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fcHj tairta ftisftfti&J 8 fciiifc BY JAMES GAKDNER. Speech Os Uon. L. M Keitt, of South j Carolina. ; 1 U the House ol Representatives, January 3,1555. I The House being in the Committee ot the I Whole on the state of the Union: , 1 ; r M r. Keitt said : ) Mr. Chairman: Strange things are tag around us. A crcvasst seems to have bro- i ken from the main stream of party excite- i , meuL waters are flowing in a new di rec- ( tied® The country has been recently amaze*! by ■ the successes oi a novel political organization, I which, in my judgment, disparages the dignity of the American character by threatening it with i •abjection to a secret order. Upon thia phenonne- s non in political life I propose to submit a tew re- | flections. Names, sir die; principles never. Ihe one is L au accident, the other an essence. It is a shal low philosophy which concludes that, in a Re- | public, any party which is founded upon a speci- | Uc system of construirg the fundamental com- i pact will or can perish. True, the organization «.»i the National Whig party is c/ft/e. but that par- ' ty s*dl survives in principle. In a federative organization, founded upon a ' written charter, there will be different co struc- i tn»ns, ot the grant ot power. Mental dissimi’ari- ; lies, abetted by the absorbing nature oi power, i whether in individuals or sections, and the en- , c t.achui nts ui material interests not identical, < •ociety oiiginate systems of measures and thes*- I systems correspond to types of thought. A part v. i then, which is knhMeti upon a type of tho.’!*nt. . ia as inextinguishable as thought itself, i hat the W hig party is thus founded, that it is the rpj .» ?en ave ot a specific tn ide ot coiisui’ii g ; U»e lULdamcatid compact, no candid man wil- ’ deny, i- •» a shallow philosophy, then, which i <u> e«udes iL-i' it will or c>-n perish. Tb**re are. there will be. and there can be, in I this RepvUde W ide it lasts, but two essentia! | parties. i'ney may oat be called by the names i of V. nu and Democratic parti* 1 ?, but thev mus- ; be founded upon the same types oi ’thought. And ; their elementary prmcip’es must be the t ent - , a I atnc?ae..: uee const!action of the Constitu'ijn. I States iights, and.consolidation. Each oi these parties h%» c-..nmitted violent ub .r.iti'u s from its evd ; .1 , in.cij>. but etch. by « lav . rpeeddy*.eturued to its normal state. At:- < and sudlea uphvxving ol society, era violc ' j . n.-j! ci ti.:- mac inery pi G.weH.nk!.t, may produce new and strange ctnnbinaiio is; b- ■ • they are the birth of the moment, they will I -v oti’.v lor the moment. The agitniio. s if ih political and sr c'al elements„at »ae North, n*. > recently produce ! a nondescript th ;.g, wb , with a pretnurtaary illumination of its Lateen history, has baptized itself "KnoA-No'hmg. 37 Sir, i s>id ‘ Kuo % -N'othing’sm" isa i.'?u thing Is it not? Scarcely more ami ncie •a- Tiuut elements were mingled togetbci by the f*reat diamat’st m the w jtch< &’ canJou, t .in b*-,e been lus-1 ,oge*;:er m ih.s "K o.v N ing” organization. If it ever has consistency, U will be the firry consistency of A boh Monism A will not discuss its buta-place, but I will ex-mine it in it® "early breathings;’ and aLu when its stature was n? ;#n, and the baptismal , water Ltd been poured upon its b’ow. I think. Mr. Chairman, it is an error to sup pose that ■£. aw-Notbingism” is a mere erup- Lton open the surface, it penetrates, sir, to the very core of northern society. It i» united w ltd the love o! power and the stroggh-s ol labor to adjust end , ro'-ect its rtla; >r.s witn society. The Alridgh'.y has jdar.ted the love of power te every human oreast. The struggles of ambi tion have shaken down the oldest institutions, and often subverted the organic forms of eocia •xiiter.es Anarchy hao bee: its otLprir g, n.< t. -.i. du • • dtteiroy it. tor men pre fir despotism to anarchy—gradation of ranks, o difference of races, it wonid seem, are assential to the peace ot society. Be this, however, as it mav, the ambition to be masters, the resolve to have interiors beside them, is an element of the northern "Know-Nothing” organization, ibey have nut the race whici Heaven has appointed to occupy this position, and therefore they would tiample those oi their ow n lace into the status ol inferiors. Ttey are too pure, too philanthropic, holy to deny citizenship Jo the black man; but. they will disfranchi e the white man. The Et dopean -.ball not be an alien c'f o' z t‘r e drifts of the NoGb; but **e deseeiid.i: ; ci those gallant n»en who leit home ar-d its fa; c . tes to itiUtig ■’* string* i ■> as' range an-: w ~ suiviv»d c‘Vtred -vda wounds, or <•; upno J.e field w ith your b'.n : y j; tg v !. 1; : hem shall be made par«ahs. HlcCk blav-s you w-,. oot ba e; white ones yc u would i believe, then, tb~ Jove of power, the a n bi!rr:i to be mas -' rs ’vnout the | ’ r«archal i ■ ‘a ticn, wither* the h ■< tagorrism of r s. Lave much to -•> wd : . tbie jecent ofi:an:za ? ".-n a - , the North. But there i- aL » c - 'iethn xs of a srjcial character icnplica’ed in it. Ine u'-.'.e s'r ,m Europe, the rupture ar .i cbani of the relations, ar. l the arm j d rol?