke prophetically, the false and fanatical charges against the Catholics now in vogue : "It were a strange misrepresentation of history to assert that the constitution had attained anything like a perfect state in the 15th century; but I know not whether there are any essential privileges of our countrymen, any fundamental securities against arbitrary power, so far as they depend upon positive institu- tions, which may not be traced to the time when the house of Plantagenet filled the English throne." (page 450.) When it is remembered that the last of the Plantagenets fell on the field of battle, on the 22d day of August, 1485, more than forty years before the re- formation in England, it will be seen that Ilallam's statement is equivalent to a 169 declaration (hat all the essential privileges of Englishmen, and all their funda- mental securities against arbitrary power were established by llomau Catholics and secured by con.stitutional guarantees. The answer which wMll probably be made, strengthens our argument. It will be said that these institutions were founded in spite of the Pope and that Innocent formerly annnUcd Manna Oharta. Granted, but this only proves the utter inability of the Pope to suppress free prineiph^s atnong his undisputed subjects; and when, in the utmost plenitude of his power, spiritual and tempo- ral, lie was powerless against Catholics, would he be stronger against a mixed population like our own ? l^ut why recur to history for a demonstration of the impotency of the Romish Church against free principles ? Have we not seen it dethroned in the very seat of its power, and is it not now upheld by French bayonets? Could it suppress free institutions in the Kingdom of Sardinia, or Switzerland, or prevent the present revolution in Spain? How absurd to sup- pose that the people of the Uuited States are in danger from a power too feeble in its strongholds to effect the purposes ascribed to it. IIow absurd to fear in- juries from a decayed institution which it could not inflict in the height of ita power. How wicked to pretend such fear for the purpose of producing section- al hate and riding into power on a predominant faction ? History teaches that England when wholly Catholic, gave birth to and reared free government in spite of the Pope. Therefore, Virginia, containing 49 Protestants to 1 Catholic, is in danger from the Papal power ! This is the premise and this the argument of Kuow-Nothingism. MR. FLOURNOY'S ACCEPTANCE. Mr. Flournoy signified his acceptance of the Winchester nomination in the following letter. This document derives greater significance from the fact, that it was the only expression of opinion in any form which Mr. F. vouchsafed ia the paper during the whole canvass : • [CORRESPONDENCE. ] "WiNcn ESTER, March 14th, 1855. To the Eon. ThoR. S. Flournoy : Dear Sir : — The undersigned, a committee appointed for the purpose, take pleasure in informing you of your unanimous nomination, by the Convention of the American Party of Virginia, which met on yesterday at this place, a3 "the American candidate for the office of Governor of this State;" and request your acceptance of the nomination. Very respectfully, &c. ANDREW E. KENNEDY, ) GEORGE D. GRAY, f- Committee. JOSIAH DABBS, J Halifax C. H., March 22d, 1855. Messrs. Andrew E. Kenncdi/, George D. Gray and Josiah Dahhs : Gentlemen — I have just received your letter of the 14th, informing me of my nomination by the Convention at Winchester, for the office of Governor of this State, and requesting my acceptance. 170 It was well known to all who communicated with me upon the subject, that for reasons entirely personal to myself, I had no desire to occupy such a position. As far as it is above any merit which I possess, and as worthy as it is of the ambition of any man, I was unwilling to have my attention withdiawn from the quiet pursuits of private life, and earnestly hoped that the Convention would have selected some one more suitable in every respect than myself to represent the American party. But my entire confidence in and earnest desire for the success of the principles of that party, upon which, in my humble judgment, depend the protection of the rights of the States, and the preservation of the Union, induce me to accept the nomination. In doing so, it is proper that I shall express my opinions upon the subjects which most interest the people of the State. I am in favor of a general system of popular education. I am in favor of completing the leading lines of internal improvement, now under prosecution, with as much dispatch as the financial condition of the State will justify, keeping always in view the preservation of her faith and credit. I endorse fully the Basis of Principles of the American party, believing them to be the most conservative presented to the consideration of the country since the establishment of our independence. The rapid increase of Foreign immigration is well calculated to excite alarm, and the power of the Government, both State and Federal, should be exerted to check it. It seems almost impossible to doubt that the influx of between four and five hundred thousand Foreigners into our country annually, will ulti- mately be subversive of our Kepublican institutions. Washington, Jefi'erson, Madi.son and Jackson gave early warning to the country of the danger to be apprehended from foreign influence. The naturalization laws should either be repealed or so modified, and such restrictions imposed as to avert the evil. The South is especially and deeply interested in this question. This im- inen.se annual addition to our population settle in the non-slaveholding States and the extensive territories of the West and North-west, out of which Free States will, in consequence, be more speedily formed, increasing with fearful rapidity the balance of power against us. Intimately connected with this question of foreign immigration, is the growth of the Roman Catholic Church in our country. Despotic, proscriptive and in- tolerant, its ascendancy, as all history teaches, has ever been destructive of free- dom cf opinion, and while I would uncompromisingly oppose any interference with the rights of its members as citizens, by any legislative enactment, yet by a full and independent exercise of the right of suiTrage and the appointing power, they should be excluded from the offices of the Government in all its departments. It may be said that there are comparatively but few Foreigners and pLoman Catholics in Virginia. She is not acting for herself alone. She is a leading member of this great sisterhood of States, and her action will be felt for weal or woe, by them all. Her destiny is identified with theirs, and she cannot look with indifference to the fact, that the great valley of the Mississippi, watered by twenty thousand miles of navigable rivers, and the immense and fertile Territo- ries, stretching beyond to the Pacific, capable of sustaining a population of one hundred millions, are rapidly filling up with this class of people. I will advert particularly to one other principle of the American party — the '' non-intervention of the Federal and State government with the municipal affairs of each other." The strict observance of this principle will make the union of the States perpetual. I shall not have it in my power to meet the people of the State and discuss these questions with them face -to face. It is now but about sixty days to the election, and if I were to devote every day to the canvass, I should not be able to visit much more than a third of the counties. An additional, and with me ni au important reason, is, that I shall be fully occupied in preparation for, and at- tendance upon tlie Courts in which I practice, until the election shall have passed. If with these opinions, and this position, the people of Virginia shall elect me to the distinguished office of Governor of the Commonwealth, I will dis- charge its duties with fidelity, and what ability I possess. I will endeavor to ad- vance the prosperity, guard the honor, and protect the interests and institutions of Virginia, by all the power vested in me, and I shall do all that I can consis- tently with her interest and honor for the preservation of the Union. Very respectfully, your ob't serv't, THOS. S. FLOURNOY. The editor of the Examiner criticised, in the following searching and scathing manner, Mr. Flournoy's letter on its publication : THE STATESMANSHIP OF MR. FLOURNOY. We have expressed our respect for the personal character of Mr. Flouftoy. That he is a man of integrity, intelligence, talents, a genial temperament and an honorable reputation, we desire at all times to be understood as cheerfully conceding; and we trust that nothing we are about to say, or shall utter during the present canvass, (which promises to be the most acrimonious ever known in Virginia) shall be construed as, in the least degree, retracting or qualifying this concession. Entertaining these sentiments of personal esteem for Mr. Flournoy, we can- not but express our surprise at the production, printed in another column, pur- porting to be from his pen, and addressed to three persons understood to be cor- responding secretaries of the Know Nothing Convention of Winchester. It is a palpably just and a very lenient criticism of Mr. Flournoy's letter accepting the nomination of the Winchester Convention, to say that it is weak in tenor and shallow in statesmanship. Indeed, it would be beneath especial notice but for the position of its author. That single circumstance alone, en- titles it to the searching examination which we shall give it. It gives us pain to use this bluntness in regard to a letter emanating from one who aspires to be the Governor of Virginia. We had hoped, for the credit of the State, that at a time when the eyes of the whole Union are riveted anxiously upon Virginia, when the entire American people are eagerly scanning the men aspiring to fill the distinguished office in this Commonwealth which has been illustrated by Henry, Jefferson and Giles, and in a canvass that is national, not only in the intense and far-pervading interest it has excited, but in the great principles of representative government it involves, we should have had some other response, from a leader of one of the contending organizations, than a letter abounding in the shallowest partisan politics, and announcing sentiments which, if gravely propounded twelve months ago in Virginia, before fanaticism had taken partial possession of t^e public mind, would have branded him as an idiot, a maniac, or a monster. He Adojits the Low Do(jmas of the Know Kothwgs. Mr. Flournoy declines to discuss the momentous questions at issue in this can- vass, "face to face" with the people, on the miserable, hackneyed plea, that a load of 7im 2)>'ins practice presses upon his shoulders. What is this practice — what are the few fees he may earn by pursuing it, to the stern obligation he is 172 under as a republican citizen, an honest man, and a professing Christian, to justify to the people of Virginia the felonious blows and stealthy assaults by which his secret clubs and niidaight accomplices are attacking the vital princi- ples of religious freedom and representative government? Heralded as a Pres- byterian, as a member of a denomination illustrious for its services in the cause of religious toleration, he owes it to his own church — nay, he owes it to all Protestantdom to explain why he repudiates a principle which they claim as their own peculiar gift to freedom, and why he accepts, to the shame of his religion, from church burning Angel GABraELS, Ned Buntltnes and Bill Pooles, of the North, the barbarous doctrines of proscription and intolerance which he shamelessly avows in his letter. He ov^es this justification to the people of Vir- ginia : for when has a candidate for her most distinguished honor ever insulted them before by invoking the low passions of intolerance and bigotry to aid his partisan pretensions ? When did Washington, or Jefferson, or Randolph, or any honorable name that graces the annals of our State, ever descend to denounce in a campaign circular, even the Catholics, for the sake of securing public of- fice, and winning the suiFrages of the generous Virginia people? We know that midnight clubs are in the habit of lashing themselves into fury, and that partisan demagogues of the cross-roads and the campaign journals delight to bell(j;W and rant themselves into notoriety, over this newly vamped Catholic question ; but that a man of elevated character and liberal scholarship, esteemed fit to fill an exalted office of Virginia, should stoop to lay his tongue and drag- gle his reputation in such filthy mire, is a shame that we trusted would be spared to our State. He Assails the Freedom of Religion. Etc maintains that Roman Catholics "should be excluded from the ofiice of the government in all its departments," and promises fidelity and vigilance in this brave work. That any sect of Christians should be proscribed for their re- ligious faith, is a sentiment which wc thought had been scouted out of our country as long ago as the establishment of our free institutions, which even England is become ashamed of and restive under, and of which the only re» maining stronghold, home and sanctuary at the present day is God-forsaken Spain and her sister despotisms of Europe. The present is the first occasion, in Virginia, for a century, in which a person holding an honorable position in society, above the level of the Jack. Cabes and Z. Judsons of the mob, has stooped to appropriate it as a political hobby, and to claim it as a partisan shib- boleth. He Declares fur the Perpetual Agitation of a Bigoted Sentiment. Mr. Flournoy's mode of effecting this shameful proscription is as unstates- manlike as it is unmanly. He would accomplish his object by incessant dema- gogue agitation ; but would " uncompromisingly oppose" efiectuating it by the direct and honorable means of " legal enactment." What is worthy of being done at all, is worthy of being done well ; and it is sufficient to damn any scheme of public policy, that it is too vicious, unjust, and unrighteous to be carried into a law. And how pitiable and unmanly is the statesmanship which propounds a measure of reform, but skulks from the only bold, honorable and efficient means of carrying it into effect ! That be shrinks from carrying his scheme of politics out into practical legislation, proves that it is agitated for anything else but the public good, that it is agitated exclusively for the ends of demagogues. In the benignancy of his statesmanship he would sow the ele- ments of discord and strife broadcast over the community, and make it the leading effort of his diplomacy to keep the flames thus enkindled ever burning 173 and exploding. He would not execute the victims of his proscription by a single blow of the axe or the guillotine, but roast them leisurely upon the slow fires of the rack, that he might continue to gloat over their tortures ! Consurn- li->ate is that statesmamlup which studies to supply a perpetual incentive to strife, hatred and mob-violence between class and class, sect and sect, race and race, in the bosom of the same communty ! We know of no better definition of demagojiueism than it is aijitatlon for the mere purpose of fermentinn ill. hlood and strife between class and sects, as the means of elevating the aai'tators to ojice. It is a sort of politics that might be tolerated in irresponsible clubs convened in secret, and in vapid partizans of low degree; but that a man of education, aspiring to the control of public affairs, should have proposed it in a public letter over his own name, is an event that shocks the moral sentiment and patriotic composure of all conservative citizens. We are sorry that a man has been thought worthy of grave public responsibilities in Virginia whose moral obliquity is such that he plumes himself upon advocating the very plan of politics which he vaunts it as a virtue that he " uncompromisino-ly opposes making the subject of legal enactment," — because, of course, it is too intolerant despotic, prescriptive and bigoted to deserve place upon the statute book ! He Propounds an Abolition Scheme of Politics. Mr. Flournoy's positions on the subject of immigration are ridiculously weak, absurd, and untenable. I'orrowiug the idea of Governor Smith he says : ''The South is especially and deeply interested in this question ; this immense and annual addition to our population settle in the non-slaveholding States and the extensive territories of the West and North-West, out of which Free States will, in consequence, be more speedily formed, increasing with fearful rapidity the balance of power against us." In a previous paragraph he "endorses fully" the " Basis of Principles of the American party," one of which runs thus : "No obstacle should be interposed to the immigration of all foreigners of honest and industrious habits ;" which language is coupled with a clause excepting " paupers and criminals" from the privilege. Excepting paupers and criminals, which men of all classes and parties in the Union would join him in excluding from our shores, Mr. Flournoy would let foreigners into the country ad libitum. What then is his position ? Conceding that immigration goes almost altogether to the North, and that little of it comes to the South, his masterly statesmanship proposes to agitate in Virginia a sub- ject peculiarly northern and domestic, and strictly within the scope of State and police regulation — a doctrine of abolition invention and utterly abhorrent to all Southern ideas of State sovereiguty. He would prosecute this mad policy un- der the pretext, and in the dog-iu-the-manger spirit, of checking a more "rapid increase of political power in the North" than in the South. Ills humiliatingly in conflict with the chivalrous temper of the South to resist a movement, rif^t and worthy of "full endorsement" iu itself, from the mean motive of jealousy; but such is Mr. Flour.noy's statesmanship and Virginian manliness ! But is Mr. Flournoy ignorant of the fact that so long as honest and indus- trious foreigners are let into the North ad libitum, which he approves, the mere denial to them of the right of suffrage and official position cannot prevent that augmentation of Northern representation in Congress, of which he complains? Is this Governor of Virginia, expectant, ignorant of the notorious constitutional fact that it is population and not suffrage which determines the ratio of rep- 174 resentation in Congress ? Has he not yet learned in tlio horn-book of consti- tutional law, that five slaves even, count as many as three whites in determining Southern representation in Congress; and that immigrants once landed at the North, without naturalization, count as much in augmenting Northern repre- sentation in Congress as if each could vote for every office in the country ? We all know that the Know Nothing party belie by their action every principle avowed in their Basis, and that plausible schedule, chiefly of truisms that no- body will dispute, is put out as a decoy for the shallow and unthinking ; but we really did not think that Mr. Flournoy would commit himself in black and white to a pretext so transparent and disreputable, as that a denial of office and suffrage to immigrants could swell the rapid increase of the Northern balance of power. The Basis principle which he " fully endorses " admits all honest and industrious immigrants, and itself permits to be accomplished the very evil of which he complains, whether the immigrant ever afterwards secures a vote and office or not. lie Borrows a Bad Argument from Governor Smith. But imitators and quacks are prone to get swamped in quagmires. Mr. Flournoy borrowed Governor Smith's idea without having the sagacity to perceive the necessity of borrowing also the limitation which that gentleman coupled with the stolen article. Governor Smith did not, like his imitator, " endorse fully " the Basis Principles of the new party, but only approved some of them. He goes a bow-shot beyond the decoy doctrine, and, so far from pro- testing that " no obstacle should be interposed to foreign immigration," &e., "deprecates immigration as a great calamity," declaring it to be '' our highest duty to arrest the importation of foreiijners." Poor Mr. Flournoy appro- priates Governor Smith's argument of unduly augmented Northern representa- tion in Congress, but stumbles and fractures his skin over the " no obstacle" clause in his own Baais Principles. He and Gov. Smith Loth Tumhle into an Abolition Heresy. It is an easy but unpleasant task, to show that Gov. Smith, in taking this position on the immigrant question, bids farewell to State Rights politics. It is monstrous for a Southern man to propound a doctrine requiring the Virginia people to interfere with a strictly domestic question of the North, upon the whining plea — of envy and jealousy, that the North is outstripping us in the inarch to empire. It is calling upon the South to violate a principle of politics which she has considered of vital importance to her safety, and /Aa/, from the meanest and most pusilanimous of all motives. With what indignation would we ourselves resist the like doctrine, if brought to bear by the North against our own physical development? What if Virginia, as is not unlikely, should herself take steps to import miners, artificers, manufacturers and laborers from overstocked Europe, for the development of her own latent wealth ; — and if the Abolitionists of the North, borrowing the policy of George III., should demand cf Congress to exclude this foreign immigratioo, on the Smith-Flournoy-Know Nothing Ground, that it would unduly augment Southern representation in Congress? Would Virginia tamely submit to the insolent demand and gratui- tous insult? H»w has she not resented the conduct of the Abolitionists, bot- tomed on the similar plea of checking the extension of slave power, in impos- ing the Missouri Compromise upon us, in urging the Wilraot Proviso almost to the disruption of the Union, in resisting the purchase of Florida and Louisiana, the annexation of Texas, and the conquest of Mexico, and in now attempting to thwart in advance the honorable purchase and acquisition of Cuba ? 175 He Borroics a Mean Sentiment from the AhvUtionists. Tbe strength of the Snurthcrn cause has heretofore consisted much in the meanness of the motive with which our progress has been resisted by the Aboli- tionists. Let us not permit Delilah to shear us of our strength. Let us not borrow the meanness, the politics and the policy of Abolitionism, by shameless- ly avowing our jealousy of Northern progress and prosperity, and by intcrferin"' with their domestic concerns, professedly but to cripple them, and not to bene- fit ourselves. Foreign immigration is a subject strictly of State economy, and no Northern State will or Southern State should consent to surrender the su- preme coutrol of it. When Massachusetts, through Congress, shall dictate to V-'irgiuia to what classes of people her ports shall be opened, wliat races of men shall vote and shall hold office, what shade of opinions shall disqualify for enjoy- ing the rights, privileges, and franchises of citizenship, Virginia will have sur- rendered to the last demand of abolitionism, and been despoiled of the last attri- bute of State sovereignty. He Invites the North to Stop Prospering, in Order to Ap^pcase the Jealousy of Vinjinia. But, instead of such a rotten doctrine, does our model State Rights Gover- nor, expectant, mean to maintain that agitating this question here in yir'^inia is calculated to bring about the exclusion of immigrants from the North by voluntary legislation on the part of Norlhcru States ? If so, in what a con- temptible attitude does the proposition stand ? Ho raises a huge clamor in Virginia about the rapid increase of political power in the North from immigra- tion, for the purpose of inducing those people themsclces to destroy the main agent of their own growth and progress ! He agitates here to induce them to cease to grow and prosper, in order to gratify Mr. Flournoy's puerile states- manship, and to sooth Virginia's dog-in-the-manger spii'it. Of all the absurd and stupid propositions we ever heard, it is this of Mr. Fluornoy, bon-owed from Governor Smith, that by agitating and raising a hello — hello here in Virginia about the great augmentation of northern power from immigration, we shall induce them to lay a suicidal axe at the roots of their own amazing prosperity ! And yet he turns vp at last a State Bights 3fan ! After announcing these rank and fanatical doctrines of Federal interference and inter-State interference, it is a mockery of State-Rights politics, and an in- sult to popular intelligence — only equaled by the late similar profession of Wilson of Massachusetts — for Mr. Flournoy to declare : " I will advert particularly to one other principle of the American party — the 'non-intervention of the Federal and State government with the municipal affivirs of each other.' The strict observance of this principle will make the union of the States perpetual." The force of impertinence could no further go ! He Desires Virginia to Scour the Great West on a Tour of Proscription. Mr. Flournoy takes still further pains to proclaim this rotten Abolition doctrine of interference in the domestic affairs of other States. The following- ambitious, sophomeric sentences have a prominent place in his remarkable let- ter : " It may be said that there are comparatively but few foreigners and Roman Catholics in Virginia. She is not acting for herself alone. She is a leading 176 member of this great sisterhood of States, and her action will be felt for weal or woe, bj them all. Her destiny is identified with theirs, and she cannot look with indifference to the fact, that the great valley of the Mississippi, watered by twenty thousand miles of navigable rivers, and the immense and fertile Territo- ries, stretching beyond to the Pacific, capable of sustaining a population of one hundred millions, are rapidly filling up with this class of people." So, then, our chivalrous Commonwealth, under the guidance of his resplen- dent statesmanship, is to assume the honorable office of common scold and in- termeddler, and to go forth into the West and North-west, berating Catholics and shoo-shooing foreigners — like depredating poultry — out of their gardens and potato patches ! A fit Governor for such a Commonwealth, would be amiable Mr. Flournoy — the statesman. Virginia is to go out into the West and North-west, a jealous, scolding Juno, attended by her Know Nothing Argus of an hundred eyes, threading their twenty thousand miles of navigable rivers, expelling " foreigners" from a land they may have held since De Soto and La Salle, and " excluding Catholics from the offices of government in all its departments." We pity the spirit of narrow jealousy and intolerance which dictates such a policy as much as the ignorance it betrays. Mr Flournoy will be surprised to learn that there is scarcely a square inch of the countries here mentioned in which the Catholic citizen is not protected and guaranteed in all the rights, immunities and privileges, poli- tical and religious, of the most favored citizens of the United States, by express compacts, sacred, inviolable, irrepealable and perpetual. He is taiKjlit a Lesson of Some Importance to a Statesman from the Archives of the Country. We shall first apprise our Governor expectant of the existence of a clause in the celebrated ordinance of 1787, " for the government of the territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio river" in the nature of a perpetual com- pact, framed by some of the best men and purest patriots with whom God ever blessed the earth. The first — frat article of that venerable statute runs thus : " Art. I. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall EVER be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious senti- ments, in the said territory." We trust that no demagogue will interpose here, the shallow quibble, that to insult a citizen, with the declaration that his religious sentiments render him an unsafe depositary of official reponsibility, is not molesluKj him on account of his religion. Again, that vast territory, acquired by the Louisiana purchase, stretching from the Pacific to the Mississippi, embracing Oregon, Texas Missouri and all the intermediate domain, which was ceded by France, and was first settled, as was the northwest country just mentioned, by Catholics, is subject to the fol- lowing solemn stipulation, being the third article in the Louisiana Treaty of the 30th April 1803 : "Art. 3. The inhabitants of ceded territory shall be incorporated in tho Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of ALL the rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States ; and, in the mean- time, they shall be mauitaincd and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess." Instead of maintaining and protecting them, according to the spirit of this solemn compact, in this religion, Mr. Flournoy proposes, on account of it, 177 to proscribe them from office and degrade them from the rank of sovereign citizens. Proceeding farther in this interesting historical enquiry, wo find another por- tion of the Union, watered in part by tlie ^Mississippi, consecrated perpetually to religious toleration. The Treaty of Feb. 22, 1819, with Spain, under • which we acquire Florida and a large adjacent territory, contains these two articles : " Art. 5. The inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be secured in the free exercise of their religion, without ANY restriction ; and all those who may de- sire to remove to the Spanish dominions shall be permitted to gell or export their effects at any time whatever, without being subject, in either case, to duties."- " Art. G. The inhabitants of the territories which His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States, by this Treaty, shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, as soon as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution, and admitted to the enjoyment of ALL the priviligts, riyhta, and immunities oi the CITIZENS of the Unit^id States." And coming still further down, even to our own time, we find that our vast acquisition from Mexico, an empire, itself, iu the magnitude of its area, its population and wealth, to be indelibly stamped with an holy canon of religious toleration. In the Treaty of May 30, 1848, with the Mexican Republic, under which, auriferous California became a part of our Union, occurs the followino- golden provision : " Art. 9. Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the character of citizens*of the Mexican Republic [but shall elect under the pre- ceding clause to be citizens of the United States,] * * * shall be incorporated into tbe Union of the United States, and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens.of the United States ; according to the principles of the Con- stitution ; and, in the meantime, shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise oj t/icir religion without restriction." As reference is repeatedly made in these documents to the rights, privilejcs and immunities, of the citizens of the United States, as guaranteed by the Con- stitution thereof, it is a fitting conclusion to such solemn stipulations to support them by the provisions on this subject of that palladium of liberty and compact of fraternal Union between the States, The sixth article of that instrument declares — " Art. VI. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to ani/ office of public trust under this government." And the very first article among the amendments which were added to the in- strument, out of the abundant caution and jealousy of our fathers, which had special reference to such intolerant movements as tliat of the latter day Know Nothings, places religious freedom first in its enumeration of the inviolable franchises of a free people : " Art. I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or the FREE EXERCISE THEREOF J Or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the gov- ernment for a redress of grievances." ' Thus it seems that every foot of territory in this broad and glorious confede- racy is consecrated by the most solemn and holy compacts to the liberty of CONSCIENCE. Thus it is apparent that Mr. Flournoy's mushroom part of religious- intolerance, though boasting its nationality, has not a spot of, the consecrated soil of the American Union on which to plant its flag-staff. 12 178 Mr. Flournoy will now perceive, that it would have been the more prudent part for him to have pursued the policy of Mr. Patton, and, if accepting the dis- reputable nomination at all, to have held his silence in regard to the principles of proscription and tyranny that are coupled with it, upon which the fathers of his country so solemnly pronounced their anathema maranatha. Even if Mr. Flournoy should have deceived himself into a declaration that he did not de- sire this nomination for the ofSce for which he is named, can any one else be- lieve that so intelligent a person as himself could be sincere in such a profes- sion, while consenting, for the sake of securing the position, to endorse the in- famous and damnable doctrines to which he has now set his name, and which will stigmatize that honorable name long after his body shall have returned to the dust from which it came ? He Goes to Sea on a Frail Raft of Rotten Logs. Mr. Flournoy borrows his principles of State policy from Mr. Wise, making up no issue on State questions, and standing exclusively, in this canvass, on the Know Nothing principles of Religious Intolerance^ Unequal Rights, Secret Politics. MB. PATTON'S SPEECH AT RICHMOND, A(5CEPTINa THE NOMINATION. This oration is remarkable as the only one delivered by any of the Win- chester candidates during the progress of the canvass, if we except one or two other speeches of Mr. Patton, delivered on the very eve of the elec- tion. It therefore merits a conspicuous place in this compilation, and we lay it before our readers in extenso, following it up by a very searching re- view of it from the Richmond Examiner. Fellow-citizens — fellow-citizens of the American party and of all parties: I regret that, upon this first occasion of the assembling of the American party, and of the great body who are sympathizing with the American party, that it is my lot to be the only one of the nominees of the Winchester Con- vention present to receive your greetings on this occasion. I should have been much better pleased, and especially gratified, if the distinguished leader, who has been chosen as your political standard-bearer in the present canvass, had been present to address you ; a gentleman so much more able to address you than I am, so as to do justice tp your views, and so much better qualified to gratify the expectations of this large and crowded assem- bly, by an address worthy of the meeting, and worthy of the great subject. I came here, gentlemen, rather for the purpose of vindicating myself for assuming the position which I have assumed, and of vindicating you for hav- ing placed me in that position. My nomination by the Winchester Conven- tion, as a candidate for the suffrages of the people of Virginia, was as unex- pected as it was unsought by me, withdrawn as 1 had been for several years^ — for two or three years at least — from any active participation in the po- litical controversies of the country. Absorbed in the laborious, overwhelm- ing and almnst crushing duties of an arduous profession, I had paid very little attention to the progress of political events. I knew scarcely anything of 179 the issues which were about to ari.se, and which were likely to guide the people in the coming election. In that position I sought no office, and ex- pected none from any party, or a nomination from any party. I held out no inducements to those who, in behalf of this new American party, called upon me for the purpose of ascertaining whether I would accept this office of at- torney-general. I sincerely and most frankly discouraged the idea, and told them very frankly that I had not even read the Basis Principles wliich ttiey 'had put forth as containing the objects for which tliis organization was formed, and which they were endeavoring to accomplish. I was told that this great organization desired, or at least a portion of the members of the Convention at Winchester, and probably the whole body, would de.-ire to confer tliis nomination on me, if I was willing to accept the office, without any regard to my political opinion or my political course ; that it was an of- fice wholly disconnected with political controversy, in reference to the dis- charge of the peculiar duties which devolved upon it ; that it was an office which had no patronage connected with it, and that, estimating very highly (much more highly than I had vanity to aspire to) my qualifications and fit- ness for the ofhce, they desired to confer it upon me, in reference to their estimate of my qualifications and fitness for it, without reference at all to any political object. I told them that if, under these circumstances, as it was an office in the line of my profession — an office which, although I had no par- ticular desire to obtain, it would yet not be unacceptable to me — if the Con- vention chose to confer upon me the nomination, I would accept it, assuring them at the same time that it would be incompatible with my business to en- gage in the political canvass in the way of discussion, and that, in my esti- mate, it was not desirable or proper that a candidate for an office of that sort should be mixed up in the angry political strife of parties. I most sincerely desired to occupy that position absolutely and entirely. It has not seemed good to the leaders and mouth-pieces of the party on the other side that I shall be permitted to occupy that position. I have been assailed with a fierceness of denunciation, and with a virulence of invective, and coarseness and illiberality of abuse, that has never been surpassed, if indeed it has ever been equaled. My motives traduced — eagerness for office imputed to me — ambitious aspirations — suffering humiliation in consenting to take an infe- rior office with a tide-waiter's salary, to serve under another leader with the high and important and splendid office of governor of Virginia, with a vast munificent pecuniary compensation. You have seen what eagerness I displayed to get the nomination of attor- ney-general. And now let me bring to the notice of this vast assembly, and to those who have been disposed to impute to me ambitious motives and eagerness for high office, one or two papers, which is all the answer I mean to give to those charges. I received, on the evening of the 13th March, froiTi Winchester, the fol- lowing telegraphic dispatch from a friend of mine, who was a member of the body : "Will you accept the nomination for governor? Reply immediately to this." I immediately sent the following by telegraph: "I would not accept the office of governor if every man in Virginia were to vote for me." By an ingenious perversity of accusation, it might still be said that I was like Caesar, rejecting the crown because I knew I could not get it. On the same evening, not very long after I had received the telegraphic dispatch which I have just read, I received this note from a gentleman in' Richmond : 180 "I have just received a dispatch by telegraph that you were nominated for governor, and requested to communicate it directl3\" As soon as I received this note, instantly, for the purpose of preventing any inconvenience to the Winchester Convention, such as would result from their making a nomination which would not be accepted, probably causing them to assemble again there or somewhere else to make another nomina- tion, I sent the following reply : " I regret the information your note contains. Several times during the last fifteen years I have declined being a candidate for governor when my friends thought I could be elected. I will not accept the office of governor under any circumstances, and though every man in the state were to vote for me. Excuse the apparent peremptoriness of this note." These are my aspirations for the office of governor, and you can now well form a notion how great was my mortificaiion at being passed over for this high office and offered the humble office of attorney-general. It is proper to state that the information that I was nominated for governor was a mistake, which of course I did not know until the following day. There was, as I understand, no such nomination, and the distinguished gentleman who has been nominated, and is so worthy to receive the suffrages of the American party, wai^ the decided choice of the Convention at all times. I do not know that th^re was a single man who was favorable to my nomination, except the particular gentleman who sent me the dispatch. Besides all that, it is now said that I am animated by aspirations for the Senate. I say here and now, as I have said repeatedly in the course of the last fifteen years, when my friends desired to put me in nomination for that office, as I said about the office of governor, I would not have the office of senator if every man in the Legislature of Virginia voted for me. I was then nominated for this office under the circumstances to which I have referred, by a large, respectable, intelligent and patriotic body of men, as much so to the extent that I have information in regard to them, as any body of men in any quarter, any state, or anywhere else in the world — a body of men representing, as I understand now, (for I Know-Nothing about the supposed elective strength of the American party,) lift}' or sixty thou- sand of the free citizens of this commonwealth. I have repeatedly said, in talking of this organization, without knowing anything at all of its objects or purposes, but having heard merely the rapid way in which it advances in the hearts and affections of the people elsewhere, that its objects must be patriotic. Were they otherwise, I could not believe that it could have en- listed so effectually the aid and support of the people of Virginia. It has surpassed the most extravagant idea that I could form of its progress in this state, my opinion having been that the sparseness of the population and the difficulty of^ communication between our people, would form almost an insur- mountable barrier to its extension. I had not the least idea of hope (if I may use that word) that when my nomination was made upon this ticket, there was a reasonable probability that the ticket would prevail. Now, I under- stand that the body of men who nominated me represented 50,000 persons at least in the commonwealth of Virginia, who have become united to the order, and among them some fifteen or twenty thousand Democrats. I received the nomination, then, of this body of gentlemen representing this vast portion of the people of Virginia, composed of all parties, and I could not feel m3'^self altogether at liberty to refuse to permit such a bod}' of gen- tlemen of all parties, irrespective of the political basis they might have in this movement, to present my name to the people of Virginia as a candidate for an office wholly disconnected with political parties or strife, and utterly void of all political patronage. And yet that act, the act of permitting my name to be presented to the people of Virginia, has been denounced as an 181 act of treachery to party and a violation of party obligations. I never entered into any party oblig-ations which would prevent me from allowing a majorilv of the people of Virginia to elect me to any ofHce which I was wil-' ling to take, no matter who may have made the nomination, or when or where they may be denounced. I have read the Constitution of Virginia several times, and I find there that the office of attorney-general is to be filled by the votes of the people of Virginia, and not by the Democratic Convention. He little knows my antecedents who does not know that I have never per- mitted myself to be governed or controlled by the dictates of a party, in re- gard to party nominations or part}' measures, anywhere or on any occasion. It i>' said I have received rewards of party, and have rendered very little service for them. What party reward did I ever receive? I am charged with ingratitude to the Democratic party. I was never elected to but one oflice, and that office, like this of attorney-general, not political — I mean the office of councillor of state — and I was elected to that office by a fraction of the Democratic party, with the united vote of the Whig party, beating the caucus nominee of the party. [Mr. P. did not refer to his service in Con- gress. To prevent misapprehension, it is proper to say that he was never elected to Congress by a party vote. He was elected by the people four terms — three terms without opposition — once against the opposition of a most popular, distinguished and thorough-going party man of the Democratic party ; and was, at all times, supported in the independent course he pursued in Congress, (independent of party, he means,) by the great body of both parties.] "And I was elected and re-elected to that office five times, every time, except one, by almost the unanimous vote of both parties, without a nomination even against me. On one occasion there was a nomination of a Democratic gentleman against me: a very ardent, consistent and thorough supporter of Democratic principles, who got "twenty-nine votes," and I all the balance. At these elections the Whig party were in the majority twice. I do not mean at all to say anything whatsoever to detract from the liberality, from the friendly feeling, from the liberal support that I received, from the liberal members of the Democratic party, as well as the Whig party, during those elections. But I never was elected by a party vote — never in m}^ life. I never was the favorite of the ultra men of any party assembly, because I did not recognize the despotism of pasty obligations, and because I always spurned their denunciations, whenever they were directed against me, for a preference of what my judgment approved as demanded b^' the true interest of the country. I have changed my party position, therefore. During the eight years of my service in Congress — during a portion of the time when Gen. Andrew Jackson was in the zenith of his power, and when to oppose him was like bearding the lion in his den — it can be seen, by reference to the journals of that lime, that I voted indifferently, as I thought, with the one party as the other: and it was because of this that the great, aud illustrious, and patriotic man, Henry Clay, who was always my warm friend, (and deeply did I re- gret very frequently that I could not consistently, with the opinions and prin- ciples which I entertained, support him for the presidency,) in the most friendly spirit and the facetiousness of his genial nature, said to me one day, " How are you to-day, Mr. Patton ?" and that joke, which I told so much to the amusement of my friends in private ten years ago, was told with very amusing elTect by John Hampden Pleasants in the Whig, on the day after I made the great somerset from the Whig party il^to the Democratic ranks, when I made a speech at the Exchange in 1844. And this joke, which was so good-humoredly published ten years ago, our Democratic friends seem to have taken hold of for the first time. They seem to have brought it up with a gusto, as if they never had heard of it. They must be very much in want 182 of something to amuse them, when they had to revive my old, stale and thread-bare jokes for the purpose of creating a little merriment. Gentlemen, this habit of resistance to party dictation exposed me during all my political life to the severe criticism of the press; and they have also brought along with them something which, perhaps, I ought to take as a full equivalent — the good natured, extravagant and equally unmerited praise of the party press. I have thus received alternately the applause of ]\Ir. Thomas Ritchie and that again of John Hampden Pleasants; and have received alternately their denunciation, too — denunciations from whom were calculated to carry some terror with them. I have heard the thunder of Democratic denunciations rolling over my head, threatening to exterminate me, when Jupiter Tonans, the Olympian Jove of Democracy, Thomas Ritchie, wielded the thunder- bolt. I have had the lightning of Whig denunciation to flash in my eyes when it was struck forth by the electric genius of John Hampden Pleasants. I was assailed violently by both, but it gave me great pleasure to see that af- ter the storm of prejudice and passion and political strife had passed away, it was my good fortune to enjoy, in a very high degree, the respect and confi- dence and friendship of both these gentlemen, which was cordially recipro- cated by myself. And now, when I have survived " heaven's artillery," do you think 1 am going to be killed, or frightened, or hurt, by firing crackers or sky-rockets, and least of all by pop-guns loaded with sliced potatoes, and very soft and small potatoes at that. It has been said that curses loud. and deep from the Democratic party are poured forth against me — I suppose melo-dramafic curses put forth for stage effect. But if there be any gentleman of the Democratic party, whose re- spect is worth anything, that has lost his own self-respect so far as to deal in curses against me, let me say to him that he had better remember the East- ern apothegm, that " curses, like chickens, go home to roost." As for my- self, I regard the curses of an angry partizan just as much as I do the raving of a maniac, or the howling of a hungry hyena. "They pass by me as the idle wind, which I respect not." And there is a consolation accompanying all this denunciation. If I am to be considered, (and I don't care a pinch of snufF whether I am to be so considered or not,) as driven out of the Demo- cratic party, (it certainly required no very strenuous exertion to accomplish that end,) I have the comfort of knowing that I enjoy in this calamity the com- pany of 20,000 (as I am told) of that old and respectable party, as steadfast, true and conscientious as any other equal number who still adhere to it. And now, gentlemen, I ought, perhaps, after saying this much about politi- cal intolerance, say what is perfectly just perhaps to all parties, and certainly to the Democratic party, that whatever other sins they might have been guilty of, they do not bear malice. Let any politician, no matter how repro- bate he may have been in his opinion — no matter what his political offences may have been — come to the High Priest of the Democratic party, and say, "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me and I will be whiter than snow^," he will be sure to receive the merciful response, "Though thy sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow ; though they be red like crim- son, they shall be as wool." For verily, (at this time particularly,) there is more joy in the kingdom of Democracy, or rather, perhaps, I should say in the popedom of Democracy, for they seem to launch their fulminations in the same spirit and tone as if they conceived themselves, like his holiness, the Pope and vicegerent of God, whose decrees and bulls of excommunication proclaimed eternal damnation — for verily "there is more joy over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just men that need no repent- ance." And if there shall be here and there occasionally an acquisition of 183 some secediniT Kiiow-N'othineopl(i of Virginia to elect me to any office ichich I was ivilli)u/ to take, no matter who may have made the nomination, or when or where it may be announced." That is capital. It is so characteristic. His allegiance to party ceases at the moment his party sinks into a minority. He never " enters into a party obli- gation" save with the understanding that he is to play quits whenever he sees the majority on t'other side. Soldiers who have done thus have bean classed by history in the catalogue of Arnolds, Georgeys and Dalghetties ; and we are very glad that Mr. Patton has taken pains to establish the understanding that he goes over to the Know Nothings simply as an attorney. Of course all who have acted upon the rule of Mr. Patton, just laid down, can safely proclaim as he does : "He little knows my antecedents who does not know that I have never per- mitted myself to be governed or controlled by the dictates of a party, in regard to party nominations or party measures, anywhere or on any occasion." Such words would sound handsomely in the mouth of any but a Know Noth- ing nominee. Whatever Mr. Patton's antecedents may do in vindication of his abandoning the Democratic party, his " present cedents " present a beautiful illustration of his disgust of party. He who quits either of the old political organizations of this country, founded each by great and good men, with avowed measures, avowed principles, avowed membership, with open and public tactics as to all their meetings and arrangements, great and small, with newspapers to make public all that is said in town, in country, at night and by day — in order to join a secret, oath bound cabal, originated by a New York penitentiary con- vict, loving darkness rather than light for the initiation of accomplices, the concoction of schemes and the devising of tactics, that conceals its every step and act in secrecy, whose novitiates are sworn to deny their complicity, and would be perjured if responding frankly and truly to a legitimate enquiry — he 199 who abandons either of the old political organizations to join this underground midnight movement, whatever other motives may be attributed to him, cannot be said to do so from disgust at ■party. And though Mr. Patton may deceive himself by such a delusion, he must expect, as he certainly must endure, the uncharitable reflections of the world. Can Mr. Patton believe he is manifesting a disgust of ^^partj/" by accepting overtures and nominations from Know Nothing clubs — the most intense, intole- rant, proscriptive, exercising, inexorable system of party drill ever invented ? — Is there no such thing as party in Know Nothingism ? Out of his own mouth shall he be judged; for in the following rather grandiloquent sentences he him- self recognizes a new party servitude : " I have been so much absorbed with ray own business that I do not think I have read a Governor's Message for several years, nor a President's Message, and the time when I read a speech in Congress, is a period which runs back to a time that my memory ' runneth not to the contrary.' I have, howevei*. read somewhat carefully at various times, since my nomination, the principles and basis of this Know Nuthuuj or American PAFtTY, and I have no hesitation in saying, that with one or two exceptions in regard to the mode of action of THE Px\R,TY, and the extent to which they are proposing to go, as a rule for themselves in their OPtGANIZATION, the principles and basis of that PAllTY meet my entire approbation." There it is — -Parti/, parti/, organization, party. Already is Mr. Patton im- mersed quadruply in the toils of party. Pie has leaped out of the Democratic frying-pan only to land in the live coals of Know Nothing strife, passion, reli- gious hate, and social prejudice. If Mr. Patton loathes and disgusts at party, he is much to be commiserated in his present allegiance. What a bitter rebuke is all his fine talk about party tyranny, upon the intolerant, fierce proscriptive partisanship of his new con- federates ! Did he know that he had accepted the support of an Order which prescribe the following qualifications for membership, carrying j)ar(y not only into public affairs, but into the domestic household and leveling its brutal pro- scription at wives and mothers ? According to the ritual : " A person to become a member of any Subordinate Council must be twenty- one years of age; he must believe in the existence of a Supreme Being as the creator and preserver of the Universe; he must be a native born citizen; a Protestant horn of Protestant parents; reared under Protestant influence, and not united in marriage ivith a Roman Catholic: Provided, nevertheless, that in this last respect, the State, District, or Territorial Council shall be authorized to so construct their respective constitutions as shall best promote the interest of the American cause in their several jurisdictions: And provided, 'moreover^ that no member 7cho may have a Roman Catholic loifc shall he eligible to any office in this Order." And again, his new friends are required to swear thus : " Obligation. — You, and each of you, of your own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God and these witnesses, your left hand resting on your right breast, and your right hand extended to the flag of your country, do solemnly and sincerely swear that you will not, under any cii'cumstances, dis- close in any manner, nor sufi"er it to be done by others, if in your power to pre- vent it, the name, signs, pass words, or the secrets of this degree; that you will, in aR things, conform to all the rules and regulations of this order, and to the Constitution and By-Laws of this or any other Council to which you may be attached, so long as they do not conflict with the Constitution of the United States, nor that of the State in which you reside; that you will, under all cir- cumstances, if in your power so to do, attend all regidar signs and summonses .200 tliat may he thrown or sent out lnj a Brother of this, or any other degree of this Order; that you will support, in all political matters, for all political offires, Id degree onemhers of this Order, providing it be necessary for the American interest; that if it may be done legally, you will, when elected to any office, remove all foreigners, aliens or Roman Catholics from of ice ; and that you will, in no case, appoint such to ofi.ce. All this you promise and declare on your honor as Americans to sustain and abide by, without any hesitation or mental reservation whatever. So help you God, and keep you steadfast." Is not this party proscription with a vengeance ? But Mr. Patton complains bitterly of the crimination and denunciation that have been visited upon him- self for leaving party. Let him read the terrible curses he will receive if, in his partialities for a majority, he should soon abandon his new allegiance : "To all the foregoing you bind yourselves, under the no less penalty than that of being expelled from this Order, and of having your name posted and circidated throughout all the different Councils of the United States, as a PER- JURER, and as a TRAITOR to GOD and YOUR COUNTRY, as a he- ing unfit to he EMPLOYED in any BUSINESS TRANSACTION, as a person unicorthy the confidence of all good men, and as one at whom the finger of scorn should ever be pointed. So help you God !" Such is the machinery which is to help Mr. Patton into the Attorney Gene- ralship ! ! We cannot pursue this black and horrid aspect of the subject fartiier without transcending the rule of kindness and respect towards Mr. Patton with which we set out. We are glad to see Mr. Patton dodging the real politics of the Know Nothing party, and confining his encomiums to the I5asis Principles which they put out as a decoy to beguile simpler men than he. That basis is not necessarily offen- sive or objectionable, and we arc ready to join Mr. Patton in endorsing every word and line it contains except the first article, and a few clauses in the pre- amble, provided they are construed in the spirit of enlarged statesmanship and of sincere patriotism. We have not room to-day to point out the glaring dis- crepancies between their secret ritual and this tempting sign-board which they post before the doorway that leads down into their secret caverns of shame. We have only space left for a ^q^ of the cutting and pointed rebukes he gave bis clients in the course of his argument of their ugly cause. He will not even accept their Basis Principles unconditionally: "I said, gentlemen, that in regard to some of the details of this basis of principles of Know Nothingism, I was not prepared to adopt them in all their breadth and length; or to bind myself by any pledge, either written, spoken or sworn, — that I never will, under any circumstances, vote for foreigners for any office. That is a matter that I will leave altogether at my discretion. Were I to act otherwise, I should be abandoning the ground I have maintained all my life, and upon which I can now stand up and defy those Democratic denuncia- tions that are hurled against me." Sam of course did not applaud that passage. We thought we detected a suppressed groan, but may have been mistaken. Mr. Patton does not know why he cannot himself join secret societies, or how to describe his scruples and fastidiousness, about that matter ; but certain it is he does not like Dr. Fell : "Well gentlemen, as I said before, I don't helong to this secret organization. I never belonged to a secret society in my life, although most of my family were Masons. I have some sort of scruples and fastidiousness which prevented me at all times from going into any place to assume any secret engagement." 201 D'ul ever lawyer, who unmchov.- could never have behaved so himself, more ino-cniousl_y console a trembling criminal with the hope of having a felonious act attributed," by a lenient jury, to a lofty motive ? Yet Mr. Patton was evidently a little blind to this policy of his client, having a personal appreciation of the reason alleged for secrecy : " It is perfectly well known that it was designed to protect those who were dioirous of joining this party from the terrors and denunciations of the old parties to which they might belong. Possibly there arc many men, honest, industrious, and sober men, men whose bread depends on not quarr^'luig with their party, who, though desirous of joining this new organization, could not do so unless they could be protected from the consequences of an open avowal of the fact that they had joined the new party." Mr. Patton takes care to hint in the most delicate manner, and yet most emphatically, to Sam, that secrecy iclU not. do ; and that, as soon as his promis- ing outlaw shall wash his face and comb his soap-locks, he had better come boldly out of his hiding places like an honest man : " B'^sides all that, we now have it pretty well understood that the purposes and objects of this secrecy having been attained, and the party being strong enough to sustain itself, the veil of secresy will be removed." How terribly does he rap Sam over the knuckles in the following handsome sentences, redolent with true American feeling, and glowing with sound Demo- cratic sentiment : " I believe that there some over over-zealous advocates of this Americau party [Mr. Flournoy is among them] who go to extreme lengths, such as pre- venting the immigration of foreigners out and out, and repealing the naturaliza- tion laws. Now,"l am in favor of neither. I do not understand this Virginia American party to be in favor of either. I say, let the foreigners come, and if I could remember here, I would speak over again that speech which seemed to have been admired so much by some of my Democratic friends, I would say, let them come, and forbid them not — the industrious and pains-taking German from his fader land, the gay Frenchman from the fertile plains and vine clad hills of his beautiful France, the whole-souled and gallant Irishman — let them cjme." It is true, that Mr. Patton after thumping Sara soundly with these notable paragraphs, went on to pa'liate the fellow's conduct and to delicately instruct him how to behave himself in the future conduct of the canvass. Wo hope Sam will profit by the advice, and take his instructor's lecture in the spirit of a true penitent. Let him take Mr. Patton's advice. Let him throw away his barbarous ritual picked up in the purlieus of New York city — come out from his secret hiding places — cease his slang about the unfitness of good Christians of the Catholic or any Church for office, and agree to recognize merit in the pains-taking Ger- man, they gay Frenchman, and the whole-souled Son of Erin. Sam will thcu be a gentleman. His will then be a strong, respectable and potential party, able to efl'ect good ends by reputable means. He will then have reason to chant everlasting hosannas to jMr. Patton, and that gentleman will not only consent to be his counsel, but his friend, admirer and probably his boon com- panion. 20^ THE NATIONALITY OF THE DExMOCRATIC PARTY IN 1855. The nationality of the democratic party iu 1855 presented a remarkable and admirable contrast to the anti-slavery fanaticism of the Know Nothing party in the Northern States. In every free state of the Union the Democratic party passed resolutions fearlessly endorsing the Nebraska and Kansas bills. That there may be hereafter no mistake upon this subject, we publish resolutions of the democracy of nearly all the free states upon the vexed questions of slavery and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. They were c'bllected from the principal leading newspapers of the Union during the Canvass in Virginia. Ohio. Resolved, That the right of the people to govern themselves, and frame their own laws — a principle re-established by the passage of the act to organize the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska — meets our cordial approbation, and we de- clare our determination to adhere to such principle, no matter what miserable subterfuge our enemies may invent to cloak their opposition to it. Resolved, That we witness with painful feeling the formation of a secret po- litical organization in this Union under the name of " know nothings," or "sons of the sires of '76," whose principles, so far as we can judge, being an- tagonistic to the liberal principles of the democratic party, and if carried out, subversive of the constitution of the country, merit and receive our unqualified condemnation. Illinois. / The democrats of Illinois, lately in convention assembled, resolved as follows : Resolved, That, abiding by the free spirit of our constitution, which recog- nises no religious test as a qualification for office, and proscribes no citizen on account of the place of his birth, we shall ever oppose every attempt, wh^'ther open or secret, to deprive our adopted citizens of the full right and privilege of native-born citizens, and hold in abhorrence the recent organization of the " know nothing" society, believing their design to be fraught with evils to the country. Resolved, That our liberty and independence are based upon the right of the people to form for themselves such government as they may choose; and that the great privilege, the birthright of freedom, the gift of heaven, secured to us by the blood of our ancestors, ought to be extended to future generations, and ■ no limitation ought to be applied, to this power in the organization of any Ter- ritory of the United States, of either a territorial government or State consti- tution, provided the government so established shall be republican, and in con- formity with the constitution of the United States. Pennsylvania. Resolved, That we adhere as firmly as ever to the Compromise of 1850 and the platform laid down by the National Convention of 1852; and that, in the passage of the much abused Nebraska bill of 1854, we fail to discover, as is alleged by the whig press, any departure from the principles or policy there so strongly and patriotically inculcated by the wisest and best men of the nation of both the great political parties. -'J^'^Resolvedj That a candidate before the people who may be openly or secretly 203 \ allied to the prescriptive, intolerant faction commonly called 'know nothing,' ia unworthy the support of any democrat, and should be opposed by every true friend of his country, of every parly and faith. / Vermont. Resolved, That the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill by Congress is in strict accordance with the constitution of the United States and the principles of self-government and non-intervention by Congress iu the domestic concerns of the States, devised by the framers of our government. Delaware. Besoli-ed, That President Pierce, by enforcing economy in the conduct of the various departments of the public service, by bringing to justice persons who had plundered the treasury under the preceding administration, by vigorously enforcing the laws, by fearlessly using the power vested in the Executive by the constitution for the arrest of improper legislation, and by lending his influence and wielding his power for the perpetuation of the principle of the Compromise of 1S50 embodied in the Nebraska bill, has proven himself an honest man, a faithful public officer, a sound republican, and a sagacious statesman. Michigan. Eesolved, That, believing the interests of the country required the speedy settlement of the broad expanse of territory lying between the western States and the Ptocky mountains, we cordially approve of the establinbment of territo- rial governments in that region ; and that Congress, in according to the people of the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas the right to fix and regulate their own domestic institutions, gave us the strongest proof of its determination to maintain the great republican principle of the Con;promise of 1850. Massachusetts. Resolved, That the constitution recognizes the principle of self-government and the power of the people, in whatever bond united with each other, whether in State, county, town, district or territory, to control their own institutions; that on this principle alone the colonies entered upon the struggle for indepen- dence, the confederation was established, and the federal constitution adopted j that only by a rigid regard for this principle can we hope to preserve our liberties against usurpation, rivalries, and anarchy ; and that confidence in this prin- ciple, old as our country, enforced by Jefi'ersou, sustained by Jackson, leads us to look with pride and satisfaction on every measure of the administration cal- culated to give it a bold and unflinching support, removing every vestige of federal folly from our legislation, and extending the same rights and privileges to new States and Territories which were claimed by, and secured to, the people of Massachusetts and all her sister States when they were united iu this confede- ration. New Jersey. Resolved, That our senators and representatives in Congress, who have in the legislation of 1854 stood by the compromise measures of 1850, and so manfully maintained the right of the people of the Territories to make the laws relating to their domestic concerns, and by which alone they are to be governed, deserve the approbation and high commendation of the lovers of the Union as faithful servants of the people whom they represent. 