Washington Sentinel

Hon. J. D. Bright's Letter,

To the great Democratic mass meeting at Indianapolis on the 17th July,

Washington, July 12, 1856.

Dear Sir: I have seen Senators Cass, Douglas, and Brown, and Representative Cobb, of Georgia, and agreeably to your request, have invited them in behalf of the "State Central Committee" to attend the mass meeting of our friends at Indianapolis on the 17th instant. Mr. Cobb has assured me that he would be present but the other gentlemen feel that they cannot, consistently with their pressing duties here, be absent for the length of time such a visit would necessarily require, and they beg to be excused.

For myself, nothing would afford me more pleasure than to unite on the occasion with the democracy of our State in ratifying the nominations of that experienced and profound statesman, James Buchanan, for President, and the equally worthy and gifted young son of Kentucky, John C. Breckinridge, for Vice President, but my official engagements here are of such a character as to forbid my leaving at this time.

I avail myself, however, of the opportunity to say to you, and to the mass gathering of our friends, and to my constituents generally, that so soon as my duties here will permit, I shall hasten home with the intention of visiting as many counties as time will allow, and holding converse with the people, face to face, on the absorbing questions of the day. If there ever was a time when the constituent and his representative should be brought close together to commune with each other freely, it is the present. The systematic effort that is being made to array one section of our country against another upon a purely local question, and to inflame the worst passions of men by misrepresentations and falsehood, is calculated to alarm those who love the Union and desire its perpetuity. Against the dangers of sectionalism we were early warned by the Father of his Country; yet the tendency of the public mind for the past few years, led on by men sometimes designing, and always fanatical, has been toward that result, until now we see, for the first time in the history of our country, a formidable sectional party, presenting sectional candidates for the highest offices in the nation's gift, and basing their claims to election upon purely sectional grounds. It is appalling to contemplate the consequences which must result from the success of such a party; for it can end in nothing less than the dismemberment of that glorious Union—the work of our revolutionary patriots—the bequest of our revolutionary sires to which we are indebted for our security at home and our consideration and dignity abroad.

The Union had its origin in the wants and necessities of the whole people and of the several States, and every year of its existence has afforded fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings. Under its benign influences, agriculture, commerce—every industrial pursuit—have flourished in an unparalleled degree; and we have grown, in the short period of three-quarters of a century, from an inconsiderable power to be one of the mightiest nations of the world. One might well pause to consider whether it would be wise to throw all these advantages away for the very illusory, unsubstantial gains which sectionalism will furnish.

For myself, "I have not," in the language of the immortal Webster, "coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counsellor in the affairs of this Government whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how the Union should be best preserved, but how tolerable might be the condition of the people when it shall be broken up, and destroyed. While the Union lasts we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. God grant that on my vision never may be opened what lies behind. When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union—on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood. Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatories as "What is all this worth?" nor those other words of delusion and folly, Liberty first and Union afterwards; but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every American heart, Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable."

A firm believer in man's capacity for self-government, I will not allow myself to suppose that the people of Indiana, hitherto devoted to the Union, will become so blind and led away by passion and prejudice, as to be willing to hazard the stability of a government that has afforded them so much of security and prosperity, for the sake of removing a supposed evil that exists without their borders, and with which, politically, they have no concernment. I will rather believe that they will adopt and adhere to those true principles—on which alone can this community of States be lasting—that the people of each State and Territory shall be left free to regulate their own domestic concerns in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States. In this way, each community attending to its own affairs and leaving others to do the same, we may look forward with confidence to long years of continued growth in everything that makes a nation prosperous, happy, and great. But if, instead of this, each community shall undertake to decide, not only what is for its own good, but what is for its neighbors also, then, indeed, shall "we have fallen upon evil times, and the days of the Union may be said to be already numbered."

I have not the time now to elaborate these views, but if I shall have the pleasure of meeting my fellow-citizens through the summer I will attempt it then.

Mr. Buchanan is eminently a national man, of great ability and enlarged experience, and his past record furnishes a sufficient guarantee that the government in his hands will be ably and faithfully administered, not upon sectional but upon national grounds. If elected, he will be the President of the whole Union, not of a part of it. Colonel Fremont has no political antecedents, and we all know that he is the chosen candidate of a miserable, sectional, "higher-law" party, that sets at defiance all constitutional obligations, when they conflict with their perverted notions of political morality.

I feel great solicitude that in this contest the voice of Indiana should be heard above the battle's wreck, proclaiming her devotion to the Union and the Constitution. Nor am I willing to believe that she will maintain any other position. I will not doubt that Indiana—the Democratic young giant of the Northwest—will put forth her united strength to preserve the integrity of our common government. Only let her national, Constitution, and Union-loving people understand the true issue—the living issue—involved in this election, and from every city, town, and hamlet throughout the length and breadth of the State they will rise in their majesty to protect the institutions our fathers made, and to bury in merited oblivion the fanaticism and treason that would rob us of such a priceless inheritance.

Very respectfully and truly yours,

J. D. BRIGHT.

Gordon Tanner, Esq., Sec., &c.