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£it nts avfo Stv&xnd. COLUMBUS, GEORGIA. SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 7, 1855, FOR GOVERNOR. IIEK,SCIIEIi V. JOIIXSOX. M fOR CONGRESS- | Ist District—James L. Seward, of Thomas. 3d. ** James HI. Smith, of Upson. ! 4th *• lliram Warner, of Meriwether. sth “ Jno. 11. Lumpkin. Oth ** llowell Cobb, ol Clarke. Congressional Convention, 2d District. We suggest that the Democratic Congressional Conven- j tiou for the Second District be held at Americus, on Wed’ j nesday, 11th July next. The Supreme Court will be in session at that time in Americus. What say our Demo- ! eratic cotemporaries to this suggestion ? The time and j place ought to he agreed upon at once. wtwtd. j Grand Rally of the Jluscogee Democracy. The Temperance Hall was tilled by 11 o’clock of the ; 7th inst., by patriotic citizens who had assembled to ratify and endorse tho action of the State Convenion of ; the Democracy of Georgia and to hoar an address from thier distinguished nominee for Governor, Hernehell V. Johnson. .J. R. June* was called to chair, on motion of M. J. Crawford, and Benjamin Doles and Thomas Livingston appointed Vice Preaidegts, on motion of Al fred Iverson. Messrs. Alfred Iverson, J. J. Boswell, J. C. Cook, J. T. Flewellen and T. Lomax, were ap pointed acommittoo to wait on Governor Johnson and iuvite him to address his fellow citizens. After a short absence, the committee returned, accompanied by Gov ernor Johnson, whose appearance in tho Hall was greet** ed with prolonged applause. He was then introduced to tho meeting by the President and, in a speech of two hours and a half,eochained the attentioa of his large audience. The effort was able ; but this is small praise. It breathed throughout a spirit of devotion to the Un ion secondary only in intensity to the love of Georgia, whose interests, honor and security the distinguished speaker placed above every other political consideration. It was statesmanlike. Instead of devoting himself to mere quibbles about the position of this party or that man,Governor Johnson looked the paramount issue of the day fully in the face and gave the whole energy of his large intellect to the consideration of tho question. “What courseshall the South pursue to secure the admission of Kansas into tho Union and preserve the integrity of the Union. 1 ’ He conclusively proved that this only could be done by tho Union of the South upon the Platform of the Georgia Democracy. We have not time in this issue to develope the train of crushing logio, accompanied ofteu with glowing eloquence, by which the orator ar rived at this conclusion and carried his uudietice along with him. We hope to do so in our next issue, for though we took no notes during the delivery of the ad dress, we think wo can report every idea advanced ; the whole speech was a linked chain ofargumeution and it is only necessary to commence at the beginning and the mind is irrestibly led on to the conclusion. It is the common opinion of the auditory that the speech of Governor Johnson at Columbus on the 7th inst., was the mo6t masterly political discourse evet delivered in the city. Mild and conciliatory, from the beginning to the end, it crushed ail the forms of opposition to the Georgia Democracy and vindicated beyond cavil that the Platform of Principles adopted by them in State Convention is the only Platform upon which Georgians can stand who desire to preserve the integrity of the Union and the rights of the State. We are more than ever convinced that the success of Democratic principles in this contest is indispensiblc to the safety and honor of the State and that of all men in Gecrgia, H. V. Johnson i* the best fittted to guide the helm of State through this eventful crisis in our affairs. ll# comprehends the full measure of our peril; ho has the skill to avoid it if it be avoidable ; but if the worst cornea to the worst, he will boldly meet any issue that may be presented and either eonquer or per ish in the attempt. He ought to be unanimously elected. At the conclusion of Governor Johnsons address, the President gave notice that the meeting would ad journ to meet, again at candle light, when J. N. Ram say, of Harris, and Satn’l. Hall, of Maeon, would con tinue the discussion. Another Temperance Hall Meeting. The Know Nothings met at Temperance Hall on the night of the 6th iust. On motion of A. S. Ruth erford, Wiley Williams was called to the chair. He stated that “the meeting had assembled to ratify the new Flatforr.i of Principles adopted by the National Grand Counoil at Philadelphia, and the State Coun cil at Macon and to endorse the nomination of Garnett Andrews, as the candidate cf th# par ty for Governor of Georgia. The Platform of Princi ples of both the Democratic and Know Nothing par ties are unexceptionable. Why, then, ho asked, keep tip divisions among the peoplo ? These divisions, he said, arose from the assertion of certain principles em braced in the Know* Nothing Platform which were not embraced in the Democratic Platform. These were the modification of the naturalization laws, whereby for*, eigners would be debarred the privilege of voting, and hostility to the Roman Catholic Church. These were the distinctive features of the American Party. They were considered of sufficient importance to justify a political coniest for their recognition and adoption as the policy of the Government.’’ Messrs. James Johnson, William Dougherty, and Jno. A. Jones addressed the meeting. The speeches elicited much applause, but very little enthusiasm. We will not encumber our columns by reporting them. Shortly after the meeting adjourned the following dia logue occurred between a Democrat and a Know Noth ing, both of whom participated in the first Columbus Movement. We report it in substance as the best com mentary we can make upon the occurrences of the night : Know Nothiucr.—Well, Democrat, we have had an other Temperance Hall meeting. Democrat—Sol hear ; and composed pretty much of the same men who inaugurated the first ; but instead t seeking to unite the South as ‘‘one people and one party” to resist Northern enoroachraeuts upon Southern j rights “even, as a last resort, to a disruption of every j tie that binds the State of Georgia to the Union,’’ a* i we attempted to do at our last meeting, I understand ‘ you ratified the nomination of Garnett Andrews for ! Governor of Geoigia, and adopted the Philadelphia ; Platform proscribing Catholics and foreigners. Know Nothing— we did. and nearly all who attended the first meeting, participated in the second, except Jno. 11. Howard, William H. Mitchell, and Janies C. Cook. We had a jolly time of it, and all we have to do to elect our candidate and put dowu Catholics and foreigners is to stick together and rope the boys in. Our pub*rs are daily increasing. Democrat—But what has become of the ColUmbus j Movement No. 1 ? Is there not the same necessity for j Southern Union now, that there was then ? Are not . the Abolitionists as united, as hostile and as dangerous j in July as they were iu June ? ft hy, then, have the men who started Columbus movement no. 1 to defend the South against the Abolitionists deserted that work, and started Columbus movement no. 2 to defend us from Catholics and foreigners? Have satholics and foreigners done any thing since last month to alarm the fears of the Southern people ? Know Nothing.—Our speakers said nothing in psr ! ticular on this subject. I believe the Abolitionists are irs mischievous as ever. I cm not aware that either 1 the catholics or foreigners have ever done any thing iu ; the United States to alarm any body ; and I am quite sure they have been very quiet and peaceable during ! the last month. | Democrat. —Did your leaders give no reason for so | total a change of front in one month ? i Know Nothing.—Yes, they said ths National Ameri ! can party had met st Philadelphia iu Grand Council and adopted a good Platform, and that the American i party of Georgia had met in Council at Macon and i ratified it, and nominated Garnett Andrews for Gov ; ernor; and that they opposed his nomination, but were compelled to stand up to it or quit the order, and rather ! than do that, they would speak for him on every stump in the State, and assured us that if the members of the order would only stand square up to the fight, they could carry tho State, and turn out every corrupt, eel fish and wicked democrat in the State and put honest Know Nothings in their places, and that next year they could carry the elections for President and Vioe Presi | dent and give all the offices to native Americans. Democrat. —That may ail be so; but did you ail i not assure U3 that there was nothing in your obligations | to the order that stood in the way of your co-operating in Columbus movement no. 1 ? Did we not declare that we were opposed to all national parties ? Did you not denounce Col. Holt because he would not oonsent to recommend the Kuow Nothings to disband ? What j did your speakers say about that ? Know Nothing.—They said very little about it. Mr. | Johnson said the Democratic party would not disband | and that the Ainerioan party would not consent to fol ; low their lead. I Democrat. —We knew the Democratic party would j not disband before we had onr last meeting, whon we , appointed delegates to the Convention of the Bth of ■ • August. | Know Nothing.—That is very true. Oar speakers | said n thing about that. I believe myself they asoor | tained that the Bth August Convention would be a very : small affar and that the sooner it was dropped the bet ter, as they would bo in a very small party. Demoorat.—l think that is very probable. The old j liue Democrats charge that you are all bound by an j oath to support the nominees of your party, and I am inclined to believe it. You have all acted in bad faith to us. But who is Garnett Andrews ? If be is a soun der man than H. V. Johnson I may go for him jet,ev ; -n though his a Know Nothing. How does he stand on the fourth resolution of the Georgia Platform ? What • will he do as Governor of Georgia if Congress shall r# fuse to admit Kansas into the Union because of slavery i I suppose you know his views. Know Nothing—Well, really, I know very little | about Judge Andrews. The speakers at our meeting i said nothing about his views on the subject of slavery, j Shortly after the Macon Convention, I was looking over i a letter of his, written in 1850, and published in the | Columbus Enquirer on the Sih October, 1S50: He | said in that letter that he “did not consider disunion ! a remedy for any evil.” Democrat.—-What was said about that in your meet ! * Know Nothing.