Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-03-25
THE OPPOSITION CANDIDATE. "

own but hoarSe diScordant croaEing, Stiiied
YuaH with which it is his delight to mar the
music Of every other song. No Valentine
blesses his year of solitary hate. He has nei-
ther roost, nest, nor egg; claws he hath, and
strong beak, and coat of feathers, such as
they are, of many dingy and glarins colors,
but for the most part turned mrong side out
and resembling the chicken known as 'the
.frizziy'
But let us enquire somewhat into the preten-
tions Of 1.-The Opposition Candidate" and do
this with some particularly, that we may not
be subject to the rcproach Of ignorance; or SUI
pcrticial or uncertain knowledge-W lerem aH
ditioMem habeat pro re comporta. We will 60
to the recoM and invoke the oraclcs Of the
Opposition itself.
What is 1.-The Opposition Candidate" opposed
to! Is it 4 theory Of constitutional lac, which
he deems false in its facts or philosophy and vi
cious in its effects: Pray what theory is that:
He is not opposed to the Constitution Itself
Certainly not with his own construction Of it.
He cannot be; nc dare not be opposed to strict
construction of the Constitution and avow his
Federal hcrcsy. Does he reject the Jefferson
, ian theory of state Rights, or the Madisonian
exposition of remedies: In Virginia, at least,
he will not rcpudiatc and affect to ridicule the
Resolutions Of lT9S.
To rhat then is the Opposition candidate
opposedl Is it to some defined governmental
policy-forcisn or domestic, What policy in
the round world is it he has not helped to in
auguratc or dscrcdit, as his party perpleXity
and necessity may have dictated, the one lodge,
or tothcr dittoi Considering his ancestry
and antccedentS. The Opposition candidate is
a sort of political khmael, living in his tents,
only in good weather. and warning upon all
men, and Gil'sey in bad weather, wandering
housccss and desperate OF dark nights, through
drenching rains and pathleSs deserts, in the
hope Of petty theftS; aud, sometimes vcnturng
on reckless crimes. No principle directs his
course no policy marks his progress. He winds
and worms and wrigglcs his way through the
absurdities of all parties; the mpracticabilitics
of all policies; the complexities of all falsehood>
the mad tumble of all hypocraces,
But he is "TIIE Opposition candidate" and
must needs be opposed to some thing or some
Jody and doubtless *: and in right good eur
nest, too, although much Of what passes for
Opposition is mere simuittion and intended to
mislead, like the de'tsH and gibbcrish of Wa
verly's Highlander Esculapius. He dealt
largely in invocations, but he coudnot tell
whether they were prayers or spells" ;"
being only able to distinguish the words
casper. .Nelrhior. Baltaa-nr, mar, prar
.tty" But all the time he prepared his "cm.
broration Of boiled herbs" There was some
what Of reality and earnest medication in his
scheme. though large part of what he mM
and di seemed to be intended for ctert "pon
tie by-Stanier.
So is it with the Opposition candidate. -
lie is opposed and in earnest, but it does not
exactly appear at all times mhat he is oppo,el
to, and the "charm" and gibbcrish is but the
by-pay of mere effective operation. He
abounds in professions, invocations and rhetoric
Of the "Gn.per- -Welchior- -Balthazor-mar-pror-
6r' order, but Mat discoses little of his real
des,qns lie declares and vocifcrates that he
is opposed "to tie Democracy' and so he is,
but in his o,cn ray, and for his own eads lie
is not opposed to its taih. lie pretcnds even
to greater zeal and orthodoxy than its accepted
apostles. He is not opposed to its practice
either, for upon close investigation it will be
seen that in the main he approves and lauds
it, and if he proposes any deviation from it,
it Is of so wild and visionary sort, that he
knows, and every body else knows, it to be
impracticablc and absurd, sort of Fort .Noyt-
trie grog mixing and pipe-smoking, to divert
the mind from the reaL n"rk in progress, the
deaM groan and claM Of arms7 That there is
no sort Of sincerity in anything whatever which
he proposes, is manifest from the fact that he
aleaw approres ererything mhich the Demo-
cratic party has done long enough ago To make
ithistoricalam remore HJrom Mepartyaren
Principle and policy alike, therefore. of the
Democratic party, it may be safely assumed
that he approres; and yet he is ''the Opposition
candidate and bona .tide so, and goes
about exhorting the people to pull down the
Democratic flag, and break every image
which they have cherished Of Democratic
leaders, with the zeal OF the revolutiona-
ry multitudes which melted the statue of
King George, which ornamented the Bow
ling Green in New York, into muskct
balls and tore down and disfigured and de-
stroyed every Crowns or King head, or picture
Of royalty which graccd public hall or shop
door in Boston and Philadelphia. lie is 1.-The
Opposition candidate, and posts, like the winds
on his patriotic errand Of demolition. I'VE
nomed vengeance" never had a ghastlicr glare
in its eve, nor keener edge upon its sword
than 'thc Opposition candidate" rolls, and
flames aud flashes and waves in the hysterical
delight of his rhetorical slaughter of the ''accur-
sed Democracy"
But to ochat Is he opposcd' Simply and con-
sstently and detcrmine'lly and mortally and
moaningly and sellishly and contemptbly and
ever and forever to lring by his orn "bor
and seeing worthier public servants, as he i'm
agines public life to be, without labor, enjoying
"tbe spoils" Of office, Public life as he nould
make it-a sinecure and scoffing-a fountain
of fostering corruption-"a bad dictionary of
idlencs, bribery, pcculation, powers assumed
and abuscd-just powers ignored and pcrvcrt-
ed-pragmatical empiricism and proiligate ex-
travagancc, "gone to pi."
It's not "the Democracy" to which he is op.
posed, but "thc SPOILS Democracy and to
1.-The spoil" only, as they arc in other peoples
LasIrt.. In his ora, he would strut and
swarccr and play the part of very Octaslus