Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1846-09-10
FOR THE sPEcrAro n.

ny stand. This name will stick to the Wing party
anu ike the shirt OF Ncssus will poison all on whom Il
PROOF ' INV '>0''N ~"" inc
MR.: EDITOR The above extract is taken from
the columns OF the Augusta Democrat" ahd the
worthy editor no doubt considers il n very cIsver
fling at the Wing, or as he affects To consider nc
the 'Od Federal party" In his disinteres,ed con,
Germ for the future political regulations of tho
wings of Augusta the editor entrsats them 10 n,nss
and consider the dreadful consequences of assnm;uu
name, which will stick to them e.lkc the sh;rt r.
Nessus," of which no proofs Of patriotic devotion
to the best interests of the country will ever enable
them to divest themselves, and which affixes stain
which no repentant tears can ever wash away
Does the Democrat" speak ''by authority" when
1t declares that to have been Federalis is crime
against modern Democracy for which nothing can
atone? If so, alas for Cass and for Buchanan
alas for presidential aspirations founded on the hope
OF reward for years of toll i'm the service of he
party! If youthful alterations from the paths of
democracy cannot henceforth be overlooked If
federallsn is sin that the editor of the Democrat
never 1or0ets," and modern Democracy never for
gives, even the sage of Underwood must be resign
ed to political dust and ashes, whilst Taney him.
self, the beloved of the s'Hero of New Orleans ,,
must perorce wear the shirt of Nessus beneath the
judicial ermne and bear the mark of the beast upon
the bench OF the supreme court. o. We lesser
lights OF the party of progress We Ingersolls and
Rantouls and Hubbards,s and Ruel Williams. ct id
omne genus! Were it not better for you that
milestone had been hanged about your necks and
yourselves cast into the depths of the sea- ere the
nat OF this eXpounder of your faith consigned Won
to a political damnation so deep that the hand of
resurrection can never reach you!'' Shade of the
old Roman! by what special indulgence shall Won
escape the ban of the party OF what process of ex
treme JUNCTION shall absolve the memory Of the sign
er OF that ultra federal proclamation whose doctrines
even John Marshall could not approve!
&c
trap unworthy of the conductor Of free press. and
que VINO asPlres to enighten the understandings Of
TIE people In relation to political affairs? Does not
the editor OF the Democrat kno,o that there is no
more similarity between the doctrines of the Whir
party and the Hartford Convention federalists than
there is between the principles of James Madison
and those of Tom Dorr, or Levi d. Stamina And
that there is about as much propriety in the attempt
10 Visit The sedltlon laws upon the Wings of the
present day, as there would be in the effort to den
thy William III. Crawford's Bank report with the
Sub trcasury bill or to affix to the memory OF
fatrick Henry the sentiment Of one of the distin-
gulshed leaders of the EDITORS own party-tbat If
he had lived in the days of the Revolution he
would have been tory? The editor surely does
Know, that to be dressed in the products of the
American loom, was considered by leading demo-
Gratis, In the days Of Jefferson badge of their no
itIcal principles and that the charter of the late
United States Bank bore the signature of James
a.
cious idea that modern democracy is Identical with
that OF Madison and Crawford? Is it for the pur-
pose or entrapplng the unwary and imposing upon
the more ignorant and gullible of his readers? NV
respect for the private character of the editor in
duces me to hope that if the article was really
Penned by himself, the cant about old federalism
was but the thoughtless repetition of the slang of
some OF the most reckless and corrupt of his con-
temporarles. am the rather inclined to this OBI
mon because an examination of the printed lists of
those who have been the most active in the service
OF modern democracy in this county, shews that
they number In their own ranks many worthy and
intelligent gentlemen to whom this s'shrt of Mes
sus' sticks as tightly to any wing.
And now permit me to ask what there is in this
mere name of federalist, that should induce the
young wings of Augusta to desert their prnciples
In order to escape it? Had the editor contented
himself with caution against the more ultra Of
the principles of the old federalists as for instance
few of the leading doctrines of the proclamation,
the advice might have been salutary. But the edi-
tor seems to be convert to the doctrine that ga
rose by any other name does not smell as SWEET
and no matter what the outrage upon public pro
Priety, how great the injury to sound republican
principles or how fragrant the violation of the Con-
sttutlon, provided the act be perpetrated in the
speclous name of democracy. The young Wings
OF Augusta are, 1t is TO be hoped, wise to be led
to believe that names things, and too intelligent
not to know that this name of Federalist was borne
by the 'Father of his Country" one Of the last
acts of whsse life to record his vote against an
old friend and neghbor in behalf of the federal can
ddate, with the remark 81 uote for principles"-
Ashamed of the name of federalist, sir-that is to
be ashamed Of Washington and Jay, and Patrick
Henry and John Marshall to be ashamed of our
own Blackburn and Porterfield and Sheffey to be
ashamed of the revered name of our proud old
county herself for was she not sold federal Au-
gusta" when she sent forth her sons by hundreds to
defend honor of mtry tho in
vader from our shoTes2 And have the sons of fe-
deral Augusta ever shrunk when her counry's
cause demanded their aid, or has she ever refused
her voice to ''second the efforts of the people in the
cause OF liberty, the union, and the national pros
perlty 2" Is the editor Of the Democrat ashamed.
to be called fellow-citizen of Samuel Clarke p
Away then with this contemplate humbug!
HE old Federal party no longer exists, and its
acts belong to the past Like all other parties that
ever existed, impartial History finds in them
thing to approve and something to Conference.-The
light OF experience has shown the wisdom of much
of their policy and exposed some of their errors,
whilst others engrafted into the creed of modern
democracy, will cease to exist only with that stu
pendous system of folly and imposture Most of
their political errors are conceded to have been
the result of want Of experience in the workings
OF our ''great experiment." and the most bigoted
sans culotte Is forced to admit that no party ever en-
bodied greater amount of distinguished ability
i'"'o "oi'h; oe'dIeu Poiilcii principle ana olS"
interested devotion TO the public veal. The folly,
70 call il by no harsber naue of visiting upon a
"hole party, the acts of few of its members, es-
peclany when those acts are disapproved and dis
,Hal.enanceo by the majority, is manifest. The
IpJects Oh the Ilai'eord Convention, 0hougf they
rable, and the members of the Hartford Convention
we're federaists. Yet the great BODY of the feder-
ilists supported the war with zeal tnas. proved
heir devotion to their country. The names OF
n