—Not the first word. Mr. Johnson said ho was an honest man and a native American and Mr. Dougherty said his principles were our prin ciples and that if ha was elected, our principles would be elected. Democrat.— Well, I had supposed that th© fourth I resolution of the Georgia Platform was one of the priu j espies of all who participated in the Columbus movsmeat ; no. 1. What did Messrs. Dougherty, Johnson and Jones ssy were your principles? Know Nothing,— Why, opposition to catholics and foreigners of course. Democrat.—-Do tell me how many catholics and foreigners there are in Muaoogso oouniy, how many in Georgia, how many in the United States, and what’pro j portion they bear to the native population ? Know Nothing.—l don’t know exactly. There are a great many of them, however, I am told ; and, furthcr i more, there is great danger that they will get the con trol of the Government and then the Pope of Rome will take away from us our liberties. Dem&crat.—Now you surprise mo. There are in j Muscogee ecuuty, about 90 foreign voters and about 1300 f native born. In the state of Georgia, there aro but • about 5000 foreigners and near a miiiion natives. In \ the United States thor# are only about 2,000,000 for j aigners and abont 25,000,000 natives. Th© President and vice President, ail the Judges of tho United States, all the Senators, since Shields was beat by the Know Nothings, and all the Representatives in Congress are native Americans. The Governor of Georgia, th# Judges of the Supremo and Inferior Courts, the Sena tors and Representatives are all native American?.. It does not seem to me that wo are in any danger of be ing governed by foreigners.l am not eo well posted as to catholics, but I do not Know of but ono catholie in cither ‘ the Executive, Judicial or Legislative branch of the Fed eral Government, and that is Chief Justice Tanev ; he was appointed to that office by General Jackson and no i complaint has ever been made of hia decisions. There is not a catholic in the Executive, Judicial or Legislative departments of the Government of Georgia. We cer tainly are not iu much danger from catholics ruling the country, It seems to mo that there is no sort of necessi- i ty for the American party. By the way, can you tell me i bow many abolitionists there are in the United States. Know Nothing.—Both the Whig and Democratic earties North are Abolitionized. We split with th# I t Northern Know Nothings cm account of the Aboli- ! tionism. I should eay there ere not less than 10,000,- j j 000 of them. Democrat.—Well, I think it is much more important | to fight them, than the 2,000.000. foreigners and Cath- I oiics in the country. You may go ahead with the Cos i lumbus Movemeut No. 2. I wili stand by Columbus Movoment No. 1, at least, UDtil the Bth August, and if it i fails then I will go back to the Democratic party and vote for H. V. Johnson for Governor. He stands square | toed on the Georgia Platform, and is a Southern Rights man of the true grif. Hie late letter on the Georgia Platform is just good enough. South Carolina Bonds—We learn from the Char eston Mercury th it two huadr*. d’ thousand dollars of the tate 6 per oei is were purchased by one house Id that city, recently at SIOO, exclusive of interest, whkih is equal to par and interest. in Stewart. party of Stewart met this day ao- notice and organized their meeting by calling Dr. Stokes to the chair, and appointing Joel F. Porter Secretary. The Hon. Alfred Iverson, by reason of the inclemen cy of the weather, beiDg detained in Lumpkin on bis ; way to Kinchafoone to fill an appointment at Mclntosh, ) was introduced to the meeting and delivered an able i and dignified argument, which listened to with great in | terest and pleasure by his numerous auditory. | : After which, a committee was appointed to propose j delegates to ths Congressional Convention to be held | at Arnerioua, who reported the names of B. K. Har rison, George Phillips, William House, Jasper N. Gil bert and J. G. Singer, which report was confirmed by the meeting. It was then agreed that the Democratic party meet at Lumpkin again on the Ist Tuesday in August next to nominate candidates for the Legislature, and that two j diaorete persons in each militia distriot ©f the oounty be ! appointed by the chair with power to increase said com- j miiteo to three iu each district, if desirable, which com- j mittee should meet in Lumpkin on the 13th day of ! July for consultation, and again on the Ist Tuesday in ! August next to report to the Democratic meeting then to be held, the names of persona suitable to be run by the Democratic party as candidates for the Legislature. Tho chair appointed the following gentlemen as mem bers of that committee: Pau-handle— James P. Low, J. M. Whorton.— Green Iliil—A. J. Prober, David Shipp. Gap—H. M. Jenkins, Wra, Sims. Mineral Springs—Charles Chesnut, James Hilliard. Florence—A. W. Hill, J. C. Patterson. 21 diet.—Gideon Massey, —..— —. 20 diet.—Wm. Grandberry,Thos. Lawson. 19 diet.— John Grimes, Henry Anderson. 24 dist.—B. L. Kim brough, Elisha Woodard. Lumpkin (list.