Newspaper Page Text
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We *ro determined to continue Musters, and to
(i.) s) \vc hnva to drew ihe rein tighter day l»y
di'. v to be amur-d tint we keep them in com
plete ehttCix. I!mv lur this process will go on
depends won' y and solely on the Abolitionists.
NY li :n tlioy desist we can r< I i*. W o may not
before. I do not moan bv all tki-i to say that
we or • n a state of actual alarm ami tear of oar
slaves; but under exiting circumstances we
r»!i >ui I he hi iiablv stupid not to increas • oar vi*
tji'sii-e mi Hreagtlion uf 'lends. You see
Kfi a 11 c
£ulogy
The
;e of <
men of tli
creative |>i
s _"ier of the D.
left the earth,
surrounde.l liy 1;
All
I revolution i
aver tins passed a way,
clariition of In te[iende
Washimt.n lie* m ar
i more. That
his
id hi
ml
of bis
Me
ill imlebondence, rep
ive region. Jefferson sleep.
lUCello, whence his eyes or
Virginia. Madison, tlie Inst survivor i
our con.-tiiutinn, lives only in our he
say that the heroes, in wtum the iin
brigliily, do ant live farevert They
rvants. Adams, the
ie modest grave-yard
m the hcii.'hi-' ui 1. -
(looked Ills beloved
f the men who made
iru. Uut who shall
e of God shone most
were tilled with ill
vinii' ui Mi ■ fruits ui your lab in. I speaic irec-
ly a id ’ c iii li.lly—not as a colonist, who,
though a si tvolioldcr lias a master; bat as a
“roe m in, holding Under God, and resolved to
li hold my fate in ray own bunds; and I assure you
I that my sentiments and feelings anti determin-
I niions arc those of every slave-holder in tiiis
■ country.
The rematch and ingenuity of the abolitioa-
8 isls, aided by the invention of runaway slaves—
I in which (acuity, so far as improvising ftlscliood
K goos, the Africa a race is without a rival—have
8 succeeded in shucking the world with a small
i number of pretended instances of our barbarity.
I Tito only wonder is that con.rdcring the extent
I of oar country, the variety of our population,
1 its fluctuating character, and the publicity of .all
8 oar transactions, the number of cases collected
8 is so sin ill. It speaks well for ul Yet ef
I these, many are false, all highly colored, some
I occurring half a century, most of them many
* years ago, and no doubt a large proportion of
I them perpetrated by foroigaers. With a few
| rare exc-ptions the emigrant Scotch and Eng-
[ bsfa are the worst masters among us, and next to
I them our Northern follow-citizens. Slavehold
ers, born and bred here are always more hu-
I mane to slaves, and those who have grown up to
I a large inheritance of them, the most so of any
I —showing clearly tlint the effect of the system
i^ to fusltfr kindly feelings. I do not mean so
I much to impute iiinn/u inhumanity to foreign*
I crs. us to show that they come here with false
I notions of the treatment usual and necessary
I for slavos, and that newly acquired power here
1 us every where else, is apt tj bo abused. I
cannot enter into u detailed examination of the
[ rases stated by the abolitionists. It would be
disgusting and of little avail. I know nothing
of them. I iinveseen nothing like them, though
born and bred here, and have rarely heard of
I tiny thing at all to be compared with them.—
Permit me to say that I think most of your
| facts must have been drawn from the West In-
dio$, where undoubtedly slaves were treated
much moro harshly than with us. Tiiis was
[ owing to a variety of causes, which might, if
L necessary be stated. One was that they had
| at first to deal more extensively with birbari-
[ ana fresh from the wild* nf Africa ; another,
and a leading one, the absenteeism of Propri
etors. Agents are always moro unfeeling
than owners, whether placed over West In
dian or American slaves, or Irish tcnnnlty.—
We feel this evil greatly even here. You de-
I scribe the use of thumb screws ns one mode of
nunishment among U3. I doubt if a thumb
screw can be found in America. I never saw
i, or heard of one in tiiis country. Stocks are
rarely used by private individuals, and con
finement still more seldom, though both are
common punishments for whites, all the world
over. I think they should be more frequently
resorted to with slaves, as substitutes for flog
ging, which 1 considct tho most injurious and
least efficacious mode of punishing them for
! serious offences. It is not degrading, and un.
less excessive, occasions little pain. You may
bo a little aUonishci, after ali the flourishes
that have been made about “ cart whips,” See.,
when I say flogging is not the most degrading
punishment in the world. It may be so to a
Wtlfuy man to fllUjfl oouai»i««) l,«vr 10 «| to
the whito boy? That necessary coadjutor of
the school m ister, the “ birch,” is never thought
to have rendered infamous the unfortunate
victim of pedagogue ire; nor did Solomon in
his wisdom, dream tiiat he was counselling
parents to debase their offspring, when ho ex-
Ir »rted them not to spoil the child by sparing
ti»e rod. Pardon me for recurring to the now
exploded ethics of the Bihlo. Custom, which,
yon will perhaps agree, makes most things in
this world good or evil, Ins remove 1 all infa
my from the punishment of tho lash to the slave.
Your blood boils at the recital of stripes inflict
ed on n man, and you think you should be
frenzied to see your own child flogged. Yet
see how completely this is idea), arising from
the fashions of society. You doubtless submit
ted to llio rod, yourself, in other years, when
tlio smart was perhaps as severe, as it would be
now, and you have never been guilty of the
folly of revenging yourself on the preceptor,
who, in the plenitude of bis “ irresponsible
power,” thought proper to chastise your son
Sio it is with tlio negro and the negro father.
- [to nr. CONTINUED.]
The Cainanchee chief Buffalo Hump, dur
ing his recent visit at Torrey’s trading house,
related that about two months ago, Ito went
iqto Mexico to oiler peace to that people, tn I
took with him. Insides Irs own family, his bro
ther, an obi grey beaded chief and another,
making in all four men, two women, and one
child. They arrived at the town of Presidio
liio Grande, and were received with profes
sions of friendship and directed to proceed to
SkiuFernando. Upon reaching tho latter place
tbuy made the usual demonstrations of friend
ship nnd peace, and were escorted to tlio pub
lic ilQWiro. Before dismounting, however, Buf
falo Hump suspected treachery, and imntedi.
atily ordered bis party to prepare to defend
thorns Ives to ihc last extremity, declaring tiiat
th y wore < n trapped by the Mexicans. In an
his'-unt tlioy were tired upon by a large bo ly
of armed men concealed in the adjoining bou
se , aud now for the first lime discovered by
the unsuspectingOamanches. Three men ami
one woitiau were killedl B iflalo Hump suc
re ded in making Ids escape, leaving bis wife
mid child in the hands of the Mexicans.
Mr. Kiikmen, owner of the race mare
p< vtonn, in a letter to the editor of the N. Y.
