American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1857-01-31

scorn that man who for place and pre-
Torment, would desert the American
party. Had he lived in the DAYS of
the Saviour, he would have supplantcd
Jadas-or had he lived during the war
Of the Revolution, he would have fol-
lowed in the footsteps of Benedict Ar
mold?
Look at the platform Of principles of
our party. What truo American head
can disapprove? Can men, taking
their stand on this platform, be the en-
emies of civil or religious liberty? Can
either civil or religious liberty rest Sc
cure on any other ground? And must
not these anti-Americans, who wage
war against this citadel of American
birthrlghts, act as enemies to the Fed
eral Constitution, enemies to that u
Mon, to the mental independence, and
to civil and religious liberty.
We are in the midst of revolution,
peaceful as get, but who can foretell
what shall occur should the present
state of affairs exist much longer? l
warn our opponents, that there is a
point beyond which patience ceases to
be virtue. The Anglo Saxon race
are the sworn enemies to tyranny, and
knowing their rights will dare maintain
them. Are not the whole mechanical,
and laboring classes of our country suf-
fering from the vast influx of foreign
ers? Why are thousands upon thous-
ands, OF our countrymen out Of en-
ployment! Why are our almshouses
filled with foreigners, and our people
oppressed with taxes for their support?
Why are our jails filled with criminals,
and our penitentiaries crowded with
convicts? Why does crime stalk a
broad in the land? Because, in too
many instances, the very scum of the
old world has been spawned upon our
shores. Go to the Departments of our
General Government, our Custom
Houses, our Navy Yards, our Public
buildings, in the course Of erection, and
whom do We find there? None but
foreigners, and those natives who have
betrayed their countrymen, and affilia-
ted with these foreign hordes. Why is it
that the American pulpit, once the
sturdy and unhincing defender of Pro
testant rights and Protestant princi-
Piles, no longer sounds the alarm, and
warns the fock--advocating freedom
of conscience, Ian open Bible, in de-
tiance ola foreign, corrupt, and impru-
dent Priesthood. ...- -.
You may be denounced as heretics,
the gates of heaven may be closed a.
gainst you-your forms ofworship rid
iculed,your marriage state pronounced
adulterous, your otfsprings stigmatized
as bastards, and yet, forsooth, only like
angels visits, few and far between, do
do we now meet with the herald of the
Cross soho dare do his duty. So did
not Paul; and had Luther been as des-
tltute of moral courage, the Reforma-
ton would never have dawned upon
US.
Fellow Americans, prepare for the
conflict and nerve yourselves for the
day of strife. fl can read the signs of
the times Alright, the struggle will pro-
baby be baptized in blood. Close not
your eyes to the dangers which enyi-
ron you, and the difficulties with which
you will have to contend. Let the pro-
clamation reach every portion of our
land, "The Guard knews how to die
but never surrenders." | will give
you now for your watchword the same
that cheered the American hearts at
the storming of Stony Point:-"OUR
| COUNTRY! CHARGEp'