Newspaper Page Text
Cjre Empire State*
GRIFFIN, • GEORGIA, /
Wednesday Sept. 17, lSa6.
, FOR PRESIDENT :
JAMES BUCHANAN.;
*■ • 1 OF PENNSYLVANIA. f
FOR VICE PRESIDENT :
J. C. BRECKENRIDGE.
OP KENTUCKY
Democratic Electoral Ticket.
FOR THE STATE AT LARGE.
ELECTORS. ALTERNATES.
WM. H. STILES. Henry G. Lamar.
IVERSON L. HARRLS. A. R.Wkight.
ELECTORS. ALTERNATES.
Ist Dist. Thomas M. Foreman W M Nichols.
ld'.“ Samuel Hall, J A Tucker.
3,1 “ J N Ramsey, E J McGehke.
4th “ L J Gartrell, J F Johnson.
sth *• John W Lewis, L W Crook.
6th “ J P Simmons .'. R McMillan.
7th “TP Saffold, J S Hook.
Bth “ T W Thomas, A C Walker.
p . ■ ~ - - ■— . . ---- -
G BYARS is our authorized Agent for the county
©fßuttf.
Letter from Hon. Charles J. Jenkins.
Lexington, Ga., August 12, 185 G.
Hon. Charles J. Jenkins—
sociated with you politically, and always enter
taining a high respect for your opinions upon
all subjects of public policy, you will pardon
me, I hope, for taking the liberty of asking
you to give me your opinion in writing upon
the claims of the candidates now before the
country for the Presidency, with the privilege
ofaJjigit as I may wish. As an Old Line
\\ hig, I feel that duty and patriotism require
that I support James Buchanan in the present
contest. Very respectfully,
Willis Willingham.
Augusta, Ga., August 28, 1856.
My Dear Sir : Your letter requesting my
‘‘opinion in writing upon the claims of the can
didates now before the country for the Presi
dency, with the privilege of using it as you
may wish,” is before me, and although with
drawn from the political arena, I cannot de
cline compliance with your request.
These claims must be considered relatively,
in reterence to the state of the country, and
the political circumstances surrounding the
candidates severally.
It is proper to begin with a survey of the !
field of American politics, as at this moment
presented. There is but a single exciting
question now before the American people, viz:
a proposition to repeal that feature ot the act
organizing the Territories of Kansas and Ne
braska, which expressly abrogates the Missou
ri restriction, and to restore that restriction.
This is the pending issue, though there can be
•io doubt that success in it, would encourage
its authors to inti oduce other measures of re
peal un’il all advantage resulting to the South
from the Compromise of 1850, shall have been
swept away. The absence from the contest of
other questions, makes it distinctly sectional,
aud fearfully perilous to the Union.
Now for the array of parties, and I remark,
that you are invited to make this survey from
a point entirely without the lines of any and
of all of them ; certainly not, for that reason,
ineligible.
First, then, we see a party prostituting the
time-honored uame “Republican,” banded to
gether lu one section of the country, for the
avowed purpose of crusading against the rights
and institutions of another section, holding the
affirmative of the above stated issue ; a party
equally sectional in its aims and its organiza
tion ; emplo.ing for the purpose of agitation,
thecombined agencies of the r ustings, the press
and the pulpit, all sustained by the corrupting
influence of money, drawn without stint, from
the well filled and open coffers of tributary
millionaires. It presents as its candidate Mr
Fremont, famous on'y fur bold adventures in
exploration ot our Western wilds and snowy j
mountains —a fit instrument in the hands ofj
the desperate faction who have committed their
black banner to his firm grasp. I cannot en
large upon the demerits of this party, or of its
candidate, nor indeed, in this latitude cau it
be necessary. I will only add that it is formi
dable, as well in its strength as in its desper
ate daring. All men here properly estimate
its character—few, very few, rightly appreciate
its p iwer. Tiie Southern man who thinks it
contemptibly weak, and upon that opinion pre
dicates his course in this contest, will find,
when too late, that he has hugged to his bosom
a fatal delusion. If not the first, it will un
doubtedly prove itself the second power in the
struggle ; whether it shall be first, or second,
will icpend mainly upon the South.
