The true Democrat., 1855-11-20
Letter from Drew County.

nd cberishcs the pure and undetiled principles
 of democracy above all other things temporal
 Ind when I see designing politicians, who
 .,,uld build themselves up upon the ruins of
 hetter men, by invading and trampling under foot these sacred principles, l cannot but ap-
 rlaud the men, and support the press, who op-
 aose the invaders with such manly frmness,
 .. you and your press have done, and are still E doing. But whilst Know Nottingham has been < fnitful in producing it's many evils; it has ne-
 verheless done one good thing for the demo-
 crocv of Arkansas; it has shown the friends of
 .7ual rights and privileges who are for them,
 and who arc against. For 1 would suppose
 that there is not a single school boy in the
 state who does not already know which of
 the "presses at Little Rock" represent the true
 democracy of the State. And whilst you can-
 not but continue to oppose the further inroads
 of Know Nothngism; you should neverthe
 less give it full credit for settling the great question in which you yourself were concerned.
 Bnt sir, am of opinion that the time has come when every free man should arouse himself from that political state of inactivity Gnto which the present prosperous condition of his country has placed him. and take firm stand in defence of his threatened rights; for never ,perhaps since the foundation of our present government, down to the present time, have the civil and religious liberties of the American people been exposed to a greater danger than that which now threatens them, in the shape and form of Know Nottingham.
 One of the cardinal principles of the Know Nothings is, to exclude the Roman Catholic from holding any office or public trust, upon the ground that he owes and acknowledges civil as well as spiritual allegiance to the Pope of Rome; and that the Pope or priest can. at his will or pleasure, absolve the Catholic from any obligation or compact entered into with any oth- CT power Although the Know Nothings have charged this doctrine against the Catholics, still they have failed to prove it. But for the sake of argument, admit that such is the case and let us see how the matter stands. The govern ment of the United States knows no religion: 1t IS founded upon the principles of civil and religious liberty; 1t treats with every man upon Ia footing of equality; and hence the foreign atheist or infidel can, by complying with the requirements of our naturalization laws. and taking the oath of allegiance, procure for him. self the right of citizenship and the protection .of the government and the foreign christian, by pursuing a similar coursc car procure for himself the same benefits, and no more The government neither claims or exercises the right to judge of mans religious faith whether it is calculated to make him a good and faithful public servant, or whether it is sufficiently or thodOx to fit and qualify him for the kingdom of Heaven. This is a matter between man and hls maker, with which no human authority has any right to interfere. The government judges Ievery man according to the position which he occupies in civil society; it is by this standard alone that hls moral worth and political integ- nty are judged "with respect to oaths and oth CT obligations" The obligation of an oath in alegal point of view, extends no further than the jurisdiction of the civil government under which it is taken; and all governments in insti- tuting oaths annex penalties thereto, in order to secure their faithful observance, and if any per son wilfully perjures himself, or betrays the trust reposed in him, he has to suffer the pen atty annexed to his crime, and that penalty is temporal punishment; and when he has done this, justice is satisfied and the government has accomplished its object
 Now for the Pope and his power over the Catholic. Admitting that he can forgive sin. etc, etc, has the Pope the power to prevent, the offending Catholic from suffering the penalty annexed to his crime? No one will pretent to say that he has. Well then has the Pope the power to restore the perjured Catholic to his original position in civil society? He has not. Now if the Pope canpot exercise these powers Tn behalf of the offending Catholic, his power cannot interfere with the administration of ius tee, so as to defeat the ends of government.
 But further: If we admit the principle that the Catholic ought to be excluded from hold
 
 release him from the obligation Of his official oath, will not the same objection apply with equal force to the competency of the Catho- he to give evidence in court of justice, par ucularly ih a cause where Catholics and Pro- testants are concerned? Most assuredlv f. would; for if we admit the rule in the one case we cannot consistently reject it in the other; and hence the evil and confusion that such a course of procedure would produce, can scarcely be imagined. Nor have we any reason to be- ljeve that the religious test would continue to be applied to Catholics only. The precedent once the test could be applied to other denominations, whose religious faith is not shaped and modelled according to the peculiar notion of modern Amercanism And my opinion is that it would be applied to other de- until some one of them would succeed in engraftins itself into the favor of Know Nottingham, and by that means effect a union of church and state Such an event in my opinion, would be the legitimate re- result of adopting and carrying out the princi- ples of Know Nottingham to their full extent
 Another cardinal principle of the Know No- things, is to exclude the adopted citizen from holding office, uIon the ground that his mo- ther did not reside upon American soil at the moment of his birth, thereby making the par tcular birth place of an individual an absolute for office, without regard to his honesty or capacity. The foreign test is more objectionable than the religious test-for this reason man in forming his religious opinion can exercise free agency, but from the very nature of things, it is impossible for him to have any agency in pointing out his birthplace, and to hold a man responsible for an event over which he could not possibly have had any con- trol, is something that ought to make humani- ty blush But the Know Nothings excuse themselves by saying that the birthplace of the adopted citizen is his misfortune, and not his fault" And according to their doctrine 1t