Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1843-06-20
RICHMOND DAILY WING.
TUESDAY MORNING. JUNE 80. isl,.

u- The Democratic party have abandoned, IL they evei
occupied, the platform Of genuine Repsbiiesn ism. The
Largest liberty" noions-whicht they hold and inculcaie
and which in their tendency are subversive Of law and hber
y. were unknown to the fathers Of our Republic. They
spring not from the old Englishsoek of freedom. They come
from another and very different source. They are OF Freneh
extraction. They are, under n changed name, the identical
principles which Robespierea and Dantou prsctsed upon. and
which delugcd France in blood. Their introduction into
this country was in a great measure attributable to Mr.. JEFF
terson. That great man, animated by an intense hostility
to England and sympathising in the first transports OF the
French revolution, brought these doctrines hither, and find.
ing that they could be made subservient to his anglo-mania
and his own aggrandizemeni, exerted all his talents to give
them currency among our people. They were chastened
and modified and rendered comparatively innoeuous for the
time, by the character ct our people, and the Anglo Saxon
love Of law and regulated liberty still rife in the country
But the seeds OF Jacobinism were sown broadcast through
the land; and now that the population has become denser.
and ''the eankers of a calm world and a long peace" have
multiplied, and loafers and dreamers do greatly abound
these seeds are sprouting forth, with every promise OF an
abundant harvest. UNIVERSAL EQUALITY" and the
largest iberfy'-unresirained BY decency, morality or
law, are the popular eateh.words OF the day-,he
counters with which Dcmagogucs seek to cheat the
the people and make them the victims of their mercenary
arts. Its becoming as fashionable and popular now, asi 1t
was in the days Of Robespiere, to hold up to popular repro.
baton the man. who by a life Of industry and economy, has
accumulated a fortune, and to teach the populace that such
a one Is a ht subIectfo for plumber and depreciation. He rhey
say) lives in daily violation OF their great fundamental rule
OF equal rights; he lives in a splendid mansion and fares
sumPtuOusly every day, while we, too free to lsbour. have
no superiuiues-which constitutes an odious distinction
abhorrent to naturc;-away with him-a Ia lanierne-pull
down his house. and distribute his goods and charels among
us the sons OF freedom and equality
To this complexion the doctrines of the Democracy of
the present day are rapidly tending. First we have a habi-
tual disregard Of lava violation Of the rights of property
then succeeds anarchy, and close in its wake, despotism.
This is French rty-conuadisingu from the
staid, sober and regulated liberty of the Anglo-Saxon race.
For our parts we desire no better liberty than that for which
Elliot and Pym and Hampden fought, and which Washing.
ton and his compatrots bestowed upon this country. That
was Repubieanism enough for US; and il we could pre-.
serve ii in its purity, we should be content. Others may
pursue the ignis fauus Of French Jacobinism; Freedom in
a milder and less tempestuous and more durable form is more
congenial TO our tastes.
1t is this destructive tendency of the modern Democra-
cy, which has, as we know, alarmed many sagaeious men,
who, on severn. of the party topics Of the day, agree with the
Whigism, they see, is conservative in its ten
dcncy. II is content with the liberty and republicanism Of
TIN its pure and unadultersied state, and without any
admiXture with French Jacobinsm. Locofocoism threatens
the subversion of the social, moral and political fabric
The Wings may be wrong in supporting a Bank, OF a Tariff,
or the Distribution OF the Land Money; but supporting, as
they do, Liberty regulated by lava Republicanism alike
removed from licentiousneSs and despousm they are far
TO the political enthusiasts, in whose footsteps
follow the destruction Of private rights, and the establish
ment Of anarchy and tyranny.