Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-08-26


columns.
The Opposition Meeting.
Thegrand conglomerated Opposition held
meeting at the Courthouse on Monda,
for the purpose Of appointing delegates t
the State Convention, which meets in Rich
mond on the 7th Of October next. Th
meeting was middling sized; tolerably res
pectable. and very tame. One thing "
could not exactly understand. Itisa gen
orally and we'll understood fact that the Con
vention which is to assemble in Richmou'
Is for the purpose Of setting the Hon. Johl
Minor Bolts fairly and squarely before tn
Opposition of the Union as their nominee
for President in 1860; but listen to ths
Augusta Wings in primary meeting assem-.
bled:
Resolved, That while We deem it inex-
pedient, at this early day, to indicate any
preference for candidates for the Presidency
and Vice Presidency, we do not hesitate to
avow our readiness to support for these Of
Aces any men from the North or South.
East or West, whose unsullied private char
acter and political conduct and conservative
sentiments shall give the proper assurance
Of their devotion to the whole country, and
fitness for their exalted stations.
Strange, isn't it2 Can Mr.. Stuart en-
tighten the public on this interesting and
inexplieable point 2 Mr. Bolts already has
an organ edited by talented and inAuen-
tial gentleman, advocating his claims for
the Presidential nomination besides he has
in the last two or three months, by letter.
writing. &c.. shot whole length ahead Of
any of the Presidential aspirants Of his par
~: and an unanimous endorsatlon by his
political friends of Virginia, would make
his nomination almost certain. Can it per
bare possibility. be true. that the Augusta
meeting. and especially our honored fell
low-citizen, the Hon. Alex. H. 81. Stu
art. hoping that other counties inimicable to
Mr.. Bolts, or partial to some other gentle
man. will follow the example Of Augusta,
is attempting to throw bomb in the midst
of the harmonious Bolts club at Richmond
If this be the object of the Augusta meet
ing, we can readily attribute to other than
personal motives the desire to Illustrate the
heretofore unheard of attempt Of the politi-
cal friends Of one individual, by their voice
to pledge the whole party Of the State to
their favorite. If the design is to give the
nomination to Virginia, and the contest
narrows down to Bolts and Stuart, we'll
bet high on the subtle wisdom of our fellow
citizen, vs. the "burst hame string or
win" policy of the Richmond champion.
We have thus given above our interpret
alton of the strange action of the meeting.
Will our neighbors Of tie Spectator furnish
us with an authoritative exposition of the
affair, and correct us if we be wrong?-
There are but two other resolutions of this
meeting that we propose to notice. After
having complacently decided all Democrat
ic leaders unfit for power after re-af6rming
the hateful protective tariff theory, and de-
nouncing in unqualified terms the African
slave trade, we have the following:
Resolved, That we earnestly deprecate
the further agitation Of the irritating ques-
tions connected with the institution of sla-
very. We believe that those questions have
been unnecessarily forced upon the consid-
Grafton of Congress and the people, and
that their introduction into the political a.
rena, has been prompted by no spiri: ofpa-
triotism, nor even by sincere regard for
the interests Of either section of the Union,
but that they have been the ingenious devil
ces of ambitious men, north and south, to
excite sectional animosities, and thereby ad-
vance their own selfish and unhallowed pur-
poses.
When we remember that these very men
were, in '55, ardent and devoted advocates
Of the repeal Of the Missouri restriction;
that they have never missed an opportunity
to spring the slavery question, when it prom
ised political capital; that no longer ago
than last spring this Irritating question"
was rung from one end Of Virginia to the
other, for the deliberate purpose (according
to this meeting) Of exciting sectional ami
mosities, and thereby advancing their own
selfish and unhallowed purposes" When
we remember all this, this resolution be-
comes cant insuferable and hypocrisy be-
meath contempt. Here is specimen Of
Know Nothing consistency:
Resolved, That the Kansas Nebraska
policy, and all the measures which were its
accessories and incidents, were in no wise
beneficial to either section of the Union and
in our judgment, were, SO far as the south
was concerned. ''delusion and snare"
Resolved, That the contested questions
in regard to the interference by Congress
with the institution of slavery, have ceased
to be practical questions, and do not now
demand consideration by the national legis-
lature. We, therefore, are content to let
the subject stand as it now stands, and ad-
journ the discussion of all-merely specula-
tive topics until they shall assume practi-
cal character.
A. - ~