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|5| THE POSITION OF PARTIES.

A stranger in the country, having little knowledge of our political divisions, would be greatly confused in his attempts to ascertain the real meaning of the terms “democracy” and “democratic.” Having received from former free states the impression that the word properly respects the “power of the people,” which it literally signifies, exercised by a majority of themselves for the people’s good, he would naturally look around to see if the modern multitude who employ that ancient appellation are a sufficient part of the community for such a possession, to what large measures of public policy they have given rise, and with what line of conduct they or their leaders have, in general, pursued the interests of the commonwealth. To his surprise, unless he had made of demagogues and their arts a philosophic study, he would find the term, in its better sense, peculiarly misapplied. He would remark, on the one hand, that by far the greater and more intelligent portion of the people, and the portion from which nearly every measure which has in any degree tended to the common benefit, together with each and all of those broad principles that can lead the nation steadily on to prosperity and true greatness, long since originated, make no use of that attractive title, but are content to consider themselves abiders by the Constitution, consistent supporters of the Federal Republic.

By an opposing minority on the other side, he would hear the term vociferated with great zeal at all meetings in streets and club-rooms, whatever might be the occasion of their assembling, and in whatever part of the Union he might chance to be. Anxious to know, as having the finest opportunity since the days of the Athenian ‘democratie,’ the exact weight of the word, especially in their own minds, and what amount of distilled opinion has filtered down to them through the ages intervening, the stranger requests one of the more favorable specimens to define his creed. He replies—“I am a Democrat.” It is intimated to him that principles and names are different things, and he is pressed to state what particular measure he supports that | is peculiarly democratic in its nature ; what great doctrine he believes in ;—briefly, what he is for.—Why, he is “for democracy !” He supports “the rights of the people !” He “believes in Jefferson !” Sometimes the explanation would be varied to the negative form, by recounting, which they are able to do more readily and at much greater length, what they are against. The matter pressed still further, a labarynthine [sic] definition would be the issue, garnished with such a variety of prefixes, according to the locality of the speaker, as to render a consecutive series of ideas out of the question. Our friend, the stranger, grows disturbed in mind. He has lost his old ideas of the word, and gained no new ones. It has become to him a cabalistic phrase, equivalent to the term “great medicine” among the Chippewas or Pottawatamies. But what is this to the public ? The cloak is of use to the party that wear it. They have given to it a most ample latitude of comprehension, and have compelled it to cover, like charity, a multitude of sins.

We shall not quarrel with them, however, for possession of the name. During the few unfortunate years in which they have held the false tenure, they have so encumbered the domain with useless and dangerous structures, so imbued it with unnatural, unconstitutional and destructive elements, so divided and undermined it with radical tendencies leading swiftly downwards to ruin, that we hardly know if any period of rightful usage by the worth and patriotism of the nation could restore it to a just and honorable significance. Nor is it, in truth, of much consequence. Names in themselves are nothing, principles and conduct everything ; and we are desirous rather, in this article, of setting before the public the two great antagonist parties in the country, as they actually stand. We think this will be best effected by sketching, briefly and clearly as may be, the former history up to this time—especially the rise and progress, the early and the latter formation—of the Democratic party. Facts are substantial things : they cannot be lightly blown away by the breath that utters the “euphonious name” so volubly.

|6| Every one is aware that the Democracy of 1844 makes great pretensions to antiquity. It professes to refer its parentage to the Republicans of 1798, and to the democracy of the Jeffersonian era. We think it would be discretion on the part of its leaders to say the least that may be in regard to its birth and childhood ; but if, like biographers having the difficult task to impart a fair character to a bad subject, they must commence with the beginning of a vicious life, it would be well to go so far back as to make a reference to facts impossible.

Great differences of opinion did indeed exist among both public and private men at, and soon after, the formation of the government. They were not in regard to the principles of freedom and legal equality, for these were recognised by all—but as to the offices and powers of the federal government, the duration of terms of office, and the constitution and functions of the judiciary and the legislature. A free government was then an untried experiment, adopted with anxious hope, and confided in with trembling. Its wisest framers did not fully comprehend its capacities, its whole mode of action was not yet fully determined, and theories were for the first time to be reduced to practice. It was natural that in such a state of affairs different views of things should arise even among the wise and patriotic. Nearly every man had undergone the perils of war for freedom, and all were anxious to protect the great and dearly-purchased boon for the benefit of those who should come after them. It is seldom, in a contested case, that an intelligent jury of twelve men can agree upon a result, after a basis of facts has been established by evidence. Much less could it be expected that uniformity of opinion would be attained in so serious a matter as that of the formation of a government for a vast country, embracing a multitude of details, and providing for the exigency of a thousand unknown circumstances.

These differences divided the people at the first, and, with some modifications, for many years, into two distinct parties. They were so far parallel to the parties of the present day, as to be, the one for, the other against, those elements of a general government which experience has shown, are best suited to the condition and permanent interests of the people of this country. The modern Democracy | are slow to trace back their origin quite to so mistaken a position. Yet the chief distinction is, though our opponents may think it a matter of no consequence, that the leaders of the radical minority of that day were honest men. For if, after so many years of reasonable growth and prosperity with the government, as first constituted, unchanged, professed statesmen are yet found supporting opinions that involve a practical opposition to some of its most important principles, what remains but to consider them either incapable or traitorous ?

Not to digress, however, the earliest division of the people arose out of the primitive attempts to form a confederacy of the states, and subsequently on the question of adopting the Constitution so anxiously and wisely framed. The discussions in the several states were protracted and earnest : the friends of the Constitution, with Washington at their head, were designated as Federalists, its enemies Anti-Federalists. But the Constitution once adopted and acquiesced in, the questions which had arisen were rapidly lost sight of ; and the latter designation becoming odious, was readily exchanged for the more popular name of Republicans. With the election of Jefferson in 1800 the power passed away from the hands of the Federalists ; the old controverted points were settled or forgotten ; new and exciting questions, as the impressment of seamen, the embargo, and various foreign relations, followed, engrossing the public mind, and essentially changing the character and position of parties. Finally, the war ensued, which, however looked upon in its origin, eventually created, for the most part, a community of sentiment throughout the country ; and by the close of Madison’s administration all previous party distinctions were effectually obliterated. We state results and facts fully established by contemporaneous history. Mr. Monroe entered upon his office by a nearly unanimous choice of the people. The Republican party of the preceding period, known as such, had placed itself on the important practical questions of the day, rather than on any exclusive claims to democracy, such as are now put forth, with little purpose, we think, except to continue party lines, and enable “scurvy politicians” to throw the dice more frequently for the spoils of office. Sometimes, it is true, an alarm was even then occasionally sounded by the demagogue about aristocratic |7| tendencies, with which opponents were charged ; but they had not made, as now, a false title the battle cry of the party, their first, their last, their only argument. Great measures of foreign policy, almost wholly absorbing men’s minds, had not permitted this small game to be played. In consequence, moreover, of the termination of these questions, and the defeat of the Federalists in reference to them, that party ceased to exist as an opposition. During the whole of Mr. Monroe’s administration, they gave a cordial support to the government, and became merged with their antagonists into one united people, wearied with political strife and disposed to take a calm review of former contests. It was, in truth, the era of good feelings. Here and there some of those small men who feel that at such times they have no chance of emerging from that obscurity for which nature designed them, were endeavoring to maintain the old distinctions of names in local and state elections ; but their miserable efforts received little countenance from the mass of the people. The nation desired repose and a concentrated attention to those matters of internal improvement (we use the term in its best and largest sense) which had before to give way to the all-absorbing questions arising out of our foreign relations ; and on those questions of national improvement, there was, at that time, but little difference of opinion at the North or the South. Southern men had no doubt of the constitutionality and expediency of protecting the national industry. The North concurred in the sentiment, although at that time its ostensible interests were no more connected with this question than those of other sections of the Union. All felt the importance of a national currency, and there was hardly a shadow of a difference as to the means by which alone it could be secured.

