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Executive Administration,
Mr. WISE rose and offered the following I
resolution. - ?
Resolved, That so much of the President’s
message as relates to the condition ot the vai i
ous Executive Departments, the ability and in
tegrity with which they have been conducted,
tho vigilant and fiitbfu! discharge of the public
business in all of them, and the causes of com
plaint from any quarter, at the manner in which
they have fulfilled the objects of their creation,
be referred to a select committee, to consist of
nine members, with power to send foi persons
find papers, and with instructions to iiMpiire in
to the condition of the various Executive De
partments, the ability and integrity with which
they have been conducted, into the manner in
which the public busiues has been discharged
•in all of them, and into all cruses of complaint,
from any quarter, at the manner in which said
Departments, or their business, or offices, or
any of their officers or agents, of every de
scription whatever, directly or indirectly con
nected with them in any manner, officially or
unofficially, in duties pertaining to the public
interest, have fulfilled, or failed to accomplish,
■ the objects of their creation, or have violated
their duties, or have injured or impaired the
public service and interest. And that said
committee, in its inquiries, may refer to such
periods of time as to them may seem expedient
and proper.
Mr. Wise then addressed the House as fol
lows:
Mr. Chairman: In sub nitting the resolution
of reference which 1 have sent to the Chair, I
deem it my duty to offer some reflections to the
House and to the country.
Sir, this paper is the last annual message of
Andrew Jackson. The contemplation of it as
such is deeply affecting to the sincere .’over of
him, and solemnly mournful to the honest lover
of his country.
What should the 1 ist annual message of
Andrew Jackson have been? Whc is he, what
has he been! The answer to this question
ought to determine what this last act of its
, kind of his should have been.
A man of humble but respectable origin, he
was born in the times of his country’s travail
for independence. His precocious spirit of
resistance to oppression marked his infant bo
dy with the scars of the Revolution. After the
times which tried men’s souls had passed away;
after the blessings of freedom had been secured
by all the muniments of the institutions of our
fathers, the fruits of peace, and virtue, and wis
dom, and jealous patriotism; after varied and
chequered scenes of private and public life,
under a destiny adverse only so far as it was
full of dangers, in games not Olympic, in con
tests not heroic, we find him in the midst of
his country’s second troubles, a citizen soldier,
a Major-General of the Army of ihe Republic.
He “was ambitious of fame; and as long as
mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal
applause on their destroyers than on their ben
efactors, the thirst of military glory will ever
be the vice of the most exalted characters.”
A bold, energetic, and dauntless commander,
he carried conquest, in spite of all dangers
and difficulties, into the wilderness ofthe sav
age tribes of the Southern frontier; was the
daring but successful and justified invader of a
neutral territory, and finally “filled the mea
sure of his country’s glory” in defence of Or
leans, where he assumed to be the arbiter of
martial law, the judge advocate of men’s alle
giance—where he conquered the conquerors
of Napoleon—where he professed and practis
ed submission to the civil authority, and where
he acquired the title of Hero. And there
created, 1 will not say “a dear-bought debt of
gratitude” from his country.
“Hail, second Saviour! ’ was shouted from
the lips ofeveiy grateful heart, and echoed
from every hill any valley; his name was em
blazoned high on the rolls of imperishable mil
itary fame, and peace was quick to hallow his
victory. With peace bis warlike occupations
were gone, but civil honors were showered and
thickened around him. From the camp he
rose to a seat in the Senate chamber—for
then the Senate chamber was higher than the
camp. He bore or seemed to bear, his hon
ors patiently; but all that had been done or
could be done, it seemed was not enough for
him in the estimation of a generous people.
He was nominated forthe first place on earth
—the Presidency of these united, sovereign,
and independent States of America; tor then
these States were united, sovereign, and inde
pendent. Civilians and statesmen, of proud,
est names and stations, were his competitors,
but he was the peoples candidate against men
in office, against tlie powers that were, against
their intrigues their patronage and their cau
cuses; and in consideration thereof, and ot his
just appellation of Hero, he was most popular
and strongest in the plurality of votes. He
was defeated —defeated here, in this Hall, in
the House of Representatives, by men such as
we are—and what we, the Rrepsentatives of
the People, are. I will not name—by means
I will not describe. It is sufficient to say
that the manner ol his defeat was not only e
nough to ensure his subsequent triumph, but
to rivet him immoveably, right or wrong, in
the hearts of his countrymen forever. He be
came the champion of popular rights and the
elective franchise, against office-holders and
office-seekers —the favorite pet of the people,
who was to scourge bribery and corruption,
whose name was to be a terror to all evil-doers
whose policy was to be retrenchment and re
for ik, by whom the independence ot Congress
of Executive patronage was to be maintained,
by whom that patronage uas to be maintained,
harmlessness, and in whom the line ot “safe
precedents” was to be broken and destroyed.
Ho was swept and rushed along on the roaring
tide of an overwhelming popularity high up
into office, on the second flood, and that popu
larity lias never deserted him—no fickleness in
it, it has never retired for a moment: notwith
standing strong winds which have blown from
every point of the compass, and opposing cur
rents in every direction, it has continued to
•well and swell, until it has become a flood —
I will not say which threatens the dry land.
He etime into power professing smd proclaim
ing the most severe, ay, stoical democratic
principles, the people confided iu him, were
bound to him the closer, and have never yet
wavered in their confidence —I will not say,
though he has tried it to the uttermost. Un
fortunately for him, when he was crowned
with the reward of his military services, and
■was inducted into office, he not only found
“competitors to be removed, enemies to be pun
ished,” but he was beset \>y friends from whom
he should have put up prayers to be saved. I
will not say that he was lacking m those mag
nanimous qualifications of a truly great man.
which alone could rid him and guard him from
these misfortunes —for man, poor feeble man,
is weak under the most ordinary temptations,
and his virtue must be strong who presides in
a palace —but misfortunes they were.
