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VOL. 3.
CHARLOTTE, IV. C, FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 15, 1855.
NO. 47
HO.V ALEXANDER II. STEPHEN' LETTER.
CRAWFORDVILLE, Georgia, 9th May, 1855.
Dbab Sin : Your letter of the 5th inst was received some davs
jgotaml should have been answered much earlier, but for mv absence
6om borne The rumor you mention in relation to my candidacy for
r,.-, I.rtion to Coagra, is true. I have stated, and repeated on various
rsiottS, that I was not, and did rot expect to be a candidate the
i - 1 now say to you. The reason of this declaration on my part,
v l the fact, that large Msnben of our old political friends seemed to
,. entering into my comninations, with new objects, purposes and
principles of which I was not informed, and never could be, according
to the rules of their action and fthe opinions I entertain. Hence my
eoudusiou that they had no further use for me as their Representative;
f.;r I presumed they knew enough of me to be assured, if they had any
secret aims or objects to accomplish, that they never could get my con
sent, even if they desired it, to beejome a dumb instrument to execute
such a purpose. I ectrUinly never did, and never shall, go before the
people sis aenadiUate f'-r their suffrages with my prineiides fri my
pocket b has been thfwwk of my lite, heretofore, not only to make
known fullv and freely my sentiments upoa all questions of public pol
i.v, bat in vindication of those sentiments thus avowed, to meet any
antagonists array 1 against them, in open and manly strife "face to
face Mnd t t toe," From this rule of action, by which I have up to
thi- lime been governed, I shall never depart! Bat you a.-k me what are
mv ojwnioiM and views f this new party railed Know Nothing, with a
request that you - permitted to publish them. Mv opinions ami views
t!iu solicited shall !e given most cheerfully, and as fully and clearly
.i, my time, under the pressure of business, will allow. Vor can do
with them as you please puhDsh them ot not, as y.u like. Thev are
the views of a private citixen. I am at present, to all intents and pur-
j s whatsoever, literally one of the ptapk. I bold no office nor seek
anv, and as one of the people I shall -p oak to yon and them on this,
an I on all occasions, with that frankness and independence winch it
iHvonies a freeman to bear towards his fellows. And in giving my
li.-ns of 'Knw Jfothiugisin," I onght, perhaps, to premise by saying,
awl -riving most na i.v, that I really "know nothing" about the priuci
p! aim- or objects of the party I am about to speak of they are all
k j't secret being eomm u i licatcd and made known only to the ini
tiatcd, and not to these until after being fir-t duly pledged sworn.
This, to m, is a very great ohjvtion to the whole onjajuzaUon, All
ii iditkwl principles, which are sought to be carried out in Legislation by
anv body or set of men in a republic, in my opini m, ought to be openly
avowed and publicly proclstime!. Tiuth never shuns the light nor
shrinks from hive-tig nion or at least it wegftf merer to do il. Hiding
l.lac. s, ,,r i n t coverts, are natural resorts for error. It is, therefore, a
eircumstaiiee quite suraVienl i excite suspicion against the TncTU, to
it pursuing such a course. An i in rvptrMies where free discussion
ami full iuvestigition by a rhtwais and intelligent people is allowed,
thru never can be any y-t grounls to fear any danger even from the
greatest errors, either in religion or polities. All questions, thereore,
relating t the government of a free people, ought to be made known,
. !. :(r! und. r-t i I. fully discussed, and uudcrsandinglv acted upon.
Indeed. I do n -t behVvc dial a Republican Government can last long,
wheit this i- le t the case. In mv opii i..;i. no man is fit to represent
a free pr ;.! who has wry private or secret objeets, or aims, that he
il - no! opeu!y avow, or who is not realty and willing;, at all times,
!:r i required or a k -d, candidly and tint hi id! g. to proclaim to the
:! . !.' led multitinh n t nly his winch!, but his views and sentimenta
i . n all iiuesii ins tli.nl mar com
p i v. It was :i t.ns
(uii I i, an 1 i n ihi a!
An ! it' v ' i ' f i:;r:v shall l
the Government mall its departments and functions under the
: i fill influence of i:- . ntrol and power, political ruin will inevitably
ensile. No truth in pontic can le more easilv and firralv Established.
n l.i- representative ca-
1 1' I
i" io;c una
basis tn.it iveprvsentatrre Government was
e can t I.-' maintained in ouritv and safetv.
it Mkvsnssful in this eountrv as to
r hv r- a-i-!! or irom iu-i r. npou iiniiem.o orauttiontv. than tins.
