t only of a
_temporal_, but of an ETERNAL WEIGHT!

But I am not done with these _Democratic_ opposers of SECRECY. The
Convention which formed the Constitution of the United States, sat in
the old State House in Philadelphia, _with closed doors, from the 25th
of May to the 17th of September_, wanting only eight days of four
months. That body of men had a Doorkeeper and Sergeant-at-arms, both
under oath, to keep their doors barred, and all their proceedings a
secret. So says Mr. Jefferson's biography! And such men as Washington,
Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Harrison, Hancock, Hopkins, and
others, composed that body! During the war of the Revolution, General
Washington, Generals Lee, Wayne, Marion, and others, organized a _secret
American Society_, with its branches extending from North to South,
having their _passwords_, _signs_, and _grips_, and writing to each
other in figures, and "an unknown tongue," as the Know Nothings have
been doing, and all, too, with a view to oppose Foreign intrigues and
oppressions! It is as well known as any political truth, that General
WASHINGTON, at the time of his death, was the _President_ of the
Cincinnati Society, a secret political society, in which, we see it
stated on unquestionable authority, no man was eligible to membership
unless he was a _native American_. The _Columbian Order_, known as the
"_Tammany Society_," was a secret political society, and highly
influential, and maintains its existence to this day, and without danger
to the liberties of the country. Gen. SAM HOUSTON publishes to the world
that himself and Gen. JACKSON were members of this Society. What say the
_anti_-Americans to all these facts? Do they believe that Gen.
Washington, or Jackson, would have united with any association or order
not purely American? Would either have entered into any political
league, when _secrecy_ was enjoined, if he had not approved of the
principle of secrecy in political associations? Never! From the
characters of Washington and Jackson--the sacrifices they made for their
country, united with their fervid patriotism, and their known preference
for every thing _American_, I do not doubt for one moment, that if they
were both now living, they would unite with the veritable Order of Know
Nothings!

I believe the hand of God to be in this very movement, and as much in
the _secrecy_ of it, in the outset, as in any other feature. I regard
the movement as one growing out of a grea