The true Democrat., 1856-04-01
From the Americah and GaZettc-W hi MT Eillmore's Nomination.

From the Amercan and GaZettc-W hio,
 MT. Fillmores Nomination
 It has been from no insensibility to its inter- est that we have deferred any notice of the presidential nomination, made last Monday in this city. As we are, to some extent, represen- tatve of public opinion, we have paused until we could at least have glimpse of what in this respect that opinion is. Although there is certainly a kind feeling entertained towards Mir. Fillmore personally, his nomination, under the circumstances attending it, falls cold and unimpressively upon the public mind. The conservative men of this community, at least with whom have so long acted, stand off in distrust of the new associations that encOm- | pass MT. Fillmore and which, if they do not vel him entirely make him an undefned and | mysterious being How was the onvention by | which he was presented as candidate organi- | zed? How were its members chosen? What | is the constituent body? Under what obliga- tion secret oravowed, do either the constituents or the representatives act? Was this body the creation of secret lodges? Is it under the obli- gaton of oaths? Are those who belong to it bound together by ties and duties on which the law and the constitution frown? Is Mir. | Filmore-the Willard Fillmore of 1S4S, an ex-President of the United States-is he, can he, be member of a secret society, sworn to
 
 strictest kind?
 To all these questions, and for all these doubts, there is but one answer and in that ans wer there is cold comfort. This is not whig nomination-it Is not conservative nOmna. tiOn--it Is not American nomination, in the high and true sense of that much abused name. It is a Know Nothing nomination with all its peculiarites; and, at the very moment at which it is made, it is proclaimed, by author ty, and, as if in vindcation from asperson, that Mr. Fillmore was and is, a member of Know Nothing lodge, in good standing, having taken all three oaths; and that, but for that he would not, and could not have been nomln- ated; and on the ticket with him, is placed a gentleman who was Mir. Fillmore's most viru- lent assaliant in 1840, and who, if our memo ry does not mislead us, in 1944 was one of the loudest in dcnuncaton of Henry Clay and The odore Freelinghuysen, Mir. Frcelnghuysen being supposed to be tne especial representative of those forms of religious belief about which there isso much outcry now "Our opponenst," wrote MT. Fillmore to MT. Clay, in 1844 "by pointing to the native Americans and to MT. Freelinghuysen, drove votes from us, and lost us the day" leader of those opponents, who thus cried down c the native Americans and Mir. Freelnghuysen, is now Mir. Fill more's companion on this strange ticket Well may considerate men hold back when, by such process, such results are produced.
 The public, thus puzzled as to the origin and results of this strange convention, have looked to its record, and find little there to reconcile them to its action. That scenes of diSor Ter and confusion will arise in all large political bodels every one knows, and no one wonders at But it is only when, underneath the frothy surface, there are at work secret elements, and those clements the most acrid kind, that turmoil and disturbances become serious. Who can read the proceedings of this convention, without feeling that its vital and only cohesive prlncl- pie some form of religious intolerance; and from religious prescription and sectarlan jargon the true American heart always has and always will revolt. One hardly knows what senti- ment predominates, on looking at this painful and grotesquc record. We have read 1t anew and make our extracts from the revised report ofthe National Intethgencer, paper certainly not addicted to unkind caricature, and which seems to justify its vely doubtful acqujescence in Mir. Fillmore's nomination, by publishing the strange doings of his new friends. Our cita- tiors are few but signiicant:
 Mr. Small, of Pennsylvania, obtained leave to say that he would accord with the views of Gov. Call for the sake of harmony, and would if the latter would abide by it, strike out in its resolutions after the words < ble and constitu- ton." Applause.
 Gov. Cali again stated his determination to retire. He had come to battle against the in- novatlons of the foreign party in the United States, and the influence of the Pope of Rome. Gov. Call now said Farewell'"
 On the next day we read:
 "A recess was then taken. At the after noon session there were several amusing scenes.
 Rev. Mir. Brownlow arose and proposed to receive into the church Gen. Call, of Florida, Percy Walker, of Alabama, and all others who had been going astray.
 "Mr. Brownow, amid great applause, ad- vanced toward Gen. Call and embraced him, causing d deal of merrimeut.
 Gen. Call said he had given his hand to his brother and he now gave his heart to the convention," etc.
 Oar last brief extracts relate to those nearer home, the representatives of Pennsyl- vania lvdges, and gentlemen who have slowly come to the conclusion that the doctrine of re. serve is no longer polite or comfortable.
 q Mir. l. Hazleburst of Philadelphia, said he Was from the district and ward in which n- dependence was declared in 1776 He appeal ed to the south not to leave the American par ty but to remnn with 1t lnopposition to foreign toes lie urged compromise, and he cared for no platform but Americanism and opposition to foreign foes. Mir. II. made strong appeal for Sam
 MT. J. Williamson, of Huntingdon, Pennsvl- vania, could not be transubstantiated into free soil abolltionist by St. Hldebrand, or all the rest ot the saints in the calendar In his dis trlct they did not know an aboltionst from a | spawned horse. He counSelled union and har- | mony."
 Now, It Is from convention thus deporting itself, whose members, men of mature age and social position, clergymen and lawyers and non- descriptS, hug each other in maudlin enthu- siasm, and made speeches about Sam," and Saint Hildebrand," and "spavined horses D that this nomination comes; and coming thus, 1t has no right to ask the support of whigs and iar-mnded men of any party. Surely we may be permitted to hesitate. As surely is the painful dstrust which, on this subject fills the public mind, justified.
 But the whigs of Pennsylvaia and Philadel- phia have peculiar motives for resolute reserve just now Nowhere has the party which nom- mated Mir. Fillmore left more deplorable traces than hereabouts. Neither locally nor in the nation has 1t been such, we mean admnistra- lively, as to command confidence Less than two years ago it Sprang into gigantic existence and commanded something kindred to admra- tion or fear. With strong hand and grasp so bold that stout and honest heart seemed to nerve 1t, 1t took possession in one place or another of power ard patronage. Pennsylvani and Massachusetts and New York all yielded But the instant it conquered power it showed itself unfit or unable to administer it. This was manifest to every eye, and there were many, ourselves among the number, who look ed at this result with disappointment The two repulsive elements of secrecy and sectarian prescription, alien to the heart and intelligence of the American people, only worked out their genuine fruits when the secret and sectarian party got into place. A general sentiment or dlstrust pervaded every ones mind, and the