Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1856-09-24
JUDGE MARsHs LETTER.
ScHooLEy's MOUNTAIN, n. j., !
September 10, 1856. {

Messrs. John H Lyon, Joseph w. Azlem Z.
~, 2. II. Gvandlm, J. R. Cornell, Johqs r.
Wuks.
GENTLEMEN - Having been constrained by
the course Of public events occurring since
the meeting of the American National Con-
vention by which the Hon MiS1AgD FILLMORE
was nominated for Presdentsof the United
States, over which Conventy&A had the hon
or tdsAreside, 70 .GGssaaRs Mt nomination,
you, aSmy colleagues in that Convention, are
entitled to my reasons for so doing and | will
proceed, briefly, but frankly, to state them.
1t was known to my friends at Philadelphia
that the Pro-Sayery Platform there adopted,
and which drove SO many Northern Delegates
from the Convention, was repugnant to my
sentiments and sympathies But confding in
the principles Of Mr. Fillmore, who, in the
Legislature of New York, andjin Congress,
had ever acted with the friends Of freedom, !
acquiesccd in an exceptonable platform. In
view OF the perfidious repeal Of the Missouri
Compromise, and the aggressons and outrages
perpetrated by Missourians upon Kansas, with
more than the approval Of the General Gov
ernment, | looked for some expression of the
sentiments which pervaded thewhole North \
sentiments that Mr. Fillmore lad ever profess
ed, in his letter of acceptance But in this
expectation was disappointed There was a
studied and significant avoidance, in that let
ter, Of the question upon which Ne knew, as we
all know, the Presidential election is to be de-
cided, either in favor ST, oragainst slavery ag-
itation- Nor was lessl AIpointgd IN find
ing the friepds of Mr.. 'FHInsa esogrcss,
voting steadily. throughouta pFotrassed sess-
ION, with the supporters of aggression and out
rage in Kansas, and persisting. in such votes,
after, by the report of the Kansas Congress
ional Committee, it had been irrefragably pro-
ven that the elections in Kansas had been car
ried by armed bodies of men from Missouri:
that an Infamous code of Territorial Laws had
been enacted in Kansas by Missourians; that
free presses in Kansas had been destroyed by
Missourians; that settlers in Kansas had been
robbed and murdered by Missourians; that or
gained and armed bodies Of men from Mis-
souri, and other Slave States had sworn, in Sc
cret societies, than Kansas shall become a
Slave State; and finally, that all these outrages
were perpetrated with the aid and appreciation
of a U. S, Judge and Marshal, and in the pres
ence of the =. s, troops But these great
wrongs, though arousing the just indignation
Of free men, have elected no word of reproof
from Mr. Fillmore. On the contrary, in his
speech at Albany, he astounded the country in
declaring that the election of Col Fremont.
by the spontaneous snffrages qG 9 majority of
of the citizens Of the Republic, would occasion
a dissolution of the Union And up to the last
vote in the called session of Congress when
tho frianIc Of fpaod,,rro in, H.
my Appropriation Bill, to protect the citizens
of Kansas by the adoption of a. conservative
proyiso, Hon Mr.. Ravens, the confidential
partner of and partzan of Mr.. Fillmore, vo-
ted with the Pro-Slavery majority Indeed,
since the commencement of the Just closed SEES
sion of Congress, slavery has not obtained an
advantage that it did not owe to the votes of
Mr. Fillmore's friends; nor has freedom encoun-
tered defeat that did not come from the same
quarter of the House Of Representatives His
friends, holding the balance of power, turned
the scale, when it would turn in favor of sa-
very.
And where or in what respect, has Mr. Fill
more profted. politically, by all these sacri6-
oes Of principle p fall these violations of duty
all this self abasement? WhsE has been
gained by bartering FreeGom-foE@ Slavery
His nomination, as.you knoE wAdemaRded
by our Southern. brethren, Who would only
consent even to take his nomrstion, upon
terms that drove. most of the Northern dele
gates out of the Convention. Itywas painful
ly apparent, N the deliberations ofour Conyen-
ton, that Anieficanism smas but a secondary
object. Slavery was with them paramount
While for the sake of the
broad American principle that had taken deep
hold Of the public mind, we were prepared to
ignore the slavery question, they insisted upon
making it, and did make it, the primary arti-
Gle of faith in our platform.
And how, after imposing terms which have
shorll the American party of its Northern
strength. do the South Americans act 7? Have
they kept or broken faith with us2 In North.
Carolina, whose election is just over, the Amer
can party is virtually disbanded The Hon.
Mr.. Puryear, an American member of Con-
yress from that State, comedies, the State to
Mr.. Buchanan, though aside ,fgan slavery,
there is an acknowledged political majority
against him.
In Kentucky, where was one year ago tri-
lmphant American majority, our party is beat
IN, if not annihilated Col. Humphrey Mar
shall, gallant leader, seems to have nailed his
;olors to the mast, but that only proves that
he is faithful among the faithless.n
The Hon. Mr.. Walker, of Alabama a mem
Der of our Convention, who is among the most
Jealous advocates of Mr. Fillmore's nomina-
ion, has, from his seat in Congress, proclaim
I'd his abandonment of Mr.. Fillmore and his
adhesion to Mr. Buchanan. Senator Jones,
Of Tennessee, with Senators Pratt and Pearce
Of Maryland, lifelong opponents of the Dem
ocratic party, have proclaimed themselves in
avor of Mr.. Buchanan, and now stand along
with Senators Cass, Douglass, Atchison, &c,
upon the Cincinnati Platform There has been
within the last three months, and since the is
sue which is to give Freedom to, or force Sla-
very into Kansas, was made up, a regular po-
itical stampede from the Southern Ygkig and
American parties over to tile sSpp0f ce mr..
Buchanan.
Now what, let me inquire, does this mean :?
Mr.. Fillmore as you well know. was the NOM
NEE of the Southern States, Those delegates
were not only for him, but would take none
else. Why, then, do they abandon him p
Simply because they, having but one interest
in politics, and watchfully consulting the polit-
cal barometer, are guided by its suggestions
They calculate the chances and the cost Of al
Presidential election The platform upon
which they placed Mr.. Fillmore offended