Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1856-04-17
Thursday Morning, April II, 1856
The aim of the Republican Party.


The aim of the Republican Party.
five we're to Judge alone from the viru-
Ience and the violence Of the .ttacks upon
the Republican party, We might be justified
in expressing,the opinion that It is so unu-
suai, in these latter days, for a party to ad-
vance any moral principle, and war upon
the spread Of any acknowledged vice, or to
profess to be actuated by any conscientious
motive, that the mere avowal of such plat
form, calls down the Indignation Of all po-
litical hacks, and the whole vocabulary OF
vituperatiou is ransacksd for ePithets 10 ap-
ply to the ups,art which dares to speak of
morality in politics. Introduce th;selement
into the political arena, and the occupation
of many leading politicians is gone. They
know nothing about morality, and they care
a great deal less. 1t isupon an avowed NOR
al principle that the Republican party plants
itself. Opposition to the SPREAD OF slavery.
Let Us see, in ths arst place, how eminent
men have regarded this institution whose
further extension we oppose:
GEO. WASHINGTON, name synonymous
with freedom, said:-"l can say that there
is not q mar living, who wishes more sin.
cerely than do, to see plan adopted for
the abolition of i. [slaveryl," Again he
said that it was "among my first wishes to
see some plan adopted by which slavery may
be abolished BY law"
Lafayette said "slavery is dark spot on
the face of the nation"
jefferson said-"Nobody wishes more ar
IDENTIFY to sec an abolition, not only of the
trade but of the condition of slavery, than
|, and certainly nobody will be more willing
to encounter every sacrifice for that object" !"
In the;virginia Convention, James Mon
roe .aid:-"We have found that this evil
slavery has preyed upon the very vitals of
the Union; and has been prejudicial to all
the States in which it has existed"
VIM. Pinkney said, IN the Maryland House
of Delegates:-It slavery will one day des-
troy that reverence for Liberty. which is the
vital principle of Republic"
Gov. Randolph, of Virginia, in message
to the legislature Of that State, depiored the
existence of slavery In vhgsuia, and. said: -
ave have been far outstripped by States to
whom Nature has been far less bountiful."
After the defeat of the emancipation pro-
ject in Kentucky, Henry Clay, who was
warm supporter of that measure, made use
of the following language in reference to it:
81 have never ceased, and never shall cease
to regret decision, the effects of which
have been to place US in the rear Of our neigh
bors, who are exempt from slavery, in the
state of agriculture, the progress of manu-
factures, the advance of improvement, and
the general prosperity Of society,""
John Wesley termed it "the exscrable sum
of all villainies."
But our quotations are sufficient for the
purpose al present. The object is to show,
by authority which we presume will hardly
be called "Black Republican" authority, that
slavery was abhorred by Washington, JEFF
ferson, and others of our great men who led
the tottering footsteps of the infant Rep Ib-
lie, and pointing it in the path of greatness,
and glory, went down to the grave, and that
it has been looked upon as dark spot up
on the nation-as 'preying upon our vitals'
us destructive of our reverence for liberty
as detrimental to the improvement of states
| in which it exists--and as the 'execrable
sum Of all villainies.'
We seek not, in citing these authorities
to attack the institution where it now exists;
we say to the South, keep your slaves, as a
party we seek not the is manumission; all ace
ask is fhos sAe -yatcn le not extended; that it
retard not the growth of new st..es-by the
introduction of its degradation and Injustice;
that the nation excite not the slumberiRg
wrath of God by suffering so accursed a sys-
tenn to advance. (We quote from jefferson }
How much soever, as men, we may desire
SO unjust system wiped out, we do not
believe that Congress has any right what
ever, to interfere with it in its present linl-
its; but we do most assuredly believe that
Congress has power under the Federal Con-
stitut.on to prevent its spread, and to refuse
to admit State into the Union which al
lows Slavery. Not only this. but Congress
should exercise this right upon every occa-
sion.
The question of the right of Congress to
legislate on the subject of slavery in the
territories, is disputed by some modern poll
ticians, and the squatter sovereignty heresy
is sought to be applied to all territories Of
the Union. We will notice this modern
political menstresity in q fniurs humber.
i
"Wheeling township all over Democratic.
The K. Ms made no fight. They raised
16 votes for K. N. Clerk and fzzled."
i We copy the above from the Gazette Of
last week, for the purpose Of making an ex-
PLANTATION. Mr.. VIM. Rogers, the candidate
for clerk alluded to above, is not now, nor
has he ever been member of the American