Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1856-04-26
MIR. F1llnnore,s Letter.

BY MI. Fillmore to his friend Isaac New.
ton, of Philadelphia, more than a year
ago. The letter was not intended fol
publication but has been printed in order
that Dir. Fillmore's views may be under.
stood. 1t will be seen that the cardinal
points of the American doctrine are duly
endorsed by him:
BUFFALO, NEW York, Jan 8, 1866.
ISAAC NEWTON:
Respected Friend---It would give me
great pleasure to accept your kind invita-
ton to visit Philadelphia, if it were posi-.
bic to make my visit private, and limit it
to a few personal friends whom ] should
he most happy to see; but l know that
this would be out of my power, and ] am
therefore reluctantly compelled to decline
your invitation, as | have done others to
New York and Boston, for the same rea-
son.
| return you many thanks for your in-
formation on the subject Of politics. l
am always happy to hear what is going
forward; but, independent of the fact that
feel myself Withdrawn from the political
arena, | have been too much depressed
in spirit to take an active part in the late
elections. Icontented myself with giving
a silent vote for Mr.. UIlmann for Cover
nor.
While, however, / am an inactive OBJ
server of public events, / am by no means
| on ind flo 4, nm n,J ,o, ~.z.,
in the frankness of private friendship, that
| have for a long time looked with dread
and apprehension at the corrupting in
finence which the contest for the foreign
vote is exerting upon our elections. This
seems TO result from its being banded,
together, and subject to the control of q
few interested and selfish leaders. Hence,
it has been a subject of bargain and sale,
and each of the great political parties of
the country have been bidding to obtain
it, and as usual in all such contests, the
party which is most corrupt is most sue
cessful. The consequence is, that it is.
fast demoralizing the whole country, cor
rnpting the very fountains Of political
power, and convertingt the ballot-box--that
great palladium Of our liberty--into an
unmeaning mockery, where the rights of
natiVe-born citizens are voted away by
those who blindly follow their m~ercenary
and selfish leaders.
The evidence of this is found not mere
" in the shameless chaffering for the
foreign vote at every election, but in the
large ~disproportion Of offices which are
now held by foreigners at home and a.
broad, as compared with our native citi-
zens. Where is the true-hearted Ameri-
can whose cheek does no Jingle with
shame and modification, to see our high
est and most coveted foreign missions fill
ed by men offoreign birth to the exclusion
Of native-born? Such appointments are
q humilIating confession to the crowned
heads of Europe, that a republican soil
does not produce sufficient talent to re-
present a republican nation at q monarch
cal court. / confess that it seems to me
with all due respect to others~-that, as a
general rule, our country should be gov
erned by A~merican-born citizens. Let
US give to the oppressed of every country
as asylum and a home in our happy land;
give to all the benefits Of equal laws, and
equal protection, but let US at the same
time cherish as the apple of our eye the
great principles of Unconstitutional liberty,
which few who have not had the good for
tune to be reared in free country, know
how to appreciate and still less how to
preserve.
Washington, in that inestimable legacy
be left to his country--his Farewell Adj
drss---has wisely warned Us to beware of
foreign influence rs the mast baneful foe
of a republican government. He saw it
to be sure in different light from that in
which it now presents itself; but he knew
that it would approach us in all forms, and
hence he cautioned us against the insid-
ious wiles of its influence. Therefore, as
well for our " sakes, to whom this in
valuable inheritance of self government
has been left by our forefathers, as for the
unborn millions who are to inherit this
land--foreign and n~ative---let us take
warning of the Father of his Country, and
do what we can justly to preserve our
institutions from corruption, and u
country from d~ishonor; but let this be
done by the people themselves in their
sovereign capacity by making a proper
discrimination in the selection Of officers,
and n o by depriving any individual native
or foreign-born of any constitutional or
legal right to which he is now entitled.
These are my sentiments, in brief, and
although / have sometimes almost despair
ed of my country when | have witnessed
the rapid strides of corruption, yet / think
/ perceive a CLEAN of hope in the future,
and Inow feel confident, that when the
great mass Of intelligence in this enlight-
ened country is once fully aroused, and
the danger manifested, it will fearlessly
annIr the rnmedu md hrinn hack the