Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1854-03-22

cot have been. 4; s, favor Of free Con-
venton, Unrestricted by but t1 ~. 8. ~
people, because we have regarded suel1a s
fon necessary TO equalize our ess. s q
and TO Give the white men OF the osa1s
Tho and, eo1seauence sfch they are enfltled
10 ID ever, free gosefnments But wh hen the very
called is reprdiated and conde we see no Ies
son for the assembling of SUCH g Il tne Prs
ent basis is to be preserved who wants =
ton? What do they want Il Tor ne az - -
f the friends of Convention in this section mas ~
,rs bet.1 that considered change IN inc a.
s;s vastlv more important than the mere ex.ensol
of suffrage The wlongso the unoHenoihe ~ s.sess
and ruthlessly oppressed free men OF i
or six of whose votes only count as much as =.
Sand hiIlers IN Hartford Currituck are laihlila
to us all as the staple argument against the
basis and the evil which it was lntendea 70
and regulate by a free Convention II was pecause
Erao Suffrage did not 90 far enough---becausee the
West and particularly the w hig party OF the es',
protested to qcant MOI eprofessed 10 wan. lree
men to be heard in our legislative halls as Wen DO
money negroes, billiard tables and STUD anorses' as
is the case under the present basis, that such
clamor was raised about a Convention. Nopoayevef
had the hardihood to come into these mountains
and advocate restricted, trammeied limited Son,
yention not even John Kerr, and he had impudence
enough to do what any other man dare Go. 4 ne
great objection here to amendments to the Gonsti-
tuition by legislative enactment has been mat a. re-
versed the natural and republican order Oh thlgs'
placing the Legslature--the mere cfeature-as uic-
tator over its sovereign lord and MASTER the people.
This plan of amendment, however, has the sancton
of the Constitution itself OF the modes therein
pointed out by which it may De changed: lhat
now proposed by the Wing Convention has neither
the sanction of the Constitution OF reason, or OF
common sense. 1t infringes every acknowiedged
principle of Republicanism, violates ana oegfaaes
the sovereign majesty of the people, ana does OUT 70
those who biennay breathe lie into the al nos
trils of legislative vanity privileges which the egsla
turc has no right restrict than it has to re-
gulate the diet of the Emperor OF China The intel
lgen free of this section will We doubt not set
their foot upon this fungous growth of political trick
cry and corruption, and crush it out as a mockery
and disgrace to their good sense and patriotism.
We opposed Free Suffrage by legislative enact
ment upon the grounds and for the reasons laid
down in the Western Address. The arguments and
conclusions of that address strike with as much
force now as they did when it was first published
and consider them to-day as a better and more
complete exposition OF the absurd and ant-rePuol-
can movement of the Wing party in its late Conven-
ton than anything we can say. Many OF our read
crs have this address. We beg of them to read the
Convention resolution in the Wing platform, on
which Gen. Dockery is perched, and then read the
Western Address, appropriate commentary.
They cannot rise from the perusal OF these docu-
ments without agreeing with us, that the leaders OF
the Wing party have acted in bad faith to the peo-
;ple-that they have planned and mediate another
fraud upon unsuspecting of both parties in the
West-that they will bear watching, and that the
honest masses without regard to old names OF asso-
cations ought to punish them for their inexcusabe
The DIGNITY OF MAN. 1T is little thing to be
a man'-w,s the expression of poet, whose heart
embittered by neglect and crushed by msfor-
tune. And perhaps it is, to those who look upon
him merely as beef-eating and ffce-drnking ami
NAL in whom good digestion is rather to be preferred
than good heart and cultivated mind. Looking
upon in this light he is truly creature of very
little Importance. Nothing could be said more inte
resting to the point than the remark of the
old sergeant in Benthanr-" Give him plenty to cat
and send him to Sleep
at is little thing to be man." And if SO,
whence springs this lttleness? What causes it:
IF men are but a race of erect brutcs-but no. this
is not the theory of human life, the sum of human
happiness, the limit of human progression! 1t is
not little thing to be man. 1t not little thing
to possess rejecting mind, feeling heart an i'm
mortal soul. These gifts great, and make men
great. They the endowments of Heaven, and
ally him to it. The opposite doctrine traces his ORR
gin to the bruteS and denies his natural superiority
and immortality. 1t loses sight of his high duties
and higher destnics. 1t degrades him at to
the lowest level of animal existence.
Mans dignity does not consist in the fact that he
is being who cats, drinks and sleeps His highest
honor springs not from his love of roast beef
ges, dinner tables and sumptuous suppers. The
highest style of man is not the one who finds his
chief Happiness in creature comforts and plum
puddings There is nober life than the life of
epicure or gourmanl and there is nobler death
than that caused by over-ndulgence and surfeit.
Who died more like man, Howard, the Philanthro-
pist who persisted in mnistering to the suferngs of
the needy, or the great Roman Emperor, who died
from an excessive drinking Of wine? There is no
necessity for reply-the one died in the discharge
of the most kindly Offices to his fellow men-the
other like the beasts which perish" The memory
of the one is blesSad-the memory of the other is
unhonored, if not execratcd. 1t has we'll been said
that some buried and from their graves,
through the hands of mnstering love- arise fragrant
flowers and clustering boughs which g smell sweet
and blossom in the dust" But there are others who
are deposited in their long hemc and though no
flower or bough marks the spot, yet forgotten it
never be- for there lies the record of life l-spent
the record Of guilt and the of crime sits silent
and shadowy the tombstone.
The cultivation of the mind and of the finer feel
ings in our common nature are greater objects thai
the qualification of appetite the accumulation of
dollars. Even looking at as he exists in the
the present state of being with reference to the
future, there are higher objects of which he is capa
ble and nobler aspirations which should elevate his
mind. There are his mental powers to be cultiva-
ted and his social affections to be enlarged and kim
died into fresh life Ind it is to these that his chief
happiness is linked, and in these that his true dig
nifty will be found. How well it would be if some
persons could only be convinced that they have
minds and hearts, as well as appetitcs and purses
Lift up your eyes and look at the heavens. Forget
the things of earth for time, and contemplate the
true, the beautiful and eternal. " Is there such
thing as immortal soul . said Carlyle to Leigh
Hunt; as they walked under the brilliant splendorof
the starry heavens and how eloquent and expressive
was the answer = Look up, and find your answer
there Home GaSette.
TIE CEsT AND THE EAGLE Simon Holdfast was
not a liberal minded man. There was no danger
of his running himself by extensive charities Still
Whenever there was collection taken up at church
or at public meeting, he always took>carc to give
something
& ~ ~ tsF . - -, -