Spirit of the Times, speaking of tlio treat
ment received by him daring Uis northern
Hieing tour, says :
“Indeed my trip has been one ofunalloy-
ril pleasure, but for the theft of my two sin-,
blc boys (Mink and Eldridge,) by'somo of the
Abolitionists about Philadelphia. I hope die'r
philanthropy will not evaporate with the
ciunmission of tlio crime; and that, afief ta
king the boys from my protection, they will
nut suffer them to become the victims of wont
and dissipation, as is the common fate of the
miserable runaways about that city, whom
■ they have first deluded and then abandoned.’
A Hint for the Ladies.—A celebrate 1 wri
ter says there is only one pssrago in the Scrip-
ires where the Indies are required t ) kiss the
:n, and that is in the "tflden rule: *■ W liat-
. "ever v<: won! I that men should do unto you,
:.i vc even so unto them.— iioston l*ust.
The Post Mast' r General lias sent to tlio
• : ■Vi" it'll) .Mexican dollars to be coined into
■ • and half dime*, for the u*o of the people
uder the n-w Post Office lew. • -
m, tconceptual wbicti called America into lining; they liv
ed For llioie conception*; and their deeds praise iliein.
Wc are met to commemorate the virtue* of one who shed
his blind for our independence, look part in winning the
teirilury mid forming llie early insulations of ihe West, and
was iiiioued with all the great idea* which constitute llie mo
ral force of our country. On the spot where he gave bis
solemn fealty lo the people—here, where he pledged him
self before the world to freedom, to the constitution, snd to
the laws—we meet to pay our tribute to the memory of the
last great name which gathers round itself all the associa
tions Jiat form the glory of America.
South Carolina gave a birth-place to Andrew Jackson.—
On iu remote frontier, fur up on the forest-clad bnnkiof the
Catawba, in a-region where thcscttlc.'d were just beginning
to cluster, his ere first saw the light. There his infancy
sported in the ancient lore sis. and uis mind was narsed to
freedom by their inlluenrc lie was the youngest son of an
Irish emigrant, of Scottish origin, who, two years after the
great war of Frederic of Prussia, fled to America for relief
Iroui indigence ami oppression. Uis birth was in 1767. at a
time when the peoplifof our land were, but a body ol depen
dent colonists, scarcely inure tnnn two millions it. number,
scattered along an immense coast, with no army, or navy, or
union; and exposed to the attempts of Kngtaud to control
America ,by the aid of military force. Uis boyhood grew
up in the midst of the contest with Great Britain. The first
great politicuhtrolh that reached his heart, was that all men
are free and equal; the first great fact that beamed on his
understanding, was his countty's independence.
The strife as it increased, came near tho shades of his
own upland residence. As a boy of thirteen, he witnessed
the scenes of horror that uccumpany civil war; and when hut
a year older, with an elder brother, lie shouldered his mus
ket, aud went forth loatrike a blow for his_country.
, Joyous era for America and for humanity! JJut for lum,
the orpliau boy, the events were full of agony anil grief—
His father was no moro. Uis oldest brother fell a victim
to the war ot the revolution; another (his cumpauinn in arms)
died of wounds received in their joint captivity; his mother
we.it down to the grave a victim to grief ami efforts to rescue
her sons; and when peace came, he was alone in the world,
with no kindred to cherish him, and little inheritance but
his own untried powera-
The nation which emancipated itaelffrom Riitish lule or-
ganixes itself: the confederation gives way to the constitu
tion—that grand event of the thousand year* of modern his
tory—ia accomplished: America exists as a peiple, gains
unity as a government, and takes its place as a nation among
the powers of the eaith.
The next office to he performed by America, is the taking
possession of the wilderness. The magnificent western val
ley cried out to tho civilisation of popular power, that it
must he occupied by cultivated man.
Behold, then, our orphan hero, sternly earnest, consecra
ted to humanity from childhood by sorrow, having neither
father, nor mother, nor sister, nor surviving brother,so young
aud yet so solitary, and then fore hound tlie mure closely to
collective man—behold him elect for his lot lo go forth and
assist in laying the foundations of society in the great val
ley ofibe Mississippi.
At the very time when Washington was pledging his own
and future generations to the support of the popular institu
tions which were to be tlie light of the human race—nt the
time when the institutions of the Old World were rocking
to their centre, aud tlie migli'y fabric that had come down
from the middle ages was tailing in—the adventurous Jack-
son. in the radiant glory and boundless hope and confident
intrepidity of twenty-one, plunged into the wilderness,cross
ed the great mountain-barrier that divides the western wa
ters from the Atlantic, followed the paths of the early hun
ters n,*a f-y,;-,.. all d. not content with the nearer neigh
borhood to his parent Slate, went still tuntic ml
the west, till he found his home in the must beautiful region
on the Cumberland. There, from the first, he was recognis
ed as the great pioneer: under bis courage, the coming em
igrants were sure to find a shield.
The lovers of adventure be<*an to pour themselves into
the territory, whose delicious climate and fertile soil invited
the presence of social man. The hunter with liis rifle and
his axe, attended by his wife and children; the herdsman
drivnig the few cattle that were to multiply as they browsed;
the cultivator of the soil—all came to the inviting region.—
Wherever the bending mountains opened a pass—wherev
er the buffaloes and the beasts of the forest bad made a
trace, these sons of nature, children of humanity, in the
highest sentiment of p irsoual freedom, came to occupy the
beautiful wilderness whose prairies blossomed everywhere
profusely with wild flowers—whose woods in spring put
to shame, by their magnificence, the cultivated gardeus of
man -
AnJ now that these unlettered fugitives, educated only by
the spirit of freedom, destitute of dead letter erudition, bat
sharing the living ideas of tlie age, had made their homes in
the west—what would follow? “Would they degrade them
selves to ignorance and infidelity? Would they make the
solitudes of the desert excuses for licentiousness? Would
the doctrines of freedom lend them to live in unorganized
Society, destitute of law* *nd fimlmi^ntiand
At a time when European society was becoming broken
in pieces, scattered, disunited, and resolved iutoits elements,
i scene ensued in Tennessee, than which nothing more beau
trjuy^grami la ituurdcd iu the annals of tlie race.
These adventurers in the wilderness langed to conr.e to-
getl. or in organized society. The overshadowing genius of
thei - time inspired them with good designs, and fiiled them
wi-.h the counsels of wisdom. Dwellers m the forest, fieest
of tho free, bound in the spirit, they came up by their re
presentatives, on foot, on horseback, through tlie forest, along
the streams, by the buffalo traces, by the Indian paths, by
the blazed forest avenues, to meet in convention among the
mountains at Knoxville, and frame for themselves a consti
tution. Andrew Jackson was there, the greatest man of
tiiem all—modest, bold, determined, demanding nothing for
himself, and shrinking from nothing that his heart approved.
The Convention came together on the eleventh day of
January, 1796, and finished its work on the sixth day of
February. How had the wisdom of the Old World vainly
tasked itself to frame constitutions, I hat could, at least, be
the subject of experiment; the men of Tennessee, in less
than twenty-five days, perfected a fabric, which, in its es
sential forms, was to last lorever. They came together,
full of faith and leverence, of love to humanity, of confi
dence in truth. In the simplicity of wisdom, they framed
their constitution, acting under higher influences than they
were conscious of—
They wrought in sad sincerity,
Themselves from God they could not free;
They builded better than they knew;
The conscious stones to beanty grew.
In the instrument which they framed, they embodied their
faith in God, and in the immortal nature of man. They
gave the right of snffiage to every freeman; they vindicated
the sanctity of reason, by giving freedom of speech and of
the press; they revetcnced the voice of God, as it speaks in
the soul of man, by asserting the indefeasible right of man to
worship the Infinite according to his own conscience; they
rs'ablished the freedom and equality of elections; and they
demanded from every future legislator a solemn oath “ne
ver to consent to any act or thing whatever that shall have
even n tendency to lessen the rights of the people.'
These majestic lawgivers, wi>er than the Solous, and Ly-
curguses, and Numas ofl the Old World—these prophetic
founders of a State, who embodied in their constitution the
sublimest truths of humanity, acted without reference to hu
man praises.
They kept no special record of their doings; they took no
pains to vaunt their deeds; and when their work was done
knew not that they had finished one of the sublimest acts ever
performed among men. They left no record, as lo whose
agency was conspicuous, whose eloquence swayed, whose
generous will predominated: nor should we know, but for
tradition, confirmed by what followed among themselves.
The men of Tennessee were now a people, and they were
to send forth a man to stand foi them in the Congress of the
United Stales—that avenue to glory—that home of eloquence
—the citadel or popular power; and, with one consent, they
united in selecting the forem-jstmsn among their law givers
—Axiinxw JacksoK.
The love of the people of Tennessee followed him to the
American Congress; and he had served but a single term,
when the State of Tennessee made him one of its represen
tatives ill llie American Senate, where he sat under the aus
pices of Jefferson.
Thus, when he was scarcely more than thirty, lie had gui
ded the settlement of the wilderness; swayed the delibera
tion of a people in establishing its fundamental laws; acted
as tlie representative of his organized State, disciplined to a
knowledge of the power of the people and the power of the
State?; the associate of republican statesmen, the friend and
companion of Jefferson.
Tlie men who framed the constitution of the United
Stales, many of them did nil kno v the Innate life and *®lf-
preserving energy of their work. They feared that free
dom could not endure, and they planned a strong govern,
ment for its protection.
During hit short career in Congress,'Jackson showed his
quirt, deeply-seated, innate, intuitive faith in human free
dom,and in the institutions of freedom. He wnsever.by his
vote* and opinions, found among those who had confidence
in humanity; and in the great division of minds, this child of
the woodlands, this representative of forest life in the west,
was found :n -dually and firmly on the side of freedom. It
did not occur to him to dount the right of mat ui the free
development of his |xiwers; it did not occur to him to place
a guardianship over the people; it did uot occur to him to
seek to give durability to popular institutions, by giving to
government n strength independent of popular will.
From the first, he was attached lo tile fundamental doc
trines of popujar power,and of the policy tlat favors it; and*
though his reverence for Washington surpassed his rever
ence for any human being, he voted against the address
from the House of Representatives to Washington on his
retirement, heeause its language appeared to sanction the
financial policy which he believed hostile to republican
freedom.
During his period of service in the Senate. Jackson was
elect 'd major eeneral by the brigadiers and field olficera of
the militia nf Tennessee. Resigning Ids place in the Sen-
nte, be was made lodge of the supreme court in law and
equity; such mu the confidence in Ids integrity of purpose,
his clearne i ofjadpmeot, and Ids vigor of will to deal justS
ly among t*»e. turbulent who crowded into the new, settle-
meins of Tennessee.
Tims, in tlie short period of nine years, Andrew Jackson
wtis signalized by as many a- idenres of public esteem
could fall on the hit nf man. The
the defender of its stations, ho w
hi h:
Fond of private life, ho <
otlicc, but tlio whole count
lure," they cried, “nevei
thought and independence
ment.’* Jlui alter a few years, re!
caret of the bench, lie gave hinise!
independent life of a husbandman,
ment the fame of natural intelligent
prompt, frank, tnd ardent soul.”
e resign
V demanded his
designed that v
if mind should b<
lie
id till
ngrant and the pin-
•rvicc. *\Na
nr powers of
lost in retire-
self from the
iviiv and the
•d into re1iro
ned was cherished as
_ m His vigor of character
cotisl t Hod him firs: sniongall with whom he assorist^i.' A
private tnaaas he was, bis name was familiarly spoken round
every hearthstone in Tennessee. Men loved pi discuss Ins
qualities. All discerned his power; aud when the vehe
mence and impetuosity of his nature were observed upon,
there were not w anting those who saw, beneath the l lazaig
fires of his genius, the soli titj ol his judgment
His hospitable roof slicbered the
neer; and, as they made their way tolhoirnew homes, they
filled the mountain sides slid the valleys with his praise.
Connecting himself, fora season, with a man of business,
Jackson soon discerned the misconduct ofui| associate. It
marked his character, that he insisted, himself, on paying
every obligation that had been tontracled; and, rather than
endure tlie vassalage of debt, he instantly parted with the
rich domain which his early enterprise had acquired—with
his own mansion—with the fields which he hiiusell had first
tamed to the plauglishare—with the forest whose trees were
as familiar to him ns hi* friends—and chose rather to dwell,
fora lime, in a rude log-cabin, in the pride of independence
and integrity.
On all great occasions, Jackson’s influence was deferred
to When .Teffeisnn had acquired for the country the whole
of Louisiana, and there seemed some hesitancy, on the part
of Mpain. to acknowledge our possession, the services of
Jacksou were solicited by the national administration, ana
were not called into full exercise, only from the peaceful
termination ol tlie incidents that occasioned tho summons.
In the long series of aggressions on the freedom of the
seas, and the rights of the American lhig. Jackson was on
the side of his country, and the new maritime code of re
publicanism. In his inland home, where the roar of the
breaker* was never heard, and die mariner was never seen,
he resented the couiiuued aggression on our commerce and’
on our sailors. * . ,
When tlie continuance of wrong compelled Ihe nation to
resort to arms, Jackson, led by the instinctive knowledge of
his own greatness,yet with a modesty that woulJ have hon
ored the'uio.-t sensitive delicacy of nature, confessed his wil
lingness to be employed on the Canada frontier; and it is a
fact, that he aspired lo tho command to which Winchester
was appointed. We may ask, what would have been the
nine a candidate. He feltsensihly that he
entitle culture, and little familiar with let-
ver obtruded his opinions, or preterred
iiut, whenever his opinion was demanded,
eady to pronounce it; nod whenever his
, . did not shrink even fiom
lil.ed by tho most cultivated men
result, if the comtnaud of the north western army had, at the
opening of the war, been intrusted to a man who, in action
was ever so fortunate, that his vehement will seemed to havo
m ide destiny capitulate lo his designs?
The (uith of duty led him in another direction. On die de
claration of war. twenty-five hundred volunteers had risen
at his word to follow his standard; but, by cuuuterinanditig
orders from the seal orgorernmeut, the movement was with
out effect.
