The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1856-10-11

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SATURDAY. MORNING., OCT. 4. 1856.
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The Demecracy ameng the Tombstoncs.
So long have the so-called Democratic par.
ty departed from the principles Of Jefferson,
and SO long have they virtually ignored their
existence, that it becomes matter of sur
prise to find them parading their purity be-
fore the public and modestly requesting an
endorsement of their proceedings. Truly
must they have blundered among the tomb.
stones, and amid the rust and stain Of partly
obliterated inscriptions which have sadly
perverted the views of those illustrious
sages. indeed, disuse, has made them so un.
familiar with those doctrines, that in Their
desire Of claiming kindred connection they
fall into the most fragrant derelictions, and
stultify themselves by the most Ignorant
misconceptions .&A sf5 20
The memory of the most prudent and pat
riotic has as it were been covered by the
dust of antiquity, and left no memorial OF
existence on their minds save few almost
obliterated tablets, which tend but to lead
them into the most ridiculous errors. Often
parading an adherence to pure Democratic
principles, they not only betray a glaring
inconsistency, but a hypocrisy and deceit
as disreputable as it is disgraceful.
Though they offer incense to the memo
ries of Jefferson and jackson, and on their
affairs burn sweet-smelling odors, they but
expose their duplicity of character and their
degeneracy of understanding. They have, in
fact, become apostates, and as many of their
illustrious prototypes, steal the livery Of
Heaven to serve the Devil in" Though we
give them credit for the perseverance mani
tested in their calling upon the ghosts of the
departed, we cannot refrain from smiling at
the ignorance or duplicity which brands
their principles as treason, and stamps them
as being unworthy this enlightened age.
Each time-honored inscription seems to their
anenlightened optics as unmeaning as do the
hieroglyphics Of old (; or else do they most
unwittingly blunder DER the ruins of the
past. Their memory, SO tenacious of error,
forgets every trace of pure patriotism and
nobility, or distorts it into every disreputa-
bic shape. Mere Doughfaees and Disunion-
lists, they tune their harps most gloriously to
the cry of secession, and sing pens of tri-
umph over some political demagogue.
Though they often stumble in this digging
and hunting up of old party principles, and
often go astray in deciphering its sentiments
thanks to the possession of vigorous
fancy and an overweening selfconfdence-
they interpret to suit their own peculiar
views, and expound to harmonize with their
own peculiar desires. With all the gravity
of assumed wisdom they lay down their as
ISOLATED experience, and with many perora-
tions, to confound and confuse, they call upon
rs to worship their murky emanations. En-
veIoped in obscurity and emptiness, they
hang, with bitter lamentations, over some
emblem of fallen greatness, and weep that
their virtues are not appreciated OF their ex-
ample SO sadly lost upon an unsympathising
generation. Their hearts are swollen with
infamed patriotism, and long drawn signs
from their fetid carcases are emitted with
unbounded generosity. es.5
They grope about in the darkness and lose
themselves in a labyrinth of bewilderment
and perplexities from which they seek to
extricate themselves by the charm of JEFF
fersonian philosophy, or by evoking the
shade Of immortal jackson. Under their
special protection they have taken Liberty
and Freedom, having both well guarded, fet-
tered and hedged in by the immutable prin-
eiples which are enshrined on their hearth
stones, and worshiped at the Penates of
their household. -. e 81.
Often, while proving among the graves of
the departed, and fearful of the presence of
the Evil One in the shape of Black Republi-
canism, they afix to their foreheads some
perverted text of Jackson's, and, bold of
heart, defy the Enemy to combat Won
dering much at the sad depravity Of their
course, we cannot yet believe that the Lethe-
ran waters have entirely blotted out their
earlier conceptions of Justice, integrity and
honor. The darkness of the grave seems to
have settled on their understandings and the
incubus of guilt to weigh upon their minds.
Every embodiment of lofty and generous mo.
tive and principle which to true Democracy
added glory and a lustre, is erased from
the statute books of their principles and
blotted out from every phase Of their ca
reer. Their records show nought but per-
verted sentiments and glaringmisrepresenta-
tions. They have belied the names and
principles of the great dead, yet are still
looking to them for .succor. -
Their call is vain the very weakness Of
their cause is exhibited in gathering, with
ostentatious display, around the apostate
sons Of the iliustrious dead, and seeking,
under such palpable mockery, to blind the
eyes of the people to their ignorance. In
their estimation, q living dog is better than
dead lion," since, while they applaud the
sentiments of the living, they forget the ex-
istence of the opposite on the part Of the
dead. KS 4 y,.g sssse
We would ask them carefully to read the
opinions of both Clay and Webster, and tell