Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1855-04-27
From HARnf COUNTY.
10 he Editor, Of ~ i!tqHHtr,
It.ppy CuuSrY Va, April It, 1850

cauta speech from Hon. John Letclier. AMI one tia
will tell well upon tho present canvass. lie 'rs' EN-
concise and universally satisfactory account o ms
stewardship in tho last Congress. No one o,Jc...u
nor could any one object, to his course ON INC
questions before the late Congress ON all 'lucsatoH;
h. showed himself truly faithful al" hoN'S' f"'"
servant. ,:.,o,.,, m ,b.
He then devoted tho balance OF ms speech 10 w.
now Notbings This portion OF his speech wa iio'
characterized by personalities or aouSo' ~ 20 -,
in very mild manner b., q. tha, Order lie
Ln,vod mucb policy in that respect, because .ie'e
has doubtless been persons sedu'ou mo quo. w..
y,rv inuucny, who can be reclaimed Wing .iio
sv tendencies of that Order show ID 10 tho'n III u
ond temperate argument, which could not be done
by abuse. , 49,, .hoo ,sers .,o
in behalf Of Franklin Pierce. He alluded u INC pn
timore PLATFORM winch We then stood upon Hhu u"
wished TO be understood as occupying inc SAINT pia'
form thnt he theu occupied. lie rrad portion 4
Gen. Scutts letter oil acceptance, III whHh ne S'.tou
that after foreigner had served one year III e'n
the Army or the Navy, he should oe ei'lni ~ iu
citizenship, thereby making The ptr'ou vi na' II
tion four wears shorter than is at present. lie ASK
ed them if they remembered "thc rich irlsh orosus
and .tle sweet German accent re feierlu ~ VI.
time, two years ago, when Col. bai"M'"' s''1 ".
elecor for this district was present Iere a'lu sou"
tioned and lauded those sentiments, us expresSeu III
Cen SCOTS letter of acceptance they were then re-
ceiyed with the greatest enthusiasm 10y the very pa'
" out of which the Know NothInes OIL u',s eoIJ
have been organized. lio asked them u lucy nau
forpotten il? Truly such mighty change couiu not
have been wrought by foreign Influence SINCE lnal
time. Yet they charge the Democracy win hcohsiS
tency. .;,o, :; ,,,;,h
they sny that Americans shall rule ihelt COUNTY,
not ruod their country He asked them to show
b, period in the history OF our country, IN "h'ch
tho Catholics had wished 10 rule America lie ask
ed them how many Catholics held Offices III ts coun
ii. IN nnw hiy IN IL
n;cs there were in this county lie asked If there
WINS a dozen! Some one answered, abont that num-
ber He thought that Hardy, with her nine thousand
population, were surely not afraid OF dozen Catho
lies He asked them if they were really much alarm
OIL
lie ased them how many Catholics there were
among the three thousand clergynon Who p-tilioned
~ ycp-yerents of God, against the Nebraska bill -!
Not one. How many Catholics were there III boih
houses of Congress- In the Senate there Is not one
In the House OF Rel resentatiyes there arc two oiio
tho patriot from Philadelpha- great noble and
p,ftsd Chandler nn American by birth; but, cause
he was Catholic, they defeated him. The other is
Jose Manuel GHleSos delegate from NE" mcA'e'' I"
Spaniard by birth. NJ
He then rend the following extract from the De-
claration Of Independence
"IIe has endeavorel to prevent The population OF
these States for that purpose obstructing the laws of
naturaIiza alton of Foreigners refusing IN pass others
TO encourage their migration htb"r, and raIsiiG the
conditions of new appropriations vi lands. There
by showing that they were trying to Il" that Tor
which we rebelled against the mother country.
lie then read from the Constitution ni the United
States that "Cuiigress shall make law respecting
an establishment Of religion, or prohibiting the Tree
exercise thereof" THAT religious test shall ever
be required qualification 10 any office or pubilc
trust under the United States" From the Virginia
Bill of Rights: "I'at religion the duty which We
owe to our Creator, and the manner III dscarSln- IL
can be directed only by reason and conviction o con-
science, not by force or violence and therefore, all men
equally entitled to tho free exnrcs" al rei%l"
,cordng to the dictates of conscience; AMI that II
is the mutual duty OF all Ia practice Christian r'
bearance, love and charity towards each other =
He then read the resolutions OF Madison, rs adopted
by the Legislature Of Virginia during the session "f
9S aud '99-eoncerning the Alien and SedtIon laws
also of Jefferson passed by the Legislature OF Ken
lucky. He sail he stood upon the platform erected
by Jefferson and Madison. He considered the Know
Nothing principles direct violation "f the SPIRIT a"
the Constitution OF tho United States-the Declare
ton OF lndependence-the Bill o. Rights, and tho
platform erected by Jefferson and Madison lie was,
therefore, opposed to hcm. Ho spoke at some length
upon tho secrecy Of that Order. lie ina iohha
but two men who ever acknowledged their connection
with the Order MIR. Banks. from Massachusetts, had
acknowledged he member III the House OF Re
prcsentativos-an a gentleman in Highland county
had told him that he member OF tIaf Order
AMI he furthermore told him. that Whenever there
was a Know-Nothing candidate he could not vote
against him unless he withdrew from the Order.