204 Rdiolved, That the national course of the federal administration, its measures and policy, based as they are on the constitution, and recognising as they do the rights of the States and the principles of strict construction, ever sacred to democracy, as well as the rights of American citizens everywhere, deserve the high commendation and cordial support of the nation. Rcwlvecl, That we will oppose by all proper means any candidate for office ■who tavors the repeal or modification or change of the fugitive-slave law passed in 1850, and also any candidate who shall favor or advocate the repeal, change, or modification of the right of the people of the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, or any other Territory, to legislate for themselves upon all subjects not prohibited by the constitution of the United States. Indiana. 3. Resolved, That the removal of the " Missouri restriction " — a measure that has stultified American pretences, innovated the constitution of our country, that was conceive at the shrine of an unholy ambition for the "balance of politi- cal power," brought forth at an evil hour, when might rudely cast principle in the dust — is a theme deserving the gratulatious of all mankind, and those who brought forth and successfully carried out its obliteration merit a meed of praise never ending and without bounds. 4. Resoheil, fnr'Jier, That the "Nebraska-Kansas" bill as passed, is a return to first principle, that was unwisely violated, and places the soil where tlie con- stitution found it, and where the God of Nations designed and ordered it — to be "inherited" and governed by those who live on and draw their subsistence from it. 5. Resolved, That in this new northern party, styled " republican," alias " fusion," we think we see that which threatens the Union ! A northern party once formed and successful, a correlative southern party must of necessity fol- low; when the name of Union would be a moi kery, and it would remain only in the memories of those who survive it. Called by whatever name such a party may be, disunion is its tendency, and it therefore merits, and should receive, the unqualified reprobation of every American and lover of American institutions. G. Resolved, That, in selecting a candidate for Congress in this district, it is the sense of this meeting that such a one be chosen as will fully reflect the'veiws herein set forth, taking high, bold ground in support of the Kansas-Nebraska bill as passed; and that our delegates to the congressional convention be, and are hereby, instructed to act accordincly. Iowa. Resolved, That, as, in the acquisition of territory, all sections of the Union con- tributed their proportion, whether the purchase was made in blood or treasure, so, in our opinion, ought citizens of all sections of the Union have the right to equal participation in the benefits of such acquisition, controlled in the exercise of their rights by the constitution of the United States, as exemplified by the principles of the Compromise of 1850, and as carried into effect by the Ne- braska bill. Wisconsin, Resolved, That we shall, as a measure of justice to the North and the South, oppose all attempts to repeal the fugitive-slave law — believing that the repeal of that law would have the two-fold effect of unjustly depriving the South of her property, and of adding largely to a population whose increase in the North 205 must be deprecated by all who do not desire the spread of licentiousness, pau- perism, and crime. R&foJvrjl, That we recognise in the Nebraska bill, the fugitive-slave law, and the existing laws for the naturalization of foreigners, the leading is>ucs in tlio approaching congressional contest; and that wo here take our stand firmly in favor of their maintenance, and require our candidate to defend them before the people. Maine. The Aroostook district democrats passed the following resolutions at their convention ut Houlton, Maine, on the 24th : Rcsnh-rd, That the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people is the very basis of republicanism, and the integrity and security of State rights the only safeguards against the federal tenets of consolidation. Heso/rerl, That the administration of President Pierce mcrfts the undimin- ished confidence of the democracy, and his strict-construction principles entitle him to exalted rank among the truest defenders of the constitution. New York. Resolved, That the democrats of New York repeat here the expression of their unchanged devotion to the principles of the national democracy, as laid down at the Baltimore Convention of 1852, and as approved by the united democracy of this State in its conventions since; that we recognise in that platform the only sure foundation of a national party, and the only bulwark against the uniting and dangerous agitation of sectionalism on one side, and the insidious encroachments of the federal powers upon the rights of the States on the other, and as the best guarantee that a political organization can give of its fidelity to the Union and the constitution. Resolced, That we cousider the introduction of the clause in the Nebraska and Kansas bill repealing the Missouri Compromise as inexpedient and un- necessary; but we are opposed to any agitation having in view the restoration of that line, or tending to promote any sectional controversy in relation thereto : and we congratulate the country that the results to grow out of that measure are likely to prove beneficial to the people of the Territories ; and that while we maintain our position, that opinions in regard to the power of Congress in this matter are not tests in regard to democracy, we regard the act of renunciation by Congress of the power it has heretofore exercised over the subjects as the practical surrender of a formidable function on the part of the federal o-overn- ment, and the accession of a right on the part of the incip-ent sovereio'nties that are to constitute the States of the Union, the exercise of which can, in all probability, result only auspiciously to the people of the Territories and the peace of the Union. During the canvass there were many exceedingly able communications pub- lished in the Examiner and Eiujuu-er, from which we extract the followino- which excited much attention, and was widely copied by the press of thia State. REASONS WHY I AM A DEMOCRAT ANDxXOT A KNOW NOTHINO. I presume there is no doubt of the death of the Whig party, as a national party, unless it is silently lurking in the secret bed of Know Nothingism. 206 A f This idea a number of bold and conscientious Whigs, in the country, utterly repudiate ; and they would despise the day that disclosed the fact of a great national party bciug concealed in the womb of Know Nothingism. However, this cannot be doubted, that every voter who goes to the polls, in May next, will vote, not directly as Whig or Democrat^ but as Know Nothing or anti- Know Nothing. He who wishes a secret political party to rule this free, proud and independent nation, votes for, and he who opposes secret, oath-bound poli- .^^ tical societies, against Know Nothingism. The one votes for freedom, the other \jor tyranny. Every voter, then, should stop and consider well before he casts his influence at the ballot box in favor of such organizations ; for, when schism, persecution, anarchy and bloodshed result, it will be a poor excuse to say, " I misunderstood the object of my vote." Let them remember that eternal vigi- lance is the price of liberty, and that freemen should always be on their guard for fear of being carried away by appearances, and thereby bring ruin and de- struction upon this happy land. For the old Whig party every one entertained the highest opinion. It was a noble foe — open, bold, generous and national — a party consecrated to history by the immortal minds of Hamilton, (a foreign- er,) Clay, Webster, and others no less distinguished in war or in peace. This party is no longer in existence — the Know Notliingi^ have ddihcralely murdered 'it in cold blood, and desecrated the tombs of Clay and other great leaders of the popular mind. Know Nothingism has swallowed it up in its all-capacious and devouring maw. What say the AVhigs of 1840 ? What say the Clay, the Webster, the Fillmore Whigs ? Where are those Whigs who have repeat- edly declared they " would be Whigs as long as they lived ?" Oh, consistency is a jewel ; and, to preserve your consistency, you cannot forsake your old party. But you join the Know Nothings. Then, you have forsaken your old party, or recognize in this new secret society the former Whig party. Which ? There is a number of Whigs, who, if they knew that their old party had become metamorphosed into this new party, would despise the very name of Know Nothingism as long as they lived. The great contest, then, hereafter, in the country, will be between the Dem- ocratic party and the Know Nothing organization. The old Whig party will divide between the two — some going one way, and some another. I propose to give a short expose of the principles and condition of the two leading parties, and, at the same time, showing wherein they differ, and wherein they agree. . KNOW NOTHINGISM VERSUS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. The true origin of this Know Nothing party is, of course, unknown ; but, I presume, there is no doubt of its having been born among the abolition and corruption of the North, aided by disappointed office-seekers, who wished a pro- motion to some office in the country. However, the place of its birth is of no importance. It is enough to know its principles, its objects, its workings and its fruits, and, from these, we can judge of its character and destiny. Of the Democratic party, the whole country understands its principles, and knows perfectly well what it has done ; and its proud achievements are marked on the map, and its glory bounded by the glory of the country. What a difference between the two ! Look at the contrast ! The last is open, bold and fearless in all it does and thinks \ the first, secret, timid and fearful. The one discus- ses the important matters of State before the world, the other plots where none can sec or hQar. The one unbosoms itself to its foe, and challenges refutation and argument before the sovereign voters of the land ; the otlier, like a snake in the grass, is sly, sneaking and cunning, watching a favorable opportunity to leap upon its adversary, and do it a fatal injury by inflicting its poisonous fang. The acts and views of the one are open for attack from any quarter ; the other, conscious of its weakness, binds its members under sacrilegious oaths not to 207 "N disclose its proceedings to the public. Tbc one is an open, bold, independent foe ; the other crouches, sneaks and deceives. Which do you prefer? ,-— But I object to the Know Nothing party — . — '■ i^/r.sV. Because I believe, it contrari/ to tJie sp!r!t of the Constitntion. What says the Constitution ? What says the Know Nothing Constitution ? Let us compare them : Constitntion of the United States. Art. YI. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for an]/ office of public trust under this govern- ment. Constitution of Virf/inia. Sec. XV. " No man shall be com- pelled' to frequent or support any re- ligious worship, place or ministry whatever ; nor shall any man be en- forced or restrained, molested or bur- thened in his body or goods, or otlier- icise suffer, on account of his religious opinion or belief; but all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and the same shall in no WISE affect, diminish or enlarge THEIR CIVIL CAPACITIES." Know Nothing Constitution. Art. III. "The object of this or- ganization shall be to resist the insid- ious policy of the Church of Rome, and other foreign influences against the institutions of the country, hi/ jilacing in all offices in the gift of the people^ or hi/ appointment, none hut native horn Protestant citizens." Know Nothing oath. "You furthermore promise and de- clare that you will not vote nor give your influence for any man for any of- fice in the gift of the people, unless he be an American born citizen, ia favor of Americans ruling America, NOR IF he EB a HoMAN CaTUOLIC." Again : " You solemnly and sincere- ly swear, that if it may be done legally, you will, when elected to any office, remove all foreigners and Rojian Ca- tholics FROM office ; and that you will in no case appoint slcii to office." The direct and irreconcilable antagonism between the Federal and State Con- stitutions and the Constitution and Ritual of Know Nothingism is palpable to the plainest understanding. The objects and declarations of this Order conflict not only with the abstract principles, but with the actual provisions of the go- vernment. Know Nothingism does prescribe a religious test as a qualification to office. Know Nothingism does molest and burthen men, and does diminish their civil capacities on account of their religion. For this Teason, then, I object to the Know Nothing party. Second. I object to the Know Nothing j^art]/ because of its Oaths. I had al- ways thought it clearly established that extra judicial oaths were anti republi- can, anti scriptural, unchristian and opposed alike to sound policy and law, hu- man and divine. The great Author of the Christian religion has said, "swear not at all, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by thy own head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black ; but let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay : for tchateoever is more than this cometh of evil." Learned di- vines and commentators of every persuasion concur in interpreting this passage as a complete prohibition of all voluntary oaths, and in placing those who deli- berately take an oath, except under the authority of the State or Church, upon the same footing with profane swearers and blasphemers. Why have oaths? Is it because you believe every person prone to tell a falsehood, and you wish to prevent it. It is a solemn thing to take an oath. And it has long been dis- cussed whether, in a court of justice even, oaths were not contrary to the divine 208 P law. If Uicrc is a doubt here, surely every individual should be exceedingly careful how he swore in unimportant matters, or in matters where there is no necessity for oaths. Is not marriage a solemn, important and binding institu- tion ? Why are not oaths admiiiistured here '/ — for the simple reason, they are unscrq^tiwai. Is not the right of baptism, joining the church, and ordination of ministers, serious and important acts ? Wliy are not oaths required here ? — for the simple reason, they are unscripUiral. Is the reader aware that courts of ■justice in our land have already decided that a Know Nothing is an incompe- tent juror to try the life of a Catholic foreigner, and this because of the oath that the Know Nothing organization imposes upon its members. Is it possible that this is true — that the oath of a Know Nothing prevents him from doing justice to a fellow being ? And is this the organization that ministers of the gospel defend? Is this the party that is to rule our country? Gov. Yv'right, of Indiana, left the Methodist church because the man sent to minister to him in 7to/y things was a Kqow Nothing. Do you blame him? When the clergy begin to turn Know Nothings, they will find many more of their flock who will turn their backs, not upon the House of God, hut upon the jn'ustituiion of the jinlpit. Thirdli/. I olijert to the Know Notlihiij party hccatisir. of its secrecy. Why secret? Would you be ashamed for the acts and proceedings of your meetings to be exhibited before the .scrutinizing gaze of the world? If so, you acknow- ledge error and shame for your conduct. Do you wish, and is it the object of the organization to break down the Democratic party ? If so, you should ac- knowledge it, and not declare otherwise to the candid world, for this is gross deception. I,s your object spoils or self-promotion ? If so, you are corrupt. Is it your object to purify and purge the politics of the day, and to defeat ras- cality and demagogueism ? If so, your object is good, but you will find it a hard task. The Democratic party has tried to do this, and has only partially succeeded. The W^hig party could not do it. And how do you expect to ac- complish such a work^ If you claim the power to alter the human heart and passions, and can succeed in doing so, you will do more than the Christian reli- \^ gion itself can do after many centuries hard labor. You can try to prevent it; Vo does the Democratic party /;•_// to prevent them both. Man is ntill man wherever you find him, and wherever you find him there you will find both "demagogueism and rascality." I presume the Know Nothings are men; if so, you will find as many demarrogues, ofSce seekers and rascals among them as in any other party, and pjrobably more, for they have left the Democratic party and joined the new party, believing it icill soon have the " loaves and fishes" to distribute. It is true, the Know Nothings may try to prevent these evils; but if they say they can, they arc superior to the Christian religion, and they can perform works of supererogation. Wherever man is, there is corruption, vice, intrigue and rascality. W'hat all-seeing Jupiter have these Kno% Nutl)iugs found who can tell at first view whether u man is a demagogue or not? \Vhat crucible, what purifying process have they, through which a man passes and then comes forth pure, incorruptible and undefiled ? It is sheer nonsense to claim such a power. But Vr'hy did you join them ? Are you an oiBce seeker? Then always " acknowledge the corn." Did you join from curiosity? Your motive then was wrong, and, being satisfied, you .should immediately amend jour act. Did you join without duly considering its aim and tendency upon our Constitution, our rights, or interests? — or without fairly considering its ef- fects, its acts or its fruits? If so, you are still wrong, and have allowed some one blessed (or rather cursed) with a little gift uf gab to take advantage of your ignorance and weakness. How do you know that this has not been di ne in your case merely for the purpose of electing some demagogue to office, tbive you joined them to secure your election to Congress, ihe Legislature, magistracy, clerkship, constablcship, or to be elected as a director, steward, collector, treasu- 209 rer, or to any office of any kind? Then always pi-oclaim it openly and boldly, and never say again you intend to put down demagogues or offire. seekers. This is corruption per se. There is not one in the Know Nothing organization who will say or acknowledge that he is an office seeker; yet we confidently believe there are more office seekers, and more corruption inside the pale of this party than out of it, including all classes, of all ages. }3ut why so secret? Is it because you fear that great disgrace and ignominy will hereafter cluster around the very name of Know Nothing? Ah! this is the true secret of all the secrecy of this secret organization. Well, I am in- clined to think with you, and by all means enjoin secrecy, profound secrecy, to save the good name in after years. There is a difference between the secrecy of Know Nothings and those meetings usually called " caucuses." About the pro- ceedings of the first you c:in find out noting; in the case of caucuses, any member will tell what was done, and, indeed, the entire proceedings are usually published. In the first case, the secre y continues^ in the last, it is temporary, and its acts in a short time are known to the world. There is also a marked dis- tinction between Know Nothingism on the one hand, and Masonry or Odd Fel- lowship on the other. The first is political, the last arc not. What is done in- side the first very materially affects the " outsider," by throwing him out of office. What is plotted, planned, and done inside the Know Nothings af- fects materially the wishes and rights of him who does not belong to the orga- nization. Do you not thrust him out of office, and this, too, when he may be dependent upon the very proceeds and profits of this office for daily sustenance for liimself and family ? Is not this hard ? When he meets you in the street and shakes you warmly by the hand, he places his confidence in your friendship, while all the time you may be connected with a secret organization aiding to de- prive him of his office, and consequently of his daily supplies of food and clo- thing. Does not this tend to engender ill feelings in society, in the same fami- ly, and to lessen tho confidence of man in bis fellow man ? In Odd Fellowship you do not do this, but exactly the reverse, for you aim in this organization tO' benefit and help your friend. How can you then " Carry smiles and sunsliine on your face When discontent sits heavy at your heart?" Fourth. I ohjcct to the Know Nothhgx hrcause of their opposition to the Catholics. It is something remarkable that the "basis principles of the Ame- rican party," as published and scattered throughout this State, does not even mention the Catholic Church. Thus the onli/ Know N'tAhimj principle in the whole platform is left entirely out of the question, unless it was intended to be inferred from the fourth article. And is it possible that this mighty bugbear to the country — this very subject of Catholicism, about which they are cnutin- ually gabbing — this only fundamental principle of the party — is left onli/ to he inferred from the plat form ? Why was not the opposition to the Catholics ex- pressly laid down in broad terms? This anti-Catholic resolution (as I infer from the last part,) is the onh/ plauk, the onlij principle, that the Know Noth- ings can claim as exclusive property. Who ever heard of a party with one. principle before this organization was hatched from Abolition spawn? ])ut to the point. This opposition to a religious sect is inconsistent with the spirit of Christianity, the genius of our government, and the spirit of our institutions. It is assuming the Bible cannot work out its own destiny. It is setting up au earthly tribunal to pass sentence upon an individual's religious opinions. It is the same spirit of intolerance that lit the fires of Smithfield, and that brotight many to a speedy death under the executioner's axe in the reign of Protcstavt Elizabeth and the French Revolution of '89. Opposition to a religious sect but tends to increase its strength, and calls from it a more determined resisti-nce.. The sympathies of all are, more or less, on the side of the persecuted. It should 210 be remembered too, that this same Pope, concerning whom so much is said, has to keep a foreign army around him to prevent his own Catholic subjects from dethroning him ; and yet the cry is, " the power of the Pope." England, of all other countries, should fear the Pope, if he does assume the right to alter governments or dethrone kings; and yet, England has tried to disfranchise the Catholics in the realm. She has done so, but after several years' experience she came to the conclusion that the Catholics were as good citizens as the Pro- testants ; and upon bringing the Emancipation Bill before Parliament, the ablest Protestants in both houses advocated its passage, and by a large majority the Catholic subjects were relieved of their civil disabilities. On this occasion the Catholic religion underwent the severest scrutiny. The committee on the part of Parliament summoned a large number of Catholic priests, professors in colleges, and intelligent lay membirs, before them, by whom the temporal or civil power of the Pope was absolutely denied. Alexander Pope, the poet, and a Catholic by profession, also denied it. The Pope himself was written to, and he denied it as being a part of the Catholic creed. A few days since Mr. Chandler, in Congress, whom the National IntelUcjencer last year considered a man of the highest character, also denied it upon the floor of Congress, and read extracts from many Citholic works, conclusively showing that they do not recognize it as a part of their creed to interfere with matters of government. But suppose the Catholics do advocate the union of Church and State, and that they are trying to get possession of this country. The idea is still whim- sical and absurd. Tliis country was discovered in 1492, and at that time there was neither a Catholic nor Protestant in the country. At present (1855) the population of the country is 24,000,000. Drop 4,000,000 for slaves, and we still have 20,000,000 of whites. There are 1,570,000 Catholics in the country, which, taken from the 20,000,000, loaves over 18,000,000 of anti-Catholics, or those opposed to the Catholics. Since the discovery of the country to the present time, 365 years have passed. Then, in 365 years, the Protestants or anti-Catholics have increased to 18,000,000, and the Catholics to only 1,500,000. If then, they continue to increase in the same ratio, 365 years hence there will be 36,000,000 of people opposed to the Catholic Church, and only 3,500,000 of Catholics. Do the Know Nothings fear the Catholics when, in tlirce hundred and sixfi/-five years hence, the Catholics will number only 3,500,000, and the anti-Catholics, or those opposed to the Catholic Church, will amount to the enormous sum of thirti/-six millions? These facts might be enlarged on, but we deem them suf- ficient. Fifth. — I am opposed to the Know Nothings because they have a party with only one p)rincip)h, and that an ohjcctiunahle principle. As before remarked, this Catholic question is the only principle of this new party, and this, I en- deavoured to show in the last paragraph, was utterly untenable and whimsical, as well as unchristian and anti-republican. In regard to the other resolutions laid down in their platform, they are either assumed or borrowed from other parties, and the Know Nothings have no right to claim them as exclusive pro- perty. For instance, take the sixth, which reads thus : *< That the Bible in the hands of every free citizen is the only permanent basis of true liberty and genuine equality." Have the Know Nothings a right to claim this, and say that every other party denies the happy influence of the Bible on "liberty and genuine equality.'' It cannot be a principle solely their's until some other party denies it ; for, if both parties adopt it and claim its utility, it is a principle of both parties — common to both — and neither hns the exclusive right of property. Now, I would ask, when did the Democratic party ever object to or deny this principle ? Why it has never been denied by the Democratic party at all ; but this party looking upon it as a common principle, has never thought proper to incorporate it in its 211 platform, no more than a resolution that "every master should rule his slave, and tluit the slave should not rule the master ;" or that " a man can look upon the sky or his wife if he chooses." These, too, would be gdod principles, but they are the principles common to every freeman. But, again, I should like to know how it is tliat the members of the Know Nothing order care more about the l^ible than other persons, outside of the organization, who have al- ways been members of the Church. Irreligious skeptics inside the organization, and some of whom are regardless of the Bible, and yet they care more about it than an outsider of some (Iliristian persuasion. No; the truth is this : it is as much one party's principle as the other's — as much Whig or Democratic as Know Nothing, and as much mine as their's. So it is with other principles in the platform. They do not belong to the Know Nothing any more than to the Democratic party. Some of them, indeed, arc taken from the Democratic creed. As, for instance, " religious freedom/' and " State llights." Who wrote the celebrated act of religious freedom in Virginia ? Tbe father of the Democratic party. Whicli party has for years been struggling for the true docirine of State Rights? The Democratic party. Each article in the platform may be discussed in th« same way. As to "availability. Red Republicanism, demagogueism, and corruption," — the Democratic party has been trying to prevent these evils, and as the people become more enlightened and virtuous, we may expect a reform, and not until then. These evils are already festering like an ulcer upon the face of Know Nothingism. As regards the " ?io»-union of Church and State, the doctrine of State Rights, and the education of the people," — they form a part of the Dem- ocratic creed and practice, and always have. Indeed, on some of these points the platform is objectionable, because it does not go far cnowjli, and is not sufficiently es'^Waxt for good and genuine Democracy. Why, then, join a secret organization under sacreligious oaths ? Why dodge around the corners at night or run across the streets through the nmJ, to avoid being seen on council nights ? This is noble, highborn and chivalrous. Is it not ? This, no doubt, is one of the beauties of Know Nothing ism. What you do, do openly and above board like a man. In regard to foreigners and the voting laws, two-thirds of the Know Nothings disagree with their platform ; — some want 21 years previous residence, and some 14, and some wish to keep foreigners out of the country altogether. Upon this subject members of the Democratic party also differ — some for 21 years, some for 14, some for 10, and some prefer that the foreigner should be allowed to vote, but not hold office ; still the party is willing to discuss the sub- ject before the people on the hustings and in our legislative halls, and as the majority of the people think best, they are willing to sanction. Here I must be more explicit. Naturalization merely confers the right of transmitting property, serving on jury, sue and be sued, and the pledge on the part of the government fur protection." I presume no one will say that the honest and good foreigner should not be naturalized for 21 years. This would be cruel and unhumane. Five years previous residence should entitle him to the rights of naturalization. This right of passing " a uniform rule of naturalization" belongs to Congress, though the States sometimes confer upon a foreigner some of the privileges of naturalization even before he has been naturalized by Con- gress. But, in regard to the voting power, this is granted only by the terms of tbe constitution in our State, and, to alter the law, a convention must be held and tbe constitution altered. I claim to be a Democrat in tbe strict sense of the word, and yet I would favor a law of this kind ! " Five years previous resi- dence should be required before the rights of naturalization should be conferred on a foreigner. He should not be allowed to vote at all unless he came to this country before he was 21 years of age; and those who came before that age should be required 14 years previous residence." I take 14 as a compromise 212 between 7 and zl, and tbink that a sufficient length of time. On this point some Democrats may agree with me and some disagree, and they, like myself, are willing to leave the whole subject open for discussion before the people, and for their action. This question of naturalization and voting is a question of expediency, and is similar to the one agitated io the late Heform Convention, by both AVhigs and Democrats. I mean "white and mixed basis." It was a question for the people, and not a party issue, for the simple reason that dif- ferent individu-tls entertained difierent views on the subject in the same party. fSixlh. — I object to Know Nothingism because it piactices a general system of deception in the community. I have long since determined never to ask a man, " are you a Know Nothing ?" unless I am quite certain he does not belong to the council. And for this reason, that if he does belong to them, he will reply, "I don't know anything about them," or some other similar equivocal expression, which I regard as contrary to the principles of honor and the Bible; and the individual who does thus equivocate commits a knoum positive sin. When asked the question, the Know Nothing well knows my meaning, and by equivocating he emphatically deceives me ; and what is deception ? Answer it in your consciences. 1 dare assert it, as my opinion, that few persons who do cot belong to this new party ever believe one word another says in regard to the Know Nothings, even if the Know Nothing belongs to the Church. This is hard, but it is true, as the reader well knows. I regret it. This position might be fortified by scriptural quotations, and by extracts from learned writers on the subject, but it would take up too much space. One sentence, however, from Dr. Wayland, who says : "The obligation to veracity does not depend upon the right of the inquirer to Enow the truth. Did our obligation depend upon this, it would vary with every person with whom we conversed ; and in every case, before speaking, wo should be at liberty t.o measure the extent of our neiglibor's right, and to tell him the truth or falsehood accordingly. You cannot do that which God has forbidden." Members of the church especially should guard themselves. I do not believe that the Know Nothings intend wrong, but in the exciiement of party spirit a.nd useless enthusiasm, they have overlooked this point. A word to the wise is sufficient. .Seventh. — I object to Know Nothingism because it prevents a free exercise of votiur;. The elective franchise is the birthright of freemen. Its free and ■unrestrained use is the palladium and only security to our liberties and institu- tions. Control the ballot bos by oaths, and you promote chicane, abolition, and deraagOirueism by oaths. It has been acknowledged by members of the Know Nothing organization, that if a nominee is made by the parry they are com- pelled to vote for him or not vote at all — any how, I presume, they arc bound by oaths, if they do vote, to vote for a Know Nothing. They cannot vote for an outsider, even if lie sustains the platform. Does this not restrict the free exercise of the voting pov,'er ? The only way a Know Nothing can be inde- pendent in his vote is to leave the organization. When the great security of our liberties is thus restrained, who does not fear the ultimate result? The sea may be quiet and calm now, the breezes fair, the prospect bright and beautiful, '•7et take care, that in the last effort to strike the harbor, already in view, the gallant vessel does not go down the fearful abyss, dragging with it death and destruction. Ei'jliih. — I object to Know Nothingism because of its " fruits." By their fruits ye shall know them. What are tlie fruits '{ Abolition and Proscription. The Know Nothings triumphed in Massachusetts. What was the consequeuce ? The Governor swears eternal enmity to the South, and regards " papacy and slavery" the two evils which this new i>arty is bent to exterminate. The Leg- 213 islaturc of this State clecterl Henry Wilson to the U. S. Senate, wlio says he looks forward with a hope, that soon the " sun will rise on the last master and Bet on the last slave." In Michigan, Wisconsin, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Illinois, where this new party was successful, what has been the result? Abo- lition, Freesoil, anti-Nebraska men have been elected, and the Governors recom- mending to the Legislatures in their messages eternal hatred and opposition to the South. We know of no man who has been elected at the North by this new party, unless he first proclaimed himself determined to oppose the extension of slavery and the rights of the South. They are turning out of office the con- servative men, and placing in their stead the rankest Freesoilers. But what is very objectionable in this new party, is the fact that they are bound by oaths cither to support the nominee for the Presidency or withdraw from the party. Take care that this feature of being bound by oaths is not an Abolition trap to abolitiouize the South, or sever in pieces the Union of the States. I believe the Know Nothings of the South will go with the South, but are they not giv- ing their influence to an organization which, at the North, is pledged against the South, by strong and binding oaths r' How do you not know that this system of oaths was not devised for the express purpose of binding together the Abo- lition vote of the North? If so, farewell, a long farewell, to the Union— to the glory of this great nation. ^7„ ; I doubt \i, for ice are all Free Sailers owselvcs. He had been advised to close the doors and keep certain men out of the Order. He had .said no — .let them all come in. A man is not a Senator for a single State, he is a Senator of the whole Union. " J. Q. Griffin, Esq., of Charlestown, said : Now, relative to Wilson's ante- cedents, he submitted there was no statute of limitations bearing upon the posi- tion or sentiments of members of this party. There was as much need of this party before last year as during that year. And he would say, and all would bear him out, that if it had not been for the passage of the infamous Nebraska bill, and the utter meanness of Pierce's National Administration, the revolution •would not have so speedily taken place, though it might have come in time. He wanted a man right on this question — the one now prominent, worthy to stand by the side of CHARLES SUMNER !" Here is one of the sweet "fruits of the mighty revolution," over which the Washington Organ " rejoices," and which has sent to the U. S. Senate an abo- litionist, " worthy to stand hy the side of Ciiarles Sumner !" Will not Vir- ginians turn away, with alarm and disgust, from an association whose Northern brethren perpetrate such monstrous acts and are whitewashed therefor, by Southern Know Nothing organs ? 245 Among the first triumphs of the Know Nothings, were the election of their gubernatorial candidates in the States of Pennsylvania and Delaware; and in the inaugural addresses of Governor Pollock of Pennsylvania, and of Governor Causey of Delaware, we have the first official enunciation of the doctrines of the anti-slavery Know Nothings of the free states. We therefore publish ex- tracts from their inaugural addresses : INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR TOLLOCK, OF PENNSYLVANIA, TUESDAY, JAN. 16, 1855. * , * * * * * Republican institutions arc the ])ride, and justly the glory of our country. To enjoy them is our privilege, to maintain them our duty. Civil and religious liberty— freedom of speech and of the press, the rights of conscience and freedom of worship — are the birthright and the boast of the American citizen. _ No royal edict, no pontifical decree, can restrain or destroy them. In the enjoyment of these blessings, the rich and the poor, the high and the low. meet together— the constitution, in its full scope and ample devehipmeut, shields and protects them all. When these rights are assailed, these privileges endangered, either by mad ambition, or by influences foreign to the true interests of the nation,^ and at war with love of country— that noble impulse of the American heart, which prompts it to revere home and native land as sacred objects of its affections — it is then the ballot box in its omnipotence, speaking in thunder tones the will of the peo- ple, rebukes the wrong, and vindicates the freedom of the man — the indepen- dence of the citizen. To the American people have these blessings been com- mitted as a sacred trust ; they are, and must ever be, their guardians and de- fenders. The American citizen, independent and free, uninfluenced by partizau attachments, unawed by ecclesiastical authority or ghostly intolerance — in the strength of fearless manhood, and in the bold assertion of his rights— should ex- hibit'^to the world a living illustration pf the superior benefits of American repub- licanism ; proclaiming a true and single allegiance to his country, and to no other power but " the God that makes and preserves us as a nation." Virtue, intelligence and truth are the foundation of our republic. By these our institutions and privileges can and will be preserved. Ignorance is not the mother of patriotism, or of republics. It is the enemy and destroyer of both. Education, in its enlightening, elevating and reforming infiuences, in the full power of its beneficent results, should be encouraged by the State. Not that mere intellectual culture that leaves the mind a moral waste, unfit to un- derstand the duties of the man or citizen, but that hither education, founded upon, directed, and controlled by sound and elevated moral principle — that re- cognizes the Bible as the foundation of true knowledge, as the text-book alike of the child and the American statesman, and as the great charter and bulwark of civil and religious freedom. The knowledge thus acquired is the proper con- servative of States and nations ; more potent in its energy to uphold the insti- tutions of freedom and the rights of man, than armies and navies ia their proud- est strength. The framers of our constitution understood this, and wisely provided for the establishment of schools and " the promotion of the arts and sciences, in one or more seminaries of learning," that the advantages of education might be enjoyed by all. To improve the efficiency of this system, not only by perfecting our common schools, but by encouraging and aiding "one or more" higher literary institu- tions, in which teachers can be trained and qualified ; and to increase the fund appropriated to educational purposes, are objects which will at all times receive my willing approval. Money liberally, yet wisely, expended in the pursuit and 246 promotion of knowledge, is true economy. The integrity of this system and its fund must be preserved. No division of this fund for political or sectarian purposes should ever be made or attempted. To divide is to destroy. Party and sectarian jealousies would be engendered; the unity and harmony of the system destroyed, and its noble objects frustrated and defeated. Bigotry might rejoice, patriotism would weep over such a result. * t. * * * * * t- Pennsylvania, occupying as she does an important and proud position in the sisterhood of States, cannot be indifferent to the policy and acts of the national government. Her voice, potential for good in other days, ought not to be dis- regarded now. Devoted to the Constitution and the Union — as she was the first to sanction, she will be the last to endanger the one or violate the other. Re- garding with jealous care the rights of her sister States, she will be ever ready to defend her own. The blood of her sons, poured out on the many battle fields of the revolution, attests her devotion to the great principles of American free- dom — the centre-truth of American republicanism. To the constitution in all its integrity; to the Union in its strength and harmony; to the maintenance in its purity, of the faith and honor of our country. Pennsylvania now is, and always has been, pledged — a pledge never violated, and not to be violated, until patriotism ceases to be a virtue, and liberty to be known only as a name. Entertaining these sentiments, and actuated by an exclusive desire to promote the peace, harmony and welfare of our beloved country, the recent action of the National Congress and Executive, in repealing a solemn compromise, only less sacred in public estimation than the constitution itself — thus attempting to ex- tend the institution of domestic slavery in the territorial domain of the nation, violating the plighted faith and honor of the country, arousing sectional jealou- sies, and renewing the agitation of vexed and distracting questions — has received from the people of our own and other States of the Union, their stern and mer- ited rebuke. With no desire to restrain the full and entire constitutional rights of the States, nor to interfere directly or indirectly with their domestic institutions, the people of Pennsylvania, iu view of the repeal of the Missouri compromise, the principle involved in it, and the consequences resulting from it, as marked already by fraud, violence and strife, have re-affirmed their opposition to the ex- tension of slavery into territory now free, and renewed their pledge " to the doctrines of the act of 1780, which relieved us by constitutional means from a grievous social evil ; to the great ordinance of 1787, in its full scope and all its beneficient principles; to the protection of the personal rights of every human being under the constitution of Pennsylvania, and the constitution of the United States, by maintaining inviolate the trial by jury, and the writ of habeas cor- pus; to the assertion of the due rights of the North as well as of the South, and to the integrity of the Union." The declaration of these doctrines is but the recognition of the fundamental principles of freedom and human rights. They are neither new nor startling. They were taught by patriotic fathers at the watchfires of our country's defen- ders, and learned amid the bloody snows of Valley Forge and the mighty throes of war and revolution. They were stamped with indelible impress upon the great charter of our rights, and embodied in the legislation of the best and purest days of the republic ; have filled the hearts, and fell burning from the lips of orators and statesmen, whose memories are immortal as the principles they cherished. They have been the watchword and the hope of millions who have gone before us — are the watchword and hope of millions now, and will be of millions yet unborn. In many questions of national and truly American policy, the due protection of American labor and industry against the depressing influence of foreign labor 247 and capital-tbc improvement of l.r --s jd harlo.^^^^^^ ^e^..ce.- the equitable distribution o ^l- proceeds of th<3pubhc^^^^ uio'tioD every encouragement should be given. ..AUOUKA. ADBKESS 0. OOV. P.»B r C«S|y, OP DELAWARE, AT DOVEK, JANUARY Id, iOOO. 5!C * * A:.he J... of a g»„ant and patrioUe people-as U. ^^^Z:^. a Stale, whose spirit and genius, and °»' ""'^ '"^''f °"' j ^^„^^ „e to corn- mined her position in the national -^-'^<=- ' ™te tent" election in this s-z:^.LTir,jtTopuf ^^^ r:i^^:^^eh'::rni-?tn:iire":£:t:;^iL^^^^^ it the community and its interest.-may -«;^;P2^^\^^\',",2^^^^^^^^^ the^trug- We have seen a re-assertion of the declarat on ^^^.^teople of Delaware to be gle for independence. It v;ould be ^"{;^^f ^^;;,.^,^: P^^-.b kindled at the filent on the progress and tnumph of '^-^''^^^^Xus,^^^^ heart to altar-fires of the revolution, has spread .^^^^^^^^ff ^^^ ^.^.d of patriotism, heart ; has united our American people ^^'^.^^f^^^^^^^^^ of ar^ and has secured the tnumph--not "^me-not ^"y^^^^^ ,^^'j^ ^^^^, hearts the or eloquence, of parties or pohticians-bu of a free P ople, m w ^^^^ American spirit, too long smothered ]^;^^<'' '^^f/' This affords iust grounds burst forth, and asserted its own pur,ty and P^^^^ ., J^^^^^J''^',^ be proud to for an exultation, in which ^^^y^^^^^'^^^^f . f^^.^Sf to no txue American share, for in it no old party has been exalted ; ^^ t)nngs ^^^^'' ^^^^ ^f citizen occasion for regret or mortification, ^« ^^^^^^^^ .^^^ § American lib- that render the voice of native masses, when ^P^f^^^^^^^^ every real voice of eternal right-it must be recognized a a tuumph m wtiica y American has an equal interest, and an equal claim ^^^^^ When, under the influence of a ''f'^'l'l'f'^^^^^^^^^ trust that it zSetiiSJd t2z:^^:^£ St. '^^ ^^ -[it^dTlShfanTel^pr^^^^^^^^^^^ i-h^:^^ a^'^=^ - SHBetht-^:^- Continental Kepublic, hardly discovers our ^^^^^ J^^^^'^- ^'J ^.^otion, and but he who studies the history of ^\»^^^7 ^^^f ' fvm '!^^^^^^ American statesmanship, sees her pictured ^ .g^^^^^^^^^^J^^^^ wt^^^ saw the dec- won the laurels of our liberty m our ^•^;*;^'"^ °'^ f^^'^^Lfng Island to Camden laration carried by her vote and ^now no held f om ^^^g ^ , tbe and Eutaw where Delaware did not leave her maityrs, ^ncl alway foe-no crisis in her councils where ^^^laware did not n.a n^ ^b^^^ ^^::^^^^ ^ Z= t^^^^^aiist .reigi do.. 248 Sister corumonwealths 1 ave followed "n^, wHI flf^^ '" f'" ^^'^'^ '^ ^'^ ^-"^-^• after tin.es, when the children 1^1: tl!s/f''T ^i'^^^ ^"«^J« «''^«>-' ^"d, '" umphs of her patriotism irwil InnM f ' 'H^'^ '^""^ «^^''' ^^^ ™^"y tri- dence, Delaware, as a Statri.^ th/f nT^^^^^ "^ un.haekled fndepea- aware won the first vict^rj ^^ ''"^'^^ '^'""^^^ ^^^ ^^'^ blow-Del- ha'n: =Ji:rco^l^:^rour;!:^ ^Jl^^-^ f-^^^-P- our people, niestic contests which have reco "mV^d ^ controversies-the mere do- opinion among those who 4Tfn,litefd 17-' "/' ^"'^""^^ difference of present is a resistance to invaders who nnf'' ''• T ""''^' ^""'^- ^^^« giance to a foreign prince and VJnf IF . T'? '"^V"'^' ''"^ ^'^''' ^^^ «1I^- parties have dictated tldr ow^ erm f d " f ^"t^' ^^''^•^^" '^' ^'"^^-i^^^Q der these influences the billyh ' v ''"'^'''^ *''""' "^^ superiority. Un- jected to their violence ; Amen'^n Sit c'^ I 'T^^^' '-^ their fraudsf or sub- to the American character and . / ""^^ been stained with vices forei-m have revolted in SusT Cm th T ^""'T '^ -T "^'^•^^ virtuous citizens graded; and the hig e fp la e^ oTtllrrtv^ T^f'^'' '' ^^^^•^^' ^"^ so de- ers or their fiattercl some of whon ' ^^ V^'"' ^°'" abandoned to foreign- er a foreign pontiff to C 1:^^':^;^^^::^^' ')^ '''^'''' P'-^^^'S-Tve ernment of their country In on, f, . • '7 ajleg.ance to the gov- American statesmanship .f;e well ni.h ]?t%^t.'^''f ')' '-''^'^ P^'^^'P'^^ of lected to represent the countrv at t I °t "^ ' ^^'•^'.'-'"•^rs have been se- gratilication of feelings unsharJd L ourCn'r^r'"'!' '^ Europe; and in the "ame a reproach throughout 1 .rin ? ? !', ^^'^ i""' "^^^^ the American principles 'and policyX^l^ and%fZ\ ^'^' 7'^'''^ ''''^^- ^^^'^^^^ opposites,andin the'pre fnd on h nh f "".^'■'' "^^'"-^^ in their alien ewajed the control and direct d the nf ^ f ''"' -^"'"S" ''^Auences have over- elates. The result of ircoo ph^^' ^ I ' T''' ^"V*^^ ''^''''''^ of candi- iibertj has been to establ X in hi/;^ ." '^' °''S'"^' ^"^ native American tially,%hough not non^n 1 r dev d o" /''' ' ^''""-^'^•P^^"^^^^' P--^'3^' ^^bstan- ^ons of foreign birth If ks ' rn / ^'^^ '"^^erests, and preferring per- claim allegiance to a fbrefnlnTclSv ';'"''" ^ -^ "^ ''' ^^"^^ ^o ?,-o- efforts to overthrow the Amer can system ll «^tab Ush, as the se led p^ cy i . ^^^ of the nation, the saving P^-'P ^^.f^^ re^os sSd and inesJi^uablo, of only to the right of/^f'^'g^'.^^^^'^ ^t po 'cv by ;hich our country has been our honest hardhanded home labor J^^J^^ ''/ .^j^, a^n-icultural, mechanical, in its trade, its currency, Us 7'^'^'^, l^'^'^f ''3m^^^^^^^ ^^j luxury, thrust into and otherwise, and in its social habits ^f^XTlmeAcan honor and American and madea part of Europe, - VXhe pS -^^^^^^^^^^ l^^^^^^^ ''' ^"" interests. It is a repudiation of all the peculiar aa « ,^^^^ ^^_ idence, in requital of tlie -^-^/^^J^f ^^ sTemeTof'poliricians, and to burthcned country. We have, to g^^^"7 . , , ^ upon our country a glut the greediness of money ^^^f '' ,J,^f/Xcb attend, as their par.site common and almost an equal shaie ot tlie eva. w ' ^ ^ ;„,ie. and clinging curses, the wa.sting --^^.^f^ J^ Ve re 3 only by fostering pendenoe, real h^PF^ess and secure policy re to be re^^^ ^J Jntn^\ self- Lr own American homes-the.rindusTmu^^^ ,_^^^^j ^^^, reliance. In regard to every political '^^^;^';^ fjPj^^ ,^^, earibquake shakes fidence a.ssociated with that An^encan ib ty wbich J ^ l-^^,^, ,,,1 — ^d ^;^^r ^^^^^^ 1^: their luxuries, their vices ; and added to the ^ 3^;;"' ! American a debt of a monstrous and perpctua debt-a ^^^^^ J. ' [^'^^^'j^.y^^f throu^iout every which drains our country of its specif, and which ^"^ ^ /^^^^^^.^j,^, ,, that ^;:r:-lin:^^:rsh^^^^ -^ -- which all power has its source—her industry , ^^ ^jll she Then, and only then, will she cease to be a Europe nc^olo«y, be the America of our fatbers-truly i"^.<^Pf ^j^^^'^'^^ Vom ^ crimes and -secure in her own strength, and happy ^^-^^^^^^^^^^^^/^^Z/rd torture their own oppressions, the wrongs and wars of Europe "^^yj^;"^^ ;^^^.^^ l^iU that con- w^odd; but not a ripple of the storm w.bre^kup^n^^^^^^^^ _^^^^ ^^^ summation shall have been ^ff'^^^^^^'^^^^^.f'!,,!^ of our AiBcrican patriarchs triumph-however glorious-incomplete ; ^he ac es ot our . ^ and prophets will remain empty, and the real mission, holy, caim of our American destiny unachieved. 250 In the federal Union, the general and 9f.f appropriate orbs, neither unite^r 1 if . • governments, revolving in their - -terest,aad the indiviraK tlTcj "Vr"'"^' ^'^^'^^"^^ '"^-- -n- lustrousas her councils determi' of JleV^^^ ^are, in her relations with the^elal'll ! ,"'''• , ^^' ^'"''^'y «f ^^ela- and conspicuous; and in evorytf'is t^ha. T' .' ^^'"^^/^^^^'^ been interesting iriost Illustrious republics of The nasJ If n- ^'^ ^'''^"°« *« prove-as the ritorj have also shown-thaireal ^L^^^^^^ '"''"•"« ^'^^^^^^^ ^» ^^^ent of ter- and ^^Pirit, and not in vastisfo/pr^^^^^^^^^^ " ''^ ^^^^'^*^°" °^ -^^- g neral government, there ^i-s' more f7hope-th.t . ^T-T T^''' '^ ""^ with a confidence in the peonle— fh«n f ''^P^ ^^at hope which always abides l^ome, the government ha'Xn s adm nisr^l"' felicitation. Abroad ^nTa pie scope for the exercise,^throuS tCir ren ' "\ '' ^'''' '' '^' P^^P'e am- love of country. In the'trials wh eh th !?!.?'"'''''/' ^^' '^'''' ^^^^-^ and adniinistration have imposed upon the count t 7^1 """^ ^'"'^^ "^ ^^^ ""happy confidently trust, be found as in^^ the past ?/ I ^ ^^"■' ^^'^ ^S^'"' ^« ™^J Ob igations of the constitution. But it Ztt ^r''^' to the exalted he extraordinary power and success of nnr ''T'^'^^ «^ ^^ illustration of lance due to American prudence Ind If r'^''"°.' "^"^ ^^ ^^e entire re- ti7 been so secure as JenhT.CLKTT~'^''' ""'''' has our coun- were imagined in regard to the uS 'Zt\^''"''''- ^"^^''^ P^^'^'^ ^^ich It was immovable as "he hills- everv ^3,^^^ T"''''"^'*^ n)anifestly that government has given to the ZL7^ indication of weakness or folly in the tbe all sufficiency of the^i; w^C^l^J Sr'^' ''''' ^^^-^^^' ^ ^^^ The iVe.. ro,7. //e;.aW was regarded in IS^". .. .) ous, and influential Organ of the kI at .' ' """'' powerful, danger. We therefore publish an'edito ial from It """ ''''' ^" ^^^' ^^^^^ «^'^^-- existed between the Know Nothin^.n ] a k'T- ^"^ ''^'''''"^ '^' ''^"■^"^« ^^^^^^I^ now JNothing and Abolition parties in the free States. The Know Nothings of the Nortr Mn. Know' .Cullt'trn^r^:rMT4chusettr^"n ^ ™"?^^ ^^ ^^^^- Gardner, the "pon the Nebraska question he betravs t . T/?^"'^ ^'" ^^'"<^^ber 'that declares himself in flvor of the res tori ion nf IT \'f- " ^''''^^^^^, and boldly pve to-day an extract on the SWv n r . ^"''"" Compromise. Wc ock, the Know Nothing Governor of Penn^"'!' ^™'" *^' ^"^^"«"^^' «f Mr. Pol! that Pennsylvania in her lIlT r ^^""^.y^^ania, in which we are informed affirmed the^Misso^Hnte -d J at, a'"' f ''^"'"''^ '^' Nebra ka W Te^ t-'e Slave law, notwithsLnd^^;terthfr^^ '' '^^ * '4 - niakc upon the subject. ^ ^'^ '^' Governor has no recommendation to the f^^t^irS;;^^Cf ^i?;:,f r ^t «^- of the Know Nothings of rassed, to a considerable extent, wh tie w' del "rff"". ^'"'^ ''' ^^^" ^-^ar- of the Northern States, and especiallv wi7h f,^ "''^ anti-slavery sentiment .epidemic, which entered so larSlv f, .^ 7u^\ be remains of the anti-Nebraska Kansas. The same Freesoi cl is^ns hV;e V ^^*"°,%^^°- Massachusetts to nation, by a caucus of the Massachusetts Knn ^'^^^ f^hib.ted in the late nomi- th ?.^°^^, Y'^^°°' heretofore a lead'n ' In IslTv '^^"^ ^legislature, of Gene- the United States Senate. There ha s° hp^t /,.""' ""' their candidate for 251 the Know Nothings of Massachusetts arc aware of the importaneo of maintain- ing, as far as possible, in this Senatorial election, the attitude of non-interven- tion upon tlic slavery question. In these Know Nothing messages of Messrs. Gardner and Pollock, and in this nomination of Wilson, there is a manifest disposition to conciliate the free- soil and anti-slavery sentiment of the North. Nor is it surprising that this should be the case, considering the fact that the Know Nothings entered into the late elections side by side with the anti-slavery forces rallied throughout the North upon the anti-Nebraska furor. In the outset, all great revolutions are orude and encumbered, more or less, with incongruities and inconsistencies. So this new party, from the throes of parturition^ comes into the world somewhat lacking the elements of perfect symmetry and harmony, although the bantling possesses a vigorous vital system, and all the requisites of superior manly strength. Now, the anti-Nebraska agitation is dying out — the popular mind soon wearies of impracticable abstractions. Public opinion in these United States is eminently practical and utilitarian, national, patriotic and conserva- tive. A little resolution and unity of action on the part of the Northern Know Nothings are all that is now wanted to ch^inse their skirts of the last remaining vestiges of anti-slavery doctrines and affiliations. Since our November election there has been some trouble among the Know Nothings of this State, traceable to the slavery controversy. Hence those out- side Know Nothing Lodges, the object of wliich is a diversion from this new party in favor of the re-election of Wm. H. Seward. And so, in Iowa, an anti- slavery Whig has been elected to the United States Senate, from the support of the Know Nothings, in the place of Dodge, Nebraska aJministration Democrat, Such combinations of anti-slavery men and Know Nothings have had in view the great object of " crushing out" the greatest imbecile spoils coalition at Washington, and in this light they may be considered as the necessary prelimi- nary steps in clearing the track for the projected national revolution of 1856. The Examiner summed up the acts of the Know Nothings of the free States during the years 1854 and 1855 in the following admirable manner. V.IIAT HAVE THEY DONE? The Know Nothings have within the last twelve months made sufficient pro- gress, in many of the State and city elections, to develope their plans and inau- gurate their men ; and from Maine to California we challenge the friends of the Order to point to a single instance of their having performed the first creditable act of reform. In Massachusetts their triumph was complete, and, with a half dozen exceptions, the Legislature is there composed of members of the new Order. In that State they have removed Judge Loring for enforcing the Fugi- tive Slave law — they have taken the first step toward practical amalgamation by placing negro and white children in their common schools upon terms of equal- ity — they have elected to the Senate a man who endorses the horrid blasphemy of a wretch who wants an anti-slavery God, and an anti-slavery Bible — they have violated the sanctity of the dwelling of a few unprotected females and offered rudeness«to the persons of sick children and helpless women — they have legislated with closed doors, disbanded the Irish companies who protected the person of Col. Suttle, and placed his fugitive slave, Anthony Burns, safely on board a vessel bound for Alexandria — and elected to the Legislature sixty or seventy of the Clergymen who signed the famous anti-Nebraska protest. In New Hampshire, led on by a fugitive slave and the notorious John P. Hale, they have crushed the National Democratic party, and the re-election of Hale to the U. S. Senate, is regarded as a fixed fact. 252 In New York they have elected William H. Scwartl, and, by uniting with the fanatical Maine Liquor Law men, destroyed a legitimate branch of business employing 40,0U0,000 of dollars per annum^ and thrown out of employment 150,000 laborers/ In Maine they have passed the following resolutions, breathing the fiercest spirit of hostility to the South : Kesolved, " 1. That slavery Jias no legal tenure either under State or Federal jurisdiction, and therefore exists only by sufferance. '' 2. That our Senators in Congress be instructed and our Rejn-esentatives re- quested to use all practicable means to secure the passage of the following en- actments : '' First. An act repealing all laws of the United States authorizing slavery in the District of Columbia. '^Second. An act repealing the act of 1850 known as the Fugitive Slave Law. " Third. An act forever prohibiting slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime, within the territories of the'United States." In Michigan they have passed resolutions precisely similar to those of Maine. In Illinois and Iowa they have elected to office the boldest and most odious of the Abolition party. They have Abolitionized Pennsylvania. In Ohio they mobbed that true friend of the South, the chivalrous Mitchell, and in Rhode Island they attempted to destroy the house of the Sisters of Charity, and were checked by the military companies of the city of Providence. They have already destroyed the peace and harmony of the American people, arraying neighbor against neighbor, and son against father. They have, by persecution and intolerance, alienated the affections of loyal and patriotic fo- reigners from our institutions, and declared the Constitution and the act of re- ligious toleration null and void. In the brief history of this new Order there is nothing good. Its career has been one of fimaticism and folly, its progress that of a deadly enemy of our institutions, over the ruins of all which we hold sacred in history and tradition. THE FOUR ISMS UNITED. In the free States the Democratic party in 1855 had to contend against an alliance of Maine-lawism, Know Nothingism, Abolitionism and the remnants of the old Whig party. The Nashua Gazette drew the following admirable picture of the allied forces of 1855 : Temperance, Knoiv-N'othingism, Niggerisvi, and Wilggery. In this vicinity. Temperance, Know-Nothingism, Niggerisra and Whitrgery are all united and acting cordially together for the overthrow of the Democracy ; and doubtless the same is true of oth^r sections of the State. The chief mana- ger of the Temperance organization, the man of all work, imported from the West to direct our political affairs under the pretence of promoting the temper- ance cause, (Rev. E. W. Jackson,) is devoting his whole time and efforts in perfeciing this combination to break down the Democratic party. It is stated, upon good authority, that he offered his services and the influence of the Tem- perance organization to the Whigs, some weeks ago, before they concluded to 253 go into the " Order." He is a Know-Nothing, and attended the late Conven- tion of that Ordor at Great Falls; a "leaky" Temperance Know-Nothing says he was a delegate to the Know-Nothing State Convention, wliich met on Tues- day last at Manchester, for the nomination of candidates for State officers, mem- bers of Congress, cfcc. lie is a professed Abolitionist, and a political priest and Pharisee of the most Jesuitical type. He declares in the Temperance organ that he and his friends will support no candidate who is not an open and relia- ble friend of a stringent prohibitory liquor law. Yel when he became a mem- ber of the Know-Nothing organization he took the following oath : " Ohh'ijatlon. — You, and each of you, of your own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God and these witnesses, your right hand resting on this Holy Bible and Cross, and your left hand raised towards Heaven, or //' it le preferred, your left hand resting on your breast, and your right hand raised toward Heaven, in token of your sincerity, do solemnly promise and swear, that you will not make known to any person or persons any of the sif/us, secrets, mys- teries, or objects of this organization, unless it be to those whom, after due exa- mination, or lawful information,;.you shall find to be members of this organiza- tion in good standing; that you will not cut, carve, print, paint, stamp, stain, or in any way, directly or indirectly, expose any of the secrets or objects of this Order, nor suffer it to be done by others if in your power to prevent it, unless it be for official instruction ; that so long as you are connected with this organi- zation, if not regularly dismissed from it, you will, in all things, POLITICAL or SOCIAL, so far as this Order is concerned, comply iciih the u:iU of the ma- jority, when expressed in lawful manner, thoiu/h it may conflict vrith your per- sonal preference, so long as it does not conflict with the Grand State or Subor- dinate Constitutions, the Constitution of the United States of America, or that of the State in which you reside ; that you will not, under any circumstances •whatever, knowingly recommend an unworthy person for initiation, nor suffer it to be done if in your power to prevent it. You furthermore promise and de- clare that you will not vote nor give your influence for any man for any office in the gift of the people, unless he be an American-born citizen, in favor of American-born ruling America; nor if he be a Iloman Catholic; and that you will not, iinder any circumstances, exjjose the name of any member of this Or- der, nor reveal the existence of such an or(/ani~ation. To all the foregoing you bind yourselves, under the no less penalty than that of being expelled from this Order, and of having your name posted and circulated throughout the dif- ferent Councils of the United States as a perjurer, and as a traitor to God and your country ; as being unfit to be employed and trusted, countenanced or svp- ported, in any business transaction ; as a person totally unworthy the covjidence of all (jood men, and as one at ivhom the finger of scorn should ever he pointed. So help me God." By this oath this reverend politician and all other members of the Order have sworn, "in the presence of Almighty God," to vote for such candidates as may be selected by the Know-Nothing Convention. If they nominate the greatest rumsellers ever defended by Jack Hale, this leader of the Temperance cause has sioorn to support them ! If they select open and notorious rum-drinkers and opponents of a prohibitory law, he is bound by a most solemn oath to sup- port them ! He is a ranting Abolitionist Aid anti-Nebraska man ; yet if they nominate avowed Nebraska men, he has sworn before Cod to give them his cor- dial support 1 And such is the position of every other Temperance man and Abolitionist who belongs to this Order — a position which this reverend gentle- man has knowingly induced very many of them to place themselves in. Now, who can doubt, when an intelligent man pursues such a course, that he desiyns just what must inevitably follow ? Rev. Mr. Jackson has not been the 254 dupe of others in this matter, but, on the contrary, has designedly used the in- fluence of his position to thus virtually force Temperance men into the support of the factions now banded against the Democratic party. But has he used nothing hut his influence? It is known that eff"orts have been made to raise "a million fund," upon which a certain per cent, may be assessed to be expended in promoting the success of the Temperance party. Quite a large sum has been subscribed towards that fund, and Rev. Mr. Jack- son is said to be the sole manager, depositary, and disbursing agent of the mo- ney paid in. And for what purpose, and in what manner, is that money now being used? Is it true that it is being expended for political purposes — to pay his salary and expenses and '■'■ incidentals," while engaged mainly in promoting the schemes of the political organizations opposed to the Democracy ? This is openly stated to be the fact; and the course of Mr. Jackson but tends to corro- borate the statement. Let true, honest, and single-minded Temperance men enquire into these matters before they lend themselves further to the promotion of the political and mercenary schemes of the demagogues for whose use the Temperance organization is now being perverted. We learn that among the delegates from Concord to the Know-Nothing Con- vention at Manchester, besides Rev. Mr. Jackson, was Ephraira liutchius, late Whig postmaster there, a leading member of the Whig State committee, and an active member of the Convention which nominated James Dell for Governor ! Among them were, also, some of the leading Freesoilers. Thus the heads, " the central cliques," of Whiggery, Niggerism, and Temperance are united and ac- tive in this dark conspiracy against the rights of the people and the Republican institutions of the country. Let honest men of all parties, and especially De- mocrats, look and reflect upon this fact, and let it nerve their arms and confirm their resolution to fight manfully against this corrupt and wicked combination of unprincipled men for the promotion of mercenary objects. THEIR PLATFORM IN VIRGINIA. Having now shown the attitude of the Know Nothing Party in the Northern States, we close this review by publishing their ofiicially promulgated Basis of Principles in Virginia. It was an emanation from the Winchester Convention. The Convention of the American Party of Virginia, Which met at Winchester, on Tuesday, the 13th of March, appointed the undersigned a committee, to make publication, over their names, of the follow- ing : Bads Principles of the American Party of Virginia. Determined to preserve our political institutions in their original purity and vigor, and to keep them unadulterated and unimpaired by foreign influence, either civil or religious, as well as by home faction and home demagogueism ; and believing that an American policy, religious, political and commercial, ne- cessary for the attainment of these ends, we shall observe and carry out in practice, the following principles : — * 1. That the suffrages of the American people for political ofiices, should not be given to any others than those born on our soil, and reared and matured under the influence of our institutions. 