Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-11-29
NGToN NEWS AND GOSSIP.

ton Mercury, replying to the article that We
recently copied from the Richmond Enquirer,
wherein the duty and position of the South
with reference to the incoming administration
was so forcibly and satisfactorily las We oon-
ceiye) laid down, takes occasion to say:
"The article ia addressed rather in the form
| of q remonstrsnce to the Charleston Mercury
and the New Orleans Delta, and seems to i'm
ply that these presses have, somehow, been
putting themselves in the way of Mr. Buchan.
ans successful administration of the govern.
ment, and are prepared to excite an un-
friendly spirit towards him. While we agree
with very much that the Enquirer has said,
we distinctly enter our protest against any
| sucn construction of our previous course, or
| our future intentions; and as to the conclud-
ing question of the article, we answer, with
out any hesitation, that We believe fully in
the integrity, prudence, and craftsmanship Of
Mr.. buchanan, and We expect to render to his
administration all that support which is con-
slstent with the principles we have ever main
tanned. He has, as the Enquirer says, been
| emphatically elected by the South, no. be-
| cause he was a sectional man, but because ho
was not sectional, and stood upon the broad
| basis Of the constitutional rights of all the
| States. What have We, so called Ultraists of
| the South, ever demanded more than this?
"But the Enquirer rather reprosches the
Delta and the Mercury, with supplying fuel to
the Northern fire; with giving food to the
| Black Republican press, because We have
presented to the Southern people the probable
| alternative of a dissolution of the Union. We
do not acknowledge the justice of the reprOach
We firmly believe, on the contrary, (and it is
not a thing that we pride ourselves upon, that
| it is the holder portion of the Southern press
which has secured the election of Mr.. Bu-
chanan, and, for the time being, saved the
Union. We take no pride in it, we say, be-
cause we think it is only momentary ro-
prieve and, because we believe it is for the
advantage, both of the South and the North,
that the Union should be dissolved, and the
two Peoples delivered from the incesssnt war.
fare which makes their political union
madness, a shame, and misfortune.
But while we remain in the Union, we
will try to be faithful to the duties which it
involves. We will seek to elevate the best
men to public Office, and endeavor to support
them in the discharge of their duties in all
honesty and faithfulness. There are limits,
however, to this support, that are iue xorably
imposed by the sense of principle and political
justice and we should be false to every maxim
that We have been taught in our political lifo,
If We did not place, first and foremost, the
grand and enduring interests of the State, ra-
ther than the temporary success of any set of
| men who may be elevated to Office.
I" The Enquirer knows we'll that the result
of this election has depended upon the deter
mination of the South not to submit to n Sec
| tional domination, and that that determine
nation has been produced by the manner in
which the presses and statesmen of the South
have presented that aspect of the question to
The people. Well, the election has been car
ried by bare constitutional majority-not q
majority Of the popular vote. And in the face
OF this mere escape from an anti-slavery til
umph over US, We are called upon TO lay down
| our arms and give ourselves up to rejoicing
We are invited to think that We have not only
| triumphed, but that We have won security by
our victory. And yet all the elements of this
war are raging around US. When the Pree-
sellers nominated their candidate they had no
expectation Of electing him. They only pro-
posed to lay the foundations of party which
might hope to gather strength and volume as
1t rolled, and which might eventually become
the dominant power Of the Union. The furi
Gus fanaticism which from all directions seized
upon this movement and hurried it on, gave a
temporary expectation that it might be sue
cesstul even in its fret trial. 1t barely failed
Of success; and it failed because there are a
body OF people at the North deeply impressed
with the necessity of preserving the Union,
and who saw In this hurrying madness a pre-.
sage of its speedy dissolution.
"And it is under such circumstances that
the Enquirer asks US to be at peace to think
OF nothing but party amity and to hope that,
by sustaining Mr.. Buchanan, literally ana
cheertully, We can smother this terrible fame
that has burst from the core OF Northern so
ciety, and that will accept no other food than
the homes Of the people of the South. Why
do they cali us Ultraists? The people Of the
South, or any part Of the South, have never
asked for any thing but that we may be al
lowed to enjoy our own without hindrance or
mOlestatiOn (; that we may be allowed to make
our own foreign and domestic relations; that
We may be allowed to take the whole respon
sibility Of our own institutions, and our own
government The North says it is better,
wiser, richer, than We; more capable CT pro-
gress; more inventive; more productive in
arts and letters. By what unaccountable
folly is it, then, that the North, so given to
close calculation, so little disposed to sacrifice
anything from mere sympathy and kindness,
should hold on 10 this Union as a thing neoes-
sary, and to be preserved even by violence ?"
While We are glad to have this concurrent
authority concerning the folly and danger of
Southern countenance for Walker and his
schemes, we are satisfied that the Enquirer
greatly over-rates his abilities. All the real
ability apparently his has been the working of
the minds Of the intriguers at his back, who
have done the scheming, while he has simply
perpetrated the acts of bad faith, cruelty aud
downright robbery necessary in carrying out
such schemes as those he has in hand.
Now We are glad that the Mercury has thus
frankly and SO early stated its position to be
in favor of disunion; per Sc. While we real
iIe the force Of and sympathize with its
cogent reasoning with reference to the e1-
pectations Of the South from the new admin
istrstiOn, and her duty Of giving it hearty
support, demanding nought of it but infexible
adherence to the constitution in all it has oc-
casion to do, We are persuaded that there are
few indeed in the South who sym pathize in the
desire Of the Mercury for dissolution, for di {.
s1lution's sake. Or, in other words, because
they believe that it is best that the Union
shall cease, even if its General Government
be hereafter as faithfully administered as ever
By the earlier Presidents, and even though,