it, of whatever hue, form and creed. There is but one honorable choice; and, whether the opposition comes from the bosom of the Democratic party itself, or the dark caverns of secret conspiracy, or the veteran, scarred ranks of the ancient, open, declared Whig adversary, or from all quarters combined, we shall defend the Staunton nominations.

We have no fulsome eulogy for the distinguished nominees. We are more skilled in the language of censure than of laudation. Panegyric is not our forte, nor man-worship our besetting sin. But we will say, that Mr. Wise is eminently worthy of the confidence and support of the Virginia people. His brilliant qualities as a man will reflect lustre upon the office for which he is recommended. He is a man to whom we have never felt but one objection personally, and that was, that though as sound in politics now as the strictest Republican of the Virginia school, his career had been inconsistent and his record contradictory in a manner and to a degree which rendered it difficult for the party speakers and writers in this canvass to defend him, according to the old mode of party reasoning. We have said this frequently, and we do not mean to unsay it in the canvass at hand. But of all claims to public office, those of the mere party men are the flimsiest and most wretched. Consistency, in the mere party sense-that of having voted the party ticket blind, on all occasions, wright or wrong, through thick and thin-that of having sworn and argued that a measure was right whenever it was endorsed by party, and wrong whenever not-consistency of this base, cheap, description, is anything but "a jewel." The man who is ever faithful to his own convictions, scorning to submit his judgment to the behests either of party or of any other influence but his own conscience, is a true man, and is very apt to be fit recipient of public trust. The man who holds no opinion of his own, and who boasts to have never differed from his party in any act or thought of his life, is more apt to be a demagogue than a statesman. True consistency lies in fidelity to one's convictions of duty, however changing; and he is the safe politician who boldly avows and bravely adheres to those convictions under all circumstances. It is remarked that all the really great women the world has produced have held peculiar notions on the point of virtue. It is certain that the greatest statesmen of our country have been distinguished for their political inconsistency. Even Jefferson himself repudiated in the writings from Monticello the anti-slavery principles to which the prime of his life had been devoted. Jackson went into the executive office advocating some of the worst measures of the Federalists, proclaimed during his administration the most alarming and arrogant Federal dogmas, and yet laid down the reins of government with the merited reputation of a hero and champion of state rights. Calhoun, the honest politician, the Cato of his day, may be quoted on both sides of almost every great measure of public policy. Honesty, fidelity, capacity-the Jeffersonian tests-these, at last, are the true qualifications for office. Consistency, in the vulgar acceptation, belongs oftener to the demagogue and ignoramus than to the honest politician and the capable statesman. Those high personal qualities which make us love, admire, and trust in men, belong oftener to the rash, impulsive and brave, than to the cautious, calculating, and "consistent." If you judge Mr. Wise by the acts of his life, we admit that, in our opinion, he has few claims to consistency. But if you judge him by the impulses of his nature, and the fidelity and chivalric bravery of his adherence to them, the verdict in his favor is emphatic and beyond question.

The political horizon is filled with admonitions of trouble. The recent elections at the north reveal a state of feeling very portentious to the south. We are upon the eve of times which will try men's souls. Let us have a tried, brave, true southern man in the executive office of Virginia. At a time like this, let us look to the metal of our men, rather than to their

"records." The Democracy of Virginia have declared at Staunton that they care not for political antecedents or partisan animosities, twenty years gone by, in the presence of the danger now threatening the south. They have resolved that old and obsolete differences, such as used to divide them from their political opponents at home, are not to be remembered against the true southern man in a contest upon that issue above all other issues-northern aggression against southern rights.

There is significance in the nomination of Mr. Wise. The Democracy of of Virginia have resolved, in disregard of past domestic animosities and old differences of opinion, to manifest their stern, uncompromising temper on the sectional issue by the man they mean to place at the head of affairs. When we make Henry A. Wise governor of Virginia, the north will know what we

mean.

Mr. McComas is comparatively a young man; but has already distinguished himself by valuable public service. He has fought gallantly and won enviable laurels upon the field of battle. He was a member of the Reform Convention of 1850-51; and served with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He has always been a zealous advocate of the doctrines of State Rights; and, since he was entitled to a vote, has been an active, efficient and consistent Democrat.

Mr. Bocock has already passed the ordeal of the polls; and has proved an industrious, faithful and eminently able officer. The testimony to his efficiency, capacity and industry in the office of Attorney General, is unqualified and conclusive, and is alike creditable to himself and to the party which conferred the office upon bim.

The reasons in favor of rallying to this ticket are conclusive; and we invoke all the Democracy of Virginia to a zealous and active support of it. We repeat our sincere and candid opinions: The party will do its duty :— There is no danger of defeat.