We turn now to an array iu another part o r
the field Tue American Party, somewhat the
se nor of the Republican, has been avowedly
orga iz*d for the purpose of reforming our nat
ural zitiou laws, so as to secure effectually to
Americans to rule America. The object is a
good one, and when pursued by legitimate
me ms, without being made primary to others
more important and m<>re exigent, will, I trust,
claim the favorable consideration of the whole
jieople. Now, however, that que-tion is scarce
ly named in the cauvass, and it were well to
let this nua-ure of reform rest, until the escape
of the R public from its present peril is effect
ed. This party, although nt sectional, is
certainly of doubtful nationality, for the pur
pose of resisting the present aggression upon
the rights and interests of the South. The
doubt is predicated upon the express repeal by
their national council, in February, 1856, of
the 12th section of the platform or declaration
of principles, made in June, 1855, and which
gave to the South an ample guaranty of their
co-operation. It is some times said that pa
per guarantees arc utterly valueless. Tuey
hare certainly proved so in some instances, and
for the argument, we may grant them always
so ; still it must be couceded that the formal
and distinct withdrawal of oue previously gi
ven x is significant. This party then with a full
knowledge that their national council (whose
authority is recognized J had made this with
drawal, proceeded, in Convention, on theuext
day, in the same city, to nominate their candi
date for the Presidency and Vico Presidency,
and gave them no position whatever ou this
momentous question. In view of all this, to
say that this party is of doubtful nationality
for defence of the South in this ruthless ag
gress>ou upon her constitutional rights, is to
use mild terms. Os the patriotism and genu
ine national feeling of the Southern wing, no
doubt is to be insinuated—they are above sus
picion. Their mistake, I think, lies in repos
ing unmerited confidence in their northern con
federates, upon whose faithful co-operation de-
pends the claim of the party to nationality.—
Their candidate is Mr. Fillmore, a most wor
tby man—an able Statesman, who in the leg
islative and executive departments, has done
the country good service, and made his name
honorable: ••
We are pointed by Southern adherents to
his administration, and we are told that by his
nomination, the party has given the South a
higher and better guaranty than their repudi
ated 12th section. To a great extent this
guaranty is. gbod, and is cordially accepted,
but does it go far enough ? OfMr. Fillmore’s
loyalty to the Constitution, and to tfhe rights
of all people overshadowed by it, as lie inter
prets them, there call be no doubt--none at
all. But since he went into retirement, there
has bben further legislation on the slavery
question ; the Kansas and Nebraska‘act, re
pealing in express terms, the Missouri restric
tion, which had before been virtually abroga
ted by the territorial acts of 1850, has been
passed. This is the alleged cause of the pre
sent agitation in the non-slaveholding States.
We of the South maintain that this repealing
clause is in strict accordance with the compro
mise of 1850, aud we then claimed the remo
val of the Missouri restriction, as one of the
benefits derived under it. Yet, since his nom
ination, Mr. Fillmore has publicly denounc
ed this repeal. No v, we cannot afford in kind
ness to any man, or set of men, to blink this
question, so full of peril to the South and to
t lie Union. Whatever may be said of squatter
sovereignty, or of sanctioning alien voting, or
of other provisions of this Kansas Nebraska
act—We cannot surrender the clause which re
peals the Missouri restriction. Yield that,
andjyou yield /miek that is in the.
compromise of 1850, which we are all solemn
ly pledged to maintain. Yet again, it is .pre
cisely this clause of the act which Mr. Fill
more has denounced. It is quite possible that
notwithstanding this denunciation upon the
ground of expediency, he may, up< il higher
considerations, oppose himself to the rest Or a
tion of the Missouri restriction I have once
been told, when presenting this view, that his
nomination by the American Patty of Georgia
and their platform, in which high ground is ta
ken on this point, had been together laid be
fore him, and in his acceptance of the nomina
tion, he must and would declare his assent to
the platform But has he done po ? You will
search for it in vain there He alludes to his
candidacy under the Philadelphia nomination,
expresses himself gratified that the Georgia
Americans have concurred in it, and for his
principles refers to his pest, administration. I
will say in candor that I have been told also,
that there is in existence satisfactory evidence
of his concutrencc with our views on this point,
but I have not seen it Why not give it to
the public ? Why not let every man read aud
judge for himself ? No public man, no candi
date tor any high office, can rightfully ask the
suffrages of the people, save upon the faith of
his public acts and declarations, nor has Mr.
Fillmore asked them otherwise. Jn the ab
sence then of any published evidence on this
point, I close the discussion of it with three
simple questions, the answers to which may
furnish to Southern men a rule of action in
this emergency. First, does or does not the
emphatic condemnation of a legislative act jus
tify the expectation that he who so condemns
will concur in und approve its repeal? Secondly,
lias or has not Mr. Fillmore publicly aud em
phatically condemned the abrogation by act of
Congress of the Missouri restriction ? Third
ly, if he be content to stand there, before
Southern voters, where ought they to stand on
the ides of November ?
