Valley Spirit

The National Democratic Convention re-assembled at Baltimore on the 18th inst., pursuant to the order of adjournment adopted at Charleston, and continued in session six days. A full account of the proceedings are contained in the present number of our paper. The action of the Convention has not disappointed any one. From the course pursued at Charleston it was evident that the same men would enact the same scenes over again at Baltimore. A portion would stick by the Convention 'till the moment of balloting, and then, when they found their disorganizing efforts too puny to trample the wishes of the masses of the party under their feet, they would withdraw and present a ticket with a view to stab deeper at the vitals of the party by an attempt to defeat the regularly nominated candidate of the Convention. This they have accomplished, but it is all that they will accomplish. The distinguished statesman whose name they have taken the liberty to use without his knowledge or consent will certainly not allow himself to be made the tool of a disorganizing faction. There are honors in store for him too great to be sacrificed by a willing complicity with such a scheme to overthrow the party. The Democratic party can not--must not--be divided in this or any other contest; and woe to the men who will attempt it. We cannot see the wisdom or glory of suffering a defeat with two candidates in the field, when victory with one is certain. Those who will lend their support to an irregular nomination at this time can have no other object in view than the breaking up of the party altogether. Such a calamity to the whole nation can only be averted by extending a faithful and undivided support to the candidates regularly nominated by the Democratic National Convention. The ticket that we this day place at the head of our columns received the support of the representatives of the party who stuck by our National Convention--remained in it at Charleston and held their seats at Baltimore by an unbroken and uninterrupted claim. Their decision we are bound to respect and can know no other. Love of party--love of country, and fidelity to every recognized usage of the Democratic organization, sacredly demands for this nomination our hearty support. We honestly believe that in the end all the jealousies, heart-burnings and antagonism that now exist will be healed, and that the sober, good sense of the party will impel every man in the ranks to unite harmoniously and with enthusiasm on our ticket and carry it forward to victory.

We have not the space to say much in respect to our candidates in this issue of our paper, nor is it required--the name and fame of STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS are household words over the land. Our nominee for Vice President, BENJAMIN FITZPATRICK, now holds the position of United States Senator from Alabama. He has long sustained the reputation throughout the entire South of being one of the most sensible and conservative of her statesmen. In 1841 he was elected Governor of the State of Alabama, after a warm contest, by a majority of ten thousand. As a mark of regard for the faithful manner in which he had discharged his duties as Governor the people re-elected him in 1843 without opposition. He is now serving his third term as United States senator, having last year beaten Hon. Wm. L. Yancey the distinguished Secessionists for that position. No better man morally and intellectually, and no stronger name, could have been placed upon the ticket for Vice President than Hon. Benjamin Fitzpatrick.

The course of the Hon. J.L. Dawson, chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation, points out the path of duty and patriotism which every true Democrat must indorse and follow. He was all along opposed to Mr. Douglas, but after his nomination was fairly and justly made, he gave his hearty concurrence to the choice of the Convention in the following sensible remarks:

Mr. President and gentlemen of the Convention--It is scarcely necessary for me to say that at no time during the sitting of this body did Judge Douglas receive the united vote of the delegation from Pennsylvania, and I may further add that in the consideration of the platform, a majority of us united with our Southern friends ready to give them all we believed them entitled to under the Federal Constitution. In our judgement they asked for nothing more, and we were not willing to offer them less; in our action we have been overruled by a decided majority of this body. And for Pennsylvania, I am free to say, that attached there as we are to the Democratic party, its principles, its discipline, its organization--standing there forever, in the eloquent language of the President of the Convention in his opening speech at Charleston. "Standing as perpetual sentinels upon the outposts of the Constitution," I trust we will abide its decisions and support its nominees.--(Cheers and applause)

Judge Douglas is a man of acknowledged talent and everywhere regarded as the accomplished statesman, skilled in the art of ruling. Born under a New England sun yet, by adoption, a citizen of the West, honored alike in the valley of the Ohio and on the slopes of the Atlantic, he now should belong to the whole country. (Applause) Untrained to some extent in early life in the learning of the schools, the deficiency, if any exists, has been largely compensated by the generous measure in which nature has dealt upon him her choicest gifts of intellect and character. [Applause] Like Henry of the Revolution, like Peel of England, these noble qualities have made him the architect of his own fortune. [Applause]

That the Union is a confederacy endowed with special powers, the States composing it retaining all the undelegated attributes of sovereignty, is the fundamental truth of our political system. In defense of this truth we are about to engage in a new contest, and in the comprehension of its true character we have thoroughly to educate the public mind. The popular heart is to be won back to loyalty by holding up to its contemplation the image of the Constitution in its severe beauty of lineament and proportion. [Applause]

The erring conclusion of our fellow citizens of all sections are to be corrected by a thorough and persevering exposition of their fallacy, and in place of these are to be included the paramount claims of the federal compact to the hearty allegiance in letter and spirit of every American who can comprehend and appreciate the institutions of his country, and who really cherishes a desire for their perpetuity. [Applause]

If here, in this beautiful city, which looks out upon the Chesapeake, any incitement could have been needed to a broad patriotism in our deliberations, it should have been found in the association in the midst of which we are assembled; for it was at Annapolis, at the close of the Revolution, that Washington resigned his commission. It is also within sight of the spot at which we are convened that imposing monuments rise to the greatness of his memory and to the patriotism of the sons of Maryland. [Applause]

Pennsylvania, the State in which independence was first proclaimed, and the work of the Revolution secured by the construction of the Federal compact; the State which holds within her bosom the ashes of Franklin, and boats the first battlefield of Washington, will be true to her noble memories, (cheers,) and in the fullness of that enlightened conservative sentiment, for which she has been distinguished, will rally, I trust, in giant strength cast the dust from her eyes, and aid the friends of the Democratic party once more to elect their nominee. [Loud cheers and applause.]