—Henry Williams, and J. N. Turner. The meeting then returned a vote of thanks to Jadge Iverson for his eloquent exposition of Democratic prin ciples, and adjourned to the Ist Tuesday in August next. J. W. STOKES, Chairman. Joel F. Porter, Secretary. Col. Dorset of the Desfatch. —We have had the pleasure of meeting Col. Dorsey of the Despatch re cently in Columbus. He gives th© most cheering ac counts of the success of tho Democracy in Alabama. He says Winston will utterly demolish Shortridge. He j i also has strong hope# of tho euoceee of Dowdell in the j ; 3d district. FROM*"EUROPE. SEVEN DAYS LATER. ARRIVAL ° F STEAMSHIP AMERICA. Cotton Declined. New Orleans, July 5. ! The British steamship America, with Liverpool dates to ’ the 23J ult., arrived at Halifax on the sth. She brings seven I day's later dates than the Baltic. Liverpool Cotton Market. The Liverpool cotton market for tho week ending ou the 22d ult., had declined id-.on the lower grades, and 316 - on Fair remained unchanged. The i total saleYfor the week comprise 24,0J0 bales. Middling i"Orleans is quoted at 6id. and Upland at 6[d. Dennis ; toun’s at 6|d. i London Monet |uaYket. —Consols were lower. hCorn had declined la. to Wo have yot no details ojpjie news. | T [Correspondence of the Savannah Daily Nows.] _ Death of Dr. Terr&l. _ Spaxta, Ga., July 4, 1855. Toibe JESSSISr of the News :—Ths Hon. Dr. William ! Terrell oiSaher % s morning at 1 o’clock. Tour’s, &c. G. M. H. Mr. Overby’s Position. Atlanta, June 22d, 1855. Gk<*. M. Nolan, Esq.-Dear Sir :—Yours of th© j 20th inst., came to hand this morning. You say “Rumor j is now rife throughout th# country, particularly in tho ; county of Henry, that you, (I.) anticipate ‘coming down’ j and decline running the race.” The rumor is without foundation in truth. I accepted ; the nomination from the Prohibition Convention of Geur i gia, and will, in good faith, maintain their until that i party directs otherwise, my name will not be withdrawn. Your friend, B. 11. Overbv. ! The Dope's Monument Stone.— lt is said that th© Grand | j Jury of Washington city have found five bills against the I I parties charged with destroying the block of marble sent by 1 | tho Pope oi Rome for the Washington monument. | Troops for .Russia.—The Wilmington Herald learns j that a high Russian official has been recently enlisting re- j emits at or near that place for service in the Crimea, and j were expected to pass through Wilmington on Tuesday the \ 3d,on their way North for embarkation. Discharge of Consul Fabens. —Consul Fabens, who was j arrested Rt New i'orkon the charge ol attempting to violate the neutrality laws, by his connection with Col. Kinney, i was discharged on Saturday, the 30th ult., by the U. S. Die- I tnct court. I I From thw Chronic!** St Sentinel. SPEECH OP MB. STEPHENS, | Delivered in the Female Academy at Sparta on the June. Written out by him anil published at the re~ | quest of sevtral of those toko heard it. [CONCLUDE!*.] Bat let these preliminary remarke, both as to rumors i o<l cr tieiems on my positioD, suffice. The subject lam i addressing you upon is Americanism. Americans we all i are, and as Americans I snail speak to you. lam myseif | not only an American but American in heart, in j sentiment, and American ail over, as I was taught the I principles of genuine Americanism in youth, and have nourished and cherished them from the cradle to the pres ! ent day. “The cultivation and developement of a senti | im-ntof profoundly intense American feeling,” is now set ■ forth as a principle. This I have endeavored to look to all i my life ; but an “intense feeling” for what 1 For the soil beneath our feet ? Fur the earth that we tread upon ? i if so, the wild ludians that roamed over the same land j and the same soil, weie perhaps more “intensely Ameri j can” than the best of us. It so, Oeeola, Tecunistb, i Black Hawk, and ail their brother warriors of the red j tribes, who'preferred death to leaving the hunting grounds ’ of their youth, and the graves of their sires, were quite as | good “Native Americans” as the President of the late ; National Council. American feeling, as I have cherished it, and shall con j tinue most profouniy and intensely to cultivate it and de* ! velope it, looks to those princplee of human action and human government wh ; ch he at the foundation of our ; j present American civilisation, and from which we have I derived all of our present peace, quiet, happiness, prosper- ! itv, greatness and renown, and from the unyielding main* ! tenanee of which spring all our hopes for the future. One of the earliest maxims impressed upon my mind was. that ‘'worth makes the man,” and “want of it the ‘ fellow'’ the world over. It matters not where a man of i <>nr own race may be born—whether on this or the other continent—whether in a hovel or a place—or what may be bis ancestry 5 or lineage be should stand and be es teemed by his own deeds and merits. I also early kaiot: acaiher, not of dissimilar import, It is this ; “Honor nnd shame from no condition rise ; Act well your part; there all the hoaor lies.” These and other kindred maxims and precepts have been the guilding stars of my life. When a toy, they cheered me on, whether at the plow by day, or poring over musty books by torch-light at night; and by them 1 have always been governed, wherever my lot has been cast, whether in the School room, the Court-room, or the Halls of Legislature; they teach that the race for honors or position should be a race of merit. Impress this upon the minds of the sons of the rich and the sous of tho poor— up< n the boys on your plantations, in