"A man unsound on Slavery, Free Trade, and Internal Improvements, or whose opinions are shrouded in treacherous ambiguity--such a man, be he Black Republican or Democrat, is unworthy of her support. To vote for either, is to give away her influence, to be used against her. It is to stultify principle, and be the instrument of her own undoing."
This doctrine would get very much in the way of such men as _Toombs and Stephens_, of Georgia, and other Anti-Internal Improvement Democrats, but they can excuse Breckenridge on the ground that he acquiesced in the veto of Pierce, and was possibly only trying to make a little capital at home, which is common with Democracy. Besides, Mr. Breckenridge being raised a _Clay Whig_, and representing the Ashland District as a Democrat, should be allowed to pa.s.s over the _Jordan_ of Democracy by degrees!
His name can be used advantageously in this contest in another respect.
While Mr. Buchanan was Mr. Clay"s most vindictive enemy, traducer, and calumniator, Mr. Breckenridge can be held up to the Clay Whigs, as having announced to the House of Representatives the death of Mr. Clay, in language and sentiments branding Buchanan as a malignant slanderer, without mentioning his name, by the character he gave to Clay! Closing his eulogy upon Mr. Clay in these words, Mr. Breckenridge evidently looked with the eye of prophecy at the slanders of Buchanan, the recollection of which would "cl.u.s.ter" around his grave:--
"Every memorial of such a man will possess a meaning and value to his countrymen. His tomb will be a hallowed spot. Great memories will cl.u.s.ter there, and his countrymen as they visit it may well exclaim:
"Such graves as his are pilgrim shrines-- Shrines to no creed or code confined; The Delphian vales, the Palestines, The Meccas of the mind."
If we mistake not, this young Breckenridge is the nephew of the Rev.
John Breckenridge, formerly of Baltimore, and pastor of the Presbyterian Church. If so, he is the nephew of the Rev. Robert Breckenridge, the talented and staunch advocate of the American party. The venerable uncle of this young man, whilst pastor of the Church in Baltimore, was a most formidable opponent of the Roman Catholic religion, and is the man who conducted the debate with Archbishop Hughes, in 1836, which we now have before us, in a large volume of 550 pages. Of course _Bishop Hughes_ will require the young man to repudiate his uncle"s views and charges in opposition to the Papal religion; and this, we should think, he will do for the sake of the Catholic vote in America!
From the Knoxville Whig of June 14, 1856.
PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRACY--ITS LEGITIMATE FRUITS.
The following important doc.u.ment we take from the National Intelligencer, of January 22, 1851. It was signed and published by gentlemen irrespective of parties--FORTY-FOUR Senators and Representatives in Congress. It will be a _curiosity_ to those of our readers who may have forgotten its well-timed and patriotic pledges. How unfortunate it has been for the country, and especially the public tranquillity, that the determination and counsels of these men were, in an evil hour, departed from, and flagrantly violated by the demagogues of the self-styled Democratic party! To the violation of this solemn pledge by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise line, and the reopening of the Slavery agitation by the introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, intended to elevate that miserable little demagogue, _Stephen A.
Dougla.s.s_, to the Presidency, we are indebted for all the scenes of bloodshed in Kansas, to the angry slavery discussions in Congress, and the disgraceful scenes of riot being almost daily enacted there!
Several copies of the following Declaration were circulated in Congress, and obtained a number of signatures in both halls; but no other list was ever published, that we know of, besides this, which, it will be seen, was headed by the ill.u.s.trious HENRY CLAY:
"The undersigned, members of the thirty-first Congress of the United States, believing that a renewal of sectional controversy upon the subject of slavery would be both dangerous to the Union and destructive of its objects; and seeing no mode by which such controversy can be avoided, except by a strict adherence to the settlement thereof effected by the Compromise Acts pa.s.sed at the last session of Congress, do hereby declare their intention to maintain the said settlement inviolate, and to resist all attempts to repeal or alter the acts aforesaid, unless by the general consent of the friends of the measure, and to remedy such evils, if any, as time and experience may develop. And, for the purpose of making this resolution effective, they further declare that they will not support for the office of President, Vice-President, Senator, or Representative in Congress, or as a member of a State Legislature, any man, of whatever party, who is not known to be opposed to the disturbance of the settlement aforesaid, and to the renewal, in any form, of agitation upon the subject of slavery.