The are mv optuions, candidly expressed.
i Ln w that manv g 1 and true men in Georgia differ with m in
v... ,i. ., tlx. l alnnij i. .t i. n-.. t!.;. o
i;r .il- in ... - , v .. . i t . . , ml- nyrv lit
i i.- particular
r.icr with g " ! inteuti
Some ot mem have told lauso, and I do
ti 1 ikiincailiM lurtna M-.ll
am intentions an I motive. taou ! it be
no harm will, ormsv e n.' of it.
n : ..ii'-stio.i t'lfir in !;v
W! Il til
w:il perhaps, do it
a short lived affair
Bui !'t it sincced I t it rarrv all
the election -. State and Federal let tie natural and inevitable laws of
i: own organiinn be once fully developel and the country wiil go bv
the boar4. It will got Frfiuce ilid The first Jaeobin (iub was or
garined in Paris on the tth Jfovembcr, 1789, under the alluring name
of "jhe I-ri ;:ds of the Gnwstitntioa' qnite as -jM;-i.ius as that we now
he ir of "Anc ricans slr.il rule Aun ri'-a."' Many of the liest men and
truest atri";s in I'aris omed it and thousands of the same sort of
men pmied the afliSate ctalw afterwards little dreaming of the deadly
CingHof the viper they were nurtnringin their I- s m;. .M.inv of the"e
v. rv men nfterwarihi went . th" (Juillotine, by orders passed secretlv.
th
err ei
Ail !-i I iti 'ii was settled in the
cm ' 3
-members
&o National Asscmbiv and tJonvcntion, ail of them, ot most of
i ti . .i I, . i ,
'in. were memtKUs : tie- cuius, t'r luev coillo rnt otlierwisfl be
! cteil. Ami alter the qliesturfl was settled in the eiuhs, the member
ii t day w ait to the nominal H.ilis of Legislation nothing but trem
liring amoni atons, to register tle edits of the "Onh'r." diongh it were
to behead a Monarch, or to cause the brood of the best of their own
bnmlter to flow beneath the stroke of the axe. f history of no use.'
r do ii r people vainhr imagine that Americans would not do as the
French did under like circumstances 1 "Is thy servant a dog thai he
should do this thing" said the haqghtytsef-ooimViejit UazeeL Vet, he
li'l all that he had been tokl that he would do. "Let him that thinketh
?ie st indeth take heed lest he iiHL Human nature is the same eom
Hmnd of weak frailties an J erring passions everywhere. (")f thee
lu's in France, an eloquent writer says:
"From all "ther scourges which had afflicted mankind, in every age
and in every nation, there had been some temporary refuge, some shel
ter unto the storm might pass. During Ac heathenism of antiquity,
and4he barbarism of the middle ages, the temple of a god or .he shrine
of a saint afforded a refuge Irum despotic fury or popular rare. But
rreuch Jacobins, whether native or .adopted, treated with equal scorn
hc sentiments f reihriou and the feelings of humanity; and all that
man had gathered from his experience npou eartntma the revelations
he hoped had been irfcuk him from the sky, to bless and adorn his mor
tal exi -:, nee, and elevate his soul with immortal aspiratkms, were spumed
as imposture by these fell de trovers. They would have depraved man
fnun his humanity, as they attempted t decree Cod out of his universe.
N"t t-nt. nted with France as u subject for their ruthless experiments
Europe itself being too narrow (or their exploits they send their propa
gandists to the new world, with designs about as charitable as those
with which Satan entered Eden."