« o*»e of Governments have swollen vastly the current of e:nigration to this country. There, war, famine, and. t; e pressure oi population again-- *ne wall o! subsistence have pauperized labor. From the Pennsylva liacoal miner comes the cry, "Do not repeal the du‘y on coal; 77 from the nav '.gation iuteres 4 :, ‘ Do not repeal the navi fcu’iou laws;' 5 iro it the spinners and weavers,; “*Do not reduce the tariff ” \Vhy this cry? Thev •ay that Northern free labor must be saved from competition with pauperized labor ot Europe, or itself must be r <uperiZ-<!. One section has been long and oppressively taxed to shield the other from this comj etiHon; but even that shield t about tn be pierced through Ibe labor market in Europe is choked a 'r jst to strangulation, and the ot the lab rer js the merest The great’y increased emn'raHou to the United StfJes is crowding ail the pursuits of industry in (be cities. The capital enterprise, and burners of the cuun’ry have <mt expanded in the ratio oi im caig. to? 4 and hence competition tnreafens to pauper’ze labor here. It is against this pro pb>-h'- du ger that labor is rising up, and gnash .?»g hate and biindnes#. Aye, sir, a social prob !of mighty-import is beginning to force it k?’t tipo t ‘he nncthern mind arid gumly demands Lalxir blind and staggering, io lilting it* h»‘»d against capital, and demanding a re rr..i!»ling ot the i<Eu-trial machinery, and re ad i<i« meutof the relations between them. There n,r-t! truth, s imetb i g of philosophy in tbu ‘Knuw-Nothcrjg’’ organization. It is tn ao«i€ 4*xtent, labor suing in the form of proscrip tion and fanaticism to escape suing m forma While 1 this, I am the friend nt the laborer. I would protect his rights and aid bi- boraiable enterprise and industry. But I ♦*anfiatvolutionize Government, ,and remode* thw forms of xwLU-ty to establish an Utopia * S.», is com per.eatioa in the scheme o Providence, and punishment wrong both in! fDu'fve and d'-cd. Tne history of the knin of the ConGi ution kitsch .•estms memorable f u ♦hat even then it w<<* b» !it-ved aod concede 1 tha' t: r norihern Staffs wcm* to lx* cul’ivafed b v-'nte labor, and tut southern :> a', by Af/irai. o s ave Übor By 1808 it was thought n s.jffi supply (jf white laltf>r would en'er Itn Ur.rGd by u Hl’gra’iuh ,, to supply tb» watts ol northern ru!?)w. !i<»n, and a MJficien » <olA:»i'ar. .b<>r,b z * onpoilu ion” to h ! -th. ithe clftiiM IhcCur stitution: I * I be (.? or imporle’ion of such person! , > n y !.»■ ' s, ro>w ♦ •xs>.tjn-_ # *t all Ihi; i< fl tv 'I ,t >■>■. II I <>t I ■ ! l-y <:. ■-, ; .to tb-} ar 1809.” , Migration has b-en uninterrupted, while im- t portation has been*abolished. The northern sup- t ply of labor has been constant; the southern sup- c ply has been cut off. The North has not only s used the labor of the emigrants to achieve her ; miracles of enterprise—to throw bridges across ? her mountains, hang roads over the clouds, and I burst lakes into canals ; but she encoiraged emi- i giation that she might possess herself of the s Federal Government, and acquire political do ( minion over the South. Even now she will ♦ only disfranchise, nut prohibit immigrants. She ( i will disfranchise, because she cannot subsidize f ■ them to be hirelings of fanaticism; but she will t ! not prohibit them, because she wants their num- 4 : hers to swell the census of her population, and i | strengthen her dominion over the South. Thus, I 1 sir, the social philosophy of this organization has i been worked up. by- ambidexterous arts, into the i purposes ot the politician. I do not mean now to discuss the slavery’top- I ics which have been thrust into this Ha l by ! various gentlemen. The camp fires lighted by ■my friend from Georgia, |Mr. Stephen?,! in his • proud march along this subject, still flash upon 1 ‘ us. But I will call the attention of the country | to a remarkable spectacle. Scarce twelve months I ago ts-is Ha'l rang with l> zannas to freedom - ; and tree labor. Its Free Soil champions told u« . : ti.at fr*?e labor fertilized industry, and scattered ■ i all over the North the monuments of n I greatness ; while slave labor bl’ghted the South, 1 ' and dried up the well-splines of her prosperity < i They avouched the superiority of their social system, and prophesied its triumph over oui« 1 • when brought together. How lar< s the case ? , • Abolition emigrant societies , al! ov-r Eu:ope to subsidize Ihe fore igner into a ; {crus-de against slavery; cupidity and fanaticism j | talked their last efforts to appropriate the r«-*w I I feuitories—ard how far*>s it with them ? The I j member from Indiana |Mr Mece] and his cum- ; • oet r, [Mr. Campbell.] strangling their hosa.icas | I to freedom and tree labor, and stifling the very ( j cg->ny of their Free Soil rapture, with rude* | hands tear from her pedestal the goddess ot their ! j idolatry, and bring her into this Hall,all Vt-drag- ! T"d and bemired, and with disheveled locks, to j whine out, u Pity the sorrows of a poor o'.d wo- j man.” white her sobs are broken by th? shritks i of the member from Vlas-achusetts . [Mr. Banks I ■ "norfhein white slaverv ‘Tree labor trampled ii>t > rhe mire by banded capital.” What hr san- ; •»as then, and what a palinode now ! Then ; ’ 5 «-v shook with the convulsions of the sibyl in be bi th-paog of prophecy; row they Leaver with th 1 broken sobbings ot the sibyl prostrate, j nd with her Hispira'i th proved a juggle. Sir, I rep'.-ai it. I w ill not discuss tne question I o. shivery now with these gentlemen. 1 will I iet toe O.d North State, as she has spoken through I her Legislature, speak tor me upon it. That gal lant old S'ate has never yet learned Low to re treat. She has been called Rip Van Winkle; hut if she is such, in her slumber all fanatical B.ns j assed over her. and she now woke np upon the principles ol the Revolution, and with ■bi* spirit o: old Mecklenburg in her bosom. I will now proceed. .Mr. Chairman,to submit : a few reflections : First, upon the causes cf the 1 astonishing success of this new order; secondly, ; upon its supposed principle? ; thirdly, upon its) organization ; and, fourthly, upon its application i an ! bearing upon thp South. The causes of the rapid progress of this new j order 1 conceive to Le, mainly, the disbandment I of the National Whig organ zation. and the le- i tbargy and errors of the Democratic party. 1 he i National Whig connection is broken off. and the ; northern fragments of the wreck are floating on ; the waters, with an invincible appetency to co ' alesce with any is.ns which can carry it into power. They have suffered !?»»?