Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1861-02-08
[From the n. Y. Eve. Post. !
PUBLIC OPINION IN THE
FREE STATES.

" are glad to know that among the mer-
camille part of this community the dlsappro-
baton Of Mr.. Buchanan feeble and wayer
ing course Is as strong as among any other
class The conduct of those who have taken
the lead in the movement of secession, their
insoent threats, their reasonable conspiracy
to seize the seat of government, their refusal
to obey that system OF laws under which our
republic has grown prosperous and strong,
which they have never complained OF as
grievance, and made no effort to repeal, their
numerous rObberies, their acts of open re-
belion, their audacious insul5 OF the flag
which is the emblem Of our countrywide
gether have awakened a sense Of Indignation,
in which those who are concerned in trade
seem &c share as fully as those who have
smaller interests at stake. We often hear
these men denouncing the inactivity and Il
midIty of NJ Buchanan, even those who are
Of his party, and declaring tnau they stand
ready to support any administration which
shall firmly and !ait ithfully execute the laws,
and give evidence TO the world, and the reb-
els, that we have q government clothed with
power TO preserve the public order and vim
dcate its own rights. rs a general rule, the
democratic merchants at the present mo-
ment, express these views with more yehc-
mence than the Republicans. They are I'M
patient at tine discredit which Mr.. Bucban-
ans course has brought upon their party,
and anxious 70 clear themselves from any
participation in it. You hear them fre-
Queutly saying that thcy are concerned in |
the southern trade, that they arc creditors to
the southern merchants, and though they
horc % receive their dues from that quarter,
they would rather lose the whole Of them at
once than allow the system Of government
under which we live, with all its titles to re
spact and obedience and love. to be made the
empty and l5rccless thing which Buchanan
is making 1.-THE scorn and scofi Of those
who lately recognized their duty to it, and |
the est of all the world beside. They de- /
plore tie anarchlcal state in which Mr.. Bu- |
chauan E folly in taking r0gues as his cOun-
sell5Is, and allowing himself to be guided by
their advice, and his pitiablc irresolutIon
since he has called better men TO his cabinet,
have plunged the nation. and they are actu-
ally impatient FOR the arrival Of the time
when Mr.. Lincoln shall take the reins Of the
government, in the hope that he VIII hold
them with frmer aud abler hand.
This way of regarding the subject IS al
most universal; here and there it may be dis
sented from, but it is the dissent of one man |
in hundred. Men engaged in trade and /
business, merchants, manufacturers, the |
agents Of the foreign and the domestic trade,
agree in it with perfect unanimity. If we /
look beyond the present moment. this IS the /
wise. sensible and prudent, as well as the |
patriotic, view of the matter. No pursuit /
Of life can be followed with the prospect Of
certain rewards to honest industry, among
men who do not recognize a settled govern |
ment and stable order OF things. II tede-
raj law be, as the seeding states pretend,
without the authority to claim obedience,
without power to strike the oppressor-a
f,urc Of straw, which any man who chooses
may tumble from its pedestal and kick about
the streets-it is evident that there will new
er be a moments certainty of that order and
tranquility in which alone industry and
comm cree can thrive.