This is but : Sunt picture ot some of the scenes enacted 'by that self
same party, which v.s nt rirst formed bv tboiic who styled themselves
"the Friends of the Constitution. And where did these "secret Coun
cils' we now hear of come from 1 Not from France it is true but
from that land of Mnrs, wh re the people woul 1 have gone into anarchy
bm :Z' . it it hal
been for tin1 conservative influence of the more
stable-minded men of the South. And what scenes have we lately wit
nessed in the Mass ichu-etts Legislature, where the new political organ
ism has more fully developed itstlf than anywhere else. What sire its
fruits there ? Under the nam
ot
-The American Party,1 thev have
armed themselves against the Constitution of our cmmou eountrv
which they ware sworn to support with everv member of the Legis
lature, 1 behev, save tsA belonging to "the order," they have by an
overwhelming majority voted to dopOM Ankje L-Tintr- for the discharge
of lus official duty, iu hwning a warrant as I'nitd States Commis.doner,
to vause the arrest of the fugitive slave liurns. In reviewing this most
unheard of outrage upon the Constitution, the National Intelligeneer,
at Washington, says rt "hudders for the Judk-iarv." And if tliev go
n as they have begun, weil may the eountrv "shudder," not only for
the Judiciary, but fbf everything else we hold most sacred. ' If these
things be done in the green tree, what may you expect in the dry P
But I have been anticipating somewhat I was on the pntifmtmsury
question : that is, the tecrecif which lies at the foundation of the party
that atmosphere of darkness in which "u lives, und moves, and has
its being,'' and without which probablv it could not exist. I do not,
however, intend to stop with that. I w ill go further, and give, now. my
opinion upon these questions, which are said to be within the ra-ige of
i'-s sfcrel objects and aims. The principles are published (or those
principles which are Attributed to the Order, though no body as an or
ganized party avow them.) have, as I understand them, two leading
ide .v, and two only. These are a proscrip'ioa by an exclusion from
ofiiee of all Catholics, as a class, and a proscription of all persons of
foreign birth, as a class ; the latter to be accomplished not only by an
exclusion from office of all foreigners who are novf citizens by naturali
zation, but to be move effectually carried out by an abrogation of the
naturalization law for the future, or such an amendment as would be
Virtually tantamount to it. These, we are told, are the great ostensible
tri-jeets for all this machinery these oaths pledges secret signs
equivocations denials, and what not. And what I have to say of them
is, that if these in deed and in truth be the principles attempted to be
carried out, then I am opposed to both of them, Openly and unqualifi
edly. I am opposed to them '-in a double aspect," both as n busis of party
organization and upon their merits :;s questions of public policy. As
the basis of party organization, they are foundctfon the very erroneous
principles of looking, not to Aw the eountrv shall b - governed, bwtnUo
shall hold the oflicesnot to' whether we shall have wise and whole
some laws, but who shall timfe .," though they may bring na with
th-;r -d: I 'poii lira j.iiui -ple, Ti uiiitnill, wha defeated ienTaI Shields
for the Senate iu Illinois, can be as good a "Know-Nothing" as any man
in the late " Macon Council," though he may vote, as he doubtless w ill,
to repeal the Fugitive Slave law, and against the admission of any slave
State in the Union; while Shi.-ai.;, who has ever stood by. the Constitu
tion, must be rejected by Southern men because he was not born in the
country ! Upon this principl" a Boston Atheist, who denies the inspir
ation of the Bible, because it sanctions slavery, is to be sustained hy
Georgia " Know-Nothiugs " in preference to me, barely. beeeuse t will
not "bow the knee to Baal," this false political (od they have set up.
The only basis of party organization is an agreement amongst those who
enter into it upon the paramount question of the day. And no party
can last long without bringing disaster and ruin in its train, founded
upon any other principle. The old National Whin Party tried the ex
periment when there was radical differences of opinion on such questions,
aniPwent to pieces. The National Democrat party are now trying a
simiKar expenm nt, and are experiencing a similar fate. This is what is
the matter with it. Its vital functions arc der.inged hence that dis
ease which now afflicts it worse than dry rot And what we of the
South now should do isr not to go into any u Know-Nothing" mum
mery or mischief, as it may be, but to stand firmly by those men at the
North who are true to the Constitution and the Union, without regard
either to their birth place or religion. The question we should consider
is not simply who "shall rule America," but cho will vote tor suck
measures as will best promote the interests of America, and with that
the interests of mankind.
But to pass to the other view of these principles that is, the consid
eration of them as questions of public policy. With me, they both
stand in no better light in this aspect than they do in tlhe other. The
Jin. assftm temporal jurisdiction in "forum conscieiilhe" to which
l am quite as much
the temporal. One
pposed to mingling religion with politics
Opposed as I am to the spiritual powers controlling
i is as bad as the other both are had. 1 am utterly
in anv way whatever, and
I opposed to making it a test in Qualifications for civil
ofiiee. Religion is a matter between a man and his Creator, with which
governments should have nothing to do. In this country the Constitu
tion guarantees to everv citizen tin- right to entertain whatever creed he
in cia
am
pleases, or no creed at
if he is so inclined, and no other man
has a
ritrht to pry into his conscience to inquire what he believes, or what he
does not believe. As a citizen and as a member of society, he is to be
judged by his rrrf and not by his arid. A Catholic, therefore, in our
country, and in all countries ought, as all other citizens, to be permitted
to stain! or fall in public favor and estimation upon his own" individual ,
merits. " Every tub should stand upon its own bottom."