Neither was the election of 1824 conducted on party grounds. Local interests and personal predilections predominated. Adams, Clay, Crawford, and Jackson were the prominent candidates for the presidency. They were all recognised as Republicans, and were supported as such. Failing of an election by the people, the House of Representatives, under the provisions of the Constitution, elected Mr. Adams to the chief magistracy. In the contest between these several candidates, the members of the old Federal | party were about equally divided, as they are between the parties at this day. The radical faction of the present day, neither in name nor principles, had any existence at that period. All pretended affinities of a more ancient date are unsupported by fact, the old Republicans holding few or no opinions in common with the modern Democracy.

In the course of this fortunate period there was an incident to which we would wish to call particular attention. It shows how the most violent spirits had felt the composing influences to which we have alluded, and yielded to the general spirit of peace, of unity and nationality which pervaded the land. Some other conclusions also may be legitimately drawn. We allude to a famous letter written during this period by General Jackson to Mr. Monroe. Many may call that letter in question, as some enlightened Democrats would deny that James K. Polk ever opposed a tariff ; but we will not so far distrust the intelligence even of our opponents, as to offer proof of a fact so well known to all who have any knowledge of the history of the times. It is, however, rather remarkable that this letter should be suffered to rest in such comparative obscurity, while the most questionable acts of General Jackson’s life and administration have been trumpeted forth as evidences of his superior democracy. When his most high-handed measures have ever been most ardently supported by those who have been clamorous in their alarms about the monarchical tendencies of conservative doctrines, it is certainly strange that one of the noblest acts of his life should be seldom mentioned. Over his famous proclamation against the Carolina nullifiers, a veil has been drawn, as though his most devoted friends regarded it as a blot upon his character ; and when we allude to his letter to President Monroe, some most consistent Democrat may perhaps charge it to be a political forgery, designed to represent the old chief as failing in his allegiance to a party which had no existence until some time after it was written. But the letter lives. Many of the General’s present political foes remember it as a redeeming trait in his character ; and it may yet furnish the historian with some materials for his eulogy, and the future moralist a proof how much more valuable are a man’s honest opinions in private life, than those he is made to promulge as the head of a polit-ical |8| party. We would say that the remembrance of this letter might yet furnish the hero of the Hermitage much consolation as he draws nigh the termination of his earthly career, if the charitable supposition had not been prevented by the malignity with which he yet assails Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams, and all who have acted in opposition to any measures of his public life. But to the letter itself. General Jackson directly addresses himself to President Monroe on this very subject of the harmony of the two parties, and its delightful effect upon the returning prosperity of the country. He advises the chief magistrate of the country, as from his high standing in the opinions of the nation he had a perfect right to do, that now was the time to destroy forever the “monster party spirit”—that he should take all pains to promote so high and laudable an object, and that in furtherance of it, he could not do better than to compose his cabinet equally from the two great parties into which the country had been divided. General Jackson a no-party man ! Gen. Jackson a peace-maker ! Gen. Jackson advise the appointment of Federalists to office ! . . . . Let us carry our minds some seven or eight years ahead. There is a change presenting itself worth our notice. Mr. Monroe’s administration had been conducted on the noble, liberal, and most truly national principles contained in this letter, and had passed away. His successor, Mr. Adams, had maintained the same high ground, although tempted to depart from them by the most unprincipled opposition by which a man had ever been assailed. We find this same General Jackson in office, and in a condition where he might have properly carried out his own advice. Can it be the same man ? Could Hazael have known so little of himself ? Would he not once have said, “Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing ?” But so it is. Humiliating as the fact is to our human nature, the warmest friend, the most determined foe, must both agree, that since the establishment of the Constitution there had not been witnessed an administration in which so bitter a party proscription had been carried on ; no period in which the doctrine was so unblushingly avowed, that to the victor belonged the spoils of the enemy. At no time had the waters of political strife been let out in such an overflowing torrent on the land. A bitterness and savage fierceness unknown | to former conflicts marked all the administration of this most consistent man, and a more proscriptive party never cursed any country than that which had been studiously, designedly, and with the utmost care brought into being and fostered during that period, which, according to the noble principles of his letter to Mr. Monroe, ought to have been the golden age of peace, of harmony, of freedom from party spirit, and united national feeling in the promotion of every beneficent national work. Whence came this wondrous change ? We will do General Jackson the justice to believe that he had been honest in his advice to Monroe. Men are always so in the declaration of their abstract sentiments. The events which followed were not primarily his. There had been an evil genius working in another part of the Union, who, combining subtlety and talent, playing upon the ungovernable passions of the military chieftain, had so transformed the scene, and dissipated the fair prospect which the letter had given reason to expect. Martin Van Buren, during the close of Mr. Monroe’s administration, and the continuance of Mr. Adams’s, had been playing the small game of “the mousing politician” in the State of New York. His circumstances were peculiar. A very great man then possessed the gubernatorial chair of this State. He felt the spirit of the times, and this, combined with the workings of his own noble and elevated intellect, led him to seek for honorable fame in promoting the best interests of his country. Ambitious he was, but ambitious in the noblest sense, to take advantage of returning peace with a foreign nation, and restored unity at home, in projecting and accomplishing that great scheme of national improvement from which we are now reaping such incalculable benefits. This man completely overshadowed Mr. Van Buren. It was a shade from which he could find no way to emerge into that distinction which he so ardently coveted, and which he felt himself unable to obtain by any means requiring the qualifications of a lofty statesmanship. But Mr. Clinton must be supplanted. He was an obstacle bidding defiance to any competition to be waged on any high and honorable grounds. There were, too, at that time, other great men, intimately connected with great national interests, and most honorably known in the national history. Not only Clinton and Adams, but that |9| name at the mention of which even then every heart in the nation warmed—the noble and disinterested statesman of Kentucky—all stood before him. The former, however, was the man, because the nearest impediment ; the rest were assailable in turn. Clinton must be supplanted. But how ? His antagonist had no resources in the field of exalted statesmanship. His name was connected with no services in the war which had just been fought. He had no plans of internal improvement for the benefit of generations yet unborn. He had no reputation in the world of letters and philosophy like his accomplished rival. What, then, were his resources ? They were of a kind corresponding to the dimensions of the man ; and the humiliating recollection that they were successful is almost lost, when we consider the tremendous consequences for evil with which that success was attained. Mr. Van Buren set himself to a task for which his abilities were exactly calculated. He found here and there some, who, amid the general harmony, were mourning in obscure places over that obliteration of party names in which their own small hopes of distinction would be forever blotted out. He began to scheme in secret with congenial spirits, among whom the then patron and political guide of the present loco-foco candidate for governor held an unenviable distinction. These men set themselves to the noble work of stirring up again the dying embers of former party strifes. In the absence of all meritorious deeds, they hoped to rise into distinction by the revival of those old titles which General Jackson had desired to be consigned to eternal oblivion. Wicked and unprincipled men were tempted with the hopes of office, and weak men were found in sufficient numbers to form the materials of the demagogue. Year after year the object was pursued with a pertinacity which is often a trait of the smallest souls. The title of Democrat was exclusively appropriated to themselves, their opponents, in contempt of the trick, silently permitting them to be successful in the petty larceny. A portion of the more unprincipled of the old Federal party attached themselves to this new phœnix of Democracy, which had so little likeness to its alleged sire, and, as might be expected, became Democrats of the most rampant sort. In short, the elements of party conflict were again revived with more than their ancient rancor. | Mr. Clinton and his friends were styled Federalists, for what reason no one could tell ; but Federalists they were, although a great number of the most strenuous members of the old Republican party were among his most ardent supporters. In short, while Mr. Clinton, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Adams were projecting glorious schemes of general improvement, recommending national universities, national observatories, devising plans for a sound national currency, encouraging the efforts of the then dawning Republics in South America, rendering secure the national credit, and giving us a national character, which, but for the subsequent dark days of Democratic repudiation, might have made us the envy of the world—while these true statesmen were thus employed, Mr. Van Buren, and Roger Skinner, and Silas Wright were engaged in the sublime work of rousing the Democracy, of exhuming the buried ghost of Federalism, and holding it up as a scare-crow for those of their followers who had too little intelligence to discern the miserable cheat. They were then all bank men, all tariff men, all internal improvement men, because a sound and wholesome popular sentiment on these subjects then pervaded the country, in place of that spurious vox populi which has since been the product of their own manufacture, and which is the only species of domestic manufacture to which they were ever in heart favorable. But all these matters were held in reserve as subordinate to the other great matter in which they were so zealously employed, namely, the getting up in some way the old party names, and in adroitly taking to themselves that of Democrats. But we have not space to pursue further the wretched details.