A new and great dargerhung over the West. The In
dian tribes were to make one fast effort to restore it to its
solitude, aud recover it for savage life. The brave, relent
less Shawnees—who, from time immemorial, had strolled
from the waters of the Ohio to the rivers of Alabama—were
animate ! by Tecuinseli and his brother the Prophet, who
spoke to them as the voice cf the Great Spirit, and roused
the Creek nation to .desperate massacres. - Who has not
heard of their terrible deeds when their ruthless cruelty
spared neither sex nor age? when the infant and its mother,
the planter and his faintly, who had fled for refuge to the fort-
ress. the garrison that capitulated—all were slain, and'not a
vestige of defence was left in the country? The cry of the
West demanded Jackson for its defender; aud though his
arm was then fractured by a ball, and bung in a sling, lie
placed, himself at tlie head of the volunteers of Tennessee,
and resolved to terminate forever the hereditary struggle.
Who can tell the horrors of that campaign? Who can
paint rightly the obstacles which Jackson overcame—moun
tains, the scarcity nf untenanted forests, winter, the failure
of supplies from the settleinenls, the insubordination of
troops, mutiny, menaces of desertion? Who can measure
the wonderful power over men, by which his personal prow
ess and attractive energy drew them in mid-winter from
their homes, across mountains and morasses, and through
trackless deserts! Who can describe the personal heroism
of Jackson, never sparing himself, beyond any of his men
eitcuuuicibq; *»d and fatieue, sharing every labor of the
camp and ol the march, foremost in every danger; giving up
his horse to the invalid soldier, while'he himself waded
through the swamps on foot? Kune equalled him in |lower
of endurance; ami tlie private soldiers,’ as they found him
passing them on the march, exclaimed, “he is as tough as the
hickory." "Yes," they cried to one another, “there goes
Old Hickory!"
Who can narrate the terrible events of the battles of
Emuckfaw, or the glorious victory of Tohopeks, where the
anger of the general against the faltering was more appal
ling than the war-whoop and the rifle of the savage? Who
can rightly conceive the fleld of Enotocbopco, where, the
g eneral, as ho attempted to draw the sword to cut down a
ying colonel who was leading a regiment from the field,
broke again the arm which was but newly knit together;
and, quietly, replacing it in the sling, with his commanding
voice arrested die flight of the troops, and himself led them
back to victory.
In six short months of vehement action, the most terrible
Indian war in our aunals was brought to a close; the proph
ets were silenced; the consecrated region ot the Creek na
tion teduced. Through scenes of blood, the avenging hero
sought only the path to peace. Thus Alabama, a part of
Mississippi, a part of his own Tennessee, and th* highway
to the Florida*, were his gifts to the Uuion. These were
■ uis uupiswi
Genius as extraordinary'99 mlliinry evenis can call Forth,
was summoned into action, in this rapid, efficient, and most
fortunately cond acted war.
Time would fail were I to track our hero down the water
courses of Alabama to the neighborhood of Pensacola. How
he hinged to plant the eagle of his country on its bntdemems!
Time would fail, and words be wauling, were I to dwell
on the magical influence of his appearance in New Orleaus.
Hia presence dissipated gloom and dispelled alarm; at once
he changed the aspect ol despair into a confidence of security
and a hope of acquiring glory. Every man knows the tale
of the heroic, sudden, and yet deliberate daring which led
him, on the night of the twenty-third of December, to precip
itate his little army on his foes, in the thick darkness, before
they grew familiar with tlieir eucamproent, scattering dis
may through veteran regiments of England, and defeating
them, and arresting their progress by a far inferior force.
Who shall recount the counsels of prudence, the kindling
words of eloquence, that cuslied from his lips to cheer his
soldiers, his skirmishes and battles, till that eventful morning
when the day at Bunker's Hill had its fulfilment in the glo
rious battle of New Orleans, and American independence
stood before the world io the majesty of victorious power.
These were great deed* for the nation: for himself lie
did a greater. Had not Jackson been renowned for the ve
hement impetuosity of his passions, for his defiance of oth
ers' authority, and the unbending vigor of his self-will ?—
Behold the savior of Louisiana, all garlanded with victory,
viewing around him the city he had preserved, the maidens
and children whom his heroism had protected, stand in the
presence of a petty judge, vvho gratifies his wounded vanity
by an abuse of his judicial power. Every breast in the
crowded audience heaves with indignation. He. the pas
sionate, the impetuous—be whose power was to be hum
bled, whose honor questioned, whose laurels tarnished,
alone stood sublimely serene; and when the craven judge
trembled, and faltere 1, and dared not proceed, himself, the
arraigned one, bade him take courage, and stood by the law
even in the moment when the law was made the instrument
of insult and wrong on himself—at the moment of his most
perfect claim to the highest civic honors.
His country, when it grew to hold many more millions,
the generation that then was coining in, has risen up to do
homsge to the noble heroism of thatliour. Woman, whose
feeling is always right, did honor from the first lo the purity
of his heroism. The people of Louisiana, to the latest hour,
ill cherish his name as their greaiest benefactor.
Tlie culture of Jackson’s mind had been much promoted
bv his services and associations in the war. His discipline
of himself as the chief in command, his intimate relations
with tnen like Livingston, the wonderful deeds in which he
bore n part, all matured his judgment and mellowed his
character. .......
Peace came with its delights; once more the country
rushed forward in the development of its powers; once
more the arts of industry healed the wounds that war had
inflicted ; and. from commerce and agriculture and manu
factures. wealth gashed abundantly under the free activity
of unrestrained enterprise.
And Jackson returned to liis own fields and his own pur
suits, to cherish his plantation, to care for his servants, to
look after his stud, to enjoy the affection of the most kind
snd devoted wife, whom he resjiected- with the gentlest
deference, and loved with an almost miraculous tenderness.
And there be stood, like one of the mightiest forest trees
of his own West, vigorous and colossal, sending iu summit
to the skies, and growing on iu native soil in wild and inim-
iubie magnificence, careless of beholders. From ill parts
of the country he received appeals to his political ambition,
and the severe modesty of his well-bnlanced mind turned
them all aside. He was happy in his farm, happy in seclu
sion, happy in his family, happy within himself.
But the passions of the southern Indians were not allayed
by the peace with Great Britain; nnj foreign emissaries
were still ninongihem. to inflame and direct their malignity.
Jackson was called forth by his country to restrain the cru
elty of the treacherous anil unsparing Seminoles. It was
in ihe train of the events of this war t'iot he placed the A-
inerican eagle on St. Mark’s and above the ancient towers
ol* St. Augustine. 'His deeds ir. that war, of themselves,
form a monument to human power, to the celerity of his ge
nius, to the creative fertility of hi* resources, his intuitive
sagacity. As Spain, in hisjudgment. had committed aggres
sion, lie would have emancipated her islands; of the lie-
vsus, he caused the reconnoissatice to be made; and, with
an army of five tliousaiui tnen, he stood ready to guaranty
her redemption from colonial thraldom.