So it was, he was buoyed up in the affec
tions of the sovereign people. Has he done
wrong? He was popular. Had he done worse
than wroug? He was popular, and he was
the President who could do no wrong, in whom
p .pularity was joined with power and patron,
awe. Has ruthless proscription for opinion’s
sake turned faithful public servants out of
their employment, and snatched from the
mouths of their families their bread? We are |
told the I i esident ordered the removalsand the
people had sanctioned proscription! Has fa
voritism filled the vacancies which proscrip
tion has made with the servile tools ot party
to do the bidding of power? We are told that
the President had need of his own friends, and
that the people have sanctioned the maxim,
•‘that to tlie victors belong the spoils!” Have
the highest and richest offices, worth more
than half of a million, been bestowed as re
wards upon members of Congress, and has
“corruption become the order of the day?” we
are told that the President was the best judge
ot the selection ot high functionaries, and that
the people have sanctioned the “order ot the
I day!” As “til! the reign of Severus, the virtue
and even the good sense of the Emperors had
! been distinguished by their zeal or affected
[ reverence for the Roman Senate, and by a ten-
I der regard to the nice frame of civil policy in
' stituted by Augustus,” so had the virtue and
even the good sense of preceding Presidents,
till the reign of Andrew Jackson, been distin
guished by their zeal and reverence for the
American Senate, and by a tender regard for
the nice frame of civil policy instituted by the
fathers of our Republic!—Had “his youth”
like that of Severus, “been trained in the im
plicit obedience of camps, and his riper years
spent in the despotism of military command!
could not his haughty and inflexible spirit dis
cover, or would he not acknowledge the ad
j vantage of preserving an intermediate power,
however imaginary, between the Emperor and
the army?” As in the reign of Severus was
the Senate filled with polished and eloquent
slaves from the eastern (and I may add South
ern) provinces, who justified personal flattery
by speculative principles of servitude!” Have
the Lawyers of his reign, whom I will not call
Papinians or Paulusses, or Ulpians, “concur
red in teaching that the imperial authority was
j held not by the delegated commission, but by
: the irrevocablb resignation of the Senate? and
| that the Emperor might destroy vested rights
I and the incorporations of law by his sic void!
We are told that the aristocratic Senate had
dared to offend the majesty of the President,
and the people have santioned the word “can
pungcl” Has the independence of Congress
been totally destroyed by corrupt bribes and
the power of appointing members to office?
We are told that the representatives of the
people are selected to do the will oi the Presi
dent, and that the people have sanctioned the
creed that there can be no treason to the coun
try so long as there is fidelity to "the party.’
Has tho President “assumed the responsibility,”
siezed the custody and the control of the pub
lic money in defiance of all law and precedent,
and placed them in the hands of a traitor, and
a perjured knave? We are told that the mon
ster bank was his enemy, and that the people
have sanctioned the “union of the purse and
the sword.” Has he assumed to himselfjudi
cial powers and the prerogative to administer
the laws and the Constitution according to his
own interpretation and his own irresponsible
will. We are told that the President’s con
science alone is concerned in their execution,
and that the people have sanctioned in him the
power of Imperial Magistrate. As Imperial
Magistrate has he “assumed the conduct and
style of a sovereign and conqueror, and exer
cised, without disguise, the whole legislative
as well as executive power?” We are told
that the President is ‘-the Government,” and
♦hat the people have sanctioned the pretention
that all offices and their powers are his! Have
the expenditures of his administration increas
ed and grown enormously beyond all example,
to 38 millions from 15 millions, without a cent
of public debt to be paid? We are told that
the President is the best judge of the wants ot
the country, and that the people have sanc
tioned wasteful and profligate extravagance!
Have thousands and hundreds of thousands
been expended on east rooms and gravel walks,
and all the regalia of a palace in fact, for a re
publican officer in form? We are told that the
President’s Court should be as splendid as any
King’s, and that the people have sanctioned
royalty! Has the patronage of the Federal
Government been tremendously increased and
exerted in conflict with the ireecom of elec
tions? We are told that the reign of the Presi
dent should be perpetuated, and that the peo
ple have sanctioned the interference ot the of
fice-holders with the elective franchise! Has
the currency of the country been totally de
ranged,and is there danger of an universal crash
in trade and finance? We are told that the
Presidents golden experiment must be fully
tested to our hearts’s content, and that the pco
pie have sanctioned the “inverted pyramid” of
local bank paper rags, which threatens to tot
ter over our heads! Has “the fine theory of a
republic insensibly vanished, and made way
for the more natural and substantial feelings of
a monarchy?” We are told that the Presi
dent may be a King by the will of the people,
and that the people have already consented to
the change! Has the President been “freed
from the restraint of civil laws can he com
mand by his arbitrary will the lives and for
tunes of his subjects, and,” finally, “has he dis
posed of the empire as of his private patrimo
ny” by nominating and electing his successor!
We are told that the President was entitled to
his right of elections as well as other men, and
that the People have sanctioned and submitted
to his dictation!
Sir, let me not be misunderstood. Let no
one infer that I am indulging in any tirade a
gainst the President, or that I am venting any
spleen whatever. No, sir; no. Far, far be
it from me now, now when it is too late, if ever
it was right and proper to indulge in stronger
invective against a Chief Magistrate than
truth and patriotism required. He of whom I
speak is. 1 deeply regret, now lying on th j
couch of human suffering, the last I fear, from
what 1 am told, of his sufferings in this world
of sorrow. I too have served him with more
than half the zeal I ever served a more omnip.
otent master. He w ill, if he lives, soon retire
from the palace of power, and resign all the
pomp and circumstance of state and station in
to other hands, which are to reign after him.
