Newbern weekly progress., 1860-10-09

"
bite the dust7 Is the democratic party so conf
eent in its strength, that it afford to weigh
i1aown'' the gallant friends in the North who
have stood up undaunted in contests we of the
South have never been called on to endure for
our II ghts and for the Constitution and the Union?
And must they now, with the legerdemain of a
Blitz or an Adrian, doff their old bits and don
this new attire III which their best friends would
fail to recognize them2 Or have the politicians
insolently thrown down the gauntlet to the peo-
pie, whose creatures they are. and dictatorialy
proclaimed themselves the governors of the
country? The people under our system of gov
ernment, are the source of power, and they have
affirmed and affirmed, through their representa-
tives in Legislatures State and National a great
and wise plan for the settlement of most irrita-
ting and dangerous question.
Next we come to the Charleston Convention
and the retrospect is a painful one. IN the first
place, it was organized by the selection of a pre-
siding officer who should have occupied the hum
| blestseat in the synagogne-an individual hose
political antecedents would not bear inspection ;
whose unprincipled tricks and intrigues to defeat
the nomination of James Buchanan, in 1856
were without parallel for meanuess; hose life
long learnings, until a recent date, for - in
tervention," with quite different purpose from
that which is attempted to be foisted on us now :;
who actually voted against the admission OF Ar
kansas because of the institution of slavery; and
lastly whose predetermined opposition to Judge
Douglas became apparent that he failed to com
mand even that small mOdicum of respect sutf-
thanks! Such was the nominee of the Sourh h. to
preside national convention Every con-
vention since 1914 had proclaimed unequivotav
the doctrine of nonlntervcntlon, up to this period
1t was left to the Charleston Convention to apply
the hand of destruction to this time -hOnOred prin-
ciple. Mr.. Van Buren ostracised by the
party for his pro-lnterventlOn opinions. Now a
mighty change has come over the spirit Of a
portion of party who We're most violent iu
their opposition to Intervention and the attempt
a5a tO oStrl Stpnhau fnr D.
non-intervention principles. Verify, these cha
meleOn political managers are hard to please.
Managers, | say, because they have produced the
mischief, and not the masses of the secc,!ing par
ty, most of whom are | doubt not actuated by
patriotic, but most mistaken motives. They form
ed plan to crush out Judge Douglas. 1t was to
remove the plank of non-interventon from the
platform, and slip i'll its stead Mr.. Van Buren's
:'intervention' = plank Of course they knew be-
forehand that the gallant and consistent defender
of the Constitution and the Union would not ac-
cept it. His opinions and pledges had teen Civ
en- in an hundred contests, in effective support of
the principles of the Democratic party, and his
truth and honor refused to falsfy the record.
The two thirds rule had nsrer been applied
except in the single Instance at Baltimore in SlS
1t was applied to Mr.. Van Buren for deserving a
cardinal principle of the party For this decision
he and has followers ''bolted.' 1t applied to
Judge Douglas for directly opposite reason to
wit :hiS refusal to desert principle which had been
the common law of the party for twenty years, and
to accept one which belonged to the enemy and
this in the face of the fact hat he the choice
of a ma orty of the ,chOte contention In the
three preceding conventions this was regarded rs
a nomination, and the friends of the other candi-
dates at once transferred their votes to make it
unanimous Who does not recolect that thrill
ling scene at Cincinnati, when Mr.. Buchanan
having received majority of the convention,
Col Richardson, of Illinois, rose and read a des-
patch from Judge Douglas, requesting his friends
to record their votes for Mr.. Buchanan. And The
acclamation that followed this announcement be-
spoke Stephen A. Douglas the candidate vt the
Democratic party for the Presidency in 1850, by
right and by the claims of 7H0gnanimHy! And
since then he has done nothing to forfeit and much
to heighten this claim.
Subsequently. the two conventions assembled
in Baltimore. Judge Douglas friends remained
firm The ''holtng' convention met and nomi-
mated Caeb Cushing their presiding officer,
who with iesuitcal professions of patriotic duty.
had withdrawn from the regular convention, and
we told how the welkin rung he assumed
the duties of this new position. The story is
soon told. With haste unprecedented the nom
inees for the Presidency and Vice Preidency
were selected. Never before in the history of
political parties were two gentlemen chosen for
these elevated positions with such extraordinary
alacrty and such rare unanimity! Indeed. one
might hope that the glittering prize of the Presi
dency had for the time ceased to dazzle the eyes
of the many eager aspirants, and that an earnest
patriotism had tempered the elemental rivalres
mean no unkindness or disrespect to the dis
tinguished gentleman who has been entrusted
with the standard of this unhappy, and rs time
will show, mistaken offshoot of the Democratic
organization. For him personally, have the
highest regard; and |, with thousands, have
been the chosen chief of harmonious party
More sinned against than SHINING. however, he
he has been forced into the leadership of Justly
forlorn hope If he has not slnned away irrevoca-
bly, his day of grace, he has postponed 1t many
a long year. He who stood before the aunring
gaze of his fellow -countrymen as worthy of
their highest trust, has, either under strange
hallucination, or by the importantly of heartless
politicians been transferred from his high nation
al position to the chieftainship of sectional par
ty Look on this picture, and this Ste
phen A. Douglas has. for twenty-five years, been
fighting the battle of the democracy. The for
midable numbers, the fierce designs of the COM
mon enemy, the unworthy Vaccinations of bitter
foes and false friends, within his own political
household, the trials and disappontments which
he has undergone. the traductons and wllful mis-
which have fallen thick upon and
about him, have failed to quell his intrepid spirit
or render lukewarm in the of right, has
great soul!
In respect to party service, he is without a
rival. His record glitters with deeds of daring
and patriotism, before whose lustre those OF his
cotemporaries "pale their Intellectual fires. In
the campaigns of 80 and SO, his labors were in
cessant and his work complete. Fortune, brains,
health, pleasures all freely rendered upon the
altar of his party. He has fought more battles, and
fiercer ones, taken more prisoners, conquered more
enemies and more fights than any 9th r
man, North or South, in the Democratic party.
Like Garibaldi, he has chosen no easy fields; he
waited for invitations, he rushed to the con-
fict. never pausing to count loss or chances
His terrific Senatorial struggle in Illinois was a
moral scene at once grand and sublime. Single
handed and against double opposition, he won
his return to the Senate, and gave Abraham Lin
coin then presage of what he has yet in store
for him in November next. Such is the man
whom portion of the Democratic party would
ostracise against the will of majority of Il ma
tiona convention in his favor and at the hazard of
the disruption of the party and the dissolution of
the Union i
Upon the principle of common fairness and
precedent, then, he was entitled to harmonious
nomination at Charleston. He had "bolted" no
principle of the party. He had advocated and
rigidly adhered to all its requirements. He re-
ceived the support of majority of the convention,
W hich usage had sanctioned sufficient and he
stands before the American people as the stan
dard- bearer of the regular Democratic conven-
ton.
While we may deplore the course taken by
our dissenting friends, we believe we have chosen
L