But when peace was restored, and his office was accom
plished, his physical strength sunk under the pestilential
influence of the climate, ard, fast yielding tn disease, ho
was borne in a litter across the swamps of Florida towards
his home. It was Jackson's character that he never solici
ted aid from any one; hut he never forgot those who ren
dered him service in the liourol need. At a time when all
arouni him believed him nearhisend, his wife hastened to
liis side; and, by her tenderness and nursing care, her pa
tient assiduity, and the soothing influence of devoted love,
withheld linn from the grave.
He would have remained quietly at his home in repose,
hut that he was privately informed, his good name was lo
be attainted by somo intended congressional proceedings;
he came, tnerefore, into the presence of the people's repre
sentatives at Washingtnn, only In vindicate his name ; and,
when that was achieved, he was once more communing with
his own thoughts among the groves of the Hermitage.
It was not liis own ambition which brought him again lo
pioneer of thewildernass. I the public view. The affection or Tennessee compelled
IS their taw river, the sole j him to resume a seal on the fl »r of the Am.-rican Senate,
representative of the ?iato In the P.-uate. tho Tiiglo- tin mil- : nnd, after years of the intensest political strife, Andrew
itary command,.tlie high' st injudicial office. He scorned to I Jackson was elected President of the United c-talos.
he recognised as the first in love of liberty, the fir t it: ihc 1 Far from advancing liis own pretensions, lie always kept
science of legislation, in judgment, and integrity. I' them bvfc, tod had fur years repressed the solicitations of
I hi
the station which had.bee
our nation had proJuced.
Behold, then, the unlettered man of the .West, the nur-
sli ]•' of the wilds, the farmer of tho Hermits ge, little ver-
sadio books, unconnected by science with the trsditionof
lh,. na-t. i :iisod by li;.* will of the pen]do to I lie highest .pin-
uncle of honor, to the central post in the civilization of re
publican freedom, to the station where all the nations of the
earth would watch liis actions—where liis words would vi
brate through the civilized world, and his spirit lie the mo-
ving-star to guide the nations. What policy will he pur-
sue'? What wisdom wild he bring with him from the fin-
est? What rules of duty will he evolve Troin the oracles
of his own mind ?
The ina'n of the West same ns the inspired prophet of the
West; he came as one free from the bonds of hereditary or
established custom; he caine with no superior but consci
ence, no orsclebut his native judgment; and, true to liis or
igin uud his education—true to the conditions nnd circum
stances of his advancement, he valued right more than
usage; he reverted from the pressure of established inter
est* to the energy of first principles.
We tread on ashes, where the lire is not yet extinguished;
yet not to dwell on his cateer as President, were to leave
out of view the grandest iliustrntions of bis magnanimity.
The legislation of the United Stales had followed the
precedents of the legislation of European monarchies; it
was the office of Jackson to lift the country out of the Euro
pean forms of legislation, nnd to open tn it n catecr resting
on American sentiment and American freedom. He would
have freedom everywhere—freedom under the icstrainls
of right; freedom ot industry, of commerce, of mind, of uni
versal anion; freedom, unshackled by restrictive privileges,
unrestrained by the thraldom of monopolies.
The unity of his mind anil his consistency were without
n parallel. With natural dialectics, he developed the po-
lilieal doctrines that suited every emergency, with a precis
ion and a harmony that no theorist could hope to equal.—
On every subject in politics—I speak but a fact—lie was
was thoroughly nnd profoundly and immovably radical; and
would sit for hours, and in a continued flow of remark make
the application of his principles to every question that could
arise iii legislation,or to the interpretation of the constitution.
His expression of hiinsetf was so clear that his influence
C ervaded not our land only, but all America and all man-
ind. They say that, in the physical world, the magnetic
fluid is so diffused, that its vibrations are discernible simul
taneously in every part of the globe. So it is with tliq ele
ment of freedom. And as Jackson developed its doctrines
ftoin tiieir source in the mind of humanity, the popular sym
pathy was moved and agitated throughout the world, tilfhis
name grew everywhere to he the symbol ofpopular ; tower.
Himself the witness of the ruthlessness of savage life, he
planned tho removal of the Indian tribes beyond the limits
of Re organized States; and it is the result ol his determin
ed policy that the region east of the Mississippi lias been
transferred to the exclusive possession of cultivated man.
A pupil of the wilderness, his heart was with the pioneers
of American life towards the setting sun. No American
statesman has ever embraced within nis affections a scheme
so liberal for the emigrants as that of Jackson. lie longed
to secure to them, not pre emption rights only, bntmore lean
pre emption rights, lie longed to invite labor to take pos
session of the unoccupied fields without money and without
price: with no obligation except the perpetual devotion of
itself by allegiance to its country. Under the beneficent in
fluence of his opinions, the sons of misfortune, the children
of adventure, fiud their way to the uncultivated West.—
•Therein some wilderness glade, or in the thick forest of
the fertile plain, or where the prairies most sparkle with
flowers, they, like the wild bee which sets them the exam-
ple of industry, may choose their home, mark the extent of
tliejr possessions by driving stakes or blazing trees, shelter
their log-cabin with boughs and turf, and teach the virgin
soil to y ield itself to the ploughshare. Theirs shall be the
soil, theirs the beautiful farms which they teach to be pro
ductive. Come, children of sorrow ! you on whom the Old
World frowns; crowd fearlessly to the forests; plant your
homes in confidence, for the country watches over you;
your children grow around you as hostages, and the wilder
ness, at your bidding, surrenders its grandeur of useless
luxuriance to the beauty nnd loveliness of culture. Yet
beautiful and lovely as is this scene, it still by far falls short
of the ideal which lived in the affections of J ickaon. His
heart was ever with the pioneer; uis policy ever favored
the diffusion of independent freeholds th'oughout the labor
ing classes of our laud.
It would be a sin against the occasion, were I to omit to
commemorate the deep devotedness of Jacksnn to the cause
and to the rights of labor. It was for the welfare of the la
boring classes that he defied all the storms of political hostil
ity. He longed to secure to labor the lruits of its own in
dustry; and Tie unceasingly opposed every system which
tended to lessen their reward, or which exposed them to
be defrauded of their dues. The laborers may bend over
his grave with affectionate sorrow; foi never, in the tide of
tiiqe, did a statesman exist more heartily resolved to j rotect
them in their rights, aod to advance their happiness. For
their benefit, he opposed partial legislation; for tlieir bene
fit. he resisted all artificial method* of controlling labor, and
subjecting it to capital. It was for their benefit that he
loved freedom in all its forms—freedom of the individual
in personal independence, freedom of the States as separate
sovereignties. He never would listen to counsels which
tended to tho centralization of power. The true American
system presupposes the diffusion of freedom—organized life
in all the parts of the American body politic,' as there is or
ganized life in every part of the human system. Jacksnn
wns deaf to every cuunsel which sought to subject general
labor to a central will. His vindication of the just princi
ples of the constitution derived its sublimity froni his deep
conYVrtlon that this strict construction is required by the las*
ting welfare of the great laboring classes of the United
States.
