, 1860-07-20
Yours, truly,
JNO. G. TIDBALL,
Presidential CampaIgn.
Lieut.. U. S. Army
Prof. JOSEPH HENRY,
Smithsonian Institute.

Another great quadrennial political con-
test comes on apace. The captsins Of the
respective parties are already in the field,
pointing their hosts on to victory, and with
eloquent tongues mparting encouragement
and enthusiasm. The almost universal press
Of the country grOan beneath their loads OF
party ammunition, banners with the differ
ent platforms Of principals embluzoned urol
are unfurled in each State of the Union,
and the warning tocsin of the onset is heard
and needed wherever an American has the
interests of his country at heart.
Never in the history of the United States
not excepting the stirring days of Tip
pecanoe and Tyler too"-was so much in
terest absorbed in Presidential campaign
as will be in the present. The reason is
obvious In all the evil times which have
befalen us heretofore, none have ever come
fraught with more fearful portenis of evil
than those which blacken the political sky
Of the present. A sectional party, of pow
er and influence unquestionable, has reared
its giant head in our country. 1t menaces
to win 10 its heresies majority of voters
in more than half the States of the Union,
and with calculating determination pro-
claims its aim to be to annhilate State in
dependence, and with an uusparing arm Of
physical power subvert the palladium OF
our liberties-over the ruins OF the consti-
tuition compel every section of the Union to
yield TO its arbitrary diclations. We can
conscientiously draw no other inference from
the exposition of faith of this faction. Its
unanimously selected has told us that "the
government cannot endure permanently
half slave and half Free" What must fol-
low, as a natural sequence Does it run
in American veins TO basely crouch at the
feet Of power, and INCREASINGLY surrender
the rights purchased by the blood Of the
revolution, and guaranteed by the letter
and spirit Of the constitution Z Never.
Then does this party essay to tear to shreds
the blood-cemented bonds Of fraternal uniou
which our fathers bequeathed US, and, with
q worse than Arnold thirst for the coun-
try's ruin, invite civil war-seek to array
brother against brother, and in internecine
bloodshed lose us as a nationality of con
federated sovereignties, and leave the wreck
upon the highway of time TO discourage
other men and other ages from endeavor-
ing to secure the blessings of life, liberty
and the pursuit Of happiness" The neces-
sIy that existed for the warning Of Wash
ington is now proven-the times endow
that warning with an import that strikes
the mind as the spirit Of prophecy. Still
in our infancy, with history thus far of
national prosperity and intelligence that
the parchment of the past will in vain be
rummaged to fnd parallel to, we see that
one section is indeed "arrayed against an-
olher.n
This dangerous combination, though the
most formidable, is not the only antagonist
Of our free institutions; though it may be
considered the generator of all ethers.A
Frenzied by the fanaticism Of northern Sec
tonalism, the natural ultraists Of the South
have resorted TO fighting the devil with
fire." to save their self-respect and keep in
tact their constitutional rights. Better" /"
say they, give the country up to pillage,
ruin and decay" than submit to practical
application Of the principles Of Republican
ism-such practical application as Brown
made In his deplorable attempt to carry
out the rcvolutionry sentiments of Mr.. Lin
coin. They openly assert the necessity and
justice Of dissolution Of the Union, if such
principles should ever mark the policy Of
an Administration of the Government.--
They threaten to meet the fanaticism of
the North half way, and in a struggle Of
rebellion and treason leave behind them
the "dshonored fragments of once glori-
Gus Union-States discovered discordant,
belligerent, rent asunder by political feuds,
or drenched, it may be, in fraternnl blood"
Can a journalist be an Indifferent locker
on in such crisis2 If a spark of venera-
tion for country animates his nature, will it
not prompt him to use his exertions against
the hydra-headed monster that seeks the
country's overthrow He would be recre-
ant to his profession, false to his support
ers, and disgrace to his country, would
he not ?-PortLdnd Nelos.