your schools, in your colleges, and in your factories and workshops, and upon all alike, that in Republican America, every citizen, wherever he may be born, or whatever may be his reli gion, is to be measured and weighed in tho civil scales according to his individual conduct, deserts and worth. This is one of the elemental principles of all true Ameri canism, as I understand it. It was to give “development” to'this and other ideas, I may speak of, if iny strength per* mits, that our forefathers quit the dynasties of the old world and sought refuge in this. There a man's position was estimated not by his worth, bat by his birth and his faith. But this new standard of appreciating men—this new principle which distinguishes up more than anything else from all other nations —no bigger at first than u “grain of mustard seed,” planted on this continent by those who j abandoned th# errors of old systems, has jjrown and flournisbed under the Postering cure of patriots and the smiles of a bwniguaut Providence, until we hav be 1 come what we are—the wonder of th world and the ad ! miration of mankind. How inconsistent with our history i is the idea that none except those born upon the soil can ! appreciate this principle or be attached to our institutions ? ! Why, who aided iu erecting these institutions? Who foght tho battles of the Revolution ? Were they all Tal lin* “to the manor born ?” Who was Gilbert Marquis de La Fayette t Who Charles Lee, Richard Montgome ry, William Moultrie, Arthur St. Clair, Hugh Mercer, Horatio Gates, Count Pulasai, Buren Steuben, Baron De Kaib ? Ail officers in our army in the war if the Revo lution ; all risking, not only honor and fortune, but their lives for our Gause ? And more besides these. Who wae Alexander Hamilton, Washington's besom friend through out the war and throughout his life ? He, upon whom bo relied above all others, both iu councils of war mid councils in peace? He was not a native; his eyes first sow the light iu the West Indies. And who was Thad* deus Koaeiusko ? A Polish patriot, whose heart beat in unison with our cause when it* first vibrations reiched him in distant climes. Was ever man more thoroughly imbued with those principle* which mark Americanism, a* those who established it understood it, than this dis tinguished Foreigner ? With him the cause was a prin ciple, had not a locality. He fought for it here, and be fought for it in hi* native land. How many millions of sympathising heart* mourned his final overthrow ? What sohoolboy has not been taught to repeat the plaintive liutu of tbs Poet:— “Hop* lor a season bad© thu world farewell. And Freedom shrieked when Kosciusko fell.” But more still, who were WJiliam Croghan,John James, William R. Dav e, James Christie and Audrew Irving ? All foreigners, who came to aid our fathers iu their strug gle, and ail of them officers in the American Army? And who were John Barny,and John Paul Jones?—names that hould be immortal—those gallant men that bore our I flag triumphantly on the seas during the same eveutlul pe j riod in our history? Both were foreigners—one au Irish : man, the other a Scotchman—w’ho came to the aid of the | cause of America when that cau*e needed aid. And who | was James Jackson, a name that should ever be dear to J every Georgian? He was not only a foreigner, who aided t in our revolutionary struggle, hut, after the war, rs a civil | iftn and legislator, he did more tor our own State than any other mao, and. perhaps, than all other men together in his day. When the fair escutcheon of Georgia’s honor wacurnished by the infamous Yazoo fraud, concocted and perpetrated by corrupt native conspirators, who lor money sold their country, who did so much as this son, by birth, of a foreign clime, but who had a heart, nevertheless, glow ing with real and true Americanism, in exposing the vil lainy of the transaction?—in saving the honor of the State and burning tho parchment on which the foul deed was recorded, by fire brought down from Heaven? American ism, fellow citizens, rio more springs from the soil than do vyorth, virtue, honor arid integrity. It comes not from the ground. It comes from the heatt and head. This is evidenced not only by those illustrious characters I havo mentioned, who fought the hatiles which secured our Na- I tional Independence, but also by many of the same class t who tendered no less signal service in making that deeiar \ ation. and in arousing the people to stand by it and defend j it. Ol the signers of that instrument, which gave us birth as a nation, eight or the fifty-seven who thus pledged ‘iheir lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor,’ were foreign ers. Button Gwinnett, from our own State was a foreign er. So were Frances Lewis, Robt. Morris, James Smith, ! George Taylor, Matthew Thornton, J airier Wilson, and j the never to-be fbrgolien John Witherspoon. 