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r<iCommcic(nl CiilclUfleiicci-— Evtva.] 
 
 POLITICS FOR PLAIN DEMOCRATS. 
 
 Addressed to the People of Pennsylvania. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 There are three classes of politicians who assume the title of 
 Democrats. 
 
 The first class is composed of the vast and increasing body of office 
 hunters and ofl^ice holders. They call themselves Democrats, because 
 it is the only name known among men whereby they may enter into 
 office. They are a gracious race, and never cavil at the principles, nor 
 object to the measures of the powers that be. Their political creed is 
 laid down in the blue book ; and the only arguments which reach their 
 convictions, are those which are backed by a salary. 
 
 The second class is made up of those who neither know nor care 
 what are the principles of Democracy, but vote the regular ticket how- 
 ever constituted. They will gulp down, with strange complacency, 
 the rankest Federalism, if the dose be labled " Democracy,'''' and ad- 
 ministered by the regular physician. These men move in herds ; they 
 adore the name Democracy without knowing what it means ; and fol- 
 low the banner of the party, as the Mahometans follow the breeches of 
 the prophet, even when it is borne by their foes. They are a credu- 
 lous, harmless and patient people, who never move out of the traces, 
 and are deaf to reason, patriotism, every thing, in short, save the regu- 
 lar word of command. They form an obedient and well disciplined 
 corps ; and fight as willingly and as well on one side as the other. 
 
 From either of these classes it would be folly to expect independence, 
 patriotism, or a devotion to liberty. They were born for shackles ; 
 and should the spirit of our Washington stoop frorn the skies to rebuke 
 them — should the gulf of despotism yawn at their very feet, they would 
 remain unmoved. Freedom has nothing to hope from them. 
 
 But there is another class, the true Democracy of the land, whicii 
 comprises the yeomanry, unbouglit, intelligent, fearless and free ; who 
 sustain Democracy because they consider its principles the only rules 
 upon which our government can be administered, so as permanently to 
 secure to the people the blessings of freedom, union and order. These 
 men seek no office, bow to no faction, have no wisli but for their coun- 
 try, no master save their God. It was they who vindicated Democ- 
 racy in '98, and they will revive and re-establish it in its primitive 
 purity, and conservative vigour in 1834. 
 
 To them I address myself. I am one of them. I love Democracy ybr 
 itself^ and am willing to brave any or all parties in its support. I have 
 no interest in this question which every Dcjnocral docs not share ; and 
 
 A 
 
T1 
 
 2 
 
 I ask from those, who, with me, cherish a sincere and disinterested 
 devotion to Democracy and freedom, a frank and liberal hearing. 
 
 The object of the following numbers is to point out how, when, and 
 by whom, the principles of Democracy have been violated ; the results 
 of those derelictions, and the remedial measures which should be 
 adopted by those who desire to save the country by a revival of the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Condition of the Democratic Party. 
 
 The Democratic party, when first organized, came fresh from the 
 glorious school of the revolution. Its principles, founded in the purest 
 devotion to constitutional freedom and the sovereignty of the states, 
 were sustained with a fervent but disinterested zeal. Ardent, devoted, 
 without fear and without reproach, the Democrats of that day toiled not 
 for office or honour, but for freedom ; and triumphed, not to aggrandize 
 themselves, but to elevate and bless their country. 
 
 After a protracted struggle, the Democratic party, led on by Jeffer- 
 son, succeeded in obtaining the administration of the government. 
 The banner of Democracy floated in triumph. The patriarchs of the 
 party were elevated to the high places of the government ; and the 
 policy of Jefferson, republican and therefore mild, soon hushed the 
 growlings of discontent and envy. 
 
 Years elapsed. The fathers of the party left the stage. The op- 
 position was generally abandoned ; and the mass of the Federalists 
 mingled with their old antagonists. The weapons of the party grew 
 rusty ; its principles were not re-asserted because they were not de- 
 nied ; and the lethargy of security and ease crept over the ranks of the 
 Democracy. 
 
 The aspect of the party gradually and insensibly changed. One 
 after another, the principles of Jefferson were frittered away. The 
 inheritance of principle, so nobly won by the sires, was soon dissipated 
 by the sons ; and splendid but meretricious schemes of government 
 seduced the party from its ancient faith. The barriers of principle 
 were levelled, and evtry aspirant, whatever his political creed, became 
 a Democrat. 
 
 Offices were multiplied. The increasing splendour and wealth of 
 the government soon attracted a herd of courtiers. The party split 
 into various, angry and office seeking factions, all equally selfish and 
 equally devoid of principle. Politics became a trade. The lust of 
 office grew into a ruling passion with our people ; and our political 
 contentions eventually presented nothing but a degraded, unprincipled, 
 and loathsome squabble for the paltry spoils of ofiice. 
 
 To gratify these passions, it was necessary to control the people. 
 The ingenuity of selfish craft soon effected tliis. A party macliinery 
 was erected by whicli the people were corrupted or cheated by the 
 office seekers, and the sacred nnme of Democracy was profaned to 
 cover the vilest schemes of political imposture. One check was added 
 
after another, until it became impossible for tlie voice of a freeman to 
 reach the public councils through the intermediate obstacles of cau- 
 cuses, cabals, societies, conventions and other corrupt political devices. 
 
 Thus deceived, corrupted, or controlled, the people were, and are 
 no longer free. The right of sufl'rage is a mere shadow, a mockery. 
 The office holders prepare and propose to us our tickets ; and we per- 
 form the empty ceremony of electing them. 
 
 Such is the condition of what icas, but, alas ! is no longer the 
 Democratic party ! What, it will be asked, must be done to retrive it ? 
 We answer, let every man who values its principles, rally around the 
 banner of '98 ; let him spurn the paltry shackles of the oflice-holders, 
 and join those who would purify the government, rescue the consti- 
 tution, and re-establish Democracy in all its primitive purity and 
 glory. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Condition of the Country. 
 
 It is time for the Democrat to pause and ponder. We are surrounded 
 by awful portents. Who, among the oldest of us, has witnessed times 
 like the present ? No honest man can contemplate the aspect of affairs 
 without fear and trembling. 
 
 Does he cherish the constitution? He finds it spurned beneath 
 the feet of open and hardy usurpation. 
 
 Is he jealous of the executive ? He sees it overshadowing the en- 
 tire government; rendered, by official management, supreme; and 
 using that supremacy to oppress and ruin the country. 
 
 Does he love his country ? He beholds her currency deranged, her 
 commerce decayed, her enterprize chilled, and her promises blasted. 
 
 Does he pant for public tranquillity ? He sees the country lashed 
 into a tempest, which threatens to overthrow the government itself. 
 
 Is he a champion of the sovereignty of the people ? He sees that 
 sovereignty destroyed by an extended scheme of official corruption and 
 imposture. 
 
 Does he advocate a purity and economy in the administration of 
 the government ? lie finds its departments bankrupt with profligacy 
 and reeking with corruption ; and its expenditures doubled within the 
 lapse of but a few years. 
 
 Is he a patriot? He sees documents issued avowing principles 
 which even a Paris or a London legislature would receive with indig- 
 nation. 
 
 He sees an oligarchy of office-holders corrupt and powerful be- 
 yond parallel in any country. 
 
 He sees the President warring openly against the existence of the 
 senate, one of the most sacred branches of the government. 
 
 He sees the credit of tlie country wantonly destroyed, and the mea- 
 sure made a subject of open exultation. 
 
 He sees every honest cabinet oflicer leave the administration, and 
 lift up his hands in horror against it. 
 
He sees tlie government administered by a cabal of wretches, ob- 
 scure and unprincipled, willioul character or responsibility. 
 
 He sees the public treasure seized by the executive, and scattered 
 abroad for the purposes of bribery and corruption. 
 
 He sees every principle which the President formerly avowed, now 
 abandoned; and every pledge which he gave, violated. 
 
 But worse than all, he sees a multitude so misled by personal attach- 
 ment, or chained by party prejudice, that they look with apathy on the 
 war against our sacred charter ; see it struck, with bold and reckless 
 violence, to the earth ; and " shout at every stab." 
 
 These facts are undeniable. What is the cause of the present la- 
 mentable condition of our beloved country? We do not hesitate to 
 answer, palpable and repeated violations, by the present administration, 
 of the original principles of Democracy. 
 
 Can we save the party ? Can we save the country? We can ! Not, 
 however, by idle wishes — not by the lethargic patriotism which hopes 
 for the best, and awaits the result in listless inactivity — not by servile 
 attachment to any faction, nor by a reckless confidence in any man ; but 
 by stern, devoted and sleepless opposition to usurpation and corruption ; 
 by reverting to the original principles of Democracy, and dedicat- 
 ing ourselves, in patriotic solemnity of spirit, to the salvation of the 
 constitution and the country. 
 
 It is for this that we appeal to Democrats. We invoke them in the 
 name of that freedom for which the blood of their fathers was poured 
 out like water ; that freedom which, unless the people rouse to its 
 rescue, will now be lost in a Presidential despotism. The crisis is 
 greater than that of seventy-six. Then the peril was foreign, now it 
 is a disease in our own system : then defeat would only have been the 
 signal for renewed exertion and eventual victory, now if we fall, it is 
 never to rise again. The fire of liberty once extinguished, can ne\'er 
 be rekindled on the same altar. 
 
 Let those who would cherish that fire examine the facts for them- 
 selves. Every true Democrat is the champion of liberty ; and when 
 he discovers, as on examination he must discover, that the present is 
 a contest for freedom, he will spurn the shackles of the ofiice holders, 
 and stand forth j)roparcd to sustain, sternly and manfully, the sacred 
 principles of his fathers. 
 
 No. IV, 
 
 Inconsistency of the .Administration. 
 
 It is not our purpose to speak uncharitably of the aged man who 
 presides over the republic. The writer is himself a " .Tackson man;" 
 and though constrained to oppose the dreadful abuses of the adniinis- 
 Iratiou, will not decry his real merits, nor attempt to diminish any 
 claims he may have upon the aflcctions of the people. He addresses 
 himself particularly to those who have voted for .lacksou. They can- 
 not vote for liim again, and there is, or ought to be, no feeling to dis- 
 
suadc them from tlic stevn ami patriotic task of probing tlic wounds of 
 the republic. 
 
 One jrreat source of existing evils is the absence of all confidence in 
 the administration. Many causes have combined to jn-odnce this result. 
 The first and greatest is the violation, by tlie administration, of every 
 pledge and every principle on which it was elected. 
 
 It may be remembered that Jackson is the only candidate who ever 
 descended to win support by giving pledges and making promises ; 
 and the only one whose pledges and promises were violated. 
 
 We will proceed to designate what those promises were, and how 
 they were violated. 
 
 Among other virtuous provisions assumed by him previous to the 
 election, was a decided opposition to every thing calculated to increase 
 the dangerous power of the executive. For this purpose he was 
 favourable to confining the president to a term of four years. In his 
 first message, he recommended a change of the constitution, by which 
 the presidential term would be thus altered. Yet he franked a letter 
 to a Pennsylvania senator, desiring him to procure a second nomina- 
 tion: he effected his object; he hastened into the field, and triumphed. 
 
 In the celebrated letter of general Jackson to the Tennessee legisla- 
 ture, written before his election, and teeming with pledges, all of which 
 have been violated, he said, " if important appointments continue to 
 devolve upon the representatives in congress, it requires no depth of 
 thought to be convinced that corruption will become the order of the 
 day ; and that, under the garb of conscientious sacrifices to establish 
 precedents for the public good, evils of serious importance to the free- 
 dom and prosperity of the republic may arise. It is through this 
 channel that the people may expect to be attacked in their constitu- 
 tional sovereignty, and where tyranny may be apprehended to spring 
 up in some favourable emergency." 
 
 Yet since Jackson's election, more appointments have been made 
 from the two houses of congress, than took place under all the other 
 presidents since the formation of the constitution. Fifteen have 
 
 BEEN APPOINTED FROM THE SENATE AND TWENTY-SIX FROM THE HOUSE, 
 MAKING A TOTAL OF FORTY-ONE ! 
 
 One of the prominent principles recognised and urged in the elec- 
 tion of Jackson, was ofHcial reform. The people were determined to 
 secure the purity of the elective franchise from the dangers of ofhcial 
 interference. Jackson stood before them pledged to sustain that re- 
 form, and in his inaugural address, thus solemnly repeated the obliga- 
 tion : — "Conspicuous among the objects of reform will be my efforts 
 to prevent the patronage of the general government being brought to 
 bear on popular sentiment in reference to political questions." 
 
 Yet since his election, the number of national ofKcers have been in- 
 creased to an enormous army of forty Uiousand men, generally cliosen 
 from among the most violent partisans ; and instead of being " pre- 
 vented from bringing the patronage of the general government to bear 
 on popular sentiment," they are encouraged so to do, by every species 
 of corruption, and punished for political inactivity by proscription and 
 dismissal. Never were the ofhcc holders of any government so active 
 as ours now are. They, indeed, form the leaders and active members 
 
of the administration party, and not only engross the political power of 
 the country, but use it for the most corrupt purposes, and in the most 
 ruinous manner. 
 
 We will defer to future numbers an exposition of his flag-rant depar- 
 ture from the principles on which he was elected, by his violation of 
 state rights in the Proclamation and Force Bill ; by his dereliction from 
 a strict construction of the constitution in the protest and other acts and 
 documents ; by his forgetfulness of the jealousy with which the execu- 
 tive should be regarded, as exhibited in every act of his administration. 
 
 So incessantly variable and widely inconsistent have been the acts, 
 opinions and principles of General Jackson, at dillerent times, that it is 
 impossible for any man, whatever his party or principles, to sustain 
 him consistently, or with confidence. 
 
 Is he a Democrat ? Jackson has not only violated every principle of 
 Democracy, but has dismissed every Democrat in his cabinet, to make 
 room for acknowledged and ardent Federalists. 
 
 Is he a Federalist ? Jackson has denounced them with a bitterness 
 almost unequalled, and was favourable to hanging them during the last 
 wars. 
 
 Is he a nullifier ? Jackson has, in his proclamation, avowed the 
 broadest doctrines of the rankest school of consolidation. 
 
 Is he a consolidationist ? Jackson has, in explicit terms, approved 
 the wildest doctrines of nullification, as expounded by Hayne and 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Is he an anti-bank man ? Jackson has admitted the constitutionality 
 and expediency of a bank, and is now doing all in his power to erect 
 the most corrupt banking system under heaven, by means of number- 
 less subsidized state banks. 
 
 Is he favourable to a bank? Jackson has shaken the government to 
 its foundation, violated the constitution, and impoverished the people, 
 in opposing the bank, and now swears that no bank shall be incorpo- 
 rated. 
 
 Is he favourable to internal improvements by the national govern- 
 ment ? Jackson has vetoed several bills on the express ground of op- 
 position to the principle. 
 
 Is he opposed to internal improvements ? Jackson has also signed 
 a number of bills recoffnizinsf the doctrine in its fullest sense. 
 
 Is he favourable to a division of "the spoils?" Jackson has con- 
 demned it in the most indignant terms. 
 
 Is he opposed to it ? Jackson has practised it an hundred-fold more 
 than any of his predecessors. 
 
 Is he favourable to the appointment of congressmen ? Jackson 
 stands pledged before heaven and earth against it. 
 
 Is he opposed to it ? Jackson has practised, and is practising it to 
 an unprecedented extent. 
 
 Is he for the Tariff? Jackson has been its bitterest and worst foe. 
 
 Is he against the Tariff? Jackson has been its open champion. 
 
 Is he favourable to presidential eligibility for two terms? Jackson 
 pledged himself to serve but one. 
 
 Is he favourable to that limitation ? Jackson has served two terras, 
 and is understood to be anxious for a third. 
 
Is he favourable to party distinctions? Jackson has denounced 
 party as " a monster," and advised Monroe to prostrate it. 
 
 Is he opposed to parties ? Jackson sacrifices the freedom and wel- 
 fare of the country to sustain party distinctions. 
 
 He has been every thing in turns. At this moment it is impossible 
 to tell what are the principles of the administration, or to satisfy our- 
 selves that it has any. It is consistent only in its arbitrary despotism, 
 its avarice of power, its recklessness, folly and corruption. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 The Kitchen Cabinet. 
 
 Perhaps the worst evil of monarchies is their liability to be influ- 
 enced by favourites around the throne. Cabals of personal pets obtain 
 complete power over the sovereign, and seldom use that power for 
 wholesome or benificent purposes. They creep into favour by their 
 courtier-like arts; and are generally destitute of dignity, genius or 
 patriotism. Conscious of their own demerits, they wage a constant 
 war against genius and virtue ; and do all in their power to drive men 
 of intellect and patriotism from around their monarch. They are irre- 
 sponsible, or only accountable to a partial master. They have no in- 
 terest or feeling in common with the people. Their lives are spent in 
 eating their corrupt way into the root of a noble empire, and their 
 highest ambition is to leave the nation, which they found powerful and 
 flourishing, prostrate and blasted. 
 
 Every reign that has been accursed with these favourites, has been 
 bloody, cruel and oppressive ; yet weak, variable and contemptible. 
 Every monarch who has cherished them has been execrated while 
 living, and despised when dead. 
 
 Yet this plague has been visited upon us. TVe, although not yet a 
 monarchy, have a cabal thus sordid, grasping and powerful, who con- 
 trol our executive, direct our government, and constitute in fact our 
 rulers. 
 
 This cabal is composed of a number of obscure men who have crept 
 into the confidence of our president, and obtained exclusive dominion 
 over him. They are, Amos Kendall, Francis P. Blair, Reuben M. 
 Whitney, and others of like character. 
 
 The existence and power of such a conspiracy, can be satisfactorily 
 established. 
 
 It has been a thousand times asserted and never denied. It is 
 proved — 
 
 By Jackson's open and ardent admiration of the members of the 
 alleged cabal ; 
 
 By Kendall's appointment to the peculiar trust of distributing the 
 public money among the state banks ; 
 
 By the editorials of Mr Blair, which often avow a direct concert 
 with the president ; 
 
 By the letter of Mr Kendall to Beers & Co., in which he openly 
 assumes the direction of matters wliich belonged to the executive ; 
 
 By the evidence of Mr Bennet, a former confidential member of the 
 
8 
 
 cabal, wlio describes it as supreme in power and unparalleled in cor- 
 ruption ; 
 
 By the evidence of William J. Duane, who describes the president 
 as surrounded by a selfish ciibal who took him out of the hands of his 
 constitutional advisers, and, for corrupt private purposes, counselled 
 the removal of the deposites ; 
 
 By the llatlery of the Jackson men, who invite Kendall and Blair 
 to their festivals along with the president, and give them a prominency 
 for which no other reason can be assigned. 
 
 In vain, however, to multiply proofs in the establishment of a truth 
 universally admitted and never denied. 
 
 What is the character of these illegitimate rulers of the country ? 
 No good and much evil is known of them. They are men whom the 
 people never have trusted and never would trust, even with the mean- 
 est office — men destitute alike of ability or dignity, of the virtue which 
 excuses a want ot talent, and the talents which sometimes recommend 
 vice. They are obscure adventurers, without integrity or character, 
 who have crept through the crevices in our president's shattered intel- 
 lect into his confidence, and controlled him, to the disgrace of his ad- 
 ministration and the ruin of the country. 
 
 Their councils have ever been ill-omened and disastrous. Envious 
 of the good men by whom the president was surrounded, they suc- 
 ceeded in driving them, one after another, from his confidence and his 
 councils. Calhoun, Ingham, Berrien, M'Duffie, Tazewell, Tyler, 
 Poindexter, Duane, M'Lane, and a host of illustrious patriots were, at 
 their suggestion, discarded ; and the barque of state was left to the 
 guidance of men ignorant, corrupt, selfish and degraded. 
 
 All have seen and suffered from the consequences. The principles 
 on which the administration was formed, have been violated. In the 
 place of reform, it has given us unparalleled corruption ; where it pro- 
 mised economy, it has exhibited a double extravagance ; for the state 
 right doctrines to which it was pledged, it has avowed in the procla- 
 mation the rankest consolidation ; and where it solemnly engaged to 
 lessen the power and limit the influence of the executive, it has given 
 us the despotic and dreadful claims of tlio royal protest. 
 
 It is their councils that have produced the removal of the depo- 
 sites ; the patricidal experiment ; the abuses of the post office ; the war 
 against the senate ; and, in short, all the abuses and usurpations of 
 this most misguided and unfortunate administration. 
 
 Such have been the bitter fruits of this unlucky cabal. Corrupt 
 themselves, they have strained every nerve to disseminate corruption ; 
 slaves themselves, they have done their utmost to make the people 
 slaves. 
 
 Let the former friend of Jackson examine these facts, and he will 
 admit that in supporting the administration he has not sustained the 
 hero of New Orleans, but a selfish, obscure and corrupt cabal, that 
 have deceived and degraded him, prostrated and enslaved the country. 
 He can owe the members of that cabal neither respect nor gi-atitude ; 
 and his duty to his country will impel him sternly and patriotically to 
 unite with those who would redeem the country from their domination. 
 
 [To bo continued.] 
 
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