Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1854-10-23
lcarrespondence of the spy.l

iSortespOnuence OF the opysl
Another Letter from Harvey Birch.
Editors Of the Spy:
The announcement in your paper on Friday
morning, of the full proceedings of the Know
Nothing Convention, in advance of all other
presses, has surprised and astonished every
body. The precautions taken to prevent out
siders from obtaining admission to the Con-
vention were so thorough, and the com'tee on
leakages was so vigiant, that it was confident
Unexpected that whatever stories might be set
ahoat by Madame Rumor, none but Know
Nothings would know, who was really the
Know Nothing candidate, until after election.
This denoWement, so early in the campaign, has
somewhat disconnected the friends of Mr..
Gardner, for they expected, through the Sc
crecy of the organization, to prevent any pub
lie newspaper discussion of the merits of their
candidates, and they well know that Mr..
GARDENERS antecedents will not commend him
very strongly to the favor of the friends of
freedom in the Commonwealth.
Apropos to this, would say that there is
already disposition to bolt the nomination in
certain quarters, and more than one delega-
ton from the country have waited upon the
distinguished nominee to ascertain his views
upon the Fugitive Slave law, the Maine Law,
and the Nebraska bill. l am told that Mr.. G.
very candidly acknowledged that he was
partzan of the late Daniel Webster, and fully
endorsed his seventh of March speech at the
time, but subsequent events had shown that
there was less danger to the Union, then than
was generally apprehendcd by the most sa-
gacious statesmen of all parties; and that his
present views are favorable to the repeal of the
Fugitive Slave law. In regard to the part he
had in the rendition of Thomas Simms, he
freely admits that he was a member of that
illustrous brigade who volunteered to assist
Pat Riley and Marshal Devens in kidnapping
a man out of Boston, but he says of the
Nebraska bill has opened his eyes to the fact,
that the South was not to be satisfied by any
mere humiliation of Northern men, and that
it required nothing short of the absolute SUBJ
jugation OF Northern institutions to the slave
power.
In reference to his views upon the Maine
law, Mr.. G. appears to have been equally ex-
plicit He admits that he was a most deter
mined opponent of the Maine law. Represent i.
ing as he did at the time constituency who
were opposed to the law, land his education and
habits being such as not to permit him to see
any necessity for such law, he had with
the best of motives voted and spoken against
its enactment, but more thorough acquain-
lance with its principles, and close and
careful observation of the operations of the
law had led him to modify his views upon
that subject aiso and if elected Governor he
should have no wish to disturb the existing
order of things in this particular So you
see the malcontents are to have no occasion
for grumbling upon any of these heads. Mr..
G. is undoubtedly progressive man no,o,
whatever he may have been before. And
the rapid progress he has made since he
joined the order of Know Nothings is a
beautiful illustration of the mode by which
the Scotchman was enabled to get 2.4O
speed out of his donkey, viz: by holding
bunch of carrots about a foot in advance
its nose. The quarter of the State in which
rebellion against the ticket is most feared, ap-
pears to be in your own county, several
distinguished politicians in your precinct hav-
ing announced their determination to bolt the
nominations. do not apprehend however
that there will be "much of a shower And
though the fears of split in the. order in
your city, have been such as to induce the
friends of Mr.. Gardner to send to Boston for
Burlingame or some other eloquent Know
Nothing to go to Worcester, and assist in
greasing the ticket in order the better to make
it go down, you may rest assured that the
step was quite unnecessary. The Worcester
Know Nothings will undoubtedly ratify ON
Saturday evening, and some men who have
axes to grind will undoubtedly get their
noses damaged against the grind-stone. This
is great country, and the Known othings
appear to be the liveliest politicians about these
times. Nous Te1Yons.
Yours ever, HARVEY BIRCH.