New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-07-18
heir own corrections, Mr.. Preston has

their own convictions, Mr.. Preston ha
chosen to say:
They were originally driven from Eng
| lana ior violation of her fundamental Law
| and therefore could not bring with then
| motives and sentiments in accordance with
out IN TACT and naturally adverse to, tn
| prlnclpies OF English constitutional libert,
| and OF English religious freedom. They
| came. not as refugees from unlawful peIse
| cntion and tyranny, but as escaped convict
from the just penalties of a turbulent her
| esy and an ambitious rebellion, which
| sought. BY violence, to enforce their con
sciences Oh En2land's law.
How unkind. How unfeeling. How
unjust And Nh. Prestons ancestors
why did they come to America? W,
| Infer from the name that they were Scotch
or Scotch-1rish. Were they of the blue
blood? Did they import with them to thi.
continent these peculiar doctrines O.
English constitutional liberty? It is i'm
material whether they did OF did not.
But Mr.. Preston shows little sagacity
IN selecting Jefferson, Madison. Monroe,
OF Marshall, as representing a different
constitutional faith from these Puritans,
Neither OF these great men was noble
man. All of them came from the same
class OF Englishmen with Putnam and
Ethan Allen and Adams and Hancock
and Nathaniel Greene. Does Mr. Preston
remember that the man who founded the
university which he used to denounce.
the Puritan fathers agreed with
them IN every principle Of civil gov
eminent: Let US see If he did
not. They signed his declaration
OF independence. He repealed the
law Of primogeniture. thus making all
equal in their right to inherit. He re.
pealed titles Of nobility. He established
religious freedom. He wished to found
primary schools. with academies and a
university. He advocated universal
suffrage and the emancipation Of the slave.
He was leyeler and demagogue. in the
words of the aristocracy Of the time; but
his ideas Of constitutional liberty seem to
have been identical with those of the men
whom Mr.. Preston selects him to condemn.
Mr.. Preston seems extremely ignorant of
the history Of the people before whom he
denounces the inhabitants Of Northern
Virginia" Or New England. Virginia was
not settled by aristocrats at all. There
were rich men and scions OF nobility, no
DOUBT. who had large grants Of land in
that colony, but the people who settled
Virginia were chiefly tobacco planters and
heir indentured servants. Among those
were Republicans. and New
Highlander and Republican, Bennett, was
'nce elected to the highest Office in vir-
,inia. Bancroft says that Virginia was
he first country in the world that !
established free suffrage throughout
ler extended territory. There is de- |
'isive piece Of history in this con-
lection. Bacon. On English Republican, !
vas colonist in Virginia. The aristo- |
ratio Governor Berkely refused him a
commission to lead the people against the
indians. Bacon was proclaimed "a rebel"
because he disobeyed the command. He
vent to battle with the savages without
uthority. He afterwards drove Berkely
cross Chesapeake Bay, called together
n assembly and enacted code Of laws
0 radical. SO expressive Of the true prin.
iples Of British constitutional liberty,
nat they have been said to have antici-
ated the declaration of independence by
list one hundred years. They certainly
nbody almost all the reforms which have
cen arrived at at much later day.
In the revolution it SO happened that
UGH the largest influence of those "who
the true principles Of the
ritish constitution in South Carolina
'lieved it TO consist in loyalty TO the ,
ritish crown. Not to put too fine point ,
! the matter, South Carolina was the t
ronghold of the Tories. 1t was the case, ,
ough to q far less extent, in Virginia.
e have seen book Of the loyalists of t
g revolution, and we fear that it con. (
ms very large class Of the most SUPER I
rulean blood Of the Southern States.
Il would seem then that Mr.. Preston q
[ected unlucky examples to demon r
ate difference, when the descendant 4
immigrants from the same country
We united in making war against the 7
,ther country for the same cause, and +
We agreed to embody the same princi. Y
IS in the same constitution. It is diff. o
It to prove ancestral diversity in such 81
Of their posterity. d
When in England, where these distinc- :,
us originated, they have disappeared; | n
en- the Cavalier and Roundhead have Il
g since amalgamated in the farmers, g,
rchants and mechanics. and no man !,
point out the social distinction be- =,
zen them. we really think it is time TO g;
.ndon the effort to make distinct peo- ri
Of their constitutional relations here, :,
ecially when seven citizens out of ten q,
the country neither know nor care ~
,ut either of them. "
tt
THE MARCH INTO TEXAS. -.
Tor the first time our own citizens have fl
en- the initiative in an effort to extend A
imperfect connections into Texas. tn
Wheelock departed with his engineer n,