But there is a third contestant in the field,
ancient iron-ribbed Democracy. There it
stands, armed and equipped cap a pie with im
posing mien, but with unnumbered sins upon
its hoary head. Prominent among these, in
my humble opinion, is that of having brought
our present trouble upon us, by inordinate in
dulgence of its lust for territorial acquisition,
glazed overby the fallacious pretension of “ex
tending the area of freedom” —the dema
gogue’s hobby and the fillibuster’s apology.—
Tuat will be a dark day for the country, when
conservative old line Whigs identify them
selves with this party. In their palmiest days
they could only partially check, not an-est the
downward tendency of its misrule. Their mis
sion is -till and ever to combat its errors and
counteract its objectionable policy.
But with all its faults, that party now stands
forth, alone in its reliable nationality—alone
in its unqualified pledge to maintain the pres
ent status of Congressional legisla ion on the
slavery question. For the redemption of this
pledge their orators at the hustings and their
editors through the press a e now laboring.—
Exceptions there may be, but in general, even
on free soil, they come up manfully to the work.
The party is planted on this policy, their
committal is complete—with it they must sink
or swim. Their candidate, as broadly pledg
ed, as deeply committed as themselves, is Mr.
Buchanan, the wisest, most conservative, most
reliable, democratic aspirant to the Presiden
cy. They cull him an old fogy. I have an
instinctive leaning to old fogyism, when put
in competition with young Americanism. I
would take him in preference to the most prom
ising sprig of young America that democracy
can boast.
This is no time to struggle for party ascen
dancy. Now we must look to the country—
its continuing prosperity nnd greatness in the
Union, or its utter ruin out of it. We must
have a President who will uphold the Consti
tution now, as we interpret it, or all is lost.—
Let our inquiry then be, first, who of the can
didates will stand firmly by us; and secondly,
who of tho-e that will, has the fairest pro>pcct
of success. Self preservation demands, that
in this crisis, we vote with reference to the
great issue, and to the availability of the two
candidates in the election. Let us save the
Union now, through the instrumentality 0 f
the democracy, if need be, and oppose thorn
hereafter, when occasion shall require, the same
indomitable spirit they have encountered in us
heretofore. They who admit the peril and
then refuse 1 his sacrifice to avert it, are in
and inger ol merging the patriot in the partisan
Now, the better to estimate the peril nnd toe
chances of averting it, let us consider the pros
pects of the several candidates Believing, as
I conscientiously do, that should Mr. Fremont
succeed, the Union will not survive the admin
istration, X assume that it is a cardinal object
to secure the election of a safe man by the peo
ple. Heaven fnrfeud that the destinies of this
great country should be committed to the
House of Representatives, as now constituted.
Does any Southern min feel differeutly, let
iiirn cast his eye upon the speaker’s chair - lei
him contemplate the attitude of that body at
this moment, and be warned. Does he with
all the lights before him. desiie to send the
election to that body in the forlon hope of
thus securing the election of his party’s candi
date, fonAm, I have no argument. “He is
joined unto his idols.”
To return then. That Mr. Fremont will
receive an immense majority of the votes In
the non-slaveholding States,is beyond all ques
tion—precisely how many no man can foresee.
He might loose twenty seven votes and still be
elected The entire vote of the South, concen
trated upon one candidate would be inade
quate to elect him. No reasonable man
will deny that, should the vote of the South
be divided, Mr Fteraont will receive a suffi
cient number of Northern votes to defeat an
e!cct : on by the people. The practical question
for us is, which of the two, Mr. Buchanan or
Mr. Fillmore, has the fairest chance of obtain
ing, in the non-slaveholding States, a
number of votes as, united with the entire vote
of the South, w : ll secure his election by the
people. Mr. Fillmore’s hopes, north of* Ma
son and Dixson’s line, rest upon New York
Be not deceived by the assertions of the parti
zan press. He has no foothold elsewhere, in
that section. On what foundation do his
hopes rest in New York ? Looking to the
numerous factions into which the people of
that State have of late been divided and sub
divided, the notorious loosening of ancient
party ties, and their known proclivity to Free
soilism, I submit to every cand.d mind the
question, is safe, in an issue so import ant and
so doubtful, to base a calculation upon her
vote ? 1 here is, then, no reliable expectation
that th South could obtaiti help enough from
the not th to elect Mr. Fillmore. What are
Mr. Buchanan’s prospects? It is as far re
moved from doubt, as such an event can web
be, that the noble old Keystone State will
stand by the Union and her illustrious son in
this contest. 1 here is good reason to hope
that New r Jersey will do likewise These two
with the unanimous vote of the South, would
r elect Mr- Buchanan. His prospects jm’ those,
two States are tar brighter. I think, than Mr
F Him ire's in New Yo; k. But again, to bor
row a phrase, Mr. Buchanan has in Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan and Connecticut, a margin
Which Mr Fillmore has nowhere. Should the
farmer lose New Jersey, there is a hope that
out of those four States, the loss would he
made good. Ido not mention them in any
other connection, because I fear more- than I
hope from them.
