The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1855-05-25
THE BEDFORD GizETTB.
Bedford, saay ss5, 1856.
The Secret War among the Sc
crea Party.

! finally begun TO assal each other with venomons
! ftrociy. As vet, the war is conducted ~ secret:
/ but daily events indicate that il will presently
/ b. utterly impossible TO restrain these emhIuer-
! ed differences. and that The disclosure, Whea II
CONES, will present strange contrast between
/ the outside varnish that hides, with deceptive
! polish, the fostering Internal corruption. These
/ factions are Ike Mlitons hril-hounds 'sfhey
/ bark ard howl WITHIN, UNSEEN" When they
! break forth, with their s'hideous peat" then
i shall We see more clearly the dangers OF this
conspiracy against nations peace. Every
sign OF the times, however, points to It's rapidly
approaching decay. ITS Sudden successes will
shortly be equaIled by its sudden overthrow.
! The torrent ot ianaticisn, swollen so rapidly
and 81 uneypectedly, and at one time thrraien-
ing TO sweep doWn before It every safeguard OF
society, ard every element Of religion and NOR
ais, has already partially subsidized, and will soon
20 back 10 the foul source from whence II came.
! The onStt of bgotry is ahoei 10 be avenged IN
speedy and disastrous reaction and those VITO
are even rejoicing al the prospect OF receiv-
ing rewards for their vile deeds will, instead, be
! forced TO gather the harvest of the wrongs they
/ have inflicted upon happy people. "Fhey
havn Sown tEe storm, and they must reap the
whuiwind'' Fhe, evidences of their tastcoming
4 overthrow multiply with every day. let Us
7 fake note of such as are most prominent aud
apparent.
A large class Of the know-nothings are clam
orous Tor public action. They have, like Mr..
! Patton, of Virginia, grown ashamed oi their
own secret pioitngs. They disguised with
The mandate which conpeIS them to crawl, like
Italian bravos, with muiilrd faces, along dark
and dirty alleys. They sick of the task Of
threading unlightpd stairs, and Of stunning the
+ qasSrts-br, as If guilt and crime absorbed their
souls. FheY feel the rpproach at their hearts,
that this seeking after concealment, this hiding
from the dav, is not an American practice, but
is copied from those dark times when the dagger
Of ttfc assassin was whetted IN the denS Of the
depfaved and whnn the aflront Of the morning
was avenged hy the hidden blow Of the night.
Like Ajax. they crv, ssGive us bot hight, and
we will ask no more" Tins far, however,
they have appealed in vain against the spirit OF
darkness. Every new effort only adds new
torturps tn their condition: but still they clamor
that the cloud shall be- lifted of, and that they
may 20 out among theic fellows without the
brand of hugiliatioD upon their brows.
Archer class are FESTIVE uUder the htdrouS
oaths they haze taken. Thesr the men who
have h0a&ed &c their love OF God, ofthpir afiec-
. ton for thrir friiow-crraureS, of their venera-
ton for morals. They have grown tired Of
deceit, and sore under the yoke that opprrsSes
them. They realize that the bonds they have
assumed are at variance with high and holy
duties; aud that il is IN vain to protest eXclu-
sive pity and patriotism when their secret vow
comteIS ta-,n 10 strike heT brother Tor his faith,
and to wound their oWn country because oi its
constitution. They recoil from being any lon
ger lnrcrd u vote for Every drmagogue or Know
nothing a'ilo can manage to corrupt majority
of the nIdrr, aud they long to BE- released from
+ obligations which crush out their manhood, aud
hl them with agony,
Still an0ther and larger body Of those who
have been entfapprd into this conspiracy have
become weary and repentant Of the crusade to
which they are committed upon all who do not
worship Cod after particular fashion. They
did not contract for cruel and 50 eXcppiionleSs
prescription. They did not contract to break
| down everg Catholic, aud, instead of such
citizen, to take 10 their confidence and thtlr
afr ctioa tde atheist, the deisi, and the Nor
mon.
The peculiar faters of ofCatholicity, moreover,
are alarmed at the idea that they are bound TO
perspcute their fpiiow-ProteStantS born in an
other land and thev find at last. but too late,
that the fanaticisn 60 which they are bound can
haunt the followed oi Luther with quite as much
bittrrneSs as the follower OF the Pope-both be-
ing equally guilty in the eyes Of the know-noih-
ing leaders, so far as the one is an adopted
cilizen, and the other a Catbolic-ProteStan:is
being hell pless 10 save the first, and Cathocly
being powerful to csilancblse the last
The clergy are finally enlightened as to the
fact that tte know-nothngs are not the saints
OF the land and more than one follower OF the
meek and lowly Jesus revolts from The consr-
quences oil The oaths be has taken when he sees
his new companions brutalized n their secret
! meetings hears their proianities observes their
treachery and their intrgues, their heart-burn-
ingS and deceit between each other; and then
when he goes out iuto the open day and marks
the contrast between the outrages Of his brfth-
rem at the balot-boxeS, their disorderly inter
rupions of public meetings, their riots on the
holy Sabbath, and the quiet and accomplishing
spirit of the mea and sComen they pursue and
prescribe such a man feels at bis heart the
keen rebuke that always Furnishes over-zeal and
uncharitableness. And so the clergy long for
deiverance from sthrse hated bonds"
Alreadv has California, through her State
know-nothing organization, eXtIngulshed the
proscriptiye religious element which has been
the life and the soul of the order in the Atlantic
cities and States Here, then, is difference
that strikes at the very root of the whole struc
ture of the secret conspiracy. Without this
feature the whole movement would have been
! H.. ,Itt I,,,