Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1856-07-03
Assaults of the Enemy upon Mr..
Buchanan


Before the late Democratic Convention
assembled at Cincinnati, and when il was
apparently not improbable that some other
nan would receive the nomination. the on
position press of all shades was quite liberal
IN its compliments to Mr.. Buchanan. He
was conceded by them to be a man of emf
nent ability and experience, and of dignifed
and exalted character. And the opposition
press went so far as to express fears, that the
Democracy would not have the good sense
to put in nomination for the highest office
within the gift of the people, man SO we'll
fitted, and so worthy of the distinguished
honor.
But now, Mr.. Buchanan has received the
nomination with an unaEimity and enthusi.
aSm which alarm his opponents, and all at
once the tone of the opposition press is chang
ca. VituPeration takes the place of COM
pllment and unfounded allegation succeeds
the honest confession of worth and merit
Instead OF being the enlightened and con-
sentative statesman, Mr. Buchanan becomes
an agitator and fillibuster. Instead of being
man of keen and vigorous intellect, he be-
comes al old fogy. Instead of being true
patriot and Democrat, he is denounced as an
opponent of the war Of 1912, and an old
federalist.
Then, again, it appealed TO the religions
preludices and passions of its followers
Our people are mostly adhersnt of the Prot
estant faith in some form or other They
know, by tradition, if they have not learned
from history, that our forefathers, before
they left the shores of the mother country,
maintained long and obstinate conflict with
the Roman Catholic Church, in which both
parties suffered from the prosecutions and
misguided zeal Of the other. And they saw
and felt. what we see and fell, and which we
know from both philosophy and history, that
Prostentantism favors the development of
civil liberty, because it maintains the great
principle of free iniquity, aud Catholicism
does not to the same extent, because it de.
MES that principle And hence, instead of
leaving the two antagonist systems to work
out their own respective missions by the
weapons of reason and argument alone
Know Nothingism adroitly taking advantage
of the strong religious prejudices of the com.
munity, appealed to the passions of the mos
direct and efficient means to gain rroselytes
to its course.
And, it professed to be devoted to the
4
dangered, by the violent agitation of delicate
questions ofother parties. 1t professed to be
a party independent and separate from al
other parties, and to be purer and more pat
riotic than any of them.
These principles, or pretensions, induced
many honest men, even of the Democratic
party, to join the Know Nothing party
Again, many of the leaders Of the old par
ties went into the Councils of the Know
Nothings, in the hope and expectation o
controlling them, SO as to subserve their own
respective party interest And this circum.
stance induced many honest, unsuspectins
men to join the "Order"
The scheme, however, has now been fully
developed. 1t turns out to be grand de.
vice for hood-winking and cheating homes
Democrats into the ranks of the Abolition OIL
Black Republican party. The mask is now
off, and so far as New England and the entir,
North are concerned, Know Nothingisn
stands revealed before the country in tn,
garb of true Abolition Whiggery.
Who are the leaders of the concern il
this State. but the old Wings and Abolition
lists ? Who figured in the late Sumner In
dignation Meeting in this city, but the OLD
leaders of the Wing and Abolition parties
1t is true, a Democrat was scattered il
among them, here and there, showing ont a
conspicuously as parcel of bright new
dimes among a cart-load Of bung-town cop
pers. And a few who had been of tn,
Democratic party, were permitted to b.
classed among the officers OF the meeting. -
But that was only for effect. The meeting
as a whole, was one dense, dark mass of Alb
olitonism. -Pennsylvanian.