The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-09-19

Northern zealots. backed BY the hell hounds
Of fanaticisin. who are rampant for Southern
gore / am no alarmist, but again tell you
the c,1;s;s Is sr,on as. In our midst, even tere
at home has been galvanized into sickty vi
tality. the old carcase of Whiggery, under the
sanctified title of Constitutional Union party"
its flag. staff without q platform to support,
standing loose in the mud sils of that old
wreck. All, yes! the Constitution" as its
platform, subject to any interpretations b suit
emergencies and strange to say, there are few,
perv fetc, members of the once proud and
glorious American party-now no more
whose lives have been passed warning their
fellow citizens against the wiles and treacherv
Of Whiggory, who now lisp the name with
as much sweetness as ever did Clay himself.
True, sirs, this Wing party has, with a
shrewdness peculiar to themselves, placed
upon this platform ~ men of most unexcep-
tionable character, (if we except Mr.. Everett's
little departure when he endorsed sympathy
resolutions and subscribed money to soothe
the 'martyrdom'' of Mr. Sumner after the
Brooks caning,) of undoubted craftsmanship
and unchalIenged literature, hoping to reach
| the reigns of government under that siren
chant, "UTaion Union - Union ~ at erery
| h1.qrd." I have no such veneration for the
| term, when it no longer protects my interests,
l-ghen it stultifies the South,-when it has
| lost its original meaning, and is by word to
| luIl us to repOse, while these Northern YAM
| pires suck out the last drop of blood from the
| body of equal rights. Never again can we
he gagged, as we were nearly ten years since, in
| the memorable Nashville Convention. The
South may submit to even greater injustice
| and grosser misrepresentation than was I'M
posed on her by that sap, lent body but never
\ again can she be lulled to injection, and loss
| of Justice by this siren song of Union. This
cry has long since lost its prestige, since the
| object for which the Constitution was framed,
has been so frequently and so ruthlessiy vio-
lated. With nothing proposed, with no plat
| form as guarantee, we can claim no security
nr interest from the selfstyled Constitutional
Unicn party.
| OF the Douglas wing of the Democracy
! have but little to say, and less to hope. 1t IS
beneath the dignity of true Southerners
| to canvass the Prescriptions of this man,
| whose political heresy clings like the shirt OF
Nessus to his perfidious carcase,-a stencil in
| the nostrils of the South, forbidding approach.
now come to speak, gentlemen, of the
true Southern, OF Breckenridge ticket. 1t is
| unnecessary, nor do deem it all important,
| to enquire what has been the position of this
party on the various political issues, their for
! mer position, on the squatter sovereignty
curse, or that all tangled question of slavery
| in the Territories, previous to the meeting Of
the late Charleston Convention. Atthat time
| and place, they met to canvass these questions,
/ and it is the result OF their then action that
/ claims interest and investigation. We see as
sembled at that time a party whose strength
defied defeat; party owning the President
| and controlling the Treasury a party of whom
| it was said was held together by the cohesive
power Of public plumber, showing that unlimi-
ted means was theirs a party which, when
| acting in concert with ITSELF was inyincible,
and capable of holding the reigns of govern
ment in defiance of all the combined lsns oil
the world but in that party we discover a
few noble spirits and patriots, Who recollecting
| the truth of the charges brought against them
by political opponents, charging that the plat.
form of 1856 was susceptible of a double
meaning-that it was not sufficiently plain and
explicit upon certain points of vital interest to
the South, determined so to amend it as to Sc
cure our Constitutional rights, and render
them plain and safe in the future. beyond the
bubble of doubt or the possibility of cavil.
Tossing overheard that odious doctrine oil
| squatter sovereignty, like honest men they
| demanded of that Convention guarantee for
| the faithful performance of their platform, and
| thus to secure to US, on permanent basis,
our Constitutional rights. they not only did
| risk, but did disrupt their party, and duty
| now calls on US to rescue benefactors. The
| Southern Democrats are the men who have
dared to meet this issue and breast its conse-
quenee; the only party that says to the slave
holder, go sr, with your property into the ter
ritory acquired by your blood and treasure
and your rights shall be acknowledged and
| respected" This is the party that dared to
reject the opinions Of the Douglasites, who
ho ds that at any period during their Territorii.
| al existence, the people of such Territory
possess the right to fesislate for the exclusion
Of slavery. The party that would not con-
| sent to have Douglas forced upon the South
as their candidate for the Presidency, for
which nobleness of action, they merit the
/ warmest gratitude Of all true Southerners.-
No member of the old American party can,
by possibility Of reason, discover objections to
thu slavery clause in the Breckenridge plat
form, which, if not identically the same in lam
i guage, is in substance, that embodied in the
| American platform of 1855. The question
before US, however, is not a question of men,
| but question OF measures, of principles, OF
| vital existence, a question that claims a unan-
unity of action as a proof to fanatics, that
Southern freemen will guard their constitu-
tional rights. even TO the disruption of the tie
that binds this union. By concert Of action,
we may not be able to elect the President, but
,-~slI e.
those Northern Zealots, and ere it is too late,
convince them that the South can take no
further steps backwards. To answer your
question in plain language, I feel and believe
it to be the duty, and the only safety for the
South, to cast an undivided cote for the cands-
dates Of the Southern Denoaucy / believe,
however, that the Republicans will elect the
President. What then? Once in authority the
Republicans have vowed they would acknowl-
edge no Constitution that shields the institu-
ton of African Slavery. and having openly
sworn thus, they should never be permitted
to stain, by their touch, the public institutions
Of the country, the keys of the Federal Trea-
sury, to our forts and arsenals to violate the
Federal court or polute the Federal chair, by
placing in it the representative of party who
openly swears there is law higher than the
Constitution of their country. This should
be prevented in the Union. if we can, out oft
if we must. The Inauguration of Black
Republican as President ofthese States, would
be an overt act for the overthrow and utter
destruction of the Southern States, to prevent
whice, self professionalism first law of nature
bids us resist resist if to the cast of the
Union itself; though it should involve the
Republic in civil war. Yes, sirs. rather than
submit to disgrace so black and damning,
we should grapple the pillars that support
this lettering fabric called the Union, and drag
it down about their heads, bury ing those hell
imps beneath its ruins
Respectfully yours,
B. R. HOLMES.
To Messrs. Armistead, Epperson and Phil