God grant, sir, that his retirement may be that
peaceful and calm and blessed retirement from
the harrassing cares of office, which belongs
to wisdom, virtue, and the consciousness of
being a public benefactor-r-such as was illus
trated in the examples of a Washington and a
Madison. My prayer fervently is, that he
may yet live long at his beloved Hermitage,
in the holy retreat of his own private sanctu
ary, and spend the decline of his days in sol
emn reflections upon the scenes and events ot
a long life, most actively spent in deeds big
with the fate of a country he has defended,
and of its institutions “hallowed by the wisdom
of sages, and consecrated by the blood ot he
roes.” May he live long to witness the ef
fects of his errors, if errors he has committed,
to acknowledge and repent of them; and in
like manner to enjoy the blessings ot his ad
ministration, if of any blessings it has been
fruitful. No, sir; my meaning is not now to
condemn the President, but to defend the peo
ple. This is the sole object of the questions 1
have put. Ido not mean to accuse the Presi
dent of all these enormities against civil liberty,
of which I have asked— is he guilty? Nor do
I admit, if he is guilty of them, that the People
have sanctioned all or any which 1 have enu
merated. But, sir, I merely state the fact,
that the party who claim to hold him in keep
ing, and to hold on to his power after him,
claim and tell us that the People have yielded
every thing worth preserving, and have sane- I
tioned all these enormities, and more, and |
worse. What their object maybe in admit
ting these encroachments.and in claiming that i
the people have sanctioned and approved them,
I know not, unless they mean hereafter to rely I
upon most “unsafe precedents!” Ihe fact is j
alarminglv so, that these claims are now set up, .
going so far as to asperse the People whom
they affect so much to reverence with approv- I
ing and sanctioning proscription, corm phon. \
arbitrary power, the destruction of the checks |
and balances of the Government, profligate er- :
travagance in its administration, Executive die- I
tation, royalty itself and a caucus succession .
in an elective monarchy ! In advance, I warn ,
them that 1 now deny the fact that the People ,
have sanctioned or approved of anv such u:i- !
pardonable sins against them or their only b d- .
warks of safetv. If this people have yielded
already what “ the party” claim, they womd I
have yielded all for which their fathers fought; ,
and those fathers would rise, it the mighty I
dead could rise from their very graves to re
proach their d'based degeneracy, and their j
cruel injustice alike to th an and all posterity. |
- I have done no wrong to Jackson, then, as ;
all candid minds will bear me witness; 1 have j
given him credit fir “every captive he has j
brought to Rome.” At the same time, I do :
not mea.ii to say he has not committed many i
grievous errors. For many of them I can well ■
account, though I cannot pardon. We an? j
taught in history that suspicious princes often !
promote the last of mankind from the vain per- i
suasion, that those who have no dependence,
except on their favor, will have no attachment, ;
except to the person of then’ benefactor. —
Thus were the I’erenmses and Cleanders pro- |
inoted bv a Commodus. and such ministers I
were well qualified to drive from the esteem j
of such a prince the “faithful counsellors t" i
whom a Marcus hid recommended his son.’ >
The one “a servile and ambitious minister, 1
who had obtained his post, oy the murder of
his predecessor, but wh<» possessed a coaside- |
rabie share of vigor ami ability;” the other j
“ was a Phrygian by birth, of a nation over j
whose stubbor • b it servile temper blows only
could prevail. He had been sent from his na
tive country to Rome in the capacity of a
slave. As a slave he entered the imperial pa
lace, rendered himself useful to his master’s
passions, and rapidly ascended to the most ex
alted station which a subject could enjoy. His
influence over the mind of Commodus was J
much greater than that of ins predecessor. |
Avarice was the reigning passion of his soul, {
and the great, principle of his administration.
The rank of consul, of patrician, of senator,
was exposed to public sale. In the lucrative
provincial employments, the. minister shared
with the governor the spoils of the people.
The execution of the law i was venal and ar- '
bitrary.”
Is it astonishing that, with mii.istcrs like
those of Commodus, tempted as they were by
the public money in deposite, and by ihe viis:
public domain of this nation, stretching over
rivers and lakes, and prairies of unbounded ‘
extent and inexhaustible fertility, Jackson was j
duped, and the public deposit.es were removed |
within reach of I’erennis and Cleander? A- j
gain, sir, an incident in the history ot this |
same Emperor, very similar to the one in the j
history of our own Piesident, accounts for his '
hostility to the Roman Senate. One evening. !
as the Emperor was returning to the palace <
through a dark and narrow portico, in the am- \
phitheatre, an assassin, who waited his passage
rushed upon him with a drawn sword, loudlv
exclaiming, “The Senate sends you this.”!
The conspiracy was proved to have been form- i
ed ribt in the*Senate, lout within the walls of
the palace. But “the words of tire assassin ,
sunk deep into the mind of Commodus, anil •
left an indelible impression ot tear and hatred !
against the whole body of the Senate. The !
Delators, a race of men discouraged, and al-)
most extinguished under the former reigns, a- ■
gain became formidable as soo i as they disco- 1
vered that the Emperor was desirous of find
ing disaffetion and treason in the Senate.”