lie said that the period Of five years established by
the Law OF the nation, sufficient when properly ear
red out. Al old gentleman Remarked TINT they should
remain here 81 years before entitled To citizenship
Mr. Letcher then asked him if II nativc OF South
Carolina ST. ,ud remain hero II years before entitled
To citizenship .
The old gentleman then answered that ho Should
Mr.. Letchcr then remarked, IN very amusing man.
ner that lac knew some men that would not be Know
Noihings LONG they had To remain ere2l years before
they could go to the Legislature. They would be out
pretty soon if that the game they were gong To
Ia l1ltt NJ tlr "a
moment there any persons in the South who
would give any encouragement to Abolltionism but
he pointed out TO them tho tendencies of that partyin
tho North that uut of some three hundred and sixty
members of the Massachusetts Legislature, no asked
them hos many Wings llore were Only five. How
MANY Democrats One poor devil did manage To
squeeze in there The very first election they elected
the man to the U. 5. SeB9te, who says he hopes ho
may see the day that tho sun will not rise on mas
ter or set on slave. He alluded to Judge Loring.
who 80 nobly held up the Constitution "a tie United
States during the abolition riot in Boston, ccneca by
the arrest Of the fugitive. Because im protected tho
rights of Southern man, he has been stricken down
by the vengeance of abOlltl0nsm lie WAS dis.
missed from his profassOrshp in Harvard University
by Board, over which the Know Nothing Governor
OF Massachusetts presided But that has not satisfied
them. A petition was sont to this Sotlnn.
Legislature to deprive him Of his Judicial conlnls.
sion, which was referred TO committee, who, Ut
course reported in favor Of his removal there were
only FIVE Wings and ono solitary Democrat in that
body. The Know. Nothing Governor. will, OF course
RESPOND to the Know Nothing Legislature BY their
encouraging this party in tho South, they giving
hid and comfort to the aboltioniss OF the North
He spoke in very sarcastic terms of those clergy
men who have descended from the pulpit to mingle
with the busy scenes and troubles of politics. He
honored those who had remained true to their calling
but those who had appropriated tho pastor $ robe
to politics. he had serious reasons for doubling their
christianity and the devil was not very far behind
| tapping theta on the buck, excalming. We'll d0ne
brother.
Though his remarks on this subject were intended
exclusively Tor those preachers who hn been elected
to Congress and to the Legislatures Of the different
States in the North, yot there others who
not ministers, but members Ot the church, who have
been the mort active in this Know Nothing move
mont who seemed to be srorching under to fire of
his appropriate language-and who seemed Ia enjoy
the former part Of his speech as much us any Of his
audience but they turned from him, and mover
smiled during the remainder Of his remarks, not
wthstandng he made some very witty observations
Those persons afforded material for much amusement
to the balance Of the audience, more especially the
solitary Wing.
lie read Jill, which was presented TO Congress,
tho night before the adjournment, by their mouth
niece Mr. Edyerton, in which, among other absurdl
ties provided that foreigner shall be allowed 10
land upon our Shores unless lac presents certificate
from the United States consul resident OF The coun
try he had left, showing that the applicant had not
been convicted of any crime, or offence. and that las
had not been afflicted with insanity for hrc years pre-
vious to his application for said certificate There,
fore, if man hud been afflicted with insanity and
had entirely recovered he could not come here %" II
his wife or child had been similarly afflicted aud five
years had not elapsed since their recovery he could
not come without leaving his family. He rond aud
commented upon this BILL for the purpose of illnstr"-
ting the evils Of and extravngant lers-
latior-onc OF the results likely to follow the inauSu-
ration of know y oihingisnl.
have only given synopsis of some of tho more
important PORTIONS Of Mr. etchcr speech He held his
audience enchanted for more than two hours. He has
lost yotes for himself from that panty. MIR. Letclcr
has boon Landed and esteemed more than sny mui,
that oysr represented this District; the members OF
that party Laye beretoforG boon as loud as any III hs