"J. C. FREMONT."
"Messrs. J. D. Morgan and others."
In addition to this, Fremont is the representative of _aggression_: he is a _Filibuster_, and the exponent of a civilization above all const.i.tutions, and all laws. The fact that Seward, Chase, Giddings, and such men--able anti-slavery men, and experienced politicians, were pa.s.sed over, is proof that they were not governed by _principle_, but seek to shift the issue, and to make it personal and sectional. Take into the account, moreover, the fact that Dayton, a man of moderate talents, is a sort of _Protective Tariff Locofoco_, the advocate of Foreign Pauper labor, and the largest liberty for _Catholics_, and it gives to the ticket a considerable degree of interest.
The leading men in the Convention were reckless and unprincipled demagogues, of the Locofoco school of politics, including the British Free Trade policy, Filibusterism, etc., whose only aim is place and plunder. Their Free-soil principles, outside of their radical purposes, are scarcely skin deep!
By many well-informed men, no doubts are entertained now, that the nomination of Fremont and Dayton has been the result of an intrigue between Seward and Archbishop Hughes; and from a resolution of their platform, as reported by the Committee on Resolutions, we attach credit to this inference. It will bring the Buchanan party at the North to terms, as they are likely to be the only sufferers from this ticket. It will be managed in future alone with an eye to the _aid_ of Buchanan!
We take the following notice of Fremont from the Charleston (S. C.) Standard, and consider it every way reliable:
"Mr. Fremont will be destined to play a distinguished part in the drama, and his history and character therefore will, doubtless, become subjects of considerable importance. He is generally regarded as a native of Charleston, but of this we have occasion to doubt. Many gentlemen here, who knew him in early life, concur in saying that he was born in Savannah. Up to within a short time prior to his birth, his mother was a resident of Norfolk, in Virginia, and it is generally a.s.serted that his parents resided in Savannah before they became settled in Charleston; however this may have been, it is at least conceded that he first came into notice in this city. His prospects here were not particularly promising, but he attracted the attention of some philanthropic gentlemen, who provided the means for his entrance and instruction in the Charleston College. His progress there was not remarkable, and when his cla.s.s graduated he was not considered ent.i.tled to a diploma. He was afterwards recommended as a proper person to take charge of the night-school of the Apprentices" Library a.s.sociation; but, though his attainments were sufficient, and his address particularly acceptable to the Directors of that Inst.i.tution, he was not as attentive as he might have been, and the school fell through. He afterwards procured, through Mr.
Poinsett, a situation as instructor of junior officers on board a vessel of war bound to the Pacific, and in this condition is said to have acquitted himself well. He afterwards acquired some knowledge of civil engineering, and filling unimportant positions in connection with one and another public work, was at length brought to notice and distinction by his connection with Mr. Nicholet in his Survey of the Mississippi Valley, and from that marched steadily on to the Rocky Mountains, and a renown that has placed his name before the country.
"From the records of his early life, it would seem that he had talent, and was quite addicted to naval reading, but was wayward, and if not indolent, was inefficient in the tasks undertaken at the instance of other people, and up to the time of his entrance upon his duties as instructor in the naval school, had hardly made up his mind whether he would be a man of character or a blackguard. He was fond of dress, however, and the records of the court still show that he wore a suit of clothes which he was afterwards compelled to declare on oath his inability to pay for, in order to avoid inconvenient restrictions upon his personal liberty; but chance gave a proper direction to his abilities; he had the latent energy of character to act up to his opportunities, and he has really presented a career which any one might regard with satisfaction. It is certainly to be regretted that he should lend himself to the uses of a party so reckless and subversive, not only of the Union but of the rights of that section to which, if capable of sentiments of patriotism, he might be supposed to feel attachment; but the prospect of the Presidency would be a sore trial to the probity of most men, and we find nothing in the antecedents of Mr. Fremont to cause a feeling of disappointment that he should yield to the allurements of power.
"He is commended for his attentions to his mother, and they were certainly exemplary. She was poor, and after he determined to behave himself and work like a man, he made her as entirely comfortable as there was the reason to believe his circ.u.mstances permitted."
POSTSCRIPT.--Mr. Fremont turns out to be a Roman Catholic, and to have been raised one, and this explains the readiness of Bishop Hughes to abandon Buchanan, and go over to Fremont. It also explains why it is that so many _German Catholic papers_ are coming out for Fremont, in the large cities, and in the North-Western States.
