Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1860-08-02
The Popular Spirit.

@"S'S ~ "h "'s 'h POiitiCS hS Well rs In
war, aad while the great principles which
shape the construction of parties are of
paramount consideration, he who neglects
the indications Of pr pulsr feeling is unfit
to be intrusted with the control Of party
movements and combinations. The event
of political struggles is decided in favor
Of the side ospoused by the many, accor-
ding to the somewhat profane maxim OF
Moreau, that Providence generally favors
the general who leads the most battalions.
If men find the great mass of the party
determined to support candidate, then
it is a matter of duty, as well as of expe
diency, to yield to this preference in case
it involves no sacrifice of important prin-
ciples.
There is no mistaking the unbounded
popularity of Mr.. Douglas in this city
and State, and thousands of those who
did not favor him. Or who dislike the lead
ers of the section in this State who were
most active in his support in the Conven.
ton, have been co ompelled, by his strength
among the people; to fall into the ranks.
The sympathies of the people unite them
/ W hlo5hctiO etIiaStiOi, duu tutlT Ill
stincts are unerring, while it is often the
fate of fpolitical philosophers and eloquent
statesmen to find themselves aband oned
entirely by popular support. The people
are practical, while leaders are sometimes
carried away by their own acuteness and
and over refinements. There is 40 deny
ing the great fact that Mr.. Douglas'is the
/ candid of of tbn nnfirn n,p,oosoa,x L.
are not influenced by extraneous consid-
erations The olficeholder may give a
forced adhesion to his rival at the dicta-
tion of the Administration or the friends
and followers of some prominent public
man may show their fidelity to personal
influence by a reluctant imitation of the
object of their devotion. The echoes,
however, Of Federal dictation or personal
friendship are feeble when compared with
the thunders of popular favor There is
no mistaking the candidate of the people
and the leader of the majority in this
State opposed to the party and principles
of sectionalism. The officeholders, the
theorists, the politicians and the mer-
chants may find it their interest or their
pleasure to express preference for anoth-
er; but the voice of the people, like the
sound of many waters, will drown the ap-
plause ofthese comparatively small por-
tions of the great mass.
The people have discovered that Mr..
Douglas stands right on the grand princi-
pies of non interference by Congress with
the local concerns of State or Territory
and submission to the decisions of the
Supreme Court on these and similar
questions. Here is an issue broad enough
and strong enough to contain all who op-
pose the new tangled doctrines of Black
Republicanism. We have nothing to
say against Mr.. Breckenridge and his
platform, though we do believe that some
of the ultreist who support that gentleman
have not dealt fairly with the party they
profess to belong to, and that they do aim
at the disruption of the Democratic organ
ization and through it at the dismember-
ment of the Union itself. If the friends
of MIR. Breckenridge here were willing
that combination should be effected in
this State to defeat Lincoln, it could be
done, and we maintain that there is no
power to forbid the bands of such un-
ion. Either, then, they are not in earn
est in viewing the election of Lincoln as a
National calamity, or they allow private
considerations to outweigh patriotic OBJ
legations. If they can reconcile it to their
conscience to shut their eyes to the nu-
merical superiority possessed by Mr.
Douglas, and to allow their Judgments
to be warped by petty differences of phra.
seology in the language of resolutions,
they may justify a persistent obstinacy
which can only result in the surrender Of
the electoral vote of New York to the
candidate of a minority. There is nc
sacrifice of principle called for at the
shrine of expediency. but there is the ex'
ercise of prudence in order to avoid a
danger that every lover of his county
should shrink from contemplating.-Nea
York News.