Sir, we all know that in the snapping of a per
cussion cap tho President heard distinctly tire
words, “Tire Senate sends you this’—that
that detestable race of men called Delators :
were ready to swear that the conspiracy was j
formed in the Senate ; and, it there was not a |
better reason, perhaps to the act ot a madman j
now confined in prison might be ascribed tire I
President’s past hostility to the Senate. But j
there is a better reason. “By declaring them- J
selves the protectors of the People, Marius I
and Ciesar subverted the Constitution ot their |
country.” And, perhaps, in the histories ot !
Marius and Caesar our modern Cleaiiders learn
ed that an “humble and. disarmed” Senate is j
always “ found a tractable and useful instru-j
ment of dominion.”
Inacertain event, if the election of Presi
dent had filled in this House, an “ humbled
and disarmed Senate” have been found
—a “tractable and useful instrument,” indeed,
to elect an Elagabalus, under whom another
Hierocles might have enjoyed the honor of be
ing “empress’ husband;” and under whom
“ a dancer might have been made priefcct ol
'the city, a charioteer prmfect of the watch, a
barber pnefect of the provisions,” and all “ re
commended as fit officers— cnormitale membro
rum!” Sir, 1 might eumnerate numberless
such excuses for numberless such errors of
the President, or rather of the President’s min
isters. But enough has been said, and t mean
not to condemn or accuse him, 1 repeat, but to
defend the People, whom “the party” accuse
and condemn.
If it betrue, as we are told, and I do not
say it is not true, that Zhe President has made
and unmade men in office, has proscribed the
faithful, has corrupted the pure, and humbled
and disarmed the Smale, has made the House
of Representatives servile and dependent, has
seized and squandered the public money, has
deranged the currency and endangered every
man’s estate, has controlled elections, has as
sumed royal prerogatives, made himself a king
and a .king his successor; and if it be also
true, which I utterly deny, that the People
have sanctioned all this exercise of absolute
power, I ask gentlemen of all parties, those
even who claim to be the exclusive keeper’s ot
the king’s conscience, if' this does not prove
one virtue—the virtue of constancy, at least,
in the People '! Have they not been constant
and confiding bevond measure in their attach
ment to him ? Has their fault not been in too
much confidence and constancy ?
If what they say be true, and it is a main ar.
gument with them, that the voice of the Peo
ple is the voice of God; that whatever Jack
son has done they have sanctioned; that he
spake, and they willed it; that he vetoed, and
they voted with him; tiiat he dictated, and
they obeyed,—is this not proof positive that
their affections and their voices have ever sus
tained, have ever animated, have ever indul
ged, have ever justified and excused him?
Such unexamp ed confidence, such unexam
pled constancy, such unex . mled attachment
and affection were never witnessed before in
any people towards any ruler; and I put it to
the candor and sense of justice of all men to
say whether what the People have yielded to
their favorite has not been much more, trebly
more, than reward enough for all his services
and sacrifices, however great? Admitting tile
debt of their gratitude to him to have been ev
er so great, 1 ask if the debt has not been
more than paid ? Whether the President does
not now owe more than he cun ever pay to a
Soit $ Sit f W i ♦
generous people, who have confidingly, to a
criminal degree, entrusted him with their all—
their honors, their rights, their liberties, their
sovereign power? Sir, whit can one aged
man, fast hurrying to the grave, pay to a peo
pin in consideration of what till the treasures
of cv.rth and all the blood of them and their
children, may not b'.iv? Nothing! Nothing!
Yes, yes, there is one boon, one sacred legacy,
of inestimable value which, in parting Jroin
them and the world, he might h ive left them.
He might have left them the legacy of a pa
triot’s a Ivice. Ho nnght have" left their: the
truth, and solemnly imprinter! it upon tneii
minds and memories forever, that “they ha...
trusted him too much. ' and Ins advice to them,
never, never in their history to trust another
man as they had trusted him,” and he might
have returned them their trust, and have re
stored them to their senses. 1 his, and tnis
only, would have repaid them- It would have
restored to them what has been taken from
them, which alone can compensate for itself-
The last message of such a President to
such a People should h ive been the “farewell
ot a father to his children. It should have
been deep in wisdom, profound in its philoso
phy, hallowed in its lessons of virtue, calm in
its tone and temper of reason, eloquent tn its
appeals, snbfiine in its moral, and passionate
only in its fervent affection. It. should have
been the legacy of Augustus to his successors,
the “ farewell” address of Washington to his
countrymen!
But this is the last.anmtal message of Andrew
Jackson ! I would, for him and his country,
that it was any thing but what it is. And iz;/iy
is it wh itilp.s? Gentlemen will pardon me—
I mean nothing disrespectful to the President,
when I sav thev know ii is due to candor and
trull, to sav—it is a h it it is, because it is not
the message at all. <f Andrew Jackson. They
k iow that, immediitelv upon the adjournment
of tho last, session oi Congress, the President
■mil his Prime .Ministers were dispersed irom
their duties at the seat of Government, and
from the cares of prilic business, on their re
sp tclive missions ti the States of this Union.
He of State bore tespatches to Georgia, and
•‘the Old Chief hi is df” was lugged along
through Western Virgi Ha, over
“ Ruts and ridges,
“ And bndsi'os
“ Mace of planks,
“In (.pen ranks”
to Tennessee and Alabama. It. is a pity, sir,
that moi'c of the people had not. witnessed the
Executive electbneermg tour, for then, per
haps, more of the States would have followed
the example of Georgia, and Tennessee, nei
ther of which could bi seduced or intimidated
into the support of “ the man”—a Tennessee
Coast said, “the dog"—-as well as “the mas
ter.” lam told that they carried him about
like a lion for show, and made him roar like a
lion. Thev had catechisms prepared for him,
a id the negotiations of the mission were con
ducted by preconcerted questions and answers.