2. That no foreigner ought to be allowed to exercise the elective franchise, till he shall have resided within the United States a sufficient length of time to have become acquainted with the principles and imbued with the spirit of our 255 institutions, and until be sliall have become tborougblj identified with the great interests of our country. 3. That whilst no obstacle should be interposed to the immigration of all fo- reigners of honest and industrious habits, and all privileges and immunities enjoyed by any native born citizen of our country should be extended to all such immigrants, except that of participating in any of our political administrations; 3'et all legal means shouhl be adopted to obstruct and prevent the immigration of the vicious and worthless, the criminal and pauper. 4. That the American doctrine of religious toleration, and entire absence of all proscriptions for opinion's sake, should be cherished as one of the very fun- damental principles of our civil freedom, and that any sect or party which be- lieves and maintains that any foreign power, religious or political, has the right to control the conscience or direct the conduct of a freeman, occupies a position which is totally at war with the principle of freedom of opinion, and which is mischievous in its tendency, and which principle if carried into practice would prove wholly destructive of our religious and civil liberty. 5. That the Bible in the hands of every free citizen, is the only permanent basis of all true liberty and genuine equality. 6. That the intelligence of the people is necessary to the right use and the continuance of our liberties, civil and religious, hence the propriety and impor- tance of the promotion and fostering of all means of moral culture, by some adequate and permanent provision for general education. 7. That the doctrine of availability now so prevalent and controlling, in the nomination of candidates for office, in total disregard of all principles of rio'ht of truth, and of justice, is essentially wrong, and should be by all good men condemned. 8. That as a general rule, the same restrictions should be proscribed to the exercise of the power of removal from office, as are made necessary to be ob- served in the power of appointment thereto ; and that executive influence and patronage, should be scrupulously conferred and jealously guarded. 9. That the sovereignty of the States should be supreme in the exercise of all powers not expressly delegated to the Federal Government, and which may not be necessary and proper to carry out the powers so delegated, and that thi's principle should be observed and held sacred in all organizations of the xVmeri- can party. 10. That all sectarian intermeddling with politics and political institutions, coming from whatever source it may, should be promptly resisted by all such means as seem to be necessary and proper for this end. 11. That whilst the perpetuity of the present form of the Federal Govern- ment of the United States, is actually necessary for the proper development of all the resources of this country, yet the principle of non-intervention, both on the part of the Federal Government and of the several States of the Union in the municipal affairs of each other, is essential to the peace and prosperity of our country, and to the well being and permanence of our institutions, and at the same time the only reliable bond of brotherhood and union. 12. That Red Republicanism and licentious indulgence in the enjoyment of civil privileges, are as much to be feared and deprecated, by all friends to well regulated government and true liberty as any of the forms of monarchy and despotism. 13. That the true interest and welfare of this country, the honor of this na- tion, the individual and private rights of its citizens, conspire to demand that all other questions arising from party organizations, or from any other source should be held subordinate to and in practice made to yield to the great princi- ples herein promulgated. ANDREW E. KENNEDY, of Jefferson, GEORGE D. GRAY, of Culpeper, JOSIAH DABBS, of Halifax. 256 THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT. Various circumstances combined to render the canvass in the Richmond or Metropoliran Congressional District, one of profound interest to the whole State. The great circulation of the Democratic press published in Richmond, and the fact that the Know Nothing party boasted of its perfect invincibility in that district, attracted all eyes to its candidates and aspirants for Congress. As an entertaining and amusing chapter, illustrative of the party feeling in the district, we give two of the Examiners articles upon the factions and rival- ries which disturbed the tranquility of the Know Nothing councils of Rich- mond : The Know Nothings, we have every reason to believe, have to brave a sea of trouble. Rampant and perfectly ungovernable aspirants for the nomination for Congress, render the councils as tempestuous as the cave of ^Eolus. If what; we hear is true, the friends of Messrs. Botts, Crane and Scott, are in a precious stew. Messrs. Crane and Scott have not left their destinies to bo controlled by the stars and their friends. Both have sought, by deeds of mighty valor, to build up reputations in the provinces. They have held forth long and frequently to admiring audiences, and the people have been left in great uncertainty a.s to their respective merits. Scott makes, we learn, usually a speech of one hour and a quarter, well digested, full of facts and scraps from newspapers and alma- nacs. All of this materiel, he has carefully and systematically arranged, and he runs out with the regularity of an hour glass. When the exigencies of the debate require a reply, he reverses his hour glass and the sands of his discourse pour back agaiil. He is courteous and gentlemanly, but deficient in vivacity and fluency. Mr. Adoniram J. Crane, on the contrary, is affluent of words, and really has gotten together a large collection of clap trap, broken beads, bits of tinsel, fragments of red wax, pieces of differently colored glass, and other odds and ends, which, when he pours them forth, do look very pretty and daz- zling to the eye of the i.nthinkiug. There is neither logic nor connection in his ideas, but he has a great deal more declamation than Scott, and possesses a creditable share of intellectual cultivation. He does not measure his discourses by the hour, but runs like an endless chain pump — the same bucket.s and the same links coming up every few minutes. Hence, when we attend public meetings in Richmond, and the disciples of Sam want a regular blow out, we hear the name of " Crane !" " Crane !" " Crane !" frequently repeated — but we never hear the first feeble cry for Scott. Scott is strong in the provinces where the people like the strong pork and beans of "facts and arguments;" but Crane's fancy touches tickle the descendants of Botts' old guard. They shout for Judson Crane, just as their fathers used to scream for Botts — when his envious lieutenants used to sit neglected on the back benches, without a call. Besides, Scott is regarded as a sort of interloper, having recently made a de- scent upon Richmond from the hills of Powhatan. His sign still glistens, on Governor street, with the fresh paint of yesterday, whilst A. Judson Crane's shingle looks as old and veteran as his services to Botts. Scott has not figured in our city courts, whereas the professional services of Crane are frequently called into requisition by the unwashed of the extremities of the city. Scott's affection for Botts is said to be of a doubtful character, whereas Crane has il- lustrated his devotion in a thousand ways. He has sat at the feet of Gamaliel long and faithfully. In times gone by, he is said to have perpetrated a biogra- phy of his majesty, and being a man of classical education, which Botts is not, he is supposed to have often taken the Immortars thunderbolts in a rough 257 state*, and polished thciu for general circulation. We have long thought that Botts' ragged mantle would sit becomingly on Crane. Scott's services to the party are acknowledged in the counties, but the sages who deliberate at the Af- rican church know him not. lie has again and again ravaged the counties of the district, devouring Democratic electors and candidates for Congress, like a new Dragon of Wantly — but the people of llichmond have never seen him do it. He was reported, during the Congress of 1852, to have swallowed our Con- gressional elector, Mr. Robert Gr. Seott, eleven times, and to have skinned him alive eight times — albeit a mild tempered man. During the present canvass he has devoured Judge Caskie in a great many instances, but yet the city people are skeptical, and do not put much faith in the correspondents of newspapers. If Scott would make arrangements to swallow Judge Caskie some evening at the African church, it would put his stock up amazingly. Adonirara's pros- pects would also be improved, if he was to demolish Mr. Aylett in that sacred edifice. Both had better try it at an early day. We believe the victims are prepared to meet their fate with becoming resignation. But Crane has not been at all behind Scott in the Dragon of Wantly line. He went to Petersburg one afternoon to sup upon the remains of Senator Ma- son, and it was with great difficulty that he was kept from his atrocious and cannibal designs upon that estimable gentleman's body. The kindness of the Democracy of Petersburg having rescued Senator Mason, and deprived our friend of his anticipated supper, he hastened, hungry as a boa constrictor, to Caroline, and in the sight of a great crowd, crushed and skinned our Congres- sional elector, Mr. Aylett, and ravenously swallowed his mangled remains. Scarcely had we recovered from the shock of this bereavement, when we heard of his frightening to death two or three Democratic orators in New Kent, and the very next evening he was in Petersburg, unmercifully devouring Senator Mason's speech, and speaking so eloquently that a letter writer mentions an unfortunate man who, having had his jaw fractured by the accidental discharge of a pistol, quite forgot the pain in his ecstatic admiration of Mr. Crane's harangue. It will thus be seen, from this hasty parallel after the manner of Plutarch, that both Scott and Crane have great claims at this time, and that both of them have performed eminent services. Crane and Scott are the Achilles and Hector of the aspirants. There are others who are said also to hone after the fleshpots. in a very meek and quiet manner, but who are, we fear, mouldering in the shade of Scott's greatness and Crane's eloquence. An occasional groan from an old Botts man evinceth the wrath of a few of the faithful at Crane's havin"',, tired of long waiting, now set up shop for himself with a fair prospect of sup- planting his old patron in business. Mr. Harmer Gilmer having won many laurels by his manly and patriotic correspondence with " A Southern Mairon," and achieved all that a diploma- tist could, in his famous negotiations for Mt. Vernon, would not, it is supposed,, indignantly reject a nomination for Congress, provided that accomplished un- known, " The Southern Matron," does not desire it. But Mr. Gilmer has only, made one speech of half an hour's length, whereas Messrs. Crane and Scott have expended many thousand cubic feet of gas for their country. There is a. fitness of things in Crane's succeeding to the fading glories of Botts, which the' Know Nothings will certainly recognize. Mark the prediction. We stand ready to welcome the young phoenix when he springs from the ashes of the old. 17 258 ^' HURRAH FOR BOTTS !"* Gordon Cumniings, the celebrated lion killer, who spent seven years iu Africa f^laying all sorts of wild animals, sonjewbere describes the consteruation produced ttmoQg all inferior wild beasts by the appearance and roar of a full grown, tawny lion. One evening when he was anxiously awaiting near a pool of water for his game, he was amused by the performances of sundry jackalls, wolves, hyenas, and other subordinate beasts of prey. The jackalls lorded it iu quite a luagniticient manner over a pack of timid wild dogs; the hyenas treated the rascally looking w^olves with aristocratic contempt, and the wolves revenged themselves by their contemptuous treatment of a few stray foxes. Suddenly, in the midst of this entertaining comedy, a terrific roar is heard; and a huge lion bounds into the throng, with flaming eyes, and erect, vibrating tail. In a moment the whole scene changes — the hyenas skulk off, the jackalls take to their heels, the wolves disappear, and the wild dogs, protected by their insignificance, retire to a neighboring hill and bay alternately at the rising moon and the hun- gry lion. Since our last issue a somewhat similar scene has been enacted in this Congressional district. Presuming that the immortal Botts was looking so in- tently upon the glittering fringe of a prospective nomination for the Presidency, that he had forgotten this Congressional district, a choice assortment of subor- dinate aspirants had appeared upon the stage, and were furnishing a capital gra- tuitous entertainment for the people of the surrounding counties. In the ab- sence of razor strap orators, and greased rope itinerants, these gentlemen aiforded huge amusement to our unsophisticated country friends. And the rivalry of these gentlemen was so transparent that it was seriously apprehended that after they had devoured all of the Democratic electors and candidates, they would swallow each other and produce "an aching void," such as that which the Kil- kenny feline combatants are said to have created at the termination of their little controversy. Botts out of the way, this Congressional district seemed a " pent up Uiica," too small to contain two such Ciesars as A. Judson Crane and Wra. C. Scott. Two suns or two moons, would not have surprised people more than the appearance of two men of such transcendant ability at the same time. Their reputation was the growth of a day. It took their most intimate friends by surprise. The moment the rumor spread that Botts was out of the way, these gentlemen outgrew their small clothes, and their greatness spread over the land with marvellous rapidity. Their inflation was as rapid as that of a balloon, and Jack's wonderful bean stalk was rather a slow affair when compared with the rise of these gentlemen. Until yesterday, never were the chances of suc- cess more nicely balanced, than between Crane and Scott. One reigned supreme in the city, whilst the other lauded it in the provinces. One wore the scalp of a United States Senator, of a candidate for the mayoralty, and of a Congres- sional elector at his girdle; the other scoured the counties with the skin of ano- ther Congressional elector, for a waistcoat, and the legs of a distinguished can- didate for Congress dangling out of his mouth. Both were working with an energy that prompted success^ but we fear that both have been suddenly cut down in the flower of their youth. On Tuesday morning, Botts gave one of his old fashioned roars, and, by nine o'clock the same day. Crane and Scott needed the services of Coroner Wicker, Thus we have seen, on a bright spring morning, two belligerent turkey cocks writhing and twisting each other's necks in deadly conflict, struck down by the fowling piece of a cruel sportsman. Botts again in the field, Crane falls prostrate before his omnipotent I am, and poor Mr. Scott retreats to Powhatan to digest his bloody repasts in private. Vanity of vanity, * Old Screamersville war cry. 259 all is vanity ! Who kao^eth wbat a day may bring forth ? Yesterday, Crane and Scott were Sam's greatest pets ; to day, and none so poor as to do them re- verence. Oh, cruel Botts ! oh, unhappy Crane ! oh, miserable Scott ! We had jiist announced the speedy appearance of the 3'oung phoenix when the old bird, with a few lusty blows from his still vigorous wings, extinguishes the funeral pile, and with slightly singed plumage, drives his dreadful beak and ter- rible claws plump through the tender body of the aspiring lieutenant. For no one can read the wrathful mani/rsto of Botts and not recognize the willingness of that gentlemaa to accept the nomination ; and as he stands head and shoulders above such men as Crane and Scott, and as there is more capacity in the parings of his nails than in all the rest of the Whig party together, his nomination may be regarded as mast probable. For, although at this time, when the people are given to doing funny things, and when the political caul- dron is boiling, we may expect strange things to happen and queer nominations to come to the surface, there is nevertheless a weight of Whig consistency and genuineness in the ring of Botts' metal that the subordinates cannot resist. They may scour the district, and illustrate their "gift of the gab" at ever/ cros,s-road, but when the old lion (dilapidated as he is) of Whiggery sends forth one of his terrible roars and treads the accustomed war path with as firm a tread as ever, in an instant Adomiram and the gentleman " late of Poivkatan" are forgotten, and the old guard, the veterans of Screaraersville, the heroes of ever f;dthful Butchertown, the patriots of Kocketts, and the partisans of the Slashes, instinctively send up the old shout of '■^ hun-alt, for JSoits." There is an affec- tion, a faithfulness about these old chaps which the juveniles who yell for Crane,* and the old country people to whom Scott administers almanacs and newspap<.^j' scraps, never dreamt of. The hearts of the old respectable, consistent Clay Whigs, still belong to Botts. He is the embodiment of the most respectable elements of Whiggery, and in this district he is still invincible, lie possesses stores of strength that the fire flies who have recently sought to illumine the dark subject of Know Nothingism never dreamt of. Look at the weight and respectability attached to the card in which Botts has just crushed out the prospects of the Cranes and Scotts of this district. They indicate that the nomination will be given to John Minor Botts beyond a ((uestion of doubt. The old spirit flames out in his jyroHunciameulo. Know Nothingism has not purified him of a drop of his deep rooted prejudice, and we find the usual slap at the enemies who have always beset his patli. The unconquerable Whiggery of the venerable and invincible gleams forth in striking contrast with the cowardly silence of the Know Nothings upon great principles and measures. He grapples with the sub-treasury and the tariff in the real old fashioned way ; as Whigs were wont to do in the days of Clay and Webster. He pitches into Democracy boldly and courageously, and feeling that he is a foeman worthy of our blade, we are inclined to yell out, as his old guard used to do, '^Hurrah for ButAs." If Botts receives the nomination, as no doubt he will, we shall have to use longer artillery than we had designed employing in this district. Small fowl- ing pieces, with dimuuitive loads of ordinary powder and mustard seed shot, we had deemed sufficient for the game which was anticipated. But we must get a Minnie rifle and Dupont's best, now, for Botts is very different game from that which we had expected to hunt after. The appearance of Botts renders it necessary that we should take an affec- tionate farewell of those disconsolate young gentlemen, Crane and Scott, to whom we recommend an attentive perusal of " Love's Labor Lost." They will now have, we fear, nothing to remind them of their labors but indigestions and nightmares, those inevitable consequences of cannibal feasts and indis- criminate gluttony. When Scott had no one to oppose him but Crane, the of- fence of his squatting upon Adoniram's property was denounced as a most 260 grievous intrusion. Bat when tlie ferocious old guard of Botts open upon bim there will be no mercy shown. With brief recollections of the manner in which they used to crucify Botts' ambitious and refractory lieutenants, we compas- Bionate poor Mr. Scott — we do indeed. We almost imagine that we already hear the ever faithful and eloquent Perrin, the friend of Clay, and the Jidus Achates of Botts, in classic alternations from Latin to English, pouring his lard like streams of*burning invective upon Mr. Scott, for moving into the Im- mortal's district to get to Congress. Gods ! what a theme for the Old Guard — •what an oft'ence in the estimation of tlie faithful — what a scarlet crime in the eves of indignant Screamersville — a straiKjcr seeking to reign in the kingdom cf his Serene Highness, Botts I. ! And Adoniram, young friend by adoption, '' well beloved of Mahomet," Luther's ever faithful Malanothon, biographer, thunderbolt polisher to his Ma- jesty, will you swallow you disappointment, and, with a face expressive of cas- tor oil, salts and senna, love and disappointment, afiection and desperation,- conceal your griefs, and cry with the rest, " Hurrah for Botts !" How will vou bear this cruel- treatment of him to whom you have devoted so many years of useful friendship? We know that this trial of temper and test of devotion is a terrible one, but take the advice of a well-wisher. Stick to BoUs — never hoist the flag of rebel- lion — show, as you have always done, the loyalty of your frifindship-r-wait but a little longer, and you will bask in the sunshine of the Immortal's eternal grati- tude — sacrifice your very excellent prospects — go in heart and soul for Botts — and the Old Guard will agree with their sons, that you deserve to succeed to all ef Botts' popularity and honor. The present is a critical period in your fdr- tunes, and no man ever lost by a graceful and timely act of magnanimous self- sacrifice for a frieni. You could have swallowed Scott and Gilmer, but no one ever expected that you could resist the will of the political Gamaliel, seated at ■whose feet you have drank in so much wisdom and statesmanship. We entreat you, don't be rash. The Political Entomology of "Our District." — We must solicit the indulo-ence of our readers for furnishing them in each issue of our paper v.'ith a fresh chapter upon the ever changing phases of the Congressional nomination battle of the bats and owls of this district. We must, however, beg them to remember that, in devoting so much time to such trivial matters, we humbly imitate the examples of many most illustrious authors and emi- nent men. Have we not the elaborate epic of the "Battle of the Frogs and Mice;" Gulliver's account of the wars of the Blufuscans and the Lilli- putians, about the best method of breaking an egg ; a classic author's his- tory of the feuds of the cranes and pigmies ; Dickens's sketch of the rival candidates for the office of Beadle; Shakspeare's "Mid-Summer's Night Dreams," and "Much Ado about Nothing.?" Have W'e not in every issue of Bell's Life in London carefully prepared reports of fights between rats and terriers!^ ancf are there not well authenticated accounts of men having lost and won thousands of pounds upon a fight between crickets, or a race between two maggots extracted from a rotten hazlenut.' Let these prece- dents be our excuse. We take the same pleasure in the political entomology of this district, that naturalists do in studying the habits of beetles and bed bugs. We are happy in the refreshing conviction, that the Know-Nothing coun- cils of this district are about as harmonious as were the famous cats of Kil- kenny. An army of candidates for the nomination have scattered dismay and discord through the ranks of the enemy. Sampson's foxes with fire 261 brands fastened to their tails, never produced such wide-spread alarm an J consternation as these vociferous candidates have done. We have already recorded the mighty deeds of the famous squatter from Powhatan, Scott. and the not le^s valorous and voracious pet of the hungry Adonirain, who has achieved greatness in a day. We have now to announce that Mr. Harmar Gilmer has recently greatly distinguished himself by his cannibal perform- ances on the South-Side — having somewhere near Farmville swallowed the Hon. Kidder Meade, one day, and lunched upon the attenuated remains of the Hon. Wm. 0. Goode the next; thus depriving of his legitimate food the facetious and jocose Tazewell, who is announced by l^ie Know-Nothing papers as "running with his tail curled," a compliment which he doubtless deserves and appreciates. Abandoning, for a time, the patriotic and man-milliner duties of his higii diplomatic connection with the treaty for the cession of Mount Vernon, he is said to have snapped up our unfortunate friends, Meade and Goode, like a hungry pike. We, therefore, hail him as an honorable member of that order of cannibals, of which Messrs. Scott and Crane are the founders. He has proved himself their equal, and we take the liberty of entering hirn for the nomination. It is distinctly understood that no man can become a candidate for the nomination unless he can furnish to the Convention satisfactory evi- dence of having swallowed or skinned a Democratic orator within the six weeks preceding the .oth of May. Have Messrs. Coleman, Perrin, Rhodes and Griffin, either skinned or swallowed any one yet. If they have not, the sooner they begin the better. We have been assured by a friend, that the Whig did not slay Botts oa last Tuesday morning, but that its rifle ball merely stunned him. It is sus- pected that he was restored to consciousness by the felonious attempts of two distinguished cannibals to skin and swallow him, whilst he lay upon the Potter's field where the Whig had cast his apparently lifeless remains. We regret to say, that Messrs. Crane and Scott are strongly suspected of this horrible crime. They are supposed on Tuesday morning to have been wan- dering about seeking for fresh victims, when at the same instant they espied the prostrate body of the "Immortal," and both, with a cannibal yell of joy, pounced upon him, Adonlram making an incision between the ears to skin him scientifically, whilst Mr. Scott, in his eagerness to swallow him, and not wishing to disturb Mr. Crane, commenced with the supposed de- funct's feet. These violations of his sacred person, restored the Immortal to consciousness. They were like the application of volatile salts to a faint- ing woman's nose. One blow and a kick sent the luckless swallower and the ungrateful skinner fifty feet in opposite directions, and the Immortal sprang to his feet, irritated beyond measure by the treatment which he had sustained. We, therefore, take pleasure in announcing that our illustrious friend, is not yet dead, and that he again treads the old war path, in a most wrathful and dangerous mood. These attempts to rule him off, and diabolical efFori-j to skin and swallow him, have merely irritated him, as gad fiies excite the rage of mighty bulls. We delight to believe that Botts knows his rights as a freeman and a Know-Nothing, and that he does not intend to be ruled off. The bullet of the Whig merely flattened against his intellectual skull, as do those of a western hunter against the frontal bones of the hardy buffalo. We believe that he will now wage a war of extermination "on the faction which has always sought (his) my destruction and overthrow," and that he will be backed by the very strongest and most efficient men of the order. He will make the district too hot for the squatter from Powhatan, and hang the rebellious Adoniram in chains, or quarter him, as the old king's of Eng- 262 land used to do their enemies. Long may Botts live, for there are man\' uses to which he can be turned. The indications of a Know-Nothing now of no ordinary magnitude, cannot f,'e mistaken. If Botts does not receive the much coveted nomination, he will leave the order so shattered and torn by dissensions, that there will be no chance for any one else. The members of the Old Guard whom we occasionally meet on the street, wear a grim, firm, defiant, air — a rule or r'.:in look, that leaves no question as to what they will do if the Immortal is f:ast overboard. We have a right, as Botts' most consistent and faithful or- gan, having always hailed his nominations with pleasure, and felt inexpres- bihly gratified when he was soundly beaten by Judge Caskie, to insist that I:e shall not be killed off. When the post of danger requires a man of nerve a.nd pluck, an interesting protege is always placed in the front rank. Upon si'ch occasions the Scotts stay quietly enough in Powhatan, and the Cranes are models of humble devotion to the Immortal. But now that there is some remote prospect of success, Botts is to be inhumanl}'' sacrificed, and all Screamersville thrown into convulsions of grief at the massacre of her noble son. As the only organ of the neglected Bolts, we call upon the Old Guard to rally, and if the rebels with Adoniram, Gilmer and Scott at their head, continue to resist, we command them to "head them or die." Let this lan- guage of your illustrious leader be inscribed upon your banners, and the dangers now menacing your chieftain w\\\ disappear like morning clouds. Let the Slashes be afoused, let Hell town wax hot, let Rocketts take the field, let Screamersville move forth like an army with banners, let Butcher- town, led on by the faithful Heckler, eiriulate Darby town in deeds of might}^ valor, and Botts will win the nomination, As it is not in mortals, however, always to command success, should the indignant order prove too strong for our protege, and eject him from their cul- vert hissing like a red hotshot from a cannon's mouth, we again affectionately proffer to him the sanctuary of Democracy. If the high honor of taking Botts, the most incorrigible of sinners, to the altar of Democracy is vouch- safed to us, it will constitute the proudest duty of our life. We shall lead forward the sobbing and penitent old gentleman, blubbering over the recol- lection of his unnumbered political transgressions with the delight of a pious parson who has at last beaten down the last barrier erected by Satan around the soul of a hardened reprobate. We now confess — what we have long concealed within our own breast — that the great object of our life has been the conversion of Botts. We have always had a mysterious presentiment that he would die a good Democrat, and as the carniverous Adoniram says that "the Whig party has died of corruption," we feel assured that if the Know-Nothings kick Botts out, he will petition to lay his battered head on the great bosom of Democracy. It is all nonsense to say that Botts is too old to turn Democrat, and that gentlemen at sixty are not equal to feats of ground and lofty tumbling. There have been instances of men commencing the study of the law at that age, and becoming eminent jurists. W^ould it not be a cheering spectacle to be- hold Botts a regular attendant at Democratic gatherings and love-feasts, \vorking on vigilant committees, attending nominating conventions, and ap- plauding the speeches of our young orators, from a modest back bench in the African church. Promotion, we admit, would be slow in the Immortal's case, but if he was to join us now, and live to the good old age of ninety, we would make him chairman of a ward com-mittee, or use our influence to have him rewarded by some post-ofRce appointment in the provinces. P. S. — Since writing the above we have seen the Lynchburg Virginian's awful account of the manner in which Adoniram, on Thursday night, in the 263 presence of the goodly people of Lynchburg, swallowed our friend, Mr. Sheltoii F. Leake. The account should have been headed " How Jonah swallowed the Whale ;" and be interpreted by contraries as Irish dreams are interpreted. The astonishing rapidity with which this modern scourge of Democracy thins our ranks is frightful. Boa-constrictors, after they have crushed and swallowed their prey, remain torpid for weeks, whilst the slow work of digestion is going on; but Crane snaps up the most plethoric ora- tor, swallows him whole, as if he were a minnow, digests him in five minutes, and at once proceeds to transfix the next victim, as if he had eaten nothing for a month. Like Tamerlane, he has reared a pyramid of scalpless skulls, which far surpasses in height those of even Scott or Gilmer. Look at the following p3'ramidical statement, and sec how Adoniram leads the column. To Judson's list we ought to add the prospective victims, Hunter, Judge Douglas, and six other U. S. Senators: Tamerlane Adoniram' s Scott's. Gilmer s. S. F. Leake. J. M. Mason, P. Henry Aylett. John D. Munford, 00 00 Douglass of New Kent, 000 Goode, Douglassof King William, Caskie, R.K.Meade. The Scrub Race for the Nomination. — The scrub race for the Know- Nothing nomination for Congress in this district is becoming every day more and' more ludicrous and amusing. A new pony, or an ambitious Shetland, is entered almost every morning, and the excitement promises to become terrific before the 5th of May, when the judges propose making the award. There have been many entries recently from the provinces. For- getting that he was merely put forward to be well beaten in the last election, the friends of Clayton G. Coleman have entered that highly respectable but rather slow horse. Chesterfield, we learn, proposes to put forward Holden Rhodes, and we imagine that the ever faithful, eloquent and full blooded Whig, Samuel Perrin, of Hanover, and the not less faithful Fendal Griflin, will be duly put upon the turf. Our .last article upon this subject left the indomitable Botts with erect mane, vibrating tail, and unearthly roar like a lion in the path, frightening into the jungles such small fry as the exotic Scott and the vociferous Crane. But, sad to relate, whilst this dilapidated, although still formidable lion was frightening all the inferior rivals out of their wits, the Gordon Cummings of the Whig was taking a deadly and unerring aim at him, and at the report of that sportsman's editorial ritle, on last Tuesday morning, Botts keeled over dead as a mackerel, and his conquerer at once dragged his carcase to the nearest Potter's field, where, we fear, by this time, under the hot suns of the last three days, it is becoming animated with insect life. In the name of all that remains of Botts, in the name of the old guard, in the name of the few floating fragments of the old Whig party, we ask why did our friend of the Whig kill Botts by an editorial filled with damning hints of his want of availability, and suspicions of his being chest foundered and spavined. We fear that there is a conspirac}' in this district to deprive Botts of his rights, to declare him dead, to publish h'lt obituary notice as Dean Swift did that of Partridge, the almanac maker, whilst the man was alive and hearty. We begin to fear that Know-Nothingism in this district is a diabolical conspiracy against Democracy and Botts, that the Whig party has been disbanded to get 264 rd of that brave and glorious old Whig, and that he is to be cast adrift for e sake of the shoal ot minnows now nibbling at Judge Caskie How can he old Clay Wh.gs give in their adhesion to a new party which thus turns L' "!> ;f ,7 "^"" ^'". acknowledged leader of ^he'dd Whig par ; of couVtrfuL^^he" "^ ^^ ^°"^"- ^^^ offices oi^^the i^uuniry upon llieir ablest men, how supremely funnv i>^ it tr, thr.,of t> ** as.de, refuse to allow him to be enteredSor the' race 'nd to wrangle abo ^ the men whom the boding cauldron of Know-Nothingism have brought "o the surface in this district within the last tew weeks •^lou^nt to of the ' Imrn'oild' who S^^'^^"^"//" ^^e Whig party read their fate in that trim. immortal, whose immortality has been snuffed out. }3otts' " ex- measuiT"Xn T '"^A '' '"^", ^^^" ^ '^°''^' --ly vindication of Whi. Se n "w V^^^^^^^^ courage had fled into the dark caves o^f tnenew oidei The new order has treated Botts most inhumanly and to all intents and purposes, has ostracised him, as if he was a '' S'ner or a Roman Catholic. ' For we expect, that in the oath of the hrd' decree recently instiuted, there is a provision that Botts is never to be electe'd to office All of our poor friend's advances having been rejected hi want of e'v? inr; wm':,! '^H- °«^^'^''^.— -d, we cannZee h^w he\t- even i[ they will allow him— remain in such an order. rhey have disbanded the party of his long and never chan^ino- affections ~ hTs dl'd of'co' ^V"^'?"^-r? ^^^ ""'^^*^^"' Adoniranrdedai^g tha It has died of corruption"— and why should Botts be chained like a blind Samson in this new temple of the enemy, to be made the sport and lau^h ing-stock of boys and renegade Democrats ? Why does he not cn-a n The pillar to which he is chained, imitate the slayer of the Phi istines torn foer the temple, and crush the bats and owls that infest it. Has Bot ts U ned a piues^^or a woman, that he will permit these slights and insultrto go Tpun! nurn°n"lh '^ ""^ ^'i ^'1 ["f ^^^?' '^ ^' '' '" ^^'^ ^'^'"^'^ ^"^ Christian mood to put on the apparel and take the staff of a pilgrim, and with feeble steps and •suppicating voice.. petition for admission iitoNhe sheepfold of Den oT^cy^ always aTTbold '" '''""''I/"' '°^'' ^"^ '^'^ ^^^^ ^^ °-- ^-^^s, but iT^^as rZn^ ^ ' hungry wolf-never as an assassin in sheep's clothin-. We can offer him no othce, but the sanctuary of Democracy is alway op;n to the pen.ten and destitute. He has no organ in this city-the Know-Nothin^ papei-s repel his advances-but has the Examiner ever deserted hiTj Have we not for seven years cheered him on in his wars against the rebellious epistnl\'"^ against_ that faction which, we are informed in a lo his pa y '' I the^rf n' '^ seeking his (my) destruction at the expense of the party. Is there an instance of the Examiner having deserted Botts ? For a time we had but one rival inconsistent affection ibr Botts-and that was Adomram. But we feel proud of the fact, that our advocacy of Bott III survived even he love of Adoniram, for we fear that he will Lt follow our altrBo^t:' VTf 'tf^%^''P"''^^^^"^ ^^^^""^'^ '' his old commant^^^'o ail ot Botts friends, the Examiner alone remains consistently faithful We have seen Screamersv ille and Rocketts desert-Darby Town" deny i lord- r^ llTo7bift"tref ' •" ^'^ f-^;T-^nd even Adoniram hoisfthe fl g of rebellion, but the Examiner stands firm. " Hurrah for Botts !" 265 Overthrow of the Legitimists— Downfall of Botts— Triumph of Tylerism— Squatter Sovereignty above par.— On Saturday night the Know-Nothings met in council to immolate Botts, to inaugurato squattier sov- ereignty and Tylerism, and to exterminate the last vestige of VVhiggery from this district. The result tells how complete was the overthrow^of the old regime. That Corsican usurper, the squatter from Powhatan, has seized upon the throne of the Bourbons, and Botts, Pcrrin, Griffin and Crane, have been exiled from the land of their fathers. The provinces proved too strong ^r Botts' st.-ongholds in this city, and Butchertown, Screamersviile and Kocketts were routed by the regiments from the rural districts. The Old Guard, demoralized, dispirited and disheartened by the defection of lieutenant Adomram, fought not with their accustomed valor, and unused to the bush- ran^mg tactics of the new order, Avere no match for Scott's squirrel-huntino- militia from Louisa and Goochland. '^ rt is rumored that the contest waged most fiercely between the friends of Scott, Botts and Adoniram, but we have not heard it hinted that Messrs. Gilmer, Perrin, Rhodes and Coleman Avere suggested to the Convention in the very mildest manner. Nor, from what we have heard, do we imagine that the merits and services of Adoniram were properly appreciated^ by that august body, which played the part of Paris, and awarded the prize, to the disgruntlement of the rest of the neglected goddesses, to the fair claim- ant from Powhatan. We fear, had Mr. Crane sedulously harangued at our country court-houses respecting the cleansing virtues of grease-extracting soap, or beaten a tin pan for the delectation of his provincial auditors, that either of those enlivening and intellectual recreations would have furthered his prospects fully as much as his carniverous performances appear to have done. The people appear to have fancied Scott's facts, figures, scraps, alma- nacs and paragraphs far more than they did the damp oratorical pyrotechnics of the neglected Crane. ' . We tender to our disconsolate friend Adoniram our affectionate condolences, and the solemn assurances of our most distinguished commiseration. It is only with the aid of a slop bucket to receive the briny freshet of one eye, and of a sponge and large red bandanna to absorb the lachrymose deluo-e of the other, that we are able to pen this doleful narrative of his death and'suf- ferings. It is painful— it is heart-rending— it is grief absolutely insupport- able—to reflect that all of his labors were thrown ~away upon a perverse and unsraleful generation of vipers. Our blood boils with indignation at the thoughts of the infamous treatment which he has received from those for whom he abandoned the civilized duties of his profession and turned canni- bal. For naturally^our friend is not addicted to swallowing human beings like a boa constrictor, scalping them like a lawless Mohawk, or to devourin<^ steaks fresh from the thighs of fat Democratic orators, as if they were from the rump of a prize ox. _ This dietetic system we know must have been repugnant to all the civilized instincts of his refined nature. And what has been his reward for thus can- nibalizing and gorging himself with the bodies of men, whose disconsolate wives and fatherless children will hand down the name of Adoniram, black Avith curses and wet with the tears of the afflicted, to posterity. Tamerlane, li.ce Adoniram, erected a pyramid of human skulls; but the bloody Tartar won empires and wealth, whereas Adoniram has won nothing but indigestion, night-mares and a sore throat. Without knowing what was to be his melan- cnoly late, he wa= setting: the districts to rights and dcvuuiing the enemies of the man who has squatted on his domain, and robbed him of his anticipated congressional laurels. It turns out that poor Adoniram was merely a hard- 266 working;, energetic laborer for a gentleman who, although not twelve months a res^ident of the district, has managed to triumph over the leaders of the old Whig party. , What melancholy .evidence does this nomination afford of the decay of Whig greatness in the metropolitan district. Here, where for twenty-five years the city orators and lawyers have looked down and sneered contempt- uously at their provincial brethren, we have an ordinary country gentleman, with none of the graces of metropolitan oratory, plain and prosy as the heaviest of county court lawyers, respectable, honorable, and decent, but nothing more, squatting in the midsi of all the Whig lights of the bench, the bar and the hustings, and bearing off the palm, when there was not one of the late prominent Whigs of the district who would not have given his eyes for the nomination. Mr. Scott, from what we have seen and heard of his history and antece- dents, is a gentlemanly, educated, middle-aged man, of some forty-five or fifty years of age, who served a term or two in the Legislature very many years ago, and again represented Powhatan in the House of Delegates within the recollection of ourselves. His private virtues have secured him many devoted personal friends, and to these unobtrusive virtues he is doubtless indebted for his nomination. Through life we learn that he has been the victim of a very entertaining delusion, to the effect that nature designed him for a public speaker, when she intended nothing of the sort. His life has been a prolonged struggle and dispute with nature upon this subject, but like Mrs. Partington in her celebrated contest for supremacy with the Atlantic ocean, nature has thus far held her own, and Mr. Scott, although well inform- ed and thoroughly posted, speaks in a very spavined and deplorably dull manner. Adoniram is equal to a dozen of him on the stump, and Botts to fifty thousand of him anywhere but in the caucus of the culvert. A forgotten circumstance in the history of Mr. Scott, as related to us by a friend, furnishes a clue by which his nomination can be explained and cleared up. ,It was to crush poor Botts to the very earth, to add insult to injury, to add that last straw under which the back-bone even of the camel snaps, that Mr. Scott was nominated, if the Ibllowing statement be correct — if it is not, we shall correct it in our next issue. It has been stated to us by a gentle- man of this city: "That Mr. Wm. C. Scott was, in 1844, a red hot ultra Tylerite, and was a member of that funny little convention which nominated John Tyler for re-election in opposition to Henry Clay and James K. Polk." Was or was he not a member of that convention,? Did he or did he not occupy, in 1844, for a time, a position of antagonism to Botts and all the leaders of the Whig party of this district in his devotion to the fortunes of John Tyler ? The information which we have received comes in such a form and from such a source that we feel constrained to propound these'questions : If, when Botts and the old guard, in the prime and vigor of the Immortal's best days, -were thus bearded by the squatter from Powhatan, and the latter was then a Tylerite, and committed the deadly and unpardonable sin for which Mr. Wise has been so often and unmercifully denounced, what will the Botts men do? How will they brook this most humiliating of all the insults yet thrown in the face of Botts? To forget the transcendent talent of Botts, to fail to reward the gluttony of Crane, to pass by the splendid claims of Perrin, Gil- mer, Griffin, Coleman, Rhodes, were detestable crimes, — but for the Know- Nothings to import a Tylerite from Powhatan, and make an idol of the man, was a more hideous iniquity than infanticide or parricide. Genllemcn of the old guard, indomitable survivors of Ihe grand Clu,y army, behold your leader — a stranger and a Tjlcnlt: ! Oh, Botts ! venerable and remarkable old man, has it come to this, that one of the humblest of the fol- 267 ♦ lowers of 3''onr old foe should be placed over your head? How liavc the mighty fallen ! Who expected to live long enough to see Bott.s doing hom- age to "« T)ihriie," and Adonirain Crane in a state of insurrection and Pebelliou? Where can Botts fly ? — what is to become of him? Know- Nothingism throws a Tylerile at his head — Adoniram swears that the Whig party has died of corruption, and the old guard (ly before the undisciplined militia of the counties. Oh Ricliard, oh my prince, they are all deserting thee ! Believe not their false promises of election to the Senate of the Uni- ted States, for the same promises, flattering, but false, have been made to every grumbling old Whig in the state. At the command of Gen. Tyler Scott, late of Powhatan, you must fall into the ranks, or have your sturdy head chopped off. You are now the lieutenant of a Tylerite — a sepoy of the household of the usurper, who sits upon your old throne and cracks the whip over your venerable head, and will touch you on the raw if you do not pull steady in the traces. If, venerable, neglected, and badly treated friend, you need just at this time a safety valve for the escape of any superfluous wrath which may have collected since last Satur- day night, we conjure you to wallop Jldoniram. Spring upon him with the yell and erect, vibrating tail of a wounded and enraged lion, insert your teeth in the nape of his neck, and shake him either into subjection or to a jelly. The experiment would be a safe one, for Adoniram, like yourself, oh Botts! ssems to have no friends. At him, old Bengal! Give it to him, antique Lybian ! The attempt of the Know-Nothing party to array the prejudices of the Protestant clergyman of this state against the Democratic party, were inces- sant, but in most instances unavailing. The press of the new organization in vain attempted to arouse the prejudices of the various Protestant churches against the doctrines of religious toleration and religious liberty. Some of the strongest arguments against the peculiar opinions of the Know-Nothings, were embodied in the communications which appeared in the Examiner and the Enquirer, from the pen of eminent clergymen. We select the following from a number which were published during the canvass : Patriotic Sentime.\ts of an Eminent Clergyman in Virginia. — As a clergyman of an inveterately Protestant denomination of Christians, I have been politely requested by a distant friend, who belongs to the same church, to give liim, through the columns of your paper, my views of the new half religious and half political chain of secret clubs, called Know-Nolhings. I should have very little objection to complying with this request, reasonably made, at any tjme ; but feel the less disposed to decline, when requested by- one of those whose oflicial teacher I am by the constitution of a church ■svhich we have both voluntarily joined. The church with which we are both connected is as thoroughly Protestant as any on earth. It has as little of persecution upon its historical escutcheon as any other church which is so old. I fear, however, that it has some spots of this kind. I blush more when those spots of persecution come before my mind than for anything else of the past. If one fervent prayer ascends from my heart to the Father of Mercies, con- ecrning the social shape of religion in our country, it is that it may never dip its hand in blood, that it may never become a suppliant to the ♦ 268 populace in the political club, and that it may never permit itself to be up- held by those arguments of tyrants or imbeciles: civil disabilities for opinion's sake. Such a resort is indeed capable of no other construction than as a confession of weakness. Wiien recently the Spanish Cortes had up the subject of religious liberty in Sprain, and after the discussion, delibe- rately resolved not to grant it, what Protestant puts any other construction upon it than that they declined to grant religious liberty, for fear the people would become Protestant? If they thought truth would uphold Roman Ca- tholicism, they would not wish to uphold it by civil pains and penalties. So it is with the Know-Nothing movement in the United States. It has un- questionably grown out of a want of confidence in the moral power of truth to uphold Protestantism. It has sprung up in the northern cities, where the principles of revealed religion have notoriously not much more positive power than they have in Papal countries. It has grown up among those who say they will trample the Bible under their feet, if it does not support the Maine Liquor law — or if it does not support Abolition — or whatever else may be the peculiar phase of their personal fanaticism. When tiuth re- treated to a distance from their mental visions, and they lost confidence in its power to withstand Popery, then they invented the scheme of with- standing the Catholics by a civil disability, a secret club, and a midnight oath. The writer is too much of a Protestant to be a Know-Nothing. He has a confidence too entire and unshaken in the power of the truth alone. He does not believe that this night club, this awful oath, or this infliction of civil disabilities on Catholics, is necessary to retain the power of Protestant- ism in this country. He protests against the inference that Protestantism needs any such assistance. He protests against the imputation of the perse- cuting spirit of Know-Nothings to religion. It has grown out of the wane o'f religion. It springs from nominal Protestants, who care, and think, and know nothing about the moral, and spiritual, and rational power of religion, except that it Is a strong principle. Their object is probably not the ad- vancement of true religion ; for if it was they would very easily see that persecution will do more than any thing else to build up the Roman Catho- lic church. And, if such was their object, they would see that the prevalence of Pro- testantism in this country, through the means of civil disabilities, would be just as hollow, and just as worthless, and just as empty a thing, as is the prevalence of Catholicism in Spain by civil disabilities. You must forever keep up the prop of civil disability when it is once set under, or else the ■whole frame will fall. The history of the world shows, beyond a doubt, that there is always a reaction in the reasons of men, against that religion which the strong arm of power proposes to them. Cicero says the state re- ligion of old Rome was totally hollow, and the augurs knew it. There is a ma- jority of dissenters from the state religion to-day, in England, and in Scot- land, and an overwhelming majority in Ireland : there is said to be the same in Spain and Italy, if the hearts of men could speak out ; and there would have been in France, but for the existence there of somethlrf^ like religious freedom. The writer sends up fervent prayers to the Disposer of events, that this country may not be left to the judicial blindness of Know-Nothlngism, to persecute the Catholics into prosperity ; to confess the weakness of naked truth; to depart from the great American principle of perfect religious free- dom; to come down from our high and pure and noble position, and dabble in secret conclaves, in silly fears, in weak and nervous alarms. Know- Nothinglsm has not, then, grown out of religion. It did not start in the Protestant church. All it had to do with religion, was to observe that the religious prejudice of the country was a strong lever with which to work 269 another purpose. It made use of that lever as a tool, just as the political parties had made use of military renown as their lever before. Their purpose, probably, is to play with the raw head and bloody bone fears of the Pope, which infests the dreams of nervous people, in order to cajole the country, and get on their side the religious prejudice, and, in the mean time, to do their real work in secret. The liberties of this country may be in danger from Popery. No man can well think too hardly of that inveterate system. But does it make a great deal of dilFerence to us, whether our liberties are taken away by secret Jesuit clubs, or by secret Know-Nothing clubs? But this quarrel with foreigners is a northern affair altogether. We never had much temptation to it, here in the South, where the social spirit is as much more benign as the climate is. After all, it is not the religion of the foreigners which is object- ed to. And if it was, I believe that John Mitchel's religion is just as good, to all practical intents and purposes, as Ward Beecher's religion ; and his politics ten thousand times more patriotic than Ward Beecher's. John Paul Jones was a better American, to my heart, though born in Scotland, than " Hull, the traitor," though born in Massachusetts. I^ think that the Mar- quis La Fayette was a far better American, though born in France, than Benedict Arnold, though born in Connecticut. I give the preference to Count Pulaski, Baron Steuben, and " lighthorse " Lee, though they were foreigners, over Aaron Burr, Gen. Winder, and Gen. Wilkerson, though na- tive Americans. The people here used to know that religion and patriotism were not to be . ascertained by these external circumstances. The traitors Avhom this coun- ,' rry has to fear, are not foreigners. They are men who were born and live where Hull and Arnold were born and resided. Their treason is deep, de- liberate and meditated for a long time. The clamor against foreign traitors, from whom no man can show us a single case where we have suffered anything recently, or much ever, or been ever in any great danger, is all a make-weight. That clamor is but a mere avail- ability. It is but a new form of appeal to military glory. It is the dust with which the eyes of the southern people are to be blinded, while in se- cret club we shall be abolitionized, as they boast that we shall be. It is a peice of cold, cautious, yankee cunning, by which the northern people, at one stroke, get us to help them against their rivals in labor, the immigrant foreigners, and by which they will soon ask us for another tariff of protec- tion to American industr}"^; by which they yoke us to their car to make us light their social battles ; by which they gull and blind us to their real de- signs against our domestic peace and prosperity ; and by which the}' !-port with us as their tools, and avail themselves of our deep and positive religious convictions, in which they have no sympathy, and which they admire only for their strength as political engines. May a Higher Power deliver us from that deep blush with which we shall be suffused, if. our church — boldly, deeply, thoroughly Protestant as she is — falls into the trap in the slightest degree, and becomes the catspaw of northern treasonable designs. And may that kind Power open speedily the eyes of the people, to see in the light of every public development yet made by Know-Nothingism, what the real object of the movement is ! And may the sacred subject of the man's religious faith be once more withdrawn from the secret club-room, from the political cau- cus, and from the popular hustings, into that retirement to which it has a right, under the really, though not under the so-called, American principle! I do not know whether I have fully responded to my friend. If not, I hope to hear from him again. Rockingham. 270 AN APPEAI, TO THE CLERGY. Gentlemen : It is rumored that many of your body have become ashoclated with that political organization commonly called the Know-Nothings. If this is true, or if you sympathise with them, the writer of this deeply regrets your position. No one entertains a higher opinion of 3'our integrity than he. No one felt more indignant than he, when a Senator of Virginia assailed you in the councils of the nation, st3'ling you " a proud and self-opinioned body." This assault was unstatesmanlike, as it was undiscriminating and unjust. What if some of the Northern clergy signed an anti-Nebraska memorial, shall the whole class be proscribed for the sins of these fanatics ? It is not true that the clergy, as a body, are too proud and self-opinioned to listen to the truth. They yield a ready assent to the voice of reason, but they will not abide dictation. They may be drawn by a straw; they cannot be driven with a weaver's beam. And especially they will not listen with very great meekness to a rebuke "from those wlio, as the representatives of the nation, unbiushingly trample the laws of God and man under their feet by legislating on the Sabbath. They know their rights, and knowing will defend them. But while this is true of you, gentlemen, ma" there not be occasions when you might adopt an opinion too hastily with reference to the great political movements of the day. Such was, doubtless, the case with some who sio-ned that odious anti-Nebraska memorial. They signed it w^ithout consid- ering its import, and afterwards regretted their course. So may it be witii vou. You may have adopted an opinion with reference to the principles of the self-styled American party, which is erroneous. The writer of this- ad- dress, therefore, respectfully asks 3'ou to listen to what he has to say in op- position to the principles of this new party. The leading points of difference between this organization and those parties which have hitherto controlled the interests of the country, are — First, opposition to Roman Catholics, so far as to prevent any professing that faith from holding any political office in the gift of the people. Secondhj, excluding every man from participating in the administration of the government of the country, who was not born on American soil. With reference to the first, that of excluding Romanists from participating in the administration of our government, the writer would here avow, that there breathes not that man on earth more invincible than he, in his hostility both to Romish doctrines and Romish practices. He believes that Romanists are plunged into the deepest and most ruinous errors ; but he docs not be- lieve that men are to be won from error by political proscription. Satan argued on more philosophical principles, when he told God that if he would put forth his hand and afflict his servant, that Job would curse him to his face. The mistake of Satan lay in the application of the principle to the peculiar case of the man of Uz, and not the statement of the principle itself. The man of Uz saw the loving hand of a father in his sorrows, but unfortu- nately the rod which is laid on the Romanist, is not wielded by paternal hands. This subject has its political as well as its religious aspect. So far as its political aspect is concerned, this maybe said: that the Constitution of our country guarantees to every man in the land the right to profess^ and propagate his creed, provided only that he is a law-abiding citizen. This is as it should be. That the great charter of our liberty never contemplated any religious test to constitute a man a suitable person to hold an office under its purview. It is vain to say that you only exercise your rights as freemen to cast your votes for whom you please. In pledging yourselves to exclude 271 all persons from political oflices who hold the Romish faith, you do virfually require a rcli_2;iou.s test. You require at lea^t that your candidate sliali he a Protestant. The question is not, if two persons are equally qualitied to fill an olfice, the one a Romanist, the other a Protestant, which of the two you shall choose; but your principles force you to choose a man wholly unfit to fill the place in opposition to a man qualified in every respect to fill it, save that he is a Romanist. You would proscribe a Taney, or a Gaston, for his faith, and in his place elect a man in no respect qualified to discharge the duties of the office. Now if this is nort proscribing a man for his religious opinions, the writer is at a loss to know what it is. Leave this whole matter where the Constitution of the country leaves it. Judge each man by himself, and de- cide upon his own individual merits, but do not proscribe him for his faith. You cannot coerce a man to your opinion. He may adopt your shibboleth for the sake of gain, but you have only made a hypocrite, instead of a prose- lyte. If a man's religious opinions warp his judgment or blind his reason, so that in the face of truth, and at the expense of justice, he would favor his co-religionist, then hurl him with indignation from his seat as a perjured \vretch, who has desecrated the ermine. But if he be faithful to his trust, and decide by law and equity, between man and man, then do not put him under the political ban because he differs with you in his religious views. Truth will be promoted by this course. Again, look at this subject in its religious aspect. What is the language of your great commission? — " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." You believe the Romanist in error, and so he is. But how will you reclaim him? How can you get his ear to pour into it the life-giving truths of the gospel, while you proscribe him politically ? Do you not understand human nature well enough to know that a man shuts up, and locks, and bars, and bolts his heart against the truth, the moment you assume towards him a hostile attitude? Treat him with kindness, and you will have won his ear by first winning his heart. No compromise of truth is demanded. But bear in mind that the gospel is a message of love, and its ministers should be " wise as serpents and harmless as doves." Besides, what more do you want? Are you not free as the air you breathe ? Have you not the best arena in the world on which to meet and grapple with er- ror ? How is error to be put down ? Is it not by presenting truth, its great ^nd omnipotent antagonist, in such a way as to commend itself to the con- science of man ? Are you afraid that truth will not reach the Romanist? Then surely you adopt a singular method by which to reach him. Did Paul act so at Athens ? Did the Son of God act so in Judea? "Away with coward wiles !" The truth is great, and will prevail. Enlighten the people. INIeet error in the public assembly, meet it in the pulpit, meet it in the public conveyance, meet it by the fireside, and leave the results to God. If any people on earth have high vantage ground on which to stand and bat- tle for the truth, we are that people. We have an unshackled press ; we have a people who throng the hustings ; we have a people ready to listen to any who can instruct them. It does not agree with the genius of our government to meet open error by secret political conclaves. What is the chief glory of our nation? It is that every subject is openly and freely canvassed. When error mounts the car to traverse the length and breadth of the land, you can send truth with lightning speed along the telegraphic wires to anticipate it, or prove its effectual antidote. Besides, your course has not only an unhappy eflfect on the Romanist himself by steeling his heart against you, but you are awaking a sympathy in his behalf in the bosom of myriads who are outside of the Romanish communion. The writer of this has had occasion to notice the eflject of your principles on others. Yqu not only, as the great and magnanimous Chal- 272 iners says, " transform a nation of heretics into a nation of heroes," but 3'ou engender sympathy for them among neutrals — you make men read with avidity such speeches as Chandler's and swallow as truth everything which is said in defence of Romanism. Such is human nature. You are thus playing directly into the hands of your foes. The Romanists want to be persecuted. They wnll fatten on it. They will appeal to it as a proof of apostolicity. They will draw round them thousands by the bonds of sympathy whom they will yoke to their car, and by whose aid they will spread their sentiments through the length and breadth of our land. Still more, the moment you league the cause of religion with any politi- cal party, you diminish the power of the truth. When religion became connected with the state, in the days of Constantine, it became corrupt. It was not the church which made advances to the state, it was the state to the church. The monarch of Christendom thought that he could have a powerful engine to carry out his designs in the religious prejudices of his subjects. He accordingly courted the alliance. The consequence was, that an ecclesiastico-political government was formed, and true religion was obliged to flee for safety to dens and caves of the earth. It has been so in all ages. Whenever the church of God has abandoned her own divinely appointed agencies and formed unholy alliances with Eelial, she has lost the prestige of her glorious name, and the shekinah of the divine presence de- parted from her. Gentlemen, beware how you allow a conglomerate of all creeds and isms, socialists, infidels, and political demagogues to lure you into their toils. Pure are you in your motives, but wofully are you in error if you think this the best means to serve your country, or spread the reli- gion of Jesus Christ. Adhere closely to the instructions of the Divine Au- thor of your faith. Preach the gospel. "The weapons of your warfare are not carnal," nor political. "What concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" Finally, consider the vast assimilative powers of your country. It is em- phatically Protestant in its complexion, though tolerating every creed under its banner. Thousands of foreigners seek our shores. In a few years these become completely assimilated to our government and prevailing religious views. In a few years, multitudes who were reared under Romish intluen- ces abroad, become Protestants. Five hundred Roman Catholic children in one of our western cities, lately marched in the Free School procession,^', each with a Bible under his arm; thus under the silent operation of educa- ' tional, social, and religious influences, ten Romanists annually become Pro- testants to one Protestant who becomes a Romanist. Let these influences alone. W^hy interpose, by drawing unnecessary and invidious distinctions, which, instead of attaching the Romanists to you, will only irritate him, and repel him from you. You know that his superstition is " to be destroyed by the spirit of Christ's mouth, and consumed by the brightness of his com- ing." Labor to hasten this great event by the spread of the gospel, but do not compromise the dignity of the truth by entangling alliances with men, who with a new-born zeal for Protestantism, are yet adopting principles and practices essentially Jesuitical. But the writer must reserve for another number his views on the Know- Nothing policy touching foreigners. In the meanwhile, gentlemen, he hopes you will review your position on this whole subject, and no longer allow men to mix religious issues with political questions. Be assured they do not have at heart the welfare of religion. They are only using it as an ele- ment to promote their own ends, and when it ceases to advance these, they will leave it to its fate. Respectfully, VERITAS. 