<’• econwh ’ ish m-rtyidom, (exclusion from tue Treasury.) ; and are ready to seize any elements which can j secure success. The northern Whig ground lay : tallow, and ready to receive any seed, however ! rank and poisonous. The lethargy and errors ol * the Democratic party also contributed to it. It 1 • has not appreciated the present conjunction. It i ! sees not yet that its old opponent has retired ’ ’ horn the fieid, and that most of the old issues . ; have been set*led. It is now a stricken Poly- j phemns, dealing in blindness, powerful blows. • ■ j In this social and political crisis it must raise I | new issues, corresponding o the exigency, and * ! j which are now locked up in our destinies, or it ' I must bend to the storm. Public opinion labors, ! ’ | like the piies‘* ss upon her tripod, with the pro ‘ 1 phecy ol gre it events The world now stift , ; .viin- tremendous charges, and the Democratic, ) ■ •,:? , must shake slumber from it, leave the | u 'd< ad pa -’ to bury the dead,” and catching up ■ j the spuit oi a new period, chasten it. and move ,on in .ts fcmpiejing career, or it must be pros [ riated. That there have been also eirors in for- 1 eign appointmeu'-i, which have s imulated the ; j N.*.hve American feeling is not worth disputing. I I Lus the di»ban«knent of the National Whig 1 j • urty, and the lethargy and error-, and even the 1 • j successes of the Democratic party, have aided i 1 j th-? progress of this new order, hi it there are ! j many men good and true, wise, honest and pa- 1 I”.!: 'ic; but is. nevertheless, an amalgam ot isms | and discontents. Ps paramount puli'iral philoe- : op'uy is, wiiiltvcr is is wroag. In ev» ;y party ! there are camp-loliowers, who hover about the field to plunder the dead and rifle the baggags— , men c* ho fi t from party to party, in the spirit of ) those who shouted hosannas to Christ, and then : poured vinegar upon h»s lipe. In times of trial; j -uch men are flung from party like scoria for • they follow it only wi h the motive of those I Jews who followed Christ, not because he heal- 1 ed the sick, and gave sight to the bin d, but be- i cause of his power to multiply the ‘’loaves and ! fishes.” Such men barnacle themselves around I a new party which promise*- .success. Thus ! Knuw-Notbingism has become a sanctuary lor maicontent«, and an hospital for changelings. I proceed in the second place, to discuss the supposed principles of this new order: First,the extension of the naturalization laws; secondly, the exclusion of foreigners horn ail places 01 r»u«* fciicl honor; thirdly, the proscription of th? Catholic religion. Now what is the object in extending the na turalization law*? I* surely is not to cut off immigration, which is the only way of relieving the iabor market from threatened pauperism ; it is only to affect the right of suff rage. In discus sing the policy of extending the la ws of natural | ization, I waive the question whether citizen ship is necessary to suffrage. 1 will not discuss whether inter-State comity—whether good faith between the State?, contracting for certain pur poses, as independent and sovereign parties, do not imp se moral obligations in prescribing the constituency. In this aspect, I reserve my opin ion until tLe question arises. J propose now to discuss it merely in the view of affecting a State regulation through the agency of a national or -uniza’ion, by binding the people ol a State to adapt their regulations to the opinions of the y»eop!e oi othri States. It may be useful, how ever, to examine the power of Congress, under ■he Constitution, tu interfere with the elective kanrhise within the limits of 2 Slate. To do t .M Congress mud either possess some specific itny-.t oj power, or it must I e incident to some ‘ such f rant. Is there any specific grant of pow -r in the Cons itution'? It cannot be f bund. The ConsiiiuX'on prescribes the qualifications of the /'uwaenaroa of Government, but it nowhere { rnriiibw Ihe qualified ; uns of the constituency. : In sectiun two, article one: “And the electors ’ in r neb State >-Lal) ha’-e the qualifications requi- 1 »b* lurekctoFf of the most numerous branch ol be S’afa* f.eg.'hlahin-the Constitution define i s '••*- <->ußtituency. but does no* prescribe its qua- * lificiuons. it p.entnbea the qu Milica Hons ot 1 < • -c9 ‘I G>. vrmmenr, ; "Neper feci*, t-xn pt a riQturid citizen, or a citizen of * AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 1855. the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President.” &e., but it in no instance pre scribes the qualification of the constituency, ex pressio unius, excluiio alteriut. Is it incident to any grant of power to Congress ? Clearly not; for the Constitution, in its express grants of power, conveys none whatever, as to the con stituency, or the right to regulate suffrage; and of course, as there is no grant of power upon the subject at all, there can be no power inci dent to it. Thus, I have examined, in connec tion with the clauses in the Constitution, the question which meets us at the threshold of this subject, viz: Whether the Stat s yielded up or retained the right to regulate suffrage within their own limits. Again, is there any difference between the right of a State to regulate suffrage for State of fices and Federal offices? Where ean it be found? Dare this Government look above, be low, or behind the forms of State authority ’— Can it hold intercourse with the people of a State as moleculae ? Can it pass by, supersede, 1 or trample down the forms' ot a State, and con tract with its inhabitants ? In fact, can it, or I dare it, look into the interior operations of a I State ? If it can, it is a consolidated, not a ted : erative Government. Wuat danger, too, in the ! power ol Congress to p'escribe the qualifications ;ot its electors? Could not the Federal Govern ! merit expand or contract the constituency to ! suit its own purposes? Could it not in this way subsidize and enslave the States ? People is a I term for an org.