A crowd would collect—on the highway or in
the bar-rooms, no nutter which—and some
“ village politician” of “ the party’' would in
quire—“ What think you. General, of such a
man ?” [u a loud tone, much too stentorian
for those lungs which are now lacerated, the
answer wrung —“He is a traitor,sir.” “ 1 here,
there !” repeated the demagogues to the crowd
—“did you n< t hear that?” “What think
you of another, General? “He is a liar,
sir!” “ What of another ?” “Heis a black
cockade Federalist!” Os another! “He
made a speech for which he paid some steno
grapher five dollars !” And another was—
"Of no account —no account, sir, and ought
to be sent home to have his place supplied by
a more etliciciit muiij’’ and another was—
“ Upon tho fence, sir—upon the fence !” “But,
General, what think you of —Mr. (the first time
Reuben was ever called Mister!) Reuben M.
Whitnev?” “There is no just cause of com
plat ,t against JZr. 11 hdney, str; lie is as true
a patriot as ever was; they are all liars who ac
cuse him of aught wrong, and the official doc
uments prove them to be so!” All the while
these responses were repeated bv the deacons
of the service, and the people were called to
give heed to them. Those who saw the farce
and the frauds, did heed them, sir--did heed
them.
My friend (Mr. I’.) told them that they
would kill him: that there was too
and fatigue: too much slam!
i too much bustle and e x cite me ifi« 'lidt ■♦. i
. infirm old man to bear. But still, they show
ed him about, in the heat of summer, and s/i7Z
I they made him roar, until he frightened the
1 ueople, who at last began to apprehend he was
j a lion ionic to devour their freedom ofelections,
and all else they valued as dear. Defeated in
i his mission, he at length became disgusted
i himself, chagrined and mortified. He return
'ed to Washt igton through Ohio, and, by the
I Guvamlotte route through Virginia again, and
I has been sick and disabled ever since. The
i loss of Tennessee, particularly the Hermitage,
| excited him still more, and this renewed excite
| meat may have caused that hemorrhage at the
lungs which has been pouring out the current
lof his life. At no moment since his return
i has he been able to write ur dictate a message,
i There he has been lying, as it were, a dead
j lion, who could not even “ shake the dew drop
1 from his mane.” and his couch of infirmity has
) been haunted by the I’erenmses and Cletinders
!of his palace as by Vampires. In their hands
I has he fallen, and it is because this “ last an
■ nual message’’ conies to us and the country
reeking with the fumes of the Kitchen Cabinet,
that it is what it is !
What is it ? 'J'lio worst as well as the last
annual message which Andrew Jackson even
ever wrote — 1 had like to have said, ever
j sent to both Houses of Congress. Its vanity
| and egotism—its profane hypocrisy, and so
. lemn mockery of the good man’s supplications
i to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe—its so
phistical nonsense, showing its duplicity to a
I foreign power, and concealing its real policy
from ourselves—its low, ad captandum argu
meats, addressed to all the preju lices of igno
rance and passion, <o justify the most shame
less attacks upon the currency for the vile pur
poses of licensed depredators on the public lands
—its glaring falsehoods as to the most impor
tant facts of trade, currency, banks of deposite,
and finance—its electioneering, continually
harping upon an institution dead in fact, and
thrice wounded since dead —its oft-repeated
homily against one good bank, and its unblush
ing recommendation, m the same breath, of
nearly half one hundred bad and irresponsible
banks—its disingenuous attempts to reconcile
glaring inconsistencies of the President on the
deposite and distribution measures —its pitiful
apologies for the disgrace of our arms by Oce
ola—its bold recommendation of an increase
of the standing army—its unjust attempt to cast
censure, due to the errors and blunders of the
administration itself, upon the shoulders of an
innocent State officer, and then calling for an
appropriation to repair these same errors which
it says are not those of this Government—its
false claim of a national policy, founded in hu
manity, towards the Indians- -its reiterated
Jesuitical recommendation of an amendment of
the constitution as to the election of President,
which was never meant to be carried into ef
fect by “ the party,” or to be any thing more
than a topic with which to prejudice the peo
ple’s minds against an election by the House—
its impudent boast of the intelligence and pat
riotism of the successor, v Imm Executive pa
tronage and dictation have succeeded tn elect-
ing—its shallow political economy—its dema
£oguism—its arts of vile detection and hmn
buggery —its rankling venom of party spirit—
its miserable rhetoric, sinking below criticism
—its grovelling moral sentiment —its total
want of all sage counsel or advieo, and of all
pathos and feeling—are all equalled only by its
false cert if cate in chief to “the prosperous
condition of all the various Executive Depart
ments,” to “the ability and inteokity” with
which they have been Conducted, and to the
fact of the President’s belief “that there is no
just cause of complaint from any quarter, lit the
manner in which they have fulfilled the objects
of their creation !”
Now, sir, complaints have been loudly made
from various quarters, by this House and in
the press, by responsible persons, as to the con
dition of most of the Executive Departments,
and as to the want of ability and integrity with
which they have been conducted; and investi
gation by us of the truth or falsehood, justice
or injustice, of these complaints, have, hereto
fore, been doggedly and repeatedly refused.
