Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-09-29
Some Reflections about Political Parties

Some Reflections about Political Parties
If the history Of our country since the adoption of
the Federal Constitution, proves anything, says the
Philadelphia Argus, it demonstrates clearly that
none but open and honest political organizations can
exist in it. There is something in the very atmOs-
phere which pervades the free communication Of
thought and opinions " that is fatal to chimeriosl
political speculstiOns and in every instance, recur>
ring TO cur mind now, parties which had not truth
and reason for their groundwork have proved to be
a short lived as the animaculgs which revel in the
summer air, or find their world in drop Of water.
This is not caused entirely by that innate love of
honesty which perVades the people, but is natural
consequence Of that liberty, in its widest sense,
which we enjoy. The masses Of this country are
impulsiye and prone to excitement over every nov
sltv. They are ready to grasp everything and try
ANYTHING that is brought before them; but when
they have tried it, if it prove unsOund and unrelia
bic, they leave it as readily they at first received
it. We are essentially changing, revolutionary
people, but we never retrOgade. Our course is
always onward.
We have been led to these reflections by the con-
tsuplstiOn of the field Of politics it lays be-
fore us. There can be no doubt but that, at the
present time the popular mind is undergoing one OF
those irregular periodical changes which have mark
ed our national progress from the commencement Of
the present century. There is a grand uPheaving
of the masses; opinions have been unsettled, and
speculation has run mad. We see this disarrange
ment in the church. and in the finances of the eOun
try. as well as in its politics: and while We must
sit for the sober second thought to bring all things
10 their natural level again, we may as well draw
what lessons Of wisdom we can from the present
Ministers and fnanciers may Philosophise about
their branches Of the subject-as for US, we will
dwell only on politics. In the days when JEFFERSON
and HAMILTON we're in the Cabinet Of President
W.sE1EoToE. If parties did exist in this country,
they we're certainly very different from what they
are now. There was no history to look back upon,
and to draw wisdom from. The issues were, what
VAS to be done, not what has been done When the
elder ADAMS assumed the Presidential Office, an
iuibersl policy characterized the administration of
public affairs. JEFFERSON succeeded him, and
change was made for the better, and from this era
may be dated the rise of the Democratic party as it
exists now.
From that period up to the present time the Dem
ocratic party has controlled the policy of this
try Every sohOOl-bOy knows what our national
progress has been and the great mass of our people
know, too, that this progress has been legitimate
fruit Of Democratic rule But our object is not now
TO eulOgizs that party-it needs no eulOgy-we in
tend to glance at the fate Of those organizations
which have srrsyed themselves against it, and to
prove, IS we think we can, that the assertion with
which we opened this article is entirely correct
The old Wing party, which arose after the last
wsr with Great Britain, and of which HENRY CLAY
Vas the founder and the recognized leader was for
many years q sound and healthy organization. No
matter how much the people might object to its
principles-snd that they did object to them is evil
depoed By the fact that that party never trumPhed
nstionally-yet the Eve points Of the american
svstem," proclaimed by the Sage Of Ashland we're
openly avowsd, and those who had faith in them
knew where they were standing, and, a cOnse-
ouencs, the Wing party was veil organized and in
ia dsv was powerful. The nomination of General
soorT in 1852 and the death of CLAY, brought Sec
touslism and fanaticism into its ranks, and its de-
cline was rapid. Know -Eothingism rose upon its
ruins and in 1854 it swept everything before it, but
that secret organisation was based upon bigotry
and fallacy and scarcely survived its first victory
Then came the great Republican movement of
1885 in favor of Fremont. That campaign is yet
fresh in the minds of the people, and it would be
work Of supererOgstiOn to dwell upon its efforts for
suoosss and it's signal failure Suieeit TO say that
srsin vas fsnaticism rebuked, and the heterogene-
ous combination which for time was intoxicated
With it's own strength, melted away like the FROST
work of early autumn before the rising sun.