To this end, Jackson revived the tribunicial power of the
veto, acd exerted it against tl.e decisive action cf both
branches ot' Congress, against the votes, the wishes, the en
treaties of peraonai and political friends. "Show me.” was
liis reply to them, “show me au express clause in tne consti
tution authorizing Congress to take the business of State
legislatures out of their hands.” “ You will ruis us all,"
cried a firm partisau frieud, “you will ruin your party a"<!
your own prospects." 'Providence,” answered Jacluoit,
"will take care of me;” and he persevered.
In proceeding to discharge the debt of die United States
—a measure thoroughly American—Jackson followed the
example of his predecessors; but lie followed it with the
full consciousness that lie was rescuing the country from
the artificial system of finance which had prevailed through
out the world; and with him it formed a part nf a system
by which American legislation was to separate itself more
and more effectually tram European precedents, and de
velop itself more and more, according to the vital principles
of our political existence.
The discharge of the debt brought with it, of necessity, a
great (eduction of the public burdens, and brought, of ne
cessity, into view, the .question, how far America
should follow, of choice, the old restrictive system of high
duties, under which Europe had oppressed America ; or
how far she should rely on her own freedom and enterprise
and power, defying the competition, and seeking the mar
kets, and receiving the products of the world.
The mind of Jackson on this subject reasoned clearly,
and without passion. In the abuses of the system of reve
nue by excessive imposts, he saw evils which the public
mind would remedy; and, inclining with the whole might
•f his energetic nature to the side of revenue duties, he
made his earnest hut tranquil appeal to the judgment of the
people.
The portions of country that sufferedjmost severely from
n system of legislation, which, in its extreme character as it
then existed, is now universully acknowledged to have been
unequal and uujusl, were Jess tranquil; and rallying on the
doctrines of freedom, which made our Government a limit
ed one, thev saw in the oppressive acts an assumption of
power which was nugatory, because it was exercised, as
they held, without authority from the people.
The contest that ensued was the most momentous in our
nnnals. The greatest minds of America engaged in the
discussion. Eloquence never achieved sublimer triumphs
in the American senate than on those occasions. The coun
try became deeply divided ; and the antagonist elements
were arrayed against each other under forms of clashing
authority menacing civil war; the freedom of the several
States was invoked against the power of die Uuited States;
aud under the organization ol a State in convention, the re
served rights of the people were summoned to display their
energy, nnd balance the authority and neutralize the legis
lation of tho central government.’ The States were agitated
with prolonged excitement; the friends of freedom through
out tho world looked on widi divided sympathies, praying
that the union of the States might he perpetual, and “also
that the commerce of die world might be free.
Fortunately for the country, nnd fortunately for mankind,
Andrew Jackson was at the liidin of state, the tenreseuta-
tive of the principles that weie to allay excitement, and to
restore the hopes of peace and Freedom. By nature, by
impulse, by education, by conviction, a friend to personal
freedom—by education, political sympathies, and the fixed'
habit of his mind, a friend to the rights of the Stales—un
willing that the liberty of the States should be trampled un-'
der foot—unwilling that the constitution should lose its vig
or or be impaired, lie rallied for the constitution: and in its
name he published to the world “The UnioS: it must be
preserved.” The words were n spell to hush evil pas
sion, and to remove oppression. Under his guiding influ
ence, the favored interests which had struggled to perpet
uate unjust legislation, yielded to the voice of moderation
aad reform; and every mind that had fora moment contem
plated a rupture of the States, discarded it forever. The
whole influence of the past was invoked in favor of the con
stitution; from the council chambers o r the fathers, who
moulded our institutions—from the hall where American
independence was declared, the clear, loud cry was uttered
— "the Union: it must be preserved.” From every battle
field of the revolution—from Lexington and Bunker Hill—
from Saratoga and York:own—from the fields of Eutaw—
from the cane-brakes that sheltered the men of Marion—the
repeated, long-prolonged echoes came up—"the Union: it
must be preserved.” From every valley in our land—
from every cabin on tlie pleasant mountain sides—from the
shins at our wharves—from the tents of the hunter in our
westernmost prairies—from the living minds of the living
millions of American freemen—from the thickly coming
glories of futurity—the shout went up, like the sound of ina-
n* waters, "the Union: it muxtbc preserved." The friends
of the protective system, and they who had denounced the
protective system—the statesmen of the North, that had
wounded the constitution in their love of centralism—the
statesmen of the South, whose minds had enrried to its ex
treme the theory nft-t*:e rights—ail conspired togethei: all
breathed prayers for the perpetuity of tho Union. Under
the prudent firmness ofJurkson—under the mixture of jus
tice and general regard for all interests, the greatest danger
to our institutions was turned aside, and mankind wa» en
couraged to believe lhar our Union, like our freedom, is
imperishable.
The moral of the great events of those days is this: that
the people can disaern right, aud will make their way to a
L-ht; that tne <
mind of the
euce; that tin
ole bun
ion, ha
ml,and there-
nppe
il l'roi
knowledge of
fore with it tl
improving ex!
lation of to day must be made quietly,
ingty, to the more enlightened colic
row; tnat submission is due to the popular will, in the con
fidence that the people, when in error, will amend theirdo
lugs; that in a popular government injustice is neither to lie
established bv force, not to lie resisted by lorce; in a word,
that the Union, which was coii iitntc-d by consent, must he
preserved bv love.
It rarely .falls to the happy lot of a statesman to teceivfc
such unanimous applause tioui the heart ot a
the unjust leg*
uestly. petseve
the dead demands tl
measures should not pass i
which, his vigor of character
conflict with opposing parties
ted.
d.
Duu
tlie course of
? progress of
ost violent and p
ekson came to tl
i hi
rotrat
: Tr
f the
ir laws on the
contemplated with awe the unmatched hardihood of hia
cnqractor : and Xapnleon. had lie possessed his disinterest
ed will, could never have been vanquished, .lack.sen never
was vanquished. He was always fortunate. He conquer-
ed the wilderness ; he conquered the savage ; he conquer
ed the bravest veterans trained in the battle fields ol Ku.
rope ; lie conquered everywhere in statesmanship ; and,
when death came t«> eei the mastery over him, he turned
that Inst enemy aside as tranquilly as he had done the fee-
blest of his advers.-ries. and escaped from earth in the tri
umphant consciousness of immortality.
Iii.* body Iras its fit resting-place in the great central val
ley of the .Mississippi ; his spirit testa upon our whole ter
ritory ; it hovers over the v.iles of Oregon, and guirda, in
advance, the frontier of the Del Norte. Tlie fires of par*
ty . ;>.rn are quenched at his grave. His faults and frail
ties li ive perished. Whatever of good lie has done, lives,
tered, still spread the dame of patriotism through the Arne
rican breast; his counsels were still listened to with reve
lence ; and, almost alone among statesmen, he in his re
tirement wa3 in harmony with every onward movement of
his time. His prevailing influence assisted to sway a
neighboring nation to desire to share our institutions; his
ear heard ttie footsteps of the coming millions that are to
S ladden our western shores; and his eye discerned iu the
im distance tlie whitening sails tnnt are to enliven the wa
ters of tlie Pacific with the social sounds of our successful
commerce.
