Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1856-05-10
The Know nothing state Convention

The Know Nothing State Convention.
We are sure our numerous readers will
join in our regret This week. arising from
our inability to attend the sittings of this
august eonvocatiop of the beauty and in
telllgence of virgnia's sons OF the sires of
rs. Circumstances, over which we could
have no control, caused our absence for
the greater part Of the time, and physical
| indisposition dlsincllned 10 TO attend, even
when it was possible for us to be there
So, altogether we were not present more
than three hours. We shall attempt, how
ever, 10 convey to the public a faint idea
of the charactar Of the assembly, leaving
the completion Of the picture to their INT
agnatlon. We know, however, many a
rich incident will have to pass unnoticed,
thereby woundlng the feelings of some
genius, which is the result of our not be-
ing there as the official reporter. But there
is no use crying over split milk. We
failed for once to discharge the duties Of
the office so kindly given us by common
consent and we failed from unavoidable
causes.
The Convention assembled, we under
stand, in Union Hall, at about 10 o'clock.
1t was called to order OH motion, by Saml
Mcdowell Moore, OF. Rockbridge, taking
the chair, temporarily. lii doing so he
defined his position to be tina, Of an old
line Whig-he had never been anything
else, and he thought il was necessary for
the publication Tor some such idea) of the
Know Nothing party that a few old line
wings should be distributed throughout
their ranks-one good piece Of coin gives
tre counterfeit pieces currency. The idea
is capital one, if it would lake but the
people have been SO foxed of late that
they make il a business to examine every
piece that is presented. Hence the re.
action all over the country, dating its
commencement in the State of Virginia
on the 9th day of May last. They are
becoming daily better acquainted with all
sorts of conterfeits, and especially such
counte.feiis of the genuine Americanism
as constiuted the Staunton Convention
Mr.. Moore's speech was characterized by
bitter denunciation Of Democracy, praise
OF Fillmore, few sly chucks under the
fifth rib Of the Know Nothings, and not
one solitary word about ANDREW
JACKSON donelson D.! Mysterious omis-
sion!
Our dearly beloved junior of the Spec
taior was then nominated 1st Secretary
We were much pleased to hear this fact.
Our able and eloquent description of his
services at the county convention has
brought him into notice. We still have
hopes OF making a man out of him. We
know we will succeed if we can get him
to obey our teachings. Il. Many, of the
American, was then nominated assistant
Secretary. This circumstance sorely af-
ilieted US. We wanted our pretege, the
"Dry River Envoy. to figure in this Con-
yenton, and get his nerves used to our
presence. But luck was against him, and
the only glance we could get of him, was
when he was occasionally bobbn'
around
The Convention being thus Temperate
ly organized. the delegates present were
recorded. Adjourned till 4 O'clock,
At o'clock in the evening, after the
cars arrived. about IT'S to 900 delegates
reported themselves. This was consid-
cradle falling off from the expectations Of
the managers here. who looked for 800
but the number was larger than we expect
ed.
A committee was appointed 10 report
permanent officers for the Convention,
which in due time reported Robt. San
ders, Of Williamsburg, President, and all
the Know Nothing Editors present as
Secretaries. The President having been
conducted TO the chair, addressed the Con-
yention in abuse and villifcation of the
Democratic party of the State and the ma
ton and the present administration, of full
some and sickening eulogy of Willard Fill,
more and left-handed praise of Done lson.
Whenever he would mention the name of
Fillmore, the Ex-U. S. Marshall of the
Western District of Virginia would com.
mence to thump on the floor, untilhe would
raise considerable claiter by others Joining
in. We could not but admire the grati-
tude of the ex-Marshall, as thus evinced,
i'll bruislng very badly fifty cents worth of
shoe leather in return for the little dip he
had into Uncle Sans crib. 1t is hardly
possible any sane man would have exhib-
tied so much reckless extravaganza were
not there something behind the curtain
We fear the curtain will never rise, how
ever
After some unimportant business, Mr..
Hart, of Albemarle, moved that our ire
tired statesman" ALEXANDER JEAMEs
PLUSH FILLMORE, now OF Stanton" be
unanimously requested TO address the Con-
vention that night Adopted in thunder
ing shouts. CLEANS Plush" seemed to be
pretty popular. Here the Convention ad-
NJ