The Feliciana Democrat. (Clinton, La.) 1855-186?, 1857-05-23
THE NORTHWESTERN DEMOCRACY.

We always look with feelings Oh prluc ana pleas
urc to the democracy of the Northwest The history
Of its struggles. It's efforts. and It's achievements Is
but the record of the contest between truth and er-
ror. They are always in the field. and always ready
for the fight and whether victorious or vanqnshcd
they never neglect their duties nor forsakc their
principles. That party in the great States beyond
The Ohio stands rs an mmovablc barrier to resist
the surgng of fanaticism. which has more than
once threatened TO ovcrwhclm the constitution and
the Union. The idea of dismcmbcring the confcdc-
racy. and destroying free system OF government
has certainly been seriously entertained and at times
hourishcd like moral upas in regions rendered
memorable by the sacrifices and achievements of the
statesmen and heroes of our revolutionary era.
Yet 1t is no small consolation to reflect. that. al
though the North has been so long overwhelmed
with political abolitonism. threatening to destroy
everything that is valuable in our history and
able in our Jurisprudence. it has never been able
materially to alter corrupt the democratic popu-
lar sentiment of the Northwest
Happy is II for that region that the miserable pleas
of political cypcdency have failed to make any last
ing impression upon its inhabitants. The late act of
the legislature of Ohio will we are assured soon he
repudiatcd with patriotic Indignation by the honest
masses which IL proposes to array against the a,i-
thoritics Of the general government. This act Of
treason originally suggested and indirectly consnnl-
mated by the very men who have lately disrancfis-
ed and subIugatcd the great city of New York is
ono Of those reckless attempts in the line of revolll.
ton which invariably and fortunately at'oncc de-
vclop the weakness and mark the decline of poti-
cal organization founded in vcnnlity and supported
by corruption. We rejoice to believe That there II n
democracy in Oho--as in Indiana. Illinois, Iowa.
Wisconsin. and Mchigan-truc to the sovereign
rights Of the States and to the prrpctuity of the
Union. To that democracy we look with abiding
confidence. knowing that in the hour of utcrmost
peril its strength will be renewed, and that it will
shake off the incubus of black rcpuhcansm and
cleanse Itself from thc foul lcprosy Of ranatcisn
Iowa, the young and the strong, has already lifted
herself from the dust of her recent defeats and bv
her spirit and success il filling her friends with glad
ness and hope. Aud the houris not far distant when
the democracy % The c1tirr Northwest will stand in
ono solid co'um and turn back the turbulent stream
of lannticism AMI prirsily error TO its native foun-
tains beyond the Hudson. The Tribune and the
Tihcrator will then he suppantcd by the Bible and
the constitution. There is loyal attachment to the
Union and deep love Of country in thc West whic,
will wage n war Of determination against moral re-
ligious. and political bigotry. whether recommended
by pricstly example or the himsy sophsiry Of whin-
ing philanthropy.
The majestic Mississippi binds together with Il
Chain stronger than iron. the northern and southern
portions Of that part Of the confcdcracy. The North
west will never consent either to peaceable or for
chile separation from the mouth Of that mighty riv-
or. The extremes are bound together hy the laws
/ -, N,J,, ,,,I I,,y H., M
The people who nhabit that great valley which lies
between the Allegheny and the Rocky mountains.
and which extends from tic latitude of perpetual
flowers to the region ofperpetua frost are too wise
not to see the advantages of their position and too
sagacious and too patriotic, not 10 preserve them
unmpaircd They may not accurately estimate
indeed. no one can=-the full grandeur of It's future
destiny; but enough has already been developed to
justify the most cxtravagant anticpatons of its rapid
increase Of population. wealth and power. Where
its Inhabitants are now estimated by thousands, il is
scarcely too much to say that they will be num-
bcrcd by millions: and when its vast outspread of
lands of uncquallcd fertility are all brought into
full cultivation, they can feed the world The spirit
Of manly independence and love of freedom which in
Isprc those people is the great cause of their pro-
grcas. And when, at no distant day the plough shall
mark the vast of its beautiful plains and its
fruitful dcltas when its citizens. its towns and its
villages arc multiplied in the future as they have
been multiplied in the past when st. Louis, the
great centre Of commerce and business shall expand
MS it will to the dimensions of New York: when
bridges shall span the great rivers, and railroads
checker the land when its many universities. its
colleges and its various seats of learning and piety
hall have impressed their powerful influences upon
the rising gcncratons: then potential democratic
voice and moral power will go out from the polit
cally healthy robust. teeming millions of that valley
strong enough, perhaps, to control the destiny Of
the whole confcdcraey, but which will certainly make
themselves felt to the rcmolcst limits of the rcpuL-
lie.
And II is pleasing to reflect that the great majority
OF the people are loyal in heart and soul and i'm
PEELED, as they are, by moral and physical CAUSES
by the suggestions Of their interests, by the prompt
ings of their hopes and by the Indictment of their
Ipatrotlsm-the whole weight of their influence will
always be cyertcd in favor of order peace and in
destructible unity. They have too deep stake in
the common Inheritance, too profound love for our
free institutions, too proper appreciation of the
incstlmabe value of our Union, the constitution
and the nCuuallcl BLESSINGS our fron eysta,n or