-.riized community, not for a mass, or monster, to which garbage is to be ! thrown. I it may be argued, however, that the power to I '■ establish a uniform rule o; riatuiakza'ion ” en l aides Congress to regulate the constituency. I-. ! this power deducible from the clause vesting of I Cos grass the right to "establish a uniform rule |in i atmal'zation.” For what dues Congress I make a citizen cl the United States? This in i quin, is expounded by the meaning of the second i ! section, tonrth article of the Constitution, which says: ‘"The citizens of each ‘■•iiv’i- shall be enti > I tied to all the privileges and immunities of citi- | I zens in the several States.” Do "p. ivjleges : ■ '. i immunities” tv ate totbc rlet.v” f. Jii-e '! I Has not each S'a'e a right to affix a propeny qualificati'm tosuffia’C ? iiave not many States j cone so? Is not - certain period ot residence j req’iited "* ail the States? It so. how can ■ .i vile®, and immuiiitii s” relate to the right jto vote ? They ruler to the rights of p op-rty, land not of suffrage; to personal, ascoutradis ; tingui-hed from political rights. Tne power to I 'as ablish a uniform rule of n:i‘u>a!i.-ation,” is I the power to make citizens <d the United S ate- I —that is. citizens inv sted with personal rights L’he right to regulate suffrage, to prescribe the constituency, is a vital attribute of sovereignty, and a federative Government, essential to the States. To remove this question from the field of di alectics, as far as wi- rnay, let us consult the de bates in the Convention which framed the Con- I stitution. In the draft of the Constitution re j ferted to the Convention for final action, we find ! the following clause : I " The qualifications of ■ lectors—for members i of the House of Representatives—shaii be the I same, from time to time, as those of the electors j in the several States of th? most numerous branch of their ow n Legislatures.” i Wi en this clause was under discussion, (Ma j dison Papers, vol. iii., p. 1249,) Mr. uouverneur Morris moved to strike out ail alter ’h- wordsj I "qualifications of electors,’' that some other pro ‘ ' vision might be substituted w hich would restrair . rhe right ot suffrage to fre; ' ' ’ .. 1 Mr. \ iison said: ‘lt was difficult to form i any uniform rule ol qualifications tor ad the | States.” i Mr. Morris said : "An objection against th" ’ clause, as it stands is, z4at it mnices the tfHaltflia I linns of the National Legislature impend on Ike I will of the States.” j Mr. Ellsworth thought 11 the people will not ! readily subscribe to the National Constitution. > if it should subject them to be disfranchised. — ' I'iie Stales are the best judges of the eir run stances and temper ol the people.” I Colonel Mason said: "Eight or nine States I have extended the right of suffrage beyond the | freeholders. What will the people there say, it ■ they should be disfranchised ? A power to alter i the qualifications would l.e a dangerous power in . the bands of the I-egislatiire ” Thus, it will l>e seen, no ‘‘uniform rule oi | qualifications ” ot ’i'<-electors was adopied hut |as different qualifier 1 ions prevail.-I in different I States, and the po .v- r was a dangerous one ■ in the hands o: IFederal L-'gulatrire. ‘to- I wholesubject was turne'l over to the States. I> | other woid?, it was • -ft to the Suites to regulate j the right c.f sfiffrage ; <u as Mr. Morris expresses | it, " tr<- ‘ Legislature I depend online will if ike Stales.” Let us examine, now, the second principle of | this new order—the exclusion of foreigers from j all places of honor, piofit,and trust. What has lb enour poi’ey in this respect? - In 177-1, the : Continental Cvngre. s while preparing resistance I to Great Btitam, issued an address to the Catholic I inhabitants ot Upper Canada. It desired to en ! list them in a common struggle against the j mother country. In this address. Congress, adopt j ing the words ol Montesquieu, says: ‘ln u free State, every man, who is supposed a free agent ought to be concerned in his own I government; therefore, the legislative should j reside in the whole body of the people or their I representatives.” ! It also invites them “to unite with us in one i social compact,” and to “choose delegates to re present them in the Continental Congress. In 1778 Congress appointed a Commission to repair to Canada, and strive to effect a union be tween it and the United Colonies. It instruct ed the Commissioners, in the strongest terms, to assure them (the people of Canada) ‘that it is our earnest desite to adopt them into onr Union | as a sister colony and to secure the same general system of mild and equal laws for them and for ourselves.” The next development of policy, in relation to foreigners is found in the Declaration of Independence, which recites, among other wrongs ol the King, that “he has endeavored to | prevent the population of these States, for that purpose obstructing the laws lor naturalization ol foreigners,*’ &c. The Constitution next pro vides for immigration to the United States. Thus far the policy ot the country has been in favor of immigration. The first departure from it was the alien and sedition laws The alien law was founded upon suspicion anil dislike to the immi grant and imposed odious discriminations upon him. These laws were soon trampled from the statute-book, amid the fi-rce execrations of the people. The next blow aimed at the immigrant is years after, and under far different circum stances. The country was engaged in a second war; doubt, distress darkness hung over our arms, and our existence as a country was upon a trem bling equilibrium. The unsparing enemy, with more than Cossack barbarism, had sacked and burned our common Capitol, and in ashes had scattered our archives to the wi ds. His crui sers then darkened our coasts, and his legions were tracked by pillage and conflagration. In this hour of portent, peril, and dismay, a conven tion met in an eastern State, and lor what? “To withhold the resources of New England, and make a separate peacel ’ Yes. in this tioublous and tremendous moment, while the toe was spreading devastation on every side, was march ing on by the light of burning villages, end was threatening to blot us from the very msp of mi t.on», a convention met in an ea-l-ru State to h: mble our power, and plot our overthrow. VV'hat; I was one nt the resolutions of that convention? I will read it to you: “No person who shall hereafter be naturaliz ed, shall be eligible as a member ot the Senate or House ot Representatives of the United States; nor capable cf holding ary civil office under the authority of the United States.” "Yes, this is a leading resolution of this con vention. Need l tell you what convention this is? Other, have met, but none other to paralyze the »'m ; Government, when our soil was dis honored by the tread of a foreign foe, and our Common flag struck at both on the land and on ■Sue wMe r . This is Ihe Hartford Convention, which is ■ incarnidined” by public scorn in the ..