Richmond Palladium

The Washington Union contains the following letter of acceptance of the Democratic nomination for the Presidency from Gen. Cass, in reply to the letter of the officers of the National Convention informing him of his nomination:

WASHINGTON, May 30, 1848.

Gentlemen.--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th instant, announcing to me that I had been nominated by the convention of the democratic party its candidate for the office of President of the United States at the approaching election.

While I accept, with gratitude, this distinguished honor--and distinguished indeed it is--I do so with a fearful apprehension of the responsibility it may eventually bring, with the profound conviction that it is the kind confidence of my fellow citizens, far more than any merit of my own, which has placed me thus prominently before the American people. And fortunate shall I be, if this confidence should find, in the events of the future, a better justification than is furnished by those of the past.

I have carefully read the resolutions of the Democratic National Convention, laying down the platform of our political faith, and I adhere to them as firmly as I approve them cordially. And while thus adhering to them, I shall do so with a sacred regard to "the principles and compromises of the constitution," and with an earnest desire for their maintenance, "in a spirit of moderation and brotherly love, so vitally essential to the perpetuity of the Union, and the prosperity and happiness of our common country"--a feeling which has made us what we are, and which, in humble reliance upon Providence, we may hope is but the beginning of what we are to be. If called upon hereafter to render an account of my stewardship, in the great trust and desire to commit to me, should I be able to show that I had truly redeemed the pledge thus publicly given, and had adhered to the principles of the democratic party with as much fidelity and success as has generally marked the administration of the eminent men to whom that party has hitherto confided the chief executive authority of the government, I could prefer no higher claim to the favorable consideration of the country, nor to the impartial commendation of history.

This letter, gentlemen, closes my profession of political faith. Receiving my first appointment from that pure patriot and great expounder of American democracy, Mr. Jefferson, more than forty years ago, the intervening period of life has been almost wholly passed in the service of my country; and has been marked by many vicissitudes, and attended with many trying circumstances, both in peace and in war. If my conduct in these situations, and the opinions I have been called upon to form and express, for time to time, in relation to all the great party topics of the day, do not furnish a clear exposition of my views upon them, and at the same time a sufficient pledge, of my faithful adherence to their practical application, whenever and wherever I may be required to act, anything further I might now say, would be mere delusion, unworthy of myself, and justly offensive to the great party in whose name you are now acting.

My immediate predecessor in the nomination by the democratic party, who has since established so many claims to the regard and confidence of his country, when announcing, four years ago his acceptance of a similar honor, announced also his determination not to be a candidate for re-election. Coinciding with him in his views so well expressed, and so faithfully carried out, I beg leave to say that no circumstances can possibly arise which would induce me again to permit my name to be brought forward in connection with the chief magistracy of our country. My inclination and my sense of duty, equally dictate this course.

motives for exertion, than has the great democratic party of the United States. With an abiding confidence in the rectitude of our principles, with an unshaken reliance upon the wisdom of public opinion, and with the success which has crowned the administration of the government, when committed to its keeping, (and it has been so committed during more than three fourths of its existence,) what has been done, is at once the reward of past exertion and the motive for future, and at the same a guarantee for the accomplishment of what we have to do. We cannot conceal from ourselves that there is a party in the country, differing from us in regard to many of the fundamental principles of our government, and opposed to us in their practical application, which will strive as zealously as we shall, to secure the ascendency of their principles by securing the election of their candidate in the coming contest. That party is composed of our fellow citizens, as deeply interested in the prosperity of our common country as we can be, and seeking as earnestly as we are to promote and perpetuate it. We shall soon present to the world the sublime spectacle of the election of a Chief Magistrate by twenty millions of people, without a single serious resistance to the laws, or the sacrifice of the life of one human being--and this too in the absence of all force but the moral force of our institutions; and if we should add to all this, an example of mutual respect for the motives of the contending parties, so that the contest carried on with that firmness and energy which accompany deep conviction, and with as little personal asperity as political divisions permit, we should do more for human freedom throughout the world, than by any other tribute we could render to its value.

We have a government founded by the will of all, responsible to the power of all; and administered for the good of all. The very first article in the democratic creed teaches that the people are competent to govern themselves; it is indeed, rather an axiom than an article of political faith. From the days of Gen. Hamilton to our days, the party opposed to us --of whose principles he was the great exponent, if not the founder--while it has changed its name, has preserved its identity of character; and the doubt he entertained and taught of the capacity of man for self government, has exerted marked influence upon its actions and opinions. Here is the very starting point of the difference between the two great parties of our country. All other differences are but subordinate and auxiliary to this, and may, in fact, be resolved into it. Looking with doubt upon the issue of self government, one party is prone to think the public authority should be strengthened, and to fear any change might weaken the necessary force of the government: while the other strong in its convictions of the intelligence and virtue of the people, believes that original power is better than delegated, and that the solution of the great problem of good government consists in governing with the least force, and leaving individual actions as free from restraint as is compatible with the preservation of the social system, thereby securing to each all the freedom which is not essential to the well being of the whole.