But 1 think of all the christian denominations in the United States,
the Catholics are the last that Southern people should join in attempt
ing to nut under the han ot civil proscription, for, as a church, they
my own chance For Heaven with him, and his cr wd too, as with
have never Witfred against us or our peculiar institutions. No man can
say as much of New Engbiud Baptists, Presbyterians or Methodist; the
long roll of abolition petitions with which Congress has been so much
excited and agitated for years past, come not from ibe Catholics. Their
pulpit- at the North ar- not desecrated every Sabbath with anathemas
RiMinst slavery. And of the three thousand New England Clergymen
who sent the anti-Nebraska memorials to the Senate last year, not one
was a Catholic, as I have been hifbrmed and believe. Why, then,
should we Southern men join the Puritans of the North to proscribe
from office the Catholics on Account of their religion ! Let them and
their religion bo as bad as can be, or as their accusers say thev are, they
cannot be worse than these same Puritanical accusers, who started
tliis persecution against them say that tee arc. They say we arc going
to perdition for the enormous s, of holding slaves. The Pope, with all
his followers, cannot, I suppose, even in their judgment, be going to a
worse place for boding what they consider the monstrous absurdity of
" immaculate
i
r:sk-
these self-righteous hypocrites, who deal out fire and brimstone so liber
ally upon our heads. Al any rate, L have no hesitancy in declaring
that I should much sooner risk my civil rights with the American
Catholics, whorn thev arc attempting to drive from oiiicc than with
them. But, sir, I am opposed to their proscription upon principle.
If it is once begun, there is no telling where it will end. When faction
once tastes the blood of a victim, it seldom ceases its ravages amongst
the fold so long as a single remaining one, be the number at first ever
so great, is left surviving. It was to guard against any such consequen
ces, ;!s would certainly ensue in this country if this effort at proscription
of this sect of religionists should be successful, that that wise provision
to which 1 have alluded was put in the fundamental law of the Union.
And to maintain it intact, iu letter and spirit, with steadfastness at this
time, I hold to be a most solemn public duty.
And bow, as to the other idea the proscription of foreigners and
more particularly that .view of it which looks to the denial of citizenship
to all those who may hen-after seek a home in this country and choose
to cast their lots and destinies with us. This is a favorite idea with ma
ny who have not thought of its effects, or reflected much upon its con
sequences. The abrogation of the naturalization laws would not stop
immigration, nor would the extension of the term of probation, to the
pi ri il of twenty-one years, do it. This current of emigration from the
Dm to tiiv. NVcVi, rim r.A'-i,.. e i.- - r-r--' .J f,.,-,m tl, 0?d
to the New World, which commenced by the settlement of this conti
nent by Europeans, wouldstill goon. And what would be the effect,
even under the most modified form of the proposed measure that is,
of an extension of the period fr m live to twenty-one years, before citi
senship should be granted At the end of the firt twenty-one ye irs
from the .commencement of the law, we should have several millions of
people in our midst men of our own race occupying the unenviable
position of being a degraded caste in society, species of serf's without
the just franchise of freeman, or the needful protection due to a slave.
This would be at War with all my ideas of American Republicanism fts
I have been taught them and gloried iu them from my youth up. If
there be etqngtr now to ur institutions, (as some seem to imagine, but
which I am far from feeling or believing.) from foreigner- as a class.
Would not the danger he greatly enhanced byhc proposed remedy?
Now, it is true, they are made to bear their share of the burthens of
Government, but are permitted, after a residence of five years, and tak
ing an oath to support the Constitution, to enjoy their just participation
ID the privileges, honors an 1 immunities which it secures. Would they
be leJikely to be attached to the Government and its principles under
the operation of the present system, than they would be under the pro
posed one. which Would treat them as not much belter than outcasts
and outlaws.' All writers of uute, from the earliest to the latest, who
have treated upon the elements and component parts, or members of
communities and States, have pointed this oat as a "source of real dan-
or having a large number of the sane race not only aliens by birth,
but aliens in heart and feeling in the bosom of society.