273 DR. R. J. BRECKENRIDGE POLITICIAN. Mr. Editor: — A letter purporting to be written by the great and justly distinguit^hed Dr. Ro. J. Breckcnridge, has been copied from the Kentucky press into the papers of Virginia, just on the eve of the election, and for the purpose of affecting it. This policy is certainly a shrewd one. No name in America carries such weight with it in large sections of the southern com- munity as the name of this unquestionably great and brilliant man. For years the ablest and fiercest champion of Protestant Christianity in this coun- try, distinguished for controversial talent, high in social position, reputation, and purity of character, and speaking from the leading chair in a large Pro- testant school of theology, his endorsation of the political movement desig- nated by the name Know-Nothingism, is calculated to do infinite mischief to the cause of truth, by throwing an air of respectability even upon those pe- culiarities which some of its own advocates deprecate as foreign to the spirit of our government, and especially by creating the impression that this move- ment against the Catholic church is endorsed by the Protestant ministry' at large. It is to do what in us liee, to counteract these impressions, and as a Protestant minister, who by no means stands alone in opposition to a political movement for the suppression or restraint of Popery, to protest, in the name of the great doctrines of religious liberty, against all such constructions of the views of the Protestant clergy. No doubt there are thousands of those who do sympathize with this movement ; but it is equally true that there are fully as many, perhaps more, who dread to lose an end proper in itself pur- sued by improper means, and who dare not desire the ostracism of the Papacy itself at the expense of those great principles of religious liberty which lie at the foundation of all the prosperity enjoyed by every ecclesiastical organization in the land. We do not mean to follow Dr. Breckenridge through his remarks in the way of reply. Indeed his letter is nothing but a series of terse and animated statements, giving the' views which he has taken of the present crisis in political affairs, and not the reasons upon which they are founded. But we except to the whole spirit of this article, as well as to the movement it endorses ; but particularly to the apology which he makes for that feature in the organization for which no apology can ever be made, for which no atonement can ever be rendered but a peremptory and final aban- donment of the whole of it. We cannot endorse Dr. Breckenridge's sanction of a political movement to stay the progress and power of the Catholic church. It contains a confes- sion of weakness in the moral machinery of the Protestant churches, an in- ability to meet all the influences of the great apostacy or the institutions of this nation, which we feel intensely to be a misrepresentation of the facts. There is a power in the Protestant church alone, unaided by a political move, which needs only to be fully and wisely expended, to demonstrate the entire want of any necessity to supplement her weakness by a political crusade. The simple and sufficient condition of the preservation of the republic from the arts of Romanism, is the extension of the Protestant church, the full sup- port of the great Domestic Mission enterprises of the various Protestant denominations. If Protestantism cannot maintain itself in a fair field against. Popery, it ought to perish. But there is no need for any such catastrophe:- it does possess that capacity; and it is a practical acknowledgment of Pro- testant weakness, which is as unjust to the Protestant church as it is pro- scrlptive to the Catholic, to represent the destruction of the political franchises of the Catholic citizen as essential to the prosperity of the PFotestant reli- gion, or to the conservation of any of the great social or political interests 18 274 which are dependent upon it. Such a dependence we do believe to exist be- tween the Protestant religion and the institutions of this country ; they were established together on this continent, and they will stand or fall together. But so long as the Protestant religion is a living and vital element in forming the character and controJing the action of the masses of American citizens as it is at present, so long will the institutions of this nation, the nationality, the Federal Union and the Protestant civilization, of Avhich Dr. Breckenridge spieaks, be safe under the moral and spiritual power of the Protestant churches, unaided by any political disabilities inflicted upon the individual Catholic citizen. We do not mean to say that no political action is never to be taken against the Catholic church or against any Protestant church. But we do mean to say that such political action against any ecclesiastical organization ought to be local and temporary, and above all things discriminated by the practical action of the organization, and not by its principles when held in theor}'. We do not hesitate to sa}', if the Catholic church is coming into the political field as such, its members voting on a principle discriminated by their eccle- siastical relations, then it ought to be met on political grounds and resisted with political weapons. We would say this for the same reasons and with equal emphasis of any Protestant church. We would say it of a Masonic order which should engraft a political character on its Masonic capacity. Nay, more, it is unquestionably true that the Catholic church does lay claim to temporal power, holds the state as auxiliary to the church, and under pre- tence of deciding his duty, announces the right to control the whole action of man, which is susceptible of a moral character. There is this much of the truth in the theory of Know-Nothingism, but it does not answer the purpose of that party. With the fatality which seems to attend all its reasonings from its premises, the modern reform fails to see the true logical result of its premise. The principle which we have enunciated as controling political opposition to all ecclesiastical bodies. Catholic or Protestant, makes all such opposition local, temporary, defined b}^ the previous action of the church itself, not by its theoretical principles, controlled absolutely by that action, stopping when it stops, progressing when it progresses, and ceasing forever when it ceases. To ostracise a Catholic for theory not embodied in practice, no matter how objectionable that theory may be both on political and religi- ous grounds, is to punish crime in embryo ; it is to assume the office of deity and judge criminalities of the soul before they are embodied in action or subject to the cognizance of human tribunals. All interference with princi- ples of such magnitude as the liberty of conscience and religious worship, ought to be rigidly adjusted to the strictest limits of the practical exigency that demands it. If the Cathohc church has been tampering with politics in any other state, let it be met there ; but it would be wrong to suffer the demand for such opposition to extend beyond the exigency which demands it, and to call for the ostracism of the church in Virginia, unless it can also be shown to have been tampering with politics here. Until this is proved, a political disfranchisement of her members to any extent is a violation of the law of religious liberty, and a high misdemeanor. There is no demand whatever for a great national movement against the Catholic church. There may have been cause for local and temporary displays of political opposition to it, but certainly none for an opposition co-extensive with the republic. It is in the main a corrupt movement of unprincipled politicians to excite the Protestant feeling of the country and ride into power upon the tide. The remark thus made, that the inference of Know-Nothingism in relation to the political opposition to the Catholic church, was a logical blunder from its own preniises, which only warranted a local and limited opposition, not a permanent and universal ostracism of individual Catholics, is equally true in 275 relation to the other great issue it has raised as to the foreign population. On all its positions it is logically required to go a great deal farther than it dares attempt. In one case the premise is, the Catholic church is incompati- ble with the existence of the republic; the inference is that no Catholic shall be eligible to olHce. The true and legitimate inference is, the Catholic church ought not to be tolerated at all ! The premise assumed in this case is, that the foreign element in our popu- lation is dano-erous to the government : the inference drawn is the reduction of a part of the rights of citizenship in foreigners already here, and an ex- tension of the term of naturalization. The true inference is the prohibition of all emigration for the future, and the avoidance of everything that would exasperate the foreign element already in the midst of us, the careful observ- ance of everything which would tend to strengthen their attachment to the institutions of the country. How well the modern reform in the political world is accomplishing these ends, it is easy to determine. Leaving in the hands of the Cathohc and foreign citizens all the rights of citizenship except one, giving; them the power to vote, allowing them, in other words, all their power to do mischief, and exasperating them to use it by the ostracism of their religion and birth, condensing the Catholic and foreign element into a pohtical body, distinct from the m.ass of the nation, and animated with all the hostility which is natural \o men under an attempt to diminish the equality of their rights with other citizens ; producing all these ruinous results, Know- Nothingism is par excellence the perfection of political wisdom, the certain salvation of the country ! If the abandonment of one of the greatest of the great principles of our political system, if political proscription for religious opinion is to be substituted for the great doctrine of unequivocal liberty of religious belief, irrespective of all political or civil responsibihty, then the existence of this government is brought into infinitely more peril than that from which the new party would deliver it. Dr. Breckenridge intimates that if the question had arisen as to the eligibility of a Chinese or a Mahomme- dan,less difficulty would have been found in settling it. We reply, that the general principles involved would have been settled by the settlement of a previous question ; and that is, whether we should admit a Chinese or a ]\Ia- hommedan. Pagans and Idolators, to the rights of citizenship at all in a Christian supporting country. This determined in the affirmative, it is ab- surd to question the propriety of allowing by vote what is allowed by law. If there is any reason why they should be excluded from any of the com- mon rights of citizenship, it is a reason why they should be excluded from all of them. If it is right to allow them to vote, it is right to allow them to be voted for : the one right is almost the correlative of the other. Any argument which would prove a man disqualified for office, would equally prove him disqualified to vote. If, then, this opposition to Catholics and for- eigners is to be maintained, let it go far enough to accomplish the ends which are alleged to be sought. It is unwise in the extreme to leave all their pow- er for mischief in their hands, resulting in part from their simple existence in the country as a part of the population, and in part from the privileges which are still to be left them ; it is unwise to leave them their power for mischief and exasperate them to use it by a crusade against their full politi- cal equality with citizens of other religious opinions. But we must not protract these remarks. We cannot close them, how- ever, without protesting, in opposition to the endorsement of Dr. Brecken- ridge, against the propriety of a secret organization as a mode of political action, and especially against the particular oath of that modern party binding its members to concealment of the objects of the order, the order itself, and their personal connection with it. What are the objects of this order which 276 have not been proclaimed ? If those which are blazoned on their ban- ners are not all of their objects, what are the rest? If they are, why have these been proclaimed in the teeth of that oath ? Is it a secret police, as we have heard it intimated? Does not the possibility that this order may have ultimate ends in view which they have not yet discovered, demonstrate the impropriety of that mode of organization which would allow of such con- cealment and require it to be maintained b}' an oath ? If ever any principle was at direct and practical war with the very foundation of the American republic, it is this principle of an oath-bound secret organization. It will place the legislation of Congress in the hands of an irresponsible association of its members — into a body unknown to the Constitution of the United States, and whose avowed object is to annihilate all distinction between a minority and a majority, by an oath requiring the unlimited surrender of the minority! The Congressional Council will be under orders of the General Council; and the result will be that the Congress of the United States will become, under the full success of Know-Nothing principles, a mere registry of decrees to a body in the heart of the country — unknown to the Constitu- tion — existing no one can tell where — aiming at no one can tell what. It strikes a deadly blow at that great fundamental maxim of the government — the necessity of the intelligence of the people as an essential of republican liberty. What matter how much intelligence the people may have, if politi- cal men will conceal from them the facts upon which to employ their intelli- gence in the formation of a judgment and the adoption of a policy ? The two duties are essentially correlative. If it is the duty of the people to require knowledge of any party claiming their suffrages before they endorse them, it is the duty of that party to give it. No party has the right to retire into the dark, bind itself to secrecy under oath, unfold what they please, and conceal what they please from the people ; nor have the people one shadow of a moral right to give their sanction to that of the propriety of which they are not fully informed. Moreover, if their principle of secrecy is legitimate for one party, it is legitimate for all; every party may adopt it; the Sag. Nicht clubs of the foreigners of the west are wholly justified ; and the whole political destinies of the country may be controled by secret oath-bound orf-anizalions, a hybrid mixture of Masonry, and a political caucus with allot good in either spoiled by the conjunction! Can any man in this nation con- tem.plate such a prospect — the legitimate results of the principle of organiza- tion adopted by the Know-Nothing party — w^ithout emotions of alarm amount- ing to terror? Yet Dr. Brickenridge would place such a principle on the footing of the vote by ballot ! This is the most remarkable instance of the power of prejudice to extinguish the power of perception, in an intellect of the hio-hest order, we have ever encountered. Dr. Johnson's belief in the Cock-Lane ghost is hardly comparable to it. In conclusion, we must say that the issues pledged upon the fidelity of the Democratic party of Virginia, cannot be fully estimated in their intrinsic value. We trust they will show at the polls that Dr. Breckenridge has been premature in his claim of conquest for Know-Nothingism over the Democra- cy of the Old Dominion. Be the fate of the party victory or defeat in the ensuing election, the war upon the heresies of the new party will have just begun. The great principles of religious liberty and open organization in political parties, in a republican government, will never be abandoned until they are embodied in practice as well as commended in theory — two things which the Know-Nothing party have taught us to consider carefully apart from all connection with each other. Let the whole power of the party be strained to the uttermost; let all the objections to the candidate, which might have been enough to have justified inaction in his support in ordinary times, 277 now give way in a crisis which involves the very existence, not merely of Democratic measures, but of the fundamental principles of all republican institutions. It is a great battle. God help the right. A Protestant Minister. The pretensions of the Know Nothings to peculiar reverence, for the teach- ings of the Bible, were vindicated in the Examiner in the following editorial : A SERMON FROM LEVITICUS FOR " SAM." When the sans cvlottcs of the secret order of Jacobins were, with foul and bloodstained hands, dragging the noble, beautiful and gifted Madame Roland to the guillotine, and in the name of liberty moistening the streets of Paris with the blood of the Girondists, that illustrious woman, gazing at the bright deadly steel that was soon to sever her fair head, exclaimed, " Ob ! Liberty, how many crimes ha;ve been committed in thy name I" When we find a secret order in our midst, in the name of the Bible and of patriotism, practising pro- scription, intolerance, and worse than savage inhospitality, the fearful truth of Madame Roland's dying words must come home to every calm and dispassionate friend of religion and liberty. The Know Nothings, in the name of the holy Christian religion, and in the name of patriotism, propose disregarding the plainest teachings of the priest and the true meaning of the host. Particularly do they proclaim that their midnight mission is the purification of the Church, and the preservation of our civil liberties. Like Henry VIII., who, according to Hume, exhibited his im- partiality by hanging Catholics and burning Protestants, they claim the title of '' defenders of the faith." Professing to regard the pure teachings of the Bible as of paramount impor- tance to everything earthly, seeking to purge the land of Jesuits and heretics, their principles are utterly at variance with the teachings of that human law maker, who, upon Mount Sinai, received from a Supreme Being the living word. This " Lwn of the North and Bulwark of the Christian faith " plants its standard, or rather organizes its conspiracy, upon the disregarded teachings of God through his chosen instrument. The Know Nothing who, amid the im- posing mysteries and solemn ceremonies of midnight initiation, swears with up- lifted hand to defend the true teachings of the Bible, in the ^?imQ formula swears to violate one of the most simple, plain and intelligible lessons of that sacred volume. Whoever, therefore, takes the oaths required by this order, pledges himself to violate the Constitution, and to maintain doctrines irreconcilable with every species of Christian faith, whether Protestant or Catholic — for neither Catholics nor Protestants openly deny the very strongest and plainest doctrines of the Holy Bible. " Sam," however, as he is familiarly termed, has taken the field not only against the Catholic religion, the Constitution and Democracy, but also against Moses and the Projjhets. One of the pretexts of " Sam " for his hostility to the Catholics, is that they exclude the Bible from their schools — a grave and heavy fault — one to be looken into and punished. But if the Catholics are to be proscribed for this crime, what punishment should not Sam receive for rearing the structure of his order, digging its very foundations out of the disregarded, despised teachings of the great and inspired law-maker? The civil polity of Moses, that which followed as a natural sequence to the Ten Commandments, the code framed in accordance with the organic law of Mount Sinai, certainly deserves the respect of Protestants. We, therefore, 278 respectfully ask the disciples of Sam to recoocile their teachings with the fol- lowing precept of Moses. Let them take their revered, but too often dese- crated Bible, upon which they swear their deluded victims, and turn to the Book of Leviticus, 19th chapter, o3d and 34th verses, and explain to us what Moses meant in the verses aforesaid : "IF A STRANGER SOJOURN WITH THEE IN YOUR LAND, YE SHALL NOT VEX HIM ; BUT THE STRANGER THAT DVVELLETH WITH YOU SHALL BE UNTO YOU AS ONE BORN AMONG YOU, AND THOU SHALT LOVE HIM AS THYSELF, FOR YE WERE STRANGERS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT. I AM THE LORD THY GOD." This language, we humbly suggest, is peculiarly simple, and it scatters the teachings of Sam like a bombshell. Sam is a true Protestant ; he boasts that his grandfather was a Protestant, his grandmother was a Protestant, and that Lis mother, father, uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, wife, children and grand- children, are of the same persuasion. Sam and his brethren are the old guard of the Bible, defending the pure, unadulterated faith, flashing the bright sword of a pure and undefiled religion in the eyes of all who question anything which the sacred volume contains from Genesis to Revelations. It is therefore to be presumed, that having wandered often over this holy dominion, having conse- crated himself to the sacred work of defending the Bible, Sam is prepared to reconcile this text from Leviticus with his elegant sermons against foreigners and "strangers that are sojourning in the land." All of this he, doubtless, is prepared to do ; although, for reasons to us inexplicable, Sam has vouchsafed no revelations respecting this passage from Leyiticus. Recollect, Sam, thou "guard of the Bible and defender of the faith" — Leviticus, 19th chapter, 33d and 34th verses. We know that it is hard, Samuel, either in courts of law or in social converse, to get intelligible answers from you. But the Bible, Sam — the Protestant Bible — you certainly will not say that you " Know Nothing " about that. In the name of Moses, we, therefore, pious, religious, consistent Sam, venture to ask you a few simple questions concerning the 33d and 34th verses of the 19th chapter of Leviticus, which, Sara, it may be well to state, incidentally, may be in what is called among good Protestants and sincere haters of the Pope, the Old Testament. Do you or do you not " vex strangers loho sojourn with thee in your land ?" You swear to turn them out of office. You swear to proscribe them, do you not? Do you regard such treatment as a vexation or a pleasantry where the ejected " stranger" happens to starve in consequence of your " little pleasantry" in turning him out of office. Moses, you will observe, (perhaps you " Know Nothing," biblical Sam, of Moses,) says, under special instructions from God, that " the stranger that dwel- leth icith you SHALL be UN'TO YOU AS ONE BORN AMONG YOU." Do you not not proclaim ^Uhat strangers ivho dwelleth among you SHALL NOT BE UNTO YOU as those who were born among you ?" Do you not in every thing which relates to your creed, fly in the face of divine law, denying the wisdom of God and man ? Have you not organized your midnight Order for the express purpose of cast- ing the stranger out — of showing him by hateful and unconstitutional acts that you do not intend to treat him as if he was horn among you ? Is it not most remarkable that, as a self-elected defender of the faith, you propose to set aside the law of Moses to amend the word of God, and declare with the superior sa- gacity of a Know Nothing that you are more knowing in your generation than Moses was in his? (What is your opinion as to Moses being a fogy ?) Do you entertain as low an opinion of the book of Leviticus as you do of the Con- 279 stitution ? Do you regard Judson, Bennett, Clayton, Wilson and Vespasian Ellis as much better law makers than Moses ? Is the blue book of your Order higher and better authority than the Old Testament 't But most scriptural Sammy — thou modern evangelist of the dark lanterns and frightful oaths — Mo- ses also says, in his old-fashioned way, thou shalt '' love the stranger sojourning in thy land as tliT/sclf." Dost thou obey the Bible in this regard ? Do you love Irish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French, Swiss, Danish, Norwegian, Scotch, Patagonian, Chinese, Mexican "strangers" as you do ijotvrself ? Have you a great love for the alien, an overflowing affection for the foreign born, or have you not sworn, yes, sworn, in your midnight deliberations, to persecute the strangers " within your gates ?" Of these matters, however, of course, you " Know Nothing." If you love the strangers, how have you shown your af- fection ? By burning their churches, denying them bread, driving them from the ballot box, denying them the rights of citizenship, and mobbing them in the streets of your great cities. In thus treating them, how have you interpre- ted the Bible ? — certainly not as Protestants — but rather, (we regret to say it, Sam,) as hard-hearted, cruel disregarders of the spirit of Christianity. The 33d and 34th verses of the 19th chapter of Leviticus apply so forcibly and appropriately to Sam's position in this country, that we almost feel inclined to believe that Moses, rending the veil which hides the future from ordinary mortal eyes, must have foreseen the rise and progress of Sam, and thousands of years ago provided for his annihilation. For after thus advising the Israel- ites, he concludes the 3-ith verse thus : " For ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." How significant the warning, how impressive the reminiscence. The chosen people of God were once aliens and foreign born in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh and his people were native Egyptians, proud of their nationality, in- solent and tyrannical, lauding it with a high hand over the poor Israelites, de- nying them social and political rights, making them hewers of wood and draw- ers of water, grinding the strangers into the dust, practising modern Know Nothingism without its secrecy, in a bold, open, cruel oppression of the "stran- gers sojourning among them." The wrath of God fell upon the Know Nothings of the order of Pharaoh ; plague followed plague, and pestilence, famine and war desolated the land of the oppressors. Death visited the household of every native Egyptian ; a leader chosen by God led the oppressed through a sea whose waves, at His command, opened a way for their retreat, and closed over the hosts of the pursuing enemy. This may seem fanciful and far fetched, but it should teach the oppressor and the Know Nothing that " ?t'e loere strangen in the land of Egypt." This fair laud was not God's heritage to us. The na- tive Americans have passed away, and we European interlopers have built up our palaces upon the sites of their wigwams, — cities stand where the villages of the natives once stood, and the ploughshare is driven over the burying grounds of those to whom God gave the land. We are strangers of yesterday in this land ; — war, pestilence and famine, in- troduced by ourselves, have swept those from the land to which God gave them title deeds. The relics, the monuments, the antiquities of America are not ours. " Sam," a miserable European exile of yesterday, flying from worse than Egyptian bondage at home, to this land of the oppressed of every clime, denies the same precious privileges to the exile of to-day. In doing this, be forgets his origin, the character of our institutions, and the history of the land which, he inhabits. He disregards the Constitution, and he forgets the divine teach- ings of God and of Moses. Hence this sermon. 280 To the charge every where preferred by the Know Nothings, that the Exa- miner and the Enquirer were Catholic organs, the Examiner published the fol- lowing reply : Civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits op hypocrisy and meanness. opinions op religion shall in no manner diminish or affect THE CIVIL CAPACITIES OF THE CITIZEN. — Virginia Act of Reli- gious Toleration. Nothing dies so hard and rallies so often as Intolerance. — Sydney Smith. "Catholic organ !" is the favorite ejaculation of the advocates of intolerance against their opponents in the present canvass. The epithet supplies the place and substitutes the purpose of argument in the mouths of men weak enough in mind to fear that these free and powerful States are in danger of temporal sub- jection from the poorest and weakest of the European Princes. Historical Jore they indeed have at command to foment this morbid apprehension : but it is lore borrowed from the dark ages and from persecuting, intolerant Europe — it is lore that has lost its terrors even on the intolerant side of the Atlantic, when Catholic Emperors have repeatedly taken the Pope — that most formidable tem- poral prince, prisoner in his sacred city, and led him into ignominious captivity ; and where, even within the recollection of very small children, that same Po- tentate, whose authority is pretended to overshadow all the goverments of the earth, was driven out of Rome by a handful of domestic revolutionists. . Native born Americans who terrify at the thought of a Papal subjugation, must be excused for rummaging up the exploded and forgotten lore of benighted and intolerant ages, and for denouncing as " Catholic organs," those who laugh at their folly and deride their farrago of nonsense about Popish invasion and subjugation. The Rev. Sydney Smith, a staunch supporter of the English Church Estab- lishment, has supplied us with language suitable to the cases of these cowardly terrorists, in the following happy description of a modern Know Nothing : " Philagatharches is an iastance (not uncommon, we are sorry to say, even among the most rational of the Protestant dissenters) of a love of toleration combined with a love of persecution. He is a dissenter, and earnestly demands religious liberty for that body of men ; but, as for the Catholics, he would not only continue their present disabilities, but load them with every new one that could be conceived. He expressly says that an Atheist or a Deist may be allowed to propagate their doctrines, but not a Catholic ; and then proceeds with all the customary trash against that sect which nine school boys out of ten now know how to refute. So it is with Philagatharches ; — so it is with weak men in every sect. It has ever been our object, and (in spite of misrepresentation and abuse) ever shall be our object, to put down this spirit — to protect the true interests and to diifuse the true spirit of toleration." So here is a " Catholic organ," after the Know Nothing sense of the word, in the person of a staunch clergyman of the Episcopal Church of England. In the same sense, Thomas Jefferson, who drew the Virginia act of religious toleration, the pith and gist of which stands at the head of this article cf ours, and who is generally understood to have been a Free Thinker on the subject of religion and church government, was also a " Catholic organ." Indeed, if this Know Nothing idea be true, that all defenders of religious freedom are " Catho- lic organs," we fear it will turn out, at last, that the proscribed denomination are very formidable in this matter of organship. George Washington and the whole convention of conscript fathers who formed the American Constitution 281 containing provisions in favor of the free exercise of rclujion and denouncing religious tests, against which the Higher Law Know Nothings of our day swear so great an oath, were in that sense '^ Catholic organs." Madison and Jackson, as will appear in another place in this sheet, were likewise in the same category of " Catholic organs." Not only were all good men of our earlier history amenable to this charge, but many bad men also; for the famous Thomas Paine wrote himself down a " Catholic organ" repeatedly and unmistakably, in defending the liberty of con- science ; as, for instance, thus : '' Toleration is not the opposite of intolerance, but is the counterfeit of it. Both are despotisms. The one assumes to itself the right of withholding liberty of conscience, and the other of granting it. The one is the Pope armed with fire and faggot, and the other is the Pope selling or granting indulgences. The former is Church and State, and the latter is Church and traffic. But toleration may be viewed in a much stronger light. Man worships not himself, but his Maker ; and the liberty of conscience, which he claims, is not for the service of himself, but of his God. In this case, therefore, we must ne- cessarily have the associated idea of two beings : the mortal who renders the worship, and the immortal being who is worshipped. Toleration, therefore, places itself, not between man and man, nor between church and church, nor between one denomination of religion and another, but between God and man : between the being who worships, and the being who is worshipped : and by the same act of assumed authority, by which it tolerates man to pay his worship, presumptuously and blasphemously sets itself up to tolerate the Almighty to receive it. Were a bill brought into any parliament, entitled, < An act to tolerate or grant liberty to the Almighty to receive the worship of a Jew or Turk ;' or, ' to prohibit the Almighty from receiving it;' all men would startle and call it blasphemy. The world would be in uproar. The presumption of toleration in religious matters would then present itself unmasked : but the presumption is not the less because the name of ' man' only appears to these laws, for the as- sociated idea of the worshipper and worshipped cannot be separated. Who, then, art thou, vain dust and ashes ! by whatever name thou art called, whether a king, a bishop, a church or a state, a parliament or any thing else, that obtru- dest thine insignificance between the soul of man and its Maker ? Mine own concerns. If he believes not as thou believest, it is a proof that thou believest not as he believeth, and there is no earthly power can determine between you. With respect to what are called denominations of religion, if every one is left to judge of its own opinion, there is no such thing as a religion that is wrong : but if they are to judge of each other's religion, there is no such thing as a re- ligion that is right; and, therefore, all the world is right, or all the world is wrong. But with respect to religion itself, without regard to names, and as di- recting itself from the universal family of mankind to the divine object of all adoration, it is man bringing to his Maker the fruits of his heart; and though those fruits may differ from each other like fruits of the earth, the grateful tri- bute of every one is accepted. A bishop of Durham or a bishop of Winchester, or the archbishop who leads the dakes, will not refuse a tythe — sheaf of wheat, because it is not a cock of hay, nor a cock of hay, because it is not a sheaf of wheat, nor a pig, because it is neither one nor the other ; but these same persons, under the figure of an established church, will not permit their Maker to receive the varied tythes of man's devotion. One of the continual choruses of Mr. Burke's book is " Church and State :" he docs not mean some one particular Church, or some one particular State, but anti-Church and State : and he uses the term as a general figure, to hold forth 282 the political doctrine of always uniting the Church v?ith the State in every country^ and he censures the National Assembly fur not having done this in France. Let us bestow a few thoughts on this subject. All religions are, in their nature, kind and benign, and united with principles of morality. They could not have made proselytes at first by professing any- thing that was vicious, cruel, persecuting or immoral. Like everything else they had their beginning : and thus proeeeded by persuasion, exhortation and example. How is it then that they loose their native mildness, and become mo- rose and intolerant ? It proceeds from the connection which Mr. Burke recommends. By engen- dering the Church with the State, a sort of mule animal, capable only of des- troying, and not of breeding up, called the church established by law. It is a stranger, even from its birth, to any parent mother ou which it is begotten, and whom in time it kicks out and destroys. The Inquisition of Spain does not proceed from the religion originally profes- sed, but from the mule animal engendered between the Church and State. The burnings in Smithfield proceeded from the same heterogeneous production : and it was the regeneration of this animal in England afterwards, that renewed the rancour and irreligion among the inhabitants, and that drove the people called Quakers and Dissenters to America. Persecution is not an original fea- ture in any religion, but it is always the strongly marked feature in all law re- ligions, or religions established by law. Take away the law establishment, and every religion re-assumed its original benignity. In America, a Catholic priest is a good citizen, a good character, and a good neighbor ; an Episcopalian minister is of the same description ; and this pro- ceeds independently of the men, from there being no law establishment in America. If we also view this matter in a temporal sense, we shall see the ill effects it has had on the prosperity of nations. The union of Church and State has im- poverished Spain. The revoking the edict of Nants drove the silk manufacture from France into England : and Church and State are now driving the cotton manufacture from England to America and France. It is by observing the ill effects of it, in England, that America has been warned against it, and it is by experiencing them in France, that the National Assembly have abolished it : and, like America, have established universal right of conscience, and universal right of ciiizenshij)." — Paine s Riglits of Man, part \st. But better men and better moralists than Paine proved themselves "Catholic organs " in full as decided and able and instructive a manner. One of the most lucid and popular authors upon subjects of casuistry and religion, Dy- mond, writes thus : " A few, and only a few, sentences, will be allowed to the writer upon the great, the very great question of extending religious liberty to the Catholics of these kingdoms. I call it a very great question, not because of the difficulty of deciding it, if sound principles are applied, but because of the interests that are involved, and of the consequeiices which may follow if those principles are not applied. It is the writer's conviction, that full lleligious Liberty ought to be extend- ed to the Catholics, because it ought to be extended to all men. If a Catholic acts in opposition to the public welfare, diminish or take away his freedom ; if he thinks amiss, let him enjoy his freedom undiminished. To this I know of but one objection that is worth noting here — that they are harmless, only because they have not the power of doing mischief, and that they wait only for the power to do it. But they say this is not the case ; we have no such intentions ! Now, in all reason, you must believe them, or show that they are unworthy of belief. If you believe them, Religious Liberty fol- 283 lows of course. Can jou then show that they are unworthy of belief. Where is your evidence ? You say their allegiance is divided between the king and a foreign power. They reply ' It is not.' We hold ourselves bound, in conscience, to obey the civil government in all things of a temporal and civil nature, notwithstanding any dispensation to the contrary, from the Pope or Church of Home. You say their declarations and oaths do not bind them, because they hold that they can be dispensed from the obligation of an oath by the Pope. They rGply ' .tie do net.' We hold that the obligation of an oath is most sacred ; that no power whatever can dispense with any oath by which a Catholic has confirmed his duty of allegiance to his sovereign, or any obligation of duty to a third person. • You say they hold that faith is not to be kept with heretics. They reply, ' TJe do not.' British Catholics say they have solemnly sworn that tliey re- ject and detest that unchristian and impious principle, that faith is not to be kept with heretics or infidels. These declarations are taken from a ' Declara- tion of the Catholic Bishops, the Vicars, Apostles, their co-adjutors, in Great Britain, 1825.' They are signed by the Catholic Bishops of Great Britain, and are approved in an ' address ' signed by eight Catholic Peers, and a large number of other persons of rank and character. Now, I ask of those who contend for the Catholic disabilities, what proof do you bring that these men are trying to deceive you ? I can anticipate no answer, because I have heard none. Will you, then, content yourselves by say- ing, we will not believe them ? This would be at least the candid course, and the world might then perceive that our conduct was regulated not by reason^ but by prejudice or the consciousness of power. It is unwarrantable to infer| a priori, and contrary to the professions and declarations of the persons hold- ing such opinions, that their opioions could induce acts injurious to the com- mon weal. But, if nothing can be said to show that the Catholic declarations do not bind them, something can be said to show that they do. If declarations be indeed so little binding upon their consciences, how comes it to pass that they do not make those declarations which would remove their disabilities, get a dispensation from the Pope, and so enjoy both the privileges and an easy con- science. Why, if their oaths and declarations did not bind them, they would get rid of their disabilities to-morrow ! Nothing is wanting but a few hypocritical declarations, and Catholic Emancipation is effected. Why do they not make the declarations ? Because their icords bind them. And yet, (so gross is the absur Jity,) although it is their conscientiousness which keeps them out of office, we say they are to be kept out because they ai-e not conscientious ! I forbear further inquiry, but I could not with satisfaction, avoid applying what I conceive to be the sound principles of political rectitude to this great ques- tion ; and let no man allow his prejudices or his fears to prevent him from ap- plying them to this, as to every other political subject. Justice and Truth are not to be sacrificed to our weakness and apprehensions ; and I believe that, if the people and legislature of this country (Great Britain) will adhere to justice and truth with regard to our Catholic brethren, they will find, ere long, that they have only been delaying the welfare of the Empire" — Di/mond's Essays on Moral it I/. Religious Toleration before the American Revolution. — More than a hundred years before the declaration of independence, the American colonies asserted, and the British monarchs granted, the great doctrines of religious tolerance. In 1662, the sovereign of England declared ='the principles and foundation of the charter of Massachusetts to be the freedom 284 of liberty of conscience !" But from the moment that the idea of making an English settlement in Maryland occurred to the just and high-souled Calvert, Lord Baltimore, which was early in 1600, the idea of religious tol- eration became as precious to American adventurers and settlers as the air which they breathed or the lives they had dedicated to the New World. In 1636, every other country in the world had persecuting laws but Maryland ; and at that early day the oath of a governor of Maryland was : " I will not, by myself, or any other, directly or indirectly, molest any one professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for or in respect of religion. At a moment when the overthrow of the monarchy in the mother country Avas about to place in the hands of Cromwell, the embittered enemy of the Romism church, un- limited power, the Catholics of JNIaryland (April 21, 1649) placed the fol- lowing law upon their statute-book: " And whereas the enforcing of the conscience in matters of religion hath frequently fallen out to be of danger- ous consequence in those Commonwealths where it has been practised, and for the more quite and peacable government of this province, and the bet- ter to preserve mutual love and amity among the inhabitants, no person within this province, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be any ways troubled, molested or discountenanced, for his or her religion, or in the free exercise thereof." The " friends of prelacy" who were disfranchised in Massachusetts, and the Puritans who were "vexed" in Virginia, were wel- comed to equal political and civil liberty in Catholic Maryland. The man- ner in which Lord Baltimore was persecuted and denounced — thrown out his rights by usurpers — and in turn proscribed by the very persuasion he had tolerated and protected — and yet his noble and constant adherence to the doctrine of religious freedom and political equality, whether in public or in private life — are embalmed in the history and in the remembrance of the world. High upon the roll of fame will shine the name of Lord Baltimore, made glorious in the person of Sir George Calvert, and sustained in that of his son, Cecil Calvert. At a time when the nation was overrun with the foes of the holy right of the freedom of conscience, J^ord Baltimore set an ex- ample that to tills day bears perennial blessings upon all. Ever green be his Immortal memory! The Ingrates w^ho assail the reputation of the illus- trious dead — their rude ribaldry over his honored grave — their ignorant de- nial of services that are printed in the pages of impartial history — will not deprive him of his claims upon the gratitude of all generations of civilized and Christian people. The progress of religious toleration in New England was marked by gi- gantic and almost incredible perils. The heart sickens over the recital. And in proportion as we feel proud and glad at the exhibition of the Catho- lic Calvert's liberal and generous policy in Maryland, we are oppressed and grieved by the details of Catholic persecutions in England during the reign of Mary. But the religious toleration which flourished under a Catholic proprietor in the New World grew up defiantly in the face of Catholic lUlb- erallty in the Old World. It was precious in both cases ; but more perilous to maintain and to defend in the latter than in the former. Nor were the Puritans much safer under the Protestant rule of Elizabeth. Proscriptive decrees were passed against them commanding conformity, and some of their most beloved leaders were executed. But still their increase in numbers could not be arrested. Under James they suffered fearfully ; and, finally, in order to worship God without the fear of man, and to be able to assert the divine right of conscience, in 1607 a number of reformers fled to Holland, where they arrived after terrible privations. They remained in Holland about eleven years. In 1620 they left for the New World, and soon after their arrival established themselves at Plymouth. Their sufferings for long 285 years, from the climate, from starvation, from the ravaj^es of the Indians, and from their distant foes, as we read in their sad but eloquent story, make the heart bleed. Throughout all, they asserted and maintained that principle of religious toleration to preserve which they tied from their i'athorland. Population advanced slowly for long years ; few followed their despairino- fortunes; but through all "they worshiped God under their own vine and under their own fig tree, with none to molest or to make them afraid." It would compensate for the trouble if some eloquent writer would go back to those days of the past, and contrast the perils and the persecutions endured by these early Christians — the loss of fortune and of life — to sustain a prin- ciple now madly assailed by those who boast at the same time of beino- the offspring of such ancestors, and trample their holiest prerogative under foot as if toleration were the teaching of sin itself ! In 1631, however, there reached the shores of Nastaket one of those men whose character impresses itself upon coming generations, and whose virtues outweigh all the honors of merely military chieftains. He -was the champion of religious toleration, and almost its martyr. He contended for it against all local fanaticisms, offended his own friends by his heroic forti- tude, and was finally expelled from the Massachusetts colony for his adhe- rence to this immortal doctrine. We allude to Roger Williams. Let those who now scoff at the right of conscience, and who dare to lay their hands upon that sacred element of freedom — let them contemplate the character and the example of this heroic spirit; and if they do not feel overwhelmed with the consciousness of their own insignificance and ingratitude, we shall be deceived. Behold the picture of this brave and noble leader as drawn by the glowing pencil of Bancroft : "In 1631 he was but little more than thirty years of age ; but his mind had already matured a doctrine which se- cures him an immortality of fame, as its application has given religious peace to the American world. He was a Puritan, and a fugitive from Eng- lish persecution ; but his wrongs had not clouded jiis accurate understand- ing ; in the capacious recesses of his mind he had revolved the nature of intolerance, and he, and he alone, had arrived at the great principle which is its sole effectual remedy. He announced his discovery under the simple proposition of the sanctity of conscience. The civil magistrate should re- strain crime, but never control opinion ; should punish guilt, but should never violate the freedom of the soul. The doctrine contained within itself an entire reformation of theological jurisprudence; it would blot from the statute-book the felony of non-conformity ; would quench the fires that per- secution had kept so long burning; would repeal every law compellino- at- tendance on public worship ; Avould abolish tithes and all forced contributions to the maintenance of religion ; would give an equal protection to every form of religious faith ; and never suffer the authority of the civil o-overn- ment to be enlisted against the mosque of the Mussulman or the altar of the fire worshiper, against the Jewish synagogue or Roman cathedral. * * # " But the principles of Roger Williams led him into perpetual collision with the clergy and government of Massachusetts. It had ever been their custom to respect the church of England, and in the mother country they frequented its service without scruple ; yet its principles and its adminis- tration were harshly exclusive. Williams would hold no communion with intolerance ; for, said he, 'the doctrine of persecution for cause of con- science is most evidently and lamentably contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus.' ******** # # # " But the controversy finally turned on the question of the rights and duty of magistrates to guard the minds of the people against corruption, and to punish what would seem to them error and heresy. Magistrates, Williams protested, are but the agents of the people, or its trustees, oq whom no spir- 286 itual power in matters of worship can ever be conferred; since conscience belongs to the individual, and is not the property of the body politic ; and with admirable dialectics clothing the great truth in its boldest and most gen- eral forms, he asserted that the civil magistrate may not intermeddle even to stop a church from apostacy and heresy ; 'that this power extends only to tiie bodies and goods and outward estates of men.' With corresponding distinctness, he foresaw the influence of his principles on society. 'The removal of the yoke of soul-oppression,' to use the words in which, at a later day, he confirnied his early view, 'as it will prove an act of mercy and righteousness to the enslaved nations, so it is of binding force to engage the whole and every interest and conscience to preserve the common liberty and peace.' * * ******* # » "When summoned to appear before the general court, he avowed his convictions in the presence of the representatives of the state, 'mamtained the rocky strength of his grounds,' and declared himself 'ready to be bound and banished, and even to die in New England,' rather than renounce the opinions which had dawned upon his mind in the clearness of light. At a time when Germany was the battle-field for all Europe in the implacable wars of religion ; when even Holland was bleeding with the anger of vengeful factions ; when France was still to go throucrh the fearful struo-trle with bigotry ; when England was gasping under the despotism of intoler- ance, almost half a century before William Penn became an American pro- prietary, and two years before Descartes founded modern philosophy on the method of free reflection, Roger Williams asserted the doctrine of in- tellectual liberty. It became his glory to found a state on that principle, and to stamp himself upon its rising institutions in characters so deep that the impress has remained to the present day, and can never be erased with- out the total destruction of the work. The principles which he first sus- tained amidst the bickerings of a colonial parish, next asserted in the gen- eral court of Massachusetts, and then introduced into the wilds on Narra- gansett bay, he soon found occasion to publish to the world, and to defend as the basis of the religious freedom of mankind ; so that, borrowing the rhetoric employed by his antagonist in derision, we may compare him to the lark, the pleasant bird of the peaceful summer, that, 'affecting to soar aloft, springs upward from the ground, takes his rise from pale to tree,' and at last, surmounting the highest hills, utters his clear carols through the skies of morning. He was the first person in modern, Christendom to assert in its plenitude the doctrine of the liberty of conscience, the equality of opinions before law, and in its defence he was the harbinger of Milton, the precursor and the superior of Jeremy Taylor." ****** [After being expelled from Massachusetts, Roger Williams went out to seek a home for himself:] " It was in June that the law-giver of Rhode Island, with five compan- ions, embarked on the stream ; a frail Indian canoe contained the founder of an independent state and its earliest citizens. Tradition has marked the spring near which they landed ; it is the parent spot, the first inhabited nook of Rhode Island. To express his unbroken confidence in the mercies of God, Williams called the place Providence. 'I desired,' said he, 'it might be for a shelter for persons distressed for conscience.' " These are taken from examples of American history long before the revo- lutionary war, and before the declaration of independence. We shall re- serve to another occasion the reproduction of the model character of William Penn — a portrait entitled to a high place in the galaxy of which Calvert and Williams were unfading stars. But what a retrospect is opened to the in- quiring mind by these reminiscenses ! We see a simple Bible truth — a plain principle in politics — prevailing over bigotted and cruel kings. We see the 287 wisest statesmen of a brilliant reign yielding to this principle ; men perish- ing for it at the'burnin* stake in order that posterity might feel its value ; others stealing off to strange lands with their feeble wives and little chil- dren ; others hunted like wild beasts, and finally Christians flying for a refuge from intolerance to a far-distant world — a new as3dum — and meet- ing there the rigors of a harsh climate, of prostrating diseases, of sav- age foes — all that the seed of religious freedom and liberty of conscience m'ight not perish, but might be the beginning of a great nation in the future under the canopy of whose institutions all nations might find a home, safe from king and Kaiser, screened from fanaticism and hatred, and equal alike before God and man ! One of the first bad deeds of the Know Nothng Governor of Massachusetts, after his election in 1855, was the disbanding of several military companies, composed of foreign born citizens. John Mitchell, the Irish patriot and refugee, published the following ad- mirable and scathing article upon the subject in his paper, The Citizen. DISARMING OF CITIZENS— THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS DES- POTISM. He must be a grossly ignorant Celt, indeed, who does not know the principles of Republican freedom better than Mr. Gardner, Governor of Massachusetts. Mr. Gardner holds "that the foreigner shall enjoy all the blessings of this country ; but that the natives shall continue to administer the laws, a-cording to their own judgment and the example of their fathers." Therefore Governor Gardner has not the least idea what the blessings of this country are (or rather were) when he excludes from the number of those blessings the equal capacity of all citizens to " administer the laws" and to do every other civic duty and exercise every other civic right. When he presumes to cite the example of his fathers for this, if he means the Pilgrim Fathers, he is right enough ; — for they had little notion of republican freedom or any other freedom — but if he means the Fathers of the American Revolution, then he blasphemes his fathers and stultifies his fathers' son. His fathers did not call a naturalized citizen " the foreigner ;" his fathers did not claim for natives the sole administration of the law. His fathers knew what were the blessings of the Revolution they achieved and of the country they created ; and the}' made laws inviting all mankind to come and participate in those blessings upon equal terms. His fathers little thought they would be so unlucky as to beget a Know Nothing. However, he has begun the work ', knowing nothing, and we suppose caring nothing, how it may end. '' To cultivate a living and energetic nationality — to develop a high and vital patriotism," he has commenced his term of ofiice by issuing an order to disband all militia companies of the State, whose members were horn in other lands — or as he clearly expresses it, '^ Companies composed of foreign birth." Whether he has by law the power to carry his ukase into effect is another question, which we are glad to see will be tried with him ; but in the mean time, so far as in him lies, he revokes the invitation of his fathers after it has been accepted by millions of men — after they have abandoned the crowded and crushed lands of Europe, their home, their kindred, and what citizenship they had there, — and declares his resolution to cheat them, by penal disabilities and disqualifications, which would make them citizens, but in name, helots in fact. 288 This is what Governor Gardner calls Americanizing America. But he lias other plans, this learned Governor — " To retain the Eible (that is the Protes- tant Bible) in our Common Schools, and to keep entire the separation of the Church and the State." Obviously he is in a state of the most innocent uncon- sciousness that these two suggestions destroy one another. To expend the taxes of the whole people in maintaining institutions (call them schools or conventi- cles, or what you will) that only a part of the people can use by reason of some one sort of religion being taught there — this is not separation, but connexion, of Church and State. We do not mean to make an elaborate criticism on the Massachusetts inaugural. It is all like what we have quoted — ignorance, bad sense, bad feeling, and bad English. But what we do mean to do is to address a few words of advice to naturalized citizens in the premises. It may be assumed that Governor Gardner's principles and measures will in the present temper of the public mind, be popular, and bo imitated in other States. In fact Know Nothing Governors may even attempt to improve upon them, and invent some original and more ingenious oppression. It would not be easy, just now to go too far in that direction. It is full time that the people against whom all these blows and insults are aimed should take counsel together, should ascertain whether they are indeed citizens in the true and full meaning of the term, if not, then what position they are to consider themselves as holding in America henceforth, — and in the mean time what measures can be taken to avert the evils which the present proscription may bring upon themselves and their adopted country. In the first place we must remark the fact which no doubt Governor Gardner knows well enough — that the separate military organizations, whether of Irish or of German citizens, although certainly an evil, are fully as much owing to the separate organizations of native Americans as to any disposition on the part of either Irish or Germans to isolate themselves. There are companies in New Yurk which do not admit a foreign-born soldier, and doubtless in Boston too. These native Americans will not take the word of command from a foreign-born officer ; so that if a naturalized citizen, no matter how educated and intelligent, were even admitted into those corps he must be a full private. The plain con- sequence is that naturalized citizens desirous of bearing arms under the flag of their adopted country, if they will not submit to humiliation, must form corps of their own. We say this is an evil ; but it is directly produced by the intol- erance of the natives; yet the natives think themselves entitled to cry out in condemnation of it. Since the Citizen was established, seeing that the existence of separate Irish, German and Native American companies could not be helped, we have earnestly endeavored to impress upon the Irish soldier, what indeed we believe every Irish soldier feels without being tutored — that he bears arms solely for his adopted country, whose laws he is bound to obey, and whose flag and constitu- tion he is to defend with his life. We have loudly condemned the anomaly and absurdity of what is called " the Irish vote," (another mischief invented and used by American politicians) and exhorted our countrymen not to vote in masses or in batches, as Irishmen, nor suffer electioneering intriguers to " make capital" of them by a few blarneying phrases. We have preached to them that here they are never to forget they are Americans, and exhorted them te be obe- dient to the laws, and to rely on the justice of their fellow citizens and on the majesty of the constitution. We I'epeat that advice still more earnestly noio. Let no irritation at an in- solent aggression tempt us to be false to the obligations vve have taken upon us. In the difficulties that are approaching, let the Know Nothings be still, as they are now, wholly in the wrong. But what 13 of more importance still — submit to no brand of inferiority, no shadow of disparagement, at the hand of these natives. You are their equals 289 by law; you arc their equals every way. Disbanclment of a military company is a direct imputation of ynisconduct : and we are happy to find that Col. Butler of Lowell refuses to brook the outrage. He declines to transmit tlic order for disbandment to his captains, invites a Court Martial, and appeals to the law — for there is still an appeal to the law. And the Shields' Artillery of Boston have taken like action in the case. If, however, the final decision be against them and against Col. Butler, and if the military companies of foreign birth are actually disarmed and disbanded, then for every musket given into the State Armory, let three be purchased forthwith ; let independent companies be formed, thrice as numerous as the disbanded corps — there are no Arms Acts here yet — and let every "foreigner" be drilled and trained, and have his arras always ready. For you may be very sure, (having some experience in that matter) that those who begin by disarming you, mean to do you a mischief. Be careful not to truckle in the smallest particular to American prejudices. Yield not a single jot of your own ; for you have as good a right to your preju- dices as they. Do not, by any means, suffer Gardner's Bible to be thrust down your throats. Do not abandon your post, or renounce your functions, as citizens or as soldiers, feut after resort to the last and highest tribunal of law open to you ; keep the peace ; attempt no <' demonstrations ;" discourage drunkenness, and stand to your arms. It is hardly to be conceived that the madness of faction and the insolence of race will proceed to such a length as to disarm independent companies, or private men. If they do, then the Constitution is at an end — the allegiance you have sworn to this Kepublic is annulled. Would to God that thoughtful and just Americans would bethink themselves in time. They are strong : they fur outnumber the foreign born : they are proud and flushed witb national glory and prosperity : doubtless they can if they will, do great and grievous wrong to a race that has never wronged them : — but seriously, earnestly we assure tliem, the naturalized citizens will not submit. This senseless feud must be reconciled : there must be peace : peace or else a war of extermination. We are here on American ground, either as citizens or as enemies. HAS EMIGRATION INJURED OUR COUNTRY? It is stated — we know not how truly — that the Legislature of Wisconsin has unanimously passed resolutions against any alteration of the naturalization laws. This item of news has suggested some reflections on the subject of emigration, which may not be inapplicable to present polities. ^ In 1840 the entire population of Wisconsin was 30,945. In 1850 the entire population of Wisconsin was 305,391 — being an increase in ten years of 88G.88 per cent. ! Of this 305,391 souls, 110,477 were born in foreign countries, and but 54,479 •within the State of Wisconsin. There arc many other evidences of the value of emigration which deserve notice. Chicago, that wonder of the lakes, which twelve years ago was no larger than an ordinary village, and which is now one of the great depots of the far West, had a population of 30,000 two years ago. Of this number about one half is composed of citizens born in other countries. Take next the city of Milwaukie, Wisconsin, which has only risen into notice within a few years, and we find there a population of 20,000 three years ago, of which 12,782 are adopted citizens from Germany and Ireland. 