Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1855-05-15

mind of every man at once is, WHY has all this secrcc,
been resorted to Why has this system of uaths an;
espionage been invented! Why has the scheme O
argument mud enlightenment, and appeal to the un
Outstanding of the people boon abandoned, An,
~hat 10 the answer! Can any man say that this, iii,
mode now pursued, is tho ono to propagate tho truth
TO establish sound principles for tho administration Il
government which rests not only upon the will but O
therefore. to u great extent, shaped and controlle,
by public opinion! The principles of the par
ty are good or bad. If they arc good, VIII,
conceal them' Why endeavor to get people bouni
by oaths to enforce them before they understan,
themi Truth is great, it is said, and must prevail
Justice is eternal. When was il that men cont;den
that their cause was sustained by truth and Justice
feared to make that cause known to tho world. an,
publicly to vindicate it, If may DO pardoned 70
drawing, without profanity, AL illustration from tn,
example Of the Saviour ofmankiud, whose rel;~ion ha
been polluted by being made a p%oliticali instrument O
avcilto hide the dcformities of the Priest of Khoro.san
did the Saviour manifest his reliance upon tn,
truth aud justice and divine origin of his principles
oy gong about IN secret corners and hidden places, Il
Promuig0te them' But, on the contrary, did he not
IKE a disciple defender of q holy and Just cause
boldly proclaim his principles and publicly CON,
mand his followers to 90 and do likewise, an'
proclaim them also to all the nations Of tho cnrth
Did no not do this in tho face of torment and of tor
ture, and OF death! And il this Know-N Nothing Anne
rican party, as it 10 called, has confidence in TIC
soundness, correctness, tru;htulness. and fidelity Oh it'
principles, why do they pursue the very opposite
course from that indicsted ia the example just gwen
and, Instead Of coming publicly before the country
fairly appealing to the public understanding, enden,
vor, as | have said, to take the people by surprise, and
lead them captive into culverts, in order that they
may use them for political purposes' They must, II
they arc satisfied Of tho truth and correctness OF thcii
principles, feel less convinced of their ability to per
suade and convince others of the correctness Of thcil
conclusions than ever men did before. And il
therefore, you conccde to them the conscien'
tt,,,.a - r l-a .s-
you not of necessity lei 10 the other conclusions
that while thoy contide in their principles, they do no,
believe the people have intelligence enough TO com
prehend them, or, if they have, they want the virtue
and the patriotism which are necessary to induce then
to adopt them. Therefore, is II not, as | have said
inevitable, that this secrecy can be accounted tor only
by ono of two conclusions, TO wit, a knowledge tina,
their principles will not bear public examination ana
criticism; that they are unsound and dangerous, or q
want of confidence in the public intelligence! As the
most favorable and charitable Interpretation OF the TIVE
l will concsde the latter to be the true motive, and
then, l ask you, if this party il any thing else bu,
that same old alien and sedition law party, in
principle, that always did deny the capacity of the
people for self-governmont, thar always has believed
that republican government was a hopeless expert.
ment, aud, like their leaders, aforetime, would have
the government to rest on other bases than that of the
public lntelligencei and Is it thereby commended IL
tho support and confidence of the people of Virginia,
who have, upon every occasion, secuted and denounc.
ep it, and always vindicated the capacity rs we'll a, the
right OF the people to govern ,hemsolves1
But this is not oil: They claim to be political and
religious purists. Now, let us examine, for Il moment
their title to this claim.
In the first place, tho great body Of this party, pro-
perry called neutrality-suspicious. the Amcri.
can party-is composed of the old Wing party; q
smaller portion ofit-and, Hope, almost Enthusiastically
small-is composed of men who, I'D 10 the moment OF
their going into this party, had professed to DO Demo.
crats, OF Democratic principles; some Of them noisy
and ultra. The Wings have denounced, habitually,
and even Mt the outset and commencement Of this
amalgaination, the Democrats az Cloths and Vundals;
their principles as anti-rcpublican, unconstitutional
sxrarinn; In short, they imputed to Thorn every
thing that was detostable while they have, on
the other hand, extoled what they call Nhiy princi.
plos, Us the true emanalions of the Constitution and
the revolutionary minds which gave it birth. The De-.
llmocrats who had joined, some of them at least, havo
been conspicuous alike for their denunciutions of tho
anti-republicsn character. sHd dangerous and latitude
nous tendency and federalism of the Wing party and
Its principles; and somc of thom who have since con-
sented to play know-Sothing part, although ,forsooth,
they had always been accustomed To denounce them
as a party without principle. except the principle of
poiiS-hunting-as 9 no-party party, who, by hypo-
critical professions OF no partyism, were seeking TO
deceive their old rats, Us the famous cat in the meal
tub did-protess now, thn.this coalition party, made up
OF these heretofore discordant elements, far more
nionstrous than that coalition, 80 much dc.
by Burke as resembling the tasse-
iated pavement, has sunk all party and intends
principIes'" The country upon some sublinsted
" concealed in a cnlvert e~-"wel, but are careful.
suppose, their iuiury-being exceedlIxy ---.nt
from exposure to light and mr..