In 1850, Fremont held a seat in the United States Senate, for the s.p.a.ce of about three months, and during that time sought to introduce a Catholic Priest to open their services with prayers, and was successful to some extent. He also attended service at the Catholic Church. The _Washington Star_, of the 19th June, 1856, gives the following exposition of facts, in reference to Fremont and his religion:
"A SORT OF A CATHOLIC.--We take it for granted that among the informal pledges extracted by delegations in George Law"s Convention, from Col. Fremont, there was not one against the Catholic Church; insomuch as, up to the recent birth of his aspirations for the Presidency, he always pa.s.sed in Washington for a good enough outside Roman Catholic; that being the Church in which he was reared. He was married in this city, it will be remembered, by Father Van Horseigh, a clergyman of his Church--not of that of his wife"s family."
The Republicans sought to incorporate into their platform a plank in opposition to the _Religious Proscription_ of the American party, so as to suit the taste of Romanists generally; but Thaddeus Stevens, who knows Pennsylvania as well as any man living, implored them not to do so, and stated that such a course, with Fremont as their nominee, would lose them Pennsylvania by 50,000 votes!
It turns out, however, that Fremont, as the anti-American, anti-Protestant candidate, with Mr. Dayton on the ticket, equally anti-American, and devoted to Romanism, will sweep the Catholic vote in the United States. Catholics may favor Buchanan in such Southern States as do not run a Fremont ticket, but in all the Northern and North-Western States, the Fremont ticket will ruin the Buchanan ticket.
This question, taken in connection with the Slavery issue, and the Filibustering issue, narrows the contest down to one between Fillmore and Fremont. Buchanan is defeated, and the Southern fire-eaters see and feel it! The _Atlanta_ (Ga.) _Intelligencer_ comes out and states, that if Buchanan can"t be elected, it prefers Fremont to Fillmore! And the South Carolina and Mississippi Disunionists openly avow, that they wish this to be the last contest of the kind. They are for Buchanan or Fremont, over Fillmore, because they believe the election of either will have the glorious effect to bring about a dissolution of the Union! In the same breath they admit that Fillmore will labor to perpetuate the Union, and that his election will have the effect to prolong its existence a few brief years!
Southern men, and Northern men, Union men, and national, conservative men, of all parties, can now see _where_ we are driving to, and _who_ they should support for the Presidency. Let them guard against these demons of Popery--these incarnate fiends of the Free Soil faith--these fanatics of a sectional cast--these slimy vultures of Secession--these bogus Democrats--and these infinitely infernal traitors to the Const.i.tution and the Union!
"Col. Fremont was educated in and graduated from St. Mary"s College, in Baltimore, a Roman Catholic Inst.i.tution. He was brought up in the Catholic Faith, and is a Catholic. He married a daughter of Col. Benton. Miss Benton was a Presbyterian. They were married by a clergyman of that denomination; but a Catholic priest made a fuss about it as being null, void, and heretical, and the ceremony was re-performed by him!"--_Auburn American._
The _American_ might have added, that Fremont is the son of a _Catholic Frenchman_, the son of a _Catholic mother_, and was reared under Catholic influence. Nay, Fremont educates his children at the Roman Catholic Inst.i.tution at Georgetown, in the District of Columbia! The placing of such a candidate before the public, seems especially designed to defy public sentiment, and mock the Protestant American feeling of the country! We had expected the Catholics, with Bishop Hughes at their head, in a few years more, to come out openly, and run a Catholic for the Presidency, but we had not supposed them bold enough to attempt it in 1856. To show beyond all doubt that the nomination of Fremont was the result of a coalition between Seward and Hughes, more in reference to the _Catholic question_ than the _Slavery issue_, we present the record of Fremont in the United States Senate--his _ultra-Pro-Slavery course_--his voting against justice to the Colonization Society, and _seven hundred and fifty_ captured slaves--his opposition to the abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia!
HE IS EXTREME SOUTHERN AND PRO-SLAVERY.
John C. Fremont held a seat in the United States Senate, in 1850, for the s.p.a.ce of a few months. During that time he made no speeches; indeed, he has scarcely ever been known to utter any sentiments, or sanction any opinions. Yet his votes, as a member of the Senate, did make for him a record; and it is this record that will stare him in the face as long as he lives--a record in direct conflict with his present professions and position before the country:
LOOK AT IT!--JOHN C. FREMONT"S STATESMANSHIP.
[From the Congressional Globe--Vol. 21, part 2d, p. 1803, etc.]
"IN SENATE OF UNITED STATES, Sept. 11, 1850.
"Mr. Underwood, of Kentucky, called up the bill for the relief of the American Colonization Society. The slaves that were recaptured on the barque Pons were turned over to the Colonization Society, by the authority of the United States, sent to Liberia, and there kept at the expense of the society for one or two years. Most of them were children of twelve, fifteen, and sixteen years of age. The society thinks that the expense of feeding, clothing, and educating these people, which was thus devolved on them by the action of the Government, ought to be repaid them. It was certainly an expense incurred by the society, through the action of the Government in throwing these young negroes upon them for maintenance, instead of taking them, as the Government was bound to do by law, and providing for them. That is the nature of the claim. They simply ask that so much shall be paid them as the society, from its own experience, pays in reference to its own emigrants. The claim was reported upon favorably two years ago. A similar report has again been made; and as the necessities of the society require that they should have the money, I hope, said Mr. U., the Senate will consent to take up the bill. The Senate agreed to take up the bill, and proceeded to consider it as in Committee of the Whole.