In one word, then, were this a contest be
tween Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Buchanan, and
were I assured that Mr F llinore would oppose
himself to the restoration of the Missouri re
striction, I would vote f<>r him with unspeaka
ble pleasure. But being satisfied beyond all
doubt, that it is in fact a contest between Mr-
Buchanan and Mr Fremont; that Mr BuChan
an, as Pres dent, will interpose all the power
of his administration to preserve, unimpaiied,
the Constitutional rights of the South aid the
perpetuity of the Union, whilst his real com
petitor would unscrupulously trample on the
former, with full knowledge that he thereby
imperilled the latter, I say let evey southern
electoral vote be cast for the democratic nomi
nee. Let Georgia do so; laying all party pre
judices and affinities, as an offering on the al
ter of our common country. To aid in this re
sult, no man need sever any existing party
ties, nor need he form new ones For myself
I disclaim any such purpose
I have, my dear sir, been unwilling to ob
trude my opinions upon public attention; but I
do not see that I can, with propriety, refuse
to place in your hands this hasty and imperfect
expression of them, leaving to your sound dis
cretion the use to be made of them.
Respectfully, &e.
CHARLES J. JENKINS.
Dn W. Willingham.
Letter from Judge Neshit.
Macon Ga., Sept, 1856.
noN. H. G. Lamar:
My Dear Sir: —In your letter of 7th July
last, you say “repeated inquires have been made
of me as to the course you would deem it your
duty to pursue in the approaching Presidential
contest ?” And you farther say, “Will you
favor me by placing it in my power to answer
these enquires in the authentic form of a letter
from yourself, with the privileges of its publica
tion ?”
Before the receipt of your letter, I had, in
private conversation, announced a purpose to
vote for Mr. Buchanan unless it should become
manifest that Mr. Fillmore w'ould be more like
ly to prevail against Fremont. I have with
held my answer until I could determine with
reasonable certainty, the probability of Mr.
Fillmore’s election. I know 7 that his friends
are sanguine in the hope that if not elected’ by
the People, yet he may be elected'by thfe House
After a careful and anxious survey of the whole
ground, I am constrained to believe that there
is no hope of his election in any event. Such
being my conviction, I feel that it is due to my
self and to my friends of the American party
—to right, and to my country, to avow 7 public
ly my determination to cast my vote for Mr.
Buchanan. That this determination will be
heard with regret by some and with surprise by
others, I suppose may be true; that others still
will fail to appreciate my motives and censure
my course, I have reason to apprehend. Yet I
am satisfied that the larger part of the people
of Georgia who know me, w ill give me credit
for honest motives and conscietious co nv jetions.
The times require sacifices and justify a change
of political position. The crisis of the Ameri
can Union is now in action aud that is the cri
sis of Protestant Christianity and of •civil liber
ty. I shall not labor to demonstrate these
propositions. To the good aud wise such labor
is unnecessury, and to such as are on any ac :
count’ indifferent to the perils which environ
us, unavailing. It is too late to reason with
those who really desire the destruction
of the Union—it is with them a fore
gone conclusion ; they would • not believe if
one should rise from the (lead. Do not the
dead speak to them ? Speak in their precepts
—their recorded entreaties, and their mighty
example? Washington and Clay, Jackson
and Webster, and a host of really great men
besides, have argued and do now argue this
question, with almost super-human power.—
They brought to the discussion an order of
manliness—a type of patriotism —a sublimity
ol moral courage, and an intellectual strength,
unknown to the men of this day. I am not
ashamed to set at their feet. lam proud that
my own pqpp sense of obligation impels me in
the line of their illustrious example. Neither
my conscience, nor my children, nor my coun
try, shall reproach me with having failed to do,
what little 1 may do, to perpetuate blessings
so in appreciably great as the people of this
country now enjoy. Among tliesq blessings,
not the least, is the right to freedom of opinion
—a right which I exercise in the domrfiunica
tion which through you I now make to the
public. I have shrunk from this duty with
painful sensibility. I meet it simply because
under all the circumstances of the case,l believe
it to be a duty.