It was in this cessation, then, of partisan politics that the new contest commenced, which resulted in the election of General Jackson to the Executive chair. It was a contest whose impress is yet visible upon the features of the country, and the consequences of which have in a great measure controlled the fortunes of political parties. Out of this contest has sprung the radical Democracy of the present period, and as the character and measures of this party have taken their complexion from the character of their leaders and champions, we shall offer no apology for giving a more extended description of both.

In all respects General Jackson was |10| a remarkable man. He possessed in an eminent degree many of those great qualities which give to one an indisputable command over the many. Born upon American soil while this continent owned the sway of the house of Hanover, he enlisted as a soldier of liberty before the flush of manhood had crimsoned his cheek. His growth was in a sparsely settled country, hardly to be distinguished from a wilderness, where the force of law, the restraints of society, and the rules of civilized life have but little weight. In such a situation self-preservation and self-protection are paramount to all other considerations. At an early day he formed such an acquaintanceship with hardships and danger as to give an indelible character to the man in after years. Self-instructed, and with none to render him assistance or to make the opening pathway of life smooth to his steps, without fortune, friends, or adventitious aids, he acquired an independence of thought and action, a disdain of danger, and a contempt of opposition, which followed him through all the vicissitudes of his career. Vigorous in action, energetic in the execution of his plans, ignorant of, or despising, alike the arts of the courtier and the nice distinctions of the casuist, he, in early life, acquired an influence in the border state of Tennessee which never deserted him while he had an ambitious wish to gratify, or a personal desire to be fulfilled. Possessing a haughty and unbending will which would brook no opposition, and which defied with equal boldness the threats of enemies and the entreaties of friends, he had nevertheless obtained an abiding influence over the affections of a vast body of the people, which rendered opposition to him at the polls almost a useless work. It was not because he was deemed a statesman that he was chosen as a candidate for the presidency, in exclusion of the other great men of the Republic. It was not because he was supposed to be possessed of any peculiar insight into the nature of our government, or of any intuitive appreciation of the duties of its chief executive, that the American people bestowed upon him their suffrages almost by acclamation. In an accurate knowledge of the theory and science of government, and of the details of legislation, Webster and Clay, Calhoun and Crawford, were immeasurably his superiors. His immediate predecessor was, without question, the most accomplished | statesman of the day ; profoundly learned in all branches of knowledge, versed in the history of his country, and understanding practically all its varied and multiform interests. Thus endowed, however, for profound and wide-seeing statesmanship, and fitted to be at the head of a great and growing republic, with all its complicated internal and foreign relations—nurtured among the heroes of the era of Independence, and himself the son of a Revolutionary statesman, John Quincy Adams was, notwithstanding, put down by a whirlwind of clamor and abuse, of falsehood and detraction, such as had never been witnessed in the political history of the nation. General Jackson had other claims to popular homage. It was the delusive glory of his military career which gave him this commanding prominence, and secured the enthusiastic support of the people. He had done the country signal service in its struggles with Great Britain ; he had conducted our Indian wars with signal success ; he had “assumed the responsibility,” and invading the territories of another nation without the sanction of his own government, captured its capital, imprisoned its governor, and dictated terms of peace with all the authority of a sovereign. Right or wrong, he never hesitated in his movements ; and, as success invariably attended his undertakings, he gained credit for sagacity and wisdom. The shrewdness of a few leading politicians discovered in his character a combination of all that was requisite in a party leader. He was selected as a candidate ; the new cry of “democracy” was raised ; and the self-commissioned invader of a foreign territory suddenly found himself the idol of a party that was not over-scrupulous in its means of warfare, or in its choice of weapons. The event justified the accuracy of their calculations. The brilliancy of his deeds in the field, the sternness of his character, and the obduracy of his will, was reflected from his person through the long lines of his partisans, until the humblest of his followers was inspired with an ardor which presaged the victory that ensued. In his private life, the conduct of General Jackson had been equally marked by stirring events. Duels, rencontres, and street-fights, where rapidity of movement and personal courage are decisive, were the methods chosen by him to settle private controversies ; and there are probably those now living whose |10| scars bear attestation to his violent prowess. As a legislator he had not distinguished himself, unless it may be in the characteristic threat to cut off the ears of an unlucky member of Congress, who had ventured to inquire somewhat too closely into the legality of his acts. He made no pretensions to learning or scholarship of any kind ; indeed his education was superficial, and but barely sufficient to conduct him decently through life. Such was the history and character of the man who was chosen to preside over a government of seventeen millions of people, as enlightened, at least, as any other portion of the world.

