Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1839-11-21
PORTRAIT OF A DEMAGOGuE.

Mr.. HuoH S. LwoARx, the distinguished Con-
s~ervative Of South Carolina, late member OF Con-
ere.s from the Charleston district, being in SYRIA
cu.e during the sitting Of the Conservative Conven.
ton, on his way to the Niagara Falls. was invited
to attend and address the meeting. The editor Of
the Albany Evening Journal was present, and re.
ports the following passage Of his speech from me-
mory. Il is a sketch from life. for which every
county in our State could furnish a man who would
pass for the original:
"Somc of these demagoguss set up for exclusive
friends Of the poor man; and what did they do TO
promote his ~welfare7 Did they teach him 10 trust
in Providence, to conciiaie the SYMPATHY and es-
TEEN Of his ~fellow.mep, or to put his own shoulder
TO the wheelt Did they dwell, for his encourage
ment, uponthe unspeakable blessings with which he
was surrounded in this country-cmphatical'y the
country Of the poor mani Did they point 70 the
glorious results with which il was covered all over
of industry, stimulated by poverty, and relying,
under heaven, only on an honest heart and a good
RICH, arm I Did they tell him that this mighty State,
of whose beauty and grandeur he (Mr. Lcgare)
had, until a few days past, bu. a very inadequate
conception, was one vast monument OF what pcver-
ty and labor, with good morals, could achieve In =
few generationsi Did they speak to him Of the
Astois and Girards, who. beginning IN q condition
as humble as his, had risen 10 be more than the
princes Of the earth1 No! No! Tho language
fhfy nel0 10 Qim WINS III 4 q utuSitHt
was the language which {" the ternpter, ore the de-
stroyer Of mankind" addressed to HIS victims-the
language of pride, envy, despite and despair
They DID, indeed, unlock the strong boxes OF tho
rich, but not with q view to awake in him the &C.
nervous and comforting emulation which their ex-
ample was 90 well fitted to inspire.
They DID speak TO him Of the Astors and Girsrds
but they did not tell him that these colossal for
tunes were the natural fruit and the appropriate re-
ward of long years Of patient. interchangeable indus
try, of saeacious enterprise. of sober self-denisl, OF
watching and Of anxious days. Of perseverance amid
Encouragement, of courage and consistency under
misfortune and dificulty-they did not tell him this,
and then Say " go and do thou likewise, TOR thou
canst." They taught him to sit down and fold his
arms in repinins, auerulous listlessness and indo-
lence-,o hate all business but politics, and to look
upon the commonwealth as his spoil-to revolt a.
eaiust his destiny without making one enoft 10 bet.
ter his condItion-to blusphefne the God who had
cast his lot in this most blessed Of all lands-io
curse his brother whose crime was that he had set
him on example Of successful industry--to find fault.
and virtually to rebel against the institutions Of his
country, which had protected him in every right,
and offered him Inducements TO the exercise OF ev-
cry talent and capacity.
Instead Of putting into his hands the plough or
the spade, the axe and the plane, instead OF point.
ing him to the ship or counting. house, they armed
him with the torch Of the incendiary, and u not
with the dagger of the assassin, yet with the Tar
more unspsring sword Of revolutionary vengeance
and when they had thus completely. corrupted
and debauched him perverted his understanding
with the ~sophistry of he'll, filed his heart with the
gall of tiiterpess, darkened and perplexed all his
views of his own condition and OF the condition OF
society-when they had driven him 10 phrensy and
desperation, and made him fit only for the cell Of
the maniac or the felon, they capped the slimsx OF
their offences against society by a still greater crime
-by that inexplicable crime Of which the Jaceo'ns
of France had been said TO be guilty-the crime OF
rendering liberty itself odious. They bls'phemed
and prostituted the very name-the sacred name
of popular government, and they called the desPe-
RADIO, the dupe and the victim Of THEIR ~icksdness
- DEnocRAT"