The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1855-08-15
Our Position.

~ say that we are lndnef ent 10 tue
! honor proposed to bo Conferred on US by
, an election TO responsible office, would
be an idle assertion of what no man. in
such case, could sincerely feel. we
can truly say, however, that we have
never, at any time, had such an overwecn.
ing anxiety Oil the subject, as TO prevent
our sacrificing all expectations Of mere
personal promotion or emolumcnt. for
the sake Of harmony Of action, in the
great struggle now going on, whenever
we could do SO consistently with self
respect decent regard for the wishes of
our real friends, and 6rm adhesion 10
the principles We have all along profess.
ed aud advocated.
We waited long for some manifesto.
ton of reasonable. spirit of Cancellation.
on the part Of those who had cndcnvored
to push themselves into places. to which
Others had been designated by full con-
ventiou of the leading party in the coun-
ty' No such disposition has been shown.
from the first Having once sacrificed
their honor, in the desperate scramble
they were making for office, they we're
determined to hold on TO the rittance
they had so dearly bought, and to ignore
and forswenr all Chains Of others, as mere
idle fretcnsious 1t was on these terms
only, that our unconditional surrender
was dem0Hfcd. Any man having par.
tlele Of honorable sclfrcspoct, would
scorn to make such rusillanimous sub.
mission, even to save himself from GER
tain defeat.
| 1t needed but the manifestation of f,;r
aud eon'Iiatory spirit-with positive
and satisfactory assurance that all our
principles would be faithfully carried out
10y the intruding candidates if elected
to have secured our own withdrawal from
the canvass, in spite of the gross breach
OF good faith by which these intcrlopcrs
had crowdcd themselves in. so strong
was our desire 10 avoid all personal war.
, fare aud political division. It would in.
deed have been great sacrifice of mere
pcrsonal feeling but no love of office we
now have, or ever have had, could have
prevented it. We asked no stimulation
as to the future. We should have
spurned all bargains, if proposcd-as
none ever was. But when the terms of
withdrawal were only in the form of
M|ctiS-of caution against some trench.
dous catastrophe just impending over us
III the presumption Of submitting TO be
Il candldate against a man of so much
more wealth than we of the certain ruin
Of our business and rcpn,ation--of the
determination to "annihilatcn Ms and
our rnrcr. il we refused thcn the mat
ter assumed an aspect altogether diHar.
ent, and but ole course was LIFT us-to
appeal directly to thr l,cop1c.
We have offered To withdraw. in case
Mr., Warner would do the same; vet --
Though he and everybody knows that he
had never the shadow IF an hoHora5e
claim to be considered candidate at all
we have been distinctly told that Mr..
Warner was determined to keen the
field. at all hazards This has been the
only spirit, from first to last Clear the
track, or We shall run over YOU. We
give the alarm signal: if You get out of
tho way, yon have only to thank us for
this timely notice"
Sdcl is plain history of tie attempts
to rompr9miie this difference. We ask
every reasonable man, every man who re.
spccts himself, evOry man who feels that
his right to live does not depend OH the
depth Of his purse, to consider whether.
o" such terms, airy compromise with
them would have been possible. The
mere fact Of our having charge of a news,
paper does not alter the ease in the least.
Whatever his position or calling,
y mans a man, for a that"