The history of his administration forms a counterpart to his military career and his private life. He entered upon the discharge of the duties of his high office, doubtless, with an honest desire to serve his country faithfully, and with the intention of observing strict justice and equity in regard to men and measures. But the affairs of a great nation, and the diversified interests of a widely-extended country, could not be managed without many differences of opinion arising between the two great parties, nor indeed without creating serious dissensions in the dominant party itself. The plans and policy of the President did not by any means meet with universal favor ; and at the first serious opposition his wrath was kindled. He could never forget or forgive any one who had placed an obstacle in his path from the conception to the accomplishment of a design. Establishing his own opinion as the law of the land, he regarded every man as a villain who withstood his will. Bold measures, hastily conceived, and entered upon with little apparent deliberation, were pertinaciously adhered to, and crammed down the throats of his partisans—not without some grimaces and contortions of countenance. Obedience to the commands of the party had become a settled law ; and as the party derived its vitality and strength from the character and energy of its chief, his simple word was in all controverted cases held paramount to the Constitution. In the matter of infallibility, he was allowed precedence of the Pope. The voice of the people, expressed through their legally chosen representatives, was to him and his adherents as an idle wind : the behests of sovereign States, conveyed through their senatorial guardians, were equally ineffectual.

| At one time the Constitution—the organic law of the land—is not broad enough to meet his purposes. He gives to its provisions an interpretation of such latitudinarian scope as to astonish a section even of his allies, and their anathemas, neither few nor indistinctly uttered, are brought down upon him. At another time he is found to be so far a strict constructionist as to refuse the exercise of those discretionary powers which for great ends have been wisely deposited in the government. It was expected, of course, that he would fill all the chief posts of executive trust with occupants friendly to his interests, and holding similarity of views. Harmony in the government would require this, to say nothing of the policy and propriety of the course on other grounds. But the Dictator went far beyond this point. Acting upon the principle that the honors and emoluments of office were spoils to be awarded to the victors in the political arena, and treating all who were of another party as enemies to their country, he thrust out the thousands of incumbents from the petty posts scattered from Maine to Georgia, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. This was done irrespective of their character, services, and situation, till there was hardly a postmaster or petty tide-waiter in office who had not blown his penny trumpet in honor of the victorious chief, or lisped with becoming reverence and precision the shibboleth of “the party.” It is conceded that there was no violation of the Constitution or of express law in this course ; but it was a breach of propriety and a stretch of authority altogether beyond precedent. The effects of this system of rewards and punishment are yet subsisting and apparent : we even fear the practice has become a settled principle in the political code. Its effects are clearly disastrous. It has rendered all our political contests more bitter and acrimonious, corrupted the hearts of thousands with the hopes of gain, and driven the dictates of patriotism and the love of justice into a place of secondary importance in the view of multitudes. Patriotism and the love of place do not go hand in hand. If office be the sure reward of partisan fealty and devotion, hypocrisy and a contempt of the well-being of society will most surely follow. For this innovation in our political system the country must render due thanks to Gen. Jackson. That he was besieged |12| by a host of applicants clamorous for benefactions, and often violated his own views of propriety to favor a friend, is no doubt true ; but this does not lessen the evil nor diminish the responsibility resting with him. He was the President of the nation, but he had not virtue enough to forget that he was the chief of a party. The Whigs contended against the introduction of this system, sternly and consistently ; but the power of a long-dominant, corrupt party in a commonwealth to establish—it may be forever—a custom or a tendency unprincipled in its nature, and demoralizing to the people, has not thus for the first time been signally displayed.

Personal pique undoubtedly added in some degree to the violence of General Jackson’s course, and gave a determinating character to many of the measures of his administration. An enemy was at the head of one of the branches of the late United States Bank. The President failed to influence his removal, and procure the appointment of a friend. The friends and managers of the bank did not consult him in regard to the provisions of the new charter applied for, and he had not succeeded in bringing that institution under his control, impetuous in all things, defying all things, whether of gods or men, this was an opposition to his sultanic will by no means to be endured. He commenced forthwith a war of words and measures against that ill-starred corporation, in which he was backed by all the powers of the government, and aided by all the arts of his shrewd advisers. They first destroyed its business and threw discredit and suspicion upon its solvency, never before suspected ; then by crippling the resources and business interests of the country, they weakened its securities and impeded the collection of its vast and extended claims, till by a series of calamities and governmental hostilities beating upon it, the great fiscal institution of the country fell, irretrievably to the ground, and great was the fall of it. In its ruins were crushed the fortunes of hundreds of widows, and orphans, of innocent men, women, and children, whose entire means of subsistence were embarked in its immense capital. This bank had been chartered by Mr. Madison, than whom a better man or a purer patriot never exercised power in the Republic ; and it had been sustained and aided by nearly all the other Republicans of the day. And it must be | remembered that Gen. Jackson himself did not then profess to be opposed in principle to a bank, but to the bank ; for he expressly declared that if application had been made to him, he could have given Congress a plan for a national bank which would have accomplished the desired end. It was reserved to the patent Democrats of a later day to reach that sublimation of political wisdom which perceives certain ruin in a fiscal charter, federalism in a paper dollar, and rank treason in an innocent bill of exchange. Gen. Jackson was something of a Democrat in his day, but he had not attained this degree of acute discrimination. He was strongly in favor of the State banks, fostered them by all the appliances in his power, induced the creation of hundreds in the place of one, and left the currency of the country in a state of hopeless depreciation.

The destruction of the United States Bank was in reality the great measure of his administration. We may look in vain for any important principle settled by him, or any new theory brought forward, except in regard to the currency. In the management of our foreign interests, the honor of the country was protected, and our relations were generally maintained with dignity and caution. There was one notable instance of impropriety, but that was the error of Mr. Van Buren, his Secretary of State. We allude to the unwarrantable and uncalled-for introduction of our internal political divisions into his official correspondence with Great Britain. This was a proceeding without precedent, in every point of view indefensible, and a disgrace to its author. Whatever may be our internal dissensions, towards all other nations the American people should present an undivided front. National dignity and self-respect require the strict observance of this rule—the honor of the people demands it. In impugning the acts of his predecessors, aspersing their motives before the world, and calumniating a large section if not a great majority of his countrymen, Mr. Van Buren, from his high station, ventured to practise the petty arts which a village demagogue might emulate, but which no enlightened statesman of any party could ever countenance. For this unworthy act, the United States Senate rejected his nomination as Minister to England, and most justly ; and this, we predict, will be the decision of every intelligent and impartial mind, when all personal |13| considerations connected with the question and the times shall be forgotten. Gen. Jackson deemed the castigation which his secretary received as reflecting an indignity upon himself. What could he do but enter the lists in support of his favorite, with his usual vigor ?