Such was, to a great extent," the condition of the Helots in Greece
men of the same race placed, in an inferior position, and forming within
themselves a degraded class. I wish to see no such state of things in
this eountrv. With us at the South, it is true, we have a u degraded
caste" but it is of a race fitted by nature for their subordinate position-
The negro, with us 511a that place in society and under our system of
civilization for which he was designed by nature. No training can fit
him for either social or political equality with his superiors; at lea-st
history furnishes us with no instance of the kind ; nor does the negro,
with us fed anv degradation in his position, because it is his natural
place But such would not be the. case with men of the same race and
coming from the State without ourselves. And what appears not a lit
tle strange and singular to me in considering this hue movement is. that
if it did not originate with, yet it is now so generally and zealously fa
vored by so many of those men at the North who have expended so
much of their misguided philanthropy in behalf of our slaves. They
have been endeavoring for years to elevate the African to an equality
socially and politically with the white man. And now, they are n wing
heaven and eartJi to degrade the white man to a condition lower than
that held by the negro in the South. The Massachusetts "Know-Nothing"
Legislature passed a bill lately to amend their Constitution, so
as to exclude from the polls iu that State, hereafter, all naturalized citi
zens from whatever nation they may come; and yet thev will allow a
rnnaicpy negro slace fiom the South the same right to vote that they
give to their own native born sons ! They thus exhibit the strange
paradox of warring against their own race their own blood even
their own "kith and kin,'' it may be, fc hile they arc vainly and fanat
ically endeavoring to reverse the order of nature, by making the black
man equal to the white. Shall we second them in any such move
ment ? Shall we even cmmtominee them so far as to bear the same
to sav nothing of the ame pledges, rross-wools, signs and symbols I
Shall we affiliate and unite ourselves under the same banner with men
whose acts show them to be governed by such principle's, ana to be
bent on such a purpose ? This is a question for Southern men to con
sider. Others too may do it if they choose ; but I tell you, I never shall.
Th it you may set down as a "fixed fact" one of the fixedst of the fixed.
1 am not at all astonished at the rapid spread of this new sentiment
at he North, or rather new way of giving embodiment and life to an
old sentiment, long cherished by a large class of the Northern people,
notwithstanding the paradox. It is true "Know-Nothingism" did not
originate, as I understand its origin, with the class I allude to. It com
menced with the laborers and men dependent upon capital for work
and employment. It sprang from the antagonism of their interests to
foreigners, seeking like employments, who were underbidding them in
flic amount of wages. But many capitalists of that section, the men
who hold tho land and property in their oAvn hands, wishing to dispense
with laborers and employees, whose votes at the polls are equal to their
own, seized upon this new way of effecting their old, long-cherished de
sire. And the more eagerly as they saw that many of the very men
whom thev have ever dreaded as the insuperable obstacle between them
and their purposes, had become the willing though unconscious instru
ments of carrying that purpose out, which, from the beginning, was a
desire to have a vdtingless population to do their work, and perform all
the labor, both in city, town and country, which capital may require.
And as certainly as such a law shall be passed, so far from its checking
immigration, there will be whole cargoes of people brought over, and
literally bought up in foreign ports to be brought over in American
ships to supply the market for labor throughout all the free States of
the Union. The African Slave Trade, if re-opened, would not exhibit
a worse spectacle in trafficking in human flesh, than those most deluded
men of the North who started this thing, and who are now aiding to
accomplish the end, may find that they have but kindled a flame ot
consume themselves. The whole substratum of Northern society will
soon be filling up with a class who can work, and though white cannot
vote. This is what tho would-be lords of that section have been want
ing for a long time. It is a scheme with many of them to get white
tlavtf instead of black ones. No American laborer or man seeking
employment there, who has a vole, need to expect to be retained long
when his place can be more cheaply filled by a foreigner, who hasnone.
