The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1855-03-02
THE WING PARTY.
tPrOm tn. Frankfort CKy) Commonwealth

course rum Has its sun at last set, and for
everi HIS all the good it can accomplish
been achieved And can it no longer add
aught to the welfare, the dignity, the honor,
and glory of the country And must, indeed,
that great Wing party, which, dating its or
ganization far back into the golden age of the
Republic, has, through all the fierce struggles
and eventful changes of more than thirty
years, constituted the great nursery and chief
safe guard Of the principles of just conser-
vatiye constitutional liberty; ut one stage OF
its progress marching on to the most signal
and splendid triumphs, and at another suffer-
ing and falling back under the most disastrous
and seemingly overwhelming defent; yet, ever
in defeat as in victory, rallying with rekindled
ardor, and redoubled energy, to give battle
again. Must this party, thus glorious in the
achievements and recollections of the past,
and proud in the great names that have at all
times guided its counsels and adorned its
history, be now dissovedl Dissolved Z And
by what! BY the numbers and strength of
its opponents! By the force of attack from
without? No! By what then? BY the force
of its own inherent weakness and decay. By
its own constitutional inability TO hold to-
gether its members, in the bonds of union,
sympathy and concerted action. BY the base
abandonment and shameful deserton Of those
who should, in this the hour of its sevcrest
trial, cleave to its fate with more than n
Scotsmans devotion TO the fortunes of his
elan. Must these things be, and will no hand
be put forth to stay so calamitous and shame
full result! Will no voice, clear and trum-
pet tongued like that of Gays, or deep and
profound as that of Webster, be raised to
rally and gather together around their old
affairs, and under their old eagles, the broken
and fast deserving fragments of the once
proud and powerful Wing party! viii no
effort be made by those having in their con-
troll its destiny, to save it from so dishonored
and dishonoring an end? If the Wing party
must be dissolved, must die, shall il meet its
end at the parricida hands of its own chill
dren! Shall its death blow come from those
who should guard and cherish it; who have
been made by its lavish bounty the all Of
what little they are! These are important
questions. They are home questions, and rs
such address themselves directly, pointedly,
and | odd nutrinti,nllv 10 trua
hearted country loving Wing in the land
How shall they be answered? Surely not by
base, unmanly imitation of those timid, OF
those yet still more unworthy, time serving,
self.ndvancing, and office seeking deserters
from the Wing ranks, who, having fattened
upon the misplaced confidence and bounty Of
the Wing party so long as they supposed it
had anything to give, are now in such indie
cent haste TO attach themselves to new So
cieiy, and shout the same sordid hosannas to
the new and rising order of things, that they
once so DANGEROUSLY sung in praise of the
party they are now so ready to denounce, and
so eager to betray. 1t seems nowadays the
fashion with these over Jealous converts to
new worship, and with some honest but sim
cerely doubling Wings, to speak of the Wing
as dead party, as defunct organization,
that has lived and had its day, and must now
be consigned to its grave as lifeess and
useless corpse. Some go even so far rs to
denounce its past principles and policy, and to
deny that it ever had any real claim to public
confidence and support. But where is the
PROOF, where the evidence that its recupera-
tive energies are wasted, that its vitality is
gone, that the Wing party is dead! Will it
be found in the result of the recent elections
in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and several
other States, where large majorities of Wings
have been elected to both State and National
offices! Surely not. Will it be met within
the antccedents and past history of the party?
Consult that history. IE 1924 the Wings
triumphed under Adams. From 1928 to 1910
they were defeated, and almost Frustrated
beneath the determined energy, and over.
whelming popularity of Jackson. In 1910,
they again rose in their strength and swept
the country before them. Again, in the
memorable campaign of 1914, they sustained
defeat, and yet, again in lS4s, they rallied
u der Taylor and rivalled, if not surpassed,
the brilliant triumph of 1910. Such things
have heretofore happened. Why may they
not happen again! No! it is mistake. The
Wing party is not yet dead. ! he elements
of vitality, vigor, and action are still strong
within it, and may yet manifest themselves at
time when many, now ready to abandon
and desert it, least expect and least wish, to
the good, the honor, and the true liberty of
the country, So long as the memory of great
services, and the sense Of great virtues and
great talents live in the minds of the sensible
and patriotic people of America! So long as
n broad national American spirit, wise and
just foreign and domestic policy, and decent
proper regard to the claims of legal authority
shall be regarded as of value among Ameri-
cans, so long will the Wing party, wisely
adapting itself and lis policy to the expanding
progress, the changing condition, affairs, and
the varied and varying wants of the country,
live and act, the pride Of IFS followers, the
dread of its enemies, the glory of the country,
the bulwark of well regulated constitutional
liberty.