“The party” were content with the mere af
firmation by the President to the crowd of their
innocence and puritv, when he knew no more
about their guilt, than he knew of the facts of a
certain event ir this Capitol last winter, ot
which vou and I, Mr. Chairman, knew all, and
more than we wanted to know; about which
if the Tennessee papers are to be believed, the
President has given another certificate, though
he was more than a mile olf, and there were
at leasi seven fathoms of bricks and mortar and
stone between him and the place ofthe occur
rence. Thev have made him a witness in
both cases where it was impossible for him to
be a witness, and in giving his testimony he
has been compelled to resort to his “imagina
tion for his facts.” I cared nothing about the
cel tificate.s ofthe President, so long as they abi
ded in the ephemeral form of heated partisan
declarations along the public roads, or so long
as they were read from the stump merely a.
thousand miles olf. ikat, siv, this “certi/ica.te
in chief” is no longer a mere tavern ipse dixit
on the highway, but it is to be filed in the ar
chievcsof this Government as a part and par
cel ofthe “last annual message”' of the Great
est and Best!! Pereimis and Cleander have
certified to their own good bi havior, innocence,
and purity, have incorp rated their certificate
in the “last annual message,” and have affixed
to it the official mamuil of Andrew Jackson !
Is this certificate true? 1 put it to gentle
men if it be not true, whether injustice has not
been done to Andrew Jackson, to those who
have uttered just complaints, and to the public
service, bv this audacious forged self acquit
tal ?
Is it true or false, that the various Execu
tive Departments have been conducted with
ability and integrity, and that they are in a pros
perous condition ? That is the issue. How
is it to be tried? Will gentlemen tell me that,
the President has tried ths issue already, and
ihat they are content with /lis certificate in
form? Sir, I begin this session as I ended the
last session, by asking the opportunity and
power, and by claiming the right ot an investi
gation by a committee, an efficient, able and
fair committee, with full powers to eviscerate
the truth. The truth is all I desire, I make
no accusations, no complaints, except of the de
nial of investigation.
If all have been conducted with ability and
integrity, the Departments have nothing to fear,
and investigation may do great good. It it
does not find ami expose past fraud and cor
ruption, ii may prevent much evil hereafter, by
the fear ofscrutiny. Ido sincerely, Irom the
best of motives, earnestly desire to see the doors
of the Treasury Department, ot the Land Offi
ces, of tlie Indian Bureau, rifl'd of olher de
partments and offices, thrown open to full and
fair investigation. M e then can have the facts
of which to judge for ourselves, and on which
to make up our own verdict. It is the dutyol
the grand inquest to find or ignore a bill for
itself, and ofthe venire to try the issue and find
a verdict tor itself. No judge, much more u<>
party, shall find a bill, true or false, or render
a verdict for them. Cleanse the Augean sta
bles, sav 1, and I say more. The Numidian
king, when he was carried a captive to Rome,
and saw the corruptions oi her citizens, return
ed from the city with contempt, and said.
“ Give me wealth, and I will buy up the whole
Republic.” Fanny Wright, I believe, uttered
t"iie whenever you see two men talk
a I'ER, P‘her, there are ten chances to one they
<alking on one of three subjects-—“trade,
politics, or religion.” The three subjects have
since she wrote the remark, entirely amalga
mated into two. Trade and politics have now
become one. Some ofthe priests, lam told,
are offering to join the union, and mammon is
the god of this day’s worship. Trade, sir,
trade swallows up every thing !
'l’ell me not this is the short session. In
vestigation was tefused, last winter, when tne
session was long. I know, sir, that this is an
inauspicious period, perhaps, to expect gentle
men to look back at the past, or to pause a
moment on the present. 1 know that every
eve is turned, and every mind ot gentlemen is
bent towards the future. “Coming events,
which cast their shadows before, are much
more dazzling to their hopes and fancies, than
painful truths ot the past or the present are to
their memories or their wills. 1 hey know’,
sir, that some of the swarm of“ Conservatives”
which are now fat and full of the blood ot the
Treasury, must be driven oft lor some of the
lank and" hungry “ loco foco” flies, who are
voraciously eager to light upon this poor body
politic of ours. All things may not become
new,but there must bejsome changes; & for eve
ry change there will be a chance for some impa
tient expectant. 1 know that G _ en. Jaciison has
been made to say in this “ last annual message”
—“ He that cometh after me is mightier than
I;” but he has not been made to add—•• Mr hose
i’an is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge
his floor.” Sir, lest he may not purge his
floor, 1 wish it to be swept clean for him be
fore he comes iu, so that Jackson may not be
; blamed after he is gone.
Ceriain it is I cannot anticipate; time must
develope the course and the policy ot the com
ing Administration, And let no one accuse
me of commencing an attack upon it in ad
vance. No, sir; so tar from it, th«ugh 1 hold
Mr. Van Buren responsible for most misy-S*.,-..,
that Arts been done, and most that
mg; though he has been the .
for the Presidency, and
successor; though he is
patronage, corruption, and dictatfi»r.jJJi ’
he succeeds at the expense of the elective fran
chise; though he is a minority President, and
has promised to follow generally m the foot
steps of this Kitchen Cabinet Administration,
yet. if he bravely dares to falsify that promise,
“more honored in tho breach than in t io o>-
servance;” if he will kick away the base lad
ders by which he has climbed to the height of
his ambition; if he will now leave ralstafl
where he found him, and array around linn the
j wisdom, intelligence, imii virtue of thecoimtiy,
I and base Ins Administration on a sound, eleva.
, ted, and enlightened policy, free tiom couup
tioii, and purely patriotic, uncontaminated by
I partv, I will pledge my humble support to his
measures, though I never can suppoit t.ie man,
ior pardon the past examples he has Set. And
whv cannot 1 nipport the man wlulst i up
prove his measures ! For the very reason that
he has not “entered in at the strait gale. 1
shall always eschew the example which has
been set iu'lß3o, as 1 did that of 182 b, iu the
election of President of these United States. —
The one example has been rebuked with a
vengeance—the oilier will not be forgiven by
me.