■ages of our history, like the “blood spot” upon the “robe ” Well comes this warfare upon na turalized citizens into this Hail, borne in by the member f. -,n Massa.‘husetts, (Mr. Banks.| It began with Adams, it festered in the counsels ol the Hartford Convention, and it should not enter heie, bori.e >n by ' imlineal hands.” Sir, this I fact reads us an instructive lession. The finger ; of history has moved louud the dial plate ana is j resting where it rested forty years ago. The'hiril principle i*. proscription of the Catho- I lie Ifeligi . Is'iot ti e imposition of disability i and d.'stiat. •■. i a proscripition* V>'!, dis I franchise tin. C-tlbolic? Do you exiiect t., aiL-et I his coiivictioi.'. mil change his religion? Can you i dig uowir to the conscience, and lay bare its ! subtlest c!<u ’. arid re-mode! the spiiitu.il sub- j stater? ‘I yon cannot do. Are Catholics! under civ I ■ ■ ctiun to the Pope, as the mem- | her fre-m .4h‘ >. •„ hu-eitr, (Mr. Binksl intimated?] What ... tiiere n the Catholic Creed to warrant ] this imputatio'i' In 1789, Mr. Pitt,then Prime i Minister ol England, before he would relax th" | .usabilities ■ . the Irish Cathojics, propounded to the great < a.'w .ie Ui.i the following in quiries: *'l Has C..e pope, or C irdinals; or anybody of tn. u. oi .. . individual ot ’Io-Church ol Rome, any civil au. u-jrity, pow. r, jurisdiction or pre I emii.e: ce w'.atrt.ever, within the realm of En- I . “•? <'«:• ”ope, < r Cardinal;?, or any body |nf nr or t. <.• oi the Church <»! L’ouie, ab. ive >r dispense with his Meiesty’g -■J from : M.?ir oath o' allegiance upon any pie;ext wha 4 t • vei? “3. l a the; <niy principle in the teneleof the C.ttbo’Jc faith by which Cal holies are justified in not liPt - with heietics or other ; r diffeir --?in them in leligiousopinion:-, in any transac jud, either of a public or a private nature?” The (Jnive.titles g: Pari?, Louvain. Alcala, Douay, Salatni. ica. and Vsladolid declare that neither the Cardinals, nor aoy individuals in the Ciitbul<.‘Lurch, have any civil authority; nor ran they dispense with an oath; nor are Catholics ju-.’ '■ d in not keeping faito in any transaction. « "’.her of a public ora private nature. Tn«; it wit b.' teen that ail the Universities promptly an-’ itquivocably declared that Ca rholies were de/ no civil er temporal sub) c tion io thp Pope The Catholic Bishop* in Great Biituiu in the year 1826, declared that I a no power ir ■ r.y Pope, or Council, or in any individual o» body cf men, invested witn au thority in the Catholic Church, can dispense with an}' uaL ; which a Catholic hasconfnm cd Lis duty of <>. egiance tu his sovereign, or any i obligation oi <’u',y or jis ’c * to a third person.” he follow*: ” i*i cue of th i curses of the Ca j till ic Chore* . ' Cu»s« übe Catholics who will • ’ net obey the wful commands of all Protestant J authorises, ( piri’uai matters exempted.) or who ’[..Aill md luljjo f .’.-duty, in t-- fv rooect to I 'Vir L'fA.i < /1; ’ MrfiF ‘■hU ; i‘. c._ w«7fks oi Bishop Eng- i lan<\ a mat) ot splendid intellect, stainless hon* i or, and royal scbolaubip. The Archbiwbop ar»d Bishops ot tbc United States, : i provincial ctm cil assembled at Balti- ' r ”. May, 1843. thus, w rote to Pope Gregory I XV I . " It must not be concealed that most bitter en > emies ot the name ot Christ, and alas I they are many, endeavor, with all their ability, to over . tmn the citadel of faith, raid destroy it entirely. I o succeed in this, tney cast suspicions against us among the people, * * * that we, their , Catholic fellow.citizens, although our forelath ‘ T-i poured out their blood as water tu assert our } hbeity against a non Catholic oppressor, in or r der to make ’is suspected by the Government j and obnoxious to it, lie under political and civil subj' ctio-; to a tv tign prince, namely, the Ro- • man Poo tiff, and ate, the; “fore, faithless to the . Republic, became. they (our enemies) falsely , asse;t. we are educed under this subjection.” G: i.aryXVl. in reply, by letter’of Dec*2d • I s wa; inly the pleasure the letter, ol v. .Jclj the above i;'an extract, afforded him, , and approves Ps contents. How long is’tsuice we thought the Catho „ lies unfit for cilizensbip? Surely the Conti nental Congrtvs did not think so, when they in struc ed the Commissioners to Upper Canada to • declare to the inhabitants “’that we hold sae’ed • the rights of conscience, ;;i d premise to the whole people solemnly lhe free and u disturbed fK-rcise of their rdiy. m?; and to *he the ' lull, perfect, m d peaceable posses.-mn and en- - joyment o* ail their estates;’’ and eLo advised ‘ them to “ dehnerate concerning the establish rnent ol a form of Government, and a union United Colonies,” upon terms, too. “similar to those upon which the other C< lonien I unite.' 7 The Continental Congress surely did i not think so, when, in an address to the Catho- I lie inhabitants oi Upper Canada, they said: " We are too well acquainted with the liber ality of sentiment di tioguishing your nation, to ■ imagine that difference of religion will preju- - dice you against a hearty amity with us. Yon know that the transcendent nature of fieedotn , elevates those who unite in the cause, above all such low-minded infirmities. The Swiss can tons furnish a merncrabie proof ’fis truth. , Their Union is composed of ( athoiic an t P-nt i “stant States, living in'*.