American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1855-11-03
FOR THE UNION.

Court Alley.
FOR THE UNION. :,
Mr.. Editor, =
Iss / send the following letter writ
ten by Lemuel j. Bowden, Esq. of
Williamsburg, Va. for publication. 1t
will be observed that it is in reply to a
committee of American gentlemen of
Accomac county, to address the people
on the subject of American principles.
The view taken by Mr.. B. upon the
subject is so good, and the remedy re-
commended to be applied for the cure
Of certain evils which have existed of
which he speaks, is so apparent, that /
hope none of your. numerous readers
will fail to give it an attentive pcrusal.
ID, WILLIAMSBURG, Va. |
s 25th Aug. 1856.
Gentlemen:--It would afford me
much pleasure to accept the invitation
conveyed in yours of the Sth inst. ''to
address a meeting to be held by the A.
merican Party of Accomac, at the
Courthouse, on the first Wednesday in
September next My private affairs,
however, forbid my leaving home for
any length of time. / must content
myself with hoping that the cause and
the occasion will find much ADLER adyo-
Gates than myself, and that the meet
ing wAi be both interesting and profit
ablo to yourselves and TO the country.
With your permission, / will take
the liberty to say that unless the oppo-
sition to the men now in power be
more bold and resolute in it's plan of
operations, and in its mode Of oxocu-
.tion, it is vain and idle to hope for on
to talk about success, sustained by O.
patronage which numbers anon gst its
retainers more than one hundred thou
sand holders of of1ice--dcfcnded by a
venal and debauched press which has
been purchased by the most shameless
distribution of place and money among
its leading editors-rendered terrible
by the furious prescription with which
it pursues and hunts down every man
of American blood, who does not false
ly and hypocritically pretend that he
neither sees nor feels any ground for
distinction between the native and the
alien born; the party Of the spoils is not
to be routed but by the most vigorous
and well sustained assaults. If the
plan heretofore pursued, of standing on
the defensive and permitting the enc
. my to attack us without returning his
Gre---if this plan is to be persisted in,
the sooner we lower our flag and re-
treat from the field the better.
1t is passing strange that the Ameri-
can Party, which has nothing to defend
(for it has never been in power, and, of
course, has had no opportunity of com
mtting either crime or error) should
be in the constant habit of permitting
the guilty to obtain impunity by dint
. of mere audacity, and become prosecu-
tors of the innocent when they should
be arraigned upon their own trial and
be made to answer for their own mis-
deeds. Owing to this strange hallu-
cination, in the opposition party, they
have suffered themselves to be con-
stantly held up to the gaze Of the peo-
pie as guilty culprits-anxious to hide
their principles and conduct from the
light of day--and they have suffered
themselves to be brow beaten by par
ty that has basely deserted and trcach-
crously abandoned every principle by
which it had imposed itself upon the
confidence Of q generous and unsuspec-
ting people. Let these things be SO
no longor--but let us charge home up
I on them, and, my life on it, the scene
Z viii be quickly changed. The arro-
a gance and pride with which series Of
q sill.deserved triumphs has inflated them,
& VIII DC speedily converted into the wal.
lngs of disaster and defeat.
We can find no difficulty in arrayiDg
powerful and well founded charges a.
galnst the corrupt and proAigato dy-
Hnasty, which the Almighty, in the dis.
Z apensation Of his mysterious providence
permits to scourge our land. The peo-
pie will speedily desert such an unholy
coalition SO soon as It's ottcr heartless-
ness and dupiicity are laid bare to the
public eye. repeat that they have
aOapdoned every principle that was
held sacred in the purcr days Of the
Democratic party. In the days Of
joskson apd Polk it would have been