The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1856-05-31
From the Baltimore Patriot.
A Bid for Wing Votes.

The Richmond Enquirer has lately been
cxerting all its eloquence to induce the Wings
TO fall into the democratic ranks. 1t even
goes SO fart as to offer the cInoulncnts of of.
ticc to those who will ally themselves with
their ancient rivals. The Enquirer lauds
democracy To the skies, and sings the praises
of its party in that hgurative style of PROSE
poetry. winch is best adapted to the highest
range Of fiction. Here are II couple of speci-
mems:
y change from whiggcry to democracy.
says our enthusiastic contemporary, lis very
NV birth: a putting off corruption and
taking on incorrupliblliiy; rs escape from the
bonds of iniquity toa marvellous light and
liberty. The jaunty air of nonchalancc
with which this scriptural passage is wrcstcd
from It's solemn purport to do service in a
political article Is not more worthy of repre-
h,n'ion than the degraded estimate which the
Enquirer places upon that very Wing party
1t Is at the same moment spreading its nets to
catch. little further on We find the fol
lowing high flown comparison:-
while Wing, the man Of genius is in
the chrysalIs stute, when his energies are
fully developed. and he expands into the res.
pcctablc dimensions Of Il democrat: he bursts
from his prison. scars into higher and purer
regions, gaily tluttcrs in the sun and sucks
nectar from every blushing fower!"
In other words, our contemporary declares
all Wings in their normal state to be ..urubs -
but when transformed into Democrats, they
become glorious ''ins.cts, worthy Of slipping
the nectar OF official patronage, and insects"
they would become were they capable of con-
sentng to such u Transformation. But where
the Wigs cannot be whc,dl,d into support-
ing the Cincinnati Convention they are to BE-
bribrd. As Wings" says the Enquirer
"thcy got office not at all. or by the skin of
their tech: as Democrats they are gratified
in every aspiration. - The Enquirer evident
ly believes with Sir Robert Walpolc. that
every man has his price," and that the
patriotism OF the Wings is subordinate to
their love Of Office. 1t seems to US that the
corruption ascrbrd to the Wings in the en-
tact we first quoted. might, with much more
justice, be charged to that party which seeks
TO reinforce its waveriRg ranks by promising
that those who lorswcar their old political
loyalty and join them shall be "gratificd in
every aspiration. These springs to catch
woodcock, are displayed with such an omen,
bare-faccd assurance in the folly of the birds
hey are designed to ensnare, that we can
only account for the undlsguised manner in
which they are exposed, on the superstition
that those whose business it is to set them
have frequently caught before in this manner
birds Of a nondcscript feather whose eager
ness to gather up the spoils with which they
were tempted, rendered them nsensibc to
the hire until they found themselves firmly
Sraspcd by the Strengthening loop.
1t marks an era in Republican journalism
u hlrh ~ III Al. 49,
and open bribery substitute in its stead. If
there be an. calling themselves Wings. who
are Wiling to desert their principles in the
nope sucking democratic nectar from every
blush n flower, let them make the expert
lnent, and if, chameleon llke--as naturalists
once SIP. r,d b sides the faculty of chan,
gng their color, they can live on air, they
will eijoy TO their hearts content the Bar
mecldc fast their new allies will ostenta-
tiously set before them
Those Wings. however, who regard con-
sis,ency moral honesty and political integrity
as virtues Of u far higher grace than the mere
lust Of office, will rtcive his democratic bid
for their votes with that supreme contempt
which, from the low estimate it puts upon
their character it so richly deserves.
Bribery and corruption heraldrd the fall
of Rep, b lean Rome. Is the fate of Rcpub
ican America to be determined also by mcr
ccnar,s, or shall we Indignantly spurn the
tempsers, and proudly assert the purity of the
elective fraLc iSe? Bro, as the Wings were
in the last Presidential contest, those who We
remain stcadfast to the cid political faith, if
properly united animated by common i'm
pulse, and moving in solid phalanx, are
powerful enough to incline the scales of vic
tory on whichever side they throw the weight
of thor votes. Knowing this full well, the
Democrats have lattcrly become singuarly
aft cii,nete an d car, ssing, in their tone and
manner, towards those whom they formerly
a used and libcll,d, until at last finding that
Mods and bc3ks, and wreathcl smiles"
are of no avail, they resort to bibulous allure
mcnts. and hold out the nectar from every
bluShing flower. The immortal Sam Wei
Ter, of Pickwickian nooriety, attributed
great powers of sue ion to his respectable
father: but great indeed would be the power
of suction on the part of those Wings who
could extract nectar from any flower that
maintains sckly or vigorous existence I'M
der such Democratic culture as at this time
meets with the APPRECIATION of the Richmond
Enquirer.