While the followers of Gen. Jackson were vociferating their attachment to democracy, and the “largest liberty,” the old chieftain was gradually seizing into his own hands all the powers of the government. He needed only a control over the Senate to have established an absolute despotism. As far as its constitutional rights would allow, that dignified body interposed its authority to check the experiments and violent acts of the executive. His denunciations of its members rung through the length and breadth of the land, were echoed with avidity by the partisan press, and formed the theme of factious declamation at Tammany Hall, and from the rostrums of the club-rooms. The U. S. Senate is a constitutional and competent part of the government, with rights and privileges as well defined as those of the executive ; and we have yet to learn what rule of law, or of propriety even, was violated by it during that period. Yet a stranger in the country, from the frequency and violence of those denunciations, might well have supposed that the Senate was a tyrannical body, established and supported by foreign enemies, and bent upon the destruction of the government. Not content with the immense patronage in the hands of the executive, the influence of which reaches to the extremest limits of the confederacy ; not satisfied with the control of the army and navy, nor with a majority in the House of Representatives, which generally registered his decrees with punctilious servility ; Gen. Jackson exercised an absolute mastery over the Treasury, and through that sought to reach the interests and business of the whole people. He wished to regulate the laws of trade, to fix the limits of individual credit and enterprise, and to keep all conditions and classes of people subservient to executive control. This is no fanciful picture ; the tendency of his measures to centralize the whole force of the government in his own person was marked and apparent. It is needless to say, that the Whig party opposed the dangerous innovations, and sought to protect the people from the injurious effects of violent changes.

| With all his obstinacy and independence, Gen. Jackson was easily controlled by a few designing men who had their own sinister ends in view. Mr. Van Buren, with his usual felicity, had gained a commanding influence over him. His ungovernable passions were played upon in such a way, that while he thought himself the most Roman of the Romans, he became the mere tool of one of the subtlest of demagogues ; and it was soon apparent that a suggestion from that plausible gentleman was sufficient to gain for any new design a ready adoption in the breast of the Dictator. How skilfully that influence was exerted has now become matter of history. At the call of the magician, “spirits came from the vasty deep,” that under better influences would never have seen the light. In the ranks of his own party Mr. Van Buren had many enemies of no mean character and standing. They were all driven from executive favor with as much seeming zeal and alacrity as if they had been open enemies of the republic. As no situation in life, no high degree of ability and attainments, is absolute proof against intrigue and cunning machination, Mr. Van Buren was soon left without a rival either in the cabinet, or in the ranks of the party. Mr. Calhoun was distanced in the race, and finally driven over to the opposition with a great show of indignation and obloquy. Senators White and Rives were disposed of in a manner equally summary ; one cabinet was dismissed without ceremony, and on the most frivolous pretexts, and another was overawed and forced into submission. It may have been purely accidental, but it was a singular circumstance, that in all these commotions and difficulties, whilst other gentlemen were discarded, outcast, overwhelmed, Mr. Van Buren was strengthening his position, and gathering force to reach the station already long occupied in mind by his anticipative ambition. We will not insinuate that he flattered the vanity of the President, or pandered to his prejudices and passions, nor that he used unworthy means to displace his rivals : those who know the habits and character of both will draw their own conclusions. But be this as it may, the last three years of President Jackson’s term were employed, it would seem, almost entirely in preparing the way for the succession of the favorite. He had time, however, to make a fierce war upon the State banks, which had sprung up |14| almost under his supervision, certainly under that of his party. The rays of his indignation were all the fiercer as they radiated from the remains of one dead “monster,” and fell upon the sleek and well-fed corpora pingua of a thousand little ones, so recently the objects of his especial care. An exclusively metallic currency, and a return to the age of iron had now become the desire of his heart, and with this measure bequeathed to his successor his administration closed. He had come into power on a wave of popularity, whose reflux had buried many of his truest friends ; the country had begun to groan under the weight of his measures ; but the power of his name, and the unscrupulous use of executive appliances, were still sufficient to elevate Martin Van Buren to the Presidency.

The Whig party at that time confined its exertions principally to preserve the balance of power between the different branches of the government, as the Constitution had wisely left it. The concentration of all the powers of the government in the hands of one man, was an innovation too dangerous to the safety of our institutions to be sanctioned or permitted. They also endeavored to protect the business interests of the country from the ruin which it was too truthfully predicted would follow the sudden and violent changes recommended by the executive. Exercising a conservative influence then as now, they desired to see the resources of the country developed, and to place the agricultural, mechanic, and manufacturing interests on such a basis as to defy the competition of foreign pauper labor, and the hostility of foreign legislation. The great and distinguishing measures which then divided the two parties are not now in issue before the people. We may dismiss the administration of General Jackson with the remark, that when left to his own better judgment, he acted honestly and uprightly ; but passion and deep prejudices intervened, he was ill-advised and moved by insidious arts and practices, and we believe it not unjust to say, that no President has left so bad an example to posterity. The country owes him a debt of gratitude for his services in the field ; and for these he will be remembered by the American people so long as the broad savannahs of the South shall extend their surface to the sun, or the waters of the Mississippi roll down to | the ocean. We would not detract to the smallest degree from his just claims to respect, but there are points in his civil career which cannot be passed over without the severest condemnation.

The advent of Mr. Van Buren did not at first materially change the situation of parties. He commenced his administration with a formal declaration of his principles at his inauguration. It was really void of meaning except as to one point, and in regard to that he was peculiarly unfortunate. He undertook in advance to veto any law that the National Legislature in its wisdom might enact in reference to a particular subject. The design of this was obvious, and its impropriety equally so. We speak of this without any reference to the merits of that question, in itself considered, and merely as to the promise of the President in advance of legislative action. It conciliated no interests, and displeased if it did not disgust all right-thinking men. All that any party could require of the President was to see that the laws were faithfully administered, and the Constitution of the country observed in all the departments under his control. The caution which he had displayed through life seemed to have deserted him at the very moment when it was most needed. Sagacity and shrewdness were the great characteristics of the man. Never to commit himself upon any great measure so far as to preclude the possibility of advocating either side of the question, unless the popularity of the measure was certain, appears to have been his settled rule. Always plausible, always circumspect and wary, feeling his way by inches, and appearing to follow rather than to lead in the track of popular sentiment, Mr. Van Buren had become the first political tactician of the day. There were no commanding traits in his character at all calculated to enlist the popular enthusiasm in his support ; but possessing decided abilities, great experience, and an intuitive appreciation of character, he was always looked up to as a safe pilot by those who were ambitious of distinction and power in political life. No man could foil an enemy or deceive a friend with a better grace ; and he had the art to do this in such a manner as to be himself, not unsuspected, but unconvicted. The blow fell, but the hand was invisible. Mr. Van Buren was a lawyer by profession, and attained a high standing at the bar.

|15| He was a politician from choice, and the whole energies of his mind were from the first devoted to political strategy. Combining the carefulness of a special pleader with the tact of an advocate, he effected and controlled a more perfect political organization in his native State than has ever existed in this country. By the force of this organization he derived his power. Through it he could, and did, exclude every man from office who stood in his way, manufactured “public opinion” to meet any possible emergency, give to his suggestions the imperiousness of law, and yet completely cover up the while both from the general public and from the common ranks of his own soldiery, at once the movers and the designs. His chief officers were carefully posted with speaking trumpets in various sections of the State. His drill-sergeants were at every corner of the streets, presided over his primary meetings, and packed his conventions with accommodating delegates. By these means perfect uniformity of action was attained ; and the future occupant of the Curule chair succeeded for a series of years in controlling the destinies of the first State in the Republic. It may not be uninstructive to exhibit this precious system in detail ; we will give an outline of it, though we have not space to do justice to the subject.