"Henry Clay, C. S. Morehead, Robt. L. Rose, W. C. Dawson, Thos. J. Rusk, Jere. Clemens, James Cooper, Thos. C. Pratt, Wm. M. Gwin, Samuel A. Elliot, David Outlaw, O. H. Williams, J. Philips Phoenix, A. M. Schemerhorn, Jno. R. Thurman, D. A. Bokee, Geo. R. Andrews, W. P. Mangum, Jeremiah Morton, R. I. Bowie, E. C. Cabell, Alex. Evans, Howell Cobb, H. S. Foote, Wm. Duer, Jas. Brooks, A. H. Stephens, R. Toombs, M. P. Gentry, H. W. Hilliard, F. E. McLean, A. G. Watkins, H. A. Bullard, T. S. Haywood, A. H. Shephard, Daniel Breck, Jas. L. Johnson, J. B. Thompson, J. M. Anderson, John B. Kerr, J. P. Caldwell, Ed. Deberry, H. Marshall, Allen F. Owen."
The _rowdyism_ and _treachery_ of Democracy never intended to abide by this pledge--and hence their "disturbance of the settlement aforesaid,"
by opening up anew this villainous "agitation upon the subject of slavery." This violation of a solemn pledge has introduced into Kansas civil war, caused bloodshed, the shooting down of men in cold blood, and overrun that country with contending parties, called "_Friends of Freedom_" and "_Border Ruffians_," armed with Sharpe"s rifles, Colt"s revolvers, bowie-knives, and clubs, mixed with Bibles!
All this really affords an ill.u.s.tration of the domineering insolence of Democratic Abolitionism--an element in our Federal Government which will stop at no extremity of violence, in order to subdue the people of the Slave States, and force them into a miserable subservience to its fanatical dominion. And it is worthy of note, that the shooting of Sheriff Jones and others in Kansas, occurred immediately after the arrival of the _New Haven Emigrant Rifle Company_! This, too, calls to mind forcibly the very delectable _conversational speechifying_ that took place at the New Haven Rifle Meeting, among the pious villains who figured most conspicuously. As it is short, we give it entire:
Rev. Mr. Dutton (pastor of the church.)--One of the deacons of this church, Mr. Harvey Hall, is going out with the company to Kansas, and I, as his pastor, desire to present him a Bible and a Sharpe"s rifle. (Great applause.)
E. P. Pie.--I will give one.
Stephen D. Purdee.--I will give one for myself, and also another one for my wife.
Mr. Beecher.--I like to see that--it is a bold stroke both right and left. (Great laughter.)
Charles Ives.--Put me down for three.
Thomas R. Trowbridge.--Put me down for four. (Continued laughter.) Dr. J. I. Howe.--I will subscribe for one.
A gentleman said that Miss Mary Dutton would give one.
Dr. Stephen G. Hubbard.--One.
Mr. Beecher here stated that if twenty-five could be raised on the spot, he would pledge twenty-five more from the church at Plymouth--fifty being a sufficient number for the whole supply.
(Clapping of hands all over the house.)
Prof. Silliman now left Mr. Beecher to speak for the bid, and sat down to enjoy the occasion.
Mr. Killem.--I give one.
Mr. Beecher.--_Killem_--that"s a significant name in connection with a good Sharpe"s rifle. (Laughter.)
After this, this clerical vagabond, Beecher, blessed the weapons, and encouraged the party to go forth and "do or die" in the sublime "cause of n.i.g.g.e.r freedom!" In all human probability, sweet Mary Dutton"s rifle may have sped the ball that pierced the side of Sheriff Jones, the officer of the law, while in the honest discharge of a sworn duty!
Subsequent murders, where pro-slavery men were shot down with these rifles, we attribute to the _omen_ that Beecher found in his name "_Killem_"--it is a significant name in connection with Sharpe"s rifle.
The real a.s.sa.s.sins shoot down their men, and with their _rifles_ and _Bibles_ flee; but _she_ who unfrocked herself by furnishing a rifle, and _he_ who gave and blessed the weapon of death, are here to accept the thanks of their admirers and partisans. Let sweet Mary and her _beloved_ pastor be crowned with wreaths of deadly night-shade, and consigned to one cell in Sing Sing prison!
