Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1856-03-21
For de Register.

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In the "E4gSot EEegrsss'. Of the 18th
inst, there appeared a scurrilous aud
abusive editorial, aimed at myself as the
author of two articles which appeared in
the columns of the IS Register" signed
."Vindex :" both of which articles, writ
ten by myself, were personalto the editor
of the, I" Age" and insreply, first, to an
assault made upon me, BY him, through
his paper; and, second to continuation
ofthe same attack. AS the editor of the
cage" has begged quarters, and cried
out craven, my object in. writing this
communication is not ungenerously to
strike fallen foe, but to indicate my.
self in my course towards Mr.. Crihfeld,
and to disabuse the minds of the public,
upon whom wrong Impressions might
possibly be made by the reckless and un>,
grounded charges contained in his. paper.
The cause which led to this difficulty
Is this At q meeting of the Democratic
party. in Clarksburg. onthe Goth of lam.
uary last, offered a certain series of re-
solutions for the consideration. of the meet
ing. which were acted upon and adopted.
The resolutions proved extremely often
siVe to the members of the Know Nothing
party: whether from the fact of their
exposing too deeply the inconsistencies Of
the order, or in making some of them
vince under keen sense of the trUth they
contained, l cannot say. The meeting
was noticed, however. in the /" Age Of
Progress" the Know Nothing organ, aud
the editor, instead Of remarking upon the
action Of the meeting, spoke only Of some
of the individuals who composed tin
stead of treating the resolutions as the
endorsed sentiments Of a respectable and
Intelligent body of the ctlizens of the
county. and of refuting by argument the
facts they asserted, and showing them to
be false and unfounded in truth, he eva.
ded the issue, and sought, to establish by
Indirectly assailing the characters of in
dividuals in the meeting. what he knew
he could not do by fair and impartial rea-
soninS, to wit the falsity of the resolu-
tions. In his Staccato editorial upon that
meeting, he jumped from the chair of the
President to the desk of the Secretary
from an impious mention of the Sacrament
Of the Lords Supper, to ribald charge
OF falsehood and perjury and danced
round upon the heads Of the meeting
generally gently tapping each one with
the black wand Of his editorial displeas-
ures, but venturinS his spleen and malev-
olence particularly upon myself. whom he
characterized as an :" aspiring and disso-
Lutte young man." and why Simply be-
cause had the audaciLy in this land OF
liberty and universal freedom, where
there is no restraint thrown around the
liberty of speech or the freedom of con"
science. and were in the language of a
great State paper not unknown TO Fame,
4" all men are created equal" to express
an opinion, and to give utterance to the
convictions Of my judgment albeit they
conhlcted with the politico. religious be-
liefs of hmseif, or the miserable dogmas
of a few immaculate opponents of Knows
NOthingisn in the town Clarksburg In
giving expression, then, to the political
sentiment | entertained, lies the "head
and front of my offending > aud for this
expression l must, GorsoOth, be assailed
by drunken and insane editor, and stig-
uatized as being aspiring and dissoluteP'
Must the opinions of every person be
merged into, and their actions controlled
by the Know Nothing party, or their
mouths scaled by fear OF mourning the
frown of the individual who directs the
abuse of their organ ? Is that order to
be the great lotus-tree, whose top shall
reach to the seventh heaven, and whose
branches shall overshadow the whole po.
litical world, like brooding egis, under
whose shadow none but the " faithful
shall iud protection Shall an order
which is but vast lazaretto for the recep,
ton of all sick, diseased, leprous, and bro
ken-down politicians, keep a surveillance
and close watch over the conduct of those
pl,n hIy I,
political cess-pool, and choke down with
the grasping fingers of an imbecile aris-
tocracy. every democratic breath that
dares TO raise itself above a faint whisper
IN suggestion o. men end measures for the
public good ? Surely, when any set OF
men srrogate to themselves the right TO
make PERSONS political belief crime,
and try to eoerce every one into the Pro.
custeau bed of their own misguided pre-
JUDGES, they not only oyerstep the widest
range Of political intolerance, but at once
create y social guilloline for the behead-
ing of all whose political creeds do not
happen to be fashioned strictly after the
manner of their own. =. .a
If it be true that every man has a right
to the free expression of his own opinions
and imagine no one will question the
soldity of the dictum-Ihen the editor OF
the Age" had no right to make the at
tack upon me that he did. 1t was entire
ly gratuitous and unprovoked: and if the
consequences have been unpleasant to
him, he has himself to thank for It'll
sincerely hope they may prove " celestial
benedictions," that will tend to the amen
NY Of his future life as well social, as
editorial. He being the aggressor, then.
had to defend myself in manner as
hest I cOrlJ l.Gou ,hot NJ. HLr;L6,l,