The true Democrat., 1855-11-13
From the Hampstead Democrat Democratic Meeting in Sevier Co

Democratic Meeting in Sevier Co. The democracy of Sevier county met ea ) nnasse at Paraclifta, on Tuesday, the Both day r of October, 1855.
 On motion of Capt Chas. Pettigrew, LEROY MAY was chosen president of. the meeting; ARCHIBALD MCKELLER and JAMES M. WILSON vice presidents, and BENJAMIN c. PARKER. secretary.
 On motion Benj. c. Parker announced the object of the meeting; after which Orville f Jennings, esq, was introdu ed as speaker of the day.
 At the close of Mr. Jennings speech. the . following preamble and resolutions were intro duced and read by Capt Pettigrew, and on mo- ton, were unanimously adopted:--
 Believing that a crisis in the political histo- " of our country has arrived, when the friends oi political and religious liberty should array themselves m defence of the rights of the States, the constitution of our common country, and of thls State, in order to defeat the insidous assaults made by the secret midnight, oath bound assdlants of our republican institutions, iamllarly known to the country by the name of the American party, or Know Nothings- we, portion of the democratic party of S1vier county, In convention assembled have adopted the following resolutions.
 
 three score years demonstrates that our fathers who framed the constitution and founded upon It the Unon, were inspired with degree of wisdom, foresight and patriotism more than human; therore we can best manifest our gra- tltude for thelr llustrlOus services and our re- verence for their glorious memories, by resist Ing with all our energies every attempt to dis tu. b or destroy the harmony or symetrv of their workmanship, or to defeat or nullify the eff. cacy of its provisions by false constructions or nsldlous attacks upon the fundamental princi- pies as sure guarantee of permanet federal Union.
 Reso,Ced That amongst the great principles that animated the hearts and energzed the arms of our revolutionary fathers we recog- nlze as prominent those which looked to the obtalnment for every citizen of the rights of voting and of being voted for without restraint or dlctatlon, and of worshipping God without interference or hlnderance-that we attribute no small share of the present power, glory and prosperity of our government to the incor- poratlon of those principles into our constitu- ton; and as we are satisfied that they are as valuable and essential now as when our fathers poured out their blood to secure them. we should prove ourselves unworthy of the rich inheritance bequeathed to Us if we failel to re- slSt with all our hearts and souls every effort. whether by open assault or by secret combina- ton, to eXpungc from the constitution those great principles of civil and religious liberty.
 ResOtUe1, That III the same manner and to the same extent that secret and insdious foe Is more dangerous than an open and manly op- | pOnent we regard the attempt now being made to create, by secret oath bound associations, a law of public sentiment higher than the con- stltutlon guaranties, in behalf of the enjoy ment by all citizens whether natvie or adopted. of the rights of civil liberty and religious tol- atlon as more dangerous and more vigilantlv to be resisted than an open and direct attempt to render those guarantees nugatory and of no effect
 ResotUed, That a secret organization which secures the fidelity of its members to its edics, laws and regulations by oaths of perpetual alle- glance, and proposes to accomplish it's objects by prescribing from civil offices one class of our citizens on account of their religious creed, and still larger class because they refuse to swear allegiance to its rules, and which seeks by the cohesive power of office to obtain con trol of the government, both state and nation- al, for the avowed porpose of cfiecting objects inconsistent with the constitution, Is necessarily ant-Amcrcan antl-repubcan, anti -Whig, anti democratic, destructive of political morality, and calls for the united and ceaseless exertions ot all truly conservative and national men for its overthrow.
 ResolUed, That the scenes of violence, disor- der and immortality which have marked the footsteps of the Know Nothing organization from its origin to the late dsgracefu and bloody tragedy enacted at Louisville, in the State of Kentucky, ought to impress every lover of good order, sound morality, and pure christianity, of the danger of giving counte- nance and encouragement to an organization which has been seized upon by disunionists and abolluonIsts, and made subservient to their unpatnotic and reasonable purposes, and which IS shown by sad experience to be be constant ly liable to be perverted to the destruction of law, morality and religion.
 Resolvei That We adhere with unshaken fidelity to the doctrine, that State sovereignty in all matters of purely domestic and internal con- cerns, is, and always has been a cardinal prin- clple of the democratic faith, which great principle is endangered by the modes of reform m the matter of suffrage proposed by the Know Nothing party, and which proposed reform we pledge ourselves to resist, because by the true interpretation of the federal constitution. by the debates and votes in the convention that framed It, and by the actual practice of tn c States themselves, 1t Is conclusivelv shown that the States have the absolute and conclusive control of the suffrage
 ResolUel That the perils that now threaten the integrity and peace of the confederacv. arising from an ascendancy in most of the free States, of spirit of sectional fanaticism, made successful and powerful by the aid of the se- cret machinery of Know Nothngism-cal up- on all national men, whether democrats or wings, to unite in one common organization to make common cause against their common foe, and the foe of the Union, by the platform fur nlshed by the compromise of the constitution in regard to slavery, and upon the principle of congressional nOnintervention applicable alike to t1e States and territories, adopted by the united votes of democrats and whgs, in the passage of the series of measures in 1850. known the compromise measures, and re- affirmed by their united votes in the passage of the Kansas and Nebraska act, in 1853, which provides that its true intent and meaning is not to legslate slavery into any State or territory nor to exclude 1t therefrom, but to leave the people thereof free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, sub | Ject only to the constitution of the United States, and to this end we hereby solemnly and earnestly renew the pledge of our devotion to the democratic platform, adopted in Baltimore in 1852; and by that platform all true de- mocrats are bound to abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the compromise measures of 1850, so now we pledge ourselves in like manner to abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the Nebraska and Kansas act, passed in 1853, as final settlement of all sec tional questions in regard to slavery in the ter rtories; and upon this platform and under the democratic organization, we tender the hand of cordial fellowship to all national men, north, south, east and west, and invite them to CO., operate With us in averting the perils that threaten our common Union
 HeSeeoed That the present distinguished posi- Vioh o' the United States at home and abroad, results rom an administration of its govern ment upon principles purely constitutional; and that President Pierce having administered the government upon those principles, enjoys the confidence of every lover of the constitution. Res0lUed, That we have unshaken confidence