Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1857-05-08
.THE RICHMOND ENQUIRER.
FRIDAY MORNING, MAY $, 1857.

Y
BY RICHIE, & DUSSAVANf'
FRIDAY MORNING, MAY s, 1857.
NATIONALITY OF THE DEMOCRACY-TllE
ONLY HOPE OF THE UNION.
The means of preserving the Uuion, with security
to the South, is now, as it has been for some time
past, the paramount question in American politics.
In earlier and less dangerous days the Constitution
was esteemed sacred and inviolabe; and the Issues
in elections, whether State or Federal, were always
with reference 10 matters Of policy for the public
good without appealing to the passions and pre)u'
dces Of one section Of the confederacy against an
other, and without arraying North against South' or
East against West Bat now the all.absorbins ques'
ton of the day is negro slavery.
q The non.saveholding States disregard altogether
the great measures of government, upon which alone
political parties be Iegtimately organized. Their
single point of operations upon which they are all
united with the exception of noble oand at indomt'
table Democrats an,agonism, unreasonng aud un'
relsntuc. to our domestic institution. They count
their host Of anacsl assailaas Of the South by hun
dreds upon hundreds Of thousands. In the late Presi-
Dental election they met US openly and boldly, and
with force that induced Southern mea, the most
loyal conservative and fearless, to counsel prepare
ton for an event which they contemplated with q
sadness similar to that with which disappearing
Providence Ius. look down upon fallen angels DIS
is a word not recognized IN the political no.
,nencature of the fathers Of the republic. But now
i. is becoming much more familiar than the precepte
and principles inculcated by those great and good
men, whose virtues taught them that the spirit Of IL
berty WAS an emanaton from the came source, to
which the Christian religion owes its e1stence-the
one intended for the temporal the other for the eter
nu happiness of mankind. And what their virtues
taught them to be true, their wisdom enabled them
to embody and adapt to their country.
The CONSTITUTION illustrates liberty in its only
practical light. And as long as the principles 1t pro-
Claims those rights which it demands for the federal
government and those which it demands TO the
S.e:9s were acknowledged and observed by all par
ties and all sections the UNION was revered as the
sanctuary Of freedom. But since the sovereignty Of
the States is assaed, the interests OF the South en-
dangered, and our system of government threatened
with prostitution of the principles and powers of
liberty, 10 tyranny, insult and outrage upon fifteen
sovereign States Of this confederacy the Southern
people, when they talk of dissolution Of the Union
are advocating An adherence to those principles upon
wnich our government was organized, and manifest.
ing the same spirit which prompted the declaration
OF independence. Az yet the Union is intact and
safe for four years at least The threats of the trait
ors, who would sacrifice one section to the envy
ambition and hypocrisy of the other, can never &C.
compiish disruption Of the confsderacy, until the
anti slavery party possess the power to execute
them. Ohio and Massachusetts may enact laws for
the protection Of fugitive slaves, and send represen-
atves Congress to preach the treason which their
States are practicing; the abolition press may vIy
the South and the institutions of the South all Yam
keedom may resound with "shrieks for freedom"
but the Union will endure until the Federal
government is brought ucder the control Of men
who will abuse its authority by denying the
regnty of the States, or, otherwise impair its eff
cacy for its intended ends, as to make the interests
of one section either directly or indirectly subserv
ent 70 another. Occasions have already arisen on
which the South has made serious sacrifices for the
sake of the Union. And those occasions were al
most as alarming as the strength and mien of abo
tlonism now. They were the premonitory symptoms
of the ranking malady with which we are now con-
tending to the vital organs OF our government
from ts destructive touch.
Compromises between the North and South, can
no longer receive the sanction even of the most tenn
PORTING men. They have always been ipjudc;ous.
And the time has come when the principles of the
government must either be emphatically approved
denounced. The fanatics of the North have declared
war, without quarter, upon our institutions, with
flaming frebrands and the fury of fends, they are
rayng their routed forces for 1860; and the South,
to stand against the onset, must meet them in CON-
pact column. If they succeed, the Union must be
sundered. If they are beaten, we may expect it's
perpetuity.
The South, if left alone to battle with an united
North, would be driven to separation at once. But
throughout the territory Of the enemy there is an
organised Democracy ready to make Thermopyls
of every pass. The national Democrats of the North
are patrot.heroes whom history and posterity will
well remember. Whether in defeat or victory, they
are men TO be marked hy The South, and never for.
gotten by the nation In Vermont or in Maine, as in
Illinois or Pennsylvania, thosa gallant defenders of
the Constitution, who have been and are still contest
ing every inch Of ground with the enemies of our
institutions, even If they can muster only corporas
guard, deserve to be applauded by every lover OF
liberty in this and in every other country.
On the issue of slavery they are as steady and
staunch as when party lines drawn upon other
and ess exciting questions. 1t is true there are thou
sands Of our old allies in the North, who have de.
sterted 10 the antisavery ranks But those who re-.
main under toe Democratic banner still are "pil!ars
of State" on whom the republic might repose in
safety.
Anticipating unity in the South, the success
Of the Northern Democracy in maintaining their
ground, holds out the only hope Of the Union. Our
principles are their principles and their fate will be
fate If 49, Local and State elections induces
TO the great result in 1860 there are significant signs
that we shall re capture some OF our prizes, which
still have the black flag flying.
If the vanguard of the national Democraoy'at the
North can continue to press forward; to win at Wa
terloo, we have Only TO keep Butcher back, by pre-
Gliding third candidate from the field in the South
1.-THE SOUTHERN MONITOR"