The true Democrat., 1856-05-20
To the Voters of Jefferson County.

l EAAON VII
 l The undersigned, a committee appointed by a convention of democrats and old-llne whgs, which met in Pine Bluff, on the 7th inst, for the purpose of promoting the welfare of the principles we profess, and of securing the ultl- mate success of democracy and old line whlg- ism, over the bold and arrogant assumptions of the Know Nothing party, that has 50 lately sprung into existence-like the fabled birth of Minerva from the crest of Jove into the full stature and proportions of age and manhood among other things resolved, that committee of three be appointed to draft an address to the people of Jefferson county, setting forth and embodying their views upon the great and lead- ing questions of the day. The undersigned were appointed the committee to carry out that purpose.
 Those of you, fellow citizens who have had an Identification with the principles of demo- cracy Tn the past record of that party, need not be reminded of its beneficial results in all that has tended to build up for the American peo- pie free, happy and prosperous nation, and which caused celebrated English tourist to eXclalm, " If any where on earth the Almighty has marked out the seat of empire surely it is here."
 But to those who have in the past, held as- sociation of thought and principle with the whig party, but have now, since that once glo- rious party became subsidized 10 the runous policy of Know Nottingham, abandoned it's ranks, and attached. your fortunes to the glo- rious principles of democracy, it may be neces- sary for Us to tell you what democracy is | Cradled in the storms of the last few years of the eighteenth century, and rocked by the hurricane that swept the country at the cleo tlon of Thomas Jefferson; based upon the 1 principles of our hallowed institutions and swearing eternal hostility to every form of ty- ranny over the mind of man; rising in it's might and majesty over place and power-having no- thing to give it vitality but the glorious princi- pies It professsed; knowing no enemies but those of the country and the constitution; ac- knowedging friendship with no faction, and scornng all sectional jealouses and distinctions, the democratic party has, for more than fifty years swayed the destinies of the natioL; borne her flag in terror and triumph OCT land and sea, secured honor abroad, fostered prosperity at home, spread our country's area from ocean to ocean; and, although sometimes driven from the helm by factions, with the most untiring vigilance it has stood by its principles, and wheE the usurpers were ready to despair, again came forward to the rescue.
 In every political difficulty, in every section al strife, in every war with foreign power, either within or without the bounds of our Territory, the democratic party has been the party to which the people have looked for guidance. | In the darkest period of our history as na- | ton, when the clouds of war hovered dark 1 threatening and portcntous, the hardy thews and SlneWs ot the sons of this party were found | glrdlng on the armnr for the coming storm.- Thus, when the war of 18l2-vrtually the second war of lndependeIce-Wa fought, the men who staked their lives, and all of earthly 1 fortune, on it's justice and success, were the democrats of those days-not the men of the Hartford convention, but those of Perry at Lake Ere, and Jackson at New Orleans.
 When during the administration of Jaa k ' Polk, 1t became necessary to fight the Mexican war, the democratic party was found heart and hand engaged on the side of then country; while the old teIeral-now modern Know Nothing party-true to their ancient instincts and prejudices, denounced 1t and everything connected with It Ill the most bitter manner 1 Language was too weak to express the state of their feeling, Oil the subject. The sentiments ! of Thomas Corwn--uow a Know Nothing ' then the leader, In whose wake yelped all the ! peek: need not be repeated here. They will never be for5otten-they will make him all but infamou,ly immortal as Benedict Ar nod
 1 Can any ono of those who so bitterly op- posed the demo 'ratc party, call the territory justly acquired n that war, as indemnity for the past and security for the future, "a barren wastc?' No. But millions of acres of public lands, and hundreds of millions of gold. are the contributions of the democracy to the ex- tent and prosperity of the republic.
 When the stormy session of 1850 called all good men to rally round the constitution, where stood the democratic party? Firmly where they had ever stood; holding fast to the principles upon which that noble instrument was formed And Clay and Webs ter, with some few other noble spirits, left the old fed era, or what Is now synonymous with this mo- dem motley, multiormouS party, and came over to the democratic party; and vet, for this they were denounced by the very men who now compose the Know Nothing party, as trai- tors to their country. Notwithstanding these tlrades oi abuse against democratic measures, and the abandonment by many ilustrious whg leaders of the insecure principles of that party, hy the whig press and whg orators throughout the length and breadth of the land, that same party, subsequently, in convention national in its magnitude, adopted democratic measures a part of its creed and declared those principles to be correct. Another most important concession to our principles and po- 1 licy
 All the pet measures of the various parties opposing the democratic, for the last fifty years, have gone by default. Among these we may enumerate the United States bank, the bunk rupt law, the tariff, the distribution of the pub-
 lie lands among the States a system of inter- nal improvement by the general government have all been determined by the people in fa- vor of the democracy.
 Every party which has heretofore risen up in opposition to the democratic, has fallen be- fore the force of public opinion. No matter under what name or guise-no matter how spe- clous its pretences or how magnificent its schemes; when tested by the magic of the con- stitution it has crumbled into dust No party, save the democratic, has uniformly opposed despotlsm and oppression in whatever form, and no otherparty has so unwaveringly refused to unite itself with factions and isnas All others have either been dsbanded, given up the combat, or having affiliated, been swallowed up and destroyed by the combined foes of popular sovereignty.
 And yet, fellow citizens, this is the party with its past record of glorious achievements, It's trlumphs and its victories whose prnci pies we are told in these modern times, by corrupt seekers after office and place, are effete, and we are taunted with the remark that the good old ship, that has rode triumphantly over many a rude pillow of opposition, had better strike her colors and surrender to the piratical crew of that miserable little craft, Know Nothingsm. Never, fellow citizens, will we consent to do 80 shameful and infamous a deed As long as one plank or one beam is found clinging to the old hulk, let's be found carrying her banner at the masthead. Even in that storm-ridden con. dition she will be able to eclipse thousand such frail barks as Know Nottingham has out against her.
 But what is Know Nottingham? The at- tempt to characterise the party is perfectl, hopeless. Nothing so dangerous and outrage ous has been attempted within century, in an, part of the world. It has sprung up like mushroom in night, without cause or reason and is founded on the prejudices, rather thai the reason, of the people. Wherever it ha spread it's batetul influence, violence, and rio and bloodshed have been the result. Electo
 nd hox,o ho, tbo oc l.,