The mountain Democrat., 1864-09-10
TA4 ssraA.1. A4l4ts.D..1:aey.

The idea has been industriOuhly incul.
Gated ever since the present war began,
that the South Hgbts exclusively to up.
hold an aTistocrScJ, 1SS :sSzc - - - e
sue>is whether democracy or q slavehold
ing aristocrscy shall rule. The fact thal
the actual slsVeholdsEs are not one tenth
Of the population Of iAS South;- ought b
have some weight, considering that the
non. n.slAveholders are fighting the battles.
If the assumption be true, then they 6ght
to perpetuate the Gtistocracy that rules
and oppressss them. The Bangor Whig
quotes and comments upon q speech oil
its candidate for Vice President IS fol-
lows:-
The honest democrats who oppose
this war cannot understand the matters at
issue. 1t is hardly possible
"Mr. johnson says: One of the chief
elements Of this rebellion is the opposi.
ton Of the slave aristocracy to being ruled
by men who have risen from the ranks ol
the people. The aristOcracy hated Mr..
Lincoln because be was Of humble origin
"a railSplitter in early life. One Of them,
the private secretary Of Howell Cobb, said
to me one day, after long conversation,
The people Of the South will not submit
to be governed by man who comes from
the ranks Of the people as Abe Lincoln
has He uttered the essential feeling OF
this Southern rebellion.
Mr.. johnson testifles what he knows.
He- watched the rebellion from the start
and cannot be mistaken. He, and the
party to which he belongs, opposes this
rebellion. The effect Of the action of the
other party is to favor and encourage the
rebellion. The honest democrat, then,
who acts with the latter party, favors the
AristOcracy Of the land, and will not be
ruled by men who have arisen from the
ranks Of the people"
Unfortunately for Governor Johnson's
argument his own history reEutes it. Born
Of humble origin in slave State, tailor,
and an ignorant one at that, his nGtive
force Of character was recognized in the
slavehoIding State Of Tennessee sufficient.
y TO place him in Congress, in the Cover
nor's chair, and in the Senate of the Uni
ted States. The aristocracy of Tennessee
did all they could for the man Of humble
origin.
On the other hand Abraham Lincoln,
also Of humble birth, with all the abilities
which his admirers have claimed for him,
was able to obtain from the people Of the
free Stnte Of illinois only the doubtful
compliment Of one term in Congress, du.
ring the time that the shareholders Of Ten.
nessee were heaping honors on Andrew
johnson, although he was repeatedly q
candidate.
In constructing the administration thai
is to guide them in the perils Of revolu
ton, tho Confederates have shown a par
tiality for proven ability rather than fol
patrcian blood. Jefferson Davis is Ken
tuckian. with no pretensiOns to aristocra
cy. Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice
President, is foundling, who never knew
his parentage. Lee is commander Of th'
Confederate army solely by virtue of hi
great ability, his second in rank being fo
long time the Virginia schoolmaster
Stonewall Jackson. The sons Of the ole
families of the entire South have fought il
the ranks by the side Of the humbles
conscripts.
No, the cause of the desperate resist
ance Of the Southern people must be look
ed for elsewhere than in desire to up
hold aristocratic ideas-and it is not hard
to find either. 1t may be seen written in
the bloody history of propagandism ever
since the world began. At periods during
all recorded time people and nations have
stood in resistance to arrogant demand:
that they should yield obedience to some
form of tyranny over mind or body-and
have welcomed the torch to their homes
the slaughter Of the battle, and the tor
ture of the rack, rather than yield. When
the American abolitionists can make hu.
man nature recreant to itself, and prove
all history lie, they may hope to snhju-
gate or exterminate the Southern people.
belfast (Me.) Republican Journal.