The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1855-09-14
STAND BOLDLY BY THE RIGHT,

has the right to be bold and out-spoken in her
utterances; it is her province, as it is that of
wisdom, to stand upon the public ways and
proclaim her axioms in the ears of all men,
Let error hide her diminished head, and sneak
into secret conelaves, ashamed of light, and
glowing darkness because her deeds are evil"
but truth has a nobler. manlier duty, and must
conduct herself boldly in performingit.
No political party can hcpe for permanent
success, unless its principles and acts-its or
ganization and its policy, will bear the test
OF public criticism. No secret society can at
tain the dignity of a great party. No order
OF men, having in view any political measure,
can produce lasting effect upon the govern
ment OF the country, or achieve the triumph
of any principle, however noble or sacred, so
so long as they resort to the iugglery of Sc
cret oaths. watchwords and midnight copn-
ellis, to mature their plans of action, and unite
their forces for any great struggle.
There is natural distrust in the minds of
the people, of the motives and measures of
any body of men, who seek to accomplish
their ends by the means Of secret machinery.
Under tyrannical government, there may
sometimes arise a necessity for concealment,
and the friends of liberty are compelled to
band together and mature their plans in Sc
cret, in order to obtain sufficient strength and
concert of purpose, to resist their enemies
Otherwise, they might be struck down one
by one, killed off in detail before they could
concentrate their forces for common defence
against the minions of tyranny. The 1erfdi-
Gus disclosures of a rebellion not yet perfect
ed and organized, has again and again proved
ruinous to the cause of freedom in the old
world. Thus the friends of liberty have often
been condemned to ignominious defeat, and
suffered death or Punishment from their homes
and country, from the betrayal of their pnr.
poses by traitors to the cause.
But in free country, secrecy and dissimu.
lation will work the ruin of any cause which
they are designed to benefit. A free press
and free speech will secure the triumph of
any principle which deserves success. The
people will listen to the man who boldly
challenges discussion of his principles, while
they turn deaf ear to every appeal which
comes through secret channel. Every
measure of every party will be thoroughly
canvassed and discussed, and rise or fall on it's
merits. Injustice, by brazen effrontery, will
often achieve momentary success, while
truth is disguised through the cowardice OF ite
advocates, and overwhelmed by defeat. Eve
ry great humanitarian reform-every step
in the progress of righteous cause-every
revolution in the policy Of the government
must be wrought out, not by surreptitious
means but by bold and candid avowal OF
the right, an earnest, open advocacy of the
principles at stake.
If the American sentiment be what we
have described it in these coumns--if it is in
reality the very basis of our nationality-the
corner stone of the temple of freedom, which,
for the first time in the his DRY of mankind,
has been raised to a solid superstructure in
this new world-then it can well afford to
dispense with the sombre surroundings, the
solemn oaths and secret conclaves of Know
Nothingisn, and couIageously appeal to the
American people to sustain it, and award it
an acknowledged prominence in the policy
of the government. This position will be
conceded to it only when it forsakes the arena
of secret political organizations. 1t has no
need of degrees or passwords to gain a pas
sage to the heart of every American. No
prearranged, secretly contrved concert of
action is required to give it right to be heard
at the ballotbox. 1t can and will triumph
at the shrine of freedom without such mean
and adventitious helps. Itgave birth to uni
versal suffrage, and it will not be denied by
its offspring.
A free people-the sovereigns of mighty
COMMUNICATING under institutions of their
own creation, which are capable of being re-
modelled or improved when such an amend
ment is called for by the popular voice
should scorn to resort to midnight councils to
carry out their will. Americans will rule
America because it is their RIGHT and DUTY TO
do so. they will rule :he land liberated by
:he blood of their fathers, through the tolls
and sacrifices of seven years revolutionary
war, because it is priceless heritage which
they are bound to protect, to cherish, to defend
and to Improve, in all its vast resources and
capabilities, and to leave to their children
hi, al, I a.
it came from the hands Of their sires. Its in
situations must be kept free from the patch
work OF aliens who are strangers to their spir-
it. Its escutcheons must not be polluted by
the unclean hands of the demagogues who
would ride into power on the shoulders of an
alien mob fresh from the purlieus of igno-
rance and vice, reeking with cannish preiu.
dioes and religious bigotry, and with every
impulse of the freeman stifed by the oppres.
sivc governments Of their native lands
These debased, minimizing multitudes from
over the sea, must be educated in the school
of freedom before they can be fit recipients Of
the franchises Of q free country. And shall
Americans be the poltroons to fear, or hest
tate to tell them this-to deny them the spe.
cial immunity of the freeman's ballot while
they admit them to the manifold privileges
which all enjoy who live under our govern
menti Is 1t necessary, or wise, or manly, or
republican, to have recourse TO q secret or
ganizaton, to carry out policy SO manifest
ly just and reasonablei