5 But not only in the Declaration of Independenenco, and : in its maintenance in th© field, did foreigners join and aid, but in the formation of the Constitution itself—that per fect embodiment of those grand and leading ideas and principles which constitute real and genuine Americanism, Foreigners were aiso present, participating and contribu ting their aid. Wilson was there, Morris was there, and Hamilton was there. Aa the Temple of Solomon was made with materials brought from all parts of the then known world, so this majestic temple of our liberties was reared by men coming from distant quarters of the globe; men governed and guided by like sentiments and like principles, without regard to clime or country—just as the j wise men of the east were guided in their pilgrimage by ! the Star of Bethlehem, which finally rested over the infant | Savior, and whom,when they found him, they bowed down ! and worshipped. Whose hearts, think you, were more | thoroughly imbued with true Christian principles—those j strange foreigner* from the East, who “rejoiced with ex | eaeding great joy,” when they saw the star that led them to | their Lord, or those native Judeans who rejected and even ; crucified that Lord? Bare naiiviiy has but litttlo to do | with either a man’s character or his principles. To say : that a man born in another country cannot be imbued with A*!iean principles, is almost as untenable as to say that Christ himself was a horse, because he was born in a sta ble. It is the sou! that makes the man—just as the spirit of and vinity, incarnate in Him, made Him “neither horse nor man,but “God manifest in the flesh.” But Americanism, as we are now taught it, would not I only ignore all those principles, and assert the doctrine lhat : no man born out of tho limits of the United States can be fit to hold any office under the government, but it goes much further, aa I have shown ou other occasions, and strikes, in my opinion, a fatal blow at one es the most vital parts of the Constitution itself. This blow comes from that article of its creed which proscribes Catholics, and j proposes to setup a religious test as a qualification for of- ! fice. One of the obligations taken by every member of ; “the order’’is never to vote for a Roman Catholie for any [ office. What is this but an open attack upon the spirit, if not the letter of the Constitution? The clause in that in urnment on this subject, and the whole clause, is in these ! words: “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned : and Members of the several State Legislatures, and all Ex’ j ecutive and Judicial officers, both of the Uuited States and ‘ several States, shall be bound by oath, or affirmation, to ! support this Constitution; but no reiigioua test shall ever i be required as a qualification to any office or public trust i under the Lriited States” What was the object of this hut to secure to every citi I /.ep the right ot eligibility to office, notwithstanding any ! religious opinions he may entertain? In other words,to put a stop to aii enquiries touching a man’s faith in questions relating to his eligibility to, or qualifications for office ? j Tne only guaranty it asks, for / ally to the Government, ! until there has been some overt act against it, is an oath to support the Constitution It is, however, said that this provision of the Constitution was only intended to prevent Congress from pasting a law of the character of the Eng lish test art. The clause does not so read, and it cannot so mean. For, suppose the President, who has the appoint ment of many thousands of officers holding places of profit ! and trust under the Constitution, should, belore conferring one of these appointments, inquire into a man’s creed, and reject an applicant if his faith did not square with his own. Suppose he should require all persons appointed to be Fro* testants? Would he not plainly and palpably violate that clause which says that “no religious test shall ever be re quired?’ Now, this is what ‘Know Nothingism’ pro pose ; tor, by the Second Degree, if a member of the order should be President, he is bound to appoint no Catholic— that is, he is hound to require a religious test that the Con stitution sajs “shall never be required” In every view ot the subject, is not this clause ai bindi ig npon the ap pointing power as it is upon C ingress? A: and have not eve ry member of ‘the order* who has taken the second De gree, put iiimsell under an obligation never to appoint a KomaD Catholic to office, it he should ever beinan'offi cmi station to exercise the appointing power? Is not this obligation in direct conflict with the obligation of the Con EtitutioD? Thete can bo no doubt of it. But is it true that this clause of the Constitution is not obligatory upon vo ters at the polls? How can they, as friends of the Consti tution, indirectly etf ct that which the Constitution de dares shall not be done? That the plain object and inten tion of the Constitution was to fix aod establish this prin ciple, and secure this great civil right that “no religions lest •Ml < str required as a qualiflc&tan to *ny o&tf,” tic., all must admit. tl en, can ary lrici and ol .f, Constitution, as it is, do that which would virtually I nn r factually paralyse and nullify that cause? Can ‘he Vi K ’ fully disregard its evident spirit, contravene its i.UiVv k ject, and defeat its acknowledged purpose? H o w cat who thus array themselves against what they admit to \ Tty,” intention of the framers of the Constitution,and who com bi.ne to effect at the polls what legislators cannot, with rut disregarding their oaths, put upon the statute book, any ju?t claims to be looked upon or considered cs’the rd vocates of true Americanism? They are, as little as they may think it, against the Constitution of their