19 290 Cincinnati, the queen city of the "West, has a population of 115,435, of which 54,500 are adopted citizens from Germany and Ireland. St. Louis is another wonder. In 1852 it had a population of about 78,000, of -which 38,397 were born in foreign countries — chiefly from England, Wales, Ireland and Germany. New Orleans has a population of 50,470 native-born to 48,601 foreign-born — mainly from Ireland, France and Germany. Detroit numbers 11,055 native to 9,927 foreign-born. Boston has 88,948 native to 46,667 foreign-born. Philadelphia has 286,346 native to 121,699 foreign-born. It appears, says the Compendium of the Census, compiled by Mr. DeBow, that there were, in 1850, in the United States, 961,719 persons born in Ire- land; 278,675 born in England; 70,550 in Scotland; 29,868 in Wales— ma- king a total for Great Britain and Ireland of 1,340,812, which is considerably more than one half of the total foreign-born residents in the United States. If Bri- tish America be added, (147,711,) there will be a total of 1,488,523, which makes two thirds of the total foreign-born. From France there are 54,069 ; from Prussia, 10,549; from the rest of Germany, 573,225; and some 80,000 from other countries, including Mexico. Closely and inseparably connected with this view of the subject, are the enor- mous and increasing resources opened by this emigration to our commerce, ma- nufactures, agriculture, and hence to the revenues of the general government. The amount of shipping employed is itself an item worthy of reflection. New York, which is the point at which most of the emigration from the Old World arrives, thence to take its departure over the States of the Union, had in 1821 a tonnage equal to 21,726,634, and in thirty years after (1851) its tonnage was equal to 106,568,635 ! This ratio holds good as to other cities. We have no data by which to estimate the large amount of coin that follows and accompa- nies emigration to the United States; and this is an element of first-rate im- portance. Arrest emigration and the first interest to feel the blow will be that of commerce. What emigration has done for agriculture, the statistics of the Western States will show to the curious inquirer. Every foot of uncultivated soil that is res- cued for the purposes of civilization by the teeming thousands that pour into the wilderness of the far West is made to add to the enormous products that have made this the granary of the world, and to every other interest in every State of the Union, because where these masses of citizens do not produce they consume, giving to manufacturers a market on the one hand, and aiding to feed starving millions upon the other. There is probably no element that enters so largely, and at the same time so convincingly, into the discussion of the question of the value of emigration to the United States, as that which relates to the public lands. Here is a subject "worthy of the noblest efforts of the intellect. Ilegarded from every point of view, it inspires the most profound ideas, and fills the mind of the citizen with sublime anticipations of his country's greatness. Indissolubly connected with the question of revenue, it suggests to us a bulwark against a world in arms. In peace it promises to support a government without taxation, and so enforces the great idea of free trade with the nations of the earth. In war it furnishes us with the means to protect ourselves against the invader. Every j'ear fills up new expanses of the public domain ; and yet, as State after State is recovered from the gloom and the desolation of centuries of ignorance and of neglect, other regions are opened to the energies of our race, startling all the peoples of the globe with stories of illimitable natural resources. The policy of the go- vernment has not fallen below the majestic dignity of this subject, in all its re- lations, social and political. Chiefly, however, has it been considered as belong- ing to that class of interests which look beyond the present, and connect them- 291 selves with the future. The following brief and striking paragraph in the Pre- sident's last annual message contains a volume of food for patriotic thought : " During the last fiscal year, eleven million seventy thousand nine hundred and thirty-tive acres of the public lands have been surveyed, and eight millioa one hundred and ninety thousand and seventeen acres brought into market. The number of acres sold is seven million thirty-five thousand seven hundred and thirty-five, and the amount received therefor nine million two hundred and eighty-five thousand five hundred and thirty-three dollars. The aggregate amount of lands sold, located under military scrip and land warrants, selected as swamp lands by states, and by locating uucjer grants for roads, is upwards of twenty-three millions of acres. The increase. of lands sold over the previous year is about six millions of acres ; and the sales during the two first quarters of the current year present the extraordinary result of five and a half millions sold, exceeding by nearly four millions of acres the sales of the corresponding quarters of the last year." It is not necessary that we should retrace the history of emigration for the last twenty years, and especially for the last ten years, to show how and by whom these lands are purchased. While the government liberalizes its laws, cheapens its public lands, and peacefully treats with the aborigines, the doctrines of our forefathers are equally respected and applied, and the oppressed and down-trodden of the Old World come hitherwards to help tlic cause of enlight- ened liberty on these shores, and to find homes for themselves, loith none to mo- lest or to make them afraid. We thus fulfil ennobling duties to ourselves and bold out ennobling inducements to all our fellow-beings. We reduce our pub- lic debt, lighten the burdens of taxation to our citiz(ins, open the pathway to religion and civilization, where for thousands of years untutored nature reigned supreme, and reward those who have fought our battles against the common foe. Who does not see how such a picture held up before the hunted and the starv- ing masses of ancient kingdoms is like a voice from God himself calling them hitherwards? It is He who speaks in these wonderful and manifold evidences of His goodness and His glory. And when the emigrants come, answering to us, as the agents of the Supreme Ruler, do they take from us without giving in return ? Do they not aid to make the wilderness blossom as the rose — to dig the canal — to heave the ponderous granite from its time-worn caves — to stretch the long line of railroad — to pay taxes — and to contend against our enemies at home and abroad ? But more than this : Leaving the material advantages thus given on the one hand, and returned a thousand-fold upon the other, to those who delight in such calculations, who will estimate the general advantage to those rational principles of freedom, and of civilization and of law, secured to us by these additions to our population ? Exceptions, indeed, there are to this rule — deplorable exceptions. And so were there exceptions after the revolu- tionary war among a native-born people, who rebelled in the face of sacred ob- ligations, and resisted the delegated authority with the strong arm. But the problem has been too fully and too clearly solved in regard to emigrants to this country. Here all nations mingle and make up a race such as the sun has ne- ver shone upon, and the feature that towers most prominently in all the States — that arrests and converts, if it does not denounce and overwhelm, every element of foreign tumult transported here — is the feature that when men would be truly free they must be obedient to the laws they themselves have made, or sworn to respect. And this is the rock upon which for fifty years a popular government has stood, anfl upon which it now stands stronger than ever. This, too, is the rock upon which absurd prophesies and craven fears have been shi» vered to atoms. The narrow bigot, or the selfish demagogue, may choose to extract apprehen- sions from these observations, but we advise him to adjourn his criticisms. We 292 advise him to leave as a legacy to the future his present persecutions and plots ; and there can be little danger of the issue ; for if he loill try his theories now, he must rest on a more enduring basis than mere proscription and envy. He must erect his standard higher than the secret cells of midnight schemers. He must raise his voice in a purer atmosphere than that which exhales from oath- bound orgies. He may riot for a day in the excitement resulting from intoxi- cating prejudices and glittering promises. But he must oppose arguments to facts, truth to history, great thoughts and practical benefits to the solid and in- spiring record that we hold up before his eyes. Who cannot realize such a prospect in the not too distant future, when the Pacific slope will swarm with human beinc's ; when the untrodden empires that now belong to our country will be peopled with freemen ; when "we have rescued the suffering nations of this hemisphere, by the force of a peaceful example, from the sword and the bayonet; when our lakes, on all their borders, will fulfil the destiny that awaits them and renew there the glories of the ancient republics; when in all the world there is no tyrant; and when there need be no emigrants to this land, because toleration, equality, and peace will be the common blessings of the whole family of man ? HOSTILITY TO EMIGRATION. Thefollowino- powerful articles appeared in the Washinglon Union during the canvass in Virginia, and as they have been ascribed to two of the most distin- guished statesmen of the Democratic party, we republish them. In learning and research, they equal any writings of the canvass. Hostility/ to Emigration — To the Extension of the American Union — To the Rights of the States and the Eights of the Citizen — And, Finally, to the Constitution of the United States — Now, as heretofore, Integral Portions of Federal Creed. Now that a party has arisen in our midst, boldly avowing the worst doctrines of the old alien law, and striking down its victims by an illegal secret process, it will serve a good purpose to trace its relationship to the federal sources from which it springs. We cannot better illustrate and establish the parentage of this party than by again taking up the subject upon which we yesterday ad- dre-sed some observations to the readers of the Washington Union. This party is federal in its origin, in its instincts, and its designs; but in nothing can this be more clearly shown than in its relations to the future disposition of the pub- lic lands, in its hostility to emigration, in its abolition proclivities, an^ in its opposition to the erection of new States. General Hayne, of South Carolina, in his great speech in reply to Mr. Webster in 1830, eloquently pointed where the federal party and where the Democratic party respectively stand on the question of the public lands. What was true of both in 1830, is faithfully correct in regard to them in 1855. We copy from that speech as follows : '< When the gentleman refers to the conditions of the grants under which the United States have acquired these lands, and insists that, as they are declared to be ' for the common benefit of all the States,' they can only be treated as so much treasure, I think he has applied a rule of construction too narrow for the case. If, in the deeds of cession, it has been declared that the grants were in- tended ' for the common benefit of all the States,' it is clear from other provi- sions that they were not intended as so much property ; for it is expressly de- 293 clared tbat the object of the grants is to erect new States ; and the United States in accepting the truyt, bind themselves to facilitate tnc formation of those States, to be admitted into the Union with all the lights and privileges of the original States. This, sir, was the great end to which all parties looked, and it is by the fulfilment of this high trust that the common benefit of all the States is to be best promoted. Sir, let me tell the gentleman that in the part of the country in which I live vrc do not measure political benefits by the money standard. We consider, as more valuable than gold, liberty, principle and justice." This is the Democratic idea. Observe, next, how clearly the old federal idea, often tried, and fatally failing on each successive trial, is given by the same masterly hand : " The lands are, it seems, to be treated as so much treasure, and must be applied to the common benefit of all the States. Now, if this be so, where does he derive the right to appropriate them for local and partial objects ? How can the gentleman consent to vote away immense bodies of the public lauds for canals in Indiana and Illinois ; to the Louisville and Portland canal ; to Ken- yon College in Ohio; to schools for deaf and dumb, and other objects of a similar description ? * * * * Sir, the true difierence between us I take to be this : the gentleman wishes to treat the public lands as a great treasure — ^just as so much money in the treasury — to be applied to all objects, constitutional and unconstitutional, to which the public money is now constantly applied. I consider it as a sacred trust, which we ought to fulfil on the princi- ples for which I have contended." What followed all these eflForts to convert the proceeds of the sales of the public lands into a common fund for the purpose of bribing local interests and propitiating the electoral votes of certain States for presidential favorites ? We had a long procession of expedients to tax the products of labor; a high and exorbitant tariS"; a system of internal improvements; and a settled effort, on the part of the federal leaders, to build up a gigantic " national bank," to op- press labor, and to aid the few at the expense of the many. In the meanwhile, the Democratic party, led in that day by such men as Benton, Forsyth, Grundy, and Wright, labored with herculean energy to preserve this fund from the pub- lic lands for two great objects: 1st, that by the encouragement of actual settlers new States might be added tp our Union ; and, 2dly, that our public debt might be extinguished. What American citizen does not, at this day, regard our pub- lic lands, and the manner in which, under Democratic auspices, they have been disposed of, with pride ? The able Commissioner of the General Land Office, John Wilson, in his last annual report, speaks of the blessings which the pre- sent system has conferred upon our country as follows : "The true policy' of the land system is, first, to encourage the actual settle- ment and improvement of the public domain. This may be done by such amendments to the preemption laws as experience may prove necessary for the purpose, and by which every actual settler may secure his improvements in a reasonable time, without risk of competition from speculators. " And, second, to aid in providing the necessary facilities for intercommuni- cations, and for the transportation of the products of the lands to market. Although the railroad excitement, in many cases, has been carried to excess, experience has proved that grants for such purposes, when carried out in good faith, are alike beneficial to the people, the States, and the general govern- ment. " To prevent mere speculation, and to secure an equivalent to the government for the lands granted for those purposes, some modifications in the acts making tbem seem proper — as, for instance, that no grant should be made except on the ^94 application of the legislature of a State ; that the lands should be taken in al- ternate sections within a certain distance on each side of the improvement, the minimum price of the remaining sections to be doubled throughout the whole extent of the grant; and the lauds to be certified to the States as the work progresses, with a provision of forfeiture in case of failure. *' It is impossible to portray the vast benefits already derived by the West from this system. Immense regions have been disposed of that were thought to be wholly unsalable because of the difficulty of access; and so numerous are the applications for these lands, that in some cases, for want of time, they can- not be acted on for months after they are made." At this point we come to the efforts now making by the new secret party to arrest emigration from the Old World, by which the wilderness is redeemed to civilization, industry encouraged, the public revenues increased, and the way gradually but surely prepared for the abolition of all indirect taxes in the shape of tariffs upon our people. Defeated befoi-e, and with results that we can never too highly appreciate, the federal,, leaders are now trying to arrest emigration, so that this noble policy may be destroyed. Mr. Benton charged these leaders, twenty-five years ago, with being guilty of the same monstrous offence de- nounced against the King of England, by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, in the following words : "He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States, for that pur- pose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, andraising the conditions of new appropriations of lands." His Majesty, the King of England, professed, like the federal leaders of old, and the present secret party under the control of federal and abolition leaders, to be affectionately devoted to this country. He, too, wanted *' Americans to rule America," (meaning himself and his mercenaries.) The federalists de- sired to limit the boundaries of the Utiion, and the new party toils to effect the same object, even while the whole world acknowledges the wisdom of our policy in regard to the oppressed of other nations, in stopping all emigration to the United States. Strange, too, that from the very Massachusetts which now sends the rankest enemies of the Union to the Congress of the United States, and the most re- lentless foes of the adopted citizen, the first voices were raised against the ex- pansion of our beloved Union. John Quincy Adams admitted this in October of 1813, while American minister at the Russian court. Speaking of the growth of western States, and admiring at that distance the sublime spectacle, he exclaims : [How true is this voice of the past in its application to the Mas- sachusetts of 1855 !] ''If New Enghmd" (says Mr. Adams) "loses her influence in the councils of the Union, it will not be owing to any diminution of her population, owing to these emigrations to the West. It will be from the partial, sectarian, or, as Hamilton called it, clannish spirit, which malces so maiiy of her political lead- ers jealous and envious of the South. This spirit is in its nature narrow and contracted, and it always works by means like itself. Its natural tendency is to excite and provoke a counteracting spirit of the same character; and it has actually produced that effect in our country. It has combined the southern and western portions of the United States, not in a league, but in a concert of political views adverse to those of New England. The fame of all the great legislators of antiquity is founded upon their contrivances to strengthen and multiply the principles of attraction in civil society. Our legislators seem to delight in multiplying and fomenting the principles of repulsion." 295 The doctrines of Massachusetts abolitionism Lave, we regret to say, since made rapid progress in those free western States whose progress they so long and so violently resisted. Their avowed hostility to emigration, however, after a long silence on that favorite federal dogma, must show to the "West that the " sniike is only scotched, not killed/' and that opposition to the rights of the South is now, as ever, closely identified with animosity to the growth of the West. The same leaders were anxious in 1786, 1787, and 1788 to surrender the navigation of the Mississippi to Spain. The same federal leaders, in the first ordinance for. the sale of the public lands, refused to sell a less quantity than six hundred acres, and also refused to reduce the price for actual settlers. The course of such men as Josiah Quincy, of Boston, and thosewho believed in his doctrines, and followed his example in opposing the acquisition of Loui- siana, is an event familiar to the youngest readers of political history. The element that controlled them then was hostility to the admission of a flourish- ing people and a noble region into the Union ; and they contended with memora- ble bitterness against that memorable acquisition. In the midst of the excite- ment on this question, however, Thomas Jefferson was chosen President. To obtain Louisiana was a matter of the greatest importance, commercially and po- litically. "The West," says Mr. Benton, "was filling up with people, and covered over with wealth and population. It was no more the feeble settle- ment which the Congress of the Confederation had seen, and whose rights, few as they were to the free navigation of the Mississippi, had given birth to the most arduous struggle ever seen in Congress. States had superseded these in- fant settlements. Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee had been admitted into the Union ; the Territories of Indiana, Illinois, and Mississippi were making their way to the same station. The western settlements of Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia lined the left bank of the Ohio for half the length of its course. All was animated with life, gay with hope, independent in the cultivation of a grate- ful soil, and rich in the prospect of sending their accumulated products to all the markets of the world, through the great channel that conducted the King of Rivers to the bosom of the ocean. The treaty with Spain had guaranteed this ri-ght of passage." In 1802 this right was violated and New Orleans was suddenly closed against the States and Territories alluded to above, thus producing dismay, disaster, and bankruptcy. Mr. Jefferson took bold and rapid measures to acquire Loui- siana. He sent Livingston and Monroe to France to negotiate the purchase ; and in the Senate of the United States, on the confirmation of these two distin- guished gentlemen, every federal vote from the free States, including nearly all from New England, was cast against them ! The result is known, and Loui- siana was acquired ; but not without a fierce and relentless opposition from the federal leaders in Congress. Massachusetts was the first State to raise its voice against the admission of Louisiana as a State of this Union. We copy the following resolutions, reported to the Massachusetts legislature by Josiah Quin- cy, Ashmun, and Fuller, on the part of the Senate, and Messrs. Thatcher, Hall, and Bates, on the part of the House, recorded in the Boston Sentinel, June 26, 1813 : "Resolved, (as the sense of this legislature,) That the admission into the Union of States created in countries not comprehended within the original limits of the United States is not authorized by the letter or the spirit of the federal constitution. " Resolved, That it is the interest and the duty of the people of Massachu- setts to oppose the admission of such States into the Union as a measure tend- ing to the dissolution of the Union. 296 "Resolved, That the act pissed the 8th day of April, 1812, entitled 'An act for the admission of Louisiana into the Union, and to extend the laws of the United States to the said State,' is a violation of the constitution of the United States ; and that the senators of this State in Congress be instructed, and the representatives be requested, to use the utmost of their endeavors to obtain a repeal of the same." Without going out of the way to show the advantages to the whole North, of the measures which gave us control of the Mississippi, and of the treaty that gave* us Louisiana, and without pointing to the cultivated and liberal States tbat now occupy the domain thus recovered from a monarchy, the reader of the present day cannot fail to see the analogy between this act of the Boston federalists and their present crusade upoff Kansas and Nebraska. But, as if to show how this ancient hostility to emigration, to the acquisition of territory, to the erection of new States, and to the spread of liberal princi- ples over the continent, sympathizes with the present organized secret warfare upon the adopted citizens, and the hostility to new States, let us present another evidence. , The same Massachusetts, by a vote of 260 to 90, in the house of represen- tatives, sent delegates to the Hartford Convention on the 15th of December, 1814 ; and the next day, while Jackson was preparing for the battle of New Orleans, with the adopted citizen and the native American by his side, that convention " Resolved, That the most inviolable secrecy shall be observed by each mem- ber of this convention, including the secretary, as to all propositions, debates, and proceedings thereof, until this injunction shall be suspended or altered." A few days afterwards, on the 24th of December, it was resolved : " That it is expedient to make provision for restrainiag Congress in the exer- cise of an unlimited power to make new States and admit them into the Union." And on the 29th of DecemlDer, of the same year, the same convention pro- prosed : " That the capacity of naturalized citizens to hold offices of trust, honor, or profit, ought to be restrained." Other movements, and more sectional and treasonable, were advocated, and adopted. But we rest here. It needs only to complete this convincing record that we should show that" the same federalists have continued their war upon emigration, upon the expan- sion of our country, upon the adopted citizens, and upon the Union of these States, down to this moment of time. They opposed the annexation of Texas and the accjuisition of California, and are as ready to denounce the peaceful pur- chase of Cuba as they were to resist the great triumph that gave us Louisiana. They are organized all over the North to set the laws of Congress at defiance, and rejoice at the success of their fusion with the Know Nothings because it enables them to throw the-ir abolition and disunion disciples into Congress. They are, therefore, united in a persistent war upon the established rights of the South, and in opposing the admission of any more slave States into the Union, even at the risk of a dissolution of the confederacy. Identified with the hostility to the Irish in New York, when the latter would not join in the crusade against Jackson for his war upon the bank ; refusing to make good the destruction of a Catholic convent destroyed by a Boston mob ; the aiders and the abettors of the nativist movements of 1841 and 1844-45 ; they are once more in the lead of a secret society, which, like their own Hartford Convention, 297 plots treason against the constitution and the rights of the citizen in the dark, and publicly elevates bold and reckless factionists and demagogues to command- ing positions in the national legislature, whence they may scatter fire and death over the South, and hurl anathemas against the rights of conscience. We have deemed this glance at the history of the past, as contrasted with existing parties and schemes, eminently due to the cause of truth. We com- mend it to the consideration of the Democratic party of the whole Union. We ask those who have been misled, by the cry of a '' new party,'' into the Know Nothing lodges, to observe how completely they have fallen into the hands of the adv'ocates of those very doctrines against which Jefferson protested, and over which the Democratic party has been gloriously and ultimately victorious ever since the constitution of the United States was accepted as the fundamental law of the American republic. ONE OF THE VICTORIES OF THE NEW PARTY. While the Mexican war was at its height, a gentleman at the head of one of the departments under President Polk resigned his commission in the civil ser- vice of the country, and was appointed a brigadier general in the American army. He was an Irishman born. He had made a most favorable impression while discharging his official duties in Washington. _ He was_ among the very few of our adopted citizens who held prominent position in this country. The State which had presented him to the President as eminently worthy of his confidence, had herself showQ her appreciation of his high ability and unexcep- tionable deportment ; and the result proved that her estimate of tfie man was just. After having served with Generals Taylor and Wool on the other line, he landed with the American army at Vera Cruz under command of Gen. Scott, and wiis warmly eulogized for his gallantry at the capture of that city and the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, in March of 1847. When Gen. Scott issued his brilliant order (No. Ill) of the 17th of April, in which, with almost prophetic inspiration, he sketched the very details of the great victory that awaited him at Cerro Gordo, he selected this brave Irishman as one of the leaders in that eventful struggle. He said : " The second (Twigg's) division of regulars is already advanced within easy turning distance towards the enemy's left. That division has instructions to move forward before daylight to-morrow, and take up position across the national road in the enemy's rear, so as to cut off a retreat towards Jalapa. It may be reinforced to-day, if unexpectly attacked in force, by regiments — one or two — taken from Shields' brigade of volunteers. If not, the two volunteer regiments will march for that purpose at dayliglit to-morrow morning, under Brigadier General Shields, who will report to Brigadier General Twiggs, on getting up with him, or to the general-in-chief if he be in advance." This order was executed to the letter. The party under Twiggs and Shields were the advance party ; but while leading his troops to the conflict, under the heavy fire of the enemy, General Shields fell, as it was supposed, mortally wounded. "Brigadier General Shields, (says General Scott, in his report of the day's operations,) a commander of activity, zeal, and talent, is, I fear, mortally wounded. And again, the commander says, in another report : " The brigade so gallantly led by General Shields, and, after his fall, by Col- onel Baker, deserves high commendation for its fine behavior and success." 298 General Twiggs said : " Of the conduct of the volunteer force under the brave Grencral Shields, I cannot speak in two high terms." General Patterson united in these strong commendations of the courageous general. And the whole country soon responded to the sympathy and solici- tude which his dreadful wounds and his noble bearing had secured for him in the American army. The Illinois general slowly recovered, however. His escape from death was miraculous, and we shall never forget how the intelligence of his restoration to health thrilled the American people. The next great battles were those of Contreras and Churubusco. Here we find the gallant Shields once more ready for action, though still weak and suf- fering from his wounds. It is remarkable that, after having been carried in an ambulance from Jalapa to Puebla, bleeding and suffering from his wounds, he insisted upon going into the fight, and did so, when so weak and wasted that his physicians declared it impossible for him to survive ? Again General Scott paid him the highest compliments for his skill and daring in fulfilling his or- ders. This was on the 19th of August, 1847. On the 28th of the same month. General Scott once more reports to the Se- cretary of War — and this time he writes " from the gates of Mexico." What does he say of Shields ? We copy from his despatch : " Shields, the senior officer of the hamlet, after Smith had arranged with Cadwalader and Riley the plan of attack for the morning, delicately waived in- terference ; but reserved to himself the double task of holding the hamlet with his two regiments, (South Carolina and New York,) against ten times his num- bers on the side of the city, including the slopes to his left, and, in case the camp in his rear should be carried, to face about and cut off the flying enemy." And again, speaking of the grand finale of that day, Gen. Scott saya : " Shields, too, by the wise disposition of his brigade, and his gallant activity, contributed much to the general results. He held masses of cavalry and in- fantry, supported by artillery, in check below him, and captured hundreds, with one general, (Mendoza,) of those who fled from above." Referring to the fifth victory of that glorious day, Gen. Scott says : " It has been stated that some two hours and a half before Pierce's brigade, followed closely after the volunteer brigade, both under the command of Brig- adier General Shields, had been detached to our left to turn the enemy's works, to prevent the escape of the garrisons, and to oppose the extension of the enemy's numerous corps from the rear, upon and around our left. " In a winding march around to the right this temporary division found itself on the edge of an open, wet meadow, and in the presence of some 4,000 of the enemy's infantry, a little in the rear of Churubusco, on that road. Estab- lishing the right at a strong building, Shields extended his left parallel to the road to outflank the enemy towards the capital. But the enemy extending his right, supported by three thousand cavalry, more rapidly (being favored by better ground) in the same direction. Shields concentrated the division about a hamlet, and determined to attack in front. The battle was long, hot, and va- ried, but ultimately success crowned the zeal and gallantry of our troops, led by their distinguished commander, Brigadier General Shields. Shields took 300 prisoners, including officers." General Worth spoke highly of the gallant bearing of Pillow, Shields, Cad- walader, and Pierce in this fierce engagement. His praises were re-echoed by Generals Twiggs and Smith. General Shields, in his own report, which is a model of its kind, presents a graphic and beautiful sketch of the battle. 299 But wc find General Shields in the last, as in the first, conflict. In the ter- rible attack upon the city of Mexico he was in the advance with the veteran Quitman and the accomplished Persifer F. Smith. General Scott refers to him warmly, and says, in one part of his report of the battle, " General Quitman, being in hot pursuit — gallant himself, and ably supported by Generals Shields and Smith — Shields badly wounded before Chepultepec and refusing to retire," &c. General Quitman writes : '' In directing the advance. Brigadier General Shields was badly wounded in the arm. No persuasions, however, could induce that officer to leave his command and quit the field." And again : " Until carried from the field on the night of the 13th, in consequence of the severe wound received in the morning, he was conspicious for bis gallantry, energy, and skill." SPEECH OP MR. RUFFIN. The speecb of Mr. Thomas Ruffin of North Carolina was used with great ef- fect in the Virginia canvass, and doubtless in every Southern State, in the con- flicts of the Democracy with Know Nothingism. Its distinguished ability eminently entitles it to a place in this compilation : Speech of Hon. Thos. Ruffin, of North Carolina, Delivered in the House of Re^iresentativeSj February 27, 1855. [The House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union.] Mr. RuflSn. Mr. Chairman, I rise in my place for the first time since I have had a seat upon this floor, with the view of submitting a few remarks." I do not propose to discuss the question immediately before the Committee, and shall avail myself of the privilege now accorded me, to consider another question. Since I have been a member of this House, it has acted upon many important questions. Being loth to trespass upon the time of the House, I have contented myself by giving a silent vote upon all of them. These were questions which had heretofore entered, more or less, into the political discussions of our coun- try, and upon them my opinions were not unknown to my constituents. Since the commencement of the present session of Congress we have heard discussions in this Hall upon questions which were thought to have been settled long ago. I allude more particularly to those great questions of religious toleration and naturalization. I had thought that the question of religious toleration was settled by the Constitution of the country, and that American citizens had always proudly boasted that here, every man had the right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and that this right was not only guaran- teed by the fundamental law of the land, but was regarded as inherent and ina- lienable. And, Mr. Chairman, I had thought that the naturalization laws, passed under the administration of Jefferson, amended and perfected by sub.'jequent legislation, had given general satisfaction to the country, with the exception of a small faction. Throughout the country, discussion on these questions has been re- vived of late. To keep pace with the spirit of the times, early in the present session hono- rable gentlemen were struggling to get the floor to bring them before the House for its consideration. 300 • The honorable gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Taylor), more fortunate than bis competitors, succeded in his efforts, and, having obtained the floor, introduced a bill proposing an alteration of the naturalization laws. Sir, that gentleman is responsible for the introduction of the subject here, or if he prefers it, he is entitled to the distinguished honor of having been the first to introduce this measure into the House at the present session of Congress. And again. Sir, not long since a series of resolutions embodying certain prin- ciples in relation to these questions was offered by the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Witte). I was called upon to vote for the suspension of the rules to enable the House to consider those resolutions, and it is not out of place here that I should give the reasons which influenced me in giving the vote which I gave on that occasion. These are generally known as the anti-Know Nothing resolutions. ^ Tcau conceive of no evil, either real or imaginary, existing or supposed to / exist in this country, which will justify American freemen in the formation of secret oath-bound political societies. They may do for the despotism of Russia; they may do for Austria ; but there can certainly be no necessity for such in our land. No, sir, in our country where every man has the right to speak, print, and publish whatever he may see fit, only being liable for the abuse of that privi- lege, and where, to use the language of an old revolutionary writer, "The press glows with freedom's sacred zeal," — here, sir, there can be no necessity for resorting to institutions of this kind with a view of controlling the legislation of the country. Those who framed our government wisely provided the means of altering such laws as needed amendment. They are open to repeal, or altera- tion ; but, sir, this can be done through the ballot-box in the sunlight of broad day. Our institutions depend for their success on the virtue, intelligence, and patriotism of the people ; and when the time comes in which they will desert the usual mode, do away with the open action of day and resort to these secret cabals to influence the legislation of the country, then, in my opinion, the days of the republic are numbered. He has read history with but little profit, who has not observed that in every country where the people have lost their liberties they have brought such misfortune upon themselves. When they have become demoralized and ready for a change, then the turmoil of the times has given birth to some adventurer who boldly usurps their liberties, assumes the man- agement of their affairs, and concentrates all political power in himself. Learn- ing lessons of wisdom from the records of the past, let us strive to escape the . \^alamities that have befallen other republican governments. "What master spirit devised this organization ? I do not know that this is a question of any great importance. I do not think that the author is entitled to any great credit for originality, I do not undertake to say whether it is taken from the forms and ceremonies adopted by Catiline and his co-conspiritors at Rome, or whether it is like unto the societies formed in certain districts of England to protect labor against capital, or whether, as seems most probable, it has for its prototype the order of religious Jesuits, as depicted in the " Wandering Jew," and that the federal treasury is the Renepont inheritance, which it is using its appliances and secret machinery to get possession of. I was forcibly struck with the similarity between the two orders, the religious Jesuits and the Know Nothings, in the speech of the honorable gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Smith), and I am sorry that he is not present this evening. From his graphic description in his defence of the Know Nothing order, we see that it makes use of the same appliances to accomplish its objects as the reli- gious Jesuits which order he set out to denounce. In one portion of his speech, he says, that the Know Nothings are formed for the purpose of making war against the religious Jesuits. Both seemed to be the same in organization. Each is after power and spoils. Each is enshrouded in the garb of mystery. 301 One hides its iniquities under tbe cloak of religion ; the other under a most exalted devotion to country. Each teaches the practice of falsehood, craft, and deceit. Each binds its members by a mighty oath, the violation of which they assume to punish. The one claims devout piety, the other intense patriotism. The gentleman from Alabama says, that " when you fight the devil you have the right to fight him with fire." That seems to be in fact an acknowledgment on his part that the new order was taken from the other one. But will this principle hold good ? Fight the devil with fire — perpetrate an evil to obviate the consequences of another one — commit one fraud to nullify another ? The gentleman is a distinguished lawyer and I would ask him whether he would con- sider it right to meet a forged bond with a forged release ? The principle is the same. That was said to have been a practice at one time quite common among the British lawyers in the East Indies. It has never been introduced into this country and I trust that it never will be. It is unsound in morals. It is a sentiment unfit to be proclaimed in the presence of the representatives of the people here in this Hall. He also says in the course of his speech that these religious Jesuits were or- ganized by thwarted military aspirants after the reformation. I would ask whether this order of political Jesuits, of which the gentleman is champion upon this floor, was not organized after the great pol'.tical revolution which swept fed- eralism out of power in 1852. Until this power was ground down, until Democ- racy was in the ascendancy, we never heard of any such order as this. But to go on with the simile. The Gentleman says, that these religious Jesuits were taught to ingratiate themselves into the confidence of men of power and influence, or, to use his own language, '' to cultivate their friendship, probe their designs, and communicate their secrets." How stands the order that he defends? Is it not well known to Gentlemen on this floor who were candi- dates in the late elections for Congress, that these Know Nothings formed this plan ; pretended to be their friends, went into convention pretending to be Democrats, assisted in making the nominations, drew their secrets and all their plans from them, obtained all the information they could from them, and after night-fall skulked into the Know Nothing lodges and communicated those se- crets ! This is a notorious fact and cannot be denied. I say, that it is beneath the dignity of American gentlemen and honorable men to resort to such means in midnight lodges for any purpose. Do we «iot know that they make it a boast in Pennsylvania that in the Gubernatorial election there, they took the distin- guished Democratic candidate. Governor Bigler, from one county to another, and his pretended friends of one lodge handed him over (if I may use the ex- pression) to the tender care of his professed friends of another lodge who would take him in special charge, and in the language of the Gentleman from Ala- bama, " cultivate his friendship, probe his designs, and communicate his se- crets." Sir, this indicated a degree of proficiency in Jesuitism that would have gladdened the heart and raised a ghastly smile even on the countenance of old Rodin himself. [Laughter.] The Gentleman from Alabama justifies the oath of this order, and says, that it finds its justification in the practices of its adversaries. Is not that sound doctrine to hold forth in an American Congress ? Finds its justification in the practices of its adversaries ! The religious Jesuits are the adversaries he speaks of. The Gentleman says also, that " an oath solemnly taken is an element of purity." Well, Sir, if a solemn oath was what they sought for, this order should not have stopped at the oath of the Jesuits, but gone a few centuries further back and adopted the oath which Cataline administered to his co-con- spirators when they met in the back-room of the house of one Sempronia, a Roman bawd — in a place, as the historian says, every way suited for the purpose, and well adapted to their occult and dark practices, for there, after administer- 302 ing a mighty oath, just as the Know Nothings administer it, they sealed that oath by drinking from bowls, draughts of wine mingled with human blood ! Was that an element of purity ? Did that oath make them pure ? Why, Sir, if the history of those times are correct, they were men of desperate fortunes ani abandoned characters — men dangling loose upon society, who were ready for any change of aifairs that promised to benefit themselves. Then, Sir, the Gentleman says that secrecy is the great element of success, and that the " Order should preserve in their halls the most inviolable secrecy," all the time acting upon the old doctrine that the end will justify the means^ Now, Sir, if this is not Jesuitism, I do not understand what is the meaning of the term. But the Grentleman says that it finds its great justification of se- crecy in the fact that it is warring against Jesuits. Warring against Jesuits ! If the religious Jesuits are what the Gentleman represents them to be, and if these political Jesuits of Know Nothingism are what I believe them to be, I Sir, should look upon a contest between them with perfect indifference. I would look upon it as American citizens now generally look upon the war go- ing on between llussia and England, or as a Western hunter would look upon a fight between a bear and an alligator, or a mink and a polecat. [Much Laughter.] Every objection that the Gentleman has urged against the Jesuits seems to apply with equal' force to the Know Nothings. They are neither of them suited to our country and they cannot flourish here. One is the counter- part of the other, and Sir, as my friend from the Red River district of Loui- siana, (Mr. Roland Jones) says, that the men of my State are fond of making quotations from Hudibras, let me say to the Gentleman from Alabama, of the Know Nothings and Jesuits, that : " The}' are so near akin, And like in all as well as sin, ' That put them in a bag and shake 'em, Himself on the sudden would mistake 'em, And not know which was which, unless He measured by their wickedness." [Laughter.] » Who set on foot the organizatj^n in the United States ? We first find it springing up in the North, in the old hot-bed of federalism. It had been con- quered under every name by the Democratic party. It was the old Federal party and was conquered under that name. It assumed the name of National Republican, then Whig, and then degenerated into isms. The Whig party had become almost extinct at the North. There was in fact but one party there and that was the Democratic party. All the others were but isms. Mr. Washburne, of Illinois. Will the Gentleman tell me in which State at the North the Democratic party now exist ? Mr. Ruflin. I think it does in Illinois, judging from the late election there. [Laughter.] Mr. Washburne. I suppose the Gentleman refers to the election of an anti- Nebraska Senator. [Renewed laughter.] Mr. Ruffin. , No, Sir, I do not, but I will come to his election by and by. Mr. Florence. I will say to the Gentleman, that it exists in Pennsylvania, thank God! — "its banner torn but flying." [Great Laughter.] *"' Mr. Washburne. In what part of Pennsylvania ? Mr. Florence. In the First Congressional District. [Renewed laughter.] That will do. Now let the Gentleman from N. C. go on. Mr. Ruflin. The Democratic party being triumphant at the North, there was a fusion of all the isms to oppose it. This organization sprang up. It of- fered great inducements. There were a host of old political hacks out of of- fice, men who had lived all their lives out of the public crib. They had then 303 nothing to resort to. The Democratic party was in power in the jreneral gov- ernment and at that time, in most of the States, and these old political hacks, who were wandering about like stray spirits on the Stygian banks, thought it a fine chance to join in a new venture, and they joined this organiz:ition. i say, Sir, that it is taken from the old Federal party. That party has never been eradicated at the North. It is true, the old tree of federalism is dead, its leaves have long since withered and been wafted away upon the winds of Hea- ven, its boughs have crumbled and fallen, and its aged trunk lying prostrate has mouldered into dust, but from its prolific roots has sprung up this bastard slip of Know Nothingism. It has incorporated into its platform, pjanks from that old party. Mr. Campbell. Amen ! [Laughter.] ^ Mr. Rufliu. Anti-naturalization I Where is that taken from? It is a plank of the black cockade federalism of the days of the elder Adams, and the order finds a bright example of secrecy in the blue-light federalists who met in the Hartford Convention to plot treason against the Government. It has flourished in that section of country fruitful in isms, in abolitionism, freesoilism, atheism, women's-rightism and every other ism imaginable. These, Sir, have given it its strength there, in that section of our country where men meet togetber in convention and declare " there is no God ;" where agrarian mobs, the very scum of the earth, parade the streets by thousands, recognizing no distiction between meum and tmim, and crying aloud for a division of pro- perty. In that section of country where weak-minded men, crazy fanatics, meet in convention with strong-minded women clothed in boots and breeches, to discuss the important question of women's rights. [Laughter.] Inaugurated under these auspices, how can it be conservative ? Sir, the idea is preposterous. It professes now to be the only true National Conservative Union party — whereas it is a sectional radical destructive party. It is an abo- lition, disunion scheme, and in every step, its progress gives unerring indi- cation of a settled purpose to sever asunder the ties which bind these States together. It has given strength to the abolitionists of the North, and now it has the unblushing effrontery and daring impudence to off"er itself to the South as some- thing which is conservative, something which is designed to place in their hands and the hands of their friends, the power of the General and State Govern- ments. Sir, I for one, never had any confidence in it from the beginning, for it came from the wrong quarter. " Timao Danaos et dona ferentes." I was satisfied that within the cavity of that wooden horse were concealed the elements of abolitionism. It was absurd to believe that the abolitionists of the North, when they had for years and years in their weakness, waged an off"ensive war against the South, would now in the pride of their strength — after their shattered ranks had been recruited by untold thousands, after the embattled hosts of Know Nothingism had flocked to their standards, not in straggling parties like deserters, but in solid column with flags flying and drums beating — be so magnanimous as to raise the long siege, and celebrate it with a peace offering. I for one, Sir, as a Southern man, cannot trust it. Was I not right, Sir, in my opinion at that time ? I say that I was. Recent developments have proved this beyond all doubt. The Know Nothing party of the North has never aided in the election of a single friend of the^^ Nebraska bill to either House of the Congress of the United States. I again assert that it has not. I challenge successful contradiction from any quarter and pause for a reply. They have elected no man who is willing to give the South the rights guaran- teed to it by the Constitution of the United States. Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin have returned to this House 304 men wlio are pledged to vote for the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law which we regard as the very bond which binds the Union together. In the above named States it has aided abolition in striking down the true friends of the Constitutiop, and filling their places with a dangerous class of politicians. Let us see what a Northern Editor says about its doings in the North : " But if we lacked positive proof of the feelings of the masses of the party in regard to slavery, the late elections in this and other States of the Union show the liberal tendencies of the whole party. In New York the American party polled 122,000 votes, but they aided the anti-Nebraska party in that State in returning to the next Congress twenty-nine men opposed to the admis- sion of slavery into Kansas. In Pennsylvania we saw a like result; while in Illinois, by the aid of this movement, the Douglasites were completely routed ; and so in Michigan, where the whole State was carried for freedom by the council fires of the American party." But Sir, we are sometimes pointed by Southern Know Nothings to the Mas- sachusetts election, and gravely told that the Know Nothings in that State have sent a new delegation to Congress with but two exceptions. I am not aware of any alteration in this respect so far as liberality and nationality are concerned. No Sir, these Yankees of Massachusetts are cunning men and they followed the example of the skilful huntsman who, when his hounds are flagging in the chase blows them off, lets slip the leashes and hies on a fresh pack, the more speedily to hunt down his prey. The people of Massachusetts no doubt thought that their representatives here, being removed from the fanaticism which sur- rounds them at home, had become less zealous and were rather flagging in the chase, and therefore considered it better to send on a new set. [Laughter.] But, Sir, if any body has doubted this abolition sentiment of Know Noth- ingism, let us look at the recent elections carried by these Know Nothings. Look at the men elected by them, — Harlan, the fusionist in Iowa. Trumbull, the man of " isms," in Illinois, over the gallant Shields, whose body is scarred with wounds received in defence of the flag of his adopted country. Durkee, the Abolition agrarian in Wisconsin. Wilson, the embodiment of rampant freesoilism in Massachusetts, the latter elected by a Legislature in which there was but one Democrat, and — it is said — but some five or six old line Whigs. Are the Know Nothings not responsible for the election of these men ? Are they not responsible for the election of this Mr. Wilson to the Senate of the United States ? Yet another election ! that of Seward, the *' Jupiter Touans" of abolition, the " higher law" Senator, who, in the intensity of his hatred of the South, stands a head and shoulders above them all. The Know Nothings had made a boast that they would defeat him, — that they would show their na- tionality in that election, — that they were going to take the arch-agitator from the Senate of the United States, and put a conservative in his place. That election was looked to with probably more interest than any Senatorial election ever held in any of the States of this Union. We all recollect Tuesday, the 6th of February, — I believe that was the day. It was at all events a dark and gloomy day. It was known that the election for United States Senator from New York was to be held that day in Albany. The hour had arrived. The telegraphic office in this capital was, on that occasion, an interesting place. Numbers of politicians might be seen wending their way there — your Southern Know Nothings and your Northern Know Nothings. They were there about the time when they expected the announcement to come. They were watching with straining eyes, and palpitating hearts, and half-suppressed respiration. The mystic wire is watched with the fixed gaze of intense anxiety. A message comes rushing upon the wings of the lightning. The suspense is but short, "The sybil speaks, the dream is o'er." The dispatch is read. It was a sweet morsel to your freesoil Know Nothings. They hearkened to it as the prodigal 305 son to his father's testament. They gulped it down with all imaginable avidity. It was as sweet to them as the manna from Heaven to the hungry Israelites iu the wilderness. But how was it to the Southern Know Nothings ? Ah ! it ■was a bitter pill for them. They had to swallow it down, but oh ! what rueful grimaces and contortions of countenance, it was like gall and wormwood to a sick and fainting girl. Now, Sir, let us see what is thought of him as a national man in the l^orth. I read an extract from one of the New York Journals. I do not know whether it is Know Nothing or not, but I suppose it is, at all events it was, allied with them in the grand contest. Speaking of the Senator from New York, it says : " He has pressed with equal ardor the claims of Commerce, Agriculture and Manufactures — he has vindicated with c(|ual zeal, the just rights and interests of the West and South, and those of the East and of the North. There is not at this day, in the Senate or in public life, a statesman of more ability — more laborious and conscientious in his discharge of public duties, or more thorour^hly and truly national in all his views, than Governor Seward." ' And again, what a Know Nothing Journal means by conservatism : " The slavery question cannot aifect the American party, for its whole power and all its hopes are north of Mason and Dixon's line. Its aspirations are for freedom, and when the party is accused of being pro-slavery, let its defenders point the men who utter the base lie to every election that has occurred since the party sprung into existence." Also, what is meant by " ignoring slavery." '' The party never has, and we hope never will, fulminate anti-slavery resolves for the purpose of humbugging the masses, but it will do right, move right, and act right, and in every free State in the Union it will give new protection to every citizen within its borders. Its first great national aim is to procure an alteration of the naturalization laws, and upon that point they will know no sectional division ; but upon the great question of freedom and slavery, every northern American freeman will raise his voice for liberty, and Banks, DeWitt, and Trafton will utter upon the floor of Congress the sentiments of this new party. That foreign element that has given the pro-slavery Democratic party the control of this country will soon lose the means of augmenting its numbers; and when that is effected, freedom in this republic is secure. The prize we are battling for is ' liberty to all ;' and when Americans rule America we shall obtain it, and not till then." Thus we learn what is meant by their " ad captandum" expressions: — conser- vative indeed ! '' lucus a non lucendo" called conservative for the same reason that a certain mythological character was called Midas, from a Greek word meaning to eat, because. he could not eat. What can Southern men promise themselves by aflBliating with this "Order?" If the people of the South act with their usual foresight, they will fly from it as from a raging pestilence, and shun a " Know Nothing" lodge room as they would the charnel-house of a small- pox hospital. I have thought from the beginning of this new movement that it was an emanation from the filth and corruption of rotten and festering isms, and that it was a mere vjnis/atuus, fetid miasma springing up from moral and political de- cay, corruscating and shining in the darkest hour of night, but disappearing be- fore the light of morn. It is not to be expected that the people of the South are to be blinded and led by this jack with a lantern into the bogs and marshes- of Abolitionism ; nor will they follow Sam with his dark lantern into the mid- night conclave of the Know Nothings. But they tell us that these men are 20 306 native Americans, and that we are not to suspect them. Is it not true that much the larger portion of the Abolitionists of this country are native-bora Americans. Some of the leading spirits who figure in this Know Nothing par- ty are foreigners, although the party itself profess such a holy horror for all foreigners. The Crusader, a Know Nothing paper at New York, is edited by one QAselli, and has for its chief contributor Father Gavazzi. It would require but little credulity for one to infer from the columns of the New York Herald, that a leading spirit in the councils of the order might be found in its editor. Bennett, an unnaturalized foreigner, and a political Ishmaelite, whose hand has been against every man, and every man's hand against him, has probably done more towards furthering the progress of this order than any man in the United States. History will record two remarkable things of this order, one is that professing to be composed entirely of native Americans, its chief pillars of support are foreigners ; and the other is, that it is a society of political Jesuits, professedly formed for the purpose of waging war against religious Jesuits. The friends of the ** order" say that it is necessary to establish their secret societies ts protect ourselves against foreign influence. In the section of the country in which I live, we have none of this foreign influence, and we are not troubled with anything of the kind. What foreigners we have among us are v ? It has proved itself equal to every emergency. Under its principles the country has prospered. It is the party of progress, of State rights — of the Constitution— pledged to maintain all its guarantees. G-eneral Pierce has proved true to the principles upon which be was elected — true to the Constitution, and consequently to the South. If he has lost ground, he lost it by maintaining the rights of the South. He has proved himself a friend to the South. Ingratitude is not a trait in Southern character, and every true Democrat in the Southern States will sustain his ad- ministration, so long as he stands on that great platform, the "Constitution of our country/' and administers the Government upon the principles of that in- strument. 