Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-04-11
NUMBER l25.
mr.. Patton,s speech.
[coNcLUpEp.l

uauic BrouHu Ol h5Sault upon tniS American party
unon those 40 or 90 or 10000 of the people Of Vir
gina is that they laboring ia the cause Of abo
litionsm Fifty thousand Virginia gentlemen OF
intelligence, of property, of character, combined
to promote the cause Of abolitionsm Terrible
conspiracy. most dangerous and mischievous poll
ticians! Why, gentlemen, the very fact Of the
composition Of this order Is a standing refutatoii
OF this most singular imputatop. But If you wanted
any other evidence Of H. just take the testimony Of
Mr.. Greeley, or Weed, the peculiar organ Of W
II. Seward, or Wade Of Ohio, or Giddings, all OF
whom denounce his American party as the deadly
enemy tho abolition party. se'e
received newspaper this morning, believe,
containing the last tulminatiops-(for they seem 10
have some Popes among the abolitionsts,) of Mr..
Giddings upon the subject. / will read them for
you, together with some remarks from the Chicago
Journal, anabolition paper. Speaking of the Know
/ Nothings, he says
There are few foreigners whom | would be
less willing to trust in Office than those who are 30
active In their efforts to arouse the popular feeling
against our cmigrant population while they them.
selves remain perfectly quiet and see our native.
born Americans, Chat is runaway ncgroes) from
ONO and other free States, seized and sold into
! nterminable slavery; ave- they not only remain
quiet under such insults but insist that the people
shall not discuss the impropriety of such crine.a
II would thousand times rather vote for an
honest lover OF liberty, though Catholic than for
many Protestant Doctors Of Divinity, who have
SO long denied our obligation of Gods higher
law and endeavored to reconcile us tn ma
INFAMOUS fugitive slave enactment. The time
has arrived when men should be judged by their
actions by their moral and political conduct rather
than by prejudices attached to name or a sect
The Chicago Journal--an abolition print--quotcs
passage from Governor Smiths speech in defence
OF Acknowledgment, and says
There II is In nut she'll Foreigners who co,,,r
to this country, settle in the free States with in
stncts against slavery. aEa
For these instincts the South is to hunt then,
down, while frecmen at the North shout forth talDy
no! TO the chase. Aside from the oath-bound.
pfoscriptive intolerance of the order, there seems
enough in its slavery Instincts to cause all friends
OF freedom 10 view its progress with ALARM
That continued Mr.. Patton is the testimony
upon the one side and then we have our Virginia
papers denouncing this party, and the leaders OF
the party without measure, and denouncing it as
an abolition party. There really seems to be SOM,
thing very amusing and curious in the idea of Sec
ing TINS great American omnibus moving along
upon the railroad, which the people believe Is fyf
ing TO lead to the terminus Of triumph and sac
cess, and the leaders Of the Virginia Democracv
trying to pull i off the track because it is loade,f
with runaway slaves, carrying them to the North =
while on the other side, we have Greeley, Giddinrs
and all that party pulling at 1t with all their might
because II Is catching runaway slaves to bring
them back. Well, If they keep on pulling in that
way, one pulling on one side and the other on tho
other, as action and reaction Is equal. a..yitle
long Pall strong pull FL Fl rs course and win ar
rive at its destiny without any sort Of difficulty.
But this oathbound organization, as Mr. Giddngs
calls it, WELL gentlemen, as said before, don't \
belong TO this secret organization. never be-
longcd TO secret society in my life, although mott
Of my family we're Masons. havo some sort Of
scruples and fastidiousncss which prevented me at
all times from going into any place to assume any
secret engagement But surely We are not going
at this time Of day denounce secret associations
| as dangerous and mischievous, and riinous 20 the
country, merely because they are secret. hope
we are not TO have the sntiMasonic party revived.
The question whether the secret character Is OBJ
jectionable not, depends upon the objects ofthe
organization. The reason which they had TO make
IL secret assume any secret engagement, Is mani
! fest TO all who can estimate the extraneous infu-
/ enccs Of party, and the consequences OF an open
| Reputation Of former party fealty. But we arc
justified in taking 1t for granted there is nothing
dangerous in H. good fruits come out OF IL and
| would no sooner believe thatmy venerable friend,
] (pointiDg 10 DR.. Merritt on his left,) II he be
Know Nothing, which 1 do not know, but sup
pose-I would just soon suspect my venerable
friend would be member Of a secret association,
red with conspiracy against the liberty OF the coun
i try, as i would believe that you, or you, or you,
| (pointing to several prominent Masons) or any
other gentleman not belonging TO this organize
| tion would unite In such a conspiracy. Gentli
men, this is all stuff, We know what this
secrecy is, and what It was for. They have pIo-
claimed their principles and basis. They proclaim
that II Is peculiar organization, for the purpose
Of building up party TO sustain certain principle
If those principles good, Of what importance Is
il that they choose 20 so together and consult
about them, and discuss the ways and means 10
procure their ends In sccret9 ls every polti-
cal association practically secret in its operations
and It's communications with other associations
affiliated with it, and in all the machinery calcu-
lated TO give effect aud success TO their political
ohjectsi We know that Il is. We know that
the great mass Of the party have nothing TO do
with all this preliminary management, and, in trutl
know nothing about II.
No, gentlemen, we know what the object Of this
secrecy IT, or at least think do, and think II
Is stated in very able letter issued recently from
some council In New York. Il gives very fully tho
objects Of this Organization, and the reasons OF rs
secrecy. win read you some extracts copied into
the Lynchburg Yirginian, from a Pennsylvania
paper, which is opposed 70 this Know-Nothng or
ganization. Itis perfectly well known that il w,S
designed to protect those who were desirous Of
joining this party from the terrors and denuncia-
lions Of the old parties TO which they might belong,
Possibly there are many men--honest industrious,
and sober men-men whose bread depends or
not quarrclng with their party-who, though de-
srous Of joining this new organization, could not
do unless they could be protected from the con
sequences Of an open avowal Of the fact that they
had joined the new party. The remarks Of the
Pennsylvanis paper were read. l win read some
commentary Of the Lynchburg Virginian on tlo
extract which / have referred TO-
i "We need only look over the columns of any
Democratic press in the State to perceive how no-
cessary IL was that the members of the new party
should protect themselves behind the shield of Sc
crecy. Whenever Democrat is discovered in
connection with movement regardless OF his
rights as a citizen and his feelings a man, he IS
stigfhatized as miscreant aud traitor, and held up
to the scorn and contempt Of tho world. The rgor
Of its party discipline Is such that few men are
bold enough to incur the vindictve and relentless
penalties Of ofabsolving their allegiance to the Demo
cratic organization. The law OF Russian despotism,
which makes il capital offence for a subject to
quit the realm, without permission Of his imperial
master, s no more stringent or more rigrousy en-
forced than the obligation Of the Democratic feay,
which demands perfect and perpetual adj
hesion. The regulations Of military service have
wi hnnn ndorted into, thcir ccic-aId desarfera