The Belmont chronicle, and farmers, mechanics and manufacturers advocate. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1848-1855, 1855-01-19


Of individual opinion, municipal orgoniza-
tiens and interests, associations formed to
perpctuatc locu, or individual rghts--are al
swept away. It requires nerve to meet con-
stant checks ol business, to face denuncia-
tipns Of the press, to withstand the ta'ints Of
political associates, the tyranny Of convcn.
: tons, ind the hdttering appeals ofpower-
more tn IN to brave death, when one has
once inhaled the hot breath Of battle Itiills
every avenue Of a State with its power, and
remorscessly it hurls down whoever dpres
oppose its decrees.
| might name men Of lofty elevation, great
men, who have experienced the truth Of what
say, in my own State. This country has
produced few men superior in the majesty Of
intellect to Robert RantcuI, IT,, who died a
few years since, in the service of his coun-
try, as Representative Of the district for
which, in Tart, hold my scat. He was a
man OF rare attainments, and of almost limit.
less intellectual power. His mind had the
grasp of HaEilton's and the analysis Df Cal
houn. His habits were sta ped with the
simplicity of childhood, and his mild spirit
with an almost feminine beauty. II. dcyo-
ted lie to the study Of financial and stat.-
teal science. He was foremost among the
advocates commercial ani personal free
dOm; aud he supported the monetary policy
of Juckssn, at a time when giants only could
tread in his footsteps. AS Il rc'ormer, he
was the RomiIly Of the New World. His
life was one of unequal though uol of fruit
less, contest. The diamond o. h. intellect
broke in the effort to engravc upor the hlr-
dcned surface Of Eastern politics 'rs,'hs. n, w
universally received; ana h. died, +. Ni' .,apt
tears, but, except by this House, an, MS IN
mediate ncighb Jrhood, utmost Nithyu. Hl-
,ice.
Such influences as these, reach bi! tla--ys
Of society. They touch Cne man in his for
tune, another in his ambition, another in lis
religion. and another in his mems Of liv';i-
hood. Al interests Succumb to il; and even
the trenchant blade of Webster was turned
by it We :alko the patronage OF the Fedrr-
al Government What is it CON pared with
such elements of power!
! 1t is but a few years since we asked for a
secret or independent ballot, in virtue of the
right Of every man to give a vote, not only
uncontrolled by, but unknown to, other mon.
! 1t only perfected the right Of citizens to vote
( by ballot for the ballot itself is secret in
sttuton; but no proposition could have eX-
cited greater commOtion than this.
Other difficulties were not Of rare occur
renee; that element Of power which is now
exciting such attention throughout the coun-
try, which seems tot ave hitherto held a bal
ance OF power in nearly all communities, and
to have decided nearly every contested cleo
tion, upon policy dictated by its leaders,
/ was not without its power among us; and a
recent, and most important contest, 81 dec-
ded, has impressed seated grief upon many
thousand hearts. | mean the Inf Ience OF
foreign votes.
! A these causes, some operating on enc
mind aud some upon another, have produced
discomfort among men of all parties. IL
was not to bo expected that ordinary men
could rise rperor or bc wholly indifferent
to them. Nor is it "A recent nor sudden e.
bulIi,ion Of feeling For many years ind-
cations Of revolt have been motel. New
combinations have appeared and disappear
ed. One by one, men have abandoned their
former organizations, with more or less sue
cess, but not in such strength as to give cour-
ave to ths timid or security to the weak; and
the masses Of men remained in camp, wait
ing only n fitting opportunity to escape par.
ty drill. At length it camo. In that mys-
terious manner so aptry described by the elo-
quent gentleman from Mississippi, somebody
constructed covered way, sort Of subter-
ranean passage Il low browed cavcrnous av-
enue, by which men could pass from one
point to another ani one camp to another,
seeing nobody, knowing nobody, and saying
nothing TO anybody. Sir, you should have
seen them 90. Eighty thousand men, of ev
cry pursuit and opinion, in the brief spacI
OF three mont h, al,es'cd their belief in its
efficiency and necessity And was it not
their right! Vino will say that the people
the solo repositories Of political power
scontented with existing parties, mly no1,
even in this mysterious manner, make neW
combinations for the transaction o! their
own affairs, and erect new standards of poll
cv for themselves! Is it not their rlgM!-
VINO says mol Their justification stands
not SO much upon their necessities US their
convenience; aud who can point out Il more
etlnctull or natural method of doing what
( they have done-the transpOsitun of the
/ rank and file Of all parties into Il new orgtn-
ization, excluding nobody but the leaders,
taking everybody inside that desires TO come;
and leaving nobody outside but the driver -
/ Who viii! say it is not the right OF THE PEo-
PIE! Does the gentleman from Mississippi
/ complain Of their secrecy! Is it secrecy
, that make The wrong! Sir, secrecy is their.
| 1t belongs to them. No man and no power
can Justly take it from them. What have
they done As yet they hive done nothing.
You cannot pun Il men for that. The gen
tIeman from Mississippi | think intimated
that there were to be some indictments, and
:renl of his suggested that Pennsylvania
Judge had charged. grand jury against the
"Know -Nothings," Well, sir, these men
have done nothing yet, except 20 carry an
election here and there, ard that is not trea-
son, even though Pennsylvania Judge did
charge jury that certain things could be
done, or ought not to be done, or were Grim
inul in point of law. Sir, it is the people