Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1862-08-28

The New Opposition Party.

tprius. We may therefore be pardoned for
irving an antique coloring to an event OF
recent occurrence. Accordingly we say.
once NJ on time, Tuesday, July l, 1862
o great popular convention Of all who loved
tho Constitution and the Union, and all who
hated ''niggers," was called in the city of
New York. The place Of meeting was the
Cooper Institute, and among the signers to
the call were prominent business and pro
fessional men Of that great metropolist. AT
this meeting, that euiineutly calm and learn
ed jurist, the Honorable w. A. Duer. in
terrupted the course Of an elaborate argu-
ment for the constitutional rights OF tho
. Southern rebels by a melodramatic exclama-
tion that, if We hanged the traitors OF the
country in the order OF their guilt, the next
man who marched upon the scaffold after
Jefferson Davis would be Charles Sumner"
The professed object of the meeting was
TO form party devoted to the support of
"the Constitution as it is and the Union as
it was" Its practical effect was to give the
Confederates and foreign powers broad
hint that the North was nc longer unit
The coincidence Of the meeting with the
Federal reverses before Richmond made its
professed object all tho more ridiculous.
The babblng and bawling Of the speakers
about ''tte rights of the South, and "the
infamous Abolitionists who disgraccd Con
gross" were but faint echoes of the Con-
federate cannon which had just ceased to
carry death into the Union ranks. Both
the speeches and the cannon spoke hostility
10 tue National Cause The number Of the
dead, wounded, "missing" aud demoraliz-
ed members Of the great Army of the
Potomac exceeded. on that Tuesday evening,
any army which the United States had ever,
before the present war, arrayed on any
battle field. Jefferson Davis, on that even
ing, was safer at Richmond than Abraham
Lincoln was ut Washington. A vel. ground.
ed apprehension, not only for the Union, v
but for the safety Of loyal States, was felt
on that evening all over the North and West.
II was, in fact, the darkest hour in the
whole annals Of the Republic. Even the
authorities at Washington feared that the
Army OF the Potomac was destroyed. This
was exactly the time for the Honorable Mr..
Wickliffe and the Honorable Mr.. Brooks,
for the Honorable w. A. Duer and the
Honorable Fernando Wood, to delight the
citizens of New York with their peculiar
eloquence. This was the appropriate oc-
casion to stand up for the persecuted and
down trodden South This was the grand
opportunity to assert the noble principle,
that, by the Constitution, every traitor had
the right to be tried by jury Of traitors |
This was the time to dishonor all the New
England dead This was the time to de.
nounce the living worthless Of New England
Hang JEFF. Davis? Oh, yes We all know
that he is secure behind his triumphant
slayers of the real defenders Of the Consti
tuition and the Union. Neither hanrman mol
Major General can get near him.. Bu
Charles Sumner is in our power We car
hang him easily. He has not two or foul
hundred thousand men at his back. He
travels alone and unattended. DO we wan
constitutional principle for combining the
two men in one act Of treason2 Here is {
calm jurist,--here, gentlemen of the party
Of the Constitution and the Laws, is thu
Honorable W. A. Duer. What does h,
say2 Simply this: Hang JEFF. Davil
and Charles Sumner" Davis we cannot
ono-half of his advice circumstances pre-
vent us from availing ourselves Of the whole
There IL, to be sure, no possibility of hang
ing Charles Sumner under any law knowr
to US, the especial champions of the laws
But what then2 Don't you see the Hon
w. A. Duer appeals, in this special case
to "ths higher law" of the mob? Don
you zee that he desires TO shield JEFF. Davi
by weaving around his august person all tn,
hne cooweps OF the Law, while no propose
70 nave sumner hanged on irregular
principles, UNKNOWN to the Jurisprudence o
Marshail ana hent
But enough for the New York meeting
II was of no Importance, except as indica
ting the existence, and giving a blunderinl
expression to the objects, Of one of th,
most malignant and unpatriotic factions
which this country has ever seen. The fac
tion is led by a few cold, blooded politician
universally known as tho mcanest syco
plants Of the South and the most impudon
.bullies Of the North but they have COZ
trived TO array on their side considerabl,
number Of honest and well.meaning dupe,
by . dexterous appeal to conservative pre-
jndice and conservative passion, so that hun
dreds serve their ends who would feel con
taminated by their conpanionship. Never
before has Responsibility SO blandly consent
cd to become the mere instrument and too
EFF Raseality. The rogues trust to inaugural,
treason aud anarchy under the prctence O
being tho special champions OF the Consti
tuition ana the Laws. Their real adherentl
are ouiieu iioln thc most desperate and dis
honest DOrtlOnS OF our DODulatIOn. Thnx