country. One clause of the Constitution is in these words: “No person held to service or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in conse quence of any law or regulations therein, be discharged Ircm such service or labor, but .shall be delivered upon claim of the party to whom such service or labor may lin due.” This is the clause under which our runaway slaves are claimed. Now, suppose that the people of the Northern States should combine, a* they have endeavored in some places to do, and vote for no man for any office, either Federal or Ststo, who wouid ever id in carrying out this obligation of the Constitution. Would they not thereby be,and are they not in open hostility to it? And have ih c "v not as much right to say that this is an obligation that dees not reel upon voters at the palls as the one about a religious test, touching qualifications for office? Might they not sav with 3 lelancthon . that they have got a constitutional right : to vote for or against any man for any reason thev pleas'*, I and that any Constitution which d>d not secure this right would be a “glorious instrument,” “ worthy to be made the political winding sheet of this modern Aristidesl” Now follow-citizens, I tell yon’ that a msn in this country may exercise tho right of voting for or against any man tor any reason he pleases. He may do it—he may not be retrain ed from doing it—there may be no penalty for his doing it —but in doing it he may ba striking a fatal blow st that verv Constitution under which ho exercises the right. This is the case with those Northern abolitionists 1 have mentioned, who, as voteri at the polls, ignore that clause of the Constitution I have just cited, and will vote for no man who will, directly or indirectly, aid in carrying it out. The}’ are exercising a right under the Constitution, but against it. This can hardly be called as a Constitutional right: and if a majority ofthe people of the whole countiy should combine and agree not to vote for any man that would serve in any office, so that tho whole government should stop, revolution, of course, would ensue. All this the people have a right to do—for they have a right to revolutionize when they pleas®. But it is not a constitu tional right; it is a right against the Constitution; and any effort, in my opinion, to defeat even by iudireet means, any of tho provision* of th® Constitution, arc, to that extent, revolutionary in their character. If the provision in the Constitution against a religious test bo not right—-if a Ro man Catholic ought not to be entrusted with office—if * religious test ought to be set up. why not have the Consti tution changed? Why not amend it? If the rights of twenty millions of Protestants are endangered by six or seven hundred thousand Catholics, have they not got the power, the numerical strength, to change the Constitution in a constitutional way. if they want it changed ? But is the Constitution wrong as it is ? Whv was that clause inserted in it ? Ought there to be any religions test in civil matter* in this country ? This fa the question which i? now* practically presented to the voters ol this country bv the “Know Nothing,” or American party, as it calls itself. I meet it upon its merits lam against it, thoroughly. lam opposed to mixing icligion with polities, i or inquiring in civil matters into a man’s conscience, as to what he believes or does not believe, or whether he has any belief at all, or not. That is a matter between him and hie Creator. Goverments should look only to hie conduct.— , If a Catholic is a werthy citizen and swear* to support, tho Constitution ofthe United States, I will never look into any tenet of his church from which religious polemics may infer that eu<*h oath is inconsistent with such tenet, as they conceive. Very few denominations hold the doctrines that other* charge upon them as legitimate inference* from their ; creed*. More wars nnd bfood-hed hav© arisen from just | sue.h controversies, perhaps, than from all othe r causes combined. It was to prevent the occurrence ofsuch scene* i in this country,that our constitution was made, on this point. i a* it i* ; and it i* for tho same reason that 1 would hnve it ; remain in all its vigor, force and efficiency as it is for all j time to come It is charged, that the Catholics, from the | character of their creed, must, as a consequence , hold to j the temporal supremacy ofthe Pope It is enough for me I and the Constitution, that they disavow any such conse ! queued or belief. Then, why this proscription of them ? ; Mas any one of them m office over at any time, from the • beginning of our Government down— from the time that j Charles Carrol, of Carrolton, signed the Declaration of ! Independence to the present day—given the slightest indi i cation of disloyalty to th® country, or afforded the least | evidence of any design to transfer us to the Pope ? If so, j when ? And wiie.re? Let the man he named and the case t stated If such a ease exi.