Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-03-02
For the Intsllig.nser.l

/ to call the attention Of your readers to the
( American meeting in Paris. The meeting pass.
/ ed resolutions 'congratulating their Mayestes
upon their escape, &c. and 'condcmnlng the
crime of assassination" dc, &c, and then
'forwal ded the resolutions to their Majesties. -
; Mr.. Wethered, an EX-Congressman, Mr. Pres
colt, of Boston, and Mr.. Pile, of La are the
prominent parties moving.
/ Now, while no man can but abhOr the crime
{ Of assassination, while no one, American or 9TH
erwise, can fail in his heart to condemn the ct
forts Of assassins, yet ask the question, does
| it become Americans such to mingle IN
the throng of cringers at the feet of royalty
| To make the case plain, would they have passed
such resolutions, had similar attempt been
made to take the life of any other distinguished
Frenehman? Ii not, then it is the Ptaee and
! position, not the person, which commands the
grateful resolutions of americans in Paris. =
Can there be any doubt that such is the fact?
| This, then, presents strange result. Amerl-
cans in Paris, natives of a country where
equality in political right is the foundation of
our political institutions, and the genius OF our
I progress are found bowling their knees at the
teet of royalty, and that too, not the hereditary
monarchy, which may command charity from
age and antiquity, but the royalty of a uSHIpeT,
one, vino tramplcd upon a system attcmPtedly
similar to own, and, upon the ruins OF n
moderate throne, and, more recently, republic
can constitution, has established tyranny, not
| less obnoxious to every republican principle,
than that which controls Russia and regulates
| the Sublime Porte.
| Indeed it is worse. The present Emperor of
the French is a tyrant from principle, iHtus ct
IN cute. He knows better He has tested Re-
| publican institutions. He has lived under them,
and 10 their protecting influence exercised to-
wards him, while fugitive from the country
he now tyraniZes over, does he owe his eXis-
tence, and he therefore is not an ignorant ty-
rant He was elected by the people President of
fba Rnp nd in han typO
he converted Republic into monarchy, and
soon into an abject tyranny. What people i'll
Europe have less freedom than the French!-
Look to their press, the great artery and test of
political freedom. Does paper but question:
the infalibiiity of regal measure, it Is extinct
the next morning. Does member of the Dcpu
ties but question Ministerial recommendation,
he is requested to resign his seat, and if he fail
to do SO, decree of Punishment sewers him Mt
once from home, country, family and friendS.-
In every department the iron hand of despOt-
ism is stronger ia France now than when her
Louis proudly said 81 am the State" Such is
France, and Louis Napoleon is its Emperor; and
yet, when an attempt is made to rid the world
of n monster tyrant "Americans in Paris" meet
and congratulate "Their Majesties'' on their
cape. We would like to know whether these
''AmerIcans in Paris" would not have congratu-
lated Tarquin, had he escaped the vengeance Of
Lucretias friends, or julius Caesar had the arm
of Brutus been parnlyzcd, or Charles the First,
had Cromwell failed in his great contest for the
liberties of our forcfathersr Such must have
been their conduct could they then have acted;
and is such the mission of Americans abroad!
The declaration of opposition to the crime of
assassination" is too 1imsy to cover their mo-
tivcs. Americans everywhere are opposed TO
covert means, and it did not need this declara-
ton to show the world that we do not approve
such method OF vndicatng outraged rights.
Our character and history speak our sentiments
Al II. 4
"Americans in Paris" and we would have been
spared the modification of this meeting had its
cardinal object been to condemn assassination.
and thus make an American character abroad,
In plain words, il was adulation of royalty, it
was in n smaller sense, ]unkeyiSm of the most
disgusting kind and calculated TO lower and de-
grade American Repubicanisn among the
tons of Europe and in the eyes of the world.
1t saying 10 the Emperor and the world,
that we (Americans) admire and endorse you,
and are glad that you survive to perpetuatc your
tyranny over the trampled upon millions of the
French people Such is the moral of their
ton, and by 1t the American people, a nation of
freemen, are made sycophants and toadies Of
deSpotisin. Else why did they act mt all. 1t
was uncalled for, it unanticipated, it was
unusual 1t was cott,atesr on their part, and
most nOrtifying is it TO those who opposed
to tyranny, and would see freedoms light dawn
over the world.
1t is high time for our people to set their
practice rather than their mere professions
against this, the real foreign influence which
we have to dread. Too long have we been the
mere followers in the wake of n foreign lead
too long have We looked to Europe for every
thing, literature, leadership, and even fashions
| We would have Americans be such everywhere
while We would not have them violate the amen
i tiles of society when abroad, did late Secre-
tarp OF Legation, yet we would never lave them
violate the cardinal principles of Am ricanism
! We would have them never how and kiss the
hand of royalty, still less thank God at a ty-
rant had been preserved longer to CIR sc man
kind We would gladly sec them I 4vel the
world over, taking with them the light of free
dom, personated in their own bearing and ac-
ton. We you'd have them ut alltimeS comport
! themselves so as to give no offence even to the
people among whom they go, Cor such is comfy
and propriety, but never would we see them for
get that they the cOuntrynen of Washing.
ton, living under the free institutions which have
made US the nation of the earth, and that the
perpetuation of our institutions and their influ-
ence among the nations of the earth, depends
mainly upon american example,, and the infiexi.
BILE integrity of American character.
1t is only by such course, that Americans
can command abroad that respect which their
national position demands. There is too much