Now these principles, Judging from the compo-
ncnts of the party, and from the failure thus lar I"
announce any new political principles, are 10 DC
Wing or Democratic. And the first question | ask
is, which is to prevailing ing SIDE OF the coalIon,
or the Democratic side of the coalition, or are they
to prevail alternately If the Wing side is to pre-
vail rs the permanent power of the party, then at
once there is an end Of the pretsnce, that it is not the
old party under a new curb, and there is an end ut
once 10 tho idea that the precious purists of the De-
party who had joined, are to learn what they
have heretofore considered, a vicious mass Of Wing
by the infusion Of u little pure Democracy
them. Ii on the other hand this pure Democracy
10 to be the ruling power OF the State, then we are TO
have no change of principle, but merely a change oi
men. And what then becomes Of all the past history
OF the great Wing party! What Of all the professions
Of its leaders, that their principles were lrrecoliclia'
bly, opposed to Democracy, and the Democratic par
principles, and that the principles OF the
Democratic party were the opposlie-nntl republic
can, anti national, even treasonable! when they were
called into play by the vindlcatlon OF the rights OF
the South. What faith shall YOU ever again place in
the professions Of q Wing, after what you have heard
frou, themi Who shall now come forward and say,
that the PRINCIPLES of the Democratic party arc Tho
true principles upon which this government shali TO
administered, unless at the some time he shall ostao'
q new claim to your confidence, by Il frank con-
fesslon of his conversion and conviction! II, however,
the distinctive principle of either the Wing, or Demo
cratic parties ID to bo the ruling power OF the new party,
then the unly alternative is, the Wing party shali Vote
IN it's principles to-day, and the Democratic portion
Of the party shall vote them ont, and vote IN its prln.
ciplos tomorrow. And thus, like children in the school
song, with one set of principles up to-day ana anotheF
up tomorrow, they all 80 about crying mere we
90, one foot up and tother down, here We 10. what
d scheme of government. and what must DO the hopes
of that nation that has to rest for its safety and seeu-
rity and liberty, upon such a party, and such prinoi-
plies, if principles they may be called, which scorn
and defy all principle! Somebody must be cheated by
this coalition, and the question il, who is dupe enough
to BIZ convinced, that an amalgnmation Of the Wing
and Democratic principles can be effcctedi That
you cannot have q Wing party and u Democratic
party, ruling rs q unit at the same time without alb
negation of all principle, is perfectly certain, and
there must, OF necessity, therefore, be Gu abandon
inent OF principle by ono aide or the pthori and yet, at
the same timo, that this, their condition il so ~apparont
to you. with an efirontsry that nothing but u Know
Nothing: q literal Know, Nothing, ever did exhibit.
before you they profess that they are the pure and
unadultsrated portions of two bad parties, and de-
claim about their horror for renesadcs, every man of
whom must Of necessity be the thing they denounee,to
wit: arenegnde,if by renegade is meant q conscientious
change of opinion from one purity TO the other or else
a hypocritlal pretender-renegadc. Who are the
prominent mon Of the Wing party, designed and in
tended, if they get tho power, To bc prominent men in
the coalition Who ae the prominent men Of the De-
mocratic party, designed and Intended to he prominent
men Of power in this coalition With very few exeer-
tons, they are persons who belonged to the old Fede.
raj party, if they were old enough to have been 80, or
members of the Jackson party some Of them profess
ing sven now not to have renowned the principles
which thoy supported in the support they gave
to Jackson; expungers and anti-eIpunsers, bank men
and anti bank men, prOclamationists aud ant. procla-
mationists, Wilmot provisoists and anti Wimot pro-
yisoi,ts, free trade and high tariff men, Texan and
anti Texan, combined together to esAblish one great
commonp party, resting its foot upon one great common
platform of principle. How utterly ridiculous -
How worse than ridiculous, such q party and such q
profession! What absolute contempt they must have
for the popular understanding to expect to gain
credit for il. How much more fitted to be callod tho
ostrich party than the American? who suppose that
because they change tboir names, their motives and