Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-01-15
The Democratic Party-its Vitality-its
EufnrA.

= 0sssA W I
Those who believe, or affect to believe, !
that the Democratic party, because it has
suffered few reverses in q recent antage-
nism with its foes, is FRUSTRATED beyond re-
oovery, have not proftted by the lessons Of {
the Past, and betray an utter ignorance of |
the political history of their country. If
defeat had never overtaken tiff its march
heretofore had been one unbroken series of
triumphs-if its banners had never been
trailed in the dust by the shock Of opposing
forces pelitacal seers might now, with
With some show Of plausibility, predict its
permanent and ultimate downfall. But as
the case stands, all the experience of the
past is against them; and the present is
not the first time that short-sighted casuists
gforying in the temporary defeat Of our
great cid party, on some short-lived issue,
some trifing question invoked for the nonce
to mislead the multitude, have prophecied
its disintegration and ruin. But all such
anticipations have proved to be the ''stuf
that dreams are made Of" and like 'the
poisoned chalice, returned to plague the
inventor, with their grim mockeries.
It must not be forgotten, because it has
become memorable in history, to guide our
steps in the future, that with every defeat
the Democratic party has sustained, espec-
tally on great and vital issues, has come re-
newed strength, courage and vigor; and
facts will bear US out in asserting that eve
nv reverse which it has sustained, has tend
ed to its publication, and endowed it with
renewed power for the accomplishment of
good, and for the fulflment of its great and
glorious mission. Had it been like other
parties, which it has successfully encoun-
tered and overthrow, founded upon no liv-
iag and enduring and imperishable princi-
! pSb-but the mere fundamentally Of am
haious demagogues in the race for power,
or the mere embodiment of some selfish in
terest, local or national in its aims - it
could not have withstood the rude shocks
which it has repealed and laughed to
scorn" in its progress up to this hour. This
very circumstance alone attests, with an ell
oquence more powerful than words can por-
try. its nationality, its very necessity to our
existence as nation, and that, like the
memory Of the great Washington, it is
.'enthroned in the hearts of the people"
The Democratic party! What has it not
done for the country All that has been
done for the advancement Of the Nation it
has achieved. No other party but it has a
PAST to dwell upon with pride and satisfac-
tion-no clustering memories to swell the
patriotic bosom-to send the blood quicker
through his veins, and to cause his heart to
throb with more rapid pulsations when the
glory Of his country and its countless bless
ings occupy his thoughts and inspire his
gratitude. 1t has rallied around the stand
ard of the Constitution and the Union in
the hour of their EXTREMIST peril, and tram
pied their sacreligious foes in the dust it
has enlarged the boundaries of this country
by peaceable acquisition it has given the
great Valley Of the Mississippi. from it's
SQUIRE to its confluence, to the commerce
and industry Of our people; it has vindi-
Gated our rights upon the ocean in the face
Of the world, and made the name of an
American talsman in every cline; it has
cloven down the vast money power, that
threatened to enmesh our liberties, and to
reduce the masses Of this free land to a
condition worse than Egyptian bondage;
it has been the champion and defender of
Csviz and Religious Liberty, and protected
the foreign-born citizen from those who
would have placed brand upon his brow,
and driven him, like Cain was driven, from
the presence Of civilized life
These are some Of the achievements and
the acts of our glorious old organization
A party with such record cannot be put
down. It is even now lat this very moment,
take the country over, as strong as it ever
was, ard it is gaining strength everywhere
and rapidly. Like the giant Anteus, it
has struck the earth; and it will, as it ever
has. gain new vigor and vitality with the
rebound