Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1855-08-22
Col. Preston.

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vile district, upon the day of De sIection-
We believe i 10 be the case, that Col Preston,
and many of his Democratic friends, when they
found that armed bands Of rufians had taken pos
session of the pol!s advised their friends to abstain
from voting. Their motives undoubtedly were
good they believed that by so doing they would
prevent the cffusion of blood. They undoubtedly
believed that they were acting the part of Chris
tians and Patriots. The result shows how sadly
they were mistaken, and we say it with bitter
pang, we believe that the action of Col. Preston
and his friends contributed much to bring about
the very state of things they most deprecated.
We believe, and we have the recent example of
Cincinnati to sustain us, that had the anti-Know-
Nothings made the proper exertion to bring out
their force to poll every vote that the bullies and
ruffians would have cowed and have left the field
to freemen who knew their rights, and were de-
termined to maintain them. Assassins are never
men Of true courage: the men who slaughtered
and burned unotfending men, women and children,
would not haveseaced the music the fellow with
the pitchfork ,Sod not for tel secoids have stood
his ground asainst a determined man, upon his
feet and ready to defend himself
This is country Of free Institutions there is
no armed force to protect them their defence is
is committed to the mass of the citizens. Should
those institutions be assailed it is the right it is
the duty of every citizen to sustain and defend
them. 1t is the design of our country to protect
every citizen alike in return she expects of them
to give their time. their energies, and if need be,
their lives to protect and sustain her. Of all our
institutions. the right of suffrage, is beyond ques
ton, the most sacred and the most valuable. 1t
is the one which most peculiarly constitutes us the
nation that we are 1t is this right of every cti-
zen to have an uncontrolled, equal voice in the
selection of our rulers that gives us our proudest
distinction as Ansericdns.
Yet it was upon this right that the Louisville
Know Nothings made, by their own showing,
direct and open attack. They announced before
hand their intention to prevent portion of their
fellow citizens, from exercising right conceded to
them by the laws of our common country. This
intention carried out to the letter. From the
display of force which they made, the anti Knew
Nothings were induced to think that to avoid
bloodshed, they had better absent themselves
from the polls. is sa
Here, we think, was the wrong-and two mir
utes reelection should have convinced Col. Preston
and his friends Of it. Is our country or its nsti-
tutions in danger from enemies whether foreign or
domestic, every citizen must rally to the rescue /;
the honor the safety Of the country is in the keep
ing of every citizen; he belongs to her for the time
being she has the right to dispose of his every
thought and action, until the danger is past.
No matter how great the apparent odds against
them, it was the bounden duty of the genuine
friends Of American institutions, in Louisville,
when sacrilegieus hands were laid upon this very
palladium of our liberties, toight to the last man,
In defence of it they shonld never have stopped
to count numbers it was the duty Of every true
American to commence the fight upon the spot !;
it his duty to spill the last drop Of his blood
in defence of the freedom Of the ballot box, and
the purity of American institutions. Iifeis but
a poor boon when compared with the loss Of the
privileges which make life glorious and valuable
to the American citizen. Take away from him
that equality which constitutes him sovereign,
reduce him to the level of the slave, would not
death in its most terrific form be thousand times
more welcomed Better that the lives of all Amer
ican citizens be taken away, than that American
liberty be lost
Therefore we think that the Preston men in
Louisville were wrong, In the vain hope Of pre-
venting the waste of human lfe they sacrificed all
| that life is worth living for.
| The men of the Revolution, under full and
solemn conviction of the awful responsibility which
had devolved upon them, upon far slighter pre-
| text, took one of the most momentous steps ever
| taken by mortal men. A tyrannical government
proposed to levy trifing tax, but without the
consent of those to be taxed being first had and
obtained. The men of the Revolution knew how
to resist the beginnings of evil They had sagaci-
! ty and courage far beyond the men of the time
the cloud was but small, but it was darkening,
and in time the storm would ldoverwhelm the whole
land. They knew that the right to take ten pence
implied the right to take thousands-they knew
that if Tyrant had the right to dispose at viii
Of their substance, they must of necessity become
his slaves; they resolved upon resistance; but a
handful Of colonists, they bid defiance to the mos
powerful empire on the globe they exposed theil
beloved land to the horrors Of an eight years wal
against all odds-they calmly resolved to sacrifice
their lives, their fortunes and their sacred hon
or" rather than submit to what were but trifiine
exactions compared to those required by the Lou
isyilie Know Nofhings.
Whittier has the spirit of the Revolution fed
The men Of the Revolution resisted unto the deati
the payment of trifing tax, unjustly levied. Tn
men Of Louisville were asked to give up the price
less blessing of personal liberty of the right o
man to govern himself; and they yielded Ol
shame shame! This alone was wanting to com
plete the deep and damning disgrace of the Louis