The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1855-04-14
SPIRIT OF THEpRFss

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| iDe Enqnfrer has an article ON the fru,,. :
Know Nothingism, and points TO the recent RIO. i,
Cincinnati % one OF them; and, a. we'll caIcu,.t.,
70 show us tho danger of alternating and dissocia
ting our foreign born fellow citizens from the com
munity, and exasperaiing them by invidious dis
tinctions aud intoIerable wrongs. II can hsrdI,
be anticipated that men viii resign the rights an,
privileges of citizenship without resistance: an,
when Il becomes necessary for arepublc to main
tain ito authority by force all ree popular govern
ment' 10 at an end. 1t cites an incident, which
however, trivial In ITSELF 10 yet significant OF tn,
temper of the times: A few days since, Bishoy
McGill, who Is kentuckian by birth, aud a gen.
tleman OF irreproachable character learning and
piety, was insulted Ia our streets by negro, who
muttered, 'there goes the id Catholic Priest
This was doubtless the result of the elections In
this city, and under the reign Of Know Nottingham
the negroes in the street feel secure in any out.
rage upon a d--d Catholi:. 1t asks sober and
honorable men If the thing has not gone far
enough, and whether the due subordination of 30.
ciety shall be disturbed by reckless adventurerss
The Penny Post copies from the Alexandria
Sentinel (dem an admonition to Democrats in the
Know Nothing order, ito leave honorably and
preserve their honor after they have LETT, by sa-
credy keeping their promises and especially their
oaths." The Sentinel also says 1t "cannot encou-
rage any one to make revelations. because it Is q
most fearful thing to do" The Post comments
upon these paragraphs, aud draws a comparison
between them and the sentiments uttered by Mr..
Wise. Itappeals to men of honor In all parties to
discountenance this system of espionage, and
bribery and perjury which Is fast becoming re-
cognised and legitimate mode of warfare In the
political contests of Virginia. 1t tends to the in
evtable destruction of all honor and of all conf.
DENTAL intercourse and mutual reliance between
citizens and communities. If 1t ls countenauced
as legitimate warfare against the Know Nothings,
the masons, Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance,
and all will become equally amenable to this un-
scrupuous spirit which is crying vut for the expo.
sure of all secrets.
The Whig has leading editorial upon the ori.
gin and effects of the American party. One of the
causes which has given powerful impetus to this
new party, Ia the desire of the people to escape
from old party trammels and the corruptions of
party intrigue They have found out that they
have too long been the instrument of selfish poll
tcians wherewith to effect their own ends They
gladly avail themselves of opportunity to escape
from serviy as degrading az 1t was dangeroue.
They see In the American party something fresh
and healthy and pure. No wonder that they should
fly from'the foul air, generated by long series of
political intrigues, to breathe the fresh atmos-
phere of a new position.
The Examiner denies that the Know Nothings
have any claim to the name of "the American par
ty, and bases its denial on the ground that they
drive homeless foreigners from our Shores attempt
to regulate and control the religious faith ef a
mans wife, hold midnight assemblies for political
purposes. evade and suppress the truth, prescribe
native born Americans, because they will not enter
their dens, and violate all American ideas of the
sancty of the Bible, by taking midnight oaths up.
on It, -
1t says that the true American party of the Uni
ted States Is that great National Democratic party,
which, with Its open organization, avowed princi-
ples and devotion to American institutions, has
conducted our country to its present lofty height Of
prosperity and greatness. Laying no dishones'
claims to what 1t does not possess that party is not
the special friend of the Catholic the foreigner
but the equal and strictly impartial friend of ali
over whom the Constitutions, State and federal
extend the rights of citizenship 1t also speaks of
the acquisition of Cuba, and says that the only
practical results of Know Nothingism will be to
present, in all human probability, an insuperable
barrier to the Souths strengthening itself by the
acquisition of slave territory.
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