"Mr. Turney asked for the reading of the report of the Committee.
"The Secretary read the report accordingly. It sets forth that a liberal construction of the act of Congress of March 3d, 1819, would require that the Government should provide for the support of these recaptured Africans, for a reasonable time after they had been landed in Liberia, and that it is beneath the dignity of the Government to devolve this duty upon the society. The pet.i.tion of the executive committee of the society which the Committee incorporated in their report, states that on the 16th of December, 1845, the United States Ship Yorktown, Commodore Bell, landed at Monrovia, in Liberia, from the slaver Pons, seven hundred and fifty recaptured Africans, in a naked, starving, and dying condition, all of them excepting twenty-one being under the age of twenty-one. The United States made no provision for their support after they were landed....
"The services of providing for the dest.i.tute negroes were not required to be performed by the society under their const.i.tution, but the alternative was to leave these recaptured Africans to starve and die, and the society therefore cheerfully took charge of them, relying upon the Government of the United States to refund the cost to them."
The question was discussed at length as to whether the United States would pay these just and legal demands; and on the vote being taken for the engrossment of the bill to a third reading, Mr. Fremont"s name is found recorded in the negative--as follows:
"YEAS--Messrs. Badger, Baldwin, Bell, Chase, Clayton, Davis of Ma.s.s., DAYTON, Dodge of Wis., Dodge of Iowa, Dougla.s.s, Ewing, Felch, Greene, Hale, Hamlin, Jones, Mangum, Pearce, Pratt, Seward, Shields, Smith, Spruance, Sturgeon, Underwood, Wales, Walker, Whitcomb, and Winthrop--29.
"NAYS--Messrs. Atchison, Barnwell, Benton, Butler, Dawson, d.i.c.kinson, Downs, FREMONT, Hunter, King, Mason, Rusk, Sebastian, Soule, Turner, and Yulee--16."
LOOK AGAIN!--On the 18th day of September, 1850, the bill to prevent persons from enticing away slaves from the District of Columbia was under consideration, and John P. Hale "moved that it be committed to the Committee on the District of Columbia, with instructions _to so amend it as to_ ABOLISH SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA." On the vote being taken, FREMONT"S name was recorded in the NEGATIVE. (See Cong. Globe, 31st Congress, part 2, p. 1859.)
Such is Mr. Fremont"s _record of Statesmanship_. It shows his nomination by the "_Republicans_" to have been a hollow mockery--"a dishonest farce,"--an insult to the intelligence of the American people.
We shall hereafter pursue the record of this "remarkable man."
Bishop Hughes and Wm. H. Seward have been, for years, intimate personal and political friends. It is a part of the political history of New York, that Seward is alone indebted to Hughes for his reelection to the United States Senate. They are both now united in the support of Fremont, and they procured his nomination over Judge McLean, a pure and patriotic man--for many years a _Methodist Cla.s.s-Leader_, and an officer of a _Protestant Bible Society_.
The coalition between Hughes, Seward and Fremont, is complete, and the evidence of the foul coalition and conspiracy will appear in full, in a few days, but not in time for us to get it into this work. We are right glad of it, as it narrows the contest down to one between Fillmore and Fremont, and especially at the North.
In some of the Northern States, it is now conclusive that a _Buchanan_ ticket will not be run, while in every Northern State where such a ticket is run, it will be with no hope of success! Hughes and Seward will induce several States to drop Buchanan, and unite on Fremont, by _bargaining_ with them, and obligating themselves to give the Democracy half of the spoils. Already several _Southern_ Democratic papers are saying, that if they can"t elect Buchanan, they prefer Fremont to Fillmore! This ought to open the eyes of all true patriots.
OLD LINE WHIGS, AND THE MOTIVES GOVERNING SOME OF THEM!
In this free country of ours, gentlemen have a right to support any Presidential or other ticket they may choose to support; and where they are governed by pure motives in differing from a majority of their neighbors and old political a.s.sociates, no one has a right to complain.
Some few gentlemen, known as "Old Line Whigs," will not come into the support of the American ticket, but will even support the Democratic ticket; and do it from an honest (though mistaken) belief that they can most effectually serve the interests of the country by this course. With such, we shall be the last man to raise a quarrel--claiming the right to do as we please in matters of the sort. But there are some men in the ranks of the enemy now, who are governed by very different motives; and as these are quoted against the American party, or, as their refusal to act with the party is a matter of _boasting_ in the Democratic ranks, it is due to the cause of truth, and of the country, that they should be understood, that their efforts may be _appreciated_.