But the success of Ruffianism in Kansas, in the hands of those vile Abolition Democrats, has emboldened members of the same party to introduce it in the Federal Capital. But the other day, MR. SUMNER, of Ma.s.sachusetts, made, in his place in the U. S. Senate, one of the most incendiary and inflammatory speeches ever uttered on the floor of either House of Congress! The vocabulary of Billingsgate was exhausted in denouncing all who dared to justify the inst.i.tution of slavery--using, over and over again, such terms as "hireling, picked from the drunken spew of an uneasy civilization in the form of men," &c. The language made use of was disgraceful to the vile Abolitionist himself, and to the Senate, of which he never ought to have been a member. There was no limit to the personal abuse in which the villainous Senator indulged, no restraint to the vile epithets coined in his insane head; and the very natural consequence was, a personal chastis.e.m.e.nt of Mr. Sumner, in the Senate chamber, by Mr. Brooks, a Representative from South Carolina, and a relative of Judge Butler, the gentleman abused in his absence, which, for its severity, never was equalled in Washington. Mr. Sumner was the aggressor, because he poured out the vials of his wrath upon not only Judge Butler, a distinguished Senator, but upon the whole State of South Carolina.
We do not justify the selection of a _time_ and _place_ by _Mr. Brooks_, for punishing this Ma.s.sachusetts Abolitionist; but we should despise the son of South Carolina who could hear his native State arraigned in such temper and language, without feeling intensely, and _manifesting_ that feeling at a proper time and place. Indeed, it would be strange if a South Carolinian did not resent the arrogant, insulting, and contemptuous tone which Mr. Sumner saw fit to indulge in towards South Carolina in general, and her Senator in particular! We know Judge Butler--we have seen him on the Bench, in the discharge of the duties of a Circuit-Judge--we have seen and heard him in the Senate Chamber, where he has served for years, with credit to himself and honor to his State.
He is an accomplished man, and a most amiable and honorable gentleman.
His character is unblemished; he stands deservedly high; he is a gentleman of urbane and courteous demeanor, and is beloved, esteemed, and respected, by all _gentlemen_ who know him or a.s.sociate with him.
Besides, he is an old man, gray-haired, and palsied; and, whether present or absent, deserved to be treated as a gentleman.
Northern men may not expect to vilify the South in this way, without having to atone for it. Men who profess to belong to the peace party, ought not to employ language that will provoke a fight, and then shield themselves behind their non-resistant defences. They voluntarily put themselves upon the platform of _resistance_--they pa.s.s insults, and they must submit to the consequences. We have just finished the perusal of a case in aesop"s Fables, exactly in point. It is the case of a _trumpeter_ taken prisoner in battle. He claimed exemption from the common fate of prisoners of war, in ancient times, on the ground that he carried no weapons, and was, in fact, a non-combatant, belonging to the peace party! "Non-combatant, the Devil!" exclaimed the opposing party, pointing to his trumpet, as preparations were being made to put him to death, "Why, Sir, you hold in your hands the very instrument which incites our foes to tenfold furies against us!"
But this fight between the parties has to come, and it should begin at Washington, and if not in the halls of Congress, at least in the _streets_ of the Federal city. Let the battle be fought there, and not in _Kansas_, and let it fall upon the villainous agitators of the Slavery question, and the _Democratic_ disturbers of the Compromises of the Const.i.tution. Let it come _now_, that it may be fought out and settled, and not left to _posterity_, to curse and crush the rising generation!
Mr. Brooks is a Democrat, and an anti-Know Nothing. Mr. Sumner is a Democrat--was elected by the votes of the Democrats, over that n.o.ble and dignified Whig, Mr. Winthrop, and his election was hailed throughout the Union as a Democratic triumph!
