Nashville daily patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1855-1857, 1856-04-26
IAN Old Clay whisv as a Pupil.


anew Che saysl the fires of his devotion to
the South. We shuddered as we read this
remark, at the bare idea that possibly we
had been the unconscious instrument Of de-
termining him to act with the Democracy,
as the best means Of showing his raging de-
yotion. Not for the world would we have
had such a sin upon our head If it were
true, we would think all our labor in his
behalf but insufficient penance. We were
ready to sink under the weight of guilt
But a moments thought told US it was
not so. The adage goes-"that old dogs
will not learn new tricks" Our cold"
friend presents an exception. His new
company have learned him their newest
trick, and with sagacity worthy Of his
years, he rivals them all in its execution.
The Union and american quoted our lam
guage on the occasion alluded to, to prove
our Inconsistency, and the "Old Clay Wing"
has done so twice for the same purpose.
To make the seeming contradiction more
prominent, he relates the vivid impression
our remarks left or him, and in his article
of Thursday dolefully lamentS our sudden
falling away This betrayal of his motive
eases our conscience as to the part we bore
in his conversion to Democracy. We be-
gin to think his disease was inherited, or
that it is chronic, and had long since fused
itself with his very nature.
But to the effect of our teachings. We
are outdone with the stolidity of our pu-
pill He wholly misconceives the spirit Of
our remarks We tell him we were adj
dressing them to our own immediate friends
A household jar was imminent In our
view, a portion of our friends were advising
a most disastrous policy to our interests,
and utterly inconsistent with our position
as great national party, protesting in its
discipline to guard the constitutional rights
of every section. That our party at the
North contained men who, in obedience to
the sentiments of their section, were ready
to disregard these rights, was too plain to
be denied We refused then to entertain
such proposition, and fraternize with such
men. as we do now We have not abated
one 1.-THE from whatever feeling was eXhib-
tied then, nor has our judgment yielded a
q single position, and we may add our con-
sistency will not suffer upon fair examina-
ton Of our course.
We used strong language because the
emergency demanded it. We felt deeply
that if the American party surrendered its
position as a barrier to the pent up food Of
slavery agitation, which the Democratic par
ty every year was lashing into still greater
commotion, its mad current would upheave
the fabric of our government, and float it
down the tide of time" a melancholy but
instructive relic of the last experiment of
free government. In view of such step
by the American party, the danger from
the anti-slavery party grew tenfold more
imminent We could see then no means of
successfully wrestling" with it. Its 'prac-
ticaP strength would have put the perma-
nency of the Republic to the severest test.
We knew that theoretically it was strong,
and heSitated at no extreme measure. We
feared that if the American party relaxed
its conservative curb upon it, it would pre-
cipitate upon the country that direst of
issues, a purely sectional contest for the
control Of the government. Under these
impressions, we labored to maintain the
American party in the course which it was
its duty to pursue. The joint efforts of our
self and Others were successful. The national
authorities of the party refused to ignore
the QUESTION, bat elII3atel ini unequivocal
language the constitutional doctrine on the
subject, in all its length and breadth.
This done, We confess that no small de-
gree of the danger has been removed,
while we acknowledge every word which
can be quoted from our article Of the 18th
February. They are true now as they
were then and as truths in themselves, and
not from any merit in their source, should
weigh with every southern man who wishes
TO vote true Southern vote For if he be
conyerSant with the history of the slavery
question, he will know that he can only Sc
cure his own rights and the integrity of the
nation, by voting with the conservative
party. He will know, for the present
threatening attitude Of the slavery question
under Democratic rule viii teach him,
that Democracy is Oaly powerful in produ-
cling mischief. He will know that slavery
agitation is only to be banished from the
public counsels, by crushing out the dema-
gogues who are continually exciting it.
But some one has forced through Granny
in the Uranium of our obtuSe pupil, the
idea that the National Council did ignore
the slavery question The Patriot never
taught that He seandalises us by calling
himself our pupil and using such silly non
sense. In his argument TO prove that We
have abandoned our February position, he
seems to think that the retention of the
twelfth section was our object-that if it
was r pealed or modified, the slavery ques-
ton was ignored His friends of the Union
and AnerioaH have fallen into like error.