You are aware that I have been for many
years a whig. The noble old whig party, after
years of honorable contestation under the lead
of as gallant and able and as pure men, as ever
graced the annals of any party, has been dis
banded. Whilst there are both at the North
and the South thousands who adhere to the
principles of that party, yet they are without
organization, and without nationality. Asa
party, the whigs are impotent to control ’the
destinies of the Union, and are intact in the mi
nority in almost all the States. Their power
to serve the country now lies in the control
which they may as individuals or as an organ
ized minority, exercise over the action of the
dominant party. That is by no means
small. Their vocation is still high and holy.
When the American party Was organized, find
ing many of their principles identical with those
which, as a whig, I had long held, and approv
ing with unconditional heartiness the
doctrines which they avowed as to the natural
ization laws, become an American, I can- fore
see no event that can force me to repudiate
the principles of that party. But scarcely was
it organized before at the North it became sub
servient to Freesoil policy, and with shameless
prostitution gave itself to the embrace of those
who are the enemies alike of the institutions of
the South, the Constitution of the Union, and
the religion of Heaven. That was a declaration
of its dissolution. It became at the North a
sectional party; at the South it is what it al
ways was, true to its section—true to the Con
stitution, and true to the great idea of Ameri
can nationality- Mr. Fillmore is the candidate
of the American party South, and a just and
honored and honoring exponent of its principles.
I do not suppose that any one .can now ques
tion the fact that the American party is with
out nationality, Ido not mean to say that its
principles are not national—they are national
although they are Southern. I mean to say,
that it does not pervade the Union—that it is
without power to control the States of the
North, and I sincerely believe is in the minori
ty in all the Southern States. The conclusion
therefore is, that it cannot elect its candidate.
This I think is true, notwithstanding the sup
port which the old line Whigs will carry to Mr
Fillmore. That support, although it may be
general, will by no means be universal. There
are many, very many of the old line whigs,
who influenced by considerations above all
party ties, will like myself, lend their aid to
the election of Mr Buchanan. So much and no
more for the extinct parties and my relations
i to them.
What is now the condition of things ? Dif
ferent from what it has ever been, and such as
to excite the most serious apprehensions for the
safety of the Union. Heretofore, the contests
of the Union have been waged between the
Whig and democratic parties—both national.
Now, the struggle for the government is be
tween a purely sectional party and all other
parties. Heretofore, both of the great partigs
believed that the success of either Would liot
involve peril to the Union, because they believ
ed that the prevailing party would administer
the Government, under the constitution, with
a just regard to the interests of all parties of
the Union. This is unquestionably true, not
withstanding real differences between them up
on questions both of domestic and foreign poli
cy, and notwithstanding the bitter mutual de
nunciations of the party press. Now, without
stopping to enqure what the Freesoil Party
may believe of us, no man in the Union who is
not himself a Freesoiler, can fail to know and
believe that if that party should prevail, the
Government will be administered in violation
of the Constitution, upon principles strictly
sectional, and with an already openly avowed
purpose to aggrandize the North at the expense
of the South. Who can doubt this when abo
lition is the cement of its platform and ‘Free
dom’ is the cry that stirs the Northern and
North-western mind into such prodigious activi
ty, and has rallied to its banner the conserva
tism that has so long resisted its treasonable
and infidel policy. Who can doubt when hold
ing power in one branch of the National Leg
islature, the Freesoil party to inaugurate the
reign of ‘Freedom’ have perpetrated revolution
by withholding supplies. Is this the beginning
of the end ? Heretofore both parties have be
lieved that the President elect, clothed with
the executive powers of a great people, sworn
to maintain the Constitution, influenced by
moral considerations of almost overwhelming
magnitude, and stimulated by motives grand
enough to create and ennoble capacity, would
be the President of the nation. Should Fre
mont be elected, his alternative will be to abide
the instructions of his constituency and become
the tool of a revolutionary faction; or through
a national administration reach the distiction
of treason to his friends. lie will not hesitate
which of the two to choose. With a majority
in the House —with the Executive branch of
the Go Vermont and all its appliances of influ
ence wielded by a willing tool, a few revolving
years will enable the Freesoil party to com
mand the Senate. When that is attained it is
manifest that they will proceed at once to con
summate their avowed purposes. If not by
some bold and wanton act of aggression upon
the Slave States, yet by legislation equally de
cisive in its results—for example: the repeal of
the Missouri Compromise, the abolition of sla
very in the District, and the prohibition of
slavery in the territories. To such legislation
the South will not submit—ought not to sub
mit. The election of Fremont will be the first
scene iu the drama of disunion; anti-slavery
legislation the second; the third and last will be
fratricidal war. If our union could be peace
ably dissolved, however, deeply to be deplored,
the event might be contemplated with some
degree of resignation. I confess that I have no
idea that a peaceable severance is at all practi
cable. Such are my views of the triumph ,of
the Freesoil power in the approaching election.