Age had whitened his locks, and djmmea his eye, and
spread around him the infirmities nnd venerable emblems
of many years of* toilsome service; but his heart beat as
warmly as in youth, and his com age was as firm as it had
ever been in the day of battle. But while i 113 affections
were still for his friends and his country, liis thoughts were
already in n better world. Tiiat exalted mind, which in
active life had always had unity of perception and will,
;vhich in action had never faltered from doubt, and which
in ccutlC’lhad always reverted to first principles and gene
ral laws, now pvc itself up to communing with the Infinite.
He was a believCJC ffCTO feeling, from experience, from
conviction. Not a shanu'W of scepticism ever dimmed tlie
lustre of his mind, l’roud phiiOSOD^ ! will jou smile to
know that Andrew Jackson perused revereiffiv kis Psalter
and Prayer-book and Bible t Know that Andrew Jackson
had faith in the eternity of truth, in the imperishable power
of popular freedom, in the destinies of humanity, in the
virtues and capacity of the people, in hi3 country's institu
tions, in the being and overruling providence of a merciful
and ever living God.
The last moment of his life on earth is at hand. Itis the
Sahbatli of the Lord; the brightness nnd beauty of summer
clothe the fields around him : nature is in her glory : but
the sublimest spectacle on that day, on earth, was the vic
tory of his unblenching spirit over death itself.
When he first fell the hand nf death upon him, “May
my enemies,” he cried, “ find peace; may the liberties of
my country endure forever.”
When liis exhausted system, under the excess of pain,
sunk, for a moment, from debility, “ Do not weep,” said he
to his adopted daughter; •* my sufferings are less than
those of Christ upon the cross ; for he, loo, as a disciple of
the cross- could have devoted himself, in sorrow, lor man
kind. Feeling his end near, he would see all his family
once more ; and he spoke to them, one by one, in words of
tenderness and affection. His two little grandchildrtn were
absent at Sunday-school. He asked for them ; and as they
came, he prayed for them, and kissed them, and biessed
them. His servants were then admitted : they gsthered,
some in his room, and some on the outside of his house,
•clinging to the windows, that they might gaze aud hear.—
And that dying man, thus surrounded, in a gush of fervid
eloquence, spoke with inspiration of God, of the Redeemer,
of salvation through the atouemeut, of immortality, ofheav-
For he ever thought that pure aud undefiled religion
was the foundation of private happiness, and the bulwark
of republican institutions. Havingspoken of immortality in
perfect consciousness of his own approaching end, lie bade
them all farewell. “ Dear children.” such were his final
words, “ dear children, servants, and friends, I trust to
meet you all in heaven, both white and black—all, boili
white and black.” And having borne his testimony to im
mortality, he bowed his mighty head, and, without a groan,
the spirit of tlie greaiest man of his age escaped to the bo
som of his God
in life, hi* career had been like the blaze of the sun in
the fierceness of its noon-day glory ; his death was lovely
as the mildest stiuset of a summer’s evening, when ihe sun
goes down in tranquil beauty without a cloud. To the ma
jestic energy of an indomitable will, he joined a heart capa
ble of the purest and moat devoted love, rich in the tender-
est affections. On the bloody battle-field of Topoheka.
he saved an infant that clung lo the breast of irs dying mo
ther: in the stormiest moment of his Presidency, at the im
minent moment of decision, he paused in his way. to give
good counsel to a poor suppliant tiiat had come up to him for
succor. Of the strifes in which he was engaged in his ear
lier life, not one sprang from himself, hut in every case he
became involved by standing fix th as the champion of the
w -ak, the poor, ami the defenceless to shelter the gentle
against oppression, lo protect the emigrant against the ava
rice of the speculator. His generous soul revolted nt the
barbarous practice of duels, and by no man in the land have
so many been prevented.
The sorrows of those that were near to him went deeply
into his soul ; and at the anguish of the wife whom he lov
ed, the orphans whom he adopted, he would melt into tears,
and weep nnd sub like ? child.
No man in private life so possessed the hearts of nil
around him: no publ'C man of tiiia country ever returned
to private life with auch an abiding mastery over the affec
tion* of the people. No man with truer instinct received
American ideas • no man expressed them sa completely, or
so boldly, or *o sincerely. He was as sincere a man ns ev
er lived. He was wholly, always, and altogether siuccre
and true.
Up to the last, he dared do anything that it was right to
do. He united personal courage and moral courage be
yond any man of whom history keeps tlie record. Before
the nation, before the world, before coming ages, he stands
forth the representative, for liis generation, of the Ameri
can mind. And the secret of his greatness is this : By intui
tive conception, he shared and possessed all the creative
ideas orliis country and his time. lie expressed them with
dauntless intrepidity ; he enforced them with an immovable
will; he executed them with an electric power that attract
ed and swayed the American people. The nation, in liis
•t : mc. had not one great thought, of which he svas not the
boldest nnd clearest expositor.
Ilislors does not describe the man that equalled him in
firmnessof nerve. Not danger, not an army in battle array,
not wounds, not wide spread clamor, not age, not the an
guish of disease, could impair in the least degree tue vigor
of his steadfast mitid. The heroes of antiquity would have
TELEGRAPH & REPUBLIC.
Tuesdays July lo, lS4o.
FOR GOVERNOR,
.11. II..&.!<Ei TIcALIsISTER,
Of Chatham.
For Senator of the 20th District,
A. SI. CSIArPEL-L,,
Of Dims,
From his home in % Tennessee, J
sidency resolved to lift American Ie
forms of English legislation, and to pi
currency in harmony with the principles of our gove
ment. Jdccamo to the Presidency of the Uuited Stales
solved to deliverthe govermnet from tlie Bank of the Ui
cd States, and to restore the regulation of exchanges to tl
rightful depository of that power—the commerce of il
country, lie had designed to declare iiis views on tl
subject in his inaugural address, but was persuaded to t
linquish tiiat purpose, on the ground that it belonged rail
ertoa legislative message. When the period for addres
sing Congress drew near, it was still urged, that to attack
the bank would forfeit his popularity and secure hi
defeat. " It is not,” lie answered, "it is not for myself th
I eare.’ It was urged that haste was unnecessary, as the
bank had still six unexpended years of chartered existence,
" I may die,” lie replied, " before another Congress come
together, and 1 could not rest quietly in my grave, if I fail
ed to Jo what I hold so esseutiul to the liberty ol'my cou
try:” And his iirst annual message announced to tlie conn-
try that the bank was neither constitutional nor expedient
In tiiis he was in advance of the friends about him, in ad
vance of Congress, and in advance of his party. This
no time for the analysis of measures or the discussion of
questions of political economy; on the present occasion
we have to contemplate the character of the man.
Never, from the first moment of his administration to th_
last, was there a calm in the strife of parties on the sulject
of the curreru/y ; and never, during the whole period, did
he recede or falter. Always in advance of liis party—al
ways having near him friends who cowered before the har
dihood ofbis courage, lie himself, throughout all the contest,
was unmoved, from the first suggestion of the uneonstllu-
tionality of the bank, to ;be moment when.he himself, first
of all, reasoning from the certain tendency of its policy, with
singular sagacity predicted to unbelieving friends the com
ing insolvency of the institution.
The storm throughout tne country rose with unexam
pled vehemence ; his opponents were not satisfied with ad
dressing the public, or Congress, or his cabinet; they
threw their whole force personally on him. From all parts
men pressed around him, urging him, entreating him to
bend. Congress was flexible ; many of his personal friends
faltered; the impetuous swelling wave rolled on, without
one sufficient obstacle, till it teached his presence; but,
as it dashed in its highest fury at his feet, it broke before
his firmness. The commanding majesty of his will ap
palled his opponents and revived hi* friends. lie, himself,
had a proud consciousness that his will was indomitable.—
Standing over the rocks of tlie llipllaps, and looking out
upon the ocean, “ Providence,” said he to a frieud, “ Pro-
videmm may change my determination ; but man no more
can do it, than he can remove these Rip Raps, which have
resisted the rolling ocean from the beginning of lime.”
And though a panic was spreading through the land, and
the whole credit system as il then existed Was crumbling
to pieces and crashing around him, he stood erect, like
massive column, which tlie heaps of falling ruins could not
break, nor bend, nor sway from its fixed foundation.
[At this point Mr. Bancroft turned to aildress the mayor
of the city of Washington ; but, tiudiug him not present, he
proceeded.]
People of .the District of Columbia : I should fail of a
duly oil this occasion, if I did not give utterance lo your
sentiment of gratitude which followed General Jackson in
to retirement. Dwelling amongst you, he desired your
prosperity. This beautiful city, surrounded by heights the
most attractive, watered by a river so magnificent, tlie home
of the gentle and the cultivated, not less than the seatof po
lilieal power—this city, whose site Washington had select
ed, was dear to his affections; and if he won your grateful
attachment by adorning it wi h monuments of useful arclii
lecture, by establishing iu credit, and relieving its burdens
lie regretted only tiiat he had not the opportunity to have
gonnected himself still more intimately with your prosperi
ty-
As be prepared to take his final leave of the District,
the mass of tlie population of this city, and the masses tlat
had gathered from around, followed this carriage iu crowds,
A1I in silence stood near him, to wish him adieu ; and as
the cars started, and be displayed his gray hairs, as he lift
ed his hat in token of farewell, you stood around with
heads uncovered, too full of emotion to speak, in solemn si
lence gazing on him as he departed, nevermore lo be seen
in your midst.
Behold the warrior and statesman, lii3 work well done,
retired to the Hermitage, to hold converse with his forests,
to cultivate his farm, to gather around him hospitably his
friends! Who vas like him? He was still the load s.ar p rotest ed debt, in New York, metllie nppi'O
ot the American people. His fervid thoughts* frankly ut- 1
The State Government.
In our last number we showed tiiat when
Governor McDonald entered upon his admin,
-istralion, be found, (o use the language of Gov.
Gilmer, “ihc credit of Ihe slate sacrificed and
her character disgraced bj’ tlie protest in an
other state, of a debt of $300,000.”
Never in onr political history, was the public
Treasury at so low an ebb, or the country at
large in so embarrassed and suffering a condi
tion. Tlio treasury was empty; the banks
had suspended ; creditors were pressing tlie
collection of tlieir debts and demanding specie
which was not to be had, and debtors were
driven to the last degiee of desperation. To
mitigate tiiis general distress, the Central Bank
discounted in 1S40, notes to the amount of
$700,000. At page 10, of tlie Journal of the
Senate of that year, Gov. McDonald, in his
annual message,_says that “this institution,,
with a liberality becoming it, administered to
the general relief with all the means at ils com
mand. It could not have done more without
exposing its issues to a ruinous depreciation,
which* would have been far more calamitous
titan the evils intended to be remedied by its
hind interposition.” Tln3 discount while it
was a great relief to the people, affected the
credit of notes little or none. In January,
1840, preceding the distribution, they were at
a discount of from 6 lo 7 per centum in Au
gusta, and in the close of December of the
same year, tRey were at a discount of from 5
to 6 per centum. In April anterior to the dis
count, they were at their greatest depreciation
during that year, being from 10 to 12 per cent.
In May, they were at 3 per cent, (see the table
of discount published in the Constitutionalist of
27th May. During that year the Central Bank
made arrangements for tlie payment of the
priatiorsof the Legislature and paid the amount
set apart for the support of common schools.
Gov. McDonald informed the General As-
embly that if the appropriations of the Leg-*
isluture, which were annually increasing in
amount, were to be met by the Central Bank,,
it must cease its operations ns a Bank, collect!
its debts, speedily recall its circulation which
created an obligation paramount to all others,-
and wind up its affairs. As a remedy for this
evil, he recommended ihe Legislature to re
sume the entire amount of slate taxes, “which,’”
he remarked, “had for some, years been given
to the counties with but little benefit to them,-
but greatly to the injury of the^finunccs of the-
State.”
This was the first step towards the resusci
tation of the fallen credit of the State. The”
Legislature responded to the recommendation"
of the Executive, by lire re-enactment of th®
tax act of 1804, and directing the whole amount
of tax to be paid into the treasury. The State
Government could derive, however, no benefit
from tiiis act prior to the first day of December,.
1841. It will be remembered that the Legis
lature of 1840 was Whig, by a large majority,
and that il was confidently believed tiiat the
next election would bring into power by oi>
overwhelming vote, a whig Governor, who
would begin his administration with a treasury
revived and replenished by the adoption of the
recommendation of the democratic Governor.
If such a result had not been looked to, we do
not think we can be charged with a spirit of
illiberally by surmising that tiiis necessary and
wholesome policy would not have been adopted.
The South.
Last year when Texas called on us for ad
mission into the Union, she was treated con
temptuously by a party in this country. Sho
sought for friends, nnd 11 j03- were few- nnd far
between. Annexation was branded as a ‘hum
bug.” But now- that our government having
bid her come, she takes her stand proudly
among the sister slates, and cannot count tho
host of those who have always been friendly to
her cause. There are those who know no cri
terion of judging the merit of a cause, but by its
success or failure, and that legion now join the
.early friends of annexation in the joyful shout
of welcome, as the star splanged banner is run
up on the flag staff of every military pest in
Texas, and waves proudly overll.at happy land.
Nay,with a twelfth hour zeal they almost outvie
those who have borne tlie burden and heat of
the day, in manifestations of j >y. But Texas
knows her friends.
This forms a new era in the history of our
country—especially the Southern portion of it.
Wo have no allusion here to the numerical
strength, gsined by the South, in Congress.—•
The north lias the majority and must have; her
States are more populous and she lias the Pacific
fir her boundary, which we will aid Iter in
maintaining, while the shortsightedness or foo
lish generosity of our representatives, has suf
fered the Indian tribes to occupy the lands
west of us. The voice of tho South will have
its due weight in the Senate, by the new acccs-