Sir, in this contest one great battle only has
been fought between power and the people.
The result is known. The conflict was not
| decisive, and must, as long as there is an hon
est heart to hope for freedom— shall go on un
i til constitutional liberty, law, the independence
j ofthe people, and their representatives, honesty,
' truth, and justice, are triumphant, or all are
fettered in a despot’s chains! Defeated, but
not conqi.'ered; checked by the Praetorian band o
of patronage, but not arrested in their onward
march; the patriot army is not discouraged or
dismayed; smitten, but rot struck down, the
i flag ot the country is still flying! Defeat may
drive some, the craven or the cormorant of
spoils, from the standard of the true and the
brave, but to the firm am proud spirits of the
patriot band I would say, “ who shall separate
|us from the love of country?” Shall defeat?
j Another such defeat will be a glorious victory!
lln this“we are more thin conquorers, ’for I
am persuaded that neither office, nor bribe, nor
principalities,nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, shall be able to separate us
from the love of our cou.itry, its laws, and its
I liberties! God only krows in whose name
! this victory shall be achieved; it matters not;
but this I know, be he v ho he may, his cause
will be consecrated by the toils, the prayers,
the sacrifices, and the hopes es the unsubdued
and miterrificd freemen. No, sir; let no man
despair ofthe Republic. 'l'he fight is not yet
ended. I’he peopie are not yet vanquished.
Thejr iiosts are withdrawn only for the mo.
! meet to recruit their forces, and to repair their
I broken weapons. The weapons of our war
fare are the weapons of truth. It shall be my
duty to assist in poii ting anew its spears and
its lances.
The question on the resolution was then ta
ken without further debate, and carried: Ay es
86, noes7B.
MICHIGAN.
The following message, in writing, was re. >
ccived from the President of the United States
in both I! mses of Congress, on lucsday :
To the Senate and. HouteoJ Representatives
of the United States of America :
By the second siciion oi die act “to estab
lish "the uorihern bmndary line of tho State of
Ohio, ami to provide for the admission ofthe
State of Michigan into the Union, upon the
conditions therein expressed,” approved June
15, 1836, the Constitution and State Govern
ment whit ii the People ot Michigan had for
med for themselves was ratified and confirmed,
and the Slate of Michigan declared to be one
ofthe United Statis of America, and admitted
into the Union, upon an equal footing with the
original States; but on the express condition
that said State should consist oi, and have
jurisdiction over, till the territory included
within certain boundaries described m the act.
and over none other. It was further euactcc,
bv the third section ot the same law, that, as
a compliance with the fundamental condition
of admission, the boundaries of the State of
Michigan, as thus described, declared, and
established, should receive the assent of a
convention ofdetegates, elected by the People
of said State, forthe sole purpose of giving the
assent therein required ; that us soon as such
assent should be given, the president of the
United States should announce the same
proclamation : and that, th reupon,
-..it any tiirtii r procei-diiia on
gross, the liduiission ofthe
St
> ■ <■" --i .
and Re/irescnturrves i♦«
United States entitled to take their seats with
out further delay.
In the mouth of November last, I received
a communication, enclosing the official pro
ceedings of a convention, assembled at Aim
Arbour, in Michigan, on the ‘26th of Septem
ber, 1536; all which (marked Ji) are herewith
laid before you. It will be seen by these pa
pers, that the convention there referred to was
elected by the People of Michigan, pursuant
to an act ofthe State Legislature, passed on
the 25th of July last, in consequence ofthe
above mentioned act of Gongress, and that it
declined giving its assent to the fundamental
condition prescribed by Congress, and rejected
the same.
On the 21th instant the accompanying pa
per marked B, with its enclosure, containing
the proceedings of a convention of delegates
subsequently elected, and held in the State of
Michigan, was presented to me. By these
p ipers, which are also herewith submitted for
your consideration, it appears that, elections
were held in all the counties of the State ex
cept two, on the sth and 6th day s of Decem
ber inst. for the purpose of electing a conven- I
tion ofdelegatcs to give the assent required by |
Congress that the delegates then elected as- (
sembled in convention on the 11th day of De-(
cember instant; and that on the following day •
the assent ofthe body to tire fundamental con
dition above stated was formally given.
This latter convention was not held or elect
ed by virtue of any act ofthe Territorial or
State Legislature ; it originated from the Peo
ple themselves, and was chosen by them in
pursuance of resolutions adopted in primary
assemblies, held in the respective counties.
The act ofCongress, however, does not pre
scribe by what authority the convention shall
be ordered, or the time when, or the manner
in which, it shall be chosen. Had these lat
ter proceedings come to me during the recess
ofCongress, 1 should therefore have felt it my
duty, on being satisfied that they emanated
from a convention of delegates elected, in
point of fact, by tlie People of the State, for
the purpose required, to have issued my proc
lamation thereon, as provided by law. But
as the authority conferred on the ‘resident
was evidently given him under the expecta
tion that the assent ofthe convention miaht be
laid before him during tire recess of Congress
and to avoid the delay of a postponement until
the meeting of that body, and as the circum
stances which now attend the case arc in oth
er respects peculiar, and such as could not have
been foreseen when the act of June 15, 1836,
was passed, 1 deem it most agreeable to the
intent ofthat law, and proper for other reasons,
whole subject should be submitted to
.ft Congress. The importance
’''l' 1 ’ upon it. is too obvious to
’ JACKSON.