We may remark, in the first place, that all individual opinions, all personal considerations were to be abandoned, and the “good of the party” made the prominent point of observance. Individual will, and the liberty of speech and action, were as completely subjugated under this system as they were under the religious system of Ignatius Loyola. To speak or to write in advance of the action of the central junto, was a capital sin ; and when the central power had fulminated its decrees, political death was the punishment unhesitatingly inflicted on the disobedient. A State committee was organized at the Capital, whose functions were to mark out the ground for action, select the officers of the day, and define their duties. Subsidiary to this was a central committee in every county in the State, and under the supervision of the county committee were sub-committees in every ward, parish, and town. When the word of command was given, the order reached the various outposts at once, and action was commenced through the whole country long before | the public at the Capital had any intimation of a movement. If a Governor or other high officer of State was to be elected and the particular individual designated for the station, the first indication of action would appear in the shape of a recommendatory article in the columns of a newspaper at some remote point, soon followed by others of a like character in an opposite quarter. These would thicken, until at last the central organ at the Capital, with a prodigious show of candor and disinterestedness, would re-echo this spontaneous burst of “public sentiment,” and with a vast deal of coyness and simple-hearted honesty, venture to give its laudatory opinion. If there was any danger apprehended from independent men, preparation was made for a nominating convention ; and in the construction of such a convention, the machinery of the party was admirably arranged. Each town, ward, and parish sent delegates to a county convention, each county convention elected a prescribed number of representatives to a State convention, and this body made nominations for all State offices. At the primary meetings in the towns the faithful servants of the junto were always in attendance, and took a controlling interest in the proceedings ; and the character of all the conventions was thus easily determined, till at last the State convention found the labor completed to its hands, having merely to sanction what appeared to be the general choice ; and the nominations thus effected were supported at the elections by all the force and power of the united body. The lesser offices in the State were distributed in proportion to party services rendered ; the important stations were always filled by those who moved the wires of the great machine. If there was danger of opposition from any of the lesser lights, some soft appliance, in the shape of office, was employed, and the rebellious spirit quieted. But if a man of character and standing, who was beyond the reach of a bribe, ventured to act independent of this insidious power, to abide by what he felt, to express an opinion of his own, he suddenly found himself branded along the whole line, from Lake Erie to the Hudson, with new and choice epithets, and compelled to flee to the opposition in self-defence.

This was the system of Martin Van Buren—the admired organization—the boasted “union of the democracy.” By |16| it he gained whatever was within the capacity of his ambition ; the country lost as much as it could well bear to lose. All consideration of public good, all the innate patriotism of the heart, private judgment and personal predilections, were swallowed up. Party expediency became the sole rule of action—all else thrust aside. “The party” might and did change its attitude with every change of the moon ; driven in its tergiversations from pillar to post ; advocating a principle and insisting on a measure one year to forswear it the next ; and the whole combination, from high to low, were obliged to follow, and declare with the loudest protestations that they were all the while consistent—veritable democrats—their opponents aristocrats and rank federalists. A great part of the principles which this happy family of patriots advocated from 1830 to 1834, they now denounce as downright heresy. Such was the system of Mr. Van Buren. We have given an outline of it, as forming a part of the history of the times, and because its origin and success is really the only great achievement of his life.

That one so cautious in his general policy, and so uniformly careful to avoid all probable causes of discontent, as Mr. Van Buren had been through his whole life, should have been guilty of a positive impropriety in the first step in his executive career, was a matter of no little surprise to his friends. But his subsequent acts threw this circumstance into the shade, and verified the proverb, that “whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.” His whole administration exhibited a series of measures unfortunate beyond example ; and they fell upon the public with the weight of a mountain. These measures centred upon one point—the currency—in regard to which he followed out the intentions of his “illustrious predecessor.” But the name of that predecessor had lost its charm. The time had gone by when a bad measure, though sealed with the imperial assent, could be forced into popularity. It was discovered at last that even his opinion was not infallible ; that his arbitrary dictum was not sufficient to regulate the laws of trade, and the whole domestic policy of the country. The disorders of the times had opened the eyes of intelligent men. They beheld in the vista, not that golden age which the prophets and seers of the new democracy had predicted, nor that ineffable | state which should betoken the advent of a social and political millennium ; but instead, the confusion of ruin, the very “blackness of darkness,” and all-pervading distress. The previous action of the government had called into being a multitude of local banks, and these institutions had been made the depositaries of the government treasures. Stimulated by this impulse, with a superabundant capital, no power in existence to keep them in check, and relying upon the continuance of government favor, these banks extended their business beyond all bounds of prudence. Speculations in every description of property had become universal ; villages and even cities had sprung up in every nook of the remote wilderness of the West, which needed only buildings, business, and people to render them discoverable by the fortunate purchaser ; and “intrinsic value” had become an obsolete term. This state of things had its origin partly in other causes, but mainly in the action of the government ; and by a more sudden action it was checked. The bubble burst, and carried with it not only the illusory hopes of the rash speculator, but the more solid basis of the prudent and circumspect. Commercial houses that had stood firm through all changes for half a century were crushed ; the activity of business throughout the land was suspended ; confidence, and credit, the result of confidence, were destroyed ; the banks, which had been fostered and then attacked by government, suspended payment ; state obligations were neglected, in some instances repudiated ; and even the federal government could not always meet its own engagements. It was at this juncture that Mr. Van Buren disclosed his great measure, and made it the law of the land. The panacea which he recommended in this disordered state of the body politic was the sub-treasury system ; and this was the principal measure of his administration. The nature and practical operation of this system are now well understood, and need no new elucidation ; the discussions in regard to it have occurred quite too recently to have been forgotten by any observer of events. The introduction of such a system in the most healthy and prosperous times would, of necessity, have produced a disastrous revulsion ; and it then added immeasurably to the public distress. The sole pretext for the measure was to protect the govern-ment |17| from losses by the banks ; the real design was to destroy every moneyed corporation in the land. It is a sufficient commentary to state that the government lost four times as much, in the space of three years, by the faithlessness and rascalities of its sub-treasurers, as it had ever lost by all the banks since the adoption of the constitution. The fallacy of the system was quickly shown. Peculation and corruption became at once the order of the day ; nor was it long before the officer who had only abstracted his hundred thousand was looked upon as a tolerable pattern of sub-treasury trustworthiness. It is fitting to remark, that in 1834, this same sub-treasury scheme was denounced by the whole Van Buren party as a measure unqualifiedly infamous : in 1837, he was equally denounced who was not in its favor :—so much had the new Democracy become enlightened in the interval. A wise statesman, in such a crisis, would have exercised his influence in sustaining both public and private credit. A patriot would have regarded the prosperity and happiness of the people as the great end of all government. Mr. Van Buren regarded “the party” as the object of his especial care, and his own re-election as of greater moment than the welfare of the state.

