The mountain Democrat., 1863-06-20
tFrOm the Old GuArd.l
Hon. c. L. Vallandigham.

kiuodopo Of Great Britain. That honor IS
I perhaps SIR. VaIfandfgham's in America.
But the abuse is of character and pro-
ceeds from a source which renders it the
highest compliment to his character and
patriotism. None but . man Of intellect,
character and patriotism could have
drawn upon himself such a bitter and
persistent abuse from the disuniOn Abo-
| ton traitors and fanatics as has been
showered upon the head Of Mr. @. j.. VAL
landigham. The blows he has dealt
against their Constitution -dcspjsing, and
law-defying schemes, must haPe.~1H
home, to have aroused the whole pack to
! such a universal howl. The hatred Of
such men is Just measure of the virtue
and power of man. Publius Cyrus
said: "The opposition of bad men is The
highes, praise"
Clement Laird Vallandigham was born
| in New Lisbon, Co!umbiara county, Ohio,
July oath, 1920. His father was Pres
! byteriau cleEgynan, q native Of Virginia
His grandfather was also Virgn;an, aud
was born near the classic fields of Bull
Run" The name was originally Van
Landegham, the family coming from
French Flanders.
Mr.. Valandigham, we believe, COM
pleted his education at Jefferson College,
Pa. He was for some time Principal Of
an Academy on the Eastern shcrc of Me-
ryland. He finally studied law and was
aduittcd to the bar in his native
county, in December 1912 He was elect
cd to represent that county in the Legis-
lature of Ohio, 1845, 1867. In that
body he distinguished himself by his op-
position to the measures OF the Wilmot
Provso, and to all the schemes Of the 40
olitioniSts end semi abolitionists, who
were then beginning to lift :heir hydra
! head throughout the country. The last
year he was in the Ohio Legislature, q
petition was introduced, asking that body
to declare the Union dissolved, and to
withdraw our Senators and Representa-.
tives in Congress. Mr.. Valandigham, Of
course, denounced the petition and those
who supported it. Those very traitors
are now denouncing him for his faithful
adherence to the Constitution and laws Of
our country. He is still standing where
he then did, contending for the Union Of
our fathers, and they are still battling to
destroy it. In that same winter of 1e47,
Massachusetts, passed secession reSOlu-
tion, which to this day remains unre-
scinded upon its official records.
At the conclusion of his term in the
Legislature of Ohio, Mr.. Vallandigham
removed to Dayton, and became the edi-
tor of the Dayton Empire, in which po-
sition he distinguished himself as an able
journalist, as a patriot, who sought to
preserve the principles of constitutional
liberty which were born Of our Revolu'
ton. He took prominent part among
the friends of the Union in Ohio, in favor
of the compromise measures1of 1850, the
work of Clay and Webster, and other
patriots who then saved the ship ct state
from splitting on the rock Of Gboilionism.
In 1852, he was nominated by the Dem
ocratS as the compromise candidate for
Congress in the Third District Of Ohio, in
opposition to Lewis ID. Cambell, the can
didate Of the nti.compromise or Aboli-
ton party. Cambell was elected, which
so rcioiccd the old "libcrty party" OF
Ohio, which run John P. Hale for Presi-
dent, that their State committee issued Il
circular, in which they said Of Mr.. Val
landigham-" In opposition to Mr.. Cam
bell, the Democratic party nominated e..
l.. Vallandigham, lawyer Of Standing,
an eloquent and ready debater, Of gen
tlemanly department and unblemished
character, and untiring industry and en-
ergy. But he was known to all to be an
ultra. .proslavery man, and he undertook
with relish to carry the load of the com
promise measures, the fugitive slave law
! included, and he broke down under the
burden"
In 1856, Mr.. Vallandigham was again
nom mated by the Democratic party for
Congress, and was triumphanlly elected.
His friends went into the campaign with
the motto Of "Vall and the Union" in
Scribcd ch their banner. The opposition
denounced and sneered at him as
" Union n-saver"-the same pack Of howl
ers that now call him secessionist," ="
because that he wants the Union as it
was and the Constitution as it is, while
his opponents were parading up aud down
with only sixteen stars Oh their flags, as
the ensign of their principles, to drive all
but the free States out Of the Union. Mr.
VallandjSham has now served six years
in Congress. His whole course there
has been distinguished by the conduct
and manners Of a patriot, a staSesman
and gentleman. The cry OF traitor"
which has been bowIed by the whole
pack of Abolition wolves from one end of
the land to the other is, as We have al
ready intimated, the very highest proof
of his integrity, courage, and patriotism.
We venture to affirm that one may look
in vain in all his speeches, in or out of
Congress, for single sentence or word
which does not breathe an affectionate
love of his country, and lofty dctermi-
nation to stand by all the laws and insti-
tuuonS of the Union. He is one of the
few men who have not deviated for mo-
ment, from the principles which the
Democratic party has adhered to ever
since its foundation. If his doctrines are
treasonous, then the platform of Demo-
cratic National Conventions has been trea.
sonous. If he is traitor, then every
Democratic President, from Jefferson to
jackson. and from jackson to Buchanan,
was traitor. The difference between
him and some others, who call themselves
Democrats, is, that he has stood firm and
undaunted on the time-honored platform
of Democracy, while some others have
jumped off and have been drawn away by
the prevailing madness Of the hour.
They now see their fatal mistake in Civ
ing aid and encouragement to an Admin
istration which has utterly ruined the
country. The Administration has landed
Just where Mr.. Vallandigham, and those
who have stood with him foreWarned the
people it would. He said then that war
would not save the Union. He declared,
with the lamented Douglas, that war is