312 LETTER OF HON. A. H. STEPHENS, OF GEORGIA. Equally effective was the following able letter, in the canvass in Virginia and other Southern States. Crawfordville, Ga., May 9th, 1855. DcMv Sir : — Your letter of the 5th inst. was received some days ago, and should have been answered much earlier, but for ray absence from home. The rumor you mention in relation to my candidacy for re-election to Congress, is true. I have stated, and repeated on various occasions, that I was not, and did not expect to be, a candidate — the same I now say to you. The reason of this declaration on my part, was the fact, that large numbers of our old political friends seemed to be entering into new combinations with new objects, purposes and principles of which I was not informed, and never could be, according to the rules of their action and the opinions I entertain. Hence my conclusion, that they had no further use for me as their representative ; for I presumed they knew enough of me to be assured if they had any secret aims or objects to accomplish that they never could get my consent, even if they de- sired it, to become a dumb instrument to execute such a purpose. I Certainly never did, and never shall, go before the people as a candidate for their suffrages with my principles in my pocket. It has been the pride of my life, heretofore, not only to make known fully and freely my sentiments upon all questions of public policy, but in vindication of those sentiments thus avowed, to meet any antagonist arrayed against them, in open and manly strife — '-face to face and toe to toe." From this rule of action, by which I have up to this time been governed, I shall never depart. But you ask me what are my opinions and views of this new party, called Know Nothings, with a request that you be permitted to publish them. My opinions and views thus solicited, shall be given most cheerfully, as fully and clearly as my time, under the pressure of business, will allow. You can do with them as you please — publish them, or not, as you like. They are the views of a private citizen. I am at present, to all. intents and purposes whatsoever, literally one of the people. I hold no office nor seek any, and as one of the people I shall speak to you and them on this, and on all occasions, with that frankness and independence which it becomes a freeman to bear towards his fellows. And in giving my views of " Know Nothingism," I ought, perhaps, to premise by saying, and saying most truly, that I really '' know nothing" about the principles, aims or objects of the party I am about to speak of — they are all kept secret — being communicated and made known only to the initiated, and not to these until after being first duly ^pledged and sworn. This, to me, is a very great objection to the whole organi- zation. All political principles, which are sought to be carried in legislation by any body or set of men in a republic, in my opinion, ought to be openly avowed and publicly proclaimed. Truth never shuns the light nor shrinks from investi- gation — or at least it ought never to do it. Hiding places, or secret coverts, are natural resorts for error. It is, therefore, a circumstance quite sufficient to excite suspicion against the truth to see it pursuing such a course. And in re- publics where free discussion and full investigation by a virtuous and intelligent people is allowed, there can never be any just grounds to fear any danger even from the greatest errors in religion or politics. All questions, therefore, rela- ting to the government of a free people, ought to be made known, clearly un- derstood, fully discussed, and understandingly acted upon. Indeed, I do not believe that a republican government can last long, where this is not the case. In my opinion, no man is fit to represent a free people who has any private or secret objects, or aims, that he does not openly avow, or who is not ready and 313 willing, at all times, when required or asked, candidly and truthfully, to pro- claim °o the assembled multitude not ouly his principles, but his views and sentiments upon all questions that may come before him in his representative , capacity. It was on this basis that representative government was founded, and on this alone can it be maintained in purity and safety. And if any secret party shall ever be so far successful in this country as to bring the government in all its departments and functions under the baneful influence of_ its control and power, political ruin will inevitably ensue. No truth in politics can be more easily and firmly cst^iblished, either by reason or from history, upon prin- ciple or authority than this. These are my opinions, candidly expressed. _ I know that many good and true men in Georgia differ with me in this par- ticular—thousands of "them, I doubt not, have joined this secret order witli good intentions. Some of them have told me so, and I do not question their motives. And thousands more will, perhaps, do it with the same intentions and motives. Should it be a short lived affai^-, -no harm will or may come of it. But let it succeed — let it carry all the elections, State and Federal— let the na- tural and inevitable laws of its own organism be once fully developed— and the country will go by the board. It will go as France did. The first Jacobin Club was organized in Paris on the Gth of November 1789, under the alluring name of " the Friends of the Constitution," quite as specious as that we now hear of " Americans shall rule America." Many of the best men and truest patriots joined it — and thousands of the same sort of men joined the affiliate clubsaf- terwards- little dreaming of the deadly fangs of that viper they were nurturing in their bosoms. Many of these very men afterwards went to the guillotine, by orders passed secretly in these very clubs. All legislation was settled in the clubs— members of the National Assembly and Convention, all of them, or most of them, were members of the clubs, for they could not be otherwise elec- ted. And after the question was settled in the clubs, the members went next day to the nominal Halls of Legislation nothing but trembling automatons, to register the edicts of the " Order," though it were to behead a monarch, or to cause the blood of the best of their own number to flow beneath the stroke of the axe. Is history of no use ? Or do our people vainly imagine that Ameri- cans would not do as the French did under like circumstances ? " Is tby ser- vant a dog that he should do this thing?" said the haughty, self-confidant Ilazeel. Yet, he did all that he bad been told that he would do. " Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Human nature is the same compound of weak frailties and erring passions everywhere. Of these clubs in France, an elegant writer has said : " From all other scourges which had afSicted mankind, in every age and ia every nation, there had been some temporary refuge, some shelter until the storm might pass. During the heathenism of antiquity, and the barbarism of the middle ages, the temple of a god or the shrine of a saint, afforded a refuge from despotic fury or popular rage. But French Jacobins, whether native or adopted, treated with equal scorn the sentiments of religion and the feelings of humanity ; and all that man had gathered from his experience upon earth, and the revelations he hoped had been made him from the sky, to bless and adorn his mortal existence, and elevate his soul with immortal aspirations, were spurned as imposture by these fell destroyers. They would have depraved man from his humanity, as they attempted to decree God out of his universe. ^ Not contented with France as a subject of their ruthless experiments — Europe itself being too narrow for their exploits, (hey send they propagandists to the new world, with designs about as charitable as those with which Satan entered Eden." This is but a faint picture of some of the scenes enacted by that self same party, which was at first formed by those who styled themselves " the' friend.s of the Constitution." And where did these " secret Councils" we now hear of come from ? Not from France, it is true — but from that hind of nina, where the people would have gone into anarchy long ago, if it had not been for the conservative influence of the more stable minded men of the South ? And what scenes have we lately witnessed in the Massachusetts Legislature, where the new political organism has more fully developed itself than any where else. What are its fruits there ? Under the name of " The American Party," they have armed themselves against the Constitution of our common country which they were sworn to support — with every member of the Legislature, I believe, save eight belonging to "the order," they have by an overwhelming majority vote deposed Judge Loring, for the discharge of his official duty, in issuing a warrant as United States Commissioner, to cause the arrest of the fugitive-slave Eurns. In reviewing this most unheard of outrage upon the Constitution, the ''National Intelligencer," at Washington, says it "shudders for the Judiciary." And if they go on as they have begun, well may the country " shudder," not only for the Judiciary, but for everything else we hold most sacred. " If these things be done in the green tree, what may you expect in the dry." But I have been anticipating somewhat. I was on the preliminary question; that is, the secrecy which lies at the foundation of the party — that atmosphere of darkness in which " it lives, and moves, and has its being," and without which probably it could not exist. I do not, however, intend to stop with that. I will go further, and give, now, my opinions upon those questions, which are said to be within the range of its secret objects and aims. The principles as published (or those principles which are attributed to the Order, though no body as an organized party avow them,) have, as I understand them, two lead- ing ideas, and two only. These are a proscription by an exclusion from of- fice of all Catholics, as a class, and a proscription of all persons of foreign birth, as a class; the latter to be accomplished not only by an exclusion from office of all foreigners who are now citizens by naturalization, but to be more effec- tually carried out by an abrogation of the naturalization law for the future, or such an amendment as would be virtually tantamount to it. These, as we are told, are the great ostensible objects for all this machinery — these oaths — pledges — secret signs — equivocations — denials, and what not. And what I have to say of them, is, that if these indeed and in truth be the principles thus at- tempted to be carried out, then I am opposed to both of them, openly and un- qualifiedly. I am opposed to them " in a double aspect," both as a basis of party organ- ization and upon their merits as questions of public policy. As the basis of party organization, they are founded upon the very erroneous principle of look- ing, not to how the country shall be governed, but who shall hold the of- fices — not to whether we shall have wise and holdsome laws, but who shall " rule us," though they may bring ruin with their rule. Upon this principle, Trumbull, who defeated Gen. Shields for the Senate in Illinois, can be as good a " Know Nothing," as any man in the late " Macon Council," though he may vote as he doubtless will, to repeal the Fugitive Slave law, and against the admission of any slave State in the Union ; while Shields, who has ever stood by the Constitution, must be rejected by Southern men because he was not born in the country ? Upon this principle a Boston Atheist, who denies the inspira- tion of the Bible, because it sanctions slavery, is to be sustained by GJ-eorgia " Know Nothings" in preference to me, barely because I will not " bow the knee to Baal," this false political god they have set up. The only basis of party organization is an agreement amongst those who enter into it upon the paramount question of the day. And no party can last long without bringing disaster and ruin in its train, founded upon any other principle. The old Na- tional Whig party tried the experiment when there was radical differences of opinion on such questions, and went to pieces. The National Democratic party 315 are now trying a similar experiment, and are experiencing a similar fate. This is what is the°matter with it. Its vital functions are deranged— hence that disease which now afflicts it worse than dry rot. And what we of the _ South now should do is, not to go into any " Know Nothing" mummery or mischief, as it may be, but to stand firmly by those men at the North who are true to the Constitution and the Union, without regard either to their birth place or reli- gion. The question we should consider is not simply who ".shall rule Ameri- ca," but who will vote for such measures as will best promote the interests of America, and with that the interests of mankind. But to pass to the other view of these principles — that is, the consideration of them as questions of public policy. With me, they both stand in no better light in this aspect than they do in the other. The first assumes temporal ju- risdiction in '^ forum conecicnliee" — to which I am quite as much opposed as I am to the spiritual powers controlling the temporal. One is as bad as the other — both are bad. I am utterly opposed to mingling religion with politics in any way whatever, and especially am I opposed to making h a test in qualifications for civil office. Keligion is a matter between a man and his Creator, with which goveruments should have nothing to do. In this country the Constitu- tion guarantees to every citizen the right to entertain whatever creed he pleases or no creed at all if he is so inclined, and no other man has a right to pry into bis conscience to enquire what he believes, or what he does not believe. As a citizen and as a member of society, he is to be judged by hi.s acts and not by his creed. A Catholic, therefore, in our country, and in all all countries ought, as all other citizens, to be permitted to stand or fall in pub- lic favor and estimation upon his own individual merits. " Every tub should stand upon its own bottom." But I think of all the christian denominations in the United States, the Ca- tholics are the last that Southern people should join in attempting to put under the ban of civil proscription. For as a church they have never warred against us or our peculiar institutions. No man can say as much of New England Bap- tists, Presbyterians or Methodists; the long roll of abolition petitions, with which Congress has been so much excited and agitated for years past, come not from the Catholics ; their pulpits at the North are not desecrated every Sab- bath with anathemas against slavery. And of the three thousand New Eng- land clergymen who sent the anti-Nebraska memorial to the Senate last year, not one was a Catholic as I have been informed and believe. Why then should we Southern men join the Puritans of the North to proscribe from office the Catholics on account of their religion ? Let them and their religion be, as bad as can be, or as their accusers say they are, they cannot be worse than these same Puritanical accusers, who started this persecution against them say that ■we are. They say we are going to perdition for the enormous sin of holding slaves. The Pope with all his followers cannot I suppose, even in their judg- ment, be going to a worse place for holding what they consider the monstrous absurdity of " immaculate conception." And for my part I would about as soon risk my own chance for Heaven with him, and his crowd too, as with these self-righteous hypocrites who deal out fire and brimstone so liberally upon our heads.^ At any rate I have no hesitancy in declaring that I should much sooner risk my civil rights with the American Catholics, whom they are attempting to drive from office, than with them. But sir, I am opposed to_ this proscription upon principle. If it is once begun there is no telling where it will end. When faction once tastes the blood of a victim it seldom ceases its ravages amongst the fold so long as a single remaining one, be the number at first ever so great, is left surviving. It was to guard against any such consequences as would cer- tainly ensue in this country if this effort at proscription of this sect of re- ligionists should be successful, that that wise provision to which I have alluded was put in the fundamental law of the Union. And to maintain it intact in 316 letter and spirit with steadfastness at this time, I hold to be a most solemn pub- lic duty. And now, as to the other idea — the proscription of foreigners — and more par- ticularly that view of it which looks to the denial of citizenship to all those who may hereafter seek a home in this country and choose to cast their lots and destinies with us. This is a favorite idea with many wlio have not thought of its eifects, or reflected much upon its consequences. The abrogation of the naturalization laws would not stop immigration, nor would the extension of the term of probation, to the period of twenty-one years do it. This current of migra- tion from East to West, this Exodus of the excess of population from the Old to the New World, which commenced with the settlement of this continent by Europeans would still go on. And what would be the effect, even under the most modified form of the proposed measure — that is of an extension of the period from five to twenty-one years, before citizenship should be granted ? At the end of the first twenty-one years from the commencement of the law, we should have seve- ral millions of people in our n'lidst — men of our own race — occupying the un- enviable position of being a degraded caste in society, a species of serfs without the just franchise of & freeman or the needful protection due to a slave. This would be at war with all my ideas of American Kepublicanism as I have been taught them and gloried in them from my youth up. If there be danger now to our institutions, (as some seem to imagine, but which I am far from feeling or believing,) from foreigners as a class, would not the danger be greatly en- hanced by the proposed remedy ? Now it is true they are made to bear their share of the burthens of Government, but are permitted, after a residence of five years, and taking an oath to support the Constitution, to enjoy their just participation in tlie privileges, honors and immunities which it secures. Would they be less likely to be attached to the Government and its principles under the operation of the present system, than they would be under the proposed one which would ti'eat them as not much better than outcasts and outlaws ? All writers of note, from the earliest to the latest, who have treated upon the ele- ments and component parts, or members of communities and States, have point- ed this out as a source of real danger — having a large number of the same race, not only aliens by birth but aliens in heart and feeling, in the heart of so- ciety. Such was, to a great extent, the condition of the Helots in Greece — men of the same race placed in an inferior position, and forming within themselves a degraded class. I wish to see no such state of things in this country. With us at the South, it is true, we have a " degraded caste," but it is of a race fitted by nature for their subordinate position. The negro, with us, fills that place in society and under our system of civilization for which he was designed by na- ture. No training can fit him for either social or political equality with his su- periors ; at least history furnishes us with no instance of the kind ; nor does the negro with us feel any degradation in his position, because it is his natural place. But such would not be the case with men of the same race, and coming from the same State with ourselves. And what appears not a little strange and singular to me in considering this late movement is, that if it did not ori- ginate with, yet it is now so generally and zealously favored by so many of those men at the North who have expended so much of their misguided philan- thropy in behalf of our slaves. They have been endeavoring for years to ele- vate the African to an equality socially and politically with the white man. And now, they are moving heaven and earth to degrade the white man to a condition lower than that held by the negro in the South. The Massachusetts ** Know Nothing" Legislature passed a bill lately to amend their Constitution, so as to exclude from the polls in that State, hereafter, all naturalized citizens, from whatever nation they may come ; and yet they will allow a runaway negro slave from the South the same right to vote that they give to their own native 317 born sons ! They thus exhibit the strange paradox of warring against their own race — their own bh)nd — even their own "kith and kiu," it may be, while they are vainly and fanatically endeavoring to reverse the order of nature, by making the black man equal to the white. Shall we second them in any such movement ? Shall we even countenance them so far as to bear the same name — to say nothing of the same pledges, passwords, signs and symbols ? Shall we affiliate and unite ourselves under the same banner, with men whose acts show them to be governed by such principles, and to be bent upon such a purpose ? This is a question for Southern men to consider. Others may do it if they choose ; but I tell you, I never shall ; that you may set down as a " fixed fact," — one of the fixedest of the fixed. I am not at all astonished at the rapid spread of this new sentioaent at the North, or rather new way of giving embo- diment and life to an old sentiment, long cherished by a large class of the Northern people, notwithstanding the paradox. It is true, " Know Nothingisni" did not originate, as I understand its origin, with the class I allude to. It com- menced with the laborers and men dependant upon capital for work and em- ployment. It sprang from the antagonism of their interests to foreigners seek- ing like employments, who Were underbidding them in the amount of wages. But many capitalists of that section, the men who hold the land and property in their own hands, wishing to dispense with laborers and employees, whose votes at the polls are equal to their own, seized upon this new way of effecting their old, long-cherished desire. And the more eagerly as they saw that many of the very men whom they have ever dreaded as the insuperable obstacle be- tween them and their purpose, had become the willing, though unconscious in- strument of carrying that purpose out, which, from the beginning, was a desire to have a votingless population to do their work, and perform all the labor, both in city, town and country, which capital may require. And as certainly as such a law shall be passed, so far from its cheeking immigration, there will be whole cargoes of people from other coutries brought over, and literally bought up in foreign ports — to bo brought over in American ships to supply the mar- ket for labor throughout all the free States of the Union. The African Slave Trade, if ro-opened, would not exhibit a worse spectacle in trafficking in human flesh, than those most deluded men of the North who started this thing, and who are now aiding to accomplish the end, may find they have but kindled a flame to consume themselves. The whole sub stratum of Northern society will soon be filled up with a class who can work, and who, though white, cannot vote. This is what the would-be lords of that section have been wanting for a long time. It is a scheme with many of them lo get white slaves instead of black ones. No American laborer, or man seeking employment there, who has a vote, need to expect to be retained long when his place can be more cheaply filled by a foreigner who has none. This will be the practical working of the proposed reforn-Kition. This is the philosophy of the thing. It is a blow at the ballot box. It is an insidious attack upon general suff'rage. In a line with this policy, the " Know Nothing" Governor of Connecticut has already recommended the passage of a law denying the right of voting to all who cannot read and write. And hence, the great efforts which arc now being made throughout the North, to influence the elections, not only these, but in spending their money in the publication of books and tracts written by " nobody knows who," and scattered broad-cast throughout the Southern States, to influence elections here by appeal- ing to the worst of passions and strongest prejudices of our nature, not omittint^ those even which bad and wicked men can invoke under the sacred but prosti- tuted name of religion. Unfortunately for the country, many evils which all good men regret and deplore, exist at this time, which have a direct tendency, wonderfully to aid and move forward this ill-omened crusade. These relate to the appointment of 60 many foreigners — wholly unfit, not only to minister offices at home, but to 318 represent our country, as Ministers, abroad. And to the great frauds and gross abuses which at present attend the administration of our naturalization laws — these are the evils felt by the whole country, and they ought to be corrected. Not by a proscription of all foreigners without regard to individual merits. But in the first place by so amending the naturalization laws, as effectually to check and prevent these frauds and abuses. And in the second place, by hold- ing to strict accountability at the polls in our elections, all those public func- tionaries, who either with partisan views, or from whatever' motive, thus im- properly confer office, whether high or low, upon undeserving foreigners, to the exclusion of native born citizens, better qualified to fill them. Another evil now felt, and which ought to be remedied, is the flooding, it is said, of some of the cities with paupers and criminals from other countries. These ought all to be unconditionally excluded and prohibited from coming amongst us — there is no reason why we should be the feeders of other nations' paupers, or either the keepers or executioners of their felons — these evils can and ought to be reme- died without resorting to an indiscriminate onslaught upon all who by industry, enterprise and merit may choose to better their condition in abandoning the re- spective dynasties of the Old World in which they may have chanced to have been born, and by uniting their energies with ours, may feel a pride in advan- cing the prosperity, development and progress of a common country not much less dear to them than to us. Against those who thus worthily come, who quit the misruled Empires of their " father land," whose hearts have been fired with the love of our ideas and our insti^tutions even in distant climes, I would not close the door of admission. But to all such as our fathers did at first, so I would continue most freely and generously to extend a welcome hand. We have from such a class nothing to fear. When in battle or in the walks of civil life did any such ever prove traitor or recreant to the flag or cause of his country ? On what occasion have any such ever proven untrue or disloyal to the Constitution ? I will not say that no foreigner has ever been untrue to the Constitution ; but as a class they certainly have not proven themselves so to be. Indeed, I know of but one class of people in the United States at this time that I look upon as dangerous to the country. That class are neither foreigners or Catho- lics — They are those native born traitors at the North who are disloyal to the Constitution of that country which gave them birth, and under whose beneficent institutions they have been reared and nurtured. Many of them are " Know Nothings." This class of men at the North-, of which the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut " Know Nothing" Legislatures are but samples, I consider as our worst enemies. And to put them down, I will join, as political allies now and forever, all true patriots at the North and South, whether na- tive or adopted, Jews or Gentiles. What our Georgia friends, whether Whigs or Democrats, who have gone into this " New Order," are really after, or what they intended to do, I cannot imagine. Those of them whom I know have assured me that their object is reform, both in our State and Federal Administrations — to put better and truer men in the places of those who now wield authority — that they have no sympathies as party men or otherwise with that class I speak of at the North — that they are for sustaining the Union platform of o*ir State of 1850, and that the mask of se- crecy will soon be removed when all will be made public. If these be their objects, and also to check the frauds and correct the abuses in the existing nat- uralization laws, which I have mentioned, without the indiscriminate prohcrip- tion of any class of citizens on account of their birth place or religion, then they will have my co-operation, as I have told them, in every proper and legitimate way, to effect such a reformation. Not as a secretly initiated co-worker in the dark for any purpose, but as an open and bold advocate of truth in the light of day. But will they do as they say ? Will they throw off the mask ? That is the 319 question. Is it possible that they vcill continue in political party fcllow«?!iip with their " worthy brethren" of Massichusctts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and the entire North ? Every one of wliom elected to the next Congress is our deadly foe ! Do they intend to continue their alliance with these open ene- mies of our institutions and the Constitution of the country under the totally misnamed association of the " American Party" — the very principle upon which it is based being anti-American throughout ? True Americanism, as I have learned it, is like true Christianity — disciples in neither are confined to any nation, clime, or soil whatsoever. Americanism is not the product of the soil, it springs not from the land or the ground; it is not of the earth, or earthly ; it emanates from the head and the heart ; it looks up- ward, and onward, and outward; its life and soul are those grand ideas of gov- ernment which characterize our institutions and distinguish us from all other people ; and there is no two features in our system which so signally distinguish us from all other nations, as free toleration of religion and the doctrine of expa- triation — the right of a man to throw off his allegiance to any and every other State, Prince or Potentate whatsoever, and by naturalization to be incorporated as citizens into our body politic. Both these principles are specially provided for and firmly established in our Constitution. But these American ideas which were proclaimed in 1789 by our " sires of '76," are by their " sons" at this day derided and scoffed at. We are now told that "naturalization" is a "humbug," and that it is an "impossi- bility." So did not our fathers think. This "humbug" and "impossibility" they planted in the Constitution ; and a vindication of the same principle was one of the causes of our second war of independence. England held that " naturalization" was an impossible thing. She claimed the allegiance of subjects born within her realm, notwithstanding they had become citizens of this Bepublic by our Constitution and laws. She not only claimed their allegiance, but she claimed the right to search our ships upon the high seas, and take from them all such who might be found in them. It was in pursuit of this doctrine of hers — of the right of search for our "nat- uralization" citizens — that the Chesapeake was fired into, which was the imme- diate cause of the war of 1812. Let no man then, barely because he was born in America, presume to be imbued with real and true " Americanism" who either ignores the direct and positive obligations of the Constitution, or ignores this, one of its most striking characteristics. As well might any unbelieving sinner claim to be one of the faithful — one of the elect even — barely because he was born somewhere within the limits of Christendom. And just as well might the Jacobins, who " decreed God out of his Universe," have dubbed their club a " Christian association," because they were born on Christian soil. The genuine disciples of " True Americanism," like the genuine followers of the Cross, are those whose hearts are warmed and fired — purified, elevated and en- nobled — by those principles, doctrines and precepts which characterize their respective systems. It is for this reason that a Kamschatkan, a Britton, a Jew, or a Hindoo, can be as good a Christian as any one born on " Calvary's brow," or where the " Sermon on the Mount" was preached! And for the same reason an Irishman, a Frenchman, a German or Ilussian, can be as thoroughly " Ame- rican" as if he had been born within the walls of the old Independence Hall it- self. Which was the " true American," Arnold or Hamilton ? The one was a native and the other was an adopted son. But to return. W^hat do our Geor- gia friends intend to do ? Is it not time that they had shown their hand ? Do they intend to abandon the Georgia Platform, and go over " horse, foot and dragoons" into a political alliance with Trumbull, Durkee, W^ilson & Co ? Is this the course marked out for themselves by any of the gallant old Whigs of the 7th and 8th Congressional Districts? I trust not, I hope not. 320 But if they do not intend thus to commit themselves, is it not time to take a reckoning and see whither they are drifting? When "the blind lead the blind" where is the hope of safety ? I have been cited to the resolution which, it is said, the late Know Nothing Convention passed in Macon. This, it seems, is the only thing that the GOO delegates could bring forth after a two days "labor" — and of it we may well say, ^^ Mantes parturient et ridiculus mus Qiascitur" — " The mountains have been in labor and a ridiculous mouse is born." It simply aiSrnis, most meekly and submissively, what no man South of Mason and Dixon's line for the last thirty-five years would have ventured to deny, without justly subjecting himself to the charge of iucivism — that is, that " Con- gress has no constitutional power to intervene by excluding a new State apply- ing for admission into the Union, upon the ground that the constitution of such State recognizes slavery." This is the whole life and soul of it, unless we ex- cept the secret blade of Joab which it bears towards Kansas and Nebraska, con- cealed under a garb. It is well known to all who are informed, that in the organic law of these territories the right of voting, while they remain territories, was given to all who had filed a declaration of intention to become citizens. This was in strict compliance with the usual practice of the Government in organizing Territories; and under this provision that class of persons are now entitled to vote. Kan- sas, in two elections under this law has shown that an overwhelming majority of her people are in favor of slavery, notwithstanding the Executive influence of the Frcesoil Governor (Reed) whom Mr. Pierce sent out there to prevent it; but whom the people have lately driven, as they ought to have done from the country. Now, then, when Kansas applies for admission as a Slave State, as she doubtless will, a Southern " Know Nothing," under this llesolution, can unite with his worthy brethren at the North, in voting against it upon the ground that some have voted for a Constitution recognizing slavery, who had not been "naturalized," but had only declared their intention. For this Reso- lution in its very heart and core, declares that the right to establish Slave insti- tutions "in the organization of the State Governments, belongs to the native and naturalized citizens," excluding those who have only declared their inten- tions. A more insidious attack, was never made upon the principles of the Kansas and Nebraska Bill. And is this to be the plank on which Northern and Southern " Know Nothings" are to stand in the rejection of Kansas. But to the other and main objection, why did it stop with a simple denial of the power of Congress to reject a State on account of slavery ? Particularly when it had opened the door for the rejection of Kansas on other grounds by way of pre- text ? Why did it not plant itself upon the principles of the Georgia Resolu- tions of 1850, and say what ought to be done in case of the rejection of a State by Congress because of slavery? So far from this it does not even affirm that such rejection by their " worthy brethren" of the North would be sufficient cause for severing their party affiliation with them for it ? Again I would say, not only to the old Whigs of the 7th and 8th Congressional Districts, but to all true Georgians, whether Whigs or Democrats, Union men or Fire-Eaters, whither you are drifting ? Will you not pause and reflect ? Are we about to witness in this insane cry against Foreigners and Catholics a fulfil- ment of the ancient Latin Proverb. " Quern Deus inilt jiej-dire prius dementat !" " When the gods intend to destroy they first make mad ?" The times are in- deed portentous of evil. The political horizon is shrouded in darkness. No man knows whom he meets, whether he be friend or foe, except those who have the dim glare of the covered light which their secret signs impart. And how long this will be a protection even to them, is by no means certain. They have already made truth and veracity almost a by-word and a reproach. When truth loses caste with any people — is no longer considered as a virtue — and its daily and hourly violation are looked upon with no concern but a jeer or laugh, it re- 321 quires very little forecast to see what will very soon be the character of that people. But, sir, come what may, I shall pursue a course which sense of duty demands of me. While I hope for the best, I shall be prepared for the worst; and if the worst comes, with my fellow citizens, bear with patience my part of the common ills. They will afi'ect me quite as little as any other citizen, for 1 hajfe but little at stake ; and so far as my public position and character are concerned, I shall enjoy that consolation which is to be derived from a precept taught me in early life, and which I shall ever cherish and treasure, whatever fortune betide me. "But if, on life's uncertain main, Mishap shall mar thy sail, If, faithful, firm and true in vain, Woe, want, and exile thou sustain, Spend not a sigh on fortune changed." Yours, most respectfully, A. II. STEPHENS. Col. T. W. Thomas, Elberton, Ga. From the Richmond Examiner, May 1, 1855. KNOW NOTHING HUMBUGS EXAMINED AND EXPLODED. The present canvass has been prodigiously fruitful in all sorts of Roorbacks, humbugs, misrepresentations and even downright falsehoods. The whole land teems with garbled extracts, apochryphal pamphlets, Munchausen paragraphs, and statements of the most transparent and egregious absurdity. To crush this prolific brood, would require the labors of a dozen regiments of men, like the hero of the Augean stables. We propose examining, at this time, three of the most current and common place, which we read every day in our ex- changes. , When a Democratic editor or newspaper points to the identity of the Know Nothing and the old Federal parties, as far as their common hostility to foreicra. immigration is concerned, he is invariably told that, although the objections to immigration fifty years ago were absurd, yet that the causes which made immi- gration desirable have ceased, the land has inhabitants enough, and that we should keep the domain for our children. ^Vithout stopping to point out, for the fiftieth time, that the repeal of the naturalizations laws will, in no manner diminish or affect immigration, let us see whether our landed estate is already filling up too rapidly. The census of 1850 furnishes us with the following facts, which effectually demonstrate the absurdity of this argument of the Know Nothings : Area of the United States, 3,306,865 of square miles or 2,116,383,600. acres. Number of acres in farms, 293,560,614 Number of acres improved, 113,032,614 « " unimproved, 180,528,000' Total in farms, as above, 293,560,614 It has therefore required, from this official statement, 320 years to bring 113,032,614 acres under cultivation, and we have yet left the small number of two billions three millions of unimproved lands. We are therefore certainly not 21 322 in Imminent peril of our dense population covering our limited possessions two or three layers deep, and the excess slipping off into the Atlantic and the Paci- fic oceans. The absurdity of this humbug of Knov? Nothingism might be ren- dered still more glaring by a calculation, demonstrating how greatly the two billions of unimproved acres, might be made to add to our national wealth, by cultivation and population; but the good sense of our readers will render suth un argument unnecessary. II. The second humbug maintains that immigration has incrcnsed the pauperism of this country, and that New York and the New England States are taxed to support the paupers of Europe. The simple fact that immigration profitably employs a large portion of the marine of the free States, renders their railroads and canals valuable, and enriches thousands who, in the shape of boarding house keepers, agents, runners, and store keepers, prey upon the immigrants af- ter their long sea voyages, would be a sufficient refutation of this assertion. But there is still more conclusive evidence. The German emigrants alone bring into this country annually, it has been estimated, 11,000,000 of dollars in gold and silver. The commissioners of emigration for the State of New York so state. But the enemies of immigration, pinned to the wall by this fact, say the Irish paupers, not the Dutch, arc the rascals who are devouring the substance of New York and New England. Here, again, stubborn and unquestionable facts nail the falsehood to the counter. The following letter, from the President of the Irish Emigration So- ciety of New York, eftectually spikes that gun : Office Irish Emigration Society, | New York City, Jan. 4, 1855. j Dear Sir : — In reply to yours of the 1st instant, addressed to the lamented president of the Irish Emigrant Society, lately deceased, relative to the receipt and disbursement of the funds received and disbursed on account of emigrants arriving at this port, I bog leave to state — That in May, 1847, the State Legislature organized the commissioners of emigration, and passed laws requiring that for each alien passenger landed at this port the owners and consignees of the vessel bringing them should pay to the commissioners of emigration — first, $1 per head, with 50 cents each for hos- pital tax, to support the Quarantine Hospital, which latter was decided to be illegal and was abolished ; then it was increased to $1 50, and at the last ses- sion it was further increased to $2, (which tax is included by the owners and masters of vessels in the passage money,) and giving the commissioners authori- ty to disburse all such moneys received by them, for care and support of all emi- grants chargeable to them, and to every city, town, or county in the State, for a period of five years from the date of their arrival at this port. The amounts received by the commissioners of emigration and disbursed by them for the support of emigrants, since their creation in May, 1847 are as follows : In 1847, .... 198,293 00 1848, .... 311,002 38 1849, .... 315,876 16 1850, - • ... 358,010 36 1851, .... 469,538 27 1852, .... 555,911 96 1853, .... 571,651 92 1854, .... 688,802 98 $3,464,187 03 323 Whicb have been all disbursed, less the amount of $G4,000 now on hand, for the care, maintenance, and support of emigrants arriving at this port, and chargeable iu the various counties of this State, and in forwarding them to their friends and to places where they may get employment. In reply to your second question, I beg leave to inform you, that since the creation of the commissioners of emigration, the city authorities have paid no money on account of alien passengers arriving at this port, nor has the city incurred any expense for their support j on the other hand, the commissioners have paid since May, 1847, to the various public institutions in this city, for the care of such emigrants, chargeable to them, as they could not take care of in their own institutions, such as lunatics blind, deaf and dumb persons, $'J3,- 490. With great respect, yours truly, AND. CAPtRIGAX, President Irish Emigrant Society. Really, the President of the Emigration Society is too cruel. lie proves that a tax laid upon the immigrants more than pays all their expenses, that there is now on hand a surplus of G4,000 dollars, and that there has been paid to the charitable institutions of the State of New York, for their disinterested care and support of the " pauper Irishmen," the sum of 93,500 dollars. This then is a truthful picture of Irish pauperism, and New York philan- thropy. How stands the matter in the slave States ? Are we taxed for the support of the German and Irish pauper immigrants? Baltimore is the port, at which we suppose nine-tenths of the European paupers are landed. The following is a letter from the President of the Maryland Emigration Society : Baltimore, Jan. 3, 1855. Dear Sir : — I received yesterday your favor of the '29th ult., asking informa- tion about the amount of head-money paid by emigrant passengers and its ap- plication. In reply, I can only give you the aniounts collected, which have been as follows : In 1850, - - - . 10,015 11 1851, .... 12,505 20 1852, .... 20,128 71 1853, .... 17^185 77 being at the rate of ^l 50 for each passenger. A portion of these sums — say two-fifths, or sixty cents per head — has been annually paid over to the several beneficial societies, and the German Society has been the recipient of some five or six thousand dollars per annum. I am not aware that our city authorities have been put to any expense on ac- count of emigrants. There is no special provision made for them, and it is left to the German, Hibernian, St. Andrews, and other charitable s"ocieties, to as- sist the sick and indigent. •- The balance of the head-money, with the exception of trifling donations in some instances made to Dutch passengers, is applied towards the support of the Baltimore city and county almshouse. I have not yet ascertained the exact number of passengers which arrived at this port during last year; it has been somewhat greater than during the pre- ceding year, and the collections will probably reach $20,000. It will afford me pleasure to give you any further information on the the subject of emigration at my command ; and I remain, with sincere regards, Your obedient servant, A. SCHUMACHER. 324 Far from being a tax upon the people of the slaveholding State of Mary- land, we find that a large part of this '' head money," or tax upon the immi- grants, is actually applied " towards the support of the Baltimore city and county almshouse," tiie " foreign paupers" furnishing their mite towards the support of the indigent native Americans. III. The third Roorback and humbug of the Know Nothings, is " that the influx of foreigners depreciates the price of labor." This is the rankest and most transparent nonsense which we have yet heard, even from the Order which has inaugurated misrepresentation as one of their cardinal virtues. The price of labor is, like everything else that can be bought or hired, regulated by the de- mand for it. If immigration did not open new resources by bringing immense tracts of land under cultivation, by opening roads for the exchange of commo- dities between the various portions of the country, and by an increased home consumption, it would necessarily come to pass, that a constant influx of foreign mechanics and laborers would soon glut the market and depreciate the price of labor. But the fact is, that the wages of labor have increased more rapidly, during the last seven years, than they have ever done, and yet, during the last seven years, immigration has also more rapidly increased than at any subsequent period of our history as a nation. We shall not insult the intelligence of our readers by elaborating the argument which this fact will prove to every sensible man. From the Richmond Examiner, May 15, 1855. EQUAL RIGHTS AND EQUAL LAWS. Equal Rights and Equal Laws — these things have ever been the dearest to the heart of the race whose descendants we are. In all eras, under all climates, in every alteration of society, that key-note recurs in the grand symphony of its utterance and action. Equal Rights and Equal Laws ! These words sum nr) the political system of the American States and the American people. To them they represent all things that are good in government. They have fought for them, and toiled for them, and paid for them in money and in blood ; till they thought the principles those words express were so won to their possession, so wrought into their flesh, so mingled with the life stream that they were send- ing down to after ages, that all the waters of the multitudinous seas would never wash them out, nor all the drowsy syrups of the East erase them from the memory of any posterity of theirs. But that heroic hope was only a glorious, noble dream. Their children have already forgotten the Declaration of Rights which do pertain unto the people of Virginia, and unto their posterity. As the white cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night were insufficient to assure the wanderers in the desert of the presence in their midst of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and they must needs make a golden calf to worship in his stead, and choose other leaders than the Lord's anointed ; so are we dis- carding the maxims of our fathers which have brought the Republic to its pre- sent power, as worn out trumpery unsuited to its now exalted estate, and adop- ting a new class of dogmas, at war with the example of our ancestors, substitu- tino' narrow counsels for noble and exalting sentiments, strife for harmony, in- tolerance for charity, privilege for equ:ility, birth for merit, hypocrisy for faith, and making the name American instead of a symbol of all that is generous, brave, hospitable, self-reliant, enterprising, excellent, elevated, and free in con- 325 science, in effort, in enterprise, in aspiration, in ambition, in the person and in tbe soul — a confined idea, limited between narrow latitudes and longitudes, sy- nonymous with Ishmaelite and cur, and expressive only of jealousy, selfishness, ill-nature, inhospitality, meanness of instinct and narrowness of soul. And that which makes the blood of the patriot boil wit.h the fiercer indigna- tion in contemplating the conduct of the advocates of this total change in the genius and spirit of our institutions, is to see the*m hypocritically attempting to impose the belief upon the ignorant and simple, that their new-fangled dogmas have the sanction of the founders of the Republic. Equal Rights and Equal Laws for all free citizens, was the cardinal maxmi and fundamental principle ruling the whole conduct of the framers of our in- stitutions. They prescribed no test of religious faith as a qualification for of- fice or citizenship. They expressly forbade that so proscriptive, so unjust, so insulting a test should ever be applied to the freemen of our country. Although the Republic was then weak and the Pope was strong, and although taunted by the Arnolds of thoac days to measures of intolerance, they refused to require an oath purging even the Catholic conscience of its imputed transcendental alle- giance to its spiritual Ruler. They left these measures of proscription to be taken by new light statesmen of the present hour — when ours has become the strongest power on earth, and the Pope the weakest potentate — when Protes- tantism has come to number in proselytes and creeds as the sands of the sea, and, growing up like the spreading oak, is stretching out its limbs to the four ■winds of heaven, and like the banyan tree of India, is reaching forth its arms, and striking down its roots into all regions of the earth. They left the people the option to choose from among the members of all the different religious per- suasions, whomsoever themselves and not unequal laws should adjudge "most honest, most capable and most faithful to the Constitution." They left it to modern bigots, by demagogue oaths and unequal laws, to cut the people off from one entire religious persuasion in their elections of public servants ; and to prescribe a rule and enforce an oath, which, if Brigham Young and Judge Taney were rival candidates for ofi&ce, would command them — the people — to vote for the polygamist, the outlaw, the impostor, the whoremonger, the adulterer, the brute'aud the infidel, rather than for the man — darum venerabile iiomcn gtntihus, et mnltum iwatrse quod prodcrat urhi.. The same great principle of equal rights and equal laws for free citizens was carried by our fathers into their welcome to the emigrant. ^ They required a probationary residence of the foi-eigner as requisite to the attainment of citizen- ship, it is true ; but, once a citizen, they made the emigrant a peer of the proudest native in respect of all the privileges and franchises of the citizen. True it was, that our fiithers, in consideration of the tender years of the Re- public, its infancy and weakness, the power of hostile governments whose ty- ranny it had escaped by miracle, the jealousy with which the monarchies abroad regarded our free institutions, and the danger of insidious efforts from that quarter to undermine our liberties unawares to our people while few and feeble, ordained that the Federal executive and some of the State executives should be native male citizens. But there they stopped, and that was the single excep- tion which they engrafted upon that wonderful system of legislation, which they planted upon the foundation stone of Equal Laws and Equal Rights. With that single exception, they left the unrestricted choice of their public servants to the people — to the judgment, the discernment, the discrimination, the pa- triotism, the justice, the WILL of the people. Proceeding upon the great American maxim, of the capacity of the people for self-government, they did not essay to prescribe to them from what class of citizens they should select their servants, or by what accidents of birth or privilege they should restrict their choice. They left it to the innovating demagogue§ of the present day to deny the capacity of the people for self-government, and to hamper the POPU- 326 LATl WILL and paralj'ze tbe elective franchise by unequal laws and extra" judicial oaths, under which, if the felon Native American, E. Z. C. Judson» and that great and generous foreigner, tbe Marquis LaFajette, were rival candi- dates for oiBce, the people would be compelled, in tbe exercise of the highest function of the American freeman, to exalt the convict and proscribe the hero — under which base laws and oaths restricting the people in the exercise of tbe elective franchise, if all the foreigners wafted by ship loads to our shores were Gallatins and DeKalbs, and all our natives were Garrisons, Phillipses and Burns rescuers and rioters, they — the people — would be compelled to hurl the Galla- tins from power and substitute an infamous litter of Wilsons, Hisses and Fol- soms in their places. Yes, our fathers left it to the innovators of the present evil hour, to deny to the people the liberty of choosing their public servants according to their judgment, patriotism and WILL, and, distrusting the great, primary American doctrine — the capacity of the people for self-government — to fetter the people's judgments, their wishes and their choice with unequal laws and extra-judicial oaths. In their desperation, these innovators are now vouching, at this late hour of tbe Virginia canvass, and as a last recourse to support a failing cause, certain resolutions of the Virginia General Assembly of 1799, proposing to exclude foreign-born persons, thereafter to come into the country, from the two houses of Congress and the Executive and Judicial offices of the federal government, running in these words : " The general assembly, nevertheless, concurring in opinion with the legisla- ture of Massachuset?, that every constitutional barrier should be opposed to the introduction of foreign influence into our national councils : Resolved, That the constitution ought to be so amended, that no foreigner who shall not have acquired rights under tbe constitution and laws at the time of making this amendment, shall thereafter be eligible to the office of senator or representative in tbe Congress of the United States, nor to any office in the judiciary or executive departments. Agreed to by the Senate, January 16, 1799." The resolution was adopted by that immortal body, just after their memora- ble contest over the Alien and Sedition laws, and was doubtless offered by the illustrious Virginians of that day, in the generosity of victors to the vanquished, as a testimonial of a spirit of compromise and concession on their part toward.s a fallen adversary after bis ignominious defeat. The resolution proposed to extend the exception already mentioned in respect to the presidency of the Union and Governorship of some of the States — an exception to the great American doctrine of equal laws and equal rights — to the subordinate offices of the federal Executive, and to the federal Judiciary and the federal Legislature. It was a concession oq the part of those illustrious men to the advocates of the Alien and Sedition laws, which their own after conduct proves that they them- selves considered unwise and unnecessary. They themselves condemned it as a temporary indiscretion, and left it to sink into sudden and incontinent oblivion. The resolution has slept the sleep of death upon the statute book ever since. It is as obsolete as its cotemporary measures of National Bank and Protective Tariff; and was buried still-born by the very statesmen who are now appealed to as its authors. But mark the disingenuousness of this effort of the latter day Know Noth- ings to array this resolution against the doctrine of equal rights and equal laws, and to set the illustrious statesmen of '98 and '99 at war with themselves. The resolutions of the Massachusetts Know Nothing Legislature of '99, to which this Virginia resolution responded; had invited those statesmen to do a mean 327 thing, an unjust thing, an infamous thing — had invited them to exclude foreign born citizens, already naturalized, and already entitled under the Constitution as it was, and the laws as thoy stood upon the statute book, fiom an equal par- ticipation in the offices, privileges and franchises of the country. In sliort, the Massachusetts Legislature of that day recommended the proscriptive principle which is iDCorporated in the following ariicle of the Know Nothing creed : " You, of your own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God and these witnessess, your right hand resting on this Holy Bible and Cross, and your left hand raised toward Heaven, in token of sincerity, do solemnly promise and swear that you will not vote, nor give your influence, for any man for any office in the gift of the people unless he be an American born citizen, in favor of Americans ruling America." — an oath which cuts at the very roots of those solemn guarantees of the Con- stitution which have already given to the alien born citizen heretofore natural- ized, the free, unrestricted benefit of the same equal laws and equal rights which is enjoyed by the native citizen — an oath retrospective in its operation, ex j)oU facto in its disfranchisements, violative of vested rights, and repudiatory of the long standing compact between our country on the one hand, and the domiciliated emigrant on the other, who has sought its shor-es under the allure- ment of those guarantees of equality and hospitality which shone forth from the Constitution in letters of gold, so refulgent as to have tempted him to for- sake home and kindred, to have forsworn sovereign and allegiance, and to have sought a countrj' then offering citizenship and equality, but now proposing to degrade him into an exile and a Helot. That was the proposition of the Massachusetts Legislature to the illustrious Virginians of '99 ; and now mark the noble language in which they replied, and ponder the resolution which it has suited the Know Nothings to suppress, and which precedes the one printed above, on which they rely to sustain their measures of proscription and intolerance : '* The general assembly of Virginia, considering that the privation of perso- nal rights solemnly sanctioned by the Constitution of the United States, is arbitrary and unjust; that the right of election to office, is one of the most important secured thereby to the citizen ; and that it ought not to be destroyed or impaired, especially by regulations having a retrospective operation : Therefore, Resolved, That the proposition from the legislature of the State of Massachusetts, having for its object the exclusion of certain citizens from their eligibility to offices, which [eligibility] they now actually possess, and the exclusion of other persons who may become possessed thereof upon the perfor- mance of certain conditions held out to them by existing laws; [meaning the naturalization laws] — thus, by a retrospective regulation, improper in itself, and inconsistent with the spirit of all our civil institutions, infringing the rights of persons solemnly guaranteed by the constitution and laws — is arbitrary and unjust; and, that it ought not to receive the approbation of the general as- sembly." Then follow the resolutions already quoted. Let the Know Nothings read these passages and hang their heads for shame, that they ever appealed to the authority of the Virginia statesmen of 1799 to sustain their schemes of pro- scription. 32^ From the Washia''ton Union. VIOLENCE THE NATURAL CONSEQUENCE OF THE KNOW NOTHING ORGANIZATION AND DOCTRINES. The public press has recently been filled with the gross and sickening details of riot and crime in our cities and towns, growing out of the new Know Noth- ing organization and the spirit its movemeuta have provoked. It has been found that even in this country, which proudly boasts that the law of the lund is su- preme and acquiesced in by all, the constituted authorities are found incompe- tent or unwilling to repress disorder and protect from violence the lives and pro- perty of the citizens. We question much whether, during the last year, under the autrocrat of Russia, or him of France, more frequent or more flagrant out- rages upon the rights of personal liberty and property have taken phice than those who have brought the blush of shame to the check of every true Ameri- can citizen. Private houses are given to the flames, churches are destroyed, murder stalks boldly forth, nnrepressed and unpunished ; whilst the authors of these outrages, not satisfied with such achievements, find ample time for attack- ing the peaceful assemblages of their opponents, and for even blackening the character of those native Americans who will not join with them in the cry, that every Catholic woman who goes to confession is lewd, every priest a sworn foe to our liberties, and every Roman Catholic an incipient traitor to the con- stitution. / There is at least one fortunate feature in all this spectacle of calumny and crime. It is leading men everywhere to reflect upon the causes and progress of these moral heresies, and to bestir themselves to the task of their removal. The calm and reflecting of all parties are beginning to appreciate the fact that our free institutions, won by the blood of our fathers, are only to be preserved by our own constancy, zeal, and vigilance. It is not enough to chant pa3ans to the names of Washington, Patrick Henry, and Jefferson, but we must bring home their teachings to the popular heart, and by the example of their tolerant and liberal doctrines shame those to silence who have either forgotten or re- pudiated the principles ingrafted upon our constitution by those illustrious pa- triots. The connexion between the doctrines of the Know Nothing or native Ameri- can party, and the recent developments of crime and outrage, is too obvious to be overlooked. What is " Know Nothingisra" but the turning of the bad pas- sions of our fallen nature into a particular direction ? The evil feelings of malice and hate, and intolerance to our opponents, to which humanity is but too prone, have been industriously stimulated and concentrated upon the adhe- rents of a particular faith, and upon the helpless and unfortunate emigrant, who, fleeing from tyranny and thanking God that his feet have at last touched the soil of freedom, finds to his dismay that the spirit of persecution is before as well as behind him, and meets with a scourge where he hoped for an asylum. And this is republican hospitality ! A constitution and laws which offer heart and hand to the emigrant and the Roman Catholic, but a secret organization as- piring to override both constitution and laws, which substitutes for the olive branch of peace the sword and dagger of relentless bigotry ! When men, in- stead of being taught to feel their own sins, to amend their own lives and purify their own conduct, are, on the contrary, daily and hourly admonished by their leaders that there is a class of their neighbors whose faith is so full of pernicious error, and yet so rapidly increasing, and that it must be put down, not by argu- ment, by the light of holy example, or by the generous rivalry of deeds of charity and mercy, but by denying to the adherents of these presumed heresies all posts of trust and honorable preferment — thus making them the only pariahs, 329 or outcasts, in a land of equality — is it strange that tlio growth of malice and bate ffhouM be rapid, and (iuickly bring forth its appropriate fruit of riot, sedi- tion, calumny, and murder ? This lesson, which all history teaches us, was fa- miliar to our forefathers, who wisely ingrafted its consequence of religious toleration upon the constitution; but we hive among us, it seems, a class for whom history affords no warnings for toleration, but only precedent for revenge and persecution, and who use daily for their purposes the names of our revolu- tionary patriots whilst they studiously disregard their precepts. There is another reason why these conse(|uences should ensue. The Know Nothing organization is a secret one. It repudiates any appeal to argument or public discussion, but aims to obtain its proselytes by private appeals and cajolery, and to compass its objects by secret and irresponsible machinery. Is it wonderful, therefore, that those men, when met with the calm voice of reason, should fly to passionate invective to drown the voice of conscience, that they should interrupt by violence those public meetings and discussions, whose effects they so justly fear as entirely to discard them from their plan of operations, or that they should finally, when all other means have failed, resort to the pistol and the knife ? , It will be obvious, too, that the weapons of violence arc much more readily and conveniently handled by them than those of logic and argument. It may take a man a moi^th or more to familiarize himself with the writings of our fathers and the principles of the constitution, and his studies may even then add but little to his Know Nothing zeal; but the sorriest and simplest of the " order" can readily handle a pistol or a bludgeon. A Know Nothing may argue with an Irish Catholic by the hour, and fail to convince him that he is an idolater or a traitor, and therefore a fit subject for proscription ; but a resort to the knife settles the question speedily for all practical purposes, and your dead Irishman will hardly disturb by his replies the convictions of his antagonist, so pointedly and eloquently expressed. Five hundred pistols may be fired, and as many Irishmen made to bite the dust in less time than it will take to produce a good argument in favor of religious proscription. The midnight lamp wasted in the vain and fruitless attempt to find in the writings of Washington and Jefferson a sanction for the establishment of a "religious test" for office, may be conveniently and fitly employed in firing the Irishman's house, where his wife and children find a miserable shelter from the elements, or in burning the edifice in which he offers that sacrifice of prayer and penitence whi<;h the Know Nothing bigot, kindly assuming the province of Deity, unhesitatingly rejects as hypocritical or idolatrous. It may cost them some pains to read the constitu- tion or the Grospel of Peace ? and is it singular that they shirk the disagreeable task for the easier one by far, to them, of reading the heart of man and pro- nouncing upon his motives and his integrity ? Men, too, are beginning to ask, where is all this violence and crime to end ? If the Catholic is to be attacked, who, indeed, will be safe? JMurder does not always draw nice dictinctions, and the demon of hate and religious bigotry, when one object is exhausted, readily conjures up another. The man or villain who, by setting fire to the houses of Irishmen, acquires a fondness for such glowing spectacles, will not always be content with such narrow limits for his taste, but will apply his principles and his torch to those who are guiltless of one drop of Milesian blood. It is, we doubt not, susceptible of demonstration that the house of an Episcopalian or a Methodist will burn as readily as that of an Irish Romanist, and we suspect that his blood will in the end be fully as ac- ceptable and sweet to many of those who are prominent in this work of hate. We will not inquire whether it is better to be a drunkard, or rowdy, or Know Nothing assassin, than an Irishman, or whether the man who rejects the Saviour and spurns the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (but who, despite his deism or atheism, finds a ready welcome in their "order") is more worthy of trust and con- 330 fidence than tbe Roman Catholic ; but surely we may be excused for turning to the Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Unitarian, and indeed every sectarian who may encourage this movement, and asking them this question : Is it so short a time since your faith has felt the iron heel of persecution that you are ready and eager to apply to others those practices of persecution and pros- cription of which your fathers in England and elsewhere so justly complained ? and if so, in what sense can you call yourselves followers of Him who said to you and to all men, " Do unto others as you xcould that tlicij should do unto you — this the second and f/7'eat covimayidment ?" A NATIVE PROTESTANT. From the Richmond Examiner, April 24, 1855. DUPLICITY Bi^TTER THAN NATIONALITY. Honesty is not the better policy in these days, if we take the successes of ♦Know Nothingism as testing the rule. Ingenious Sara has adopted the tactics of the horse gangs, and as these wonderful travellers (on other men's animals) have a different name for every county they traverse, so Sam has a diiferent schedule of policy for every State in the Union. Already are seven programmes of his Basis Principles extant ; and as not half of Sam's tactics and principles are yet dragged out to light, it is fair to presume that the number of his Bases of Principles is at least thirty, the number of the States, and probably as many more as there are unorganized territories in the Union. In respect to Catholics, the policy of the " Traveller" is peculiarly charac- teristic. Beginning in Massachusetts, where Puritan bigotry is not relaxed in tension since the expulsion of Roger Williams, and the hanging of defenceless and toothless old maidens for "witchcraft," he carries on his persecutions for opinion's sake, openly and avowedly, by sending special committees, attended by courtezans and prostitutes, to spy out the secrets of private female schools, con- ducted by Catholic ladies. There is no nice distinction there between Catho- lic religion and Catholic politics. It is the genuine spirit of persecution of the old, cruel, shameless, barbaric type, of the Praise God Barebones era. It is not merely Catholic voters. Catholic officers, and Catholic politicians, that are the objects of Know Nothing hostility in Massachusetts, but Catholic women and children, old men and old ladies, old maids and young virgins. The whole American public have heard what Know Nothing legislators have done io the way of persecution in Massachusetts. Fancy the feelings of our countrymen abroad when the accounts from Boston shall reach them in Europe. But here is what a Boston Know Nothing editor says, and such is the language of the whole New England Know Nothing press : " The Nunnery, the Convent, and other monastic systems have had full swing in Sardinia. And this for generations — for ages. What has been the result ? These things : corrupt morals; debased public sentiment; violation of the most sacred laws ; destruction of virtue ; pollution of female virtue ; genecal decay of noble and refined sentiments ; sensuality ; profligacy ; vitiation of the social fabric. Much else. But these in chief. The people of Sardinia see this. They look back on centuries and see it. It is met with everywhere. The church is corrupt. Society is corrupt. Religion, morality, virtue, the true, the hallowed, the beautiful is corrupt. Hence the passage of a law of reform ; a law of suppression. It has come to this : Either these places must be abolished or corruption stalk unfettered over the land. The better cause has prevailed. Hitherto we have seen little to admire in Sardinia. It has little in history but 331 to blush and weep over. But an act has now risen which looms up like a Bunk- er Hill Mouumeut." Catholic schools " must be abolished." The convent-burning scenes of Charlestown must be re-enacted, and womnn and children must become again the victims of outrage from heroic, brutal, profane Sam, Apostle of Protestant- ism and Pharisee of 1855. Not Catholic schools only, but Catholic churches too must come down in New England ; for the few that were sacked and de- stroyed by Sara in 1854, under tlie instigation of Gavazzi, the foreigner, and_ the " Angel Gabriel," the other foreigner, will not appease the ferocity of the unwashed felon against Catholic martyrs of obstinate consciences. Yes, the latter half of the nineteenth century is witnessing a renewal of the persecutions of the dark ages ; and this "free" land of ours, consecrated so solemnly to liberty, is witnessing already the public violation by political par- ties aud loud-mouthed partizans, of the sacred liberty of conscience. As the demon of iutolcrancs progesses Southward, however, thanks to the good genius of Southern institutions, lie is compelled to disguise, by evft-y pos- sible artifice of duplicity, the loathsomeness of his purposes. In Virginia, he professes not to touch the conscience of the Catholic, but only his franchises. He does not play Paul Pry in Catholic schools, or burn to the ground Catholic churches; but he simply utters the exclamation, "Lord I thank thee that I am not as wicked as these bigoted Catholics ;" and appropriates the spoils of of- fice to himself. The Massachusetts basis principle is to burn Catholic churches and corporeally examine Catholic female teachers and pupils. The Virginia Basis Principle is to denounce Catholics as great political knaves, rifle them, in a sort of pick-pocket patriotism, of all the offices they hold, aud sing psalms of hallelujah to the Act of Toleration and the names of Washington and Jef- ferson. Occasionally, but very rarely, and thit only in remote districts, where wholesale lying is not apt to be found out in time to be exposed, they put forth such monstrous falsehood as the following, which we take from a Know Nothing document sent us from the county of Patrick. Munchausen the Second addresses his " fellow citizens of the county of Patrick, and all lovers of their country," in the following amusingly mendacious strain. We italicise the gems in this Cabinet of SAM'S specimen lies, designed to show his veneration for the VIRGI- NIA ACT OF RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. " It is often the case, fellow citizens, that these ruffianly Priests go to common free schools, taught by the charity of some good Protestant ladies for the pur- pose of educating the poor, and break it up 6// coirhidiiuj all its pupils. The daughter of an old magistrate, near a town called Ballinrobo, collected a school in which she taught the children of the poor. In the goodness of her heart, she took pity upon the poor ignorant children of the neighborhood, and desired to learn them to read, that they might peruse the word of God. The Priest, of the Parish entered the school house one day, and asked if the children were taught to read with the view of reading the Bible. On being informed that they were, he whipped every child out of the house. He denounced from the altar a school house uoder the care of the wife of the sherifi" of Galway, and whipped a respectable old man for permitting his children to go it. Now, fel- low citizens, is all this sober truth, or is it enormous fiction? It is possible that such outrages can be suffered to exist in a civilized community ? Yes, fel- low citizens, they do exist in their startling and hideous reality, and were it not for fear of s^pinning this address out to a too great length, I could tell you of wrongs that these Bible-hating Priests do, of crimes they commit, and of mise- ry they entail upon every people over whom they have control, that would make 332 your hair rise on your head. And the ahirming fact stares us in the fice, that the despots and tyrants of Europe are in league with the Roman Catholics annually to send over to this country hundreds and thousands of their pau- pers, criminals and pei'sons of abandoned characters, that our country may be overrun by foreigners and Roman Catholics, that the government may be overthrown, and that the Roman Catholic religion may become the established religion of the United States. When these things shall come to pass, (and may God in his mercy forever forbid it,) then all Baptists, Prcsbj'te- "tians, Methodists, and all other Protestant denominations will be persecuted and hunted down like the beasts of the forest, for every Roman Catholic Priest and Bishop regards them as heretics, and tlui/ talce an oath-to per&ecate hij Jire and sword all heretics and enemies of their church." Beautiful language is this for the latitude of Virginia, and for the latter half of the XlXth century ! Suchiris the spirit of Know Nothingism towards Catholics where those people are few and weak ; and it would naturally be inferred, from the intemperate hostility to Catholics of these suddenly enlisted champions of Protestantism, that where their party did come in contact with the hated church, in States where it was really formidable by its numbers and political influence, and where, if all they charge in Massachusetts and Virginia be true, they could carry on their system of persecution and intolerance to some good purpose, the order would be especially savage and bloody mioded with the Catholics. For, if the country does really need to be cleared of the Catholic faith, and if the safety of the country really reciuires that its offices should be taken out of the hands of Catholics, the work of reformation should go on hottest where Catholics are most formidable, and where they participate most largely in the administration of public affairs. Yet, in Louisiana, where the Catholics do muster in force, and where there is important work for the Know Nothings, that valiant Order turn up advocates in fact of religious toleration, and are even more tolerant of the proscribed religion than the Democratic party itself. In the Basis Princi- ples of the Order for the southern and much the larger portion of that State, there is no article denouncing the Catholic Church, and the councils are actual- ly talking of nominating a Roman Catholic gentleman for the office of Gover- nor. Under that convenient article in their secret ritual, authorizing them to so con- struct their constitutions as to exempt Catholic men, WIVES and MOTHERS from their brutal system of proscription, where the INTEREST of the Order demands such exemption, they have consulted discretion rather than valor, and resolved to embrace Catholics as brethren in the bonds of patriotism and equals in the qualifications for office. Here is the constitutional provision of the Or- der on this subject of which they have availed themselves in Louisiana : " He (a member) must be a native born citizen ; a Protestant born of Pro* testant parents; reared under Protestant influence, and not united in marriage with a Roman Catholic : Provided, nevertheless, that, in this last respect, the State, District or Territorial Council shall be authorized to so construct their respective constitutions as shall best promote the American cause in their seve- ral jurisdictions ; and provided, moreover, that no member who may have a Ro- man Catholic wife shall be eligible to any office in the Order." We have received the following letter from the editor of one of the most in- fluential, able and respectable journals of the Southern country, which shows how the double faced party has profited, in the State of Louisiana, by this con- venient article in their constitution : 333 THE KNOW NOTHINGS HOIST THE WHITE FLAG WHERE THE CATHOLICS MUS- TER IN FORCE. New Orleans, April IGth, 1854. Dear Sir : — Your letter of tlie 7th inptant, addressed to Mr. , was handed by liim to me, with a request that I would endeavor to procure such re- liable information as would enable me to answer it for him. There is not the slightest doubt that, in the lower portion of the State of Louisiana, including this city and the Parishes which are mostly peopled by the so-called Creoles, there is no clause in the obligations of the members of the Know Nothing Order proscribing the Catholic religion or its followers on account of their religious belief. I knew this for months past, having received positive assurances from acquaintances who avowed their connection with the Order. But, in order to " make assurance double sure," I resolved that I would ap- peal to some of the recognized leaders of the Order among us, and obtain from them such confirmatory information as they might be willing to afford me. One gentleman, who is widely known throughout the State for his former zeal in Native Americanism and his present activity in the Know Nothing cause, and whose name has been brought forward prominently as the candidate for Governor of the vState, on their ticket, told me, in answer to my question as to the religious test, that here the members did not take any such obligation ; that, in order to obtain the support of the Whig Creoles, who were generally Catholics, it had been from the tirst excluded, except in so far that a " confessing Catho- lic" was not admitted to the Order; but that, for some months past, even that question had not been put to the applicant; all that was required being that he should be in favor of the policy of the Order as to foreigners and the Naturali- zation laws. When I stated to him that some of the presses in the northern portion of the State which advocated the Order, had permitted attacks on the Catholic religion and the rights of its professors, he replied that some of the country lodges had gone to work and organized themselves without having first properly informed themselves of the true objects of the movement in regard to religion; but that at present, means were being taken to procure uniformity and harmony in the work and aims of the lodges throughout the State, and that it would be required of the country lodges to give up all pretensions to introduce any religious test into the obligations of their members. Another gentleman, who I had reason to know was one of the first to intro- duce the Order into this State, and who informed me that the lodge over which be presided contained over fifteen hundred members, confirmed fully what the other had said as to the absence of any religious test, especially against the Catholics, and said that on one occasion he had compelled a judge, in this city, who, in addressing his lodge, had attacked the Catholic religion, to resume his seat, as he would not permit any such violation of the real objects of their as- sociation as an attack on any man's religion. Both the gentlemen to whom I have referred, emphatically stated that if the Order in the North and West did not yield to the demand of the Louisiana members, to give up the obligation proscribing the followers of the Catholic or any other religion, the latter would be compelled to break off from them, and act independently. And both stated that this demand would be made at the first National Council of the Order. I have not thought it necessary to extend my inquires farther, as the highly respectable character of the gentleman who told me what I have above related. 