Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1855-03-31

solFlcnt 10 Tue TeueIdl power, anu tudl III the
Constitution is not strong enough to restrict
slavery, we must make it so her determine
ton 10 exhaust the rest Of the Union for the
benefit Of her own manufactures by protective
tariffs her support of an inflated national cur
rency; her bitter and unrelenting hostility to
the compromises Of 1850; her progress into
the maddest abolitionism her howl of phrensy
when the principle of noninteryention and the
: sovereignty Of the people was established by
the Territorial bill of Nebraska and Kansas
her present spirit Of notification; and of reli.
gious prescription. are facts known throughout
the length and breadth Of the land. 1t is these
things which are now having their jubilee in
Massachusetts. Is it not so? Does not the
message of Governor Gardner contain the
whole dark list Of dangerous political hereses
which have just enumerated? Massachusetts
has, indeed, found the harvest for which its po-
litical field has been so long cultivated The
stiff and proscriptive Americanism Of John
Adams, the notification of Governor Strong,
the abolitionism of Otis, the protective doc
trnes of all her Wing statesmen, have culmi-
mated in the sophistries of Governor GARDENERS
address, in the abolilionism, and prescription,
and anti-republicanism, which pervade it, and
in the popular sentiment which sends Adolf
tionists to Congress, and cherlshes Garrison
and Phillips as household gods at home.
This is Massachusetts Know nothingism. Ii
is the adoption by the people, misdirected by
old party leaders, of the theories Of that party,
and their expression, in the crude and fanatical
manner which we now behold. Can you con-
ceive of a more glorious opportunity for aboli-
tionism? The popular mind, tainted by long
previous teaching, and the popular feeling per-
verted during years of political heresy, have
burst forth into revolution, which fanaticism
seizes upon with natural avidity. And free
and republican people, clamorous for Ameri-
canism, and redmouthed in their denunciations
of Jesuitism, bind themselves by party ties,
which nothing but perjury can break, subject
themselves to obligations upon which their very
livelihood depend, and are willing to be con.
fined within the limits of orders, whose lines
are as fixed as the castes of the Hindoos Is
not this political paradox indeed? Can q
State be proud of the political history out of
which such monstrosity has grown? Is there
any temptation in this, that Massachusetts
should be followed by her sisters in the con-
federation? 1t is indeed strange that such
heresy should come from Massachusetts,"
strange that with her intelligence and her in
terests, she should have pursued the path 10
such conclusions. But it would be passing
strange if she met with response from Vir-
i
which would lead the people Of Virginia at this
hour to follow ''the lead of Massachusetts,
that lead which discovers the States, arrays sec.
tional interests against each other, proscribes
foreign industry, and destroys that religious
freedom which forms great element Of the
Constitution. Virginia would develop her re.
sources. Can she, then, shut her doors against
the entrance Of adopted citizens, without whom
even Massachusetts, could not have attained to
her wealth and prosperity? Virginia would
maintain her doctrines of State-rights, which
she has set forth in the great crisis which have
heretofore threatened our national fabric. Will
she then place her destinies in the hands of a
party, whose whole vitality consists in the very
hottest of abolition dictation? Virginia would
enlarge her universities, and multiply her
schools, and extend her churches. Can she do
1t by adopting system of religious intolerance?
Virginia would maintain a standard of honesty
and freedom of political opinion among her
citizens. Can she do it by reducing the stand
ard Of truth to the morals of a Know-nothing
lodge, and by the voluntary submission of her
citizens to the discipline of this proscriptive
Order? Virginia 'sthe mother OF States and
Statesmen" would stretch forth her arms and
embrace confederation bound by mutual re
gard for the rights and privileges of each other
Can she do it if the doctrines OF Know-nothing
ISM prevail, and she finds Gardner to rule
her at home, and federal abolitionists to repre-
sent her in the national Councils?
1t cannot be for moment supposed that the
principles which majority of the people Of
Massachusetts have declared themselves in IA
vor Of, are consistent with the perpetuity Of
this Union, or are such as the leading minds
of the country would attempt to advocate. And
vet the overwhelming success of the Know
nothings here, has already operated as re
markable stimulus to this extraordinary party
elsewhere. 1t is on this account that would
have the political pecuEariles of Massachusetts
fully understood by the people of other States
Here, more than any where else, have the De
mocracy struggled against tremendous odds
Their success has always been short-lived and
doubtful The party which has maintained its
ground, fighting in minority for those doc
trines which have generally controlled the
policy Of the country has been fearless in de
Tense Of that policy, and has met the CORES
pondng opposition. This aspect Of things has
not changed. Those elements which have been
divided in this State, merely by personal diff
ferences have taken advantage of the protec.
ton of secret concave, TO join in an united
Onslaught upon the Democracy. This is the
legitimate business Of ACKNOWLEDGMENT. II
is the weapon employed by the party out o
power and their sympathisng macontents t
overthrow the party holding power in the
country. And to overthrow il for what
Solely because it is Democratic; because it i
that party which supported Jefferson and Jack
son, aud has preserved untarnished the sim
plicity of our republican government; because
1t is that party which has endeavored to mete
out equal and exact justice TO all mem" and
has maintained an indiscriminate regard for the
welfare of every section Of the Union because
it is that party which has not allowed itself tC
be led away by sectional issues, and has re
garded the requirements and guarantees OF thu
Constitution, as superior to temporizing anc
short-sighted compromises. 1t is this party
which ACKNOWLEDGMENT is constituted to op
pose. Yon will look in vain for, n nationa
Wing organization. That party which has beer
reduced from its former greatness to being I
simple exponent Of dissatisfaction, is nov
clothed in, new armor, and combines the het
erogeneous forces of Abolitionsts, malcon
tants d;onn;opietq into an uuprinpiplpd. and