That it will triumph, all concede there is immi
nent danger. To prevent that triumph is in
my judgement, the highest obligation of patri
otism. To fulfil that obligation I can perceive
no practical way, but to vote for the Democrat
ic candidate. If Mr. Buchanan can defeat
Fremont and Fillmore cannot and the success
of Fremont will be followed by the dissolution
of the Union, the case is fully made out with
out. farther argumentation. If these statements
are true, I do not perceive that for me their re
mains any alternative. In a, contest between
the Union, and my party principles—l go for
the Union. Iu an inevitable struggle between
sections, and that appearently a final struggle,
my fortunes and my efforts are with my own
section. What are my principles worth if I
am to lose the Uniou? And what avails my
preference of Mr. Fillmore, if he, and I, and
the South, are to be sacrificed ? I assume
that Mr. Buchanan may be elected and that
Mr. Fillmore cannot. I may possibly be mis
taken, but such is my opinion, and I must act
upon my own judgement, fallible though it. be.
It may be said that if Mr. Buchanan can be
elected at all he can be elected without your j
aid, and why swell the triumph of an ancient.!
opponent ? To this, I reply, that it is of vast j
moment, not only that Mr. Buchanan should be ;
elected and go into office with the moral power ■
of the entire South to sustain him, and wfith
the sanction of an overwhelming popular ma
jority. Farther, it is not certain that he can !
be elected without my aid—without ray single
sufferance, and I am determined that so far as
my vote is potential, he shall not be subjected
to the remotest chance of a defeat. Too much
is at stake to rely upon coutingences.
Again it is said, that the people will
fail to elect and in the House Mr. Fillmore can
be elected. The devolving of the election upon
the House is an event to be deprecated. I
look upon it as a calamity only less than the
inauguration of Mr Fremont. At any time it
would be unfortunate—now’ it would be disas
trous. The passions, prejudices and rivalries
of the Union are there concentrated. Section
alism is more incoutrolable in the House than
among the people. A single man there casts
the vote of a State, and that State as potent
in the Choice of President as York,
corruption’s fairest, field. Violence, if not mild
ness, would rule the hour, Disruption would
,be the probable consumation, and if that should
not ensue, the foundations of the government
would be shaken in the fierceness of the strug
gle. But there we encounter the same danger
of the success of Mr. Fremont that we now
meet before the people. Let it be conceded,
however, that he could not be eleete 1 by the
House, what the.i wiil be Mr. Fillmore’s posi
tion? Suppose that Mr. Fillmore goes into
the House with the support of four States and
Mr. Buchanan twelve, and this is a supposition
most favorable to Mr. Fillmore—ls it to be ex
pected that the twelve would yield to the four?
The reasonable conclusion is that the four
would yield to the twelve and Mr. Buchanan
be elected; and thus would be effected through
the dangers of the House, w'uat may be affect
ed peaceably, through the Electoral Colleges.
Is it claimed that the Free States will go for
Fillmore when all hope of electing their man is
lost ? The claim is unfounded, they will stand
upon their candidate. Upon the hypothesis
that they will choose between Mr Buchanan
and Mr. Fillmore. I see no reason for believing
that they will prefer the latter to the former.
Upon their principles Mr. Fillmore is quite as
obnoxious to them as Mr. Buchanan. But
yield the point that Mr. Fillmore can be elect
ed by Free States in the House, then I say that
it is not desirable. In that event he will go
into the office by the suffrage of the Freesoil
power. As the friend of Mr. Fillmore I would
not subject him to a position of such paiuful
responsibility. Ido verily believe that he
would meet it firmly, wisely and justly. Yet,
elected by the North, it is clear that he would
encounter their imperious exactions, and on
the part of t.he South jealousy and distrust.
In any event his election under sucli circum
stances would perpetuate the distressing agita
tions of the country.
You perceive that the principles upon which
; I base my course do not require me either to
j disclaim or affirm the Platform of the Demo
! cratic party. I have a thorough disregard for
platforms. They are redeemless humbugs. I
do not therefore judge of a party by its plat
forms, but by its action when in power, and its
relations to the country. The democratic par
ty is the only national party which the trou
bles of the times have left to honest men. If
it be -a sectional party, it is the party of my
I own section- I will not disguise the fact, that
Mr. Buchanan commends himself to me as the
exponent of the most conservative part of the
democratic party —as an able and experienced
Statesman, and as a gentleman of unimpeacha
ble private character. He and his party are
fully with us on the great slavery issues of the
day. My hope—nay, my belief is, that if elec
j ed, he will administer the government upon
Constitutional principles—that being raised to
: power mainly by Southern suffrage, and indor
sing as he has done, Southern views, he will
protect Southern rights—that during his term
of office the conservative elements of the na
tion will have time to come into legitimate ac
tion—that the storm of fanaticism and section
al folly will subside, and the Federal Uniou be
preserved. Respectfully Your friend,
E. A. NISBET.
[For the Empire State.]