But in all his measures and plans, President Van Buren was doomed to disappointment. Public dissatisfaction was expressed in all forms, in every section of the country. Even the dominant party was divided and rent in sunder. Party trammels could no longer prevent an honest expression of feeling, and thousands of his friends left his ranks and deserted the measures which had brought down destruction upon their own heads. Mr. Van Buren, however, was determined in his course ; he had taken to his embrace all the ultra-radicals of the country and listened to their counsels. There was not a vagary so wild, nor a theory so impracticable, that it could not find protection and friendship under the robe of the new Democracy. The President still believed in the efficacy of party discipline. Possibly he thought that as Gen. Jackson, in whose footsteps he had declared it was his highest ambition to follow, had succeeded in bold measures and radical innovations, he, too, might gain some laurels by a similar course. But events were otherwise ordered. His course had left him no power except that which was inherent | in the office he held. When the day of trial came, his appeal to the “sober second-thought of the people” was answered by shouts of triumph and songs of rejoicing at the election of Gen. Harrison. As a public man, Mr. Van Buren’s history is ended. Discarded by his own party and distrusted by the other, his career presents the singular spectacle of unvaried success through a long series of years suddenly closed by the most unexampled reverse in the annals of American politics. We believe he has private virtues, and that he may be by education and habit sufficiently well fitted to dignify a private station. In his retirement at Lindenwold he will survey the course of events with calmness and fortitude. He may be visited by the phantoms of ambitious schemes. He will behold the vast shadow of popular power, ever changing like a tumultuous mist in the valley, invite him down to enjoy again the unsubstantial pleasures, unstable triumphs, of a political career. But another and a meaner has been thrust before him ; and he may now employ the leisure and abundant opportunities so kindly afforded, to reflect upon the mutations of the popular will, and to add to his busy experience in life some lessons of philosophic contemplation.

We have presented the prominent points in the history of the last two administrations for the purpose of showing under what circumstances the new Democratic party has perfected its organization. Any mention of the present administration would be out of its order in the narrative. If an exhibition of folly in all its phases is worthy of note, if treachery, perfidy, and imbecility need a record, the administration of John Tyler will demand a separate chapter.

We come, therefore, to the Democracy of the day, renewed into a diseased life from the corrupt remains of the Van Buren party. Professing more than ever an affection for the dear people, more than ever alarmed for the security of freedom and the rights of man, it is desirable to see of what this Democracy really consists.

Every thing has a character of some kind, but it is not always easy to discover what it is. The trouble in this case is, that a mere name, and falsely assumed, as we have seen, has been made a convenient external, universal habit for the party, covering all sorts of form and feature. There is no general character belonging |18| to them, throughout the country, expressed in any defined principles ; it is everywhere traversed and broken asunder by sectional doctrines entirely discordant. They are all democrats ; but their explanation of the happy term is ever according to their locality.

In South Carolina the man would meet with little short of decapitation, who should deny that the term means any thing else than immediate annexation of Texas, Free-Trade, and the Right of Disunion ;—this is the lex loci in that state, as laid down by the elect “chivalry.” In Mississippi the same definition would be given, with Repudiation added, by way of illustrating the privileges of freemen. In Missouri a metallic currency is the popular exposition, joined with hatred of railroads, canals, turnpikes, and common schools. In Pennsylvania it signifies repudiation, if they have a mind for it ; a half-regard for the tariff ; and a Mussulman’s belief in the consistency of James K. Polk. In New Hampshire and Connecticut it embraces whatever heresy is promulgated, and especially rejoices in peculiar ideas of liberty to annul legislative enactments. In Rhode Island the idea is embodied in rebellion against legal government, opposition to constituted authorities, and immunity for plunder and anarchy. In New York it has most of these traits and meanings combined, with several others of less significance.

The cardinal principles, indeed, of the new Democracy are reduced to these two : “regular nominations”—and that “to the victors belong the spoils of the enemy.” All measures of a positive kind, having in view the substantial interests of the country, are constantly avoided ; because on such grounds, it is seen, the harmony of the combination would be constantly endangered. There is something in positive measures which requires discussion, and discussion produces thought, and thought leads to inquiry :—but the Democracy must not think. Hence the conduct of this faction, while it boasts so much of principle and censures its antagonists because like independent men they sometimes differ among themselves, has been ever negative and destructive. It has opposed the protection of the national industry ; it has destroyed the national currency ; it denies to the central government all legitimate and healthy powers, while it has enormously increased its corrupt patronage, | thus tending ever to make it strong for evil and impotent for good. It has always looked with an evil eye upon the national judiciary, because it has instinct, if not intelligence enough, to discern that there can be no friendship between itself and the spirit of constitutional law. It has found its very vital aliment in sowing dissensions between different classes of the community. It has endeavored to set the farmer against the manufacturer, the merchant against both. By its stupid cry of aristocracy, it has sought to engender the most unnatural war between those natural allies, the poor and the rich ; and by its senseless babble about Democracy and Federalism, has aimed to raise up a fiercer party strife than has ever been known in the annals of our nation. This has been the finale of that charming picture of promise which Gen. Jackson presented in his letter to Mr. Monroe. This is the issue which has resulted from a prospect so full of hope which the country presented during the administrations of Monroe and Adams ; and this is the Democracy which now claims the title and inheritance of an honored party, with which it has nothing in common but a name which it has most dishonestly filched, and to which alone it is indebted for more votes than it could have procured from any other cause whatever. This is the new Democracy—the Young Democracy, as some call it : a Democracy with which the Clintons, the Madisons, the Crawfords, and Monroes of former days could have held no communion : a Democracy, the rise of which some of those departed patriots were just permitted to witness and denounce : a Democracy which has so largely figured in the prostration of the industry and currency of the country—in Mississippi repudiation—in South Carolina nullification—in Rhode Island mobs—in Congressional contempt for the most positive statutes—in repeated violations of the Constitution—in Texas treaties—in state bankruptcies, and the assumption of the debts of a foreign state—in a radical spirit spreading far and wide, and which threatens, if unchecked, to break up all the foundations of our government. It is a Democracy which everywhere allies itself with infidelity in religion—which holds in most sovereign contempt the intelligence of the people, as is shown by the arguments it daily addresses to them. It is a Democracy which delights in the dregs of all |19| that was really objectionable in old Federalism, while it indulges in the foulest slander of the man who was the country’s right-arm of strength in her hours of greatest peril. It is a Democracy which although young in years has already given promise of a numerous offspring, each wiser than the sire to which it owes its birth. Already, like some species of prolific cactus, is it sending forth its young shoots in offsets from Tammany, now as little thought of as the present loco-focoism was once, but destined in its time to become the young Democracy of its day, and to have its wild notions respecting community of property and marriage, and its hostility to the monopolies of colleges and academies, become the established doctrines of this ever advancing party. In the progression of ideas it has cast off its original founder, the man from whom it drew the very breath of life, and those who yet remain in its ranks are compelled to quicken their speed to keep up with its rapid pace, and to exhibit such a devotion to the growing spirit of lawlessness as is presented in the letter of Silas Wright to the committee of arrangements at the late Dorr meeting in Providence. So rapid is the Descensus Averni that the acts and writings of the founders of the Republic have long since ceased to furnish matter of appeal to these modern patriots. The name of Washington—(significant omen !)—is never seen in the proceedings and resolutions of their meetings. Even the stale reiteration of Jeffersonian principles is becoming less and less frequent among them. In short, it is in every sense of the word a New Democracy, presenting new issues, new measures of destruction, a new and unexampled spirit of ultra-radicalism, of which those whom they claim as their political progenitors had no conception. And all this marshalled under names as new as this new phase of the party itself, and yet, as they would have us to believe, names of renown, names connected with so many thrilling emotions—Polk, Tyler, and Texas.