CONFIDENCE OF THE OPPOSITION.

The opposition were so confident that the Staunton state ticket had produced schism and discord in the Democratic ranks, that the Richmond Whig made bold to forewarn the Democracy of their coming fate, in the following language:

"The indications of public sentiment throughout the country, as far as we can gather it, from the tone of the Whig and Democratic press, and from our private correspondence, foreshadow a gloomy prospect for the nominees. of the Staunton Convention. In the Whig ranks there is union of sentiment, harmony of action, and resolution of purpose; in the Democratic ranks there is discord, apprehension, and a general and growing mistrust. We can assure our neighbor that the great Whig party is vital in its existence-firmly united-and fully prepared for a successful campaign. At the proper time, and in due form, and with united forces, it will unfold its banner, and we fear nothing for its success."

As soon as it was known in other parts of the Union that the Democracy of Virginia were ready for the conflict, with the hitherto invincible KnowNothings, all eyes were turned upon the state. It was well known that the Democracy had to contend with a formidable, wily and insidious enemy, flushed with victory. The Democratic party felt its danger and the respon

sibility of its position. Their brethren of the southern states felt a deep anxiety for the success of the Democracy of a state that had always repudiated and withstood Federalism in all its Protean characters. The Wash. ington Sentinel contained the following article counseling the party against the snares of the enemy, the boasts of the new party, and calling upon Virginia to preserve her escutcheon untarnished:

THE VIRGINIA ELECTIONS.-The state of Virginia is regarded at this time with great interest by all parties. In a few months elections for state officers and members of Congress will be held, and more than ordinary preparations are now being made for the opening canvass. The ancient renown of that venerable commonwealth, her undeviating consistency, and her political influence, attract to her a large share of public attention.

Thoroughly and consistently Democratic, as she has ever been, the Democrats are naturally solicitous that she should maintain that character. When other states have faltered and fallen, she has been true and unflinching, and hence it would be a signal triumph for the opposition if they could gain her. To that triumph they proudly and ambitiously aspire. Already they begin to boast. Months in advance of the election, here in Washington, they be gin to claim the victory. They have rolls. lists and records. In imagination they have elected their governor and stricken down several Democratic members of Congress. They give the figures with great precision, and boldly aver, that all arrangements to secure their success have been completely consummated.

It is meet that the free citizens of Virginia should know that grand councils have gravely assembled to decide for whom they shall vote, and that instructions have been issued which they are imperiously required to obey. The time was when they owed allegiance to their state. That time has passed. The time was, when they announced their opinions and their purposes in the open streets and in the public highways. That time, too, has passed. Those mysterious men who sprung up from the gutters of New York and commenced their remarkable career by carrying city elections, have swept with a success almost unparalleled the abolitionized state of Massachusetts, where Democrats were odious, and even Free Soil Whigs were wanting in rankness-these mysterious men have taken the good old state of Virginia under their especial guardianship. In the secret lodgesat the midnight conclaves, in Boston and in New York, in Chicago and Syracuse, they pray and they weep over the proud old commonwealth. They have vowed to win her, and no effort will be spared to execute that vow. We are told that here in Washington plans have been consummated by which the fate of Democracy in Virginia is sealed! Of course we attach no importance to the information. It is but the boast that is designed to discourage Democrats and encourage the opposition.

The opposition! What is it? It is not that old and respectable and avowed Whig opposition that we were wont to encounter, with Bank, Tariff and Distribution inscribed on its banners. It is not that opposition that Clay led and Webster battled for. It is a fusion, an amalgation of isms. For the first time fusion is proposed in Virginia. For the first time an ism has dared to rear its crest in that ancient Dominion.

Those who join this opposition will not do as our opponents of the olden time were accustomed to do. They will not stand up and declare their sen timents like freemen. When these men meet in the open streets and the public highways, they will give mysterious signals-that none but the initi ated can understand. They dare not talk out like honest men.

Has the Old Dominion fallen so low that her sons are afraid to proclaim

their sentiments? Are those who are wont to interchange their opinions on public affairs, when they met at court greens, at country stores, or at cross roads, struck dumb by a secret and a despotic association that had its origin in a distant state, with different institutions? We devoutly pray that no such degeneracy will curse that good old state, whose greatest fault has been that she uttered her sentiments too boldly.