As a party, we should not mistake the signs of the times, but should bear in mind that this is an age of progress--of advancement in all the elements of intellectual power and in the opinions of the world. The general government should assume no powers--it should exercise none which have not been clearly granted by the parties to the federal compact. We ought to construe the constitution strictly, according to the received and sound principles of the Jefferson school. But while rash experiments should be deprecated, if the Government is stationary in its principles of action, and refuses to accommodate its measures, within its constitutional sphere--cautiously indeed but wisely and cheerfully--to the advancing sentiments and necessities of the age, it will find its moral force impaired, and the public will be determined to do what the public authority itself should readily do, when the indications of popular sentiment are clear and clearly expressed:

With great respect, gentlemen, I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

LEWIS CASS.

Hon. A. Stevenson,

President of the Democratic Convention and,

The Vice Presidents of the same.

The following is the "Democratic Platform" resolutions, which Gen. Cass says he has "carefully read" and which he says, emphatically, "I adhere to them as firmly as I approve them cordially." We hope our readers, Whig and Democrat, will also "carefully read" the above letter of Gen. Cass and the "Platform," and compare them with the sentiments as expressed by Gen. Taylor in his Allison letter;--then decide which candidate you will vote for. Would you prefer a man who pledges his soul and body to do all he can for his "party" and its benefit, or one who, although he declares he is "a Whig--but not an ultra Whig," would not be "the mere President of a party?" That is the question. Try both candidates by the Jefferson rule: "Is he honest --is he capable--is he faithful to the constitution?" And now, here is

The Platform of the Campaign:

[Adopted by the Baltimore Convention.]

From "the Union"

Mr. Hallett, of Boston from the Committee on Resolutions, read the following report:

Resolved, That the American Democracy place their trust in the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the American people.

Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature of our political creed; which we are proud to maintain before the world as the great moral element in a form of government springing from and upheld by the popular will; and we contrast it with the creed and practice of federalism, under whatever name, or form, which seeks to palsy the will of the constituent, and which conceives no imposture too monstrous for the popular credulity.

Resolved, therefore, That, entertaining these views, the Democratic party of this Union, through their delegates assembled in a general convention of the States, coming together in a spirit of concord, of devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free representative Government, and appealing to their fellow-citizens for the rectitude of their intentions, renew and reassert, before the American people, the declarations of principles avowed by them when, on a former occasion, in general convention, they presented their candidates for the popular suffrages.

1. That the Federal Government is one of limited powers, derived solely from the constitution, and the grants of power shown therein ought to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the Government; and that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional powers.

2. That the constitution does not confer upon the General Government the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvements.

3. That the constitution does not confer authority upon the Federal Government, directly, to assume the debts of the several States contracted for local internal improvements, or other State purposes; nor would such assumption be just and expedient.

4. That justice and sound policy forbid the federal Government to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of any other, or to cherish the interests of one portion to the injury of another portion of our common Country; that every citizen, and every section of the country, should have adequate and ample protection in all their legal rights, and that the public lands should be distributed in such manner as to prevent their being monopolized by speculators, and to secure to actual settlers the largest practical benefits therefrom.

5. That Congress has no power to make a protective tariff, or to foster one branch of industry at the expense of another, or to give a bounty to any; but that the tariff should be levied for revenue, and so adjusted as to protect the laborer against the pauper and criminal labor of foreign countries.

6. That the constitution does not confer upon the General Government the right to exercise police powers over the States, or to interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, or to establish a national bank, or to assume the debts of the States, or to encourage internal improvements by direct appropriations, or to do any other act not expressly delegated to it by the constitution.

7. That the Democratic party will resist all attempts to subvert the constitution, or to concentrate power in the General Government, or to impair the rights of the States, or to encroach upon the authority of the people over their servants, or to substitute patronage and corruption for the voice of the people in the election of their representatives.
and every section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and to complete and ample protection of persons and property from domestic violence or foreign aggression.

5. That it is the duty of every branch of the Government to enforce the practise the most rigid economy in conducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue ought to be raised than is required to defray the necessary expenses of the Government and for the gradual but certain extinction of the debt created by the prosecution of a just and necessary war. after peaceful relations shall have been restored.

6. That Congress has no power to charter a national bank; that we believe such an institution one of deadly hostility to the best interests of the country, dangerous to our republican institutions and the liberties of the people. and calculated to place the business of the country within the control of a concentrated money power and above the laws and the will of the people; and that the results of democratic legislation, in this and all other financial measures upon which issues have been made between the two political parties of the country, have demonstrated to candid and practical men of all parties their soundness, safety, and utility in all business pursuits.

7. That Congress has no power under the constitution to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of every thing appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the constitution; that all efforts of the abolitionists or others made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery,or to take incipient steps in relation, thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences; and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend of our political institutions.