•■ -r. ■' concmd and peace one with another, an i ihled ever since they bravely vindicate tn .. n, rd.im, to - defy and defeat er ary’ foe that has invaded them ” Has the nature of freedom become less tran scendent, or are we more discerning than the , grand old patriots of the Revolution? But it is said (Mr- Banks] that the Pope has not renounced his claim to temporal allegiance from all Catholics? Am! pray, has England done so? How many princes in Eu ope have renounced the doctrine of perpetual citizenship? Are we to select a class to war U; on, because of a despotic and impotent claim, applicable to most other classes? Have not Catholic soldiers carried their monarchs into the very Vatican and compelled the Pope to annoint and crown them? Have not Catholic soldiers borne the flags of Protestant rulers to victory ? Have Irishmen done no deeds ot chivalry in the cause of Protestant England ? Spread out the pares ot English history, and show me a single battle field where empire has been won, or her meleoi icflag has floated in victoiy, and I will tell you where hisb blood has flowed, and Irish valoi triumphed. i pioceed now to the organization of this se cet order. My triced from Massachusetts |Mr. Banks) says they ‘ have the right to secrecy’’ Chai associations of men for political purposes neve the legal right to seciecy ia indisputable ; hut the tnoial aspect ol the question is ar least debatable. There are two kinds of light, lhe I’gal and ethical. The former looks to the fz*.*ce ol society . the la:ter to morals The lumpen d capital -: Ims a legal rigi: to refuse a ■ r.riytothewr ' 'i sta l ving upon his iloor-sill; >ut ,s there no < a m cf chnrr-y (mon him? .lie there no d. • yoi;d the reach of law ? - VOL. 33 -NEW SERIES -VOL. 9- NO 19 in a state ot isolation, each one possesses rights unqualified by artificial restraints. Govern- ‘ rr.ent is established far great and indispensable purposes, and neces-ary to it is the possession ol certain power". Each one, therefore, divests himself of certain portions of his natural rights and power, and bestows them upon Govern ment. The forms of Government are numer ous, but each form has some gieat and vital re quire < ent. The requirement of a Republic is publicity. Suffrage is its life blood ; and to give health to the body-politic, it should be not only free, but intelligent and discriminating. How can this be, when measures are planned in se cret, and withheld from investigation. I ask, again, is there no public duty beyond theempiie ol mete law ? I have the legal right to cast my vote for the most ignorant and corrupt, but have I the moral right? We have established a poli tical organization which affects us all, and have 1 the moral i ight to commit it to those who will | use it toth j injury of the otheis? The interest : .f all are affected by the measures of Govern ] meat, and does not good faith require that those i measures should be subjected to public examin jation' In society we cannot absolutelyindi- Ividualize ourselves; we must look out beyond self There is a difference between associated and individual action. j Hsvir.g premised thus much upon the moral I right ot secrecy, i submit to the committee I three objections to tne Know-Nothing organi zation. ] Ist. It tends to break down the rights of the I States. | 2d It attacks the character of the American I people. j 3d It invades the sanctities of social life. I Ist. It ’ends to break down the rights of the i States. Does it not prefers to extend all ove. | the Union? What are some of its objects?— ■ I'n regulate the right of suffrage, and exclude I, reiguers from all offices. Does not the subject of suffrage belong exclusively to the States? If so, is not this interference in the interior affairs of a State? Is not this attempt to control sutt rage, digging a? ‘he very foundation of the State structures, and claiming a power to recast their - ricepest foundations ? Are not the Statesfor- I-ign to each other, except so far as they have | con * raffed together ? Are they not foreign as 'I to the right to regulate suffrage? It so. is no' i Ibis an attempt t-> consolidate them together i" | a vital matter, in which they are distinct and foreign by their organic constitutions? Is not : consolidation the breaking down of State right:-? The so. ial condition of Massachusetts blends , with that of South Carolina, and both simmer ing and seething together a te.tiuni quid r > evolved which is to be the rule of Government ; for both. • Again, “no foreigner ehall hold an office ol honor or trust.” Is not this intruding into the domestic affiirsof a State? Proscr-ption must - go in’o everything—into police institutions, into private corporations, into municipal affairs, into the charity ot the hospital, and into the garbage i of the gutter. If this foreign interference with t and control o', the purely domestic affairs of a State does not break down State rights, I am at a loss to conceive what will. What is consoli- i ition ? Is it not a crushing of the States into . one whole, so that the inhabitants of each por ■ tiou may interfere in the management of the ’ domestic affairs of the others ? is not this such lan interference? What interior interests is free I I from its grasp? It controls the municipal coun ‘ cil, arid clutches at the ermine and jury box.— . i It proscribes the sexton, and lays its hand upon iith ■ watchman’s rattle Other natior -I organ! . izat’o.