This will e the practical working of the proposed reformation. This
is the philosophy of the thing It is a blow at the ballot box. It is an
insidious attack upon general suffrage. In a line with this policy, the
"Knov-Norhin' Governor of Connecticut has already recommended
the passage of a law denying' the right of voting to all who cannot
read and write. And hence, the great, efforts which are now being
made throughout the North to influence the elections, not only these,
but in spending their money in the publication of books and tracts,
written by "nobody knows who," and scattered throughout the South
ern Suites, to influence elections here by appealing to the worst passions
and strongest prejudices of our nature, not omitting those even which
bad and wicked men can evoke under the sacred but prostituted name
of religion.
Unionuneaiely for the country, many evils, which all good men
rcaii? and deplore, exist at this tim, which have a direct tendency
wonderful If W H'd and move forward this ill-omened crusHde. These
relate to the appointment of so many foreigners, wholly unfit, not
only to miner offices at home, but to represent our country as Min
isters nbro"d. And to the great frauds and gross, abuses which at
present attend the administration of our naturalization laws these
are evils which are fell by the whole country, and they o-iohl to be
corrected. Not by a proscription oi all foreigners, without reg;irtf
to individual merits. But, in the first place, hy so amending thd
naturaliz uion laws, as effi ci.ialiy to check and prevent these fraude
nnd abuses. And, in the second pbiee, to hold to strict accountahils
Uy at ih pulls, in our elections, all ihose public functionaries, who
erttier with p irliz m views, or from whatever motive, ihus improper,
y confer olf.ee, whether high or low, upon undeserving foreigners,
the exclusion if native born ci'izens, better qualified to fill them. -
Another eil now felt, and which ought io be remedied, is the flooding,
it is sid, of some of the cities with paupers and criminals from
other countries. These ought all to be unconditionally excluded and
prohibit' d from coming amongst us there is no reason why we
should be ihe. feeders ol other nations p .upers, or either the kef pers
or executioners of iheir felons these evils can and ought to be rem
edied without resorting to an indiscriminate onslaught upon all who
by industry, enterprise and merit, may choose to better ineir condi
tion in abandoning the respective dynasties of (he old world, in whjetl
they may chance to have be n born, and by uniting their energies
with ours, may feel a pride in advancing the prosperity, develop
ment and progress of a common country not much less dear to them
than us. Agdnst those who thus worthily come, who quit the inis
m!ed Empin-s of their ' father land," whose hearts have been find
with the love of our ideas and our insthutions, even in distant climes,
I wo, ild not close the door of admission. But to all uch as our
fathers did at first, so I would continue most freely and generously
to extend a welcome hand. We have from such a class nothing to
fear. When in battle or in the walks of civil hie, dtd any such prove
traitor or recreant to th'; flag or cause of his count rv,? On what
occasion have any such ever proven untrue or disloyal to tho Uon-
StltUlloll ?
I will not say that nn foreigner has ever been untrue to the Con
stitution; but as a class, they certainly have not proven themselves
no io be. Indeed, I know ol but one class of people in the United
States at this lime that I look upon as dangerous to the country.
Trial class are neither foreigners or Catholics they are those native
bom traitors at the North, who are disloyal to the Constitution of
ih.it country which gave them birth, and under v.bose ben ficient
institutions thy have b'-ert reared and nurtured. Many of them are
" Know-Nothiiigs." This class of men at the North, of which the
Massachusetts, NVw Hampshire and Connecticut " Know-Noibing"
Legislature are but s imples, I consider as our worst c leinies. And
to put them down, I wiH join, a? p wric.al allies now and forever, nil
true patriots st the North and South, whether native or adopted, Jews
or Gentiles.
What our Georgia friends, whether Whigs or Democrats, who
have gone into this " New Order," are really alter, or what they
intend to do, I cannot imagine. Those of a bom 1 know have assured
me that tln ir oiject is reform, both in our Slate and Federal Admin
isfralioft to put better and truer men in ihe places of those who
now wield authority that they have no sympathies as party men or
Otherwise wi-h ihdt class I speak of at the Nor'h that they are for
su-tiiuiug th- Union plitlorm of our State ol 185(JL and that the
mask of secrecy will soon be removed when all will be made public.
II these be their objects, and also to check the frauds and correct
the abuses in the existing n;tturalizatin laws, which I have mention
ed, without '.be indiscriminate proscription of any cl:ss of citizens
on ace unt of tie ir birth-plnce or religion, then they will have my
co op --ration, as I have told them, in every proper and legitime i"
way, to tfleci su;di a reformation. Not as a secretly initialed c- -worker
in the dark for any purpose, but as an open and told advo
cate of truth in the light of day. but wHl they do as they say ?
