The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-08-13

peaTed next, but they came little TOO soon,
end made but few converts 1t il upon the
rennants OF al these organizations that the re-
publican party has been built up. At one time
or another its leaders, and the I'idfe phi
losophers especially, have had foot in
every camp When Fourierism looked well,
they were Fourierites; they have assumed
the Garrisonian platform when 1t suited
their purpose; they have been in favor
OF the woman's rights movement until
/; lost its novelty, and they coquetted with the
free lovers until the storm of popular disgust
compelled them to take different course.
The same theory-freedom of human action
underlies all these movements. 1t is freedom
for one man to appropriate the property of
another; freedom fer the slave to change bis
master; freedom for the child to refuse
acknowledgment of parental authority; free
dom for the wife to break her marriage
VOWS whenever she elects to do co; freedom,
il fact and in act, from all moral restraint.
We have seen this doctrine, so far as the slaves
are concerned practically put into operation
by John Brown, a canonized republican martyr,
and the exponent of the real principles of the
party. Mrs. Quincy is the John Brown of the
woman's rights and free love section of the re-
publican party. The Tribune, which mourned
for Brown at first, and then denounced him as
maniac, pursues similar course with regard
to Mrs. Contemplating her letter, and attack
ing its author in an elaborate leading
article. This course Of proceeding will
not deceive anybody; and the party
which the Tribune has built upon the ismsr
that it has successfully defended and abandon
ed must be held responsible for the logical
consequences of its theories. To carry these
theories into practical effect is to subvert socie
ty altogether; because when we admit the doc
trine Of entire freedom of action we must ne
cessarily deny the principle of paramount le
gal authority, which is the very corner
stone upon which the edifce of modern CT
vilization. rests. Thus, if Lincoln is elected,
be is to be considered as the chosen exponent
of the idea that if any or all of the four millions
of negroes held, according to ancient usage and
modern local law, to service in the Southern
States, become dissatisfied with their masters,
they may of right take any means to put
an end to the existing order of things in that
section Of the country. This most dangerous
doctrine once admitted, there are no bounds
by which it may be limited. All human autho-
rity may be defed and men and women may
give free and unrestricted rein to their unlaw.
full desires. Liberty then becomes another
name for license, and freedom means anarchy,
civil war and excess of all sorts. We have in
the history of the first French Revolution the |
most frightful example of the sufferings of
people who, having pulled down one govern |
ment, found themselves utterly unable to con.
struct another. Tho Jaeobins Of that day dis
covered in the person Of courtezan
the fttest representative of the Goddess
Of Liberty, according to their notions of that |
divinity, and the Jacobins of the present day
the supporters Of Lincoln-will undoubtedly |
pay similar homage at the shrine of Mary Cur
ney. That the anti-slayery party Is morally re.
sponsible for all these pestiferous doctrines
there can be no doubt. They are all the more |
dangerous because Of their indirect and insidi- |
Gus introduction into the politics of the day. A
very large proportion of the Lincoln party is |
made up of men without fixed principles upon |
any subject men who believe in nothing what |
ever-men without any moral responsibility |
men who are continually seeking for a change |
in the government, hoping that they may profit |
by it. They are disunionists They are in ia |
vor Of forcing the South into o hostile attitude,
by bringing the whole power Of the general |
government to bear against the peculiar insti-
tuition
They accept Lincoln with the understanding
that be is to use every means to crush out sla-
very. When the government goes to pieces,
they will take advantage Of the anarchy that
will inevitably ensue to carry out practically
the remainder Of their ideas, and to undermine
the social as well as the political fabric. The
result is one which we dare not contemplate,
without raising warning voice to those mis-
guided persons who have been enticed into the
Lincoln party under false pretences as to its
ultimate objects. And we would put the issue
distinctly before the people Of New England,
where this moral poison was first distilled, and
ask them If they are prepared to set aside all |
the barriers which hedge about manly
honor and feminine chastity. and which
have given to the descendants of the
Puritans their worldwide reputation as
well-conduoted, law-abiding, selfgoverning
citizens Of q model republic. We charge them
to consider whittier such leaders and teachers |
as the philosophers of the John Brown and |
Mary Quincy school will lead them, and we |
give them fair warning that the election of Lin
coin will be the entering wedge-the first step
towards the downfall of the government, and
the Inauguration Of the American Reign of
Terror. And that is the moral which Is to be
drawn from Mrs. Gurney's letter-by far the
most important campaign document that has
been issued from the Tribune Office, and most
appropriate pendant to Helpers Impending
Crisis" Let the conservative men of the North.
ern and Middle States ponder well upon these