-js have eo uiectcii t'.i;ir:' Ivij obiy With . national interests They professed to take cog nizance only of such matters as were common to all by the stipulations ol the Constitution; this 1 organization glides along beneath the very louu . dations of the States, and mangles th-rri, inte i rior, fe.leral, and foreign, into one totality. Its i members arc secret, are silent, are Know-Noth . ; mgs I Sir, their designation is aptly chosen, for - if they succeed, they are mutes in the funerrd . ! procession of the Republic. . j Sir, I object sternly to this new order, because t | its march is over the ruins of the States. State r ■ sovereignty is the corner stone of our Federal . I Temple, and upon it rest our destinies. Conso r | lidate this Government, and no human pow er . | can save you from despotism. Can we, dare t ! we, trifle with this great principle? The cause I !ol State sovereignty is a grand and sacred one. . j Escorted by the memories ol the past and the , • hopes ot the future, and crowned too, with all ! the royalties of intellect, comes it to us. It has J been won through too much blood, and hallowed I by sacrifices too nugu-r and too tremendous to be : shattered by the hand ot tyranny. 1 will not j give aught of encouragement to any associa'i -n i which flings even a shadow over the integrity . j ol tiiis principle. . ! 1 object, in ths second place, to this secret or- ganizaiion, because it attacks the character of , the American people. Their character has ever i been fiank, manly, and magnanimous. They . have never paltered with principle upon flimsy I subtleties, nor stided the voice of public faith . upon p-ti fogging technicalities. They have j not stooped to sophisms and sub erfuges to vm- i j dicate an equivocal honesty, nor have they “hid ; den in misty generalties their violations of char- , j tered ligh's.” No, they have been proud even |in error, and brave even in wrong. Gori forbid that the manhood of lhe Ameiican character | should sicken and disappear under the poi-on of . trickery and insincerity. Evasions and so phisms are an ethical poisop, and corrode lhe best character. ■ This order requires evasion as the sacrament of admission into it, end under the sophism ot i ii'dividuaiity, it cleaves down, in secret, the i , rights of others. It avows not its principles in I public, and courts not the light, but it plots at - midnight, and strikes under a mask. The ele ■ I merits of manly character are not nursed in re- ' iT<'t. and matuied upon subterfuges. Against I -is -ecret organization the common manhood ot the country ii : ,es up, for it insidiously attacks the > very foundations of magnanimity and frankness I in the character of the Ameiican people Pri vote worth is the foundation ol public greatness, strike down the one and you destroy the other. In the third place I object to it, because it in vades the sanctity of society. Does it not in vade the relations of lite, and corrupt the faith between man and man? If it does not preach does it not connive at a morality which permits you to betray a friend and deceive an enemy ? Will not political treachery even if it does not lasten upon the character, at least produce chron ic and incurable distrust, alienation, and selfish ness? Have not men belonged to this secret or der while they occupied high places under their old parly organization, and thus betrayed their old allegiance ? Have not associations ot men j ucei pred the candidates ol their former party, and j curried them with hosannas from hustings to J hustings, while they were active members of the new order, and working for its success? Sir,it these things are true—and they areaffirm ed— do they not poison all the relations ol men ? What deadlier wrong cun von inflict upon socie ty than to obliterate all confidence, and blast fi delity between man and man? Do this, mid how know yon that the hand you grasp in po litical fellowship, is net the hand of a political enemy? That the man you shelter is not a spy? Infuse infidelity into your relations, an i how know you that treason clings around yum hearth-stone, and stoops not over the couch ol fri-ndship? Ate great principles to be thm achieved? Aid can tie car of party only be rolled on over th" sos eat charities ol the heait. < and th" .--cn-'l nidinaur- s of society. i i ow crave the indulgence of the Co: miltee while i examine,in the lomth .place, this appli- cation and bearing of the new organization upon the South. Why should the South Rncourai*e it’? Is her system of labor threatened with pauper ism, or does she want to build up castes among the whites '? Have not her institutions been as sailed, and by those who originated this new or der ? Sir, what an awful spectacle did the mem ber from Massachusetts (Mr. Banks) reveal, in bis description of the social condi’ion of that State? Two-thirds of the population of Mas saebusetts pressed into the gutter by selfi-h cap ital.disowning their manhood, and compelled, in the dark hours of the night, to flit along sub terranean paths, and conspire in secret against their own Government. Sir. only insurgent slaves hide from their masters, and conspire at midnight. Are these men, who are the slaves of capital, and who are compelled to plot in se cret against their wealthy lords, the meu to re form our institutions, and brand us with inferi ority ? Eighty thousand freemen it, a Republic conspiring, in under ground ways, to vindicate their rights at the ballot-box agionst forty-thou sand ! Is this freedom ' Is this free labor soc:e *yj. Sii. often nominal freeiMm is ptac'ical slaveiy ; and noo liia! slavery practical freedom. There are two modifications ol :oc:a! existence; thu one a co relation of mutual obligation, i. e. in separability between capita! and labor; the oth er the dissolution of continuity, i. e. independence between capital and labor. In the former the I elective franchise is limited to a portimi of the community; but there is no starvation. In the other it is unqualified ; but in crowded civic populations ten per cent, die of starvation, direct ly or indirectly, through tylnis lever, insi fficietit food, imperfect shelter, and all the accompaiii meuts of pauperism. Take you, now, slavery and safety, or free labor, with paper rights and st-u vatl in. What remedy, let me ask, is pro poseii fm these evils of your civic population’ Socialism! Yes. ocialism yon prescribe. Your French ncialist teachers tell you the evils ot society sprir g from the freedom of society La bo‘ , tbr'urgh competition, enslav-s itself, they say 1 oguard ag-.ir:st this labor must be organ ize.l. What means tins organization of labor? Why it means social slavery. Laborers shall not eompe'e, they shall not dispose of their own time iu.l strength—socialism is social j.lavery. Will tlio South, then, go into this new oiganiza tiou, because it is pauperism enlisted rg-io-st we.