Will they throw eff the mask ? That is the question. Is it possible
that they wi'l continue in political party fellowship willi- their
"worthy brethren" f Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire,
and the entire Nordt? Every one ot whom elected to the next
Congress is our denoly foe ! Do ih y intend to continue their aMi
snce with ibese open enemies l our institutions and the Constitution
of the country under the Uttnlly mis-named association of the A
mericm Party" the very principle upon which it is based being
ami-American throughout?
True Americanism, as I hive learned it, is like true Christianity
disciples in neither are confined to any nation, dime, or soil what
soever. Amerki uisra is not the product of the soil ; it springs not
from the land or the ground ; it is not of the earth, or enrthly ; it
emanates from the head and the heart ; it looks upward, and onward,
and outward; its life and soul am those grand ideas of government
which characterise our institutions and distinguish us from all other
people ; and there is no two features in our system which so signally
dis'inirritsh us from all other nations, as free toleration of religion
and ihe doctrine of expatriation the right of a men to throw off his
olh gi.uice io any and every other State, Prince, or Potentate what
soever, and by naturalization to be incorporated as citizens into
our body polo... Roth these principles are specially provided for
and firmly established in our Constitution. But these American
ideas which were proclaim-d in 1789 by our "sires or io," ore by
their "sons" al this day derided and seofftd at. We are now told
that 'naturalization'' is a "humbug," and that it is an "imposaibilU
ty. So did not our fathers think. This "humbug" nad "impotsi.
bility" they planted in the Constitution, and a vindication of the
saute principle was one of the causes of the second war of indopond
ence. England Imld that "naturalization" was an impossible thing.
Sh-ebdmi d the nfiegianoQ of subjects born within her realm, not
withstanding ;hey had b come' citizens of this republic by our con
StitutH n and laws. She not only c'aimed their allegiance, but she
clairnciT the right to search our ships upon the high seas, and take
f rom ile m all such who might be found in them. It was in pursuit of
this doctrine of hers of ihe right to search for our "naturalized"
citizens that ihe Chesapeake was fired into, which was lha imme
di ate cause of the war of 1812.
L-t no man then, barely because he was horn in America, presume
to be imbued with re d nnd true 4 A .nerieanism' who either ignore
the direct and pes ti ve obligation of the Constitution, or tgnorej tbi,
one of its most .striking characteristics, As well might any unbelie
ving sinner claim to'be one of th" lailbful, onn of the elect even
barely because he was horn somewhere within ihe limits of Christen
dem. And just as well might the Jacobins, who "decreed God out
of his Universe," have dubhed their club a "Christian Association,"
because they were born on Christian soil. The genuino disciples of
"irue Americanism," like ihs genuine followers of the Cross, are
those whose hearts are warmed and fired, elevated and ennobled
by those principles, doctrines and precepts which characterize their
icspeciive sys'ems. It is for this reason that a Kamschatkan, a
Briton, a Jew, or a Hindoo, c m be ns good a Chrisiisn as any one
born on "Calvary's brow," or where the "Sermon on the Mount" was
preached! And for the same rensnn an Irishman, a Frrrchman, a
German or Russian, can be a thoroughly "American" as if he had
been born within the wmIIs of old Independence Hall itself. Which
was the "true American," Arnold or Hamilton? The one was a
native the other was an adopted son. But to return. What do our
Georgia friends intend to do? Is it not lime that they had shown
their hand? Do they intend to abandon the Georgia Pialform, and
go over, " horse, foot and dragoons" into a political alliance with
Trumbull, Durkee, Wilson & Co. ? Is this tho course marked out
for themselves hy any of the gallant old Whigs of the 7th and 8fh
Congressional Districts? I trust not. J nope not. But if they dry
not intend thus to commit Inemsclves, is il not time to pause and re
flect ? Is it not time io take a reckoning and see whither ihey sre
drifting? When "the blind lead i he blind" where is the hope of safety?
