Pointe Coupee Democrat. [volume] (False River [i.e. New Roads], Parish of Pointe Coupee [La.]) 1858-1862, 1860-10-06
sag- From conversations which W,

E&yH From conversations Wnlcn we
have overheard, among some of our citi-
zcns of Pointe Coupee, "a few of whom
still cling, honestly, to the fallen fortunes
of Mr.. Douglas, and who as Democrats,
could on no account be induced to vote
for Bell and Everett, we feel inclined to
recur to a subject, always ~distastefrl to
us, for we dislike to speak harshly of
any one who has stood once so high in
democratic estimation-we mean the
said Stephen A. Douglas.
One of his supporters asked in our
presence the other day, What, then, has
he done to have forfeited the esteem,
the respect, and the confidence Of the
Democratic party? In answer, we will
say, that Mr.. Douglas had our In
dividual respect or esteem we have
always regardedhim as a dangerous and
treacherous demagogue, who. to COM
pass his selfish ends, was always pre-
pared to sacrifice principle and friends,
nay, jeopardizc the integrity OF the
nation.
It is true, that in the commencement
of his career, by adroit adulation, he
managed to win the favor of Jackson
in his old age; but he has always been
regarded with doubt and disesteem by
the great lights ofthe party, who marked
his fcverish fondness for notoriety, his
illogical style Of reasoning, and his ed
cuptandum addresses to. the multitude.
10 any person who has watched the
career Of Mr.. Douglas, the secret Of the
tenacity with which he still clings to his
peculiar dogma ofSquatter Sovereignty,
is clearly discernable. Mr.. Douglas
found, in his late struggle with Lincoln
for the S~enatorship, his former Demo-
cratic supporters in Illinois beginning
to be strongly tainted with those Adolf
ton principles, now so rife all through
the North and West. Instead of apply
ing his oratorical talents, periodically,
to the work Of setting his constituents
right on this point; of painting to them,
in it's true e%olors, the wrong they were
contemplating against their Southern
brethren, and the imminent injury to
themselves ; be- basely determined to
turn their hallucination to account-to
rob Mr.. Lincoln Of his powder, and shew
the people of Illinois how they might be
Ab~olitionists and still remain good DEM
ocrats.
Besides, MI. Douglas has broken his
plighted faith with the South. He dis
tinctly promised to leave this question of
Squatter Sovereignty to the decision Of
the Supreme Court of the United States.
That Court has decided against his pre-
tentions. He now seeks to avoid the
effect of that decision, by saying that
the question was not directly before the
Court. The majority of tive Court did
not think so. But admit that the decis-
ion was an obetsr dietum, it is all one for
Mr.. Douglas, for lie now says that
EFT matters not what way the Su.
preme Court may hereafter decide as to
the abstract question, whether slavery
may or may not go into a Territory
under the Constitution, the people have
the Lawful! means to introduce or exclude
it rs they please, for the reason that
slavery cannot exist a day or an hour
anywhere unless it is supported by local
police regulations"
We would not have written even thus
much ON such an unworthy subject, only
that we have become convinced, within
a few days, that most Of the few Doug.
las men who remain among us, are per
fectly honest in their opinions and con
victions; and that if it were possible tc
present to them Mr.. Douglas in his
proper, peculiar, and lideous aspect
instead Of fusing with the Bellies, as
some of the Douglas leaders desire, they
would spurn the proposition with con.
tempt, and, like Senator Clingman, OF
North Carolina, return to their first love,
the true. old. unsonhisticated Democratic