-lth an I chart-rs, and the t.d.dishrnert of a system of social slavery ’ Will she go i to it neca use 1 1 i*s abolition tendencies? Dr they not exist ? Has not the National Whig party dismiited bi'cmise of tli« abolition tendencies of ds Northem w ing ? Will this wing !.. ■■ less abolition feeling tinder ane w organization i Will those Northern Democrats, who abandon: d their party because they said it was allied wi’h sla very, be mote moderate abolitionists in the new party? Do not such materials make up the Northern “Know Nothing” party ? Is not its object power and place ? Will it not, then seize upon all elements of strength which can carry it into power ? and are not the elements fl oating about at the North, and eager for coalition, the abolition and free sot! element? They have been strong > nougb to shatter an old at.d power lul organization, and will they lose their virus and purpose in a new one ? What, too, has be en fl e practical results of th is new party ? In .Massac! usetts alone it has be- ri victorious through its own strength; and w i.at ""e we there ’ Is not the Abolition and Free- Soi I flag the only one flying? How staid it members elect? I read an ex’rar.tfiornt!-r- co>- rr“p--,<..!'m" of the National Era (ar, Abolition paper) oi November 23, 1853. The writer » stated to he John G. Whittier, c< -editor, 1 be lieve, ot the Era, and a distiguished Abolitionist of Massachusetts, who ns much as any man, is booked up in reference to its politics, particular ly Free-Soil: ’ “C. L. Knapp, of the eight district, is an old ■ liberty man, true as steel. DeWitt in the Wor cester district, 'Crafton in the eleventh, Cornin': I in the fourth. Damrell, in the third, and Buliu game in the fifth district, are also Free-Soilere ‘ N P. Banks, jr., is triumphantly ie-elected from ' the seventh district, against the combined op -1 position of the Pierce Democracy and the Whigs. He goes back to Washington an Anti-Admims tration Fusionist. Buffington, of the second dis ' trict, and Morris, of the t: nth, are reliable Anti- ■ Slavery Whigs. Os Davisoi the sixth, and Hall, ot the first, we have no definite know!ed"e. •' Gardner, lb" Governor elect, standi "ripenly pledged against the Nebraska fraud and the tu gitiveslave law. His past historv has been evi dently that ot a Pro-Slavery Whig, I ■ we speak now only of bis present positions Br.,wn, Lieutenant Governor, is a Free Suit Democrat and Fusionist. Ol the Senators and Rep.-’-enta tives elected, enough is known to be tolerably certain tl-ata reliable man will be chosen to the United States Senate, and effectual provision j made for protecting the inhabitants of the State | against the fugitive slave hunt.” Thus hav. acted the Know-Nothings of Mas i sachusetts. How spoke they? I will read the I resolutions cl a Know-Nothing convention in I Norfolk, Mas'ac!iu;ett‘: “Resolved, That we hail with hope and j >y the recent brilliant successes of the Republican par ty in the States of Maine, lowa. Indiana Penn sylvania, and Ohio, and we trust those victories are a foreshadow of others soon to come.by which the free States shall present one solid phalanx, ol oppo ition to the aggressions of lave: ■ “Resolved, That in the present cbaolic condi tion of parties in Massachusetts, the only star above the horizon is the love of human liberty and abhorrence of slavery, and that it is the duty ot anti-slavery men to rally around the T> pub lican party as an organization which invites the united action of the people on the one trancend ing question of-lave dominion which now di vides the Union.” “Whereas, Roman Catholicism and slavery being aline louiided and supported ou the basis of ignoiance anil tyranny, and being, therefore, allies in every warfare against liberty and enlightenment: Therefore be it “Resolved, That there can exist no real his tory to Roman Catholicism which does not em brace slavery, its natural co-worker in opposi tion to freedom and republican institutions.” How spake Gardner, their Governor elect, in reply to the charge that he had aided in the ren dition of Burns? He says, in a letter to Mr Wilson, a Fiee Soil leader: “Were the same charge made against youself it could not be more groundless than it is against me. The power of language does not permit me to express the utter loathing 1 have tor the conduct attributed to me. Far sooner would I be the poor quivering wretch on the road again to the agony of bondage, than a volunteer guard jto aid in iris return. He who ir vented the j charge grossly slandered me ; they who repeat J it, or believe it do net know tne. “it is not true that I am, or have ever been, in favor of the fugitive slave bill. I never voted tor a man who favored it, knowing such to be his views, ai d 1 must very much change before 1 ever do. I never by word. act. or v< te, favor ed its passage, and I am an advocate of its es sential rr odilication, or in lieu thereof its uncon ditional repeal Returning from Canada last Jane, I read in the cars that th"re was a petition <or its repeat at the Exchange news room, and on my arrival, before even tr-iimr to my place of business, 1 hastened to the Exchange, and signed the petition.” ia this unbroken testimony of deed and speech nothing? Will the South unit " with this north ern Know-Nothing movement ani-iated with the rentime its ot Socialism and Ab it oni-m ’ Will the Soulll e lis’ in a crusade o' So ,'lisrn (CONCI-UDSD on -ihs eiatiTH imoe)