334 . and the feeling of absolute certainty whicb I felt as to the entire truth of what they stated, disposed me to thiuk that I could gain no additional information, on the points you mentioned, from others. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, JNO. H. CLAIBORNE. K. W. Hughes, Esq., Editor of the Examiner, Richmond, Ya. From the Richmond Examiner, April 17, 1855. FOREIGNERS AND THE SOUTH. We should fear the Greeks though bearing gifts. We should beware of the North, though approaching us in the name of nationality and friendship. Wc should distrust the wooden horse of Know Nothingism, with insidious Northern fanatics in its belly, though offered as a holocaust to restored peace and harmo- ny. We should eschew this Yankee scheme of politics, though proffering safety and protection to the South. Vie should neither touch nor handle the viper, though counterfeiting venomous hostility to its mother — though pretend- ing to bite and snap at Abolitionism. Why should the South join her bitter revilers in a hue and cry against fo- reigners '/ Fifty of the very New England clergymen who denounced her in- stitutions to Heaven and threatened Congress with the vengeance of Almighty God for meditating a constitutional law of justice to the South, are leaders of the infamous Blas.sachusetts Legislature in visiting persecution and outrage upon foreigners. Is it from such Know Nothings as these that slaveholders expect an effective warfare upon Abolitionism ? Are these a new spawn of " Northern men with Southern principles 1" Not long ago all Boston was up in arms against the federal authorities in an attempt to rescue a slave from his master. An Irish regiment of volunteer soldiers and Catholics were chiefly instrumental in vindicating the majesty of the law and restoring the slave to his Southern owner. A " whole souled and gallant" Irish lad bared his breast to the native American mob and poured out his life's blood in defence of the rights of the South. The Know Nothing Le- gislature of Abolition Massachusetts, with a malignity of vengeance which his'tory cannotparallel, has disbanded that Irish regiment and denied the privi- lege of citizenship to all foreigners, for the part they acted in the rescue of Burns. Is the South to lick the hand that smites her ? Is she to ally herself in a league of persecution and extermination with her enemies and revilers, against the little handful of persecuted strangers who dared to take her part at the expense of life and disfranchisement? Shame! eternal shame upon the craven men of the South who shall do so mean a thing ! Let us not take our politics from Massachusetts and the Know Nothing anathematizing clergy of her Legislature. Let us rather take it from the Bible, and treat the foreigner kindly and ho.spitably, obeying the command of that Book — " Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, (foreigners.) for thereby some have entertained angels ui^aAvares." 'Why are Northern Abolitionists and Know Nothings persecuting and pro- scribing foreigners and Catholics ? It is because they have always refused to join with them in their outcry against slavery and the South. Of all the mobs that have hounded and howled at the heels of Southern men that have gone to the North for their property, who has ever heard of a mob of foreigner's ?_ How many instances have there been, like the memorable one of Burns, at Boston, 335 where Irishmen have vindicated the Constitution and law. against the fiendish clamor of raging and gnashing hell-hound mobs of native Abolitionists. Call the Northern Know Nothing the American party ? It is American in but one sense of the word, and that the meanest, shabbiest and most sncakiug. It is the Yankee itarty . To persecute and proscribe foreigners is not an American policy, because it is not a Southern policy ; and nothing can be truly Aiuericaa which is not heartily Southern. To persecute and proscribe foreigners is only a Yankee policy. Yankees at the South join in it. Yankees at the North join in it. The Know Nothing is a Yankee policy. The Know Nothing is '' The Yankee Party." The foreigners and Catholics at the North have never joined in the Abolition crusade against us. Three thousand and fifty Yankee pulpits, filled — we will not say by Protestants, but filled by Infidels — are constantly belching forth fire and brimstone, hell and damnation against the South. Theodore Parkers, An- toinette l^rowns and Horace Greeleys, too pious to take the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, from disgust at the intoxicating wine in use at the Holy Table, fulminate anathemas upon the South and slavery, day and night, in season and out of season, from the pulpit, from the hustings, and from the press, until our Southern people can no longer travel at the North without encountering insult at every step and hour. But who has ever known the Catholic pulpit to court popular favor by such incendiary means ; and who has ever known Irishmen to join in this crusade of insult and aggression upon- the South ? These two per- secuted classes have made themselves obnoxious to the Northern populace, and hateful as Mordecai the Jew in the sight of Haman, to .their incendiary preach- ers and politicians, by sternly and nobly standing aloof from the fanaticism, and interfering, when they interfere at all, only to defend the integrity of the Constitution and to assert the might of the violated law. Who ever heard of an itinerant Irish lecturer against slavery ? Who ever heard of a political ser- mon against this constitutional institution from a Catholic pulpit ? How conso- nant with the whole tenor of Irish conduct on this question was the prompt, the gallant, the unselfish and the peci.niarily suicidal denunciations of John Mitchell, against the revilers of the slaveholders I Well might Lord. Carlisle in his leave-taking lecture at Boston, after a thorough tour of this country, de- clare that " the worst enemy of the Abolitionist was the Irishman, and the most staunch defender of slavery was the Irishman." The party which de- nounces, disfranchises, persecutes and proscribes the Irish Catholic, whatever else it may be, is not a Southern party. If it take root at the South, the fact will only confirm the slander that republics of self-governing people are un- grateful ; it will be a Southern party with Northern principles ; it will be a Yankee Party on Southern soil. Look to those States of the North where the foreign population holds a lar- ger ratio than elsewhere, and where they exercise the greatest degree of politi- cal influence — look to the vigorous young States of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan, as contrasted with Ohio, New York, and the States of New Eugland ; and, until this new crusade arose to temporarily unite the pop- ular masses with Abolition natives, in a common crusade against the Democratic party and the foreign voters usually acting with them, those States which had the largest infusion of the foreign element in their populations, are found to have been the staunchest defenders of constitutional politics and Southern rights. We speak, of course, of the ratio of foreign population actually and permanent- ly settled down in homes of their own, as distinguished from foreigners living from hand to mouth by working on railroads and laboring in other migratory employments. What though the increase of this element be indeed rapid, as asserted by Ex-Governor Smith, and, second-hand, by Mr. Flournoy ; will the Virginia politician object to a gradual and healthful augmentation of our natural friends 336 in the Northwest ? The fact is notorious, that foreigners at the North stand aloof from the Abolition movement, and that the staunchest Democratic anti-Abo- lition States of that section of the Union are chiefly those in which foreigners, who have found permanent homes, constitute a larger proportion than elsewhere of the whole population. We are agitating in the South against foreignism as an evil, although foreign- ers are our staunchest friends at the North, where the}' number 2,201,118 in the census of 1850, and although the evil at the South is so small and trifling as to constitute less than two per cent, of our popnlation, and numbers a grand total in all the South of but 43,530 souls ! \We have never known a more monstrous piece of folly and blindness than this enlistment of Southern men in a Yankee crusade against foreigners.' We can only imagine a single ground on which it can be plausibly excused ; and that is, that the evil of foreignism is so entirely Northern and so microscopically Southern, as to induce the notion that immigrants seek the North from a natural repugnance to our people and institutions. But who can believe such a charge ? An Irishman prejudiced ao^ainst a Virginian or a Kentuckian ! The thought is as monstrous as the no- tion itself is false and unnatural. Immigrants go to the North because emi- grant ships land them at Boston, New York and Philadelphia; and because, the North being engaged most largely in manufactures, mines, internal improve- ments, and the mechanic arts, all requiring cheap white labor, they find em- ployment in that quarter of the Union more promptly and surely than in the agricultural South. When they can find work at the South, they never hesi- tate to migrate hither; and no Soutliern man has ever yet heard of a foreigner leaving the South from preference for the North. No man has ever yet heard of foreigners, like Yankees, coming in sheep's clothing to sympathize with our slaves, and clandestinely shipping them off from their owners by underground railroads. DYING WAILS FROM THE CULVERT. Some unknown friend — probably a repentant Know Nothing about to bolt the Order and come over to the Democracy — has contrived into our possession a curious budget of documents, yet damp from the press, intended, no doubt, to be poured out in deluges over the State of Virginia, upon the eve of the elec- tion. To be forewarned is to be forearmed — and on that principle we lay the precious batch before our readers, in order that the Democracy may have a knowledge of the weapons with which they are to be assailed in the dark, before yet the blows are dealt. The documents breathe a savage and truculent spirit enough ; but we are very sure that though venomous as serpents they are harmless as doves. We have rarely seen a paper so overflowing of gall and bitterness and worm- wood, and yet so imbecile and impotent to subserve any effective purpose, as Sam's First Epistle to the Hindoos. It is as unlike Paul to Timotlii/ as could be conceived, through it breathes out fire and slaughter as fiercely as Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus. How awfully savage is it on that mythical body, " the Anti-American Junto" of Uichmond. We have heard a great deal of the Junto. It is said that we have had something to do with the killing of the old iniquity. That fact was an- nounced in the New York Herald five month ago, and seeing that the Herald is chief organ of the Know Nothings in North America, the fact of the Junto's demise is undeniable. .The Junto is a myth — a ghost, beyond doubt or cavil; and yet it is amusing to see how it still haunts the imagination of Sam. He can't divest himself of the idea that the monster is still alive, and protests to 337 Ills people that it is " daily and nirrjitly manufacturing and sending into all parts of the State secret IIookbacks — outrageous villilications — shameless mis- representations — unmitigated falsehoods — miserable resorts — shameless tricks — total fabrications — men of straw" — and legions of similar hobgoblins. To say that Sam is frightened and in despair, would be telling but half the story. Sam is frantic. See how he raves. The italics, small caps, and CAPITALS are all his own : SAM'S first epistle to the HINDOOS. Richmond, May 12, 1855. Dear Sir : We have just learned from authority of the most undoubted character, that the Anti-American Junto of this city arc daihj and NIGHTLY manufacturing and sending into all parts af the State Secret Roorbacks, containing the most outrageous villifications of our Order, the most shameless misrepresentations of its objects and aims, and the most unmitigated false- hoods in relation to its present standing and position. The object of this letter is to warn you, and through you, every member of your Council, and every friend of the American cause, to beware of the legion of Roorbacks which they will start, in the desperation of what they fear, and we believe, to be ilidr LAST e.rpiriny effort ! One of their miserable resorts has been exposed to us this morning. They have already issued a large number of secret circular-, setting forth that there have been several thousand withdrawals from the American Councils, apd that a few days before the election, a Us' of these withdrawals will he /iirnished to the tinder strappers of the Junto. The object of this cannot be doubted. It is to spread dismay through the ranks of Americans, and discourage and unnerve the efforts of our leading men. Now, without any hesitation, we pronounce the whole thing as miserable and shameless a trick as ever issued even from the corrupt source from which it emanates. We knoio what we say, and speak from the record when we declare, that they cannot parade the names of a thou- sand members in the whole State of Virginia, (out of 75,000,) who have with- drawn from the Order. We know it to be a total fabrication, a shameless lioorhacJc, and arraNT FALSEHOOD ! They may parade the names of thou- sands, but we declare mo^i positiveli/ and emphatically,, that if so, fourtifths will prove men of straw — men who were never men of our Order — who have not withdrawn, or who never had existence anywhere except in the very fertile imaginations of our most reckless and unscrupulous adversaries ! But here we will ask, even if they could parade the names of 5,000 who had withdrawn from the Order, what would that amount to ? Would not even that number leave us 70,000 good and true men in the Order, which, with 30,000 outsiders, whom we know will go with us, will make a total of 100,000, or enough to hurj/ this miserable Junto, with its myriad corrvptions, too deep to he even smelt again ? But, si?, we tell you again, thai they cannot parade one thousand actual with- draicals, if their earthly existence dejiended on it. We beg to call your attention to a circumstance which alone should establish the villainy of this transaction. If this report — this list of names — is honest, correct, true — why, WHY have they not published them in their papers in time to have their genuineness examined, and truth or falsity TESTED. Both the Daily Post and Whig of this city, have repeatedly called on the Junto papers to publish the names and localities of the " wiiudrawals" which by scores and fifties they were heralding through their papers, but without giving either names or localities. These, they were not only called upon, but dared to give. They were finally goaded into making positive declarations ia ■ the following instances, which were the only positive ones now recollected : 338 (Here follow the alleged charges, followed by most ferocious refutations.) Here, then, sir, we have at much length taken pains to dissect the four Roorbacks which the enemy have dared to locate — read them attentively, and judge for yourself. Fahus in uno, fahus in omnihus. [Bad Latin, Sam.] False in one, fal.-^e in all. Finding it would never do to present the names and localities of their sham defection, followed as they were by such immediate and complete exposures, they have, it seems, concluded to issue an advance circular, claiming several thousand ivithdraicals, and promising to give iheiiames in a SECRET CIRCULAR Just he/ore the election, when it loould BE TOO LATE TO expose TIIElft FALSITY. Then again, sir, we repeat, sound the news in advance through your Coun- cils. Watch for Roorbacks of every possible description, and believe none YOURSELF, nor allow any others to be imposed upon by such base means. Re- collect that with our opponents it is a death struggle, and as drowning men catch at straws, they will endeavor to seize hold of every imaginable pretext and falsehood which promises to give them even a single vote. Gird on your armour then — return blow for blow, like brave soldiers, confi- dent of Victory. Remember that while you are fighting, your brothers here and elsewhere are battling manfully in a common cause — a cause which involves the fate of our Union, our Bible, and our Faith. Let this, then, animate your hearts, and nerve your arms, in what we sincerely believe to be a contest invol- ving mightier interests than any before tested since " the days that tried men's souls.'' Remember ! that To fight In a just cause, and for our country's glory, Is the best office for the best of men ; And to decline when these motives urge, Is infamy beneath a coward's baseness. Respectfully and fraternally, C. A. ROSE, P. POINDEXTER, RO. D. WARD. Sam's second epistle is not so savage as the first, but far more pithy, efi'ec- tive, and to the point. It is evidently the composition of higher grade of Je- suits than the boquet above. We have not the pleasure of a personal acquain- tance with Mr. 17-:-3.21.12.2.7; or with Mr. J- 1-6.12. 13.2. 7.1.8 ; or even •with Mr. &C.-17-2G.12. Tt. They are in a terrible state of alarm at the fan- cied thorough organization of the Democracy, and have taken measures suited to such an emergency. We publish the document entire, and as it is always lawful to fight the Devil with his own weapons, we trust the suggestions of tiie ^^undersigned;' Messrs. 17-:-3.21. 12.2.7, J-I-6.12.13.2.7.1.8, and &C.-17- 26.12.Tt, will not be lost on the Democracy : SAM's second epistle to the HINDOOS. Richmond, May 9th, 1855. Dear Sir: — The undersigned, claiming no other excuse than the general good of the American party, have taken the liberty to request you and -of your county, to act as a special county committee, for the purpose of eifecting an immediate and, if possible, a thorough organization in your county, unless you haye already done so. We respectfully ask your earnest attention to the following : 339 Wc have as glorious a cause as ever moved the American people since the da3's of '76 — a cause which must commend itself to the American people, and which must, as a matter of palpable necessity, become the dominant party ia the land. The present struggle is one which more completely involves the fate cf our Union, our Bible, and our Faith, and all else that we hold near and dear, than any other that has occurred since the United States became a nation : for it is a struggle which is to foreshadow the end — of which this is but the be- ginning. But, strong as is our position, high and holy as our mission is, and as much as it commentls itself to the people, we beg our friends not to rely too couhdently to its inherent strength alone. We have an enemy ever watchful, ever vigilant, ever untiring, and ever, as now, utterly unscrupulous. They are old tacticians, who having long succeeded by " management," will now, in their hour of peril, resort to every means that unscrupulous knavery can suggest, or the most un- tiring energy carry out. The enemy, too, are completely organized, and that in the most thorouglx and efficient manner. Their " modus operandi" is secret and efiective — is con- fided to a few and proper hands. They first have a State Central Committee, who appoint sub-committees in every county, who in turn appoint sub-commit- tees in every precinct. These precinct committees' first business is, to ascer- tain the number of Whigs outside the order, and the nunjber of Democrats in. Each man on this list is put under the special care of one, two or three men best calculated/to exert an influence upon him, who are instructed to use the argument best calculated to influence him against the American party. These committee-men, on some plausible excuse visit the persons under their particu- lar charge. To the Whigs outside, they will urge the folly, the madness and impolicy of sacrificing their cherished principles — the principles of that " noble old party," "the brave party of principle," itc, to a new party, whose aims are mysterious, and whose designs they know not of. To the Democrats inside, the American party will be denounced as a Whig trick, the same miserable old blue light, Hartford Convention, Federal and Bank Whig party. They will denounce it as unchristian, unpatriotic and unconstitutional. They will declare it abolitionism in disguise, and importation from the North, from England, &c., &c. They will misrepresent its principles, its aims and its acts. They will swear it has driven evei'y national man from the United States Senate-^that it elected Seward and Wilson, and probably Sumner, and Trumbull, and Durkee, and Chase, and Hale, and Wade, and Fessenden, and a host of other abolitionists, who, so far from being Know Nothings, arc among their most intensely bitter, opponents. They will beseech them to come out from among a set of " loust/, Christless, Godless j^Iotters," conspirators, traitors, midnight assassins and pros- titutes of the pot-houses. In this manner, and in this style, they will visit, and are now daily visit- ing, every inside Democrat, and outside VVhig in the State. Every device will be resorted to, to " wean those weak in the faith.'' They will not only visit our members, but will stay with them, eat with them, drink with them, and sleep with them. Sometimes they will double or triple teams, and bring double and triple batteries to bear on the more obstinate and difiicult — will seek to frighten the timid, seduce the fishy, and "fatigue" and worry the true and honest ones out of the party. Thus will the most powerful political machinery that political tacticians ever did invent, or ever can invent — that of direct personal appeal, entreaty and compulsion — be brought to bear, with concentrated force, upon the members of our organization in every section of the State. It is idle to say that such means, so constantly and so perseveringly applied, will be without effect, unless they are promptly and effectively met by the vigilance of our friends in every coun- ty of the State. 340 The only way to check this influence is to meet it promptly, and in that view we most earnestly and respectfully request your attention to the follow- ing SUGGESTIONS. That on the reception of this you will hold an immediate conference with of your county • and th;it you together shall appoint a com- mittee of- active, intelligent and efficient men in each precinct of the county, who will act as a precinct committee, and who will fully and efficiently carry out the following suggestions by all honorable means : let. To make a perfect list of every man who will vote the American ticket. 2nd. A similar list of every man who will vote the Anti-American ticket. 3rd. A doubtful list, embracing every man, whether now with or agdnst us, who can be swerved or induced in any manner; to place each man on this list under the care of some one, two, or more men, who will make it their special business to see, talk and even labor with every man or men placed under their ' charge, with a view to the following results : 1st. If an American, to protect him from the arts of the enemy, and to keep the wavering firm in the faith. 2ad. To influence as many of the Anti-Americans to vote with us as possi- 3rd. To induce as many as will not vote with us not to vote against us — 'if they will do us no good, at least to do us no harm. 4th. And finally, to see that every American vote is brought out and polled on the day of election. j^^ Please instruct the committee of each precinct, immediately after elec- tion, to send full returns of their precincts, addressed to the Editors Daily Whi^, Richmond, and all will thus know by extras issued from that office the result in a few days after election. 17-:-3.21.12.2.7 ") J-!-G.r2.13.2.7.1.8 [ Committee. &c.-17-2G.12.Tt. etc.) What a pity to take away these young men's Bibles! To steal their purses 13 to steal trash ; but to take away their Bibles — what a cruelty ! Epistle third is an eloquent dissertation from Sam on the importance of a single vote. He has been boasting of his fifty and eighty thousands for months past and professing a generous willingness in his bets with the Democracy to give odds of fives and tens of thousands against himself; but since the late terrible reaction commenced, and his men have forsaken him by entire lodges and councils, Sam is firmly convinced that he cannot spare a single vote; and vouchsafes a special epistle to the faithful, on the necessity of getting out every vote be can call his own. Democrats of Virginia, learn a lesson for yourselves ■while reading SAM'S third epistle to the HINDOOS. KiCHMOND, May 14th, 1855. Dear Sir : — The object of this communication is to call your especial attention to the possible importance of every single vote in your, and every other pre- cinct in the State, accompanied by such illustrations as occur to us at the mo- meQt : 341 In 1797, the President was elected by a majority of three in the electoral college — in 1801, by seven. Virginia was carried in 1840 by 500 votes. In 1844, 5,000 votes in New York, out of 550,000, or one in 55, made Mr. Polk President ; hence, had this vote been cast for Clay, he would have been elected by five votes. Some ten years ago, Marcus Morton was elected Governor of Massachusetts by a majority of one. In many other instances, ten votes have decided the fate of the gubernatorial election. Mr. Benton was made Senator by one vote. Many other Senators have been elected by majorities of from one to ten. In 1840, the candidates for Congress tied each other in two instances in a sia- gle State, and two were elected by one majority, and three more were elected by majorities of from three to twenty. In the same State, in 1848, there was one tie, three were elected by one majority, and several others by majorities of from five to fifty. On one occasion, a distinguished Virginian was elected to Con- gress by five majority, and at the next term defeated by seven. A hundred instances could be given of members of Congress elected by majorities of from one to five votes, and a thousand where majorities of one to five have carried State Senators, and members of the different Legislatures. In the coming election, we expect to see several of our candidates for Con- gress, Senate and House, elected by very small majorities, perhaps by a single vote. Remember then, sir, that the failure to vote in a single instance, in your precinct, may lose us a Delegate, Senator, Congressman, and even U. S. Senator. The election of Flournoy, however, if our strength is polled, is as certain as the rising of to-morrow's sun. Probably, in Virginia, an average of five of our voters in each precinct will resolve to stay at home, each thinking his own vote can make no great diffe- rence; but remember that there are 1,000 precincts in the State, and that a loss of five votes in each precinct would be 5,000 in the State, or more votes than made Mr. Polk President in 1844. Then, sir, we call on you and your friends, and the friends of the cause, to loork, v.ORK, WORK ! See that every vote, in every precinct in your county, is brought out. Your brothers call on you to work for us as we work for you ! The Junto is setting day and NIGrHT. The lights in their culvert are never suffered to go out. They set us an example. Let us improve it. Confident of Victory, we are yours, &c., C. A. ROSE, ■) P. POINDEXTER, t Committee. RO. D. WARD, S Jg@" Call the Council together the night before election. LETTER FROM THE HON. DANIEL S. DICKINSON ON KNOW NOTHINGISM. The following letter, first published in the Tallahasse Floridian and Journal of August 4th, was written in June 1855. — Ed. N. Y. Daily Neios. My Dear Sir : On my return to my residence a few days since, from a pro- fessional engagement abroad, I found your favor of a late date inquiring for my views touching the principles of the " American" or " Know Nothing" organization. Before I found time to answer, I was hurried to this place to attend the Court of Appeals now in session, where the business in which I am 342 engaged affords little time or opportunity for correspondence. I will, however, as I have no concealments upon public questions, borrow a moment from ray pressing duties to say quite hastily, that 1 have no knowledge concerning the Order to which you allude, except such as is acquired from publications pur- porting to give information upon the subject, and must therefore confine myself to such points as are embraced within this range. It is generally understood and conceded to be a secret society or organization, designed to act politically in the contests of the day. Of this secret feature I entirely disapprove, and am unable to understand by what necessity, real or supposed, it was dictated, or upon what principle it can be justified. Free public discussion and open action upon all public affairs, are essential to the health — nay, to the very exis- tence — of popular liberty ; and the day which finds the public mind reconciled to the secret movements of political parties, will find us far on our way to the slavery of despotism. If good men may meet in secret for good purposes, we can have no assurance that bad men, under the siime plausible exterior, will not secretly sap the foundations of public virtue. Whether I am in favor of tlieir platform upon the question of domestic sla- very, must depend upon what it is; or rather, whether they are in favor of mine. If their platform is to be regarded as including, upholding or justifying such political monstrosities as the " personal liberty bill," recently passed into a law by the Massachusetts Legislature over the veto of Governor Gardner, then I pronounce it treason of the deepest dye — treason, rank, unblushing and bra- zen — deserving of public reprehension and condign punishment. If upon this subject their platform conforms to resolutions recently published, purporting to be the voice of a majority of the Convention assembled at Philadelphia, it is in substance the same upon which I have stood for years — upon which I did not enter without counting the consequences, and which I intend to relinquish only with life. I have not now these resolutions before me, but as I recollect them, I approve them in substance as sound national doctrine. I ignore no part of the Federal Constitution, either in theory or in practice, to court the popular caprices of the moment, to gain public station, or to minister to the necessities or infirmities of those in power. Nor can I distrust the soundness of principles approved upon full consideration under a high sense of duty, because others may choose to adopt and embrace them. I cannot believe that any good can be accomplished by making the birthplace a test of fidelity or merit. It does not accord with, but is at war with the genius of our institutions. That abuses have been practiced by the appoint- ment of foreigners to places of trust, before sufiieiently familiar with our Con- stitution, laws, and social system, or to which, from circumstances, they were unsuited, is probable. This, however, is, in some respects, common to native as well as naturalized citizens, and arises not from a defective system, but from its erroneous administration. It is in both respects the natural result of placing in the hands of the incompetent the distribution of public patronage. Upon the subject of naturalized citizens, I have been governed by considera- tions of justice and duty, and have designed to observe the spirit of my coun- try's Constitution. When members of Congress engage in a steeple chase, to see who should propose earliest, give most, and vote loudest, to feed suffering Ireland from the federal treasury a few years since, not finding any warrant for such proceedings I voted against it, and let public clamor exhaust itself upon my head in denunciations. When I learned that the foreigner who had in good faith declared his intentions of citizenship, by setting his foot upon a foreign shore in case of shipwreck, without any intention of remaining abroad, lost the benefit of his proceedings, I introduced and procured the passage of a bill. to redress the grievance. These principles have governed my public conduct, and now guide my opinions. The Constitution, administered in its true spirit, is, in my judgment, sufiicient for the protection of all, whether native or natural- 343 ized, and for the redress of all political evils which can be reached by human government. I have the honor to be, Your friend and servant, D. S. DICKINSON. A MONSTROUS FRAUD. The following article from the Cincinnati ^'M^'in'rer will throw a now_ light upon the Know Nothing villainy practiced in the circulation of the Cincinnati Times, through Virginia, designed to operate on the election of next Thursday. The :ZVmes is an abolition paper, and, in its issues "circulated at home, and through the free States, asserts that the Secret Order is anti-slavery.'' The Cincinnati Enquirer, in a previous article, said that <' the greatest care is taken at the office of the Times, not to allow a copy of the issue, intended for the Virginia market, to be seen in Cincinnati, where its sentiments would be inju- rious to the Know Nothing cause and prejudicial to the interests of the paper." This Times Roorback, sent to Virginia, is one of the most infamous frauds ever resorted to by a party, and the following exposure should arouse every honest Virginian to an indignant reprobration of an organization, based upon trickery and deception : — Richmond Enquirer. Virginia Election — The Spurious Edition of the Times sent to that State. — Infamous Fraud. We have received a letter from Wheeling in relation to the Weekh/ Times oi this city, with which the Know Nothings are flooding the State of Virginia. This issue of the Times is tilled with articles endeavoring to prove that the Know Nothings of the North are pro-slavery. The Times, however, which is circulated, at home and throughout the free States, asserts that the order is anti-slaverij. A gross fraud is, therefore, being practised upon the Virginians, which, if they are true to themselves, they will resent. Like '' orator Puff" the Times has two tones to its voice, and puts on two faces — one for the North, the other for the South. The Times which is sent to Indiana contradicts the Times which is sent to Virginia. It would be a terrible thing for that journal if, by some mistake of its mailing clerks, the editions should get transposed — the slavery Times finds its way to Indiana and the anti-slavery times to Virginia. We shall endeavor to procure a copy of the Virginia edition, and make some extracts from it for the benefit of its Northern Freesoil readers, who will start in amazement at finding such sentiments advocated in that sheet. The Virgi- nians, by the time of the election, will be pretty well informed of this dirty Abolition trick to wheedle them out of their votes, and we are confident it will react upon its perpetrators. Our friends in Virginia are making a most gallant struggle to preserve that State from the enemy and we have every assurance of their success. Our Wheeling correspondent says that " the prospects for carry- ing the State in favor of Wise are very flattering. I think his election is cer- tain, beyond doubt. The only question is, how large will his majority be?" The Richmond Enquirer, the central democratic organ, whose conductors are always excellently informed in Virginia politics, estimates Mr. Wise's majority at fifteen thousand over his Know Nothing competitor. Mr. Wise himself, after travelling most of the State, is sanguine of twenty thousand. The recent municipal election at Harper's Ferry, which resulted in favor of the Democrats, is a significant indication, and shows that the popular current is running in the right direction. — [ Cincinnati Enquirer. 344 CONGRESSIONAL CANVASS. The Congressional Districts of Virginia, in 1855, were the theatre of great political excitement, and iu nearly all of them the Know Nothings brought for- ward candidates of taeir own party, and boldly predicted the defeat of at least eight of the Democratic candidates for Congress. I. Judge Thomas H. Bayly, of the county of Accomac, the represcntive of that district in Congress for the last ten years, was a candidate for re-election in the first district without regular opposition, although Messrs. GtARNETT and Montague received handsome complimentary votes in portions of the district where Judge Bayly's views upon the principles of the Know Nothing party were not popular with the Democratic party. It was a source of deep regret, with many of Judge Bayly's political friends, that he avoided making a direct issue with the Know Nothing party, and actually expressed himself favorably to some of their doctrines. The result of his course during the can- vass, was eminently favorable to his individual interests, and he was elected to Congress without, as we have said, any regular opposition. The congressional elector in this district was Robert L. Montague, one of the most fearless, able and energetic Democrats in the State. He was, some years ago, a distinguished member of the Legislature from the counties of Mid- dlesex and Matthews ; and is a lawyer of extensive practice and great popu- larity. During the last canvass, his services as a speaker were of great advan- tage to the Democratic party of the first district. II. In the second district, Gren. Millson, of the City of Norfolk, was the nominee of the Democratic party for Congress. In this district the Know Nothings were confident of success, and nominated Mr. Watts, of Norfolk, as their candidate, a gentleman of considerable talent, who was a prominent mem- ber of the Reform Convention of 1850. It was supposed that Gen. Millson's vote as a member of Congress, against the Kansas Nebraska bill, would mate- rially diminish his prospects of success, as it had excited a strong prejudic'e against him with many leading members of his party. But the Democratic party of his district, feeling assured that Gen. Millson's course upon that question was the result of his ultra and impracticable pro-slavery views, rather than of sympathy with the Freesoil party, re-elected him to Congress by a large majority. The result in this district was as unexpected as it was gratifying to the Democratic party. Mordecai Cooke, of Norfolk city, a lawyer of distinction, and an efficient elector during the presidential canvass of 1852, was the elector in this district; but was prevented by ill health from taking any part in the canvass. III. In the third district, Hon. John S. Caskie, so widely known as an eloquent, chivalrous and able champion of Democracy, was a candidate for re- election, his course as a member of Congress having given universal satisfaction to the Democratic party of the Metropolitan District. The Know Nothings were, in this district, confident of defeating Judge Caskie, and this anticipation of a long and certain victory, afilictcd the Know Nothing councils' with a num- 345 ber of aspirants, whose claims were urged with great zeal by their respective friends. The most prominent of these gentlemen were A. J. Crane, Hon. J. M. BoTTS, and Wm. C. Scott, of the City of Richmond. The latter gentleman bad been, for a short time, a citizen of llichmond, and formerly represented the county of Powhatan for many years in the Legislature with considerable ability. He was also the Know Nothing elector for the district, and was ac- tively engaged in the canvass for several weeks before he received the nomina- tion of his party for Congress. Mr. Scott is a gentleman of good education, unblemished private character, and remarkable for the accuracy of his political information. He was the most available of all the prominent Know Nothing politicians of the district, and received the full vote of his party. The discus- sions of Messrs. Caskie aTad Scott were conducted with great courtesy and good feeling, and in no previous canvass were the speeches of Judge Caskie more eloquent and effective than in that of 1855. He was re-elected to Con- gress by a handsome majority. The elector in this district was Mr. P. H. Aylett. His labors were arduous and incessant during the entire campaign, and were as effective as his brilliant talents, united with such untiring service, was calculated to be. Nor did Mr. Aylett confine his exertions to his own field of labor, but accepted many invi- tations from different quarters of the State, everywhere vindicating his high reputatftn for talents and powers of oratory. IV. In the fourth district, Hon. William 0. Goode, a gentleman of great political experience, ripe years, and of State reputation, was the Democratic can- didate for Congress. Mr. Goode was a member of the Convention of 1829 '30, and of 1850, and was for many years a distinguished member of the Legislature, and had served in Congress two sessions with distinction. He was opposed by Mr. Tazewell of Mecklenburg, a young gentlemen of great facetiousness, whose anecdotes during the canvass, were exceedingly entertaining, and pleasing to his auditors. The district was regularly canvassed by the candidates, and Mr. Tazewell was beaten by about two thousand majority. " Alas poor Yorick." The elector in this district was Hon. Richard Kidder Meade of Petersburg, formerly a prominent member of Congress, and distinguished leader of the States Right party. He canvassed the district with great activity, and contri- buted largely to the extraordinary triumph of the Democratic party on the Southside. The Southside Democrat, published in Petersburg, was edited with signal ability during the canvass, and was regarded as one of the best campaign papers in the State. It was edited by Messrs. Banks and Keily. V. Hon. Thos. S. Bocock, for six years the able and efficient representative of a large portion of the fifth district, was a candidate for re-election. The candidate of the Know Nothing party, was Mr. N. C Claiborne, of Franklin, once a prominent and popular member of the Democratic party, and for many years a member of the Legislature ; he was also a member of the Reform Con- vention of 1850. At a weak and unlucky moment, Mr. Claiborne yielded to the blandishments of the Know Nothing party, and fell from the respectable 346 position which he once occupied in our party. He received the nomination of the Know Nothing party, beating, it ia said, a talented young Whig lawyer of Pittsylvania, Mr. Carrington. Mr. Claiborne occupied an awkward posi- tion during the canvass, in consequence of his having attended the Democratic Convention at Staunton ; although, it was said, at that very time a member of the secret order. He took a prominent part in that convention for Mr. Leake. After the nomination of Mr. Wise, it is said that Mr. Claiborne publicly declared his willingness to support that gentleman, and declared himself ready to " scour" the mountains of Franklin for the nominee of the Staunton Convention. The unfortunate position of Mr. Claiborne rendered it necessary for Mr. Bo- COCK and the Democratic press of the State to handle that gentleman with gloves off. The following editorial from the Lyncliburg Republican, will afford our readers some idea of the scathing and merciless manner in which Mr. Clai- borne was dealt with. Political Purification — N. C. Claiborne. The particular attention of our readers is invited to the following graphic sketch of the political career of Mr. Claiborne, the Know Nothing candidate for Congress in this district. " The scripture moveth us in sundry places" to deal gently with the frailties of our fellow men. We confess and claim much of this milk of human kind- ness, and extend a scriptural toleration to their short comings. But there are some tilings which we are not at liberty to leave unexposed. * The Know Nothings set up to purify the politics of the country, and to con- summate this purification have nominated as their candidate for Congress in this district, N. C. Claiborne, Esq. An examination of the record of Mr. Claiborne presents some rare developments, and shows that he is perhaps about the only man now running for office in Virginia whose past conduct and present position exhibit an entire unconsciousness that there is such a thing as political principle. The honesty of most politicians situated as he is would be seriously impeached. But the application of such a standard to Mr. Claiborne would not in our judgment be just. We do not believe that Mr. Claiborne has good political principles. We do not believe that Mr. Claiborne has bad political principles. In fact from an intimate knowledge of his character we are satisfied that he has none at all, and never did have any. He was once elected to the Legislature pledged to oppose the Virginia and Tennessee Ivailroad. He went to the Legislature — voted for the road — and ran again for the Legislature as its peculiar champion, never once exhibiting a consciousness of his change. He came out a candidate for the late reform Convention upon the White "Basis at one court and a speech against the White Basis at the next court — he advocated Mr. Wise in 1851 and opposed him in 1854 — connected himself with the Know Nothing organization before the Staanton Convention— avows the fact in his public speeches — avows at the same time that he announced in that body his intention to support its nominees — and seemed utterly unconscious of the con- flict of obligations thus voluntarity assumed. He sent Mr. Bocock word that he approved cordially his representative conduct from Staunton, and at that same time and place, Mr. Bocock charges him with having declared that he in- tended opposing him and he does not seem conscious that here is a question worth explanation. He seems to look upon political honor in the same light in which Falstaff regarded personal honor. " Can Honor set a leg ? No. Or an arm ? No. Or take away the grief of a wound ? No. Honor hath no skill in surgery then ? No. What is Honor ? A word. What is that Ho- 347 nor ? Air. A trim reckoning. Who hath it ? lie that died on Wednesday. Doth he feel it ? No. Doth he hear it ? No. Is it insensible then ? Yea to the dead. But will it not live with the living ? No. Why ? Detraction will not suffer it — therefore I'LL NONE OF IT. Honor is a mere escutcheon, and so ends my catechism." Tlius soliloquized Falstaff, and thus we should judge thinks N. C. Claiborne of the honor of politics. And this man is put up for Congress to purify poli- tics. — Lijnclibunj Rejyuhlican. Mr. BococK was re-elected by an overwhelming majority, and since the elec- tion, Mr. Claiborne has disappeared from public view. Mr. Bocock's majority was upwards of 1800 over Mr. Claiborne. Mr. Hughes Dillard, of Henry County, a lawyer of distinction and a Democratic elector in 1852, was the elector in this district, and delivered several addresses of marked ability. He is at this time a distinguished member of the Legislature of Virginia. YI. In the sixth district, Hon. Paulus Powell, than whom there is not a more faithful and fearless representative in Congress, was a candidate for re-elec- •tion, having redeemed that district again and again by his energy and popularity. PoAVELL like BococK was opposed by a gentleman who was for many years a highly respectable member of the Democratic party. Dr. L. N. Ligon, of Nelson County, was the candidate of the Know Nothing party. Like Mr. Claiborne, Dr. Ligon Was a member of the Staunton Convention, and was friendly to Mr. Wise in the early part of the canvass. He was nominated by the Know Nothings, and at once accepted the nomina- tion and entered upon the canvass. He was defeated by Mr. Powell, who was re-elected to Congress by a large majority. The following articles appeared during the canvass in the Lijnchhurg Repub- lican and Charlottesville Jeffersonian relative to Dr. Ligon. Mr. Ltgon. — Mr. Ligon wanted to be one of the Board of Public Works. There seemed no prospect for him in the Democratic ranks. There was just as little prospect for him in the Know Nothing order. But the Know Nothings did have a " forlorn hope," which they were willing to give him, and Mr. Ligon, like the old maid of fifty praying for a husband, being willing to take " Any body, Good Lord," agreed to it. That place was a candidacy for Congress. Let us look at Mr. Ligon's claims upon the Know Nothings : 1st. Mr. Ligon was a member of the Staunton Convention. A motion was made in that body to make the nomination of Mr. Wise unanimous. Mr. Li- gon did not oppose it. Unless he intended to sustain it, he was bound as an honorable man to have made known his opposition. 2d. He was appointed Elector for the county of Nelson by the Democratic E.Kecutive Committee. Unless he declined it, the failure to decline was equiva- lent to an acceptance. He did not decline, so far as we can learn, unless it has been very lately. 3d. pie met Mr. Wise at Lovingston — toadied him no little— applauded his speech — and bore himself as one of his best friends. 4th. Until within the last six weeks he has been notoriously supporting Mr. Wise, and equally notoriously denouncing the Know Nothings. 5th. We have heard that so venomous was his opposition to Know Nothing- 348 ism, that he declared he would as soon see a son of his a horse-thief as a Know Nothing. 6th. He received for circulation documents against the Know Nothings, and did circulate them. This is a portion of Mr. Ligon's record. Is it such a one as even a Know Nothing can stand ? We know many of the Know Nothings in the Red Land District, and unless we are mistaken, they will scorn to vote for so late a con- vert. Mr. Ligon has been false to Mr. Wise. What assurance have they that he will not be false to Mr. Flournoy ? He has betrayed Democracy. Where is the guarantee that he will not betray Know Nothingism ? We shall have more to say on this subject. — Lynclihunj Repuhlicun. From the Charlottesville Jeffersonian. DR. LIGON VERSUS THE KNOW NOTHINGS. The following certificates of gentlemen of unimpeachable standing in Nelson county, one of whom is an old line Whig, will speak for themselves. Dr. Li- gon has certainly placed himself in a very unenviable position before the peo- ple of the district. In the face of the facts revealed by these certificates, we cannot perceive how any man who values political honesty in a candidate carf* give his support to Dr. Ligon : I hereby certify, that in repeated conversations with Dr. Littleberry N. Li- gon, about the Know Nothing party, the last of which was on the fourth Sun- day in March last, he repeated to me, in substance, as follows : That his son, Joseph Ligon, had been accused of belonging to this Kqow Nothing party, and that he (Dr. L. N. Ligon) said he would as soon be accused of being a horse- thief, as to be accused of belonging to this Know Nothing party. JAMES H. BRENT. Nelson County, April 24th, 1855. This is to certify, that in half dozen or more conversations with Dr. L. N. Ligon, respecting the objects of the Know Nothing party, he remarked, that he believed that party to be composed of Whigs principally, and that their prin- cipal object was to break down the Democratic party ; he also stated that he would sooner be a horse-thief than belong to such a party. I mentioned seve- ral Democrats that I believed belonged to the Know Nothing party ; his son Joseph was one of the number, to which the Doctor replied that he did not think his son belonged to that party, for he had observed that he had rather be a horse-thief than to belong to such a party, and that he saw no change in his son's countenance, when he, the Doctor made that remark. WM. N. BRYANT. Nelson County, April 24th, 1855. I hereby certify, that in a conversation, with Dr. L. N. Ligon, he spoke in very bitter terms of the Know Nothings; one remark which I distinctly recol- lect, was, that he did not consider them any better than a pack of darned horse thieves. NATHAN BRYANT. Nelson County, April 24th, 1855, I certify that in frequent conversations with Dr. L. N. Ligon, he, in every conversation, denounced the Know Nothing party in the harshest terms, and in our conversation, I told him that it was suspected that his son Joseph belonged 349 to the Know Nothing Order; be, the Doctor, said he had heard the same thing — did not know that it was so — but that he had said in his son's presence, that he had rather sec a son of his a horse thief than a Know Nothing. Dr. Ligon was an open advocate of Mr. Wise's election, up to Saturday be- fore Nelson March Court last. FLOYD L. WHITEHEAD. Nelson County, April 24th, 1855. I certify that in a conversation with Dr. L. N. Ligon, at Nelson February Court last, that I asked him if his son Joseph belonged to the Know Nothing party; he replied that he did not know, but that he had as soon his son was caught in a pack of horse thieves as among the Know Nothings ; that he be- lieved it was a plot to take in Democrats^ who did not understand the meaning of it. WM. GILES. JSfelson Count!/, April 24th, 1855. I do hereby certify, that on ray return home from February Court, I fell in with Dr. L. N. Ligon. I asked him what he thought of the Know Nothings, and how he liked tlieir platform. He replied that he did not like them ; that if they should get a majority, the country would be ruined ; that it was a scheme of the Northern Abolitionists to deceive the South ; that if they could obtain a niiijority in both houses of Congress, and obtain a- President, they would dissolve this Union, and involve the country in all the horrors and calam- ities of a civil war; that to prevent such a state of things, he thought all the Whigs who were Whigs from principle, and the Democrats, ought to unite, and use all the means in their power to put down that abominable party. He also advocated the election of Mr. Wise, and said that the foreigners and the Catho- lics were only a hobby to take in and deceive the ignorant. Given under my hand this 25th of April, 1855. OBADIAH HENDERSON. In this district, Mr. Wm. J. Robertson was appointed elector ; but resign- ing in consequence of the pressure of professional engagements. Mr. William F. Gordon, Jr. of Albemarle was substituted, and greatly distinguished himself by his speeches against the secret foe. VII. In the seventh district, Hon. William Smith was an independent can- didate for re-election. He was elected by a large majority, although his ad- vocacy of several of the doctrines of the Know Nothing party alienated many of his oldest party friends, and induced many to regard him as the candidate of the Know Nothing rather than of the Democratic party. Messrs. Lee of Orange, Funsten of Alexandria, and Marye of Fredericksburg, openly op- posed his re-election, and opposed him on the stump. Many Democratic votes were given for gentlemen who were not candidates for Congress, in consequence of Gov. Smith's course. During the present session of Congress, however, Gov. Smith has voted with the Democratic party, and appears anxious to return to its bosom. Mr. B. H. Berry, of the town of Alexandria, was the elector in this dis- trict, and addressed the people of nearly every county in the district. VIII. In the eighth district, Hon. Charles James Faulkner was the De- mocratic candidate for Congress. He was opposed by Mr. Alexander Bote- 350 LER, a member of the Know Nothing party, and a gentleman of considerable ability as a popular speaker. The district was canvassed with great energy by the candidates. lu this district the Know Nothings relied confidently upon the success of their candidate, but the sleepless industry and ability displayed by Mr. Faulkner secured his election by a respectable majority. Personal diffi- culties between the candidates, it was feared, would at one time result in a hos- tile meeting between Messrs. Faulkner and Boteler, but an honorable and sat- isfactory adjustment was accomplished by the friends of the parties. Mr. Thomas M. Isbell, of Jefferson, at one time a distinguished member of the State Senate from the Appomattox district, was the elector in this dis- trict, and delivered several very able and eloquent addresses during the canvass. .IX. lion. John Letcher, of Lexington, was a candidate for re election in the ninth district, and met with no opposition. Mr. Letcher is everywhere regarded as one of the most laborious and useful public men in the State, and his course as a member of Congress had won for him the esteem of his political adversaries, and the admiration of his own party. He is the representative of that famous " Tenth Legion," which, since the days of Jefferson, has never failed to present an unbroken front to the enemies of Democracy. Again and again, in times of extreme peril, have Rockingham and Shenandoah saved the State from the curse of federal misrule. In the last election, the patriotic voters of those two famous counties rolled up a majority so overwhelming as to leave doubts respecting the existence of Know Nothing- ism in that section of the State. Geo. E. Deneale, Esq., for many years the representative of Eockingham in the Senate, was the elector. Mr. Wm. H. Harman, of Augusta, one of the most talented and promising lawyers in the Valley of Virginia, was the senatorial elector for Augusta, and contributed as much as any man in the State, by his frequent and powerful speeches, ta the success of our party. This gentleman received a very large vote at the Staunton Convention for the office of Lieutenant Governor. ■ X. Hon. Z. Kidwell was the Democratic candidate for Congress in the tenth district, and was opposed by the Rev. Mr. Pendleton of Bethany Col. lege, the nominee of the Know Nothing party. In this district the KnoAV Nothings resorted to every conceivable expedient to defeat the Democratic can- didate. Secret instructions and circulars were brought to light which revealed a system of fraud and trickery unworthy of respectable men, and which ef- fectually destroyed the prospects of the Know Nothing party in that district. Mr. Kidwell was re-elected by a very large majority. Hon. Sherrard Clemens, an ex-member of Congress, and the author of an excellent campaign document published elsewhere in this volume, was the elector for the eighth district. XL In the eleventh district, Jlr. Charles S. Lewis was the Democratic candidate for Congress. He was opposed and defeated by Mr. Carlisle, the Know Nothing candidate, who was some years ago a Democratic member of the Senate of Virginia. . 