8. That the separation is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the Government and the rights of the people.

9. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the constitution, which makes ours the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith. and every attempt to abridge the privilege of becoming citizens and the owners of soil among us ought to be resisted with the same spirit which swept the alien and sedition laws from our statute-books.

Resolved, That the proceeds of the public land ought to be sacredly applied to the national objects specified in the constitution; and that we are opposed to any law for the distribution of such proceeds among the States, as alike inexpedient in policy and repugnant to the constitution.

Resolved,That we are decidedly opposed to taking from the President the qualified veto power, by which he is enabled, under restrictions and responsibilities amply sufficient to guard the public interest, to suspend the passage of a bill whose merits can secure the approval of two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, until the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, and which has saved the American people from the corrupt and tyrannical domination of the Bank of the United States, and from a corrupting system of general internal improvements.

Resolved, That the war with Mexico. provoked on her part by years of insult and injury, was commenced by her army crossing the Rio Grande, attacking the American troops, and invading our sister State of Texas; and that, upon all the principles of patriotism and the laws of nations, it is a just and necessary war on our part, in which every American citizen should have shown himself on the side of his country, and neither morally nor physically, by word or deed, have given "aid and comfort to the enemy."

Resolved, That we would be rejoiced at the assurance of a peace with Mexico, founded on the just principles of indemnity for the past and security for the future; but that, while the ratification of the liberal treaty offered to Mexico remains in doubt, it is the duty of the country to sustain the Administration in every measure necessary to provide for the vigorous prosecution of the war should that treaty be rejected.

Resolved. That the officers and soldiers who have carried the arms of their country into Mexico have crowned it with imperishable glory. Their unconquerable courage, their daring enterprise, their unfaltering perseverance and fortitude when assailed on all sides by innumerable foes, and that more formidable enemy--the diseases of the climate---exalt their devoted patriotism into the highest heroism, and give them a right to the profound gratitude of their country and the admiration of the world.

Resolved, That the Democratic National Convention of the thirty States composing the American Republic tender their fraternal congratulations to the National Convention of the Republic of France. now assembled as the free suffrage representatives of the sovereignty of thirty-five millions of Republicans. to establish a Government on those eternal principles of equal rights for which their Lafayette and our Washington fought side by side in the struggle for our own National Independence; and would especially convey to them and to the whole people of France. our earnest wishes for the consolidation of their Liberties, through the wisdom that shall guide their councils, on the basis of a Democratic Constitution, not derived from the grants or concessions of Kings or Parliaments, but originating from the only true source of political power recognised in the States of this Union --the inherent and inalienable right of the people. in their sovereign capacity, to make and to amend their forms of government in such manner as the welfare of the community may require.

Resolved, That in the recent development of the grand political truth, of the sovereignty of the people and their capacity and power for self-government, which is prostrating thrones and erecting republics on the ruins of despotism in the old world, we feel that a high and sacred duty is devolved, with increased responsibility, upon the Democratic party of this country, as the party of the people, to sustain and advance among us constitutional liberty, equality.and fraternity, by continuing to resist all monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few at the expenses of the many, and by a vigilant and constant adherence to those principles of the compromises which are broad enough and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be in the full expansion of the energies and capacity of this great and progressive people.

Voted, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded through the American Minister at Paris to the National Convention of the Republic of France

Resolved, That the fruits of the great political triumph of 1844, which elected James K. Polk and George M. Dallas. President and Vice President of the United States. have fulfilled the hopes of the Democracy of the Union: in defeating the declared purpose of their opponents to create a National Bank; in preventing the corrupt and unconstitutional distribution of the land proceeds, from the common treasury of the Union, for local purposes: in protecting the currency and the labor of the country from ruinous fluctuations. and guarding the money of the people for the use of the people. by the establishment of the Constitutional Treasury: in the noble impulse given to the cause of free trade. by the repeal of the tariff of 1842. and the creation of the more equal,'honest, and productive tariff of 1846; and that, in our opinion. it would be a fatal error to weaken the bands of political organization by which these great reforms have been achieved, and risk them in the hands of their known adversaries. with whatever delusive appeals they may solicit our surrender of that vigilance which is the only safeguard of liberty.

Resolved, That the confidence of the Democracy of the Union, in the principles, capacity, firmness, and integrity of James K. Polk. manifested by his nomination and election in 1844. has been signally justified by the strictness of his adherence to sound democratic doctrines, by the purity of purpose, the energy and ability which have characterised his Administration in all our affairs at home and abroad. that we tender to him our cordial congratulations upon the brilliant success which has hitherto crowned his patriotic efforts, and assure him in advance that, at the expiration of his Presidential term, he will carry with him to his retirement the esteem, respect, and admiration of a grateful country.

Resolved, That this Convention hereby present to the people of the United States Lewis Cass, of Michigan, as the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of President. and William O. Butler, of Kentucky. as the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of Vice President of the United States.