Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1855-03-31
From the Richmond Enquire
A WARNING TO VIRGINIA.

From the Richmond Enquire,.
WARNING TO VIRGINIA.
The name of George b. Loring is familiar
not in Virginia only, but throughout the entire
South. The 6rmness with which, in the case
of AnHony Barns, he resisted the pressure Of
a ianatical public opinion, and upheld the Con-
sttution and the laws in the midst Of almost
universal disloyaty and revolt and at the haz.
ard Of a severe personal penalty, attracted the
attention of the country to man who thus
fearlessly maintained the independence Of the
Judiciary, and thus nobly illustrated the devo-
ton of the patriot In Virginia, especially, the
rights of whose citizens he SO faithfully pro-
tected, his conduct excited the greatest admi-
ration. And, when he was stricken by the
vengeance Of Aboltionism and in the loss of
Office was made to endure the penalty of devo-
ton to duty, we were not backward in expires.
sions of sympathy with his sufferngs and ndig.
nation at his wrongs. But his dismissal from
professorship in Harvard University, by a
Board over which the Know-nothng governor
OF Massachusetts presided, did not appease the
vengeance Of the Abotionists. They resolved
to deprive him Of the Judicial commission which
he holds under the State government. A Leg
isature, in which the ascendancy of Know
nothingism is without dispute, eagerly entered
on the work of persecution. A petition for his
dismissal was referred to special. committee,
which has just reported in favor Of removing
him. 1t is already understood that the Know
nothing governor to whom the power of re.
moval belongs, will promptly. respond, to the
request of the Know-nothing Legislature.
Meanwhile, the Know-nothing Abolition press
OF Massachusetts, is preparing the public mind
for the sacrifice, by traducing the character Of
the intended victim. Theodore Parker and I
Wendell Phillips are conspicuous among his I
prosecutors. In the agony of this severe trial,
Judge Loring bears himself with the compo.
sure of conscious rectitude, and The dignity Of
truly heroic nature. He can have no doubt
of the issue of the attack, but, in his misfor-
tune, he may be assured of the sympathy and
applause of all good men in every quarter of
the country. He will fall victim of the Zero.
c:ous phrensY of Abolitionism, and martyrto
his intrepid devotion to the Union and the Con-
stitution. In the South the memory Of his pa.
triotic service will be cherished with grateful
admiration.
This is the man who ventures to utter warn
ing to Virginia in the present perilous crisis of
its fortunes. And surely no man has better
right to speak a word of admontion to Vir-
ginia, and from no man will Virginans receive
words of counsel with more respect and graft
tude. His personal character, his distinguish
ed ability, his welltried and well attested pa
triotism, to say nothing of his special service
in defense of the rights of the South, combine
to open for him ready access to the heart and
judgment Of the people of this State.
The letter from Judge Loring, in another
column of this paper, will be read, we doubt
not, by every citizen of Virginia, with attentive
and impartial consideration Apart from the
interest which must attach to the solemn warn
nf
tons to the South, touching the great issues
which at this moment engage the most anxious
thoughts of the people of Virgina-apart
from the authority which belongs to the delibe-
rate opinion of a man who gives us the convic-
ton of sound judgment and the results of
close and accurate observation of the character
and tendency of Knownothingism in the quar-
ter whence it originated and where it has at
tanned its greatest power-apart from all these
accessory circumstances, there is enough of
eloquent appeal and irresistible argument in
this letter from Judge Loring to produce an
immense and decisive effect on the popular
mind of this State and of the whole South.
No honest man, of whatever party can read it
without conviction of the truth Of its repre-
sensations. No intelligent man will fail to adj
mire its compact logic, and its manly eloquence.
But to the Democracy Of Virgina-to the old
State Rights Republican party which reveres
the memory and cherishes the principles of
Jefferson aud Madison-to the party which in
every crisis, from the era of Alien and Sedi-
ton laws down to the last and most repulsive
development of anti-slavery Federalism, has
stood steadfast by the Constitution and the
Union, this letter appeals with fervor and
force which it is impossible to resist To the
people of Virginia we commend it as supply
ing unquestionable and conclusive evidence Of
the alliance of Know-nothingism and Adolf
tionism in the Northern States. 1t corrobo-
rates the emphatic testimony of Judge Doug.
las, and Of every other national man in the
North. 1t pictures the true nature Of Know
nothingism as we see it in its political devel.
opment.