351 Benjamin W. Jacksod, Esq. of "Wood County, a, young and talented Dem- ocrat was the elector. Mr. Jackson was a few years ago a prominent member of the house of delegates. XII. In the twelfth district, Hon. Henry A. Edmondson was the Demo- cratic nominee for Congress. Mr. Edmondson has been for many years in Con- gress and has the entire confidence of his constituents. He was opposed hj Mr. Waller Staples, of Montgomery, a former member of the Legislature of Vir- ginia, and a leading member of his party in that district. The candidates canvassed the district most actively, and Mr. Edmondsou's speeches were marked by great force and eloquence. He was elected by a large majority. Hon. A. A. Chapman, for many years a member of Congress, and one of our most distinguished men, was the elector in this district. XIII. Hon. Fayette McMullin, for several years past a member of Con- gress, was a candidate for re-election in tho thirteenth district. He was eleeted by an overwhelming majority. Mr. Connelly F. Trigg was the Know Noth- ing candidate. This district was the theatre of the most animated and exciting canvass in Virginia. In the early part of the campaign the secret order foretold that they would sweep the Abingdon district by an overwhelming majority. The reite- rated declarations of the secret order of their certain and easy victory aroused to activity the most distinguished Democrats of that section of the State. Yield- ing to the solicitations of his friends, ex-GtOVERNOR Floyd of Washington County, the elector for that district declared himself a candidate for the Legis- lature. He was bitterly opposed by the most eloquent and popular Know Nothing in that section of the State. A fierce and relentless war was waged upon the Know Nothing party by such men as Ex-Governor Floyd, Thomas L. Pres- ton, "Benjamin Rush Floyd and William H. Cook. The Know Nothings upon their side spared nothing to win that victory of which they had so fre- quently and so confidently boasted. But from the accounts which have reached us there never were delivered in Virginia more eloquent and able speeches than were those of the champions of our party in Little Tennessee. Addressino' themselves to the good sense and patriotism of the intelligent yeomanry of that section of the State, they crushed an organization which at one time threat- ened the overthrow of our party. The overwhelming majority given by our party for the Democratic, ticket in southwest Virginia, was the result of the in- defati*gable eijertions of those eloquent champions to whom we have referred. Contrary to the expectations of both parties, in other portions of the State, Governor Floyd and Mr. Thomas L. Preston were elected to the Legislature by large majorities. THE SIGNAL GUN FROM THE RICHMOND EXAMINER. At the Staunton Gubernatorial Convention, the two leading Democratic jour- nals of the State differed as to which was the most suitable man to receive the nomination, Mr. Wise or Mr, Leake, The Enquirer took sides with the former; 352 the Examiner -with the latter. The Enquirer went immediately into the iSght but the Examiner, although tlcclaring promptly after the convention, as we have seen, its purpose, to support Mr. Wise, yet from certain local reasons did not choose to open its battery until about the first of February. After this time no journal couli have rendered more effective service to any party. We have drawn freely from that able and independent journal in this compilation, and in doing so we thought we could do nothing to answer our purpose better. Oa the eve of the election the following editorial, which we designate as the Signal Gun, appeared in the Examiner : TO THE INVINCIBLE DEMOCRACY ^ OF VIRGINIA. This is the last time our words can reach the great body of our readers before the election. We are glad that these last words are words of encouragement, con- fidem e and assurance. AVe use no electioneering artifice — we express no hesi- tating opinion, when we tell the Democracy of Virginia, that, if they do their duty, the victory is theirs. On no former occasion in the history of their bat- tles and victories have the party been so universally aroused and fiercelv indig- nant as now. Hesitating somewhat in the early part of the canvass — doubtful for a moment as to the true line of duty — they have been thoroughly aroused during the latter months of the contest, and — outraged, disgusted and incensed at the intrusion of so foul a thing as Know Nothingism in a Southern commu- nity, and in virtuous Virginia — they have risen up as one man to break its head and cast its loathsome carcass from the presence of decency and virtue. The frogs and locusts and vermin which infested Egypt, did not produce a more profound antipathy or universal loathing and retching ani.ng her people, than our honest Democracy of Virginia feel towards the polluting filth and nauseating slime which is denoted by the vulgarism — Sam. And they TOcan to deal with the intrusion in a summary way. They have a herculean task before them more formidable than the cleansing of the Augean stables; but, considering that great emergencies require great exertions, every man is resolved to make thorough work of his task, and to do it with an energy and complete- ness which will leave nothing to be done over again hereafter. The spirit of the Democracy everywhere — in every grand division and section, as well as in every county and precinct in the State, — is the same. One instinctive resolve and one common purpose actuates the whole mass. It is not any artificial or- ganization, the result of political machinery and thorough party drill, tliat has produced this intense unity of sentiment and of resolve ; but it is the intuitive leathing of what is mean, low, and vile, which actuates the heart of Virginia, and bauds her democracy together in serried phalanx. The old party lines fade and vanish in this contest. The impure ingredients that before had an accic|ental place in the Democratic mass fall off under the attraction of the foreign sub- stance that is brought in contact, leaving the pure lump of genuine Democracy cleansed and refined. The old opposing party also falls to pieces, giving up its dross and impurity to the newly imported foreignism, and leaving tbe pure Vir- ginianism to seek its natural afiinity in the mother element of unadulterated Virginia Democracy. No, this is no contest about men that our Democracy are waging now. It is not that we want to elect this man or to beat that man. It is not that our at- tachments to these candidates as men, or hostilities to those candidates as men, lead us to vote so and so. But the sentiment of the Virginia Democracy is : This is a foul, demoralizing, debasing, filthy thing, that has got into Virginia pastures from the Northern pig-sly, and is turning our land of honesty, truthfid- nesSf good manners^ and manly frankncsSf into a very Yankee s slough of 353 /ahchood, slander, deceit, cunning, detraction, meanness and v Hen ess. For the love ice hear our Common iccaith, and for the hatred she inspires in her sons /or all that is mean, grovelling and despicable, xvc must heat down this foul least and smite it unto deatKJ Who so craven and fiilso of heart as to believe we shall fail in the righteoua, noble work? Who can divest hiras If so far of the generous confidence that a brave man feels in the triumph of the right, as to entertain one thought of fail- ure ? The man deserves to be pilloried who allows the belief to possess him, that Sam, the bastard of a Five Points jail-bird, is going to triumph in Virgi- nia. He is no Democrat — no Virgini^m — no man, that can harbor the tliought. It cannot be, and will not be. Virginia Democracy will carry Virginia as sure as tho rising and setting of the sun. Angered, aroused, indignant and fe- rocious beyond all former precedent, our glorious, invincible Democracy long for the onset and thirst for the battle. As the bind pants for the water brooks, so they pant for the d.ty of vengeance. And woe, woe unto those w'lo have provoked their holy wrath. Woe unto the men who have brought deceit, cunning, duplicity, midnight and dark lantern plottings into Virginia. The day of retribution is at hand. The vengeance of the Lord is upon the heels of the false Egyptians, Phillistines, Moabites, Edomitcs, Ishmaelites. The Lord has brought sharp swords upon them, to make them food for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the field. See how the clouds roll and mutter and the fire flashes before them. The anger of the righteous cometh fast upon them with the noise and fury of the storm, which shall surely overtake them. 'Well is it for that man of Virginia, this day, wbo shall barter his bouse for an helmet, and sell his garment for a sword, and cast in his lot with the children of Democracy. But woe, woe, unto him who, for carnal ends and self seeking, has withheld himself from the great work, and joined his hand with the enemy — for the curse shall abide upon him — even the bitter curse of Meroz — forever and ever more, THE CONCLUSION OF THE CANVASS. MR. WISE'S LETTER. Mr. Wise concluded the campaign at Leesburg, the county seat of Loudon, in one of his masterly efforts. He bad been regularly in the field from the first of January to the seventh of May. In that time he bad traveled more than three thousand miles, had been upon the stump fifty times, and had con- sumed two hundred hours in public speaking. When he concluded, he was much .enfeebled and exhausted from the excessive labors he had undergone. In all probability, nothing saved his life but his indomitable and patriotic spirit. He went from Leesburg to Washington cit-y, and there awaited the decision of the people of Virginia. He wrote the following letter on his arrival in that city. In this letter can be-seen the true and fervid patriotism beaming and flashing in every sentence. To TUE People of Virginia. Fellow Citizens : — I have now finished the canvass of the State. On the 7th inst., at Leesburg, I met my last appointment. Incessant and excessive labors, for 127 days, have so impaired my health and strength, that I must desist from 28 354 further effort and seek rest. I retire from the "stump" the less reluctantly' because I may now justly claim that I have faithfully tried to do my part, and I can confidently learve the rest to the unsubdued and unterrified Democracj and its loyal hosts. Never were the sound, conservative, conscientious, and stake-holding Repub- licans in Virginia, better organized and more aroused than they are at the pre- sent time. It has been deserted by a few who left their party for its good ; but, in turn, the very flower of the old opposition of Whiggery, respectable in times past for its profession of conservatism and its love of law and order have chosen to elect Democracy with all the ills they complain of it, rather than to fly to those they " knoio not of." The jycrsonnel of the party was never more purified, and the numerical majo- rity was never larger than it promises to be at the coming election. As in 1801, the Democracy stood "like a wall," and rolled back the tide of federalism, so now it stands and will roll back the tide of fanaticism ! It will prove itself to be the visible invincible ! It is roused, and will rally to the polls 10,000 voters more than ever gave the viva voce before ! And the viva voce will rend the veil from the " invisible," and defend the freedom and independence of the elective franchise and the Constitution and the laws, against the conspiracy of the dark lantern. It will forbid any power in Virginia to interpose between our conscience and our God. It will save the Protestant Churches from the pollution of party politics, and conserve its powers of truth for the pulling down of strongholds, free from the taint and violence of persecution. It will trust in Grod, and defend the Chris- tian faith, from Intolerance, and allow poor humanity to indulge in the virtues of charity and peace on earth, and good will to all men. It will only oppose any " legislative enactment" to interfere with the rights of the members of any Church as citizens ; but it will deny the power of the Legislature to annul the new Constitution, which has made the act of religious freedom irrepealable. That act is now organic law. And the Democratic con- servatism will allow no parly nor power to set up a higher law, and say that a man shall be burthened, when the Constitution says he shall nut be burtbened, for reason of his religious opinion, by being excluded from eligibility to office, or by removal from office because of his religion or the place of his birth. It will prevent the repudiation of the right of Naturalization, for which the nation poured out its blood and treasure, for three years in the second war of Independence with Great Britain. It will defend the State right to regulate citizenship. It will not deny to the' oppressed a home, nor prevent the population "of these States" still requiring hundreds of millions of immigrants, who bring with them hundreds of millions of money. It will allow the poor, as well as the rich, to come and " drink of the waters" of liberty freely. And it will remember that all are not criminals whom Euro- pean despots call such, and send away from troubling their dominion. It vrill take by the hands other criminals besides John Mitchell, and feel for others in the prison-houses and dungeons of the Old World besides him who once was tenant of Olmutz ! It will jealously guard against the Foreign influence which is insidiously sent from Exeter Hall in Old Eogland to Williams' Hall in New England, to invade America in the name of an " American" party ; and it will watch the oppressor, not the oppressed, abroad, as did " Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Jack- son 1" It will defend the freedom and independence of the elective franchise against the conspiracy which would bind voters by test oaths to reject men of a parti- cular religious faith, marked for proscription ; and which would not leave suf- 355 frage as free to elect as to reject those whom the constitution and the hiws have made eligible to office. It will especially guard the office of Governor from the avowed intent to wield the appointing power so as not to obey the limitations of qualification for office, fixed by the constitution, but to obey rules of appointment establislicd by an irresponsible and unauthorized Secret Oligarchy, formed to set up the llitjher Law of its own proscription for its own exclusive and selfish ends. It will see that the oath itself of the Governor's office is not prevented by sectarian bigotry to set up a religious test as a qualification for office. It will defend the General Government from the consolidation which would establish itself on what is called the independence of Congress. It will defend public policy from the faith of the American system, Harbors, Rivers, and Pacific Ilailroads, and Protective Tariff's, and Internal Improve- ments by the General Government, now again advanced by a Winchester Coun- cil of the American party. It will defend the State against agrarianism, freesoilism and abolitionism, now threatening to invade the South from Northern and non-slaveholding Councils of Know Nothiogism. It will defend society against the demoralization of a cabal sworn to practice dissimulation and perfidy between man and mac. And it will defend religion against the demons of anti-Christ I With perfect and abiding confidence in the power of Truth and Democracy — of a purified, exalted and triumphant majority for these impregnable positions, I go home to Accomac, and await the polls of the people. I cannot do so with- out thanking thousands, of the sections of the State through which I have passed, for their uniform hospitality, kindness and respect, and without saying that the chief gratification with which I part from a daily intercourse with the masses of the people is that I have endeavored to sow the seeds of truth only in the popular mind, and I trust that they will be fruitful of blessings to indi- viduals, to the State and to the country. I am, very truly and respectfully, Your fellow-citizen, HENRY A. WISE. Washington City, May 10th, 1855. OFFICIAL VOTE OF VIRGINIA. Below we give the official vote of' the election in Virginia on the 24th of May 1855, for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. The returns we derive from the office of the Secretary of State ; therefore, they may be relied on as nearly correct. The vote of the State for Governor, is 8o,424 for jMr. Wise; 7o,244 for Mr. Flournoy — total, 156,068 — majority for Mr. Wise 10,180. This result vindicates the correctness of our estimate, calculated from the unofficial returns. Our table always exhibited Mr. Wise's majority a little over 10,000, while estimates from other sources made the majority fall conside- rably below that amount. The average Democratic majority in the State, exhi- bited by this election, is 11,225 — Mr. Bocock having received the highest, and Mr. Pattou the lowest vote : — Enquirer. 356 Accomac, Albemarle, Alexandria^ Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, AppomattoXj Augusta, Varbour, Bath, Bedford, Berkeley, Boone, Botetourt, Braxton, Brooke, Brunswick, Buckingham, Cabell, Campbell, Caroline, Carroll, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Clarke, Craig, Cnlpeper, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Doddridge, Elizabeth City, Essex, Fairfax, Fauquier, Fayette, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Frederick, Giles, Gilmer, Gloucester, Goochland, Grayson, Greenbriefj Greene, Greeoesvilie, Governor. Lt. Governor. Att. General. W ^ tel «H ^ «H > TO '^ g y g k 3 o ^ w w o hj P a S3 5 o o o B o o a ft O 816 932 748 926 737 924 1009 1220 1096 1197 1095 1202 399 820 395 818 397 818 337 206 338 205 340 203 309 234 321 203 331 214 688 680 692 666 698 678 513 247 528 231 559 216 133G 2426 1361 2404 1360 2409 753 331 746 328 747 329 ooo 276 220 274 220 273 1067 1328 1105 1310 1107 1308 923 905 920 905 923 904 21S0 138 298 113 229 119 960 537 968 530 971 527 119 571 107 581 107 579 333 432 332 429 328 440 556 224 556 206 554 214 496 551 505 536 526 521 501 383 578 296 471 360 979 1535 1000 1517 1018 1510 643 615 664 608 664 612 657 311 639 299 646 304 124 175 116 149 116 158 443 398 429 384 444 381 975 503 1003 506 999 507 361 320 359 309 358 313 304 120 305 116 304 113 443 528 438 514 425 543 277 306 281 295 286 296 421 234 415 225 429 227 349 226 345 219 352 218 187 175 181 172 181 172 266 316 ^72 305 275 308 512 631 500 612 500 608 920 1040 922 1032 920 1035 .271 301 245 299 235 297 566 447 569 437 565 436 443 458 472 436 465 452 1253 906 1265 893 1268 890 1335 1203 1343 1196 1344 1199 418 405 426 391 417 393 411 242 407 248 407 256 381 317 301 224 401 316 385 262 409 250 409 253 553 ^ 266 547 262 547 262 533 870 511 873 522 864 532 42 528 41 528 43 206 73 210 67 213 70 357 Halifax, 1163 587 1183 550 1191 550 Hampshire, 1118 845 1126 835 1121 841 Hanover, 706 553 718 548 722 541 Hancock, 221 291 220 290 218 282 Hardy, 65 1 708 649 693 648 692 Harrison, 1017 921 1014 916 1011 917 Henrico, 765 983 781 963 780 974 Henry, 507 430 519 399 527 403 Highland. 444 342 447 343 445 344 Isle of Wight, 669 173 670 165 675 162 Jackson, 592 637 595 634 593 635 James City, 44 126 39 130 39 129 Jefferson, 862 934 865 923 859 924 Kanawha, 571 1537 579 1517 , 570 1529 King George, 189 191 197 189 197 190 King William, 33;{ 111 344 104 336 110 King &, Q,ueen, 397 307 318 308 399 301 Lancaster, 143 175 149 154 152 168 Lee, 1113 377 1073 375 1073 374 Lewis, 572 426 578 422 572 424 Logan, 366 76 389 68 352 76 Loudoun, 690 2015 672 1997 671 1994 Louisa, 613 461 630 446 • 632 455 Lunenburg, 465 201 475 195 483 191 Madison, 672 109 657 104 647 117 Marion, 1135 459 1134 438 1132 440 Marshall, 608 984 612 981 613 982 Mason, 348 737 343 723 *732 *336 Matthews, 273 221 267 215 265 216 Mecklenburg, 874 480 763 463 765 462 Mercer, 417 350 390 343 375 344 Middlesex^ 231 180 234 175 234 176 Morwongalia, 1325 662 1^25 657 1322 658 Monroe, 577 891 577 884 576 877 Montgomery, 660 592 657 580 655 580 Morgan, 266 415 266 411 267 411 Nansemond, 340 556 333 550 331 551 Nelson, 436 740 446 729 447 728 New Kent, 175 201 175 195 175 196 Nicholas, 114 460 114 458 116 456 Norfolk County, 1068 1263 1075 1254 1081 1258 Northampton, 235 288 222 281 222 282 Northumberland, 296 316 304 309 303 312 Nottoway, 228 • 187 229 152 230 160 Ohio, 1110 1741 1133 1702 1105 1733 Orange, 395 349 394 239 393 346 Page, 1033 72 1022 69 1022 69 Patrick, 722 496 723 468. 731 467 Pendleton, 558 408 560 402 560 404 Pittsylvania, 1335 1352 1364 1313 1385 1312 Pleasants, 228 206 226 207 227 205 Pocahontas, 457 107 448 105 449 109 Powhatan, 287 152 293 144 292 149 Preston, 798 737 803 730 805 729 Princess Anne, 307 325 313 319 312 821 358 Gov] ERNOR. Lt. Governor. Att. Gkneral. P H /■"■ ~~~^ P «H f^ |> CQ '^ h y h ^ 3 k w a ha 5 a o O o B g t a o o o B Prince Edward, 427 355 428 337 435 334 Prince George, 369 131 378 128 391 128 Prince William, G59 249 665 246 664 244 Pulaski, 305 272 306 269 306 269 Putnam, 393 387 390 380 392 384 Raleigh, 80 259 78 258 75 258 Randolph, 433 308 430 289 413 296 Rappahannock, 490 485 493 477 491 481 Richmond, 104 364 166 364 167 364 Ritchie, 488 353 492 349 485 348 Roanoke, 600' 307 605 304 605 301 Rockbridcre, 1147 1206 1161 1184 1163 1190 Rockingham, 2700 610 2681 584 2681 609 Russell, 989 580 983 575 9S2 574 Scott, 797 509 792 503 794 494 Shenandoah, 2031 185 2032 171 2032 176 Smyth, 654 571 649 564 648 566 Southampton, 56S 486 580 488 582 487 Spotsylvania, 619 604 630 598 626 503 Stafford, 474 359 470 359 470 359 Surry, 230 141 220 136 230 137 Sussex, 381 100 376 96 379 98 Taylor, 487 465 484 461 485 460 Tazewell, 1J02 189 1049 176 1053 172 Tyler, 430 360 434 355 437 . 348 Upshur, 496 286 498 281 495 2«4 Warren, 500 271 438 265 499 265 Warwick, 21 57 19 53 19 53 Washington, 1284 948 1281 949 1281 947 W\iyne, 347 319 410 238 252 221 Westmoreland, 83 395 88 395 91 393 Wetzel, 549 80 532 79 532 79 Wirt, 259 217 263 213 261 210 Wood, 747 839 642 885 635 902 Wyoming, 82 116 83 112 80 113 Wythe, 829 724 838 704 830 710 York, 109 169 93 " 157 94 158 Norfolk City, 552 922 517 901 478 887 Petersburg, 783 747 790 733 787 743 Richmond City, 1166 2144 1180 2117 1189 2126 W^illiamsburg, 51 66 47 65 48 66 83,424 73,244 83,063 71,689 83,731 71,613 359 RECAPITULATION. Wise, - - - - - 83.424 Flournoy, . , - - - 73,244 Majority, - - - - 10,180 McComas, ----- 83,068 Beale, - - - - " 71,689 Majority, - - - - 11,379 Bocock, . - - - - 83,731 Patton, - - - - - 71,613 Majority, _ - - - 12,118 It is proper to add here, however, that the count of this vote which was sub- sequently made by the Legislature, under the requirement of the constitution, did not result precisely as exhibited by the foregoing table. The Legislative computation exhibited the following results : STATE SENATORS ELECTED IN 1855. From Rocljingham and Pendleton — Geo. E. Deneale, D. From Sussex, Southampton and Greensville — W. W. Cobb, D. From Dinwiddie, Amelia and Brunswick — Wm. F. Thompson, D. From Lunenburg, Nottoway, and Prince Edward — Thos. H. Campbell, D. From Pittsylvania — W. H. Wooding, D. From Henry, Patrick, and Franklin — Archibald Stuart, D. From Hanover and Henrico — Chastain White, D. From Gloucester, Matthews, and Middlesex — John W. Catlett, D. From King and Queen, King William, and Essex — Beverly B. Douglass, D. From Stafford, King George, and Prince William — J. M. Taliaferro, D. From Madison, Culpeper, Orange, and Greene — Thomas N. Welch, D. From Louisa, Goochland, and Fluvanna — Wm. M. Ambler, D. From Jefferson and Berkeley — Francis Yates, D. From Frederick, Clarke, and Warren — Oliver R. Funsten, D. From Bath, Highland, and Rockbridge — James PL Paxton, D. From Carroll, Floyd, Grayson, Montgomery, and Pulaski — Harvey Des- kins, D. From Smythe, Wythe, and Washington — Thomas M. Tate, D. From Mason, Jackson, Cabell, Wayne, and Wirt — Fleet W. Smith, K. N. From Wetzel, Marshall, Marion, and Tyler — James G. West, D. From Monongalia, Preston, and Taylor — J. B. Huddleson, D. From Accomac and Northampton — 0. B. Finney, K. N. From Norfolk and Princess Anne — P. H. Daughtrey, K. N. From Campbell and Appomattox — Thomas H. Flood, K. N. From Loudoun — Noble S. Braden, K. N. From Boone, Logan, Kanawha, Putnam, and Wyoming — Andrew S. Parks, K.N. 360 SENATORS ELECTED IN 1853. From Norfolk City— W. N. McKenney, K. N. From Isle of Wight, Nansemond and Surry — W. J. Arthur, D. From Petersburg and Prince George — J. A. Joues, D. From Powhatan, Cumberland and Chesterfield — Wm. Old, Jr. D. From Mecklenburg and Charlotte — L. W. Tazewell, K. N. From Halifax — 11. Logan, D. From Bedford — J. F. Johnson, K. N. From Williamsburg, James City, Charles City, New Kent, York, Elizabeth City and Warwick — Robert Saunders, K. N. From Richmond City— 0. P. Baldwin, K. N. From Richmond, Lancaster, Northumberland and Westmoreland — Elliott M. Braxton, D. From Caroline and Spottsylvania — Wm. A Moncure, D. From Fairfax and Alexandria — Henry W. Thomas, K. N. From Fauquier and Rappahannock — J. K. Marshall, K. N. From Albemarle — B. F. Randolph, D. From Amherst, Nelson and l^uckingham — R. K. Irving, K. N. From Hampshire, Hardy and Morgan — J. C. B. Mullen, K. N. From Shenandoah and Page — T. Buswell, J). From Augusta — C. R. Harris, D. From Botetourt, Alleghany, Roanoke and Craig — Douglas B. Layne, D. From Mercer, Monroe, Giles and Tazewell — Manlius Chapman, D. From Scott, Lee and Russell— J. F. McElhany, K. N. From Nicholas, Fayette, Pocahontas, Raleigh, Braxton and Greenbrier — T. Creigh, K. N. From Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Pleasants and Wood — U. M. Turner, K.N. From Upsher, Barbour, Lewis, Gilmer and Randolph — Albert G. Roger, D. From Brooke, Hancock and Ohio — L. Steenrod, D. MEMBERS OP THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES OF VIRGINIA ELECTED MAY, 1855. Accomac — Arthur Watson, K. N. Albemarle — Thomas Wood, K. N., and Wm. T. Early, K. N. Alexandria — Lawrence B. Taylor, K. N. Alleghany and Bath — Samuel Carpenter, D. Amelia and Nottoway — AV. F. C. Gregory, D. Amherst — Dudley Davies, K. N. Appomattox — C. H. Jones, D. Augusta — Adam McChesney, K. N.; A. Bolivar Christian, K. N.; John D. Imboden, K. N. Barbour — Joseph Daniels, D. Bedford— W. M. Burwell, K. N.; Samuel P. R. Moorman, K. N. Berkeley — J. B. Hoge, D.; R. D. Seaman, D. *• Botetourt and Craig— F. H. Mays, D.; Robert M. Wiley, D. Braxton and Nicholas — Marshall Triplett, K. N. Brooke and Hancock — 0. W. Langfitt, K. N. Brunswick — Edward Dromgoole, D. Buckingham — Thos. M. Boudurant, K. N. Cabell— H. J. Samuels, D. Campbell— F. B. Deane, K. N.; M. B. NowHn, K. N. Caroline — Daniel C. Dejarnette, D. Carroll — John Carroll, D. Charles City, James City and New Kent — Wm. Bush, K. N. 361 Charlotte— Jos. H. Roberts, D. Cbestcrfield — Jeremiah Ilobbs, D. Cliuko — Buckner Ashby, D. Culpeper — Perry J. Kggboru, K. N. Ouiiborland and Powhatan — W. P. Dabney, D. Dinwiddie — John J. Crawford, D. Doddridge and Tyler — Ab.«y George, D. Elizabeth City, Warwick, York and Williamsburg — Joseph Segar, K. N, E.• re- ceived the consideration, is now trying to cheat the north out of her part ot the benefits. I have proven that, after abolitionism had gained its point so far as the eighth section of the act prohibited slavery in the Territory, Missouri was denied admission by northern votes until she entered into a compact by which she was understood to surrender an important right now exercised by several States of the Union. Mr. President, I did not wish to refer to these things. I did not understand them fully in all their bearings at the time I made my first speech on this sub- ject; and, so far as I was familiar with them, I made as little reference to them as was consistent with my duty ; because it was a mortifying reflection to me, as a Northern man, that we had not been able, in consequence of the abolition excitement at the time, to avoid the appearance of bad faith in the observance of legislation, which has been denominated a compromise. There were a few men then, as there are now, who had the moral courage to perform their duty * 388 to the country and the Constitution, regardless of consequences personal to themselves. There were tea Northern men who dared to perform their duty by votinnf to admit Missouri into the Uniun on an equal footing with the original States, and with no other restriction than that imposed by the Constitution. I am aware that they were abused and denounced as we are now ; that they were branded as dough-faces, traitors to freedom, and to the section of the country whence they come. Mr. Geyer. They honored Mr. Lanraan, of Connecticut, by burning him in effigy. Mr. Douglas. Yes, sir; these Abolitionists honored Mr. Lanraan in Connec- ticut just as they are honoring me in Boston, and other places, by burning me in effigy. Mr. Cass. It will do you no harm. Mr. Douglas. Well, sir, I know it will not; but why this burning in effigy? It is the legitimate consequences of the address which was sent forth to the world by certain Senators whom I denominated, on a former occasion, as the Abolition confederates. The Senator from Ohio presented here the other day a resolution — he says unintentionally, and I take it so — declaring that every Senator who advocated this bill was a traitor to his country, to humanity, and to God; and even he seemed to be shocked at the results of his own advice when it was exposed. Yet he did not seem to know that it was, in substance, what he had advised in his address, over his own signature, when he called upon the people to assemble in public meetings and thunder forth their indignation at the criminal betrayal of precious rights; when he appealed to ministers of the gospel to desecrate their holy calling, and attempted to inflame passions, and fanaticism, and prejudice against Senators who would not consider them- selves very highly complimented by being called his equals? And yet, when the natural consequences of his own action and advice come back upon him, and he presents them here, and is called to an account for the indecency of the act, he professes his profound regret and surprise that anything should have occur- red which could possibly be deemed unkind or disrespectful to any member of this body ! Mr. Sumner. I rise merely to correct the Senator in a statement in regard to myself, to the effect that I had said that Missouri came into the Union under the act of 1820, instead of the act of 1821. I forebore to designate any parti- cular act under which Missouri came into the Union, but simply asserted, as the result of the long controversy with regard to her admission, and as the end of the whole transaction, that she was received as a slave State; and that on being so received, whether sooner or later, whether under the act of 1820 or 1821, the obligations of the compact were fixed — irrevocably fixed — so far as the South is concerned. Mr. Douglas. The Senator's explanation does not help him at all. He says he did not state under what act Missouri came in ; but he did say, as I under- stood him, that the act of 1820 was a compact, and that, according to that com- pact, Missouri was to come in with slavery, provided slavery should be prohi- bited in certain territories, and did come in in pursuance of the compact. He now uses the word " compact." To what compact does he allude ? Is it not to the act of 1820? If he did not, what becomes of his conclusion that the 8th section of that act is irrepealuble ? He will not venture to deny that his refer- ence was to the act of 1820. Did he refer to the joint resolution of 1821, un- der which Missouri was admitted? If so, we do not propose to repeal it. We admit that it was a compact, and that its obligations are irrevocably fixed. ]3ut that joint resolution does not prohibit slavery in the territories. The Nebraska bill does not propose to repeal it, or impair its obligations in any way. Then, sir, why not take back your correction, and admit that you did mean the act of 1820, when you spoke of irrevocable obligations and compacts ? Assuming, 389 then, that the Senator meant what he is now unwilling either to admit or deny, even while professing to correct me, that Missouri came in under the act of 1820, I aver that I have proven that she did not come into the Union under that act. I have proven that she was refused admission under that alleged compact. I have, therefore, proven incontestibly that the material statement upon which his argument rests is wholly without foundation, and unequivocally contradicted by the record. Sir, I believe I may say the same of every speech which has been made against the bill, upon the ground that it impaired the obligation of compacts. There has not been an argument against the measure, every word of which in regard to the faith of compacts is not contradicted by the public records. What I complain of is this : The people may think that a Senator, having the laws and journals before him, to which he could refer, would not make a statement in contravention of those records. They make the people believe these things, and cause them to do great injustice to others, under the delusion that they have been wronged, and their feelings outraged. Sir, this address did for a time mislead the whole country. It made the Legislature of New York be- lieve that the act of 1820 was a compact which it would be disgraceful to vio- late ; and, acting under that delusion, they framed a series of resolutions, which, if true and just, convict that State of an act of perfidy and treachery unparal- led in the history of free governments. You see, therefore, the consequences of these misstatements. You degrade your own State, and induce the people, under the impression that they have been injured, to get up a violent crusade against those whose fidelity and truthfulness will in the end command^ their re- spect and admiration. In consequence of arousing passions and prejudices, I am now to be found in effigy, hanging by the neck, in all the towns where you have the influence to produce such a result. In all these excesses, the people are yielding to an honest impulse, under the impression that a grievous wrong has been perpetrated. You have had your day of triumph. You have suc- ceeded in directing upon the heads of others a torrent of insult and calumny from which even you shrink with horror, when the fact is exposed that you have become the conduits for conveying it into this hall. In your State, sir, (addressing himself to Mr. Chase,) I find that I am burnt in effigy in your abo- lition towns. All this is done because I have proposed, as it is said, to violate a compact ! Now, what will those people think of you when they find out that you have stimulated them to these acts, which are disgraceful to your State, dis- graceful to your party, and disgraceful to your cause, under a misrepresentation of the facts, which misrepresentation you ought to have been aware of, and should never have been made ? Mr. Chase. Will the Senator from Illinois permit me to say a few words? Mr. Douglas. Certainly. Mr. Chase. Mr. President, I certainly regret that anything has occurred in my State which should be otherwise than in accordance with the disposition which I trust I have ever manifested to treat the Senator from Illinois with en- tire courtesy. I do not wish, however, to be understood, here or elsewhere, as retracting any statement which I have made, or being unwilling to reassert that statement when it is directly impeached. I regard the admission of Missouri, and the facts of the transaction connected with it, as constituting a compact be- tween the two sections of the country ; a part of which was fulfilled in the ad- mission of Missouri, another part in the admission of Arkansas, and other parts of which have been fulfilled in the admission of Iowa, and the organization of Minnesota, but which yet remains to be fulfilled in respect to the Territory of Nebraska, and which, in my judgment, will be violated by the repeal of the Missouri prohibition. That is my judgment. I have no quarrel with Senators who difi"er with me; but upon the whole facts of the transaction, however, I have not changed my opinion at all, in consequence of what has been said by the 390 honorable Senator from Illinois. ' I say that the facts of the transaction, taken together, and as understood by the country for more than thirty years, consti- tute a compact binding in moral force; though, as I have always said, be- ing embodied in a legislative act, it may be repealed by Congress, if Congress sec fit. Mr. Douglas. Mr. President, I am sorry that the Senator from Ohio has re- peated the statement that Missouri came in under the compact which he says was made by the act of 1820. How many times have I to disprove the state- ment? Docs not the vote to which I have referred show that such was not the case? Does not the fact that there was a necessity for a new compromise show it? Have I not proved it three times over? and is it possible that the Senator from Ohio will repeat it in the face of the record, with the vote staring him in the face, and with the evidence which I have produced ? Does he suppose that he can make his own people believe that his statement ought to be credited in opposition to the solemn record ? I am amazed that the Senator should repeat the statement again unsustained by the fact, by the record, and by the evidence, and overwhelmed by the whole current and weight of the testimony which I have produced. The Senator says, also, that he never intended to do me injustice, and he is sorry that the people of bis State have acted in the manner to which I have re- ferred. Sir, did he not say, in the saiue document to which I have already al- luded, that I was engaged, with others, in " a criminal betrayal of precious rights," in an "atrocious plot?" Did he not say that I and others were guilty of meditated bad faith ?" Are not these his exact words ? Did he not say that "servile demagogues" might make the people believe certain things, or attempt to do so ? Did he not say everything calculated to produce and bring upon my head all the insults to which I have been subjected publicly and privately — not even excepting the insulting letters which I have received from his constituents, rejoicing at my domestic bereavements, and praying that other and similar cala- mities may befal me ? All these have resulted from that address. I expected such consequences when I first saw it. In it he called upon the preachers of the Gospel to prostitute the sacred desk in stimulating excesses; and then, for fear that the people would not know who it was that was to be insulted and calumniated, he told them, in a postcript, that Mr. Douglas was the author of all this iniquity, and that they ought not to allow their rights to be made the hazard of a presidential game ! After having used such language, he says he meant no disrespect — he meant nothing unkind ! He was amazed that I said in my opening speech that there was anything offensive in this address; and he could not suffer himself to use harsh epithets, or to impugn a gentleman's mo- tives ! No ! not he ! After having deliberately written all these insults, im- pugning motive and character, and calling upon our holy religion to sanctify the calumny, he could not think of losing his dignity by bandying epithets, or using harsh and disrespectful terms ! Mr. President, I expected all that has occurred, and more than has come, as the legitimate result of that address. The things to which I referred are the natural consequences of it. The only revenge I seek is to expose the authors, and leave them to bear, as best they may, the just indignation of an honest community, when the people discover how their sympathies and feelings 'have been outraged, by making them the instruments in performing such desperate acts. Sir, even in Boston I have been hung in effigy. I may say that I expected it to occur even there, for the Senator from Massachusetts lives there. He signed his name to that address; and for fear the Boston Abolitionists would not know that it was he, he signed it "Charles Sumner, Senator from Massa- chusetts." The first outrage was in Ohio, where the address was circulated un- der the signature of " Salmon P. Chase, Senator from Ohio." The next came 391 from Boston — the snnie Boston, sir, which, under the direction of the same leaders, closed Fanueil Hall to the immortal Webster in 1850, because of his support of the compromise measures of that year, which all now confess have restored peace and harmony to a distracted country. * Yes, sir, even Boston, so glorious in her early history — Boston, around whose name so many historical associations cling, to gratify the heart and exalt the pride of every American — could be led astray by Abolition misrepresentations so far as to deny a hearing to her own great man, who had shed so much glory upon Massachusetts and her metropolis 1 I know that Boston now feels humiliated and degraded by the act. And, sir, (addressing himself to Mr. Sumner,) you will remember tliat when you came into the Senate, and sought an opportunity to put forth your Aboli- tion incendiarism, you appealed to our sense of justice by the sentiment, " Strike, but hoar me first." But when IMr. AVebster went back in 1850 to speak to his constituents in his own self-defence, to tell the truth, and to expose his slander- ers, you would not hear him, but you strvck Jirs( ! Again, sir, even Boston, with her Fanueil Hall consecrated to liberty, was so far led astray by abolitionism, that when one of her gallant sons, gallant by his own glorious deeds, inheriting a heroic revolutionary name, had given his life to his country upon the bloody field of Buena Vista, and when his remains were brought home, even that Boston, under abolition guidance and abolition preaching, denied him a decent burial, because he lost, his life in vindicating his country's honor upon the southern frontier ! Even the name of Lincoln, and tl^e deeds of Lincoln, could not secure for him a decent interment, because abolitionism follows a patriot beyond the grave. [Applause in the galleries.] The presiding ofiicer, Mr. Mason, in the chair. Order must be preserved. Mr. Douglas. Mr. President, with these facts before me, how could I hope to escape the fate which had followed these great and good men ? While I had no right to hope that I might be honored as they had been under abolition aus- pices, have I not a right to be proud of the distinction and the association ? Mr. President, I regret these digressions. I have not been able to follow the line of argument which I had marked out for myself, because of the many interruptions. I do not complain of them. It is fair that gentlemen should make them, inasmuch as they have not the opportunity of replying; hence I have yielded the floor, and propose to do so cheerfully whenever any senator intimates that justice to him or his position requires him to say anything in reply. Returning to the point from which I was diverted. I think I have shown that, if the act of 1826, called the Missouri compro- mise, was a compact, it was violated and repudiated by a solemn vote of the House of Bepresentatives in 1821, within eleven months after it was adopted. It was repudiated by the north by a majority vote, and that repudiation was so complete and successful as to compel Missouri to make a new compromise, and she was brought into the Union under the new compromise of 1821, and not un- der the act of 1820. This reminds me of another point made in nearly all the speeches against this bill, and, if I recollect right, was alluded to in the aboli- tion manifesto; to which, I regret to say, I haJ occasion to refer so often. I refer to the significant hint that Mr. Clay was dead before any one dared to bring forward a proposition to undo the greatest work of his hands. The sena- tor from New York [Mr. Seward] has seized upon this insinuation, and elabo- rated, perhaps, more fully than his compeers ; and now the abolition press sud- denly, and as if by miraculous conversion, teems with eulogies upon Mr. Clay and his Missouri compromise of 1820. Now, Mr. President, does not each of these senators know that Mr. Clay was not the author of the act of 1820 ? Do they not know that he disclaimed it in 1850 in this body ? Do they not know that the Missouri restriction did not originate in the House of which he was a member ? Do they not know that Mr. Clay never came into the Missouri controversy as a qompromiser until after 392 the compromise of 1820 was repudiated, and it became necessary to mate another ? I dislike to be compelled to repeat what I have conclusively proven, that the compromise which Mr. Clay effected was the act of 1821, under which Missouri came into the Union, and not the act of 1820. Mr. Clay made that compromise after you had repudiated the first one. How, then,' dare you call upon the spirit of that great and gallant statesman to sanction your charge of bad faith against the south on this question ? Mr. Seward. Will the senator allow me a moment? Mr. Douglas. Certainly. Mr. Seward. In the year 1851 or 1852, I think 1851, a medal was struck in honor of Henry Clay, of gold, which cost a large sum of money, which con- tained eleven acts of the life of Henry Clay. It was presented to him by a committee of citizens of New York, by whom it had been made. One of the eleven acts of his life which was celebrated on that medal, which he accepted, was the Missouri compromise of 1820. This is my answer. Mr. Douglas. Are the words " of 1820" upon it? Mr. Seward. It commemorates the Missouri compromise. Mr. Douglas. Exactly. I have seen that medal ; and my recollection is that it does not contain the words <' of 1820." One of the great acts of Mr. Clay was the Missouri compromise, but what Missouri compromise? Of course the one which Henry Clay made, the one which he negotiated, the one which brought Missouri into the Union, and which settled the controversy. That was the act of 1821, and not the act of 1820. It tends to confirm the statement which I have made. History is misread and misquoted, and these statements have been circulated and disseminated broadcast through the coun- try, concealing the truth. Does not the senator know that Henry Clay, when occupying that seat in 1850, [pointing to Mr. Clay's chair,] in his speech of the 6th of February of that year, said that nothing had struck him with so much surprise as the fact that historical circumstances soon passed out of recollection ; and he instanced, as a case in point, the error of attributing to him the act of 1820. [Mr. Seward nodded assent.] The senator from New York says that he does remember that Mr. Clay did say so. If so, how is it, then, that he presumes now to rise and quote that medal as evidence that Henry Clay was the author of the act of 1820 ? Mr. Seward. I answer the senator in this way : that Henry Clay, while he said he did not disavow or disapprove of that compromise, transferred the n)erit of it to others who were more active in procuring it than he, while he had en- joyed the praise and the glory which were due from it. Mr. Douglas. To that I have only to say that it cannot be the reason ; for Henry Clay, in that same speech, did take to himself the merit of the compro- mise of 1821, and hence it could not have been modesty which made him disa- vow the other. He said that he did not know whether he had voted for the act of 1820 or not; but he supposed that he had done so. He furthermore said that it did not originate in the House of which he was a member, and that he never did approve of its principles; but that he may have voted, and probably did vote for it, under the pressure of the circumstances. Now, Mr. President, as I have been doing justice to Mr. Clay on this ques- tion, perhaps I may as well do justice to another great man, who was associated with him in carrying through the great measures of 1850, which mortified the Senator from New York so much, because they defeated his purpose of carrying on the agitation. I allude to Mr. Webster. The authority of his great name has been quoted for the purpose of proving that he regarded the Missouri act as a compact — an irrepealable compact. Evidently the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Everett) supposed he was doing Mr. Webster entire justice when he quoted the passage which he read from Mr. Webster's speech of the 7th of March 1850, when he said that he stood upon the position that every 393 part of the American continent was fixed for freedom or for slavery by irrcpcal- able law. , , , , , , ,, i^r -i-iT u ^ The Senator says that, by the expression " irrepealable law, iMr. Webster meant t. include the comprouiise of 1820. Now, I will show that that was not Mr. Webster's moaning— that he was never guilty of the mistake of saying that the Missouri act of ISiO was an irrepealahle law. Mr. Webster said m that speech, that every foot of territory in the United States was fixed as to its character for freedom or slavery by an irrepealahle law. He then enquired if it was not so in regard to Texas ? He went on to prove that it was ; because, he said, there was a compact in express terms between Texas and the United States. ' He said the parties were capable of contracting, and that there was a valuable consideration ; and hence, he contended, that in that case there was a contract binding in honor, and morals, and law : and that it was irrepealahle without a breach of faith. He went on to siy : « Now, as to California and New Mexico, I hold slavery to be excluded from those Territories by a law even superior to that which admits and sanctions it in Texas— I mean the law of nature, of physical geography, the law of the for- mation of the earth." That was the irrepealahle law which he said prohibited slavery in the Terri- tories of Utah and New Mexico. He next went on to speak of theprohlbition of slavery in Oregon, and he said it was an "entirely useless, and, iu that con- nexion, senseless proviso." He went further, and said : " That the whole territory of the States in the United States, or in the newly- acquired territory of the United States, has a fixed and settled character, now fixed and settled by law, which cannot be repealed in the case of Texas without a violation of public faith and cannot be repealed by any human power in re- gard to California or New Mexico; that, imder one or other of these la>V!i, every foot of territory in the States, or in the Territories, has now- received a fixed and decided character." ^Yhat irrepealahle laws? "One or the other" of those which he hod stated. One was the Texas compact, the other the law of nature and physical geogra- phy ; a!:d he contended that one or the other fixed the character of the whole American continent for freedom or for slavery. He never alluded to the Mis- souri compromise, unless it was by the allusion to the Wilmot proviso in the Or'cgou bill, and there he said it was a useless, and, in that connexion, senseless thing. Why was it a useless and a senseless thing? Because it was re-enact- ing the law of God ; because slavery had already been prohibited by physical geography. Sir, that was the meaning of Mr. Webster's speech. My distin- guished friend from Massachusetts, (Mr. Everett,) when he reads the speech again, will be utterly amazed to see how he fell into such an egregious error as to suppose that Mr. Webster had so far fallen from his high position as to say that the Missouri act of 1820 was an irrepealahle law. Mr. Everett. Will the gentleman give way for a moment? Mr. Douglas. With great pleasure. Mr. Everett. What I said on that subject was, that Mr. Webster, in my opinion, considered the Missouri compromise as of the nature of a compact. It is true, as the Senator from Hlinois has just stated, that Mr. Webster made no allusion, in express terms, to the subject of the Missouri restriction. But I thought then, and I think now, that he referred in general terms to that as a final settlement of the question, in the region to which it applied. It was not drawn in question then on either side of the House. Nobody suggested that it was at stake. Nobody intimated that there was a question before the Senate 394 • . whether that restriction should be repealed or should remain in force. It was not distinctly, and in terms, alluded to, as the gentleman correctly says, by Mr. Webster, or anybody else. What he said in reference to Texas, applied to Texas alone. What he said in reference to Utah and New Mexico, applied to them alone; and what he said with regard to Oregon, to that Territory alone. But he stated in general terms, and four or five times, in the speech of the 7th of March 1850, that there was not a foot of land in the United States or its Territories the character of which, for freedom or slavery, was not fixed by some irrepealable Yaw; and I did think then, and I think now, that by the " irrepealable law," as far as concerned the^territory north of 3G° 30', and in- cluded in the Louisiana purchase, Mr. Webster had reference to the Missouri restriction, as regarded as of the nature of a compact. That restriction was copied from one of the provisions of the ordinance of 17S7, which are declared in that instrument itself to be articles of compact. The Missouri restriction is the article of the ordinance of 1787 applied to the Louisiana purchase. That this is the correct interpretation of Mr. Webster's language, is confirmed by the fact that he said, more than once, and over again, that all the North lost by the arrangement of 1850, was the non-imposition of the Wilmot proviso upon Utah and New Mexico. If, in addition to that, the North had lost the Missouri re- striction over the whole of the Louisiana purchase, could he have used language of that kind, and would he not have attempted, in some way or other, to recon- cile such a momentous fact with his repeated statements that the measures of 1850 applied only to the territories newly acquired from Mexico ? Mr. Douglas. Mr. President, I will explain that matter very quickly. Mr. Webster's speech was made on the 7th of March 1850, and the territorial bills and the Texas boundary bill were first reported to the Senate by myself on the 25th of the same month. Mr. Webster's speech was made upon Mr. Clay's re- solution, when there was no bill pending. Then the omnibus bill was formed about the Istof May subsequently; and hence this explains the reason why Mr. Webster did not refer to the principle involved in these acts, and to the necessary effect of carrying out the principle. * Mr. Everett. The expression of Mr. Webster, which I quoted in my remarks on the 8th of February, was from a speech on Mr. Soule's amendment, offered, 1 think, in June. In addition to this, I have before me an extract from a still later .«peech of Mr. Webster, made quite late in the session, on the 17th of July 1850, in which he reiterated that statement. In it he said : " And now, sir, what do Massachusetts and the north, the anti-slavery States, lose by this adjustment. What is it they lose? I put that question to every gentleirian here, and to every gentleman in the country. They lose the appli- cation of what is called the ' Wilmot proviso' to these territories, and that is all. There is nothing else, I suppose, that the whole North are not ready to do. They wish to get California into the Union ; they wish to quiet New Mexico ; they desire to terminate the dispute about the Texan boundary in any reasona- ble manner, cost what it reasonably may. They make no sacrifice in all that. What they do sacrifice is exactly this : The application of the Wilmot proviso to the Territory of New Mexico and the Territory of Utah, aiid that is all." Could Mr. Webster have used language like this if he had understood that, at the same time, the non-slaveholding States were losing the Missouri restric- tion, as applied to the whole vast territory included in the bills now before the Senate ? ^ Mr. Douglas. Of course that was all, and if he regarded the Missouri pro- hibition in the same light that he did the Oregon prohibition, it was a useless, and, in that connexion, a senseless proviso; and hence the north lost nothing by not having that same senseless, useless proviso applied to Utah and New Mexico. Now, to show the senator that he must be mistaken as to Mr. Web- 395 ster's authority, let me call hia attention back to this passage in his 7th of March speech : " Under one or other of these laws, every foot of territory in the States or Territories has now received a fixed and decided character." "What laws did he refer to when he spoke of " one or other of these laws ?" He had named but two, the Texas compact and the law of nature, of climate, and physical geography, which excluded slavery. He had mentioned none other; and yet he says ''one or other" prohibited slavery in all the States or Territories — thus including Nebraska, as well as Utah and New Mexico. Mr. Everett. That was not drawn in question at all. Mr. Douglas. Then if it was not drawn in (juestion, the speech should not have been quoted in support of the Missouri compromise. It is just what I complain of, that, if it was not thus drawn in question, that use ought not to have been made of it. Now, Mr. President, it is well known that Mr. Webster supported the compromise measures of 1850, and the principle involved in them, of leaving the people to do as they pleased upon this subject. I think, there- fore, that I have shown that these gentlemen are not authorized to quote the name either of Mr. Webster or Mr. Clay in support of the position which they take, that this bill violates the faith of compacts. Sir, it was because Mr. Webster went for giving the people in the Territories the right to do as they pleased upon the subject of slavery, and because he was in favor of carrying out the Constitution in regard to fugitive slaves, that he was not allowed to speak in Fanueil Hall. Mr. Everett. That was not ray fault. Mr. Douglas. I know it was not; but I say it was because he took that po- sition ; it was because he did not go for a prohibitory policy ; it was because he advocated the same principles which I now advocate, because he went for the same provisions in the Utah bill which I now sustain in this bil', that Boston abolitionists turned their back upon him, just as they burnt me in eiSgy. Sir, if identity of principle, if identity of support as friends, if identity of enemies fix Mr. Webster's position, his authority is certainly with us, and not with the abolitionists. I have a right, therefore, to have the sympathies of his Boston friends with rae, as I sympathized with him when the same principle was in- volved. Mr. President, I am sorry that I have taken up so much time ; but I ihust notice one or two points more. So much has been said about the Missouri com- promise act, and about a faithful compliance with it by the north, that I must follow that matter a little further. The senator from Ohio [Mr. Wade] has referred, to-night, to the fact that I went for carrying out the Missouri compro- mise in the Texas resolutions of IS-iS, and in 1848, on several occasions ; and he actually proved that I never abandoned it until 1850. He need not have taken the pains to prove that fact; for he got all his information on the subject from my opening speech upon this bill. I told you then that I was willing, as a northern man, in 1845, when the Texas question arose, to carry the Missouri compromise line. through that State, and in 1848 I oifered it as an amendment to the Oregon bill. Although I did not like the principle involved in that act, yet I was willing, for the sake of harmony, to extend tq the Pacific, and abide by it in good faith, in order to avoid the slavery agitation. The Missouri com- promise was defeated then by the same class of politicians who are now com- bined in oppo.sition to the Nebraska bill. It was because we were unable to carry out that compromise, that a necessity existed for making a new one in 1850. And then we established this great principle of self-government which lies at the foundation of all our institutions. What does his charge amount to ? He charges it, as a matter of offence, that I struggled in 1845 and in 1848 to observe good faith ; and he and his associates defeated my purpose, and deprived 396 me of the ability to carry out what he now says is the plighted faith of the nation. ]Mr. Wade. I did not charge the senator with anything except with making a very excellent argument on my side of the question, and I wished he would make it again to-night. That was all. Mr. Douglas. What was the argument which I made ? A southern senator had complained that the Missouri compromise was a matter of injustice to the south. I told him he ought not to complain of that when his southern friends were here proposing to accept it; and if we could carry it out, he had no right to make such a complaint. I was anxious to carry it out. It would not have done for a northern man who was opposed to the measure, and unwilling to abide it, to take that position. It would not have become the senator from Ohio, who then denounced the very meusure which he now calls a sacred com- pact, to take that position. But, as one who had always been in favor of carry- ing it out, it was legitimate and proper that I should make that argument in reply. Sir, as I have said, the south were willing to agree to the Missouri compro- mise in 1848. When it was proposed by me to the Oregon bill, as an amend- ment, to extend that line to the Pacific, the south agreed to it. The senate adopted that proposition, and the House voted it down. In 1850, after the omnibus bill had broken down, and we proceeded to pass the compromise mea- sures separately, I proposed, when the Utah bill was under discussion, to make a slight variation of the boundary of that Territory, so as to include the Mor- mon settlements, and not with reference to any other question ; and it was sug- gested that we should take the line of 36° 30'. Tliat would have- accomplished the local objects of the amendment very well. But when I proposed it, what did these freesoilers say? What did the senator from New Hampshire, [Mr. Hale,] who was then their leader in this body, say ? Here are his words : *' Mr. Hale. I wish to say a word as a reason why I shall vote against the amendment. I shall vote against 36° 30', because 1 think there is an implica- tion in it. [Laughter.] I will vote for 37° or 36° either, just as it is conve- nient; but it is idle to shut our eyes tcr the fact that here is an attempt in this bill — I will not say it is the intention of the mover — to pledge this Senate and Congress to the imaginary line of 36° 30', because there are some historical recollections coiinected with it in regard to this controversy about slavery. I will content myself with saying that 1 never w'ill, by vote or speech, admit or submit to any thin;/ that may bind the action of our legislation here to make the parallel oj 36° 30' the boundary line between slave and free territory. And when I say that, I explain the reason why I go against the amendment." These remarks of Mr. Hale were not made on a proposition to extend the Missouri compromise line to the Pacific, but on a proposition to fix 36° 30' as the southern boundary line of Utah, for local reasons. Ho was against it be- cause there might be, as he said, an implication growing out of historical recol- lections in favor of the imaginary line between slavery and freedom. Does that look as if his object was to get an implication in favor of preserving sacred this line, in regard to which gentlemen now say there was a solemn compact ? That proposition may -illustrate what I wish to say in this connexion upon a point which has been made by the opponents of this bill as to the effect of an amendment inserted on the motion of the senator from Virginia, [Mr. Mason,] into the Texas boundary bill. The opponents of this measure rely upon that amendment to show that the Texas compact was preserved by the acts of 1850. I have already shown, in my former speech, that the object of the amendment was to guaranty to the State of Texas, with her circumscribed boundaries, the same number of States which she would have had under her larger boundaries, and with the same right to come in with or without slavery, as they please. 397 We have been told over and over again that there was no such thing inti- mated in debate as that the country cut off from Texas was to be relieved from the stipulation "of that compromise. This has been asserted boldly and uucon- ditioually, as if there could be no doubt about it. The senator from Georgia [Mr. Toombs] in his speech, showed that, in his address to iiis constituents of that State, he had proclaimed to the world that the object was to establish a principle which would allow the people to decide the question of slavery for themselves, north as well as south of ',10° 30'. The line of 36^ 30' was voted down as the boundary of Utah, so that there should not be even an implication in favor of an imaginary line to divide freedom and slavery. Subsequently, when the Texas boundary bill was under cousideration, on the next day after the amendment of the senator from Virginia had been adopted, the record says : " Mr. Sebastian moved to add to the second article the following : " 'On the condition that the territory hereby ceded may be, at the proper time, formed into a State, and admitted into the Union, with a constitution with or without the prohibition of slavery therein, as the people of the said Territory may at the time determine.'" Then the senator from Arkansas did propose that the territory cut off should be relieved from that restriction in express terms, and allowed to come in ac- cording to the principles of this bill. What was done? The debate continued : " Mr. Foote. Will my friend allow me to appeal to him to move this amend- ment when the territorial bill for New Mexico shall be up for consideration ? It will certainly be a part of that bill, and I shall then vote for it with pleasure. Now it will only embarrass our action." Let it be remarked, that no one denied the propriety of the provision. All seemed to acquiesce in the principle ; but it was thought better to insert it in the territorial bills, as we are now doing, instead of adding it to the Texas boundary bill. The debate proceeded : " Mr. Sebastian. My only object in offering the amendment is to secure the assertion of this principle beyond a doubt. The principlj was acquiesced in without difficulty in regard to the territorial government established for Utah, a part of this acquired territory, and, it is proper, in my opinion, that it should be incorporated in this bill. " Messrs. Cass, Foote, and others. Oh, withdraw it. '^ Mr. Sebastian. I think this is the proper place for it. It is uncertain whether it will be incorporated in the other bill referred to, and the bill itself may not pass." It will be seen that the debate goes upon the supposition that the eifoct was to release the country north of 36° 30' from the obligation of the prohibition; and the only question, was whether the declaration that it should be received into the Union " with or without slavery" should be inserted in the Texas bill, or the territorial bill. The debate was continued, and I will read one or two other passages : " Mr. Foote. I wish to state to the senator a fact of which, I think, he is not observant at this moment ; and that is, that the senator from Virginia has introduced an amendment, which is now a part of the bill, which recognises the Texas compact of annexation in every respect. " Mr. Sebastian. I was aware of the effect of the amendment of the sena- tor from Virginia. It is in regard to the number of States to be formed out of Texas, and is referred to only in general terms." 398 Thus it will be seen that the senator from Arkansas, then explained the ameadiuent of the senator from Virginia, which had been adopted, in precisely the same way in which 1 explained it in my opening speech. The senator from Arkansas continued : '* If this amendment be the same as that offered by the senator from Virgi- nia there can certainly be no harm in reaffirming it in this bill, to which I think it properly belongs." Thus it will be seen that nobody disputed that the restriction was to be re- moved ; and the only question was, as to the bill in which that declaration ■would be put. It seems, from the record, that I took part in the debate, and said : " Mr. Douglas. This boundary as now fixed, would leave New Mexico bounded on the east by the 103° of longitude up to .36° oO', and then east to the 100° J and it leaves a narrow neck of land between 36° 30' and the old boundary of Texas, that would not naturally and properly go to New Mexico when it should become a State. This amendment would compel us to include it iu New Mexico, or to form it into another State. When the principle shall come up in the bill for the organization of a territorial goverument for New Mexico, no doubt the same vote which inserted it in the omnibus bill, and the Utah bill will insert it there. " Several Senators. No doubt of it." Upon that debate the amendment of the senator from Arkansas was voted down, because it was avowed and distinctly understood that the amendment of the senator from Virginia, taken in connexion with the remainder of the bill, did release the country ceded by Texas, north of 36° 30' from the restriction ; and it was agreed that if we did not put it into the Texas boundary bill, it should go into the territorial bill. I stated, as a reason why it should not go into the Texas boundary bill, that if it did it would be a compact, and would compel us to put the whole ceded country into one State, when it might be more convenient and natural to make a different boundary. I pledged myself then that it should be put into the territorial bill ; and when we considered the territorial bill for New Mexico we put in the same clause, so far as the country ceded by Texas was embraced within that territory, and it passed in that shape. When it went into the House, they united the two bills together, and thus this clause passed in the same bill, as the senator from Arkansas desired. Now, sir, have I not shown conclusively that it was the understanding in that debate that the effect was to release the country north of 36° 30', which for- merly belonged to Texas, from the operation of that restriction, and to provide that it should come into the Union with or without slavery, as its people should see proper ? That being the case, I ask the senator from Ohio [Mr. Chase] if he ought not to have been cautious when he charged over and over again that there was not a word or a syllable uttered in debate to that effect? Should he not have been cautious when he said that it was a mere after-thought on my part ? Should he not have been cautious when he said that even I never dreamed of it tip to the 4th of January of this year? Whereas the record shows that I made a speech to that effect during the pendency of the bills of 1850. The same statement was repeated by nearly every senator who followed him in debate in opposition to this bill ; and it is now being circulated over the country, pub- lished in every abolition paper, and read on every stump by every abolition ora- tor, in order to get up a prejudice against me and the measure I have introduced. Those gentlemen should not have dared to utter the statement without knowing whether it was correct or not. These records are troublesome things sometimes. It is not proper for a man to charge another with a mere after-thought because 399 he did not know that he had advocated the same principles before. Bc'cause he did not know it he should not take it for granted that nobody else did. Let me tell the senators that it is a very unsafe rule for them to rely upon. They oufht to have had sufficient respect for a brother senator to have believed, when he came forward with an important proposition, that he had investigated it. They ou