The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-03-26

not quorum of members in attendance, no
business was transacted, and an adjournment
took place.
Chow great flame little fire kindleth!''
A typographical blunder has given rise to a
ponderous essay in the Union, and entailed
upon US the necessity of once more advertinr
to what our contemporary has farcically STYLED
"the predicament of the opposition We
wrote on Thursday that "upon the great cues
tions that were touched upon in the Inaugural
the Wings and President PIERCE care at one. ,,
Our printer printed s'as one;" perverting our
meaning, and building up phantom which has
troubled, or frightened, our contemporary be-
yond measure. -.'.
Once for always, we beg to assure the Union
that We have no intention to claim considera
ton as Democrats, or to misrepresent the Pre-
sIDENT by claiming him as Wing. We are
as thoroughly Wing as ever, and it is proper
to assume that his Democracy has not been
changed in any essential particular. But the
superstitious love or hatred of party names
which holds the Union in humillating bondage
is not adapted to the intelligence or exigencies
of the time, and is less likely to help than to
sink the man who does it reverence. General
PIERCE evinced his appreciation of the fact
when he addressed assembled thousands from
the steps of the Capitol. He did not seek to
raise from their graves the ghosts of defunct
cries and antipathies, or to scare his auditors
by an appeal to bugaboos that have ceased to
frighten children. Folly of that sort he left to
the congenial pens of the Union; choosing ra-
ther to appear as the President of the people,
not the head of party, and improving his op-
portunity by the expression of broad, non par
tisan views on. Questions that concern all par
ties. Despite, therefore, of our contemporaries
inverted commas and marks of admiration,
there is nothing paradoxical in the remark that
the conservative Wings are prepared without
''changing their ground" to join conservative
Democrats in supporting President PIERCE.
Why? Because President PIERCE took the
initiative in the work of Cancellation, and, by
dlscardiDg partisan ground, assumed position
on which conservative Wings and conservative
Democrats were already sat one.'
1t is not clear that President PIERCE will
not yet need the support of Wings, albeit de
rided and despised by the journal which as
sumes-manifestly without shadow of author
ity-to speak in his behalf. He has laid down
chart of his intended course, and a right good
one it Isl but the task of fulfilling his intentions
is yet to be accomplished. Storms and tenn
pests, blowing from Democratic quarters, are
in store for him. He must perform the impos-
sible task of reconcling contraries, and render
ing ofice-seekers contented under disappoint-
ment, or be prepared to encounter opposition
from Democrats now protesting to be friends.
The action of the Barnburners and Freesoil
Democrats in the New York Legislature
Unsurpassed murmurings of their presses in
that State-the dissensions already afoot in
Ohio and Indiana-the strong probability of
revived quarrels between the conservative
Democrats and factionists in Louisiana and
Mississippi-the inevitable indifference or
hostility Of the quarter of a million patriots
who, according to the Richmond E1am-
rner, will return hungry and unsatisfed to
their homes-the broad distinction that exists
between the views enunciated by Senatorial
flibusters and the regard to national honor
which President PIERCE has promised to OBJ
serve: all these are points which rise at once
to the mind of an observer, and must naturally
have presented themselves to the consideration
Of the President. 1t is not preposterous to as
sumo that the Wings, by using or coalescing
with these factions, could harass if not defeat
the course of the Administration in many mat
I'm no Of bop ~
BILE to expect that when the work of the Ad-
ministration shall commence, General PIERCE,
as the declared head of the Compromise Dem
ocrats, will be found to be sat one'' with the
Compromise Wings, and not with the Demo-
cratic factions which now cling to the skirts of
the Administration for the sake of prospective
profit.
But the Union is at loss to know why we
who opposed General PIERcE's election now
profess readiness to support his administra-
ton. DIBDIN or some other British writer has
told US of superannuated seamen who delight
to fight their battles o'er again in song. The
imbecility or infirmity of age robs them of
future, and converts the present into a mere
mirror of the past. We fear that this is "the-
predicament" of the Union 1t is dead to the
present and the future. 1t sees nothing but
the smoke Of the November fight, and thinks
Of nothing but its own shattered hulk Now,
although we cherish profound respect for the
dotage of virtuous age, and can sympathise
with the weaknesses of true heroes, we have no
liking for garrulity which has neither virtue
nor heroism to recommend it. We cannot con-
sent, therefore, to humor our contemporaries
weakness by playing our part of the Presiden-
tial battle "o'er again." The Union may
play its part as often as it pleases, for it does
injury to none but itself; but we have too much
work in hand to follow its example. Life and
hope are before US. The Union appears to
have little Of either.
1t, indeed, any thing were wanting to satisfy
US that the Union has no right to speak er ca
thedra in behalf of President PIERCE, it would
be furnished by its endless harpng upon this
single string. The PRESIDENT, we are sure,
has no desire to be reminded daily of every in
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