Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-04-22
GEN. PIERCE Personal, SOUTHERN
AND NORTHERN.


York Herald which was published IN our last
number. The object Of that article was OBJ
yious--to show TO The South that in seeking
candidate for the Democratic party-the party
from which alone that section OF the Union
can hope to find support and countenance in
The free States-attention should be paid to
the Northern Democracy. Il is to be regretted
that we are called upon to decide at all such
purely collateral point, and it is still more to
be regretted that due weight has not been
givea to the opinions and even prejudices of
the Northern Democracy. The contest is fast
sinking into an effort, on the one side, to reward
General Pierce for not having been as recreant
to The South as he has been unfaithful to its
allies in the North. 1t is an effort to sustain
man who, from whatever cause, has lost pub
lie confidence ii tie largest part OF the Union.
We had supposed that the party, Of which
we have heen humble members all our lives,
had somcthiu4 higher and nuhier 10 accom-
plsh than that OF reTarding an individual,
whoever he may be- 1t is all very well to sus-
tam "a faithful public servant but this is work
which Should bs subservieut 10 the great cause
for which We are conendng. Conceding to
General Pierce. to present the case, eminent
fitness Tor The Presidential Office, but wanting
in lfe confidence Of The people, it would be.
necessary, in order 10 justify his nomination,
10 show that there is no other man possessing
that confidence equally well qualified for the
post. 1t would be more than this-it would
degrade the party into mere instrument of
personal advancement.
We, find a man disqualified for the cand
dacy who is without honor in his own coun-
try; and in the present temper Of the Northern
people-in the rising power OF the Democracy
there-in their zeal for the cause-in the reso
Lutte and determined spirit in which they meet
and are prepared TO fight the cohorts Of ADO
litunsm-in their unanimous condemnation
of the Executive, something more than ca,
price and something better than policy.
These things eyince not the recreancy of the
North, but lis integrity and its faith in the
cause of the Union, which is the cause of the
South They would strike down the man, who,
having their confidence, betrayed it.
If it is The purpose of the Cincinnati Con-
vention to build up and consolidate Black Re
publicanism, '',arc is then fitness in the
nomination 4eral Pierce for it was he
that breathIG - > life that reasonable party
it was he that dismissed the sentinels Of De.
mocracy all over the free States, and put in
their places men recruited from the ranks Of
the enemy. 1t is not material 10 inquire into
the motive which influenced him then to act !;
good or bad, the effect and the responsibility
are the same. If it was weakness or even a
mistaken zeal for the cause, he is unfit for
the Office lie holds; if it was treachery, he
should look to Abolitionists for support.
The DeRocracy can better contend even
with erroneous measures than defend and sus-
tain an incompetent and unworthy man.
Granting that it has committed Executive and
legislative mistakes, none Of these have i'm.
paired its efficiency and injured its reputation
like the conduct Of Mr. Van Buren, and Gene.
raj Pierce The President is New England
man; be was the chosen confident Of the De.
mocracy Of the Union, in the spirit Of which
he was lriumphantly elected in 1852; he now
becomes a rampant Sectionalist, appealing tc
the South to force him upon his own peculiar
countrymen. Why is this? Has he discharged
bis duties to men and 10 measures and yet is
repudiated by the North Can the South
afford to thus impeach their Northern allies ?
Were they untrue four years ago? and can
they now lie true only through the agency Of
Franklin Pierce? Is he the man ofihe South,
the cause Of the South, and the inheritor Of its
support for the Presidency?
Bot General Pierce appeals to the South,
and maintains and urges that public confidence
has been withdrawn from him in the free
States, in consequence Of his advocacy Of the
true principles Of the Constitution. This APP
. peal is sufficient Of itself to command bis over
throw at Cincinnati. II is fatal concession
OF weakness as candidate,-an undignified
and trucking subseryiency--a whining i'm
parchment OF The Democracy Of the North,
which no patriot would submit 10 and no
honest man Cnnla make. VINO KNOWS the
President best--;he North or the South? To
whom does be address bis claims for renomina.
tion--to bis own couDtrymen everywhere?
No. lie speaks 10 the South as much, and in
the same spirit, as Mr.. Seward does to the
North. lie is as much a sectionist for the
latter IS as strong il public confidence in the
slave States a. General Pierce ia in the free
States. His nomination at Cincinnati would
then, complete The work begun by the Black
Republicans, AID the election would be made
to turn upon the numerical strength Of the two
sections OF the Union.
Now, against the policy which looks to a
possible disaster of this kind-sgainst the
great evils which such policy would entail
upon the country, we point, in the spirit Of
honest pride ard hope, to the nomination at
Cincinnati Of JAMES BUCHANAN. He is a
efatastnau fpai,n,4 "a faithful Ia trial