The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1855-06-15
George III ana the Know Nothings.

George III and the Know Nothings.
The men who arraigned George III in
the Declaration Of American Indendence
were specific in their charges, as they
we're open in their avowal of them. Their
bill of indictment contains twenty eight
distinct counts among the earliest Of which
Is the following:
HE has endeavored to prevent the pop
tlation of these States; for that purpose
obstructing the laws for the naturalization
Of foreigners, refusing to pass others en-
courage their migration hither, and rails
ing the conditions of new appropriations
of land"
The authors of the constitution were
imbued with the spirit of the Declaration.
They knew how power tended to abuse,
and they guarded all their grants of it by
cautious limitations. They knew in wha.
they had suffered from tyranny, and there
were certain rights which they secured to
themselves and their defendants. They
understood the value of free religion, free
speech, and free press, because they had
not always had them; and the privilege of
assembling publicly to discuss public
abuses was with them all the more dear,
in consequence of the difficulties which in
some periods Of their history they had seen
attending it. They granted away no au-
thority to government to interfere with
any of these rights. But their constitu-
ents were not satisfied with this. They
meant to leave nothing to implication when
they felt their dearest interests involved.
So the constitution was amended as soon
rs formed; and whoever desires to under
stand what our fathers valued most as
personal rights should read the first ten
amendments of the constitution. The
first article is itself noble summary of
political wisdom. We subjoin it for the
refreshment of our readers:
Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or prohibit
ing the free exercise thereof, or abridging
the freedom Of speech or of the press, or
the right of the people peacebly to assem-
bic and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.
Nearly all the other amendments look,
as this does, to the personal security and
rights of the citizen. He is not to be de-
prived of life, liberty, orproperty, without
due process of law; he is to have the right
Of trial by jury; in criminal cases he is to
be confronted in open court with the wit
nesses against him, and to have benefit of
counsel; he is to be allowed to keep arms;
his house is to be sanctuary to him, and
is not to be invaded except upon warrant,
and this issued upon probable cause, sup
ported by oath. The citizen is to have
fair play on all sides. He is protected
against wrong, whether it comes from his
neighbor Or from the government. And
as safeguard against wrong, it is evident
that publicity was prominent idea with
the trainers Of the constitution. No in
QUESTION, no star chamber, no secret til
bunals of any kind, did they provide for;
but for open churches and public courts,
and liberal speecL and unfettered press.
These were the rights they cherished; and
for these, as we'll as against such abuses
as the Declaration describes, they fought
Great Britain.
Now, we wish to call the attention Of
our readers to the fact that the organized
know-nothings of this country have based
themselves on platform directly the re-
verse of all this. We arraisn them as
teachers Of tyranny, and as attempting to
revive the worst ideas Of George Ill
They would undo, if let alone, the work
which was done by the patriots of the rev.
oIution and the authors Of our Union
They are afraid of immigration, and they
seek to discourage it by Law. They strike
at religious freedom, and would set DIP re-
ligious tests. They declare war Of races
and would exclude naturalized citizens
from office. Here, where Providence has
taught them a great lesson Of lberality,
BY commingling the labors and the blood
Of many nations, they yet set up the stand
ard Of cigotry and preach the doctrines Of
8 intolerance. With their lines Of life cast
for them in the midst Of abundance, they
gudge to feed the starving stranger
with what they cannot eat themsslves.--
IBThey make lsbored calculations to prove
Ehat they must not dispose Of what they
low find superfuous, lest some one o
their remote descendants may come to b
in need Of It hundreds Of years hence, -
I'M