Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1855-06-27
We think the rise and spread of Kno-,. >, :

We tn y, the rise and spread of Know NotL.
ism IN the South has been great misfor+n,o'
first and worst effect is to DESTROY here th Its
ton Tor moral steadlnesS which made ne op"ta
tible to the influences of Zss Heretoforoo nsuScep
been exempt from the dangerous and cr.z we nave
ments which are perpetually being evolved 5AI.e'
ncIous gases from the boiling cauldron of fan per-
ing which in the North has degene rated ~ 'nnk-
est license in matters of morals politics and Wild
Fourierism, Anti-Rentism, Millerism. SniritIss5on
and the thousand other vagares which have lstn
tied the reason and shaken the moral percent; c'.
Northern society, have had no foothold with nun Of
we have rejoced at immunity, and hou Do ana
believed that in it, the pledges of bifI
OF national character firmness of mind and tOne
ness and solldlty ofjudgment which we conIJ al
crlreIy rely for safety. The advent Of Know NE
ingsn has sadly shaken this confidence onJ ~
thought will force itself on our minds that tb H,e
otionists must rejoice at it, and gather bono tIo
their detestable ism Also may yet in due seaSo
take root and expand in the soil which ba 1 nO
congenial to Know Nothingism f''en
Unquestionably the South has lost cast and oh.-
acter by the spread of this deluson for deluSio =
is, without leg of reason to stand upon. w;thoat
any sanction in the prophet es of our sitnation ~
sustain 1t. 1t is mere wild and contagious excite.
ment caught sympathetcally from the North win
none OF the conditions palliations which ,nibt
feebly excuse it there Except in few of orr ct
foreigners have never appeared in sufficient NM
bers to afford even ripple of oense to the broad
expanse of native southern ciUisne--and as for bo
them as the only religious sect, whose brethren 49,
tie North have wholly escaped the contamination ~
Abolinonism, and as the parents of numerous. cbou
tiles that do credit to the religion they profess and
the age in which we live. A delusion so baseInCo
must, think, pass away but it will leave its sna
and its scars behind-perhaps its unhealed wound99
TIC torment American society for ages to come AL
ready it has worked great moral evil. 1t has unset.
tied the general reverence for truth-it has nado
evasion, equivocation and double dealing neceSco
ny practice with honorable men who would otbo~
wise have scorned such instruments of impos,nro
and self advancement
1t has at blow struck down that spirit of manly
independence and outspoken boldness of thought
and expression which was the browning virtue Of
southern character. 1t has destroyed confidence
between man and man, that we cannot talk TO-
gether even on the great subject of our common de-
fence and safety against the serpent of Abolition
without being conscious of the chilling influence
and restraints of secret obligations It has excited
in the minds of the ignorant the spirit of mob vio
lence, thus turning loose and sanctifyng in such
minds the most dangerous and lawless passions
Witness the riots in Cincinnati and Louisville Wit.
ness our own city, where for three successive nights
houses pulled down and their inhabitants were
flying in terror for life under voley of bullets and
imprecations. Witness the outrage against harm
less Catholic priest the big road, accompanied
by threats of still violence if he dared to un
dertake again his sacred functions
Whence these things? We do not say that
they the doings of Know Nothing men, or the
instigatons of Know Nothing lodges; but we do
say, that they the eferVescence of vicious ex-
citement-the fruits of poisonous seed, taking root
in vicious minds, and fourshing there with viru-
lent uXuriance which dstatefll and as asound
ing, trust, to the wel-ordered Know-Nothing as
to any other citizen. In Mobile these transactions
passed without notice No investigations were in
StltutGd-no arrests were made-no offers of reward
for the guilty by the legal authorities. Even the
press dumb if it spoke at all, it family
deprecate the excitement of the 'boys and to init
mate that the places pulled down deserved their fate
and the Priest " no better than he should be-" Our
mouths were sealed because knew that protests
would be uttered to the Winds and put to the account
of purpose to influence the then pending election.
If the home of the humblest and the worst is not
according to the old principle of English liberty his
" castle" through which {" the winds and rains Of
heaven may enter, but the King cannot If it is
not as much outrage of law to pull down den
OF infamy as the mansion of opulence and virtue, the
conclusion is that no longer live under the do
minion of law and magistracy; but under the secret
DEGREES of invisible and irresponsible masters-worse
than the rule of Lynch Law, because better organ
lied, and invoking the watch-w words of patriotism
and the sacred sanctions of religion. In such state
of things, who is safe? Doubtless, the human de-
mons who went about Louisville the other day beat
ing, cutting and shooting every man, however en-
ployed, who had the appearance of foreigner be-
lieved they doing right and service to their
cause and principles doubtless, too the respectable
members of the Order in Louisville depored these
excuses. We know that order-loving Know-Noth-
ings in Mobile indignant at the violence in this
city. But this only goes to verify the dangers we
are endeavoring to point out. Religious excitement
and prejudice of cast which comparatively harm.
less in enlightened minds become scourges and fire.
brands in the hands of the ignorant and the vicious
1t is perous spirit to awaken in society. History
points to its of blood and its hecatombs of VIC
tins in other lands and times. 1t is closing eyes
to reason, and our ears to the warnings OF expert
ence, to believe that human nature is far changed
that it will not produce like effects in this age and
country. But enough. Our reliance is upon "time,
the great reformer," and upon that Providence VINO
eye the fall of sparrow is not Indifferent
Mobile Register:
R1-RSINc NEcpn TILE Su A p aMA.--