Beyond the certainty that evil would follow, it is impossible to predict what the American people have to expect if such a Democracy shall succeed to the government. Certainly under such rule there can be no uniform and settled mode of action in any department of the government. It is the virtuous man only who, acting from deep and abiding principles, is ever consistent and uniform ; | the juggler and the knave must bend to circumstances, and adopt such schemes of villany as the exigencies of his situation may require, to keep his neck from the gallows. We are earnest in this matter. It is a point of infinite moment. Our appeal is made to the clear judgment of the United People. As we have said, there is no really beneficent measure that the new Democracy can agree upon. What then, of benefit, can we look for ? what of prosperity think to retain ? what disasters not fear ? The triumph of such a party, composed as it is of the ends and fragments of faction, would be the prelude to a scene of varying and inconsistent legislation, of temporizing and ill-digested measures, which would be destructive of every rational plan for the good of the commonwealth. No classes would be exempt from the influence of their discordant councils. We are taught by experience. They have heretofore prostrated our commercial, agricultural, and manufacturing interests, and there is nothing in the future to be expected at their hands but anarchy instead of peace and good order, and change in the place of stability. If continued under their guidance, the country would at last be divided into factions, each pursuing its downward course with fatal celerity, crushing in its way all those institutions and laws which have given to the American Union its strength, freedom, and respectability.

What the people of this country now desire and need above all things is stability in the government. We have had, for a series of years, sudden transitions, which inevitably produce disorder. The elasticity of the American people is proverbial. Difficulties seem only to inspire them with courage. The ruinous measures which we have noticed could not long keep them in despair ; and it was a proof of attachment to their institutions, not surpassed in the history of any people, that during all these times, while the whole weight of the federal government was interposed to check prosperity and enterprise, full obedience was rendered to the laws. They trusted to their own future action at the polls to remedy the existing evils. The inscrutable order of Providence deprived them of the President of their choice, and thereby of the means of effecting the desired reform, and as yet but one ameliorating measure has been adopted. A Whig Congress has given the country a protective tariff.

|20| Under its operation the national revenues have increased beyond the hopes of the most sanguine : industry has revived ; workshops have been opened that had long been closed ; and a new impulse has been given to all branches of enterprise. Facts give more light to men’s minds than any series of reasonings. Is not, then, such a measure worthy of support ? The conservative part of the Union are committed in favor of the protective policy, on the high ground of principle, and its candidate for the presidency is the father of the system. With Henry Clay at the head of the government, though the details of the law may undergo such modifications as the exigencies of the public may require, the people will have a guarantee that the principle itself will be sustained. On the other hand, the great body of the Democratic party are opposed to the principle. They hold up for the first office in the gift of the people a man, whose whole public course, his votes in Congress, public speeches and acts, convict him of a deep hostility to the system. This is openly proclaimed by his friends at the South, and no man there has the hardihood, and probably not the wish, to deny it. At the North, where the measure is popular, an attempt has been made to create a contrary impression, in direct contradiction of public records and established facts. It is sufficient that in his own neighborhood and state, Col. Polk’s friends present it as the strongest inducement to public favor, that he is an uncompromising enemy to the whole protective policy. Duplicity like this is a sufficient condemnation of any party. In the event of his election, one portion of the people, at least, must be deceived by him, and it requires no gift of prophecy to determine on which the effects of the deception will fall.

The Whig party are also in favor of a wise and beneficent system of internal improvement. That whatever is national in character, or is evidently conducive to the common good, should be done at the common expense by the federal government, would seem to be the dictate of good sense and sound policy. The early and earnest action of the government on this subject, is conclusive evidence that the sages and patriots to whom we are indebted for our freedom and our constitution did not entertain such narrow views of the duties and powers of the general government as the | modern Democracy has adopted. But it is remembered that destructiveness is an element in the character of that party ; they talk ever of progress, but it is not progression for good. The remembrance comes from fourteen years of their legislative sway in the State and in the nation. That the country has improved in any respect during that time, is owing to causes beyond the entire control of any party. The energy of our people, the fertility of our soil, the genial nature of the climate, and the security afforded for life, liberty, and property by the organic laws of the land, are happily beyond the reach of party power. In spite of bad administrations, natural causes have added to the growth and power of the nation. Under other rule it might have been half a century in advance of its present position. The people do not ask favors of their government, but they demand that its action shall not be always adverse to public good. Those whose very existence is bound up in partisan schemes, and whose only labor is the toil for office, seem to regard the interests of government and people as distinct. The people themselves are content when the government discharges its functions with fairness and equity ; but they will not suffer their own public servants to play the part of tyrants and task-masters.

Above all, the Whig party contends for the integrity of the Union. For the mere acquisition of territory they will not consent to disturb the harmony and relationship which now exist among the States. No true-hearted American will stop to calculate the possible value of mortgaged lands in the wilderness, while there exists any danger that their acquisition will bring disgrace upon the character of the nation, or sunder the ties that have hitherto bound us together. He will look with indignation upon that flag, flung to the breeze in one section of the country, inscribed with those words of dark omen, “Free-Trade—Texas—Disunion !” If his heart beats with one patriotic emotion, he will be found only under the banner of stars and stripes, which in every latitude protects and shields the American citizen. Is there an American who does not appreciate the benefits and blessings of the Union ? Let him cast his eyes across the ocean, and see men fighting with their fellows for the very crumbs that fall from the beggar’s hand—unpaid labor and luxurious indolence—excesses of wealth, and the direst |21| poverty—pauperism in all its disgusting forms—taxes on all things, from the light of heaven to the furniture of the grave—and a soldier at every door. Let him then return to his own country and reflect, that within a century, and under the constitution formed by his fathers, it has grown great and prosperous—its population increased from three millions to twenty millions of people—its commerce extended until its flag casts a shadow upon every sea—its population well fed, well paid, and equally protected by the laws ? he will then no longer disregard the importance of domestic peace and unity, but will nerve himself for every contest in which he can do service for the Constitution and the Union.