The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1860-04-10
THE OATH BOUND CANDIDATE.

THE OATH BOUND CANDIDATE. &
John Pool, Esq, the Opposition candidate fo
Governor, is first, second and third degree
Know Nothing and will if elected Governor, b.
solemny bound to observe and carry out his oaths
Startling as this may appear, it is nevertheless
true. He is sworn to prescribe all persons wht
not natives and all persons who profess thu
Catholic religion. He is sworn to bestow all the
offices which he may have to fill on Know Moth
ings like HIMSELF and he is sworn to support only
Know Nothngs for Office He is committed BY
as solemn obligations ever rested upon man, t.
foment strife between races and between sects il
religion; and these obligations, in the oath which
he took .'shaH be kept sacred and inuiolate.
! If there be power to absolye him from these OBJ
| legations, We have no evidence that Mr. Pool has
ever been absolved. On the contrary, the inference
is that his obligations are still upon him, and thai
he is bound, whether he wishes to do so or not t.
carry them out
All this, and much more, felow-citizens, aca
done an secret. With doors closed, at midnight
away from the thoroughfares of men, while homes
people slept Mr. Pool took these oaths. With his
hand resting the flag staff of his country, or or
the Holy Word of God, he pronounced these OBJ
legations, not against the enemies of the State, but
against portions of his own fellow citizens! By
the light of lamps dimly burning, with hushed
tread of footsteps, and with the silence of skukne
fear, the passwords were "avhispered" and the
grip" was given.
Such is faint outline of Know Nothingism
It commenced in the North in the hotbeds Of
abolitionism. 1t destroyed the old Wing party
which was national and built up the black Repub
hcan party which is sectional. It trampled under
foot the teachings of Henry Clay, and substituted
for them the teachings of Brownlow, Winter Davis
Banks, and Tom Ford 1t put the North against
the South the South against the North, the native
against the foreigner, and the Protestant against
the Catholic. 1t sharpened the knife and lit the
torch Of hand to-hand conflict in Baltimore, New
Orleans, and Louisville between citizens of the
same country, until blood flowed like water, and
selfgovernment became byword and reproach
in those Cities It hunted down men who proud
ly claimed the American flag as their flag, because
they worshipped God in their own way, and because
they had foreign blood in their veins. If Wash
ington had lived in such day, and had been pro-
posed for Office, it would have voted against him
for refusing to subscribe to its oaths and would
then have mobbed him if he had staked his life, as
they did in the old war; for federation in religion and
for the rights of naturalized citizens. 1t made
party, and that by the most binding oaths, para
mount to country and paramount to individual
character and personain Independence. 1t made tools
Of freemen for the benefit of third degree leaders
in the Order like John A. Gmer aud Pool. 1t
So justice, II 81 Tram pltu
rights, it so strengthened abolitionsm, it so defed
and condemned law in large Cities, it so arrayed
neghbor against shbor and friend against friend
that the whole Southern country, disguised with
its mummeres and indignant at its course, rose al
most as man and consigned it to deteat. But
black Republicanism had meanwhile risen on it's
"ruins," and now threatens the very existence of
the government. In the South the members of
this oath-bound faction again changed their name,
declared themselves Wings, and attempted to rid
But in vain. 1t will stick to them as long as their
oaths stick in their consciences. We intend to
hold them to it. We intend to hold John Pool to
it. In our next we will refresh the minds of our
readers fully with the obligations which Mr.
Pool assumed Known Nothing, so that every
one may see what sort Of Governor he would be,
if 10y possibility he should be elected -Roleiyh
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