Yet, it cannot be denied that the opposition to Democracy, in Virginia, has resolved itself into this mysterious organization. Most of those who were Whigs, are Whigs no longer. Without pretending to be convinced of the unsoundness of their principles, they have renounced those principles, and gone over to a party that professes its willingness to support either a Bank or an anti-Bank, a Tariff or anti-Tariff, a Distribution or an anti-Distribution man. Indeed, although nearly the whole of those who belong to this opposition to the Democracy of Virginia are Whigs, they declare, privately and publicly, that they would rather support Democratic than Whig candidates. Two contradictions are involved in this declaration. First, that being Whigs, they should prefer Democrats; and, secondly, that, prefering Democrats, they should oppose the regular Democratic nominees. This contradiction, or rather these contradictions, are explained in this way: They want to get disappointed and disaffected Democrats to run against the regular nominees, in order to relieve themselves of the odium of being a Whig organization, and in order to entice Democrats into that organization.

But we are happy to say that the better sort of Whigs-those who scorn impure alliances, those who love open honesty and manly independence, and who will not agree to be controlled by a secret society that sprang up outside of Virginia and in an anti-slavery state, will not act in conjunction with this opposition. They will do as many of the strongest Whigs of Illinois did in. the recent election in that state. They will vote for the Democratic candidates. If they are forced to quit their party, they will rather vote with an open, a manly, and an honest party, than with a secret and a mysterious order that has disbanded and scattered them. A state rights Whig is more a Democrat than a Know-Nothing.

THE CRY OF DISAFFECTION.

A report was industriously circulated throughout the state that many of the most prominent men of the party were not only dissatisfied with the Staunton ticket, but would not give it their support. This had not only a great tendency to dissatisfy a large portion of the masses, but almost threatened a rupture, the very object aimed at by the Know-Nothing party. The report was false. It was true that there were some dissatisfied individuals who had had the confidence of the Democratic party; but these were, for the most part, or had been regarded, to use a popular term, as "fishy." It was these persons, claiming prominence and position in the party, and considering their claims for office and honor overlooked, that exhibited these disloyal proclivities. But the report was wholly untrue in regard to the sound members of the party. The Charlottesville Jeffersonian disposed in the following very effectual manner of the report in regard to several prominent and influential

men:

From the Charlottesville Jeffersonian.

One of the many means resorted to by the Whigs, in order to produce disaffection in the Democratic party towards their nominees, is the statement which has been going the rounds of the opposition press, to the effect that five of the Democratic members of Congress from Virginia, (viz:) Messrs. Bayly, Letcher, McMullen, Smith and Powell, would not sustain the nomination of Mr. Wise. Now, for the satisfaction of our Democratic friends, we are authorized to state upon authentic information, that this rumor is a sheer fabrication of the enemies of the Democratic party, and that all the above named gentlemen, together with the entire Virginia delegation in Congress, will support Mr. Wise and the rest of the ticket. We were assured by Mr. Powell himself, in a personal interview with him, that the entire ticket would receive his support. The friends of Mr. Leake should not permit any such influences to induce them to withhold their support from the nominee of our party. We have been assured by Mr. Leake himself, that he, too, would give a zealous support to the nomination of Mr. Wise, and he urges that all of his friends should do likewise; since, in refusing to support Mr. Wise, they may lose everything, and cannot by possibility gain anything. They may not only lose the governor, but also their delegates to the Legislature, and their representatives in Congress. Issues of momentous importance depend upon the triumph of the Democracy in the approaching election. The New York Herald and its co-adjutors boast that they have for the present prostrated the administration party in the North, and they urge upon their friends in Virginia by all means to defeat Mr. Wise, or they regard his election as a test of the strength of the administration, and of Democratic States Rights principles in Virginia. They regard Mr. Wise as a champion of the administration in its support of the constitutional guarantees of the South. They know, moreover, that his election would crush out Nnow-Nothingism in this section of the Union, and would present an impassable barrier to the progress of that fusion which in the North has resulted in the election of a majority of anti-Nebraska and anti-Fugitive Slave Law men to Congress. Hence their anxiety to have him defeated. As we intimated above, in the approaching election, not only the supremacy of the Democratic party in the executive department of our state government, but the political complexion of the next Legislature, and of the Virginia representation in both Houses of Congress are involved. Upon the next Legislature will devolve the duty of electing two United States Senators, in the place of Messrs. Mason and Hunter, whose terms will soon expire. We, therefore, regard the success of our county delegations, and of our candidates for Congress, and the consequent ascendancy of the Democracy of Virginia in both branches of the National Legislature, as of paramount importance. For it is evident already, that another great battle must be fought on the floor of Congress, with the anti-Nebraska, KnowNothing Fusionists of the North, who, 'tis said, have now a majority in the House of Representatives. We would entreat our friends, then, for the sake of the success of our county delegations, and of our faithful and sterling representative in Congress, Hon. Paulus Powell, if from no other consideration, to come up unitedly to the support of the nominees of the party, and present an unbroken phalanx, as in days past, to the common enemies of Democracy.