Wk 0 -. ■ i
ot disrtfd. was, on
•ud adm»o the Com-
■breditorl
». T St my offip
1/ir thing con
sumed in an exorbi-
taut price, by the wav,
there is none. In milkman the
1 euson of its scarcityf^l^^^usfie d our querry by
say ing, that “milk has riz sotarnal high, "that
cream can't reach the top!”— Rost. Her.
Sale es a wife. — This barbarous practice
still remains in some parts of Europe. Occa
sionally some brute ot’ a fl flow ties a cord
aiound the neck of his spouse, and leads her
into the public market. Alate French paper
mentions the sale of a verv good-looking wo
man for 26 shillings, and the merchant husband
went oil loudly rejoicing—
“lt’s the happiest day of my life,
For 1 have sold Margcc, my wife.'’
.Soutftern
-- . . .
Athens, <>a. Saturday, January 14, 1837.
It becomes our duty to solicit again the pay
ment of all amounts due us. This is imperi
ously demanded by our necessities; and we
trust that this call will not be disregarded;
particularly by those who have had our paper
for two or three years, without giving any thing
n return.
Cong-ressional Election,
We learn by a gentleman direct from Mil
ledgeville. that a sufficient number of counties
have been heard from, to leave no doubt of the
success of Col. Alford.
MORE TROOPS
A large fine looking mounted company of
Volunteers, front Franklin county, passed
through this place on Thursday last, on their
way to Florida.
Frederick Court of Enquiry
This Court which our readers will recollect?
was convened for the purpose of enquiring in
to the causes of the failure of the Seminole
and Creek campaigns, adjourned on the 23d
ult, to meet on the 4th inst—up to the time of
its adjournment many witnesses had been ex
amined, from whose testimony, we infer the
blame will be removed from the shoulders of
Gen. Scott, and perhaps very justly attributed,
to the inefficient measures adopted by the
Secretary of War—of their actings since they
reassembled we have as yet received no intel
ligence. —
Disastrous pwreck,
It again becomes our painful duty, to record
another most unfortunate wreck on our coast.
The ship Mexico, seventy days from Liver
pool, was wrecked off New York, to which
port she was bound, on Tuesday morning the
3rd inst., and one hundred and eight lives lost,
principally women and children. The Cap
tain, with seven others, succeeded in reach
ing the beach ; while those on board perished
with cold in a few hours, within one quarter of
a mile of the shore, and in sight of a number
of their fellow beings, who were compelled to
witness their excruciating suffering, and hear
their heart-rending cries, without daring to at
tempt their rescue.
Abolition Petitions.
We perceive by the proceedings of Con
gress, that John Q. Adams has presented
another ofthose. fire brands to that body—pe
(titioniug the ‘abolition of Slavery iu the Dis
trict of Columbia. —
Hon. Henry A. Wise
The speech of this gentleman on his reso
lution. will be found entire in to days paper—
we deem it unnecessary to ask an attentive
welee’ assured that a,ll our readers
A ,v to see it.—
yo l .d ulenn ’ ~e d be ad-
- s '' ,nc means or oth
er—Since tire rt-j eel ion ofthe proposals of tho
l ist Congress by the Convention called by the
legislature, the people have in their priuiiary
assemblies elected delegates to a. second con
veution, which has assented to the terms, and
advised the President of their determination;
who thereupon laid the matter before Con
gress in a special message which was referred
in the Senate to the Judiciary ( onxmittee, who
have reported a bill for her admission to all
the rights and immunities of the other States,
and providing also for the reception of her
proportion of the revenue—On the passage of
this bill, which presents many grave and im
portant considerations, an interesting debate
arose iu the Senate, which was engaging that
bodv at our last advises.
Insurance Bank of Colnmbu*
This institution has by a recent transfer of
the stock, become the property of the Stock
holders of the United States Bank ofPennsyl
vania ; and will in future be conducted in Col.
ambus, and in Augusta, Savanut h and Macon,
where Branches will be located, as an agency
for the sale ofchecks and dealing in exchange
generally for that Bank.
In noticing this transaction the Editors of
the Milledgeville Recorder and Federal Union
1 have expressed their decided disapprobation—
the objections of the Recorder seem to be foun.
ded exclusively on the trespass which it makes
upon State Rights—Tenacious as we are of the
rights and sovreignty of the States, we are un~
; able to perceive any infraction of either, by the
Sale of the Stock of a Bank, exclusively and
I emphatically the property of individuals.
The Federal Union however has afforded
its readers a truly “raw head and bloody bones”
' story of the consequences which will flow—
' and proposed remedies to relieve us, quite as
■ novel, as they are startling and disorganizing.
From the tone and spirit of the article, we
( should be disposed to think it emanated from
an owner of Bank Stock in Georgia, whose
I fears for his individual profits were greatly ex.
| cited; and consequently had tortured a profi-
■ sic imagination, to array before his readers in
vivid colors such evil forebodings for the fu
ture operations of this institution—Be this as it
, m tv, he has disingenuously attempted to excite
an unjust prejudice against this Bank; and is
: guilty either wilfully or ignorantly of designing
to mislead the common people—-and in tho
successful termination of his plans, to subject
the people to greater frauds than can possibly
j exist under its prudent management.
From the reflection wo have bean able to
give the subject; we cannot but view it asone
of the most fortunate occurrences, in the Bank
ing operations of Georgia, which could have
happened. The State has already incorpora
ted double as much Banking capital as is ne
cessary to the transaction of her ordinary com
mercial operations. And without some in
stitu ion which will keep tho local Banks in
check, it requires but little forecast to discover
the ruinous frauds which would be practised in
over issues.
Another important and at this time very o
sirable consideration is; that it will regulate
and equalize the rates of exchange between
the North and the South—This is a subject