The American patriot., 1854-12-27
our CREED.

turbed to their depthS-when the eOlucriteria VI oi
thodoxy are no longer ecognized-when new tests
have riven in twain the heart Of the great parties,
which fought their last fight" on the memorable
political battlefield Of ls52-when one of the old
political organizations stands before the country,
confessedy annihilated, and the other, Frustrated
as it has recently been in every political contest,
continues to furnish Pickering and uncertain signs
of its vitality, by virtue only of the unanimous
adhesion of the naturalized vote which has rallied
around its dropping banners with devotion wor-
thy Of better cause-at such time it has fallen
to our lot to figure raw recruit in the ranks Of
the editorial corps. Without flourish Of rumpets
from those customary heralds Of a forthcoming
newspaper enterprise, aAatulent prospectus and
the preliminary puffs Of the press it has been our
desire to assume the duties and responsibilities Of
our new avocation quietly, yet earnestly, pre-
ferring rather to be judged by our deeds than by
predatory pledges neatly phrased and lightly
given, to bespeak aeeting and fictitious popu-
larity. as ai
The events Of the last year stand without par
alel or precedent in the annals of the Republic.
A political movement has nsinuated its secret and
mysterious influences over the land, overthrowing
inits noiseless course, seemingly without effort,
the serried hosts of Democracy and Whiggery.
True, the hour Of its nativity was not, like Glen
dower's, marked by "strange eruptions," yet has
its miraculous march from the cradle to vigorous
maturity placed it beyond the roll Of common Incl
dents. In the ranks Of this new political move
ment, in the unpretending uniform of an AMERICAN
PATRIOT, we intend to render such service as we
may in upholdiug the Constitution, the laws and
the institutions of this Republic. We avow with
a glow of honest pride our sympathy with party
which, though Oft times stigmatised as a "com-
mon enemy" and "moral leprosy," in its brief
career has put the seal Of condemnation upon the
niquties and corruptions, the trickery and tyran-
ny of the old parties, and which has everywhere
manifesteda spirit of nationality and sentiment
Of American loyalty to the Constitution. That it
is no idle caprice or momentary ebullition which
moves to declare our fidelity to the principles Of
the American party, but rather deep rooted con-
viction that evils have fastened upon the body po-
lite which require pruning we shall now endeavor
to show. a,t % r4 r.
Instances are neither few nor Insignificant in
the political struggles of the last ten years. tend
ing to disclose the startling fact that the ballot
boxes are no longer exempt from influences not
only degrading to our national character, but i'm
minently perilous to the integrity Of the Union.
Large masses Of foreigners, fresh from the despo-
tisms of the Old World, with no training in the
schools of rational liberty but obstnately adher-
ing to all the preudices of their nationality, have
been made the tools Of native knaves and dema-
gogues, in the preparation Of these dastardly
blows upon those fortresses of our liberties. That
deeds Of violence, perjury and fraud, endorsed
and countenanccd by native traitors and foreign
mob stalk in the open light of day unchallenged
and unchecked by the outraged laws, is truth
cities to be denied. How is all this to end? Shall
we remedy it by throwing wide the portals Of the
Republic, and extending additional incentives to
an emigration to our shores which has no sinili-
tude in history, save the march of the barbarian
tribes upon civilized Rome? Shall we remove the
feeble barriers of the present imperative natural
ization laws, and in the fervour of our propagan-
ignorant peasants, unused to the management Of
their own affairs, with the attributes of citizenship
upon their first landing on our shores, and thus
subject the principles of rational liberty to con-
flict which they could not possibly survive? Or
shall we assert the prcrogatives Of our nation.
atty, and by wholesome and timely preventive
legislation, wrest our sorely tired institutions
from the suffocating pressure of this inexhausti.
BILE stream Of foreign prejudice aud superstition:
Who is wronged, if Americans tardily aroused to
sense of danger, resolve at last to govern their
own country? Is it the naturalzed citizen? Al
ready invested by the magical power Of the ma
turalization oaths, with the inestimable boon Of
American citizenship, for himself he should ask
no more; and if he possesses that true hearted
sympathy with the land of his adoption which he
has solemnly declared under the sanctity of ar
oath, her institutions assert their claim to his SO
licitude above the abjured Father land Is it the
immigrant already landed, whose term Of proba
ton is not yet expired! Secured by that Oonsti
tuition which he has not yet sworn to support
against the erp post tacto operation of law, he will
be permitted to perfect the inchoate right, unmo
Tested by legislation, and he too will soon b,
placed in the full fruiton Of the rights and privi
legcs which are the guarantees of the law as i
stands Is it the millions Of the Old World sick, sat
and destitute, who are looking across the wate
to the great Republic as haven of rest from des
potism, famine and unre,nunerative toll? Wha
right have they to cavl at American legislation