Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-11-25


OF sermons, so cents each. nOnTll-'6e
what Is lConservatIsm and who are
| Conservatives .-An Able and Inc
| structiYe Article.
From Harper's weekIy)
Two weeks since we spoke of the anus
ing Ignorance of the meaning of many
words in the most common use. Grave,
respectable people consent to be humbug-
| ged by loud noise, and because a certain
policy is stigmatized rs radical, believe
that they are conservative when they OPP
poseit. A conservative party is proper
ly party which aims to secure the guar
autees OF permanent social order upon which
life and property depend. 1t is, of course,
divided into two parts-the sensible and
the foolish: the part which holds to the
Stdtu quo, without regard to the facts Of
human nature; and that which accommo.
dates itself to the eternally changing cir
| cumstanceS of human affairs. The first
condition of human society is movement.
Its sole hope is in the conduct of that
movement forward, and not backward. AS
with child who must and will walk, the
point is that he shall walk forward without
falling, instead of stepping backward and
merely tumbling over.
| Conservatism is not stagnatiou. 1t is
not fear to walk lest we fall. 1t is the care
to walk steadily upright. 1t does not in
sist that the growing man shall wear the
child's clothes, not only because it is Ri
diculons that he should do 50, but because
he will surely, split them by growth
which he can not control. Conservatism
only takes care that the clothes snail nei-
ther betoo large nor in the extreme ofthe
fashion. .-l1G.
Thus course of conduct is not conserv-
atiYe merely because it is the old way
"The anCient laudmHrks' are beacous that
guide upon Journey they are not tent
poles around which an immovable camp Is
to be pitched The old way is good in the
old times, but IL is bad in the new times.
In '76 conservatism was revolution, be-
cause there was no other way to secure the
essential guarantees of civil society but by
| lighting for them. Our chief fighter is the
chief conservative of our history. So in
these days sconseryuttsm is again war, be-
| cause by var only can the same guarantees,
threatened by bloody paricidnl hands, be
maintained. And again at this day our
| chief fighters are our chief conservatives !;
| and the men who are known asdemagogues as
and radicals in the dangerous sense, are
they who are endeaVoring to betrny the
lighters. $40
The country is convulsed by terrible war
by maintaining absolutely the authority of
the Government, or by surrendering and
limiting that authority. What is the true
conservatism of the situation2 Is it to
have tnomentary peace, at any price
even that OF dismemberment, humiliation,
and disgrace, with all the endless wars and
confusions sure to follow, in which there
can be no security whatever of life and
property-or is it to vindicate the supreme
authority of that Government over every
one of its citizens and every inch of its
domain2 Is Mexico a conservative nation2
Is the principle that when any pnrty is dis
coutented it may take up arms to gain its
ends and be sure to gain them a conserva.
tive principle 2 When the flag is fred
upOn-the symbol of national unity, power,
spIendor, aud honor-does conservatism
hasten and cry to the dishonorers and as
sassins, "Certainly, gentlemen |" and tear
the flag into two or twenty tatters as the
rebellion may dictateH No, NO. In the
moment of mortal national peril conserva-
tism is the stOutest, stanchest, most heroic
standard. bearer. 1t grasps the mighty
banner, unrolls 1t to the sky; halls it as
consecrated by the Past AID illuminated
by the Future; ana declares, with dread.
full earnestuess, that whoever and what
ever would disgrace or rend it shall be
utterly confounded and destroyed, II Is
I George Washington who is the conserva-
tive, and not Benedict Arnold.
Viewed by the light of truth so evident,
who are the conservatives in this country
to-day7 With whom will men who really
wish the salvation of all the fundamental
guarantees Of life, liberty, and property
take their stand? Will it be with those
who declare openly for yielding to armed
resistance of the lawsR who say frankly
that the Government can Hot maintain it,
self that there can be but one end of the
way, and that is the humiliation of the
Government, aud the ruin of the country
by the dissolution of the Union Is it con.
seryatism to declare that you will not sup
port the lawful authorities of the country,
as Mr.. Fernando Wood says now that he
will not The same Fernando Wood who
lendeayored TO resist the lawful authorities
of the State, and who bewailed his inabili-
" to send Toombs, of Georgia, ,rifies,to shoot
Northern men. There are but two methods
of conduct: you must either support the
Government or oppose it, If you oppose
it, is there any salvation for us? Do
those who oppose it mean that there shall
be any salvation from national tlestruc-
ton .1f
There is now, there always will be, a
conservative party in this country. Aud in
tempeStIke tuis you eau NOT sput ualrS.
You must either act With your whole soul
one way or the other. To be ldkswarm is
to help the enemy. There is a conserva-
tive party. Who are its representatives I
Let every man honestly answer. Are they
the President and the constituted althori-
ties2 Are they such men as Daniel s.
I Dickinson, Dennis NJ Carthy, Henry S. Ran
!, dali, Edward Everett, Joseph Holi, !, Andrew
Johnson, Parson BroWnloW, A. j. HGmiI.
ton, or are they such men as Fernando
Z Wood, IVallandigham, Isaiah Rynders, y ef
I fefson Davis, James Brooks, Robert Poombs
~. Va, Rowan Vgt16st llet...ttl l13Tgoit4