A Trip to the Lookout Mountain.
Mr. Editor :—lt may be interesting to some
of your numerous readers, and serve as a res
pite from the political excitement of the times,
as well as add a little variety to your columns,
to give a brief account of some observations
made on a recent visit to that sublime height
—the Lookout Mountain.
This Mountain rises within three miles of the
city of Chattanooga, and is said to be 65 miles
in length* and from 2 to 20 miles in breadth,
and its altitude 2600 feet above the level of
the Tennessee river that flows at its base. In
ascending to its apex, you travel about 2 \ inilss
over a turnpike road made at considerable ex-’
pense, but it is a road for all time to come.—
When you arive at the summit of this grand
observatory, there are several stand-points from
which, it lius been said, you have the grandest
view to be found in the United States. On
the plain of its summit, there is a good deal of
very productive land, but nothing to compare
with the land in the vallies below. It is a re
markable fact, that when you strike the blue
limestone, say at Cartersville, there is nothing
in the way of rocks but limestone to Chatta
nooga. But the moment you arrive at the foot
of the Lookout Mountain, you leave the lime
stone and you see nothing then but the “old
sandstone” till you return from your wanderings
to the valley again.
This mountain affords a delightful Summer
retreat for many of the citizens of Chattanoo
ga, and other places, who have their Summer
residences there, and some spend both Summer
and Winter there ; and from the pleasure 1
felt during three nights I spent there, I would
say no place affords a more delightful retreat.
I was informed there were about 20 families
who spent their Summers there. For the in
formation of those who may wish to visit the
Mountaiu, let me say that there is at this time
a large Hotel for the accommodation of visi
tors, and a second one going up which is to be
very commodious, and which will accommodate
several hundred persons. This is to be com
pleted by the next Summer. But I ought to i
add as a further information, that if you visit
that place you should fill your purse well with
the sine, qua non , for between the tole-gates,
the hacks and the tavern keepers, you will re
quire a good supply to answer your purposes.
ISow, Mr. Editor, lest I should weary vour
readers, let this suffice \for a general outline,
and by your permission, I will, in the future,
notice some of the particular locations and
points of observation.
A SOJOURNER.
Griffin, Sept., 1856.
one of our Alississippi exchanges, in untieing
the proceedings of a democratic meeting in that
State, notices the fact that a distinguished mem
ber of the American party gave in his experi
ence and took his seat with the mourners.
He said he had got off the platform of the
American party, but he didn’t jump off, nor
didn’t fall off. He was standing erect, with
head lifted, and suddenly he dropped through.
Somebody pulled out the twelth section plank
on which he was standing, aud he fell through
the hole in it—that’s Fillmore’s Philadelphia
platform.— Constitutionalist ,
Mr. Fillmore’s Abolition Yates.
The Journals of Congress show that Mr. Fill
more supported by his vote , petitions—
1. To declare slaves free who had gone to sea
with the consent of their masters, and to protect
them in their freedom.
2. To repeal all laws and constitutional provis
ions by which the Federal Government is bound
to protect the institution of slavery.
3. Against the admission of any new State into
the Union, whose Constitution at all tolerates sla
very.
4. Against the annexation of Texas, solely on
the ground that slavery existed there.
5. To abolish slavery in the District of. Colum
bia, though the whole people of the- District cher
ished the institution, aud never petitioned for its
abolition-
G. Tb prohibit the buying and sell life of slaves
in the District, and other Territories of the Un
ion -
7. He supported, by his vote, petitions to Con
gress to repeal the act of the Territory of Florida,
to prevent migration of free negroes to the Territo
rv.
8. He voted In favor of petitions to naturalize
and make American citizens of Negroes from every
quarter of the earth
9. He voted in favor of a petition to receive ne
gro ambassadors from the Black Republic of
iluyti.
Mr. Buchanan’s Be curd on the Slave
ry Question.
The Richmond Enquirer closes, an able aud
interesting review of Mr. Buchanan’s record on
the slavery question with the following recap
itulation and comments:
1. In 1836 Mr. Buchanan supported a bilP
to prohibit the circulation of Abolition papers
through the mails.
2. In the same year he proposed aud voted v
for the admission of Arkansas.
3. In 1836-’7 he denounced and voted to
reject petitions for the abolition of slavery
in the District of Columbia.
4. In 1837 he voted for Mr. Calhoun’s fa
mous resolutions defining the rights of the -
States aud the limits of the federal authority,,
and affirming it to be the duty of the govern
ment to protect and uphold the institutions of
the South.
5. In 1838-9 and ’4O he invariably voted
with the southern Senators against the consid
eration of anti-slavery petitions.
6. In 1844-’5 he advocated and voted for
the annexation of Texas.
7. In 1847 he sustained the Clayton Com
promise.
8. In 1850 he proposed and urged the exten
sion of the Missouri Compromise to the Pacific
ocean.
9. But he promptly acquiesced iu the Com
promise of 1850, and employed all his influence
in favor of the faithful execution of the fugitive
slave law.
10. In 1851 he remonstrated against an en
actment. of the Pennsylvania Legislature for
obstructing the arrest and return of fugitive
slaves.
11. In 1854 he negotiated for the acquisi
tion of Cuba.
12. In 1866 he approves the repeal of the
Missouri restriction, aud supports the princi
ples of the Kansas Nebraska act.
13. lie never gave a vote against the inter
ests of slavery, and never uttered a word which
could pain the most sensitive southern heart.
The prominent facts of Mr. Buchanan’s re
cord touching slavery, are thus grouped into*
a single view; so that the'person of the least
patience in research may ascertain at a glance
how the Democratic candidate stands in re
spect to the great issue of the canvass. In this
succint statement, we give not detached pas
sages and isolated acts; but webring the whole
history of a long life to bear upon the popular
mind with the irresistible force of truth. This
rapid retrospect discloses a consistency and an
efficiency of service to the South, which flatte
ry can claim for no other living man. Mr-
Buchanan is not only vindicated from calumny p
he is not simply shown to be exempt from just
reproach and w orthy of confidence; he is promo
ted to his proper position, in advance of any
and every statesman of the North in the confi
dence and affection of the people ©ff the South.
He demands not a mere recognition of his at
tachment to the Constitution,, but unbounded
applause for suck service in the interest of the
South as no other man can boast. Against
the captious criticism of a desperate adversary,,
refining upon technical distinctions and skulk
ing among quibbles, the democracy oppose this
iucontestablc attestation of their candidate’s
fidelity.
A Mammoth Printing Press. —A Neif
York correspondent of the New Orleans Pic
ayune, in a recent letter writes us follows:
Perhaps when the London I imea ordered a
ten cylinder press frem the Mes-ers. Hoe., it
imagined it was leaving the most enterpriseing
of the American Journals in the back ground,
but it will soon find cot its mistake, for I now
learn tout the circulation of the Philadelphia
Ledger (imining well en to one luiudre&
thousand sheets daily \) has compelled the
enterprising proprietors of that paper, Messrs..
Swan & Abed to order from the manufactures
two twelve e. Under presses, at aaest of S7O 000 1
I o accomodate these gigantic pieces of worfcr
tnauship the Ledger folks have bci-w obliged!
topnrehase two adjoining buildings, at jvbeavy.
outlay, and in which the press's ato
be placed. When these are introduced, tfie--
Ledgor will be able t > print sixty thousand’
sheets an hour or equal to one t 1 oit sand sheet*
per minute.
One of our sick compositors has recovered,
and our tnends who have job work &c., on
hand for us to do, may now rely on having it
attended to at once. He says that—
Jle took the ague badly,
And it shook him—shook him sorely,
Shook his boots off and his toe-nails,
Shook his teeth out and his hair off,
Shook his coat all into tatters,
And his shirt all into ribbons;
Shiftless, coatless, hairless, toothless,
Minns boots and minus toe-nails;
Still it shook him ’till it
Made him yellow, gu.int and bony.
But he has shaken so much that he has got
the hang ot it, and his last act was to shake
the chills clean off; an.l he is now up aud kick
ing again. —Puducha Sentinel.
Tit for Tat.—A ‘Live Yankee’ being
awakened by the captain of a steamboat with
the announcment that he “musen’t occupy his.
berth with his boots on,” replied:—“Oh! the>
bugs won’t hurt ‘em much 1 guess—they’re an
old pair; let ‘em rip!”
A Curious Incident. —Aine brothers, living’
in different localities over a region of country
2,000 miles in extent, recently met in Chicago
to proceed to St Lawrence county, JL Y., to.
visit au aged mother.
BRASS and Mazlin Preserve Kettles ; French Pots,Tea
Kettles, Sauce Paus, Rollers, Pot Covers, Waffle and
Wafer Irons, and all other necessary adjuncts for pood
cooking, at JOHNSON AMANGHAMo.
July 2, 1856 10....