I have been ci'ed to the resolution which, it is said, the late Know
Nothing Convention passed in Macon. This, It seems, is the only
ilTiug that the six hundred d legites could bring forth after two
days "labor" and of it We rmy well say, " Mont.es parturient et r
diculus mus nascitnr." "The mountains have been in labor and a
ridiculous mouse is born." It simply affirms, most meekly and sub.
missivi ly, what no man south ol Mason and Dixon's line for the last
thirty-five years would have ventured to deny, without justly subjec
ted himself io the charge of tnnvism that is, that "Congresi haa
no constitutional power to intervene by excluding a new Stale apply
ing for admission into tint Union, upon (he ground that the constitu
tion of such State recrgnizes slavery." This is the wholo life and
soul of it, unless we exc-pt the secret blade of Jo.tb which it bears to
Wards Kansas and Nebraska, concealed under a garb. Il it well
known to all who are informed, that in the organic law of these ter
ritorics the righi of voting, while they remain territories, was given
to' ,-dl win had filed a declaration f intention to become citizens.
This was in strict compliance with the usual prac'ice of the Govern
mcnt in organizing territories ; and under this provision that class of
person? are now entitled to vme. Kansas, in two elections under
this law, has sh'wu that an overwhelming majority of her people are
in favor of slavery, notwithstanding all the Executive influence of tho
Free Soil Governor (Reed'-i) whom Mr. Picrco sent out there lo
prevent it; but whom ths people hive lately driven, as they ought Io
have done, from the country. Now then, when K msas applies for
admission as a slave Slate, as she doubtless will, a Southern "Know
Nothing" under this resolution, can unite with his "wonhy brethren"
al the North, in voting against it, upon ihe ground that (nine liars
vated for a Constitution n cognizing Slavery, who had "not beo
"naturaliz'-d," but had only declared iheir intention. For this reso
lution, in its very heart and core. dechifCS that ihe right to estabiuh
Slave constitution "in ihe or yauszat ion of Slate Governments, be
longs to the nativi; and s vrc ha mzi:d citizms," excluding those,
who nas rtnly declared their intention. A more insidious attack
was never made upon the principles of the Kansas and Nebraska
Bill. And is this lo be the plank upon which Northern and South
em " Know Noihings" are to si.ind in the rejection of Kansas!
But to die other and main object to the resolution, why did il slop
i Ii a simple denial of the power of Congress to reject a State on
account of slavery? Particularly when" u had openrd the door for
the rejection of Kansas on other grounds by way of pretext! Why
r t 1 -' - - -.I fr-'t--j,
1850, And say what ought lo be done in case of the rej-clion of a
Slate hy Congress becnisd of Slavery ? So far from this it does not
even affirm tint such r'juction by their "worthy brethren" of ths
North would be sufficient cause for severing iheir party affiliation
with them f r ii ! Agin I would say, not only to the old Whigs of
the 7th and 8 h Congressional Districts, but lo all true Georgians,
Whether Whigs or Democrats, Union men or Fire-Ealers, whither
are you drifting? Will you not pmse and reflect? Are no about
to witness in this msance cry against foreigners and Catholics a fuf
filmpnt of ihe ancient Lalan proverb, "Qwot Dei vull peraUre pri'
mus dcnetitiC "Whom the Gods intend :o destroy they first make
mad?" The limes are indeed portentous of evcl. The political ho
rizon is shrouded in darkness. No man knows whom he meets,
whether he b friend or foe, except those who have the dim glire of
the covered light which their secret signs itnp'trt. And how long
-this will be a protection even id them, is by'no means certain. They
have already made truth and veracity almost a by. word and a re
proach. Wtten truth loses Cists with any people it is no longer
considered a virtue, and its daily nd hourly violations are looked
upon with no concern but a j :-r or a laugh il rrquirer but little
forecast to see whit will very soon be the character of that people.
B j', sir, come whai may, I shall pursue that course which a sense
of duly demands of me. While I hope lor ihe best, I shall be pre
pared for the wort ; and if the "worst comes to the worst," as il
may, I shall, in common with my fellow. citizens, bear with pattence
my part of ihe common ihs. They will afT-ct mo quite as littlo at
any other citizen, for have but little at stake ; and to far s my
public position and character nre concerned, I ball enjoy that con
solation which is to derived from a precept taught me io csrly lifr, anil
which I shall ever cherish and treasure, whatever fa; tune betids me :
"But if, m life's on uncertain main,
M e r.ap shall mar thy sail.
If, faitbn,yir and true in vain.
Woe, want, and exile thou sustain,
Spend not a sigh on fortune changed'
ALEXANDER II. STEPHEN.
Col. Thomas W. Thomas, Eiberton, G.