The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1844-08-28
PARTY SPIRIT

| "In Governments of a monarohcal cast, patriot
sm may look With indulgenee, a not WIN ia'or' up
| on the spin Of party But 10 those OF the popular
| character, in governments purely elective, II is
shirt not TO be encouraged From their natural ten
deue, il is certain there will always be enough Of
that spirit for every saluts purpose, and there BE-.
ing constant danger of excess, the .hon ought TO be
by force Of public opinion to mitigate and assuage It,
fire not To be quenehed, il demands uniform vlgl-
lance TO prevent its bursting into fame lest instead
| of warming il should consume" Such is the Ian
guage If Washington with respect TO the spirit OF
party but the spirit to which he refers is that which
divides the whole pFople Of the country into two an
tagoniso divisions, advocating opposite interests and
supporting opposing candidates. An eXuberance oil
this spirit Of party he deprecaes. A moderate In
dugence of il, he says, i'll unquestionably always
exist and he comedies that its operation Will be bene-
fetal. The Jealous watcblulness Of minority Will
tend to restrain the acts Of dominant party within
the limits of pure administration oil The govern
ment il is the only check upon those who hold The
reins of pJwer II is the excessive indulgence oil
party spirit, which Washington condemns There
is however, another species Of party spirit lar more
dangerous spirit, the existence of which he fore
saw and against which he reasons with more minute
ness and earDes,ness-hat spirit of party, we mean,
which is sectional in its character aud iniuses bit
terness of feeling and establishes an opposition OF IN
terests between one portion OF the Union and another
The general spirit of art if carried to excess, will
result in most instances only in temporary embar-
ment of the action Of the. General Government
il may paralyze its energies for brief PERIOD but
when the eilcrvescence subsidies scarcely any evil
consequences remain beyond the memory OF the
| storm 10 many cases har.a rosuits-nay, good
may have been produced-and beathfu action re-
stored by the evaporation of the hurtful PARTICLES.
But the spirit of party which draws lines of sepa-
ration between different sections Of the Union, prog
nostica es at all times disastrous results The South
ern prejudice which inculcates contempt Of The
Yankee as well as the Northern horror Of South,rn
slavery, not only produces feelings of temporary
alienation between the citizens of the North and the
South. but creates Earring elements of perpetual du-
ration, whose repulsye properties tend ultimately TO
disruption of the Union Evidence is now given
Of the fatal consequences of nourishing preJudices
between diff rent parts of the same league, whose
very existence depends on harmony OF feeling and
! action between the two extremes. single note OF
discord does not materially affect the concert, but a
continuation Of dscordanl sounds is destructive Of its
| existence.
This Union originated in a spirit of compromise
its perpetuity OF life is dependent on the same an
mating principle Without this principle, its exs-
tence ceases at once. To maintain doc rine, or to
foster feeling inconsistent with the motives which
created the Union, is unworthy American. And
yet we daily, efforts most strenuous and indomi-
table, exerted encourage tbs party spirt-the on
" party split which we need dread-to foster the
spirit which leads TO dsunon--to range section
Of the counr y against the other
The spirit OF party, in the usual sense OF the term,
is mere infant in comparison with that spirit which
teaches the citizens of section to assal the inst-
tutons existing in another To the knowledge of the
existence of this spirit we wish the people to be
awakened Crush that spirit of party which threat
ems to destroy the Union, and the country will escape
without many throes, all the evils which two antago
| INST parties will be able to infict