Without intending to be tedious, we name JAMES C. JONES, of Tennessee, as at the head of the list of _Old Liners_, whose devotion to the _South_, and love of _liberty_, prevent him from supporting Fillmore and Donelson. This is the veriest _stuff_ in the political world! Gov. Jones cannot excuse the matter of his opposition to Millard Fillmore upon the grounds he rests the case, in his Circular addressed to his const.i.tuents. The true secret of the matter must come to light, that old Whigs and new Whigs, Americans and Democrats, may appreciate his motives.
Last fall, at the Fair in Jackson, in West Tennessee, in the house and at the bedside of ANDREW GUTHRIE, on being inquired of as to his future course, the Governor became very much excited, and roundly a.s.serted, that if the American party nominated _Fillmore_, he should go against him. ==> _Because Fillmore, in his appointment of persons to office in Tennessee, did not consult him, but in many cases appointed his personal enemies!_ Mark, he did not pause to inquire _who_ might be the opposing candidate to Mr. Fillmore. He was not then, as he is not now, governed by any _principle_ in the matter, but by _pa.s.sion_. He is _against Mr.
Fillmore_, under all circ.u.mstances, no matter who may oppose him! And why? Because Mr. Fillmore did not suffer him to put his numerous _active friends_ into fat offices under the General Government; to many of whom he had made pledges while he was struggling for a seat in the United States Senate--where he ought never to have gone, and where the better portion of those who aided in his election now regret having sent him!
But it is true, Fillmore and his Cabinet did refuse the extravagant demands made for office by the Governor; and in no single instance did they appoint men to office from Tennessee without consultation with BELL, GENTRY, and WILLIAMS; all three of whom were offensive to _Jones_.
They had proven themselves to be worthy of consultation; the Governor had not! This accounts, moreover, for the efforts of Jones at Baltimore to defeat the nomination of Fillmore, and to procure the nomination of Scott--efforts which, unfortunately for the country, were but too successful!
When the American party was organized in Tennessee, JONES had no objection to the creed, and would have fallen into the ranks, but then he beheld _Gentry_ and _Brownlow_ in the party--men whom he despised above all others. He tried to prevent the nomination of Gentry for Governor by letter-writing, and by seeking to get up a _Whig_ Convention. Failing in these schemes, he threw himself into the arena, and _secretly_ damaged Gentry all he could, and played into the hands of Johnson, who was only elected by a majority of some _two thousand votes_!
We are not informed as to the course Gov. Jones will pursue in this contest, further than this, he will go against Fillmore. We predict that he will support Buchanan. _Pride of character_ may keep him from it--if he have any of that commodity left, after his five years" residence at Washington! The platform upon which Buchanan has been placed by the Cincinnati Convention, is a reiteration of violent and undying hostility to every measure of public policy that was advocated by HENRY CLAY and the Old Whig party. Jones still _professes_ an equally undying devotion to Clay and his principles. Moreover, Jones has, on every stump in Tennessee, held up Buchanan as a _rank old Federalist_, a Pennsylvania _Abolitionist_, and as the _wicked traducer_, _violent calumniator_, and _malignant persecutor_ of Henry Clay--even attributing his promotion to the Secretaryship of State, by Mr. Polk, to his _infamous agency_ in fastening upon Mr. Clay the foul charge of "bargain, intrigue, and corruption." We confess that we are at a loss to see how Jones can fall into the support of Buchanan. The _nomination_ of the man is a direct insult to Old Clay Whigs!
ALBERT G. WATKINS, the Representative in Congress from the First Congressional District of Tennessee, has gone over to Democracy, placing his change upon the ground of his _great concern for the South_! We take it that he will support Buchanan without hesitancy. This would place Watkins before the country in his true colors, and reflect the likeness of the man with _daguerreotype_ accuracy!! With such a platform, and such a candidate on it, Watkins would have the appearance of a man walking in one direction, with his head turned completely around, and his face looking the other way! The incongruity of the platform, and the peculiar reputation of Buchanan for political inconsistency, are alike adapted to the history and incidents of Watkins"s late canva.s.s for Congress! The plain truth is, that the man so completely destroyed himself, and was so ruinously exposed by his compet.i.tor, COL. TAYLOR, whom he beat only some two hundred votes, (and that by means that make his seat in Congress one of _thorns_,) that he could but go over to Locofocoism. And although he has, in former days, held up Buchanan on the stump as an old Federalist, and as the reviler and persecutor of Henry Clay, he can advocate him now with a better grace than he can look his Know Nothing const.i.tuents in the face! We cannot say of this man as Pope said of Craggs:
"Broke no promise, served no private end, Gained no t.i.tle, and who lost no friend."