Ma.s.sachusetts, irrespective of parties, seems to have taken great offence at this occurrence, and to have held indignation meetings, and was to have had _Legislative_ action upon the subject. We tell Ma.s.sachusetts that she is alone to blame, for sending such a man to the United States Senate. There was a great debate in the Senate twenty-five years ago, in which Daniel Webster and Gov. Hayne met each other and grappled like giants, as they were. The State of South Carolina, in that day, though represented by an able, patriotic, and great man, came off _second best_. The Senator from Ma.s.sachusetts, of that day, was an able statesman, a Const.i.tutional lawyer of unsurpa.s.sed abilities, and, withal, a cautious gentleman, and rose above the low blackguardism of a Sumner and a Wilson. When _taunted_ by the Senator from South Carolina with _Federalism_, and opposition to some of the features of the War of 1812, the great Webster presented Ma.s.sachusetts before the Senate and the Union, in such a manner that men of all sections bowed down and worshipped her. Standing erect with the flash of his eagle eye, he exclaimed, "There is Boston, and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill"--let them testify to the loyalty of Ma.s.sachusetts to this glorious Union! Not only did Mr. Webster come out of that controversy with South Carolina with the admiration of every man in the country, but with the respect and admiration of Calhoun, Hayne, McDuffie, and all the high-toned statesmen of the South. And why? Because he was not a Sumner, a Wilson, or an _Abolition Blackguard_. Times have changed--a different man takes the place of a Webster, with only the memory of an insulting speech and a broken head! Let Ma.s.sachusetts send men to the United States Senate who can and will demean themselves like gentlemen, and gentlemen from the South will appreciate them, while they differ honestly with them on great questions.
What wonderful _progress_ Democracy is making in the country! _First_, Democracy quarrelled and jowered over the election of a Speaker two months, and finally, by the introduction of the _Plurality Rule_, caused Banks, a Black Republican, to be elected. And as if determined to atone for this wear of time and money, they have brought about a series of fights, which, before they are disposed of, will cost the government half a million of dollars!
_First_ then, William Smith, an ex-Governor of the State of Virginia, and member of the House of Representatives, a.s.sailed and beat the editor of the _Evening Star_, in December last, in the street.
_Second_, Albert Rusk, a member of the House of Representatives from Arkansas, a.s.sailed and beat the editor of the New York _Tribune_ in the grounds of the capitol, immediately after leaving the House of Representatives.
_Third_, Philip T. Herbert, of Alabama, a member of Congress from California, shot down and killed an Irish Catholic waiter at Willard"s, and is now under bonds to appear before the Court and await his trial for such crime as they may adjudge him to have committed.
_Fourth_, Preston S. Brooks, a member of the House of Representatives from South Carolina, a.s.sails and beats unmercifully a Senator from Ma.s.sachusetts, when occupying his seat in the Senate of the United States.
_Fifth_, Mr. Bright knocked down the doorkeeper, for an inconsiderable offence. Here, then, we have five breaches of the peace in five months, by Democrats upon Democrats, although the "Boston Pilot," a Catholic organ, falsely charges that some of the parties making these a.s.saults are "Know Nothings." We congratulate the Democratic party upon the progress of its leading members! They are sinking by swift descent into barbarism, and bringing the country to ruin. And in keeping with all this, they have tried to nominate for the Vice-Presidency a man who openly proposed in Congress the repeal of our neutrality laws, so as to bring a general fight!
It will not do to say that _Sumner_ is not of the Democratic party, because he is a regular-built Free-Soiler and Black Republican: the Washington _Union_ settled this point in 1852, when it uttered these memorable words:
"The Free-soil Democratic leaders of the North are a regular portion of the Democratic party, and General Pierce, if elected, will make no distinction between them and the rest of the Democracy in the distribution of official patronage, and in the selection of agents for administering the government."
The rules of the Senate forbid personalities in debate, and it was the sworn duty of its Locofoco President, Mr. Bright, to have called Mr.
Sumner to order for his abuse of Judge Butler. But as far back as thirty years ago, under the auspices of JOHN C. CALHOUN as presiding officer, a decision was made to the effect that the presiding officer of the Senate was neither bound nor had he the power to call Senators to order! That power, according to his decision, belonged wholly to the Senate itself----thus delivering over the minority of that body to "the tender mercies" of the majority! The object of Mr. CALHOUN at the time was to play into the hands of a combination which had been formed to break down the Administration of John Quincy Adams, and to cripple Henry Clay. The instrument used was the sarcastic, irritating, and personal rhetoric of John Randolph, then a member of the Senate. To this end, Randolph was suffered to deliver in the Senate a long succession of tirades, disgraceful to the Senate, abusive of New England and of Henry Clay.
Here is a specimen of Randolph"s abuse, which led to a duel between him and Mr. Clay: