J13c3 
 
^^t Hibrarp 
 
 of tfje 
 
 Winihtx^itV «3f i^ottf) Carolina 
 
 Collection of iBtortfj Catolmiana 
 
 (gnbotoeb bp 
 
 Hfoftn ^prunt J^ill 
 
 a( tte Clasis; of ISSO 
 
 ^ 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032195197 
 
 This book must not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
 Form No. 471 
 
AN 
 
 ADDRESS, 
 
 TO THE PEOPLE OF THE 
 
 TTWITED STATES, 
 
 ON THE SUBJECT OF THE 
 
 PRESIDENTIAIi EliECTION: 
 WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE NOMINATION 
 
 CONTAINING SKETCHES OF HIS PUBLIC AND 
 PRIVATE CHARACTER. 
 
 BY A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Courage may purchase Liberty, but Wisdom must perpetuate its duration. 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR. 
 
 1828, 
 
Northern District of New-York, to wit. 
 
 SE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-sixth day of February, in the fiftv- 
 «;pcond vear of the independence of the United States of America Joseph Colweil, 
 of the said district, hath deposited in th^^ office the title of a book, tHi right whereof 
 he claims as proprietor, in the words following: 
 
 "An address to the people of the United States, on the subject of the Presiden- 
 tJol riprtion with a special reference to the nomination of Andrew Jackson, con- 
 Vain m^r sketches of his public and private character. By a citizen of the United 
 States. Courage may purchase liberty, but wisdom must perpetuate its duration.'' 
 
 ¥n rnnformitv to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An act 
 Mr thP Pncoura<-ement of learning by securing the copies of maps charts and books 
 ^Vh^ authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, 
 
 ri^Un to an act; entitled 'An act for the encouragement of learning, by secur- 
 '^ thpronies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such 
 jng me cu^ tj^e times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to 
 *^.®P'%1'. of deli-aing, engraving, and etching, historical and other prints." 
 I ho aris V o « RICHARD R. LANSING, 
 
 Clerk of the Northern District of New-York 
 
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 In a crreat and powerful republic of confederatea states, it is an ob- 
 iect of great political importance, that the choice of then- chief magis- 
 trate should be the result of wisdom, and of a pure and enl^tened 
 patriotism. The power necessarily appertment to ^^^^ c)^^\^^^; 
 oive to him an ascendancy in the councils of the cabinet, which 
 Siay characterize its policy and direct the course of its destmies It 
 will be in vain for us to calculate on the stability of our government, or 
 the permanency of its privileges, where the projects of intrigue, cabal 
 and corruption shall predominate in the choice of that otticer. l tie 
 lessons of history have furnished us with many demonstrations ot this 
 truth. From them we learn, that whatever of wisdom there may have 
 been in the constitutional provisions for the appointment ot their chiet 
 magistrates among the most celebrated republics of antiquity, the ad- 
 vantages they might have derived therefrom, were never long re amed 
 or enfoyed. Their misfortunes, and finally their rmn may be traced 
 to the convulsions and revolutions occasioned by a few corrupt, ambi^ 
 tious and desperate individuals, combining their efforts for the avowed 
 purpose of elevating or reposing those, who at different periods and in 
 different forms, swaved the chief executive power. Although Amer-. 
 icans may boast of 'their great acquisitions in the science otselt gov- 
 ernment, they cannot, with confidence, indulge the belief, that theirs is 
 the native soil where political virtue is destined to perpetuate the bles- 
 sings of its existence. The history of our republic thus far has taught 
 us that we shall have to maintain a perpetual vigilance to counteract 
 the desicrns of unprincipled ambition. We have our Catalmes and 
 <>ur Neros in embryo, from whose nefai'ious designs nothing can save 
 us but the majesty of the laws and the virtue of the people. Unless 
 the condition of the civil state, as well as the tendency of the human 
 disposition are changed, we may expect there will for ever be a con- 
 test respecting the political cl^aracter of the president and ot his aa- 
 minisU-ation. Motives for such contests will not be wanting so long- 
 as men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. However wise and 
 impartial may have been the distribution of offices at the disposal ot 
 the president, though he should pursue measures whicb the best mter- 
 est of the country seem to demand, and in every part of his adminis- 
 tration, display the character of an enlightened, wise and independent 
 magistrate; we are not to expect the dispositions of aspirmg and un- 
 principled ambition, will thereby be transformed into those ot wisdom, 
 and virtue and moderation. , . • u . 
 
 Political wisdom, integrity and distinguished patriotism, have not 
 always been duly appreciated in the councils of our cabinet. It may 
 ^ be well to call to our recoUection one attestation of this truth,^contamed 
 1. in a letter written by president Washington to Mr. Jeffefsorv/dur^ingthe 
 
third year of the second term of his presidency, of which the following 
 is an extract. 
 
 ^•Until the last year or two. I had no conception that parties would, 
 or ever could go the lengths J have been witness to. Nor did I be- 
 lieve, until lately, that it was within the bounds of probability, hardly 
 within those of possibility, that while I was using ray utmost exertions, 
 to establish a national character of our own, independent, as far as 
 our obligations would admit, of every other nation of the earth; and 
 wished, by steering a steady course to preserve this country from the 
 horrors of a desolating war, 1 should be accused of being the enemy 
 of one nation, and subject to the will of another. And to prove it, 
 that every act of my uc! ministration would be*t©itured, and the gross- 
 est and most insidious misrepresentations of them be made by giving 
 one side only of a subject, and thut in such exaggerated terms, as 
 could scarcely be applied to a Nero, to a defaulter, or to a common 
 pick-pocket." 
 
 Here we have the testimony of as perfect a man as any of which the 
 world could ever boast, respecting the opposition to his administra- 
 tion, and that too in the very infancy of our republic. When therefore 
 an opposition is excited against the president, for reasons which are 
 not generally understood, and for pretended evils, the existence or 
 the approach of which the people neither feel nor apprehend, it is a 
 duty which they owe to themselves, and to the honour and interest of 
 their country, to investigate the causes of this opposition, and the ob- 
 ject of those by whom it is assailed. It may ever be expected, there 
 will be more than one candidate for the first office in the gift of the 
 people; and the transcendant honors and privileges which appertain to 
 it. will excite an interest which the people cannot but feel; and may 
 t^timulate to efforts which they should not encourage. In the compli- 
 cated concerns of our extensive and powerful republic of confederated 
 j-tates,the operations of government require a great number of officers, 
 who must depend on the patronage of the president for the acquisition 
 and the tenure of their offices; these must be selected from the people, 
 and it is very obvious that by ^u- the greater number of applicants for 
 places in the various departments, must be disappointed. Defeated 
 expectations, in numerous instances, will generate disaffection to the 
 administration; and opposition to it, and especially to the chief magis- 
 trate, v.j,ho is supposed to have the most efficient agency in defeating 
 their hopes, is one in the usual course of political events, and in ac- 
 cordance with the human disposition.. In every district of our coun- 
 try, disappointed expectants of presidential patronage are to be found, 
 "who will exert themselves to excite disaffection and enlist the unsus- 
 pecting freemen under the banners of opposition; and actuated as they 
 arc by ambitious, vindictive and rapacious dispositions, it may be ex- 
 pected they will exert all their faculties to mislead the people, and cn- 
 garje thf m in their \ lews of personal preferment. 
 
 It is therefore from the wisdom and integrity of those who aic not 
 expectants of office, who are not corrupted with the contaminating in- 
 flwenrc of power, nor duped by the insidious arts of intrigue, and the ''^ 
 impostors of pretended patriotism, that we may expect a correct an(H- 
 
dlgnhied decision ot* the important question, relative to the approacli- 
 ing election of a chief magistrate. Possessing equal means of infor- 
 mation, and no interest in the event, but that which is common to their 
 country, they would be well agreed, that to be properly qualified for 
 that hio-h office, the candidate should have a correct and extensive 
 knowledge of the history of our political state; and that to enable him 
 to regulate our intercourse with foreign nations, he should be conver- 
 sant with the nature and policy of their governments, and the princi- 
 ples and complicated systems by which the course of their administra- 
 tion is directed ; also with the general laws and maxims, which should 
 govern the conduct of. independent Rations toward each other ; that 
 his discussions of national subjects should be distinguished for sci- 
 ence, Yor candor and tirm.ness. In short, that his experience in the 
 concerns of civil government, and hia capacity should be such, as to 
 enable him to discern the great objects which relate to the interest 
 of his country ; and that he should evince a disposition steadfastly to 
 pursue it, unawed and undisturbed, by the discordant and importunate 
 clamors, and insidious pretences of disappointed expectants, and that 
 a pure and dignified deportment should mai'k his habits and manners. 
 
 These quahfications, it is believed, are permai.ently exemplified in 
 the character of Mr. Adams, the present chief magistrate. Through 
 all the fluctuations of public opinion, and changes in the administra- 
 tion, occasioned by party dissensions or other causes, Mr. Adams has 
 possessed the uninterrupted confidence of the public, and pursued 
 .an undeviating and dignified co'irse, in discharging the duties of sev- 
 eral highly responsible offices, both in our own and foreign countries. 
 At an early period of his life, he was appointed by President Wash- 
 ington, in 1794. minister to the Hagu ; in 1796, minister to Lisbon. 
 Before he entered on the duties of that office, he was, upon the strong 
 and decided recommendation of President Washington, transferred by 
 President Adams, to the court *of Berlin, where he remained until 1801. 
 When he returned to his own country in 1802, he was elected a mem- 
 ber of the senate of Massachusetts. In 1803, he was el«cted a sena- 
 tor in Congress, which office he resigned in 1808. In 1809 he was 
 nominated by President Jefferson, minister to Russia, but the senate 
 decided that the mission at that time was inexpedient. .In 1811, he 
 was nominated by President Madison, for the same mission, and the 
 senate confirmed the appointment. In the same year, after he left the 
 coimtry, he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Uni- 
 ted States, but did not accept the appointment, and Judge Story was 
 appointed. In 1813 he was appointed one of the commissioners to 
 negotiate the treaty of peace with Great Britain, which was afterwards 
 concluded at Ghent, in conjunction vvith JMessrs. Gallatin, Bayard, 
 Clay, and Russel. In 1815, he negotiated a treaty of commerce with 
 Great Britain, in conjunction with Messrs. Gallatin and Clay, and was 
 continued minister to that court until 1817, when he was appointed by 
 President IMonroe, Secretary of State, which last office he held until 
 he was appointed to the office of Chief Magistrate. 
 
 The ability and fidelity with which he discharged the arduous du- 
 ties of these several offices-, has furnished the most ample attestations 
 
& 
 
 ^n 
 
 of his merit, and that he has well deserved the confidence which has 
 elevated him to the summit of his country's honors. 
 
 It is well known that immediately after the elevation of Mr. Adams 
 to the Presidency, a party was organized in Congress, for the obvious 
 pur}X)se of uniting their efforts to alienate the confidence of the peo- 
 ple from him, and his administration, and thereby defeating his re-elec- 
 tion, and of promoting to that ofhce some oiher candidate more agree- 
 able to their views and interests. The people, therefore, should under- 
 stand the object of those whose efforts are thus directed against him ; 
 and A'ho have evinced a disposition to place in that office, Gen. An- 
 drew Jackson. Although others have been nominated, and may liere- 
 after be proposed as candidates for the Presidency, it is believed that 
 the nomination of Ge«. Jackson, has enstamped on the opposers of 
 Mr. Adams, a character not ominous of good, nor honorable to tlie 
 republic. The author of this pi per would make no comments on tlie 
 qualifications of other candidates than Gen. Jackson. 
 
 It is acknowledged that there are many others who might fill that 
 office, with the approbation of the people, and honor to themselves. 
 But when the opposers of Mr. Adams discovered among their num- 
 ber, those who were making efforts, with too much prospect of suc- 
 cess, for a m n like Gen. Jackson, it was hazarding too much, to 
 contribute any thing which might tend to facilitate the election of a 
 man both dangerous to our liberties, and dishonorable to the charac- 
 ter of our country. 
 
 Since th^ man \\ ho v.as not extensively known to the people of the 
 United States, until the eighth of January, 1815, has consented to be 
 considered a candidate for the office of chief magistrate, he will doubt- 
 less expect that some prominent traits of his character, and incidents 
 of his hfe, will be exhibited to pubhc view ; that the people, whose 
 political interest and national character is, to be affected by the admin- 
 istration, may be 'enabled to duly appreciate the quahfications^ of the 
 man, who would be placed at the head of it. 
 
 It appears from the biography of Gen. Jackson, that in early life he 
 commenced the practice of law in the state of Tennessee, was elected 
 a member of the convention, and contributed a share in the formation 
 of the constitution of that state ; was afterwards elected a member of 
 the Legislature, and from thence transferred to the senate of the Uni- 
 ted States ; afterwards appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of 
 law and equity, and after giving up this last office, that he turned his 
 attention to the military art, and rose to the rank of Major General of 
 the militia. 
 
 In these several stations, it does not appear that he acquitted himself 
 with more ability or celebrity than hundreds of others, who, in their 
 respective states, have passed through the same grades of office, with 
 honor to themselves, as it is said he did ; no extraordinaiy trait had 
 thus far so distinguished him, as to give him a claim to the first office 
 in the gift of the people. He first became conspicuous throughout 
 the Union by his military achievements in our last war with Great Brit- 
 ain. In this war he distinguished himself as a brave man. In his 
 military con' ■'ft. |u> pvinrod a capacity, and a disposition to engage 
 
L r J 
 
 in those arduous and desperate enterprizes which aie otien necessary 
 to the safety and independence of a government. In that war he ac- 
 quired the fame that is due to the HerO; and which often confers upon 
 
 him durable glory. , ,. i 
 
 But the military achievements of any man, however splendid may 
 have been the efforts which have*inarked their cause, should never give 
 to their author, any claim to the first office among the civil magis- 
 trates of his counft-y. It was not the military exploits alone, even of 
 the immortal Washington, which gave to him a pre-eminent claim to 
 the first civil honors. He was distinguished for those rare and pecul- 
 iar characteristics which qualified him to adorn and bless society, either 
 in private or public stations ; and by his unparalleled efforts in the ac- 
 quisition of our independence, was well entitled to all the honors 
 which his country could confer. The advocates for Gen. Jackson, 
 cannot pretend that in the performance of the various civil offices 
 which he has filled, he ever evinced those extraordinary qualities 
 which should distinguish a candidate for the office of chief magistrate. 
 It is unfortunate for him, that the military achievements which first 
 gave general celebrity to his character, gave publicity also, to his vi- 
 ces and errors ; and over which the veil tl at covers human infirmi- 
 ties might have been thrown, had not an effort been made to intrude 
 him into a-place, for which, in the destmies of our republic, he could 
 never have been designed. Gen. Jackson is highly reputed, by his 
 political advocates, for decision of character, which is considered an 
 important qualification in the character of a chief magistrate. But 
 it should be remarked, the decision requisite for that office, should be 
 preceded by cool, candid, and judicious deliberation. It has, how- 
 ever, been discovered, that Gen. Jackson decides from the impulse of 
 the moment, rashly, and without consideration ; that his decision of 
 character, arises from an impetuous temper, which always exposes 
 one who is exercised with it, to make incorrect and unjust decisions ; 
 and which not only exposes him, but has often impelled him to the 
 commission of errors, and even of crimes, which should disqualify 
 him for any important civil office, and even from all confidence, 
 which a sense of moral obligation should inspire. That from the ir- 
 ritability of his constitution, and an untoward disposition, he does not 
 control the first impulse of his temper, but has indulged it in repeated 
 ** acts, of violence, in defiance of the laws of his country, and against 
 the dictates of humanity. Abundant attestations of this fact are be- 
 fore the public. 
 
 Col. Benton has attested, that in the year 1812, Gen. Jackson, with 
 some of his friends, came to the house in Nashville, where he was, 
 and commenced an attack upon him, by levelling a pistol at him, when 
 he had no weapon of defence drawn, and advanced upon him with a 
 quick pace, without giving him time to draw one ; that an affray 
 thereupon commenced between hhn and Gen. Jackson, and their res- 
 pective friends, in which several pistols were discharged, one by Gen, 
 Jackson at him. Col. Benton, whose life he obviously intended to des- 
 tro-r, and from which he was probably prevented, by being disabled by 
 a pistol shot fro^m Col. Bentou's brother. It is not thought necessary 
 
[8] 
 
 to detail all the particular facts relating to this horrible outrage, as stat- 
 ed by Col. Benton, but only to attest the fact, that Gen. Jackson is 
 governed by an impetuous temper, which render^ hnn a dangerous 
 man, even in private life, and that the people may be enabled duly to 
 appreciate- his decision of character, so much extolled by his advocates. 
 But it was in the exercise of militaf)^ power, and administration of 
 martini law, that he, while reaping the laurels of heroic fame, exhibited 
 to view a political character which should fore ve» exclude him from 
 the confidence of a wise people. 
 
 It appears from the following account that Gen. Jackson, from his 
 entire dereliction of principle, which should govern the conduct of 
 men in the civil state, cannot be intrusted with any power, either civil 
 or military. It is well known^ that in our last war with Great Britain, 
 in the year 1814, a detachment of Tennessee militia was drafted by 
 order of Governor Blount, who arrived at their place of rendezvous 
 on the 20th of June, the same year. The privates were told by their 
 officers, a Captain and Lieutenant, that by the existing I avs of their 
 own state, as well as of the United States, they could only be compell- 
 ed to serve for three months. Supposing therefore their tour of duty 
 was completed, on the 20th of the then next September, upwards of 
 two hundred of them dehvered up their muskets, drew their rations, 
 and set out for home. But having received advice on their way, that 
 they were wrong in supposing their time of service had expired, they 
 were honestly returning to their encampment, when by order of Gen. 
 Jackson, they were arrested, charged v/ith mutiny, and brought to tri- 
 al before a court martial. 
 
 The officers by whose advice the men had acted, and who were 
 convicted of having excited and connived at the mutiny charged, were 
 simply dismiss-ed from the service ; about two hundred others were 
 sentenced to make good the time they had lost, and {;t the expiration of 
 their service, to have their heads shaved, and to be drummed out of 
 camp ; and six were condemned to suffer death. These sentences 
 could not be operative without the sanction of Gen. Jackson, but that 
 sanction was given by him on the 22d of January, 1815, and carried 
 into effect. But th» fact is well ascertained, that the men thus sen- 
 tenced and punished by order of Gen. Jackson, did not mis-conceive 
 their rights, when they left the army at the end of their three months. 
 The law of 1795, limits the term of miUtary duty, to a period of, three 
 months. The law of the 10th of April, 1812, by which the term of 
 service was extended to six months, expired by its own provisions, on 
 the 10th of April, 1814. The men in question were detailed for duty 
 after the expiration of this law, namely in May, 1814. Every sub- 
 sequent draft could be held to serve only for three months, unless un- 
 der the provisions of a law, passed on the 1 8th of April, 1814, the 
 President of the United States should expressly order a continuance 
 of the term ; and such an order in this case has not be«n pretended. 
 On the contrary, the President of the United States, expressly direct- 
 ed Governor Blount to consider his draft of militia as called out 
 under the law of 1795, and gives as his reason for so doing, his re- 
 liance on the patriotism of the citizens of Tennessee, to fill up ihf 
 ranks as occasion might require. 
 
. L '^ J 
 
 Thus it appears, that while Gen. Jackson was achievemg Oie miiita 
 rv 2lory which his poUtical advocates would contend has entitWhim 
 to the first civil honors of his country, he has heen proved to have 
 condemned six men to death, and nearly two hundred others to an ig^ 
 nominrous punishment, not only against the plamest dictates of mercy 
 and humanity, but in direct violation ot the laws ^>[ ^f ^^^"f T '. ^^.^ 
 It will be understood by the American people, that the admmistia- 
 tion of martial law, is to be resorted to, only in extraordinary cu-cum- 
 iances when the public safety requires it. On the 22d of January, 
 is" Xd^^^^^^^ the invasion of New-Orleans by the enemy was 
 
 at an end. The signal victory obtained over them, was on the 8th ot 
 ^he same January ; and in a letter to the Secretary at War dated the 
 19th of January, three days before he gave his sanction to the sen- 
 tence of those unfortunate men, he expressly declares that all danger 
 from an invading enemy, in that part of the country, was at an end ; 
 or, to use his own words, '^ I believe you will not believe me oo san- 
 auineiii the belief, that Louisiana is now clear of its enemies. Had 
 t'hose men,therefore, whom he sentenced to an ignominious punishment, 
 and to deatJh, actually been guilty, accordi-ig to the usages of war, 
 and the principles which should govern those who are clothed with au- 
 thority, it was his imperious duty to have pardoned them. The lea- 
 son of the severities of the martial law, had ceased; the operations of 
 the law should therefore have ceased, and its penalties should have 
 been dispensed with. Had he exercised a small portion of that delib- 
 erative wisdom, which should distinguish a man in any ^^P^'^^^'^f 
 fice ither civil or military, he might have avoided the imputation ot 
 havin- thus trampled upon the laws of his country. and of humanity 
 Du?m- the revolutionary war, of eight years continuance, it is well 
 laiown tnat our country had every where scattered over its extensive 
 t-rritory, those who were unfriendly to the American cause, and were 
 dispo.edto render the enemies of our country every possible aid; 
 and du"in2 that war hundreds of our militia men, left the camp, and 
 returned home before the time for which they had been dra:ted had 
 expired; and in some instances, in the very face of the enemy; yet 
 the great and gallant Washington, whose name has been too oiten 
 profaned, by using it in connection with Gen. Jackson's never once 
 proclaimed martial law ; neither was a militiaman ever shot by hii.-Cri^ 
 
 The conduct of Gen. Jackson, in the condemnation and execution 
 of Aburthnot and Amhrister, was also highly <''l^«''a'='^"^''<^^,° f'' 
 tyrant. They were tried for an alleged cnme, by a court m^'^^l, m- 
 Btituted by him for that purpose, and by that court convicted and sen- 
 tenced tol punishment not capital. Gen. Jackson m contem^^f the 
 proceedings of the court and the sentence they had 'ho«|l P o|. o 
 pass, immediately ordered the accused to be punished V lUu^^ath. 
 which was by his order inflicted, on the morni-.g of tne next day. 
 
 The maxtfal law, according to the usages ot war amoftg omhzed 
 nations, cannot, consistently with tte r.ghts of men «l'^/'-'^.';f P* f 
 like oui's, be enforced, until those who are accused of havmg mcur- 
 ved its penalties, are first found guilty bv the sentence of o. court, con 
 
' 10 _ 
 
 sisuii" v)f olBctTa appuiiiitu by the coinuianaer-^n-ciiiei ; \vuo ait; Hi- 
 so to aflix to the conviction, the punic^hnicnt to be inflicted. This 
 sentence he may aftirm, or he may refuse to affirm it, and in that case, 
 the sentence cannot be enforced. But if he disregards the sentence 
 of the court, and passes on the accused a diiferent one, he thereby 
 renders himself a tyrant, and evinces a disposition not to be governed 
 by any law, except his own despotic will. It may be true, that Ara- 
 brister and Aburthnot well deserved the punishment of death ; but it 
 is verv obvious that Gen. Jackson inflicted that punishment, without 
 any right vested in him, either by virtue of his military commission, 
 or the laws of his country. 
 
 His conduct towards the French Consul, and the French Aliens, 
 then resident at New-Orleans, not only exceeded his power as a mili- 
 tary chief, but was in direct violation of the law of nations. Cheva- 
 lier Tousard, the French Consul, had furnished a portion of the 
 French residents at New-Orleans with certificates of French citizen- 
 ship, which exempted them from military duty, and which exemption 
 they had a right to claim, according to the law of nations. These 
 certificates Gen. Jackson could not disapprove, but under the colour 
 of martial law, he banished those who had thus obtained them, to a 
 place called Baton Rouge, 120 miles from New-Orleans, in the interi- 
 or, and arrested and imprisoned Tousard the Consul, for no other of- 
 fence but that of claiming an exeAiption from militaj-y duty, for the 
 French ahens ; to do w^hich, he had not only a right, but was impelled 
 in the discharge of his official duty. But the person of an ambassa- 
 dor or other public minister, autliorised and received as such, by the 
 President of the United States, is not liable to arrest or imprisonment, 
 but is exempted therefrora, both by the law of nations, and by a law 
 of the United States. If he even commits a capital offence, or makes 
 an ill use of his character, he may be sent home, and accused by the 
 o-overnmcnt who sent him, which is bound to do justice to him, or 
 avows itself the accomplice of his crime. 
 
 About the same time these extraordinary measures were prosecut- 
 ino-, a member of the Legislature, by the name of Lauailher, had 
 published in a New-Orleans Gazette, an article of which Gen. Jack- 
 son did not approve ;* he therefore immediately ordered him to be ar- 
 
 *Tlie article jtiluded to, contains some strictjires on the conduct of Gen. Jackson 
 in banishinff the French aliens from New-Orleans, published in a paper called the 
 "Louisiana Courier." The following- is a copy of the article for which Lauaillier 
 was tried by a court miTftial by Gen .Jackson's order. 
 
 "Mr. Editor To rem<i.'u silent on the last general order, directinj;;^ ail the 
 
 Frenphraen who now reside iil iXew-Orleans, to leave it in three; days, and to keep 
 at a distance of 120 miles of it, wcJt'ld be an act of cowardice, which ogght not to 
 he expected from a citizen of a free ccSi'ntry ; and when every one laments sucl: 
 ;>M abv^e of authority, the press ought to de"r?ounce it to the people. 
 
 "{rt <5\ '^<?r to encourage a communication between both countries, the 7th and 
 •^th articles «f the treaty or cession, secure to the French, who shall coriie to Lou- 
 isiana certain commercial advanta°es which they are to cnjny during the term 
 of twelve years, which are not ^et expired. At the expiration of that term, they 
 
 -).iin he treated' in the same manner, as the most favored nation — a p'-iace whicli 
 
 ^mp.rlcan govcrnmeBt in its reialiou with ibrei-sn nations. 
 
rested and confined, and to be tried as for a capital offence ; \\ here- 
 upon Lauaillier by his counsel made application to Dominic A. Hall, 
 Judge of the district, for a writ of Habeas-Corpus for his enlarge- 
 ment. The writ was immediately issued by the Judge, directed to 
 Gen. Jackson, commanding him to show reasons for the detention of 
 this legislator. The Marshal who served the writ, gave it to Gen. 
 Jackson for his perusal, at his request, who refused to redeliver it to 
 the Marshal. But instead of obeying the command of the writ, and 
 appearing before the court to make his defence, he immediately order- 
 ed the Judge to be arrested, for issuing the writ of Habeus-Corpus, 
 and sent out of the city. 
 
 It should be remarked for the information of^ those who are not 
 learned in the law, that the writ of Habeas-Corpus is a privilege of 
 the citizen, demandable of common right, by any person who is im- 
 prisoned, whether under color of authority, or without it, unless the 
 imprisonment be on execution, or on conviction of some crime. It is 
 directet! to the person who has the custody of the prisoner, or com- 
 plainant, with a command to bring him before the court with the cause 
 of his detention. When the person imprisoned is brought before the 
 court with a return of the cause of his detention, it is the duty of the 
 court to examine whether the cause be illegal ; and if so found, may 
 discharge him, or otherwise remand him to prison. This writ is of 
 great importance, in securing the personal lilDerty of the citizens ; and 
 the right to suspend the issuing it, can only be vested in the highest 
 
 legislative authority in the government. 
 
 /- 
 In such circumstances, what can be tlie motives which have induced the coin- 
 mander-in-chief of (he 7th military district, to issue general orders of so vexa- 
 tious a nature? When the foreigners of every nation, when the Spaniards, and 
 even the English are suffered to remain unmolested among us, shall the French 
 alone be condemned to ostracism, because they rendered too great services ? Had 
 they remained gentle spectators of the last events, could their sentiments towards 
 us be doubted, then vve might merely be surprized at the course now followed 
 with regard to them. But how are we to refrain our indignation when we remem,- 
 ber that these very Frenchmen, who aie now to be exiled have so powerfully 
 <:ontributed to the preservation of Louisiana, without speaking of the corps who 
 so eminently distinguished themselves, and in which we see a number of French- 
 men, rank either as officers or privates ; how can we forget that they were Fiench 
 artillerists who directed and served a part of those pieces of cannon which so 
 greatly annoyed the British forces ? can any one flatter himself that so important 
 services could have so soon been forgotten ? No : they are engraved in everlasr- 
 ing characters, in the hearts of al' the inhabitants of Louisiana, and they shall 
 perform a brilliant part in the history of their country; and when those brave 
 men ask no other reward, but being permitted peaceably to enjoy among us the 
 rights secured to them by treaties, and the laws of America, far from sharing in 
 the sentiments which have dictated the general order, we avail ourselves of this 
 opportunity to give them a public testimony of our gi'atitude. Far from us the 
 idea that there be a single Frenchman so pusillanimous as to forsake his country 
 merely to please the military commander of this distrnct, and in order to avoid 
 the proscription to which he has chosen to condemn them ; we may therefore ex- 
 pect to see them all repair to the Consul of their nation, there to renew the act 
 which binds them to their country ; but in supposing that in jdelding to a senti- 
 ment of fear, they consent to cease to be French citizens, could they by such an 
 abjuration, become American citizens? No, certainly they could not; the man 
 who would be powerful enough to denationalize them, would not be powerful 
 enough to give them a country. It is better, therefore, for a man to remain a 
 faithuil Frenchman, than to suffer himself to be scared even by the martial law ; 
 a law useless when the presence of the foe and honor call us to arms ; but which 
 becomes degrading when their shameful flight suffer us to enjoy a glorious rest, 
 which fear and terror ought not to disturb. But could it be possible that tlV; 
 
L i^ J 
 
 In the case of Lauaillier, Judge Hall could not be justilied in sus- 
 pending the issuing of the writ of Habeas Corpus, without being au- 
 thorised so to do, by a law of Congress for that express purpose. 
 Without such a law, the President of the United States could not sus- 
 pend the issuing of such a writ, when it was demanded ; and Con- 
 gress never have, and probably never will make a law so repugnant 
 to the constitution. Yet Judge Hall was arrested by Gen. Jackson 
 and committed to custody, for no other offence, whatever, but the is- 
 suing 01 this writ to effect the release of Lauaiiliar from an illegal ini- 
 prif ontnent. An application was then made by a Mr. Dick, the dis- 
 trict attorney, at the request of Judge Hall, for a writ of Habeas-Cor- 
 pus, to effect his. Judge Hall's, liberation, and Gen. Jackson immedi- 
 ately arrested Mr. Dick, for making the application, and delivered to 
 an officer an order to arrest Judge Lewis for granting the writ ! ! ! 
 
 According to the usages and articles of war, whenever a military 
 chief has evidence that any one under his command is guilty of mu- 
 tinous or tratorous conduct, or disobedience of orders, he may inflict 
 
 <;oiisiitutioti and the laws of our country ohould have left it in the power of the 
 several commanders of military districts', to dissolve all at once the ties of friend- 
 ship which unite America to the nations of Europe ; eould it be possible that 
 peace or war could depend upon their caprice and the friendship or enmity they 
 might entertain for any nation? We do not hesitate in declaring, that nothing of 
 the kind exists. The President alone has, by iVw. the right to adopt against alien 
 enemies, such measures as the state of war may render necessary ; and for that 
 purpose he must issue a proclamation*; but this'is a power which he cannot dele- 
 gate. It IS by virtue of that law and of a proclamation, that the subjects of 
 Great Britain were removed from our ports and sea f>>hores. But we do not know 
 any law authoiizing Gen. Jackson to apply to alien friends a measure which the 
 President of the United'States himself has only the right to adopt against alien 
 enemies. 
 
 Our laws protect strangers who come to reside among us. To the sovereign 
 alone, belongs tlie right of depriving them of that ptotection ; and all those who 
 know how to appreciate the title of an American citizen and who are acquainted 
 with their prerogatives, will sfiasily understand that by the Sovereign, I do by 
 no means intend ro designate ^TMajor General or any other military commander, 
 to whom I willingly grant the power of issuing general orders like the one in 
 question, but to whom I deny that of having them executed. 
 
 If the last general order has no other object but to inspire in us a salutary fear, 
 if it is only destined to be read, if it is not to be followed by any act of violence, 
 if it is only to be executed by those who may choose to leave the city in order to 
 enjoy the pure air of the country, we shall forget that extraordinary order j but 
 should any thing else happen, we are of opinion that the tribunals shall, soor^er 
 or later, do justice to the victims of that illegal order Every alien friend who 
 .shall continue to respect the laws which rule our country, shall continue to be en- 
 titled to their protection. Could that general order berf^plied to us, we should 
 calmly wait until we were forced by violence to execute it. well convinced of the 
 firmness of the magistrates, who are the organs of the laws in this part of the 
 union, and the guardians of public order 
 
 Let us conclude by saying, it is high time the laws should resume their empire; 
 that the citizens of this state should return to the full enjoyment of their rights; 
 that in acknov\ledgipg we are indebted to Gen. Jackson for the preset vation of 
 our city, and the defeat of the British, we do not feel much inclined through grati- 
 ,tude, to sacrifice any of our privileges, and less than any other, that of express- 
 ing our opinion about the acts of his administration ; that it is time the citizens, 
 accused of any crime, should be rendered to tlieir natural judges, and were to be 
 brouglit before special or military tribunals, a kind of institutions held in ahhor- 
 Tence, even in absolute governments ; and that after having done enough for glory,- 
 the tnoment of moderation has arrived; and finally that the acts of authority 
 which the invasion of our country and our safety may have rendered necessary, 
 are since the evacuation of it by the enemv, no longer compatible with our digni- 
 ty and our oath of makinc: the constitution respectvd. 
 
L 1^ J 
 
 upon liim a punishment proportioned to the offence, withoiu proclaunni^ 
 martial law That is necessary only when it is intended to extend its 
 jurisdiction over the civil rights of the citizens ; to suspend the ope- 
 rations of the legislative and judiciary departments of the govern- 
 ment, and to subject the people to the regulations and discipline of 
 the camp. This was evidently the object pf Gen. Jackson. He told 
 Major Claiborn, that while martial law existed, no one should be above 
 him. But in the republic of the United States, or indeed in any oth- 
 er government which is not purely military, the jurisdiction ''of mar- 
 tial law cannot be extended to those who are not actually in militarv 
 service, and under the command of a military chief. 
 
 13y the 7th article of the amendments, now a part of the constitu- 
 tion of the United States, it is provided that no person shall be held 
 to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous offence, unless on a 
 presentation or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in 
 the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in 
 time of war, or public danger, and by the same article it is also provid- 
 ed that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without 
 due course of law. 
 
 It was never intended by the constitution, to give to any military 
 chief discretionary power to interfere with the civil rights of the peo- 
 ple. That this was not the view that Congress had of the extent of 
 military power, is obvious from an act of Congress, passed the 10th 
 day of April, 1806; thereby it is enacted, that in time of war, all 
 persons not citizens of, or owing allegiance to the United States of 
 America, who shall be found lurking as spies, in or ab^ut the fortify- 
 cations or encampments of the armies of the United States, or any of I 
 them, shall suffer death according to the law and usages of nations, I 
 by sentence of a general court mai'tial. It is very obvious it was 
 ever considered by Congress that the constitution of the United 
 States, had excluded any and every military chief from extendino- the 
 jurisdiction of martial law to any person whatever, who was not in 
 actual service, unless such persons were designated by a law enacted 
 for that express purpose ; and by this act it appears the persons de- 
 signated are not only aliens not owing allegiance to the United States 
 but who are to be identified as spies, and when found guilty, the law 
 affixes the punishment of death. It was under the pretended authori- 
 ty of this law, that Gen. Jackson sent the French aliens to Baton 
 Rouge, without conviction of guilt, and without a trial. No descrip- 
 tion of persons could be considered more amenable to the jurisdiction 
 of a court martial, than alien spies, and yet it was thought necessary 
 by C ngress, to pass a special act for the purpose of authorising their 
 trial and conviction by a court martial. 
 
 It appears then, that in the face of our government, and in the midst 
 of a people who admit no power above the laws, an individual has 
 been permitted with impunity, under the color of mihtary authority, 
 to sport with the lives and liberties of our citizens. 
 
 There may be circumstances attending the events of war, in which 
 the public danger might be so alarming as to justify a military com- 
 mander in a momentary sacrifice of the civil riohts of individuals : 
 
 I 
 
» ±4 
 
 / 
 
 when the preservation of the country might require it. But in sucli 
 extreme exigencies, the necessity of resorting to extraordinary nieeis- 
 ures, sliould be such ?.s to admit of the clearest demonstration. ' From 
 pretended apprehensions, that such danger is approaching, or to guard 
 against what might be considered well founded suspicions, it was nev- 
 er intended by the constitution or the policy of our government, that 
 a military chief, in time of war, may at his discretion, put down the 
 civil administration, ^y a proclamation of martial law. 
 
 By referring to the dates of events attending his administration of 
 martial law, it will appear that any of the violations of the rights of 
 the citizens he committed under the color of that law, could not have 
 been dictated by a sense of public danger ; that the public safety did 
 not require them. . 
 
 It is well knov/n that the proclamation of martial law was made on 
 the 15th of December, 1814; and the celebrated victory, as has been 
 remarked, v.'as on the Sth of January following. The articles of 
 peace were signed at Ghent, on the 24th of December, 1814, and rat- 
 ified by the president of the United States, on the 1 7th of the Febru- 
 ary next Ibllowing. 
 
 It has been already shown, that on the 22d of January, 1815, when 
 he inflicted the punishment oi death on the six militiamen, and an igno- 
 minious punishment on about two hundred others, it could not, as his 
 friends have urged, be considered a necessary measure of defence 
 against the enemy, dictated by a sense of danger, since he, on the 19th 
 of January, had written to the Secretary of war, that at that time Lou- 
 isiana was clear of its enemies. 
 
 On the 7th of the March next following, he received conclusive e\ - 
 idenpe from the seat of government, that peace was ratified between 
 the United States and Great Britain. But Lauaillier, on the 4th of the 
 same month, when he was a member of the Legislature, was, by or- 
 der of Gen. Jackson, arrested, imprisoned, and ordered for trial by 
 his court martial. On the llth of the same month, Judge Hall was 
 arrested and sent out of the city, and kept in custody, for issuing 
 the writ of Habeas-Corpus, which has been mentioned, for the release 
 of LaualUer. The order for the removal of the French aliens, and 
 the imprisonment of the French Consul which has been mentioned, 
 was made on the 28th of January, 1815, nine days after the enemy 
 were gone. The French aliens were not permitted to return to New- 
 Orleans, until the 8<h of March, nineteen days after the ratification of 
 the treaty by the president ; and the French Consul was not discharg- 
 ed until the 13th of March. Tousard was the friend of La Fayette, 
 and was maimed in our revolutionary war. 
 
 Immediately after the llth of the same March, l\Ir. Dick, the 
 district attorney, was arrested and imprisoned for making appli- 
 cation to Judge Lewis for a writ of Habeas-Corpus, for the re- 
 lief of Judge Hall, and an order also was by order of Gen. Jackson 
 delivered to an officer for the arrest of Judge Lewis, for issuing the 
 writ. It is not known by the author of these remarks, that Judge 
 Lewis was arrested on this last order. The officer who received the 
 order misht have been deterred from contributing his aid to such ille- 
 
[ li J 
 
 gal and disgraceilil proceedings, or might not have had an opportuni- 
 ty to have executed the order before the 13th of JMarch, after which 
 time Gen. Jackson could no longer conceal the fact that peace had 
 taken place, and was therefore, on that day, forced to the necessity of 
 publishing the news of peace, and revoking his order ior the procla- 
 mation of martial law. ^ I have said that he was forced to this measure, 
 because it appears from the whole course of his administration of that 
 law, he exliibited such a predominant disposition to make a wanton 
 and supercilious display of his military power over the civil rights 
 of the citizens, and that too after the reasons which he had himself 
 assigned for the order of martial law had ceased ; he must with reluc- 
 tance have parted with that power, especially when he had just reason 
 to expect that when he could no longer be protected in his mad ca- 
 reer by the event of war, he should have to surrender himself to the 
 justice of an indignant, insulted, and abused people ; and the people 
 of the United States have cause to exult in the recollection, that one 
 magistrate has been found, v/ho hastened to wipe away the stain upon 
 our national honor,- and to avenge the insulted dignity of the laws of 
 the republic. The Hon. Judge Hall, being released from his imprii?- 
 onment by the proclamation of peace, which was made on the 13th of 
 March, issued his warrant for the arrest of Gen. Jackson, on the 3 1st 
 of the same month, whereupon he was brought before the court, iln 
 which Judge Hall presided, and was put upon his trial, on a chargie, 
 that while the Judge of the United States was exercising one of the 
 most important functions of his office, he was imprisoned, by order of 
 the General, that the process of the court was treated with disrespect, 
 that the officers of the court were menaced, and finally, that by threats 
 and violence, the course of justice was obstructed. After havin/-^ 
 heard his defence, the Judge imposed on him a fine of one thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 The government of the United States, from extreme indulgence, m 
 consideration of his energetic and heroic achievements in defendino- 
 his country, have hitherto spared him from that punishment, which, by 
 the violated laws of his country, they might in justice have inflicted. 
 
 It was indeed an unfortunate event, when only thirty-eight years of 
 our existence as free and independent states, had elapsed, our govern- 
 ment was impelled by imperious circumstances, either to inflict an 
 exemplary punishment on a military chief who by his brave achieve- 
 ments, had rendered important services to his country, or permit an 
 individual with impunity, wantonly to violate the fundamental, princi- 
 ples of the constitution and laws of the republic. To inflict the pun- 
 ishment, might incur, however unjustly, the imputation of ingratitude 
 from an important and essential department of the government. To 
 acquiesce in his guilt, would be establishing a prescedent, which in 
 some future period, might encourage an exertion of military power, that 
 in case of a long protracted war, might prove fatal to liberty. The 
 evils resulting from this dilemma of circumstances, might in some 
 degree have been alleviated, by the oblivion of their author. 
 
 But since it is proposed by a few individ?ials. to elevate h'm from 
 The infamy to which his vices and his crimes had assigned him, to the 
 
lirst otiice in the government, he must be brought beibre the tribunal 
 ot" pubUc opinion for his trial, and it is behoved the people will do 
 liim that justice, from which his advocates have intended to screen 
 him. 
 
 Enough has already been exhibited, respecting the public character 
 of Gen. Jackson, to exclude him forever from the confidence of the 
 people. No one, whose mind is not blinded by passion, or prejudice, 
 or interest, can believe that a sense of patriotism, of expediency, or 
 even of mistaken policy, could have been the cause of the vices, the 
 errors, and the crimes, of which he was guilty, in the discharge of 
 his official duties. From the very texture of his constititution, as well 
 as from pernicious habits, and manners, and principles, contracted in 
 early life, he has been formed for a tyrant, and the sword of a military 
 despot, is the sceptre he would wield. 
 
 In his private conduct and intercourse with his fellow men, he has 
 exhibited an impetuous and ungovernable temper ; a savage and dan- 
 gerous disposition. 
 
 His conduct in the Seminole war, identified his character with that 
 of his savage foes ; yet because Mr. senator Eppes and Ldcock 
 dared to make some appropriate strictures in relation to it, he threat- 
 ened to drag the former from his seat, and threatened personal violence 
 to the latter. 
 
 Under the delusive guise of chi%alric honor, he has from his youth 
 bQen in the habit of indulging his malignant temper in acts of vio 
 elnce. The details ot the numerous iastances in which he has enter- 
 ed the field of private combat, and the suffering and misery he has 
 thereby occasioned to the victims of his vengeance, and tfieir survi- 
 vino- relatives, would b,e revolting to humanity. His affair of honor 
 with Charles Dickerson, is enough to furnish a striking specimen of 
 the depravity and meannes of his private character. 
 
 It appears that in the summer of I 806, Gen. Jac^:s6n ofFere' to bet 
 five thousand dollars with Charles Dickerson, that his (the General's) 
 horse would beat Dickerson's in rumiuig the four mile heats ; which 
 ofier was accepted. Dickerson's rider, said he lost the race by foul 
 play ; and that Gen. Jackson's rider jostltid him near the close of the 
 last round. Gen. Jackst&n, on hearing this charge, said he would 
 hold any man responsible who dared to accuse his rider with foul 
 play ; whereupon a quarrel arose between them, Avhich ended in Gen. 
 Jackson's sen ling Dickerson a challenge, which was accepted. The 
 formalities attending this combat have been differently detailed ; but 
 the result was, that he killed Dickerson under circumstances shocking 
 to humanity. 
 
 Gen. Jackson, in his correspondence with President Monroe, ex- 
 pressed it as having been his opinion, "that Madison was unfit for a 
 president^ because he could not look on bloodshed and carnage with 
 composure." It will he acknowledged, that Gen. Jackson is not defi- 
 cient in this qualification, but can look on such scenes not only with 
 composure, but with compl licency ; war is the element in which he is 
 destined to move ; it is there he might render his country important 
 services, would he subject his disposition to the control of the civil 
 
[ 17 ] 
 
 po\yer ; and there he might acquire for himself the splendid honors 
 which are due only to the hero. But he most clearly evinced a reso- 
 lution not to submit to civil authority, so long as martial law could 
 enable him to resist it. This is attested by his declaration to governor 
 Claiborne, that while martial law continued, no man should be above 
 him; and he never, on any occasion, evinced an inclination or inten- 
 tion of revoking his order for the administration of this law, in any 
 circumstances, until the termination of the war. If he had not a 
 strong predilection for a military government, and to rule, himself as 
 the chief executive officer in its administration, why did he actually 
 extend the jurisdiction of that law over the civil rights of the peo- 
 ple? Why did he suspend the legislative and judiciary power of gov- 
 ernment by the operations of that law ? His only answer has been, 
 that the severities of martial law, were necessary measures to aid him 
 in his defence against the common enemy, by checking and controll- 
 ing the mutinous and traitorous dispositions, which were discovera- 
 ble among the citizens of New-Orleans. But such dispositions could 
 not be discoverable without some evidence arising from some overt 
 act ; mere suspicions without evidence of guilt, could never justify 
 either a civil or military magistrate, in controlling for a moment, the 
 right of the personal liberty of any one, whether soldier or citizen ; and 
 if Gen. Jackson had evidence of such guilt, why did he not avail 
 himself of it, and arrest and punish some one who might be guilty of 
 mutiny, or treachery, or treason? He evidently discovered no aver- 
 sion for iiui ting punishment; on the contrary, it appears he had a 
 keen rehsh for that business ! 
 
 His appetite for inflicting punishment must have been voracious 
 indeed, when it excited him to punish three hundred of our own citi- 
 zens in fifty-three days, not one of whom had incurred the penalty of 
 any law or usage, or article of war,— and that, too, after all danger 
 from the public enemies of our country, had ceased. 
 
 Why then, since this brave general, this faithful servant of the re- 
 public, who was so scrupulously diligent, in detecting enemies, and 
 searching out the victims of guilt, and subjects of punishment ; why 
 did he not in some one instance, discover satisfactory evidence of the 
 guilt of an individual, on whom he might have inflicted an exemplary 
 punishment, and thereby furnished some evidence to the public, that 
 the reason he had assigned, for his justiflcation in proclaiming mar- 
 tial law had some foundation in truth ? 
 
 If mutiny, and treachery, and treason, of which he so much com- 
 plamed, had in reality existed, and that too, to that alarming extent he 
 had represented, some overt act of its authors, in some circumstance, 
 must have exposed their guilt. But it is believed there never was any 
 evidence of that dangerous disposition afliQig the citizens of New- 
 Orleans, that in a single instance could justify a conviction of guilt. 
 It has been clearly demonstrated thaf (h- punishments inflicted by 
 Gen. Jackson, under the authority of martial law, which were very 
 numerous,* were on those who incurred no guilt, and by no law but 
 the dictates of his will. 
 
 *• The whole number of persons who were punished, either by death, imprison 
 ?Wnf wri^"°™'°'°"' punishment, during only 53 days, and after Louisiana wa- 
 Clear ol its enemies, was raore than three hundred ! ! ! 
 
L 18 1 
 
 Tlie perpetuity of republican privileges will depend on the cliaracler 
 of those who administer the government. It will be in vain for us to 
 boast of our free constitution, and a government of laws, if we will 
 clothe men with authority, who are disposed to violate the constitu- 
 tion, and withhold from tlic people the protection of the laws at their 
 will. There is no remedy for the evils which might result from the 
 political conduct of men, wko should be disposed to substitute theii* 
 will for law, but in the exertion of physical tbrce, and when the gov- 
 ernment might be impelled to resort to this remedy without success, 
 there would be an end to republican hberty ; and if such remedy suc- 
 ceeds, we could not expect that those who were made to regard the 
 law only from compulsion, would be kept in subjection to it, by any 
 other means. In either event, therefoi**, a government allied to a 
 military despotism, if not absolutely such, must be the result. 
 
 Such events have hitherto sealed the fate of fallen republics ; and 
 the approach of such events may be apprehended, when a despotic 
 military chief shall gain possession of the first executive office in the 
 republic, whether he forces his way to it, or it is procured for liim by 
 the arts of cabal and intrigue, or the iniiuence of corruption. 
 
 It was a knowledge of the history of political events, and of* 
 the character of Gen. Jackson, as it had been exhibited in his 
 military administration during the last war, that must have im- 
 pressed the mind of Mr. Jefferson, late President of the United 
 States, when he expressed the opinion, "that the run which Gen. 
 Jackson had at the election, was an evidence that the republic 
 would not stand long ;" and which induced him to remark, that 
 ^'during a long life, he had attentively watched the progress of 
 political events in the United States, with a particular view of 
 satisfying his mind, that mankind were competent to self govern- 
 ment, to believe which his principles inclined him ; and that du- 
 rin'T his whole political observation, the disposition of the Ameri- 
 can people to elect Gen. Jackson president, was the single cir- 
 cumstance which had shaken his faith, and made him fear that the 
 American republic was soon to follow the fate of alJ others, and 
 to fall under military rule."* Mr. Jefferson well knew, what all 
 rnav know, whose minds are enlightened with the knowledge of 
 political events, that a bold and unprincipled military chief, at the 
 head of the executive department, had always been the fatal in- 
 strument of subverting republican liberty. 
 
 It was not difficult for him to discover the signs of a fatal politi- 
 cal degeneracy, when a few individuals, the impostors of pretend- 
 ed patriotism, impelled by passion and prejudice ; by motives ex- 
 clusively selfish, by dispositions vindictive and rapacious, had, by 
 the arts of cabal and iibtiTgue, succeeded in procuring the suffra- 
 ges of a large portion of the electors for a man like Gen. Jackson, 
 To fdl the f rst office in the gift of the people ; an office of more 
 
 * Seethe letter recentlv published. December 1827, dated Madison county, Illi- 
 nois, Nov. 23d, 1827, and" Thomas W. Oilman, Charlottsvillo, May 27th, 1827, tes- 
 tifying positively to the fact of Jefferson's having said one might as well make h 
 bailor of a cock, or a soldier of a sroosc, as a president of Andrew Jackson 
 
[ 1'- J 
 
 iinportaiice in preserving the rights of man, than any oihti uj, 
 earth ; for a man like Gen. Jackson, with not a single' qualifica 
 tiori but that of courage, of military prowess, and a disposition to 
 exert it, in contempt of the laws of his country, and the dictates 
 of humanity. 
 
 It is not strange that a man like him, of ardent and desperate 
 ambition, should aspire to the office of chief magistrate. Neither 
 is it strange that a few individuals were to be found, to nominate 
 him for that office, who are abandoned to their personal views of 
 preferment ; and who, to secure for themselves the patronage of 
 the executive power, must elevate to its dominion, a man most 
 like themselves, and whose predominant motives will devote him 
 to the interests of those to whose effiDrts he is to owe his eleva- 
 tion. 
 
 ^ Those who nominated Gen. Jackson, knew very well, that to 
 insure success in his election, be must by some means have ac- 
 quired a degree of popularity ; and they knew that his militarv 
 exploits at New-Orleans, especially on the 8th of January, 1815, 
 v/hen lie drov^ the enemy from that part of the country, Iiad given 
 great eclat and publicity to his fame ; that heroic achievements, in 
 the field of battle, amidst scenes of bloodshed and carnage, often 
 gaye^ to popular applause a more fascinating* impulse on public 
 opinion, than the profoundest display of wisdom., or ardency of 
 patriotism in the councils of the cabinet. They knew that he 
 had not acquired that poUtical celebrity in the councils of the re- 
 public, that could entitle him to the office of chief magistrate, tp 
 which he presumptuously aspired ; it would, therefore, create a 
 debt of gratitude from him, to reward those with his patronage, 
 who should .be the means of aiding iiim in the acquisition of it. 
 But it IS beheved the people of the United States never had any 
 suck knowledge of his character, as would have designated him 
 for the office of president Those who have heretofore supported 
 him, have been fascinated with a recollection of his heroic 
 achievements; the history of Ms real character either inpubhc or 
 private life, has been studiously concealed from the people of the 
 United States. They have been impetuously incited by false no- 
 tions of gratitude or admiration, and by the crafty machinations of 
 designing politicians, to make an effort to elevate a rash and inju- 
 dicious man, to a place which belongs only to tried experience and 
 capacity, and unsullied virtue. 
 
 But it is a consolation to believe, that there is yet a redeeming 
 power in a great majority of the people ; there is enough of re"^- 
 flection and consideration, to counteract the weak and wicked de- 
 signs of the few, and their devoted followers. If their suffrage is 
 again asked to aid m the elevation of Gen. Jackson to the first 
 office of their country, they will be impelled to say in the lan- 
 guage of Mr. Clay: the candidate, however illustrious he may be, 
 must present some other title than the blood stained laurels, gath- 
 ered in the field of battle, however glorious. 
 
 These remarks are not intended to attach disrespect to the pro» 
 
I '^<-^ 1 
 
 tession of arms, or to the character of a soldier ; military attain- 
 ments, when accompanied with other requisite qualifications, may 
 be a reason for civil promotion; and when eminently displayed in de- 
 fence of our country, ought to be justly and liberally rewarded. 
 And the people of the United States have evinced a disposition to 
 bestow such rewards.* But there is, however, always danger 
 that in the ardor and enthusiasm of their liberality, they may in- 
 judiciously confer unappropriate honors. It would be a danger- 
 ous precedent to reward heroism with the chief executive power, 
 however gloriously it may have been displayed. Neither can we 
 be too jealous 'of any man, who, by the eclat of military exploits 
 in the field, discovers an ardent ambition of elevating himself to 
 the summit of civil power. 
 
 Should the name of Andrew Jackson be continued on the list 
 of candidates for the Presidency, a most interesting crisis in the 
 history of our republic will be presented. The hereditary dynas- 
 ties of princes are looking with extreme solicitude to the result of 
 the eifort to perpetuate a government of laws, and of rational lib- 
 erty in America. Should the conduct of the people of the Uni- 
 ted States, in the choice of their chief magistrate, be influenced 
 by wisdom, and by the dictates of a pure and enlightened patriot- 
 ism, it will evince ift them a capacity for self government, which 
 has never yet been exhibited on earth ; and may be the means of 
 awakening from the slumber of ages, the spirit of freedom on the 
 eastern continent, and of prostrating in the dust, the thrones of 
 tyrants throughout the world. 
 
 Americans have been habitually inclined to adopt the sentiment 
 of the poet, in thinking all other republics mortal but their own ; 
 and to believe that a constitution written on paper, will preserve 
 their liberties entire, amidst the conflicts of factions, of passion, 
 of vice and error ; while some of them are making an effort to 
 commit the guardianship of this constitution to a man, who has 
 had no scruples in violating its most essential provisions. This 
 political paradox in their conduct, is a demonstration, that the 
 spirit and manners of the people has degenerated ; or that the do- 
 minion of political delusion has commenced its progress over rea- 
 son, truth, and common sense. 
 
 If the political character or conduct of Mr. Adams, or the 
 measures of his administration, are impolitic, or partial and une- 
 qual in their operation, let them be publicly investigated and ex- 
 posed. His supporters are ready to meet the strictest scrutiny of 
 
 * Aftei the close of the war, in 1815, On, .Tackson was continued in command 
 \mtil the army was disbanded in 1821 while lie enjoyed an undisturbed retire- 
 ment, with the exception of a few months active military service, for six years; 
 during which time he received neaily fifty thousand dollars, as appears by ac- 
 counts communicated to Congress. This is the man who, we are told, retired 
 like Cincitinatus and Washington, and converted his sword into a plou^-hshare. — 
 After the army was disbanded, he received three months pay, while ne was re- 
 <;eiving a salary of a new and honorable appointment as governor of Florida. 
 Some of the most important acts of his administration under this last appointment 
 >vere repealed by Congress, in 1822, as manifestly unconstitutional. 
 
L ~i J 
 
 his opposers ; and he himself, so far from shrinking from an inves- 
 tigation of his character, either in public or private life, earnestly 
 solicits it. But the leaders of the opposition have unfortunately 
 attached entire discredit to their own attestations on this subject, 
 by avowing themselves to be actuated first of all by motives of 
 hostility, and a fixed resolution to oppose his administration, 
 whether it should be wise or impolitic. No other credit is there- 
 fore due to any thing they may allege against Mr. Adams, or his 
 administration, than could be to a witne?s, who when called upon 
 to testify in a court of justice, should declare his resolution to 
 testify against one of the parties, whether he knew any thing re- 
 lating to the cause or not. 
 
 Whenever a determination is discoverable among a few lead- 
 ing men in congress, to oppose a chief magistrate and his admin- 
 istration, at its very commencement, it evinces a political deprav- 
 ity, and that destitution of republican virtue, which should en- 
 stamp on their character, and that of their devoted adherents, 
 disgrace and dishonor ; and excite the jealousy of the people, not 
 against the administration, but against them. 
 
 In the political, as well as in the natural and moral world, the 
 principle, that like causes will produce like effects, is equally im- 
 portant and true. A single event which may appear inconsidera- 
 ble in itself, may, in the progress of things, occasion a succession 
 of important events, which might change the condition of a whole 
 nation. One rash and injudicious act ; one ill concerted project 
 of a chief magistrate ; such as might be expected from a man ac- 
 tuated by violent passions, an impetuous temper, and lawless dis- 
 position, might inflict evils on our republic, which an age of wis- 
 dom could not remove. 
 
 As well might it be expected that the eruptions of Vesuvius 
 would send down from its summit the fertilizing aliment of plants, 
 and deck the fields with flowers, as that the councils of a cabinet, 
 produced by such a man as Andrew Jackson, should preserve 
 the tranquillity, and promote the honor and welfare of our coun- 
 try. 
 
 The laws which govern human actions and passions, have hith- 
 erto decided the progress and fate of republics ; and the same ci- 
 vil commotions and disorders which rent asunder the bonds of 
 union, and overturned the civil constitution of the Romans, a 
 thousand years ago, would have the same effect on our own, at 
 the present time. 
 
 The character of the chief magistrate has marked the progress 
 ,o? political degeneracy, and decided the fate of republics, both in 
 ancient and modern times. Sylla, a Roman general, by his mili- 
 tary achievements alone, acquired the popularity and the power, 
 by means of which, he put an end to the Roman commonwealth ; 
 and after him a long succession of military chieftains, triumphed, 
 by the sword, over its expiring liberties. Whether they were aid- 
 ed by the deluded populace, in their elevation to the chief com- 
 mand, or forced their way to it, by their courage and physical 
 
>irciigiii ; the re.-ult was the same ; and they n ere never wanting 
 , in pretences for breaking down every distinction between a gov- 
 ernment of laws, and that of men ; or between a free republic, 
 and a military despotism. 
 
 If we would avoid the fate of other free states, the people must 
 awake to their duty ; they must arise in the majesty of their virtue 
 and guard every avenue to the citadel of our liberties, against the 
 first approaches of lawless ambition 
 
 There is nothing in the form of our civil constitution, or in the 
 peculiar disposition of the American people, which can change 
 the operation of the old and trite principle in philosophy, that 
 like causes will produce like effects in the political state of man, 
 as well as in the natural world. Should a general degeneracy in 
 the manners and spirit of the people prevail, they will disregard 
 their rights — ^^passion will triumph over reason, and civil liberty 
 will perish. 
 
 There are already too many among us who seek, and who acquire 
 the confidetice of the people withdfet deserving it ; and who, while- 
 they would be dictators of the public will, would rather see the last 
 vestige of republican liberty in ruins, than yield their pretonded claims 
 to preferment and to power. 
 
 Examples taken from past time have more power over the minds 
 of men than any of the age in which they live. What we see grows 
 familiar. It is because the people .have been seen to indulge an ha- 
 bitual inclination to place a blind confidence in their favorites, who 
 are often the impostors of pretended patriotism; because the follies 
 and vices which have been engendered in the conflicts of party dis- 
 sension, have grown familiar ; that we have among us some indivi- 
 duals, who have ventured to hazard an attempt, to impose on the peo- 
 ple of the United States a chief magistrate, who has exhibited to the 
 world a character opposed to every moral and political principle, which 
 should constitute the basis of rational liberty. Had such a man as 
 Andrew Jackson been nominated for the Presidency twenty years ago, 
 with no other claims on the people's confidence than he now presents, 
 it v.'ould have excited an emotio • of general indignation, and con- 
 signed his advocates to deserved reproach and contempt. 
 
 It is believed there may yet be virtue enough in the people to pre- 
 vent the fatal effects of a single corrupt and injudicious choice of a 
 chief magistrate. But should the evils inflicted by such an event, 
 not prove fatal or perpetual, it will hereafter encourage those, who, in 
 pursuit of power and j^ersonal preferment, will be willing to hazard 
 the experiment of any innovation or change. 
 
 The evils which prove fatal to republics, may be expected to be , 
 gradual in their operation, so as not to excite alarm at any particular 
 period, until the spirit and manners of the people become so degene- 
 rated, and their condition so depressed, that "their rights will expire 
 or must revive in a convulsion." That will be the most important 
 period in our history, when it shall be recorded of us, that our reason 
 and wisdom have triumphed over passion and prejudice ; not that ^x*- 
 riod when by our courage we purchased liberty ; but when by our 
 virtue we cnstamped on its existence immortal duratioji. 
 
[2o j 
 
 There are important reasons arising iVom tlie spirit of the constitu- 
 tion and the poHcy of our republic, which imperiously urge us to the 
 re-election of a chief magistrate who has merited public 'confidence. 
 The provision in the Constitution for the re-eligibility of a President 
 was intended to secure the privilege of continuing the advantages of 
 an administration which had advanced the interest and honor of the 
 country : It also furnishes strong motives to the President in oflice, 
 to act with firmness and integrity, from a consciousness that by de- 
 serving the confidence of the people, he will be more likely to secure 
 the reward of a re-election. It will be admitted that the desire of re- 
 ward is one of the strongest incentives of human conduct ; and also 
 that the best security, for the fidelity of mankind is to make interest 
 coincide with duty. It must be acknowledged to be the duty of- the 
 people of the United States, to establish for themselves a character for 
 stability and fidelity, that will secure to the President in office his re- 
 election, as the reward which will be due for the integrity, the firm- 
 ness, and the wisdom of the measures which may distinguish his ad- 
 ministration ; and there can be no stronger incentive to the good 
 conduct of the chief magistrate, than a pledge of this reward ; neither 
 can there be any other provision for this pledge, but in the fidehty, 
 the patriotism, and the stability of the people. 
 
 If the chief magistrate has discharged the duties of his office so as 
 to claim the general approbation, and is excluded from a re-e'ection at 
 the end of four years, the country is thereby deprived of the advan- 
 tages of his experience. The truth of the adage that experience is 
 the parent of wisdom is admitted by the wise, as well as the simple ; 
 and is perhaps a more essential and desirable quality in that officer,' 
 than any other. The measures, and the geneml policy of a new ad- 
 ministration, very soon gain that publicity which enable the people to 
 form correct viev/s of its character. And if it is such as to evince 
 the wisdom and the integrity of the chief magistrate, why should the 
 advantages to be derived from it, be put at hazard,. by changing that 
 officer, and others which would be the result of such a change ; and 
 measures too which have met the general approbation ? For it can- 
 not be expected that when the authors of an administration are chano-- 
 ed measures will remain uniform; especially when extraordiuanr 
 effiarts have been made to effect the change ; it may be expected the 
 new administrators would be ambitious of some other disfinction, 
 than that of continuing the operations of a policy, marked out by their 
 predecessors. Neither could the right of electing a new President at 
 the end of four years, be intended to equalize the honors and emolu- 
 ments of the office among those of equal merit. The people could 
 expect to derive no advantage from excluding the chief magistrate 
 from a re-election, for the purpose of electing one whose qu'alifica- 
 tions could notj^e thought superior to those of his predecessor. The 
 right of changing the chief magistrate, and with him, the other im- 
 portant officers in the government, was also intended to secure the 
 people, against the evils of a weak or corrupt administration. When 
 such evils do not exist, but on the contrary, the administration is dis- 
 tmguished for talents, for integrity and wisdom, neither expediency or 
 
[ 24 j 
 
 sound policy can be urged in favor of a change. By an unnecessar)', 
 wanton and corrupt exercise of the right of changing the chief magis- 
 trate, provided by the Constitution, the object of the provision might 
 be defeated. 
 
 If at the expiration of the first term of the Presidential office, we 
 exclude by our suffi'ages the chief magistrate, who has in the per- 
 formance of his official duties, apparently pursued the best interest of 
 tlie country, and in every part of his administration displayed the cha- 
 racter of an enhghtened, wise, and independent magistrate, we do 
 thereby in effect annul an important provision in the Constitution. 
 When once the people shall exclude by their suffi-ages a wise and 
 meritorious chief magistrate, from a re-election, it will hereafter be 
 urged as a precedent, the influence of which may by habit, come to 
 operate with the force of law on succeeding elections. 
 
 If the principles of a wise policy not only admit, but require that 
 such an officer should be re-elected, and the people are led by the 
 insidious arts of unprincipled and aspiring partisans, into a habit of 
 disregarding such principles, the great object of the provision of re- 
 eligibility, will be defeated, and become only a dead letter. The 
 provision itself had by far better be annulled, by an amendment of 
 the Constitution, than that the people by the force of habit, should 
 acquire a disposition to disregard the important objects it was intended 
 to secure. 
 
 If we exclude from a re-election, a man so eminently qualified for 
 the office of chief magistrate, as Mr. Adams, the present incumbent 
 is acknowledged to be, both as to his political science, and the wis- 
 dom, integrity, and dignity of his character; what pledge for the 
 fidelity and constancy of the people can any exertion of merit, by 
 those who may succeea him in that office, ever hereafter expect to se- 
 cure ? It will form a precedent in the annals of our history, which, 
 although it will not inevitably exclude the reward of a re-election, 
 from those who may hereafter most deserve it ; yet it will render the 
 acquisition of it so precarious, as to furnish of itself, no incentive 
 whatever to good conduct. We could not expect a man er:stamped 
 with human frailty as all men are, to undertake arduous and exten- 
 sive measures for the public good, which would require much more 
 time to perfect them, than a single prasidential term would admit, 
 when he had reason to believe from the inconstancy of the people, 
 that before he could complete them, he should have to commit them as 
 well as his reputation to others, who might be both unequal and un- 
 friendly to the task. 
 
 We have had great cause for exultation, that a disposition has here- 
 tofore so extensively prevailed, to establish a character tor constancy 
 and fidelity, which has been evinced by the re-election of our chief 
 magistrates except in one instance. There has been, it is true, an 
 opposition to re-elections, hut it has been founded on different princi- 
 ples, and excited among the people by different motives, from those 
 which actuate the opposition to General Jackson. No candidate, ex- 
 cept him, has ever yet been proposed for the Presidency, whose cha- 
 r?tcter was such as to exclude all reasonable expectations, that bis adr 
 
[ 25 ] 
 
 ministration might promote the interest and the honor of the republic. 
 The opposition to other candidates has arisen either from a diversity 
 of opinion relative to their political views and principles, or from local 
 considerations, either of which, it is believed, do not furnish the prin- 
 ciple ground of opposition to General Jackson. His opposers are 
 well agreed, that he does not possess a single qualification, suitable 
 for the office of chief magistrate. Even his -military talents and 
 prowess, under the direction of a temper and disposition like his, ren- 
 der it improper and impolitic, to intrust him with the chief command 
 of a military district. 
 
 But however less exceptionable/ the character of a new proposed 
 candidate might be ; should the different candidates have equal claims 
 on the confidence of the people ; the evils inevitably resulting frcm a 
 contested Presidential election, are so well known, and so deplorable 
 in theii* consequences, that no effort, which may be consistent with 
 the maxims of a wise policy, should be wanting to avoid them. 
 
 The experiment which is making in the United States, of electing 
 a chief magistrate, is not the first that has been made in the world ; 
 and what has heretofore been its operation and end is well known. 
 Directed by a few corrupt, ambitious and desperate individuals, it has 
 produced the greatest misfortunes, and finally the rum of other re- 
 publics. 
 
 The transcendant honors and privileges necessarily appertinent to 
 the office, present a prize, which may be expected to excite the emula- 
 tion, and inspire the most ardent ambition of different candidates, 
 v/hile the extensive patronage attending success, brings into hostile 
 array, a formidable host of contending partisans. The press, intend- 
 ed as a resplendent beacon, to point men to the light of truth, is pros- 
 tituted to the diminutive and degrading views of self-preferment. 
 Every sordid passion and paltry prejudice is enlisted in the contest. 
 Tlie diverse attachments, enmities, hopes and fears of leading men 
 in community are excited ; who do not scruple to sacrifice the national 
 tranquillity, to the purposes of personal advantage or gratification. 
 The malignant passions are set on fire ; and the people are subjected 
 to the impulses of rage, resentment, jealousy, avarice, and every irre- 
 gular and violent propensity. The spirit which generates these evils, 
 " distracts the public councils and enfeebles the public administration ; 
 agitates the community with false alarms^; kindles the animosity of 
 one part against another, end often occasions riot, violence, and insur- 
 *^i-ection.'' 
 
 " The domination of one party over another, incited by a spirit of 
 revenge, has in different periods of the repubhcs, often inflicted the 
 most horrid enormities, and has itself proved a frightful despotism." 
 
 These are some of the evils which result from a contested Presi- 
 dential election ; and so cormpting is their influence on the public 
 morals; so degrading to the dignity of national character; and so 
 deleterious to the permanency of republican liberty, that theyJhave in 
 other ages of the republics, heretofore, disposed the minds of men 
 eventually to seek repose in the absolute power of an individual. 
 
 The people have the power of arresting the fatal progress of these 
 
 D 
 
I 26 ] 
 
 evils ; by their habitual constancy and lidehty to the chiet magistrate, 
 who is wise and faithful in the discharge of his official duties, they can 
 discourage all overtures, and set at defiance every effort to introduce 
 a new candidate to that office, when the essential interests of the coun- 
 try do not require them. The great mass of the people have no inte- 
 rest individually m the change of a President or the administration. 
 The provision in the Constitution for a re-election, was not intended 
 to provide the emoluments of office, for a few aspiring individuals, at 
 the end of every four years ; but to secure the people from the evils of 
 a contested election, when they might be so fortunate as to have a 
 chief magistrate who should merit a continuance of their confidence. 
 
 We may expect there will be a perpetual succession of aspiring and 
 rapacious expectants of Presidential patronage, who will unceasingly 
 assail the constancy and fidelity of the people. 
 
 The eftbrt by which provision was made for a constitutional mode 
 of electing a chief magistrate, was a more perfect exhibition of national 
 wisdom and deliberation than the world had ever seen. It remains 
 for the people to evince by their conduct, that they will stedfastly pur- 
 sue the great objects it was intended to secure. 
 
 But it cannot be concealed from the world, that a determined and 
 desperate effort is making to defeat these objects. 
 
 Never did the condition of our government more imperiously urge>^ 
 the people to a re-election of any chief magistrate since the days of 
 Washington, than that of JNIr. Adams. It will be recollected, that the 
 two great poUtical parties, heretofore known by the distinguishing 
 names vyf federahsts and republicans, were at the election of Mr. Jef- 
 ferson so equally divided, that he obtained a majority of only a single 
 vote ; yet notwithstanding the strong prejudices excited by party zeal 
 at that time, and when Mr, John Q. Adams was reputed to have been 
 attached to the party opposed to the election of Mr. Jefferson, he re- 
 ceived from him, as has been before observed, the appointment of mi- 
 nister plenipotentiary to Russia. The violence of party zeal which 
 has heretofore consigned to opprobrious censure every other individual 
 of political distinction, could never diminish in him the confidence of 
 any administration, nor induce any one of our chief magistrates to 
 dispense with his services ; with such high consideration did they 
 view his capacity and his qualifications for public employment, and 
 such the purity and integrity of his character. He seems to have 
 been destined in the course of human events, to possess the confidence 
 of those two political parties, which heretofore hac' rent asunder the 
 bonds of our union ; and to check the fatal progress of those evils, 
 engendered by party dissensions, under the insignificant distinctions of 
 mere names. So hopeless has been the prosj3ect of a successful op- 
 position to his political character, that it never has been attempted un- 
 til it was commenced by a few individuals of desperate ambition, who 
 have hoped by the delusive influence of heroic fame, by the insanity 
 of enthusiasm, and false notions of gratitude to a military chieftain, to 
 drive him from the councils of the cabinet, and thereby acquire for 
 themselves places of power and consequence, from wliich reason, 
 truth and justice would exclude them. It has been reserved for the 
 
advocates of Andrew Jackson to make the discovery that John Q, 
 Adams was not duly quahfied for political concerns, but was a wick- 
 ed and designing man ; and that Andrew Jackson was the ihan above 
 all others the most suitable to reform and save the administration of 
 our government from political degeneracy. Notwithstanding such 
 men as Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Munroe, together with 
 those illustrious char icters who have directed the destinies of our re- 
 public for thirty six years, while it has been elevated to an unexampled 
 height of prosperity ; although this august assemblage of men, who 
 would have honored and blessed the councils of any country in any 
 age of the world, have been of the opinion that he was pre-eminently 
 qualified, for the most important offices in the administration ; yet it 
 has been discovered of late by the few individuals who projected the 
 nomination of Andrew Jackson, that this same iMr. Adams is, and 
 has been an unwise man, and a dangerous statesman. 
 
 But why have not these honorable gentlemen, distinguished for pa- 
 triotism as they declare themselves to be, until now divulged the result 
 of their discoveries, to the people, and thereby endeavoured to correct 
 the devious tendency of public opinion ? Was it not because the pe- 
 riod had not arrived when they were prepared to put in their claims 
 to presidential patronage ; because they were not before ready and 
 anxious to aid with their politieal services, the councils of the cabinet ; 
 because they had found no man before Andrew Jackson who had en- 
 couraged them confidently to expect, that he would open the door to 
 every avenue whicn might lead to the consummation of their aspiring- 
 views ; that no one but him had given such ample assurances that 
 every officer in the administration, should be compelled to yield his 
 place to them and their favorites. 
 
 That this would be the first truits of his administration, should he 
 accede to the Presidency, his advocates Ijave exultingly proclaimed. 
 
 Neither have we any reason to doubt that such would be the result. 
 We may well suppose that the man who would not admit the laws of 
 the land, nor the obligations of moral rectitude and justice, as his rule 
 of action, when opposed to the dictates of his will, would not forbear 
 to take a signal vengeance on those who had been instrumental in pro- 
 tracting the event, which is to consummate the first object of his wishes. 
 It would be in perfect accordance with every public act of his life, to 
 divest of power any and every individual who had presumed to ques- 
 tion his merit, or oppose his designs. 
 
 But preposterous as is the project of General Jackson's nomina- 
 tion ; and however diminutive the number, and improper the political 
 views of its authors, they would now^ sanction its expediency, by the 
 number of their proselytes. Can efforts, say they, which have beeu 
 encouraged, by so large a portion of the people, be considered im- 
 provident or inexi)edipnt ? The man who should consider this an in- 
 explicable paradox, would betray his entire ignorance of the political 
 character of man, as it has been exhibited through the whole history 
 of republics. The most abandoned tyrants that have heretofore con- 
 signed republican liberty to the dominion of despotism, have owed 
 theit elevation to the people. 
 
L2S] 
 
 It has been observed that a large portion of the people, and those 
 too reputed as honest as any, were too tbnd of their own ease and 
 peace, to 'trouble themselves much with public affairs, and were in the 
 habit of yielding their political conduct to the dictation of certain 
 favorites. But the moti^'es by which favorite leaders are actuated are 
 often improper, and not known to the people. This inattention to the 
 character and motives of popular leaders has often been attended 
 with the most fatal and disastrous consequences, t The people 
 tlu'oughout the world have always possessed both the physical and 
 moral power of establishing for themselves free constitutions, and sys- 
 tems of rational liberty ; the use they have made of this privilege is 
 but too well known ; they have permitted their popular leaders to lead 
 them on from one error to another, till at last they have been forced 
 to consign their liberties to the dominion of a tyrant. It will be re- 
 collected, that Aaron Burr was once a powerful and popular leader, 
 and that an effort was made to elect him chief magistrate ; and be- 
 cause Alexander Hamilton, who was at that time unpopular, warned 
 the people that he was a dangerous man, it cost him his life ; and that 
 Aaron Burr not long afterwards, had a bill found against him on a 
 charge of high treason against the United States. 
 
 We, my fellow citizens, must learn the qualifications of a candidate 
 for the Presidency, from a more pure source, than from those who set 
 themselves up for popular leaders, who ai*e actuated by motives of 
 interest, which would discredit theii' testimony in a Court oC Justice, 
 in a question which involved the right to a' single dollar. 
 
 There are too many of our useful and respectable citizens, who en- 
 gage in a contested election, from motives of envy, or jealousy, or 
 from some personal prejudice ; not because they believe the welfare 
 of the country requires that they should oppose the proposed candi- 
 date ; but because they would oppose certain individuals, who are his 
 friends and advocates ; there are too many of our citizens, who ir\- 
 dulge the little ambition of being instrumental in appointing a ruler 
 for those over whom they would exercise some superiority; such is 
 the love ff power, if they cannot be rulers themselves:, they would 
 rule by proxy, and would rather belong to the predominant party in a 
 contested election, than to be the known advocates of a candidate 
 against whom there is no opposition. And it is very certain too, how- 
 ever much to be regretted, that too many of our citizens are destitute 
 of that information, which might enable them to detect the arts of in- 
 trigue and deception with which they are continually assailed by de- 
 signing men ; and what is more deplorable, are profligate in their 
 manners, and abandoned to their vices. From this view of the cha- 
 racter rmd improper motives which govern the conduct of many of^ 
 our citizens it is easy t) see how popular leaders of pro- 
 fligate manners and desjierate ambition, may turn the laws which 
 govern human actions and passions to the purposes of their own ele- 
 vation. Whosoever should conceal from the contemplation of the 
 people these considerations, or forbear to admonish his fellow-citizens 
 of their danger from a delicacy or dread of popularity, would be 
 guilty of a weakness, if not a vice. When votes are given under the 
 
uillueuce ot' passion, or may be obtained Jjy fraud, falseiiood, bribery, 
 intrigue, and every species of corruption^ their number furnishes no 
 evidence whatever of the merit of a candidate ; and against the means 
 of prostituting the right of suftrage, no civil constitution can effectual- 
 ly provide. 
 
 It is said that a man cannot obtain the votes of the freemen for an 
 important otfice, unless he becomes popular. This is indeed true. 
 But there are two ways to obtain popularity ; one by meriting the 
 confidence of the public, by a wise and faithful discharge of the va- 
 rious and important duties of public or private life ; by his attachment 
 to the laws and constitution of his country, and a sacred regard to 
 the precepts of a pure morality ; when by the general course of his 
 conduct his merit becomes conspicuous, his popularity commences, 
 and follows him. But there is another way of becoming popular, 
 which owes its origin to the councils of a caucus, or secret meetmg, 
 held for the purposes of political intrigue — the general object of which 
 is to render some individual popular, who may not have attracted the 
 attention, or commanded the confidence of the public. Men who de- 
 rive their popularity from this source, do not 'rely so much on their 
 merit, for their elevation, as on the efforts of those who have a per- 
 sonal interest in rendering them popular. The number of votes 
 which such men may obtain, will depend on the zeal and efforts of 
 their advocates ; who by unceasing asseverations in their behalf, often 
 induce the people to believe that those who can create so much ex- 
 citement and anxiety, must deserve the public confidence. A volume 
 might be filled with the names of those v.rho having acquired their po- 
 pularity by such means, have proved the fatal instruments of subvert- 
 ing repubUcan hberty. 
 
 The Siren song of popularity has led the train of fallen republics 
 from Nero to Napoleon. 
 
 '^ Look to the lessons of history. During the late revolution in 
 France, after the people had got rid of their monarchy, they possessed 
 the power of elevating to the fchief magistracy whoever they should 
 choose. But was it an evidence of the merit of Robespierre and the 
 other tyrants who successively held the supreme power, that they were 
 raised to it by a majority of the people, while their country was con- 
 verted into one great aceldema, on v/hich the blood of her slaughtered 
 citizens incessantly flowed. The people of that devoted republic 
 were made to believe that the.-e tyrants were friends to republican li- 
 berty ; but had to atone for their credulity and folly, with the sacrifice 
 of fifty of their heads on each day, for about two years. 
 
 Did the success of Aaron Burr in obtaining votes for the Presi- 
 dency, furnish evidpuce of his merit and qualifications ? But the 
 talents of Aaron Burr were transcendantly superior to Andrev>^ Jack- 
 son's ; >vhile he was much less profligate in his manners, and despofic 
 in his disposition. 
 
 Demagogues have always been ready to sanction their vices and 
 impositions, by the suffrages of the people, when they have no other 
 resource for their popularity. 
 
 The result of the late Presidential election has furnished the ad\'o- 
 
oates of Andrew Jackson with arguments in his defence, which they 
 could have derived from no other source ; and on which they appear 
 exultmgly to confide. It is admitted that he had a plurahty of electo- 
 ral votes over Mr. Adams ; but as there was not a majority of votes 
 for him, the votes given by the advocates of Mr, Clay could have had 
 no operation in putting at rest the Presidential question, unless they 
 had been given to either Jackson or Adams. TIiq members of Co i- 
 gress on whom the election devolved, in making their selection, were 
 not bound by the electorcd votes which had been given for Jackson. 
 The provision in the Constitution for the election of a President by 
 the members of Congress, when there shall be no choice by the elec- 
 tors, constitutes another and an independent board of electors ; and 
 it becomes the duty of this board to act independently of all other in- 
 fluence, than that of the obligation impo"sed on them by the Constitu- 
 tion. Yet it appears that an attempt was made by the Legislature of 
 Ker.tucky, to influence their members in Congress, to disregard this 
 obligatioR, by passing a vote declaring that next to Mr. Clay, General 
 Jackson was the choice of the people of Kentucky, and requesting w 
 their representatives t6 vote for him ; although the members of that 
 Legislature must have well known, that neither the Constitution, nor 
 any principle of wise policy, could sanction such a measure. As 
 well might they have passed a vote, declaring what candidate was the 
 choice of the people, and requestmg the electors to give him their 
 votes. 
 
 The advocates of Gen. Jackson would contend, that the votes of 
 the electors in those stat* s, when there was a plurality of votes over 
 IMr. Adams, have furnished competent evidence that a majority of the 
 freemen in those states were opposed to his election ; ' and that the 
 members of congress from the same states^ were therefore bound, in 
 deference to the wishes of their constituents, and by the spirit, though 
 net by the letter of the constitution, to have withholden their votes tVora 
 Mr. Adams, and to have given them to Andrew Jackson. This po- 
 sition cannot be admitted. The members of ''ongress, who voted for 
 Mr. Adams, furnished evidence of the same nature and degree of com- 
 petency and constitutionality, that a majority of the freemen of those 
 states were in favor of the election of Mr. Adams. In either instance, 
 the people had no other agency in choosing a president, but in giving 
 their votes for electors, and for members of congress. They had, 
 therefore, to confide m the wisdom and discretion of those to whom 
 they had delegated that power. It is not only difficult, but it may even 
 be impossible, to ascertain whether the electors or members of con- 
 gress, v\ill always make a choice, which is conformable to the wishes 
 of a majority of the freemen. 
 
 It will be recollected that the freemen, individually, have heretofore 
 had no agency even in choosing the electors of the President; the le- 
 gislature of the several states, having generally exercised the right of 
 choosing them, this renders it more uncertain whether the views of 
 the electors respecting the candidate for the presidency, will -Jways 
 coincide with that ol their constituents ; for if the candidates for the 
 state legislatures do not succeed in deceiving their constituents, res- 
 
[ ^1 •] 
 
 pecting thoir political views, they may betray their conlidence in the 
 choice of electors. It is obvious, then, that the members of con- 
 gress, who are chosen by the immediate act of the people, are more 
 likely to know and to act according to the will of the freemen, than 
 electors, of whose pohtical views they might have no knowledge, ex^ 
 cept through the intervention of their representatives. Those mem- 
 bers of congress, who next to Mr. Clay, preferred Adams to Jackson, 
 might also easily have believed, from the extraordinary interest, and 
 desperate efforts, to effect his election, that his advocates had resor- 
 ted to improper and unwarrantable measures to obtain for liim a plu- 
 rality of votes over Mr. Adams. 
 
 It is demonstrable by referring to facts relating to the election of 
 Mr. Adams, that he is not only constitutionally, president, but that he 
 had a greater popular vote than any of his competitors. The public 
 mind has been misled on this subject. By referring to the following 
 table, the result of the late presidential election will be found not only 
 conformable to the letter of the constitution, but to the spirit of our 
 democracy. 
 
L o2 j 
 
 5l.5'.??9^-^r5f ?ii^l?i■ 
 
 l ^^ = >r^g^^ 
 
 
 S s So" 
 
 
 
 Oi O 
 CO %- 
 
 o ,^ 
 ■ j= 
 
 ^ < "r! -w -^ 
 
 P 2 ^^ 
 
 Si S 
 
 
 — • w p: 2 
 
 ^ SJ M »^ 
 
 > 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 >1 
 
 p 
 
 C3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^0 -- 
 
 £2- 
 
 <n^ 
 
 H^ K> 
 
 
 to 
 
 1— I 
 
 
 o» ^ C5 ,;^ tn CO CO 
 
 5 
 
 — > 
 2. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C-H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 B9 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 h3 Ci tn to CO ►-* 
 
 (-1 
 I-* 
 
 1—1 
 
 ^0 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 H-l 
 
 0^. 
 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t:^ 
 
 
 
 »<3 
 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 V 
 
 t— i 
 
 'O 
 
 
 t,^ t-i 
 
 K) 
 
 
 tn 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 to 
 
 k— i 1— I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <l 
 
 to >T^ C; 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 %« 
 
 3 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 05 
 
 1— L 
 
 
 H- ' 
 
 
 
 to to 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 ►51 ^ ^3 to I-- ^3 >0 
 
 
 <t to ^ 
 
 K- Cl 
 
 CO 
 
 CO CO <i ^3 CO 
 
 
 
 
 05 
 
 tn ,fc^ 
 
 ^i) 
 
 fi i— 4i^ cc 
 
 Cj 
 
 
 1— I 
 
 'O^ — cocoO-^ cc 
 
 
 if- to 
 
 
 
 —' 
 
 Ci *t^ CO "^ 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 
 
 f3 
 
 ^^^t04^OO> 
 
 
 
 
 cc K) 
 
 t-1 
 
 tn 
 
 CO oi <i c 
 
 c 
 
 m 
 
 tn 
 
 
 
 1— I 
 
 to 
 
 t-i 
 
 
 P 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 » 
 
 ■3 
 
 W 
 
 2 -iCi^atotoooico 
 
 •J 
 
 t-1 hS 4^ 
 
 tn 
 
 
 
 1— L 
 
 
 <{ 
 
 » ^4i.tO<^Oi— tOJ:* 
 
 tn 
 
 .^i. ^S CJi 
 
 CC' 
 
 e<i- 
 
 tn 
 
 c 
 
 ;,3 
 
 S5 K; to tJrf^ -J 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ CO ^s 
 tn to 
 
 CO 
 
 to 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 >— i 
 
 
 to *5 *!- 
 
 CO hP^ 
 
 
 •^ »-* C5 ^s 
 
 
 
 -s 
 
 p 
 
 3 
 
 CO 
 
 •^ CO ^-^ tD tn 
 
 
 Oi tn to 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 tn CO K) Ci to 
 
 
 C ht- CO ^ >-* 
 
 
 K) rf^ 05 
 
 CO 
 
 
 ^ — CO 
 
 r^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 C/T 
 
 J-- •a CO K) 
 
 
 »- ^s 4i> 
 
 Ci 
 
 
 CO C 
 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •-* 
 
 »j 
 
 
 >~l 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c- 
 
 ~ 
 
 ■ 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oi 
 
 ^ — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <n3 
 
 r* y-l tl Ci<© 
 
 
 1—1 
 
 1—1 
 
 
 05 
 
 9 
 
 ■R 
 
 C5 
 
 to <c> ^^ 
 
 
 C5 
 
 i» 
 
 
 
 
 ^" 
 
 0: 
 
 ?= *u 05 H- ^ Ol 
 
 
 t^i. CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 ,-^ 
 
 <J 
 
 <( ^ tn to Oi 
 
 
 iJi- tn 
 
 H-i 
 
 
 
 
 v; 
 
 
 4^ 
 CO 
 
 
 
 1— t H-1 
 
 
 
 ^ ^S tn 
 
 
 to ►- to 
 
 
 >{:. t-» cn 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 <J^ 
 
 to 
 
 
 )^- 
 
 tn 
 
 cn 
 
 tn 
 
 to Oi 
 
 ^ 
 
 05 4^ (t^ 
 
 4^ 
 
 <l CO 4i> CO CO 
 
 ^3 
 
 -^ 
 
 CO cc 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 
 CO «>5 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ k; tn 
 
 t/"l 
 
 tn ^ 
 
 tn 
 
 r-i Cn C tn 
 
 to 
 
 k— 1 
 
 © ^& 
 
 o"o ? 
 
 tn 
 
 
 <~1 
 
 0-' 
 
 O) 
 
 
 
 rO Oi K/ 
 
 
 
 CO ts •— 
 
 
 
 CC *^ 
 
 4i^ 
 
 © 
 
 t-1 
 
 ft £.? 
 
 • <l 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ — 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 f' CO *> 
 
 
 
 t;^ 4^^ 
 
 
 
 tn to <J 
 
 tn 
 
 to 
 
 © © 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 »— I 1— i 
 
 
 1-^ 1— ' 
 
 
 fO to 
 
 
 ,_1 
 
 
 5^ 
 
 
 _1 
 
 l-a 
 
 ihS CO 
 
 v_i 
 
 k; 
 
 CO '-' tn tn 
 
 Ci 
 
 •-' o> ■vj 
 
 1-^ 
 
 CO »3 CC <J 
 
 K) 
 
 tn 
 
 05 CO 
 
 «.c> 
 
 
 
 ■s:i 
 
 tn 
 
 ^ cc 
 
 to 
 
 c; 
 
 4:- cn tn fS 
 
 cn 
 
 CO <» 
 
 Oi 
 
 to K; CO CO 
 
 m; 
 
 to 
 
 CO 6C 
 
 5P=o 
 
 m "-^ 
 
 CO 
 
 to 
 
 CO 
 
 to CO 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 cr. Oi ^ 
 
 CO 
 
 CO t-" tn 
 
 (-^ 
 
 cn ^3 ^0 tn 
 
 CC 
 
 tn 
 
 05 cn 
 
 »-l 
 
 <ji 
 
 w 
 
 CO CO 
 
 fc-i 
 
 1—1 
 
 irC *0) ^ to 
 
 CO 
 
 CO tn ,ti. 
 
 
 
 CO ci *. ^^ C5 
 
 c^ 
 
 © 
 
 © CO 
 
 voters 
 
 ach 
 
 te. 
 
 to 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 t« 05 
 
 Ci 
 
 
 
 CO 0> CO fS 
 
 tn 
 
 63 4^ H- 
 
 tn 
 
 CO © *». t-i >-i 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 h- <j, 
 
 In soiit* of the states it will be observed that the electors were 
 chosen by the legislatures. The popular votes, therefore, in 
 those states is computed from an ascertained ratio of the actual 
 votes, with the number of voters, in the other states ; — they arc 
 distributed according to the proportion of electoral votes for each 
 of the candidates. Thus in Vermont, where Adams had all the 
 votes in the electoral coUesfe, we have eiven him the whole niim 
 
 fc > 
 
f 33 5 
 
 ber of popular votes, in New-York, they are divided according ta 
 the electoral votes each received ; ^nd in South-Carolina, where 
 Jackson received all the electoral votes, he is allowed all the pop- 
 ular votes. The result thus stated, shews that although Mr. Ad- 
 ams received 166112 votes of the people, he had but 84 votes in 
 the electoral colleges ; while Gen. Jackson, with only 153733 
 popular votes, received the votes of 99 electors. If the elector- 
 al votes had been in accordance with the votes of the people, Mr. 
 Adams would have had more than Jackson. Our opponents com- 
 plain that Maryland and Illinois, in congress, voted for Mr. Ad- 
 ams. Let us examine, from the data furnished, whether this was 
 not exactly as the people wished. In Maryland, as the table shews, 
 Mr. Adams had 14632, and Gen. Jaclr.son 14623 popular votes. 
 Now, upon pure democratic principles. Mr. Adams ought to h»ve 
 got all the electoral votes of that state,* and if the electors had 
 been chosen as in Pennsylvania, by a general ticket, he would 
 have had them But in the division of districts, it happened that 
 Gen. Jackson, with a less number of popular votes, obtained 7 
 electoral votes. If Mr. Adams had obtained them, the result 
 would have been 92 each. In Illinois, also, Mr. Adams had 1541, 
 and Gen. Jackson only 1272 votes of the people. — Upon the same 
 principle, Adams therefore ought to have had the electoral votes 
 of that state ; yet Jackson got two, and he only one. If we take 
 those two from the general, and add them to Mr. Adams, it would 
 then stand thus — Adams 94 — Jackson 90. 
 
 There is another fact which appears from this table, that ought 
 not to be overlooked. In the southern states, where Gen. Jack- 
 son had his majorities, the slave population is represented in the 
 proportion oi Jive to three whites. Electors were chosen accord- 
 ingly. Five slaves, therefore, had as much political power as three 
 free whites, in the eastern or middle states. It is evident, there- 
 fore, that Mr. Adams had in truth a very large plurality of the free^ 
 voters of the United State.?. The subjoined table will illustrate 
 this argument,— 
 
 E 
 
(34 J 
 
 if- 
 
 10 
 
 ^o 
 
 03 
 03 
 
 05 
 
 t« 
 
 ^' 
 
 !b;» t-^ H .^ ^ ^ 
 5 a 5 o o a 
 
 ^ R i* 
 
 s" s' ?^ 
 a. a " 
 
 •U0S5J0Bf 
 
 JO suiBpy joj pajOA 
 ^mi\ s9)b;s guip|oq QAByg 
 
 ^ CO 
 
 a >•* 
 
 to o 
 
 03 03 
 h3 03 
 O CO 
 
 03 
 <J 03 
 
 CO ^ 
 CO to 
 
 ^"Oi" 
 62 CO 
 
 o^ o 
 
 ^ Oi 
 
 CO CO 
 
 03 O 
 »— » CO 
 CO K> 
 
 to O 
 
 •uoi;TJ|ndod a^iqAv aajj 
 
 W On OO 
 CO On C^ 
 CO C5 4^^ 
 Cn CO 03 
 CO to CO 
 n::^ — CO 
 
 •soAB[s am JO 
 sq^g-e sapnpui qoiqA\ 
 sjaquinu aAui3)uasajdau 
 
 •-* to to CO Cn o O 
 
 •-* >— 03 03 to 
 
 I 
 
 03 
 
 IQ 
 
 sa;TqAV aajj jo 
 uoi^Bmasajdaj pjo^oa^g 
 
 •SaATJ^S JO 
 
 uoi^'B^uasajdaj |B.io)oajg 
 
 JOJ a;oA 
 
 •SUITJpY 
 
 a;iqA\ aajj 
 
 to •-» C5 cn O Oi 
 
 I 
 
 03 
 
 03 
 CL. 
 
 H^ 
 
 •UOS^OBf 
 
 JOJ a;0A a^TqAi aajj 
 
 •sui^py JOJ a^oA aABfg 
 
 o 
 
 to 
 
 1 
 03 
 
 to 
 
 ►- • •- 03 03 — 
 ^ ^ H^ 
 
 CC 
 
 •uosj^objc JOJ a;0A aAB|g 
 
 03 
 
 t— 03 to CO CO 03 <l 
 
 P 
 
 o 
 
 p t- 
 
 P H- ^- ii- 
 
 1^ 
 
 "" 2- 
 
 < 
 
 o 
 
 
 From the above table it will appear that from the slave holding 
 states, Jackson received 44 and Adams but 4 electoral votes The 
 senatorial representation is not taken into account, as it would not 
 effect the calculation either way. It will, also, appear that of 
 pure slave votes, Jackson received nearly 1 1 and Adams 1 only. 
 Now take the result as we have shewn it would have been if Mary- 
 land and Illinois had gone entire for Mr. Adams, according to the 
 popular vote, viz. : 94 for Adams and 90 for Jackson. Extinguish 
 the c>lave vote altogether, which would subtract, in whole numbers, 
 ten from Jackson and one from Adams. It would then stand — 
 Adams 93 and Jackson 80 only. — Thus in every point of view, it 
 is clear, if the voice of the greater number is to be an indication, 
 that Adams was the choice of the free people of the United States. 
 mirtttie rmtvri argument of hig opponents fa^ls to the ground. 
 
135 ] 
 
 Notwithstanding the election of Mr. Adams has been made, not on-* 
 ly according to the letter, but the spirit of the constitution, yet it seems 
 to have furnished to his opponents a source of the most bitter invec- 
 tives ; that because when Gen. Jackson had obtained a plurality of 
 electoral votes over him, he should consent to be elected ; and that 
 because after he was elected, he appointed Mr. Clay, (who may be 
 ranked among our most able and illustrious statesmen,) secretary of 
 state; they would impose on the understanding of our citizens, 
 by urging, that fhese circumstancr.s have furnished evidence of his 
 having been guilty of making a corrupt political bargain with Mr. 
 Clay, to obtain his election ; and of disregarding the principles of the 
 constitution ! To such immeasurable degrees of folly and insanity 
 ai'e the victims of an unjust and disappointed ambition impelled. 
 
 They would have the people believe too, that Andrew Jackson's 
 plurality of electoral votes over Mr. Adams, furnishes competent ev- 
 idence of his popularity ; and that popularity thus acquired, is an at- 
 testation of that merit which should command their confidence ; al- 
 though it has been proved from the whole history of the civil state, 
 that votes may be procured, by the arts of intrigue, by bribery, by 
 falsehood, and by every species of imposition ; and although great 
 and petty tyrants, and pimping demagogues, have, under the same 
 specious pretence of merit, been elevated to importance and to pow- 
 er. In the mist of this political delusion, they would conceal the de- 
 formity of a charat^ter which would blacken the pages of our history, 
 and enstamp on its fortunes, disgrace, disorder, and ruin. 
 
