True and false men.
One of the few men in the
North in whom the
South has not been disappointed, is
Ex-President Pierce, of
New Hampshire.
The man is all be appears to be; a rare thing in this world.
He foresaw long ago and predicted the present state of things, and he also predicted that, in the end, the
North would be the greatest sufferer.
He saw in Black Republicanism a war upon property, which first selected as, apparently, its easiest victim, property in slaves; but which, thwarted in this attempt, will make war upon property in the
North.
In a word, Black Republicanism will become avowed Agrarianism, and then, let those who have warmed the serpent into life beware its fangs!
Gen. Pierce is the truest friend the
South ever had in the
North, and the truest friend the
North ever had in her own borders.
The path of justice and honor is always the path of wisdom and of happiness.
It cannot be otherwise, until a just Conetses to rule.
If the
North had followed the counsels of such men as
Franklin Pierce, of
New Hampshire,
Ex-Gov. Seymour, of
Connecticut, (another true and noble gentleman, who, at the head of a respectable and increasing party, is still standing by the Right,) and
Vallandigham, and others, of
Ohio, she would still be peaceful, prosperous and powerful.
But they and their counsels were treated with contempt, and the red flag of the New York
Tribune symbolized the spirit, principles and policy of the
Northern majority.
Strange enough is the spectacle now presented by two former competitors for the Presidency--
Gen. Scott, the
Virginian, leading on the armed crusade of Black Republicanism against his native
South, and
Gen. Pierce, of
New Hampshire, standing almost alone in his section in restating that crusade.
Such facts show that the popular instincts are often right, and that when the
South preferred the
Northern Pierce to the
Southern Scott, she acted wisely and bestowed her confidence and her condemnation where both were richly deserved.
What a contrast to the course of
Pierce,
Seymour,
Vallandigham, and others, is that of
Cushing,
Dickinson,
Everett,
Fillmore, and their associates; what a contrast the public journals of
Concord,
Bangor, and the New York
News and New York
Day Book, to those journals which have been scared into the support of the
Black Republican Administration.
They are afraid of the mob, and the mob is the most cowardly of all animals.
Not one of the brave men who stand up for the
South has suffered an act of violence, because true courage and independence always command respect even from base and violent natures.
Caleb Cushing, up to the last moment, professed to be a strong Southern man, leading off the Seceders from the Democratic Convention in
Charleston, and presiding over the
Southern Secession Convention in
Baltimore.
Dickinson, of New York, was as Southern and as pertinacious as
Cushing.--And yet, the moment that the
South drew her sword in self-defence, they both spring at a bound into the Coercion ranks.
Cushing applied for a commission, but the shameless
Dalgetty received the first instalment of the punishment that was due such a miracle of perfidy by a contemptuous refusal of his request
Dickinson contributed his private means to the aid of the
Government, and rivalled
Horace Greeley in his abuse of the
South and of her institutions.
John Cochrane, Congressman from New York, made a speech in front of the
Exchange Hotel in this city last Spring, in which he declared that if
Abraham Lincoln should attempt coercion of the
South, a hundred thousand men in New York would shed their blood in her defence.
As soon as
Abraham Lincoln did attempt coercion,
John Cochrane commenced raising a regiment in New York to support that attempt!
There are as few true men left among the
Northern politicians as there were righteous men in
Sodom.
We believe that, as a general rule, the private character of a man is the best guarantee of his public virtue.
John C. Calhoun was one of the purest and best of men in private life, and so is
Franklin Pierce. Such men may err; may be eccentric; may be inconsistent, but they can never be deliberately false.--The greater the strain upon their good faith and honesty, the more firmly and gallantly do they develop the power and integrity of their natures, like some stout ship that never displays her qualities as grandly as when she is in a tremendous gale, her storm-flag flying defiantly over her swelling canvass, and her bows buffeting with terrific collisions the opposing waves.
But we never yet could understand how profligate and unprincipled men in private life could be relied upon in public life as sheet anchors of their party or their country.
We need not particularize the men who have thrown off the mask of friendship for the
South in her hour of trial, to illustrate the truth of our remarks.
Those who know them will wonder that most of them could ever have commanded Southern confidence for a moment.
The time will come when their own section will scorn and execrate them, and when the
North itself will render homage to the manly virtues and moral courage of such men as
Franklin Pierce, whom it will also recognize as its truest friends and wisest counsellors.
