The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1855-03-24
opELoUsAs SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH a. 1866.

foreign gratitude They are less patriotic, less
susceptible of se]Egovcrnment less interested,
than the newcomer. "Debemus etiam malta
;. ratione redaita crcdere." fa ts
}, General Scott, the gray-headed veteran,
might be there to protect the country against
Indian depredations. A stranger shall take
him aside and tell him, You have been in
your country's service nigh fifty years; your
blood has Redeemed her batte-felds, from Can
ada to Mexico. | do MT know any thing
about American institutions, American laws
or American interests, and care still less
about them; but yet | am made Of that stuff
of which can be made better citizens than you
are--at least, SO think your congressman
You can not vote: can Your epaulettcs,
your wounds, the sword given you by crate
z full country, prevent you any brogue is my
, authorization !"
law which reprobatcs and fears the motives
and devotion of the soldier, and renders the
, refuse of the world nobler than the men whose
blood has Redeemed the sods Of their country's
battle-ieldsl M .Ga,l oHF fa.iA m
Large sections of country have been and are
now being settled exclusively by foreigners. A
, word of English shall not be spoken there for
the next twenty years. They shall have their
towns--Hamburgh, Berlin, Brusses-their
burgomasters- of Bunderstaats or Staat-
enbunds---think of every thing, except that
they are no longer Germans, Norwegians or
Irishmen.
/ And where shall be the unity of the nation?
f Where shall be the commonness of ideas, of
thoughts, of aims, of language which made of
f us all but one people? How shall we con
tinue that healthful and civilizing interchange
of thoughts. of impressions and sentiments
when we shall be obliged to travel in our own
country with dictionaries in our pockets
Shall the native American. standing in the
valleys of the far-off West, in the midst of a
foreign population, any longer think that he is
, in America? No! no The integrity Of the
, Republic, the unity of the Nation, are being
destroyed!
Enlighten Europe-give to its oppressed
millions an American system of free public
schools-place in each hand q copy of the
" Declaration" that glorious epitome of bibl-
cal teachings, that splendid compilation Of hut
man rights, which, with the eyes fixed on the
pages of the Gospel, VIC see as through o.
resplendent microcosm-clear away the rub
bish from these minas-take away from these
hearts a little hatred, that you might instil
therein little love--do that--teach them how
+ broad, illimitab,e Continent 4,
Under the pressure Of the most murderous
influences, the law has gradually lost its power.
The body polite has become crippled by the
weight Of the foul incubus which testers near
/, its heart. Disorders and crime dishonor every
day the Republic. In large cities there il not
an election without a riot--not one attempt at
with opposition. Men are growing accustomed
: to this ignominious spectacle. Says Hugo
"When public morality is ecipscd, there arises
in the social order an overawing gloom.' All
guarantees of order are fast leaving u.s. We
are tending to the times F" when a curse lights
3 upon the limbs of men J" when Government
springs from supreme disorder, and leans back
4 for support on fraud and violence. The popu-
lar will is eluded--its expression falsiGed.
Every where we see the hand Of fraud and cor
t ruption-venality and subornation replacing
e virtue and integrity. In our own State, after
: a most fearful epidemic that had swept away
S over twelve thousand PERSONS the vote of the
t city of NewOrleans exceeded by thousands the
D number Of voters as shown by the census
S returns Whence did this proceed? Let those
I who have seen hired cabs and wagons sur
: rounding the polls answer the question. / dare
S not proceed further; and yet, ] have never
heard of an American who voted more than
. once at the same election.
y And you, whom the prison-houses and sub
t urbs of the large European cities retch upon
b our shores-you who reel like drunken ssvages
on the public liberties political infection, gam
5 grening the body polite; infamous eprosy,
/ disfguring the Republic, which you transform
(! into an Ochlocracy-that is, the government of
\ the rabble; men whose consciences are lies /;
t, infamous flock cudgeled to the polls by your
|. ruilian leaders--what seek you in this country
t, The air is too pure for you. Go back to the
e mire whence you came! Seek the sewers
s through which flow the filth of a corrupt and
decaycd society! The vapors of such abodes
alone can suit your instincts!
And you, too, men heartless and without
r faith worthy followers of those whom Mazzini
Il styled as 'the lost disciples Of school which,
u sprung from the atheistic doctrine Of art for
q art, has concluded with the formula power for
Is power YOU, who first belied the holy tradi-
D. tions of the love of order and respect for the
Is law, which had made of American virtue q by
y word among the nations of the earth, so much
g. that q man said, 9" | am an American citizen,
e. as the Roman of old said, "Cirls Romaaila
Of sum"-you, who chartered boats totale down
lc cargoes of political infection and moral leprosy
n whereby to fnlsify the expression of the popu
se lar will, that you might foist your ptifnl inlu
he ence in the administration of government-yo
ne were the first to give the brutal lie to the holy
re presentiment of the progress of liberal institu
G. tions. You have mutilated the work of th,
Ie Revolution-you have trained and fed the han,
OF of crime, and placed q dagger within its reael
e. to murder the Constitution
g "Oh heaven that snch companions thou DIST unfold
AT And put in every honest hand whip
10 To lash the rascas naked through the world,
III Even from the East TO the West.''