-t= in the whole history of th© j past. I have never heard of it ; and if anv such ease ever ! should occur in the future, the remedy should be to treat | the culprit a* all other traitors, but not to include the in | nocent with the guilty But was thereevera more ground* I les* persecution started in Christendom, than this now raised against the Catholics ? Did that go! up by the infa mous Titus Oats —which set all England in a blaze for a while, but which now stands, though after the loss of much innocent blood, aa a disgrace to all concerned in it— rest upon loss foundation ? j But, it is said, this is not pesecution ! Barely to pro- I scribe a man as unfit to hold office because of his religion, :it ia said, is not persecution ! ft is true, it is not as bad as ] imprisonment, tne stake, or the torture, but it is, neverthe less, persecution. Ono of England’s most philosophical writers on this subject, said : “We agree, that persecution, merely ier conscience sake, 1 is against the spirit of the Gospel. * * * * ; We are also ready to allow, that the smallest negative dis | couragements for conformity's sake, are eo many pereecu j lions.” Js not tne thing proposed at least a negative diseourage j rut if t ? And to tout extent a persecution ? And why is j this? Has not persecutions in all ages rather tended to in ! crease than to weaken the cause they assail ? Are we -o 1 much afraid of the comparatively few Catholics in this j country and the spread of their religion amongst twentv I millions of Protestants—and so distrustful of the ability of j our Minister* and Preachers, and learned Doctors in'Di ; viniiy to meet them in argument, that we must resort to J this petty species of vexation, to call it nothing worse, in, j order to put them down ? For the honor of Protestantism I hope not. Why,then, do it? Is it because in other emm ; tries whore they prevail they do not tolerate others? The I same is true of almost all other churches in all other coun ! tries but this. Several of the American colonies were planted I bv refugees from religious persecution. And notone of them j from Catholic persecution. All of them from persecution jby Protestants. Yet we are told that Protestantism is but i another name for religious toleration. If so, how carne the ; Puritans to be driven first from England to Holland, and ; from Holland to New England ? And how carno Roger Williams, tne first great champion of the rights of con science, to be driven trom Massachusetts? History, ss I read it, teaches the melancholy Jeaeson, that anterior to the settlement of this continent, all religious sects persecuted where they had the power. And the longest and bloodiest wars that have marked and marred the anuais of war have grown out of matters pertaining to religion. What is the ostensible cause of that war which is now agitating all Eu rope from its centre to its circumference? and in winch so many thousands of Jives have been lost, and thousands more may be, but a struggle for the right of access to the “Holv Places ?” Heathen nations have persecuted i ’eathen—And Christian nations have persecuted Christian—Catholics have put to the sword and the sFke Protestants—And Protes tants have done the same to Catholics. And different sects ct Protestants have done the Fame thing towards other*. After the settlement of the “Five Points” by tho Synod of Dort, all who did not give in their adhesion to those doc trines were treated no better by the Reformers than they had been by the Catholics betore. And the great Melancthon himself wrote a treatise justifying persecution. I can ray • nothing on this part or the subject more appropriately than j bv reading what Mr Buck says in his Theological diction ary, at the end of his article on Persecution. the whole of which article I commend to the perusal of all of you : “To conclude this article Who can peruse the account here given, without feeling the most painlul emotions, and dropping a tear over the madness and depravitv of mankind ? Does it not show us w hat human beings are capable of when influenced by super-tition, bigotry, and prejudge* Have not these baneful principles metamorposed rnen into internals, and entirely extinguished all the feelings of hu mamty, the dictates of conscience, and the voice of reason ? Alas. What ha*sin done, to make mankind such curses to one another: Merciful God ! By thv great power, *uo press this worst of all evils, and let truth and love, meek ness and forbearance, universally prevail!’’ true hearted Amerean will not join fervently m th's ejaculation to Heaven, to keen this worst of all evils this demon of civil as well as religious discord—out of our happv land. For sixty years and upwards we have pro-pered in peace with the enjoyment by every one of the right to set under his own vine ard fig tree and worship God as ne pleases, without anj- one to molest or make Fm afraid ! It is not oin other countries and why is it so here ? Not because we are bet*er by nature than other people, but -*cau c e of that clause in our Constitution which has pro tected us, in the language of Mr. Jefferson, asainst our selves This principle of freedom of conscience, or “soul ii erty,’ us he ca[i-d it, was first proclaimed on this conti nent by Roger Williams, a distinguished Baptist Minister, who was driven from Massachusetts on account of his reli us opinion*. He became the founder of the colony of Rhode Island. But the firr-t colnnyto established tht- princi ple end give prac ica! effect to it. was that o* Maryland, founded by Lord Baltimore, a Catholic. In neither of these colonies waa the principle maintained in its original purity I** afcyJ’ times ; hut in tha formation of tae Coasytutioo oi