 If we would preserve the purity of elections to important offices, 
 we must be governed by truth and reason, more than by sounds. If 
 a candidate, whoever he may be, has obtained more votes than he mer- 
 ited, instead of furnishing evidence of his popularity, it only proves 
 that the people have been deceived. The question for a wise people 
 to investigate, in relation to the election of a president, is not whether 
 this or that candidate may obtain the most votes ; but who is qualified 
 to discharge the duties of the office so as best to promote the public 
 good. If local prejudices, personal interests, and geographical dis- 
 crimination, have a predominant influence in the election of that officer, 
 we cannot with confidence calculate on the tranquil enjoyment, or the 
 perpetuity of our union. 
 
 At no period of our national existence, has any political event exci- 
 ted so extraordinary an interest in the public mind, as that of the 
 nomination of Andrew Jackson to the Presidency. 
 
 The condition of the United States presents to the world the mag- 
 nificent spectacle, of a people who have, as it were, but just snatched 
 their liberties from the ruins of empire, amidst the thunder of contend- 
 ing nations, and are making the last effort to secure for it the triumphs 
 of an immortal existence. History, the monumental record of nation- 
 al decline and ruin, exliibits to our view the causes of republican de- 
 generacy, in characters legible as the sunbeams, and which cannot be 
 mistaken ; and it points us to their commencement, at that period 
 when their chief executive power has been committed to men of des- 
 potic wills, lawless ambition, profligate manners, and desperate cour- 
 ase. 
 
I :3ti j 
 
 ro extricate ourselves from the evils of a hereditary monarchv- 
 which might impose on us in the line of descent, a weak or un- 
 principled despot, the blood and treasures of our illustrious an- 
 cestors have been expended ; but are those evils more tolerable, or 
 less to be depricated, when by our free suffrages we inflict them 
 on ourselves ? Does the right of suffrage give impunity to the 
 errors or vices of freemen ? If the rights of the people are to be 
 invaded with impunity ; if our liberties are to perish in the ad- 
 ministration of a military despot ; is it a privilege of which free- 
 men should boast, and in which they ought to exult, that they 
 have the right of choosing the men who are to be the instruments 
 of their ruin ? It is a truth which cannot be concealed from an 
 impartial world, that the history of the British monarchy, for the 
 last three hundred years, has not recorded a character among 
 those who have inherited the sovereign power, so despotic in his 
 principles, or abandoned to his vices, as that man, whom the peo- 
 ple are invited to elevate to the chief magistracy. 
 
 Had we the misfortune to have lived under an hereditary monar- 
 chy, and the Great Disposer of human events, should, in his wrath, 
 have imposed on us such a sovereign as Andrew Jackson, in the 
 line of descent, it would have been considered a national calami- 
 ty. No faction would then be created, to conceal his vices and 
 liis errors, by the proclamation of his popularity ; and as he would 
 have depended on no one for his elevation, none could calculate 
 on his patronage. But the case is otherwise ; we live in a free 
 republic, and the people are not doomed, by their constitution, to 
 consign their liberties to the administration of an unprincipled ty- 
 rant. And unless they suffer themselves to be deceived, through 
 inattention to the characters of the different candidates, it is be^ 
 lieved they will not do it. 
 
 The question respecting a presidential election, should not be 
 affected by geographical discriminations or sectional interests. 
 Whatever may be the views of aspiring partizans, attached to 
 different candidates, it is believed the great mass of our popula- 
 tion would discard the little policy of any chief magistrate, which 
 should tend to encourage the pursuits of one part of the common- 
 wealth at the expense of the other. There may be individuals 
 influenced in their political conduct by local attachments, and 
 prejudices, and interests ; yet it is hoped the major part of our 
 citizens will never disregard the vast importance of an inviolable 
 and perpetual union of the states, which never can be maintained 
 by any other than a policy both equal and just in its operation. 
 
 It is of no consequence to the people whether the President is 
 a native citizen of the northern or southern section of the United 
 States, or from what stock of ancestors he has descended ; Dcitlier 
 is it of importance to know whether he has heretofore approved 
 or opposed certain measures of the administration, contrary to 
 the views of other eminent statesmen ; the wisdom of political 
 measures cannot always be attested, but by a long course of ex- 
 periejice ; the great question which should decide the choice of 
 
liiat olUcer, relates entirely to his charaGteT. If lie has proved to 
 the people by his general deportment that he is governed by the 
 principles of a pure morality ; and that by his pubhc conduct he 
 has evinced a sacred regard to the laws and constitution of his 
 country ; and a capacity equal, if not superior to any other indi- 
 vidual ; every motive which should influence the choice of a wise 
 people, urge them to re-elect the man who possesses such qualifi- 
 cations. 
 
 It is not necessary to adduce evidence that such is the charac- 
 ler of John Quincy Adams. The proofs are already before the 
 world, and cannot be discredited. For nearly forty years he has 
 stood the landmark of his country's wisdom, " a mental Pyramid," 
 whose base the storms of faction and passion could not move. 
 And it will not be forgotten, that unwearied and desperate as have 
 been the efforts of his opponents, they have not been able to con- 
 firm against him a single charge either of incapacity or derilection 
 of duty ; or to trace to the source of his administration any one 
 political evil or misfortune. And yet we are insultingly told that 
 the public good requires that the office which he holds should be fill- 
 ed by Andrew Jackson ; a man who has been proved before the pub- 
 lic to have committed more errors, and vices, and crimes, than 
 any other man in the United States, whose character has gained 
 equal publicity. A man who in private life, has exhibited the 
 deformity and the danger of the human disposition when uninflu- 
 enced by either moral or legal restraints. Who from his early 
 youth has been habitually engaged in petty and degrading quarrels, 
 which under the delusive guise of chivalric honor, he has avenged 
 by violence on the lives of his fellow citizens ; a man of so dan- 
 gerous a disposition that Col. Benton declared he dared not risque 
 his life in the same state with him, and for that reason removed 
 out of it ; who caused the lives of two men to be taken contrary 
 to the sentence of a court martial instituted by him for the ex- 
 press purpose of their trial ; a man, who, against both the letter 
 and the spirit of the constitution, undertook to administer martial 
 law over the civil rights of the people, who were not subject to his 
 authority ; and under color of that law, attempted to break down 
 the liberty of the press ; suspend the judicial and legislative pow- 
 ers of the government ; and in violation of the law of nations as 
 well as of the United States, arrested and imprisoned the French 
 consul, and banished all the French citizens resident at New Or- 
 leans, and who were alien friends, to a place one hundred and 
 twenty miles distant from their homes. And who, because Lauil- 
 lier, a member of the legislature, and a respectable and worthy 
 citizen, published in a newspaper some appropriate strictures on 
 his illegal conduct, ordered him arrested and put on trial, as for a 
 capital offence, by a court martial ; and when that court acquitted 
 him, disapproved of the sentence, and would not discharg-e him 
 from imprisonment ; who imprisoned a Jud^e of the United'states 
 Court for issuing a writ of habeas corpus for the release of 
 Lauillier, and treated the process of the wTit with contempt ; who 
 
[on j 
 
 arrested and imprisoned Mr. Dick for procuring a writ for the re- 
 lease of the judge ; who caused two hundred of the militia of his 
 own state to be ignominiously punished, six of them with death, 
 acrainst the positive law of the land, and under circumstances 
 shocking to humanity ; who under the false pretence of public 
 danger, after the enemies of our country had b( en vanquished 
 and left our shores, subjected to the penalties of martial law three 
 hundred of our own citizens, not one of whom were amenable for 
 the violation of any law, or usage, or article of war ! ! ! who has 
 wa^ed war against a neutral power in violation of positive instruc- 
 tions ; who has openly directed the officers under his command, 
 to disobey the orders of the president of the United States ; and 
 finally, because the national senate presumed to inquire into 
 his outrageous and disgraceful conduct, threatened to enter into 
 their chamber and cut off their ears ; and was prevented from 
 carrying his threat into execution, only by the patriotism and cou- 
 rage of Decater! ! ! In ihe name of human and divine wisdom, 
 is such a man in the character of a chief magistrate, to be imposed 
 on the people of this enlightened and virtuous republic in the pre- 
 sent ao-e of the world I If he is. then indeed it may be said of us 
 that political delusion has triumphed over reason and truth. Well 
 then might we exclaim, whither has fled that stern integrity, that 
 firm and disinterested patriotism that once scorned to win a short 
 lived popularity at the expense of our immortal glory ; well then 
 may our once happy country, destined by heaven as we had fondly 
 hoped, to illustrate the splendid achievem.ents of her heroes, and 
 the wisdom of her sages in the example of her sons, be described 
 in the opprobrious language of the Poet, 
 
 Unpris'd are her sons 'till they learn to betray, 
 Undisting-uish'd they live f they shame not their sires 
 And the torch that would light tiiem to dignity's way 
 Must be caught from the pile where their country expires. 
 
 If our republic is to be saved from the disgrace and ruin with 
 which it is threatened, you must be persuaded, my fellow citizens, 
 bv the veneration which you owe to the constitution achieved by 
 valor and cemented by the purest blood of patriotism ; by your 
 reverence for the holy relics of the heroes, the sages, and mar- 
 tyrs of our history ; by your attachment to the laws, and your 
 veneration for that Eternal Power on \diose divine commandments 
 they are founded ; and as in the presence of your God, and under 
 that awful influence imposed by the late of unborn millions of 
 posterity ; to oppose by all lawful means, the election of Andrew 
 Jackson to the Presidency. 
 
 A volume could not contain a description of the various and 
 fatal evils we might expect would inevitably result from an admi- 
 nistration over which he should preside. If our republic must 
 fall, as it probably would, and that very soon, if committed to the 
 administration of that man and his political advocates, it is hoped 
 our honest and intelligent citizens will cling to it while it has life 
 
r 
 
 ill it, and even longer than there is hope ; let. them be auxiliary 
 to its virtues ; and if death must be its fate, let them exhaust the 
 last power of mtellect, that they may protract its dying nature, 
 and from its expiring convulsions snatch the spirit of'liberty, and' 
 render its reign on earth immortal. 
 
 • The assertion which is too often made that there is no difference 
 in the moral characters of men is absurd and dangerous. Al- 
 though it should be admitted, that all men are equally actuated 
 by motives of personal interest, yet universal observation proves, 
 that tne conduct of men in pursuit of the same object, is widely 
 different. . While one scrupulously resolves to make his interest 
 coincide with his duty to his fellow citizens and his country, we 
 see others in pursuit of the same object, obviously disregard every 
 obligation imposed by either moral or legal restraints. 
 
 The world has been ransacked in vain to find causes of accusa-. 
 tion against the public or private character of President Adams, 
 and because his enemies can find none, they pronounce him a 
 cunning, designing man, and {hypocrite. But when Andrew 
 Jackson has without shame, and apparently without remorse, vio- 
 lated the sacred obligations which should "bind together society, 
 and rendered hii)*self a dangerous man even in private life, and 
 under the color of a httle brief mihtary power, set at defiance 
 every principle on which the superstructure of our republic is 
 founded, and violated even the laws of humanity, \yhich should 
 distinguish the civil from the savage state ; he is pronounced by 
 his political advocates the more honest man, and most worthy of 
 the chief magistracy. But whatever may be the success, attendin<T 
 the impositions of a desperate faction, it cannot change the etei° 
 nal laws which discriminate between the characters of men. 
 There is a difference between virtue and vice, between wisdom 
 and folly ; there are such qualities as patriotism, as the love of 
 honour, of truth, of justice and humanity, which mark the con- 
 duct of different men and distinguish their characters. Whoever 
 shall attempt to ascribe corrupt motives to conduct in itself praise- 
 worthy, and morality to mere human contrivance and pc htical 
 skill, would undermine the foundation of all virtue and subvert 
 the order, the peace, and safety of society ; as well may they 
 justify the commission of every crime, and the practice of every 
 vice, by ascribing to its author motives of benevolence, patriotism 
 and philanthropy. 
 
 But such are some of the absurd pretensions, by which the op- 
 posers of President Adams and his administration, would impose 
 on the credulity of honest freemen. While they would ascribe 
 the most important political conduct of his life which have con- 
 ferred upon him the fame of an illustrious statesman and pure 
 patriot, to the arts of hypocrisy, they are willing to ascribe to 
 Andrew Jackson motives of zeal for the public good, in justifica- 
 tion of the most flagrant and wanton violations of law, justice and 
 humanity. 
 
 They first hoped to gain the confidence of the people in their 
 
positive denials of the charges against him ; but when their truth 
 was demonstrated before the public, by the records of his admi- 
 nistration, and the testimony of living witnesses, they attempted 
 to justify his conduct from the exigencies of public danger ; and 
 when it is proved by comparing even his own declaration with the 
 dates of events, that such exigencies did not exist at the time, 
 when under this delusive pretence, he was treating with contempt 
 the vital principles of the constitution, and inflicting the punish- 
 ment of ignominy and death on our own citizens ; excited by the 
 insanity of party zeal, they are ready to ascribe all his errors and 
 his vices to the ardency of his patriotism. Such are the absurdi- 
 ties to which men would resort in the madness of their ambition. 
 But those who had the presumption to place his name on the list 
 of candidates for the Presidency, could never believe that the in- 
 telligent freemen of the United States, unless under the influence 
 of gross imposition, would ever elevate to the supreme magistracy, 
 a man, whose only passport to power was his despotic will, his 
 courage and his sword. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The reasons stated by General Jackson for proposing to tli©- 
 legislature to suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus, and afterwards 
 for the proclamation of martial law, were, that intimation had been 
 privately given, that some disaffected persons were to be found in 
 New Orleans. 
 
 That there was any danger to be apprehended from such per- 
 sons there has been no proof exhibited to the public. On Gen. 
 Jackson's arrival at New Orleans, the whole population of that 
 place -devoted itself to the defence of the country : a levy en mass 
 was effected. Even the old men organized themselves into 
 companies, and the ladies employed themselves in making clothes 
 for the militia.* 
 
 But take the testimony of Gen. Jackson himself. In his letter 
 to the Mayor of New Orleans, dated January 27, 1815, he says, 
 ** I pray you, sir, to communicate to your respectable city, the ex- 
 alted sense I entertain of their patriotism, love of order, and at- 
 tachment to the principles of our excellent constitution. Seldom 
 in any community has so much cause been given for deserved 
 praise. While the young were in the field and arresting the pro- 
 gress of the foe, the aged watched over the city, and preserved its 
 internal peace ; and even the softer sex encouraged their husbands 
 and brothers, to remain at the post of danger and duty." 
 
 This letter, it will be noticed, was written nineteen days after 
 the celebrated victory, and when General Jackson must have had 
 all the evidence of the dangerous disposition of the citizens of 
 New Orleans that he ever could expect. 
 
 *' AH the inhabitants of Louisiana vied in zeal for the service of 
 their colmtry, and strained every nerve to repulse the enemy." 
 
 Neither has there been any evidence before the public that there 
 was a traitorous disposition in the legislature, which could justify 
 General Jackson in suspending the legislative authorities. 
 
 It is said that General Jackson received a suggestion that there 
 was a panic among the members of the legislature, and a thought 
 entertained by them of a capitulation.! This imputation the 
 whole of the legislature have always solemnly denied. And their 
 conduct gives no color to such a charge. 
 
 On the arrival of General Jackson at New Orleans, the legisla- 
 ture voted $65,000 for new fortifications, and put $6000 in the 
 
 * Sec 17th page. 
 
 f Latour's Historical Memoirs of the War in West Florida and Louisiana. 
 
 F 
 
[42] 
 
 hands of Commodore Patterson for the purpose of hiring additional 
 seamen. 
 
 General Jackson, however, sent an aid to the city with orders 
 to the Governor to institute a Mrict inquiry into this matter ; and 
 if it was true that the mi^mbers meditated such a thing, to blow 
 them up into the air.* The aid, sent to the Governor, without 
 such investigation, introduced an armed force into the halls of the 
 legislature, and expelled the members .wit'h the point of the bayo- 
 net,! and General Jackson sanctioned and approved the measure. 
 He had previous to this proposed to the legislature to suspend 
 the writ of Habeas Corpus ; and thus put the personal security of 
 every man in the state except himself, beyond the reach of all 
 protection or safeguard.! 
 
 The resolution of the legislature declining the adoption of so 
 violent a measure, placed their relusal chiefly on the ground of 
 the apprehension that it might chill the enthusiasm then prevail- 
 ing — interrupt the excellent feeling then so general — and thus 
 impede the preparations for defence. This w^as two weeks before 
 any enemy was heard of in the neighborhood | 
 
 They had another ground which should have satisfied the Gen. 
 They had no authority to suspend that writ. An authority which 
 it is denied Congress has any legal power to exercise. 
 
 /'The legislature had continued to meet, notwithstanding their 
 forcible expulsion from the HaH by armed men, arrd the establish- 
 ment of military government in the city. Indeed the performance 
 of their functions was necessary, for the purpose of voting assist- 
 ance to the sick, wounded and destitute, among the militia." 
 
 A large number of the citizens in offering their services as vo- 
 lunteer soldiers, desired to stipulate that they might not be sent 
 away from the state ; to which General Jackson had returned a 
 refusal of their ofler ; telling them that soldiers who entered the 
 ranks must forget the habits of social life, and be willing to go 
 wherever duty and danger called them. Such were the kind of 
 troops he wanted and none other would he have." The citizens 
 of Louisiana were much disappointed and surprised by this refusal. 
 They desired to expose their lives in defence of New Orleans, but 
 "were not willing to be sent to Florida, or against the Indians on 
 distant campaigns, as regular enlisted soldiers, with a General 
 who was known to regard his own view of the occasion for their 
 farther service, as the only boundary to the extent of their tour of 
 duty ; and to contemn the militia laws as affording only subjects 
 for ill timed quibbles. 
 
 The refusal of the volunteers to subject themselves to be march- 
 ed elsewhere as soldiers, and for an unlimited time, did not pre- 
 Tent their active co-operation in the defence of Louisiana. 
 
 His biographer, General Eaton records ^ that during the whole 
 of the Indian war, of 1813 and 1814, there was a perpetual effort 
 
 * Eaton's Life, 305- t Latour's Historical Memoirs, 
 
 t The Committee reported against the propoftttion on the 16th — the landiiig of 
 tlTe British was on the 23rd. 
 
[ 43 J 
 
 on the part of General Jackson, to compel the militia to serve 
 longer than they were bound to do by the law. That those who 
 persisted in and exercised their undeniable right: to return after a. 
 faithful service to theij; families, were branded by him with the 
 name of deserters.','* And that he caused a lieutenant, who had 
 served his teem fully to its end, and was returning to his home, to 
 be imprisoned, after having presented a pistol to the young man's 
 breast and compelled him to choose between death and submis- 
 sion. Such an effect had these tyrannical proceedings upon the 
 gallant Tennesseeans, that no entreaties nor force could prevail 
 on a regiment of the militia to remain even twenty days beyond 
 the legai term of their service. t 
 
 After the victory of the 8th of January, and the enemy had left 
 the country, the regulars, and chief part of the militia, accompa- 
 nied him to the city ; a large portion of the Kentucky and Louisi- 
 ana men were ordered to*" remain in the mud on the plantations. 
 These militia were detained in their wet and sickly encampment 
 long after all possibility of a new invasion had passed away ; not 
 until the 13th of March were the Kentuckians allowed to leave 
 the field. The unhealthiness of a constantly wet soil, caused 
 them to contract pernicious fevers and dysenteries, which soon 
 became epidemical. The effect of these disorders was speedily 
 seen and terribly felt — in the space of one month five hundred of 
 them were sacrificed in this unfeeling manner. The shocking 
 mortality among the drafted militia, still without any apparent 
 necessity, encamped on the wet soil of a plantation, excited much 
 disconent. These regiments were composed in a great measure 
 of French natives residents of New Orleans. | And their friends 
 were particularly dissatisfied with what they considered this need- 
 less and cruel exposure of their lives. The murmurs thus excited 
 provoked General Jackson into a new measure of severity, in an 
 order banishing all the French inhabitants to a distance of 120 
 miles, noticed in a preceding page. The class of people on 
 whom this heavy sentence fell, comprised a large portion of the 
 combati nts in the battles of the 23d of December and 8th of 
 January. The gallantry with which they had behaved, had been 
 emphatically declared by the General himself.§ If there was still 
 danger of a renewed invasion — two weeks after the official news 
 of the signing of peace — New Orleans was by this order to be 
 deprived of an efficient portion of its defenders — if no further 
 occasion for their services were apprehended, the prolonged de- 
 tention of their compatriots in the pestilential fields was. without 
 excuse, and a just cause of murmur. 
 
 These facts have been adduced to shoxv that the disaffection 
 among the citizens of New Orleans, and the mutiiious disposition 
 as he would term them, and which furnished his justification for 
 
 ^Eaton'sLifCvp. 102 f Ibid, p. 119; 
 
 ^ Owners of the soil, nien who Uad families anxiouslv coiicerued for their safetV', 
 and whose happiness depended on their return. Katon p. 272. 
 ^ In his address to the Mayor of New Orleans, January 2f, 1815. 
 
[ 44 j 
 
 proclaiming martial law, and the abuses he practiced in the admi- 
 nistration of it, originated from his despotic and unreasonable 
 measures. And that whatever of an unfriendly disposition might 
 be discoverable against him, in the cause in which he was engaged, 
 among the members of the legislature, was attributable entirely 
 to his usurpation, and unprecedented, and wanton interference 
 with their civil rights by violence. 
 
 On the 2d of February, 1815, they passed a vote of thanks to 
 the brave citizen soldiers,, the subaltern officers, and the Generals ; 
 omitting all notice of General Jackson. Latour, 205. These 
 resolutions were communicated by the Governor to Gei|erals . 
 Thpmas, Adair, Carroll and Col. Hinds, of the Kentucky, Ten- 
 nessee, and Mississippi militia. 
 
 The legislature did not act without provocation in this mark of 
 disrespect. The insult they received in being violently expelled 
 from their Hall, and the insinuations made against the patriotism 
 of their citizens, in the General Orders declaring martial law — in- 
 sinuations which no one else had uttered — which had been amply 
 refuted by the good conduct of the whole population, and yet had 
 not been withdrawn, seemed to them to require apology and ex- 
 planation. They were displeased with the ill-timed introduction 
 of the press gang system, when all were so willing to serve with- 
 out being pressed. They thought such a severity calculated only to 
 create the disaffection which they did not believe existed at the 
 time of General Jackson's asserting it. They disapproved of 
 the injustice of keeping their citizens of the drafted militia — the 
 householders of New Orleans — still in a sickly camp, when the 
 " more hardy regulars were allowed to lounge idly in the streets and 
 taverns of New Orleans. They disliked also the crowning and 
 other excessive honors paid to and accepted by General Jackson, 
 to the exclusion of all others, as if he alone deserved praise, and 
 the gallant Coffee, Adair, Carroll, &c. merited no compliment. 
 They wished to show especially their sense of the merits of those 
 officers and their troops, to whom there had been yet no honors or 
 acknowledgments awarded." 
 
 It appears then that the disaffection of the legislature of Loui- 
 siana was pointed against the character and conduct of General 
 Jackson, and not against the war. 
 
 But aside from his administration of martial law at New Orleans, 
 there are many other acts of his public life, ^v1lich evince equally 
 his contempt of the laws as well as his want of either talents or 
 knowledge as a civilians, or statesman. 
 
 "The history of his conduct in the forcible seizure of Florida, 
 a neutral country, will show there was not the shadow of neces- 
 sity for this violent attack upon a friendly power. But there arc 
 some facts connected with this transaction, and the capture of 
 Pensacola, which may explain the motives of his conduct. It was 
 in evidence, before the Committee of the Senate, that in the fall 
 of 1817, several gentlemen of Nashville, (among whom were 
 
John Donnelsou, the nephew of the General, and John H. Eaton, 
 his biographer,) formed a company, to speculate in lots and 
 lands in Pensacoia. Mr. Donnelson, as their agent, went on, with 
 authority to make purchases to an amount not exceeding ^ lb, 000, 
 and succeeded to his wishes. Mr. Liaton, in his testimony, says, 
 that his inducements to make this adventure, was, that he believed 
 the country would ultimately belong to the United States." 
 
 It is a singular coincidence, considering the intimate relation 
 between the parties, that the speculation is hardly secured by 
 deed, until General Jackson advances with an American army — 
 invades the country — seizes the forts — occupies Pensacoia — and 
 then endeavors by influence and arguments, to induce his govern- 
 ment so retain the conquest, at the expense of justice, right, and 
 tranquillity. The people will judge how far the General was con- 
 cerned in this adventure. 
 
 We will now examine some of the acts of Gen. Jackson as a civil 
 magistrate, and we shall see that the same overbearing violence 
 of temper, the same self-willed, despotic exercise of power, have 
 been manifested m his public conduct. Upon the cession of Flo- 
 rida to the United States, Gen Jackson was appointed governor 
 of that territory. His own view of the arbitrary authority vested 
 in him, appears from his letter to Captain Bell, dated August 13, 
 1821. In which he says, "I despatched an express on to you 
 with sundry ordinances, which I found it necess9,ry to adopt for 
 the better organization of the Floridas." The constitution of 
 Spain, providing for the trial by jury in criminal cases, although 
 never extended to the colonies, because the treaty ceding the 
 Floridas was concluded before the constitution was adopted, &-c, 
 in Spain." Here is a most extraordinary declaration from the 
 republican Governor of a ceded territory, which-it was intended 
 might hereafter become a member 5f our Union. The trial by 
 jury, the freeman's dearest right, is not to be allowed, because 
 the country was ceded, before Spaniards had obtained that priv> 
 lege under the new constitution ; and the rights of the people 
 were to be determined and regulated by the " ordinances" of the 
 Governor — that is by the simple declaration of his will. Thus 
 the condition of Florida was to be improved by substituting his 
 will for the right of trial by jury, and we shall lind the Governor 
 acted under this impression. In a former letter to Captain Bell, . 
 he had said, " the Spanish laws and usage-* are in force :" his 
 ordinances were to declare what the Spanish laws were, and 
 afterwards in the letter last referred to, he adds, " The Judge 
 (appointed by the President,) can exercise no other power, (ex- 
 cept so far as relates to carrying into effect the acts extended 
 over the Floridas,) unless specially given him by the President. 
 Such instructions have not been given, and I doubt very much, 
 whether the President could give them. There is no doubt that 
 the person exercising the power of the Governor of East Florida, 
 can exercise all the powers exercised under the King of Spain, at 
 the time the country was ceded." This power we know was arbi- 
 
 i 
 
/ 
 
 [ 4t; j 
 
 ^rary and despotic. Spain had not reformed her constitution af. 
 the time, and hence as the General argues, the pieople of Florida 
 could not have ihe benefit of tJie trial by jury in criminal cases. 
 This assumption of regal prerogative is left to the consideration 
 of those who admire the republican princ pies of Gen. Jackson. 
 
 Let us proceed to his practical illustration of his powers By 
 tliQ treaty of cession, all the archieves and documents relating to 
 the " property and sovereignty of the country," were to be given 
 up. The General undertook to interpret this, as including papers 
 relative to private property ; and a complaint having been made 
 that some such were in the possession i)f the late Spanisii Gover- 
 nor Callava, an order was issued that he should deliver them 
 forthwith. They were refused, and instead of sending a civil offi- 
 cer with process, General .*ackson issued to Colonel Brooke the 
 followmo military requisition : " You will furnish an officer, ser- 
 geant, corporal, and twenty men, and direct the officer to call on 
 me by half past eight o'clock for orders. They will have their 
 arms and accoutrements complete, with twelve rounds of ammu- 
 mti^^n." This was accordingly doiie, and Lieutenant Mountz, 
 officer of the guard, " was directed to take Colonel Callava into 
 custody, &c." They found him at his house on the bed, and he 
 complained of being too ill to go with them ; but as Messrs. But- 
 ler and Bronaugh reported to his excellency, " he seemed to act 
 without much difficulty svhen the guard was ordered to prime and 
 load," — the defenceless dignitary was thus dragged by military 
 force before Governor Jackson, and finally committed to prison : 
 in the mean time his house was entered by order ; boxes were 
 broken open, and paper> taken out. But we have not given you 
 the whole case. . Judcre Fromentin, who had been commissioned 
 by the President, judicial o^cer of the territory, w^as applied to 
 by the friends of Colonel Callava, for a habeas corpus. Suppos- 
 ing that the country ceded to the United States, should share in 
 some degree, the benignity of a free government, he allowed the 
 writ. General Jackson whem informed of it directed Captain 
 Wager to inform Mr. Fromentin that the prisoners would he kept 
 confined until released by his orders ; and at the same time issued 
 his precept to bring the Judge before him, to answer for having 
 attempted to interfere with his authority, — overwhelmed by arbi- 
 trary power, — brow beaten and insulted, the Judge was compelled 
 to yield his official dignity and his personal independence. 
 
 /J'his was for having dared as the General says, to issue a 
 habeas corpus. But to cap the climax of tyranny, the Spanish 
 officers, President at Pensacola for many years, and owning large 
 property,) were ordered by proclamation, dated 29th of Septem- 
 ber, to leave thr country in four days,-' Their offence was the 
 publication, in a newspaper, of a paragr^gh. questioning the ac- 
 curacy of the interpreter^who b#d^ssisted:flt the examination of 
 Colonel Callava ; and two of these gentlemen ventured to return 
 in some sjiort time to look afler their affairs, and in pursuance of 
 the Governor's order, were arrested and conlined in prison. For- 
 tunately for them (as no habeas corpus could bring relief.") Gen. 
 
L ^^ J 
 
 Jackson resigned, and the case having been communicated to the 
 President, he at once directed their discharge, after a confinement of 
 more than three months and a half. By this sketch of his a<iminis- 
 tration in Florida, as a civil magistrate, his advocates cannot urge in 
 his defence that he was mipelled by necessity, or the exigencies of" 
 public danger, but by the same ungovernable disposition to make his 
 own despotic will the rule of his actions, which has directed his con- 
 duct in every situation wherein he has been entrusted with power. 
 
 It will be seen in the above statement, that his egregious blunder 
 in the construction of the treaty of cession, by interpreting the archives 
 and documents relating to the property or sovereignty of the country _^ 
 as intending papers relative to private property, led him to those 
 outrageous violations of the rights of Colonel Callava, Judge Fro 
 mentin, and the Spanish officers. 
 
 His invasion of Florida v/as without authority, and in violation of 
 the constitution, and the orders of the President. In the year 1818, 
 some acts of violence were committed on the borders of Georgia by 
 the Seminole Indians. General Jackson was ordered to make a re- 
 quisition on the Governor of Teiuiessee for a militia force hi aid of 
 the Georgia militia " already called out, for the purpose of restoring 
 order, lie disobeyed the orders, preferring to raise volunteers to 
 "whom he could appoint officers, and collected a force of 2500 men 
 without authority, whom he organized by appointing officers, and 
 then led them into Florida to captiire the Spanish posts. 
 
 The merits of this expedition into Florida became the subject ©f 
 warm discussion in Congress ; and in each house a report was ma«Ie 
 by a committee, censuring the General's proceedings. In the House 
 of Representatives, the committee founded their censure on thejunine- 
 cessary putting to death of the prisoners after the war was closed- — 
 the irreaularity of their trial-^the unfairness of refusing them benefit 
 of theyvidence they desired — the erroneous principles of national hiw 
 advanced — and the execution of one against the opinion of the coijirt. 
 In the Senate, the committee reported very much in detail, and in 
 very strong terms of censure. '^ It is with regret the committee sptidj. 
 they were compelled to declare, that General Jdckson has disregarded 
 the positive orders of the department of war, the constitution, and the 
 laws." '* Tfie committee find the melancholy fact before them, that at 
 this early stage of the republic, military officers have, without the 
 shadow of authority, raised an army of at least 2500 men, and mus- 
 tered them into the service of the United States. Two hundred and 
 thirty officers have been appointed, and their rank established, from 
 an Indian brigadier-general, to the lowest subaltei'n of a company. 
 To whom were these officers accountable for their conduct ? Not to 
 the President of the United States. For it was not considered neces- 
 sary even to furnish him with a list of their names ; and not until the 
 pay was demanded, were the persons known to the department of 
 war " 
 
 The session of Congress to which this committee reported, passed 
 by without any decisive vote on the subject. 
 
 Nile's Register, Vol. XV. p. 305. 
 
[-4S j 
 
 The unfortunate dilemma in which the government was placed, bv 
 General Jackson's illegal and disgraceful conduct, has been noticed 
 in a preceding page.* 
 
 A detail of all the public acts of his life wliich would only add to 
 the proofs already adduced, of his tyrannical and dangerous disposi- 
 tion, or his profound ignorance of the construction and legal inter- 
 pretation of the laws, might swell this short address to a large 
 volume. 
 
 It cannot be possible that a man whose whole course of public 
 conduct has been marked by violence, usurpation, and tyranny, will 
 by the enlightened and virtuous freemen of the United States, be 
 chosen, to preside over the destinies of the only free republic on the 
 globe. 
 
 ^ Seepage 15. 
 
 1 
 
% 
 
i^: