15 of mischief, by diminishing its means of mischief. He resolves to remove from its keeping the public treasure, of which it prov ed itself so dangerous a depository. And this, this is his crime I Why, to my judgment, he has earned gratitude, instead of censure. Not the doom of the constitution-breaker, hut laurels due to the watchful patriot, should await bjna. This is the light in which I view his conduct. How then am I to proceed ? In truth, I am embarrassed. Principles of transcendent importance come into my mind, accompanied by solicitudes and forebodings, The celebrated Castruceio Castracani, of Eucca, about to die, when factions,tore his country, desired to be buried face downward, saying that in a short time affairs would be all topsy turvy, and then he would be in the same posture with other men. So, for I can get no better illustration, J should think affairs in opr Republic topsy turvy, if the constitution has been broken by the President. I should think wrong turned into right, apd right into wrong. I should think that a bank committing and ^vowing usurpations, never before avowed, 1 dare say, in any country under the sun, even if committed, was about to rule our country; a country full of hope and glory, hitherto^ but darkened of both. I should think the constitution not worth living under. I should think its primordial principles all reversed: that like an inverted cone, it was tottering on its apex, instead of towering- from its base. I should think that future Presidents would have no motive for detecting public abuses, but the strongest for hiding them. I should think that penalties were to be annexed to official integrity, and bounties to official delinquency. It is so that I should think Castra- cani’s condition of things realized among us : even bo. I should see more'grounds for public grief, than I have ever seen before—more for public despondency. And who is this President ? Not desiring bn answer from among the many who assisted in raising him to power, but would now trample upon him, I will hazard it myself, being of neither class. I will strive to make it impartial. I will aim at sheer justice. Does he bridle men’s tongues, put an iron mask round their heads, thrust them into dungeons? Not bo. Assailed by freemen every day, inveighed against in the strongest language of accusing eloquence, handed oyer to sharp condemnation before his country and the world, all he asks is a freeman’s privilege of being heard, which is- refused sum. If Castracani’s ghost could return, it might think this strange, considering whom we call tyrant. It might inquire, u who thus takes, not the life of a veteran soldier in days past, serving his country with renown,—-no, such a soldier is generally willing to lay down his life ; but who rivets upon him chains ©f dishonor ? Who dooms him to this agony, yet will not listen to his defence ? the body over whose deliberations the sages of the revolution presided— Clinton—Jefferson—Adams ? Impossible 1 But if otherwise, in what moment of forgetfulness has it happened? What omens, what unhappy divisions does it portend ? Is your faithful republic to fall ?” So might his spirit speak. So might it carry back toits shades, the impression of violated justice. Again, if it be asked, who is the President, again I will answer. I will strive to see things as they were, and as they are. To the cause ofthe difference —its frightful cause—may our people-every where get awake. May their voice re-establish the safety and dignity of the Republic, rescuing both from thp grasp made at them. It is now less than a year since this same President passed through the city, so near to which I live as sometimes to catch in the wind the echo of its bells. Its inhabitants came forth to greet him as one moving mass. . They “ climb’d to walls and battlements, to towers and windows, yea to chimney tops,” and there they sat, almost tl«c livelong day, to see the man who, more than any, was believed' to have saved the Union from impending wreck. All parties seemed .to unite, all hearts to expand. The morning beamed as with enthusiasm and joy. So he passed through the Jersies—New /York—New-England,—as hs one long line of tri- umph. The classic capital of the latter, kindling at the sight of Bunker’s Hill, as he of New Orleans ap. proached, seemed especially emulous in fervent demonstrations. Not content with the pageant ofthe streets, unsatisfied with out-door honors, it laid also at his feet those of literature and science ; it crowned him with chaplets in its revered halls of learning. And now, all are gone I Rejoicings, are at an end ! The voices are hushed 1 No, they burst out in other tones ! Within a year, a “ little year,” all are to be turned to maledictions because he removed the deposits ! No other charge is brought against him, He stands where he did. There is but this single, solitary exception. He has removed the deposits! Was ever, in any age or nation, such an effect seen, from such a cause ? Was ever moral proof more clear, than that this nation is under wrong influence? That which ought to have gained its chief magistrate double glory, his sagacious estimate and resolute famishment of misdeeds, is made-the cause of his oudest persecution. The patriotic tendencies ofthe nation, its noblest impulses as they were rising, the bitterness of party as it seemed expiring, a disposition to harmony—to a magnanimous oblivioq rather than vengeful recollection of the faults of public men—all these good feelings and prospects are changed and blasted by a bank 1 The deposits have been removed, and bolts fall thick upon Andrew Jackson. An “ arrowy sleet" darkens the horizon. The worst passions are roused throughout a great but insulted nation, by the mercenary influence of a bank 1 For conduct that ought to have consigned it to.universal condemnation, he simply removes the deposits; when, as in an instant, testimonials of respect—jubi- lees of welcome—strains and acclamations that rent the very air—plaudits—flatteries—all, all, are turned to execrations 1 May the nation soon put an end to the cause of so much moral and public mischief, May it effectually put down the bank, never to rise more. This is my hope, my aspiration. ' But I must revert to your question, unless answered sufficiently. I would not shrink from a close examination of it if needful; or did I not fear to encroach on your patience. The vote of censure upon the President has, in my opinion, no warrant under the Constitution. It is against its whole spirit, against its justice, and I think against its words. It may be remarked, that the Senate have not, in terms, censured him for the removal of the deposits. Their resolution, as it is finally passed, simply runs, that “ the President in the late Executive proceedings in relation to the public revenue, has assumed
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