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 X O 
 
 ANDOYER HUSKING; 
 
 A POLITICAL TALE, 
 
 kJiJ 
 
 SUITED TO THE 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE PRESENT TIME, 
 
 AND DEDICATED TO THE 
 
 WHIGS OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 " This is true Liberty, when free-born men, 
 Having to advise the people, may speak free." 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 J H. EASTBURN, PRINTER. 
 1842. 
 

 
 THE ANDOVER HUSKING. 
 
 A meeting took place at my house a few evenings since, which 
 proved so interesting in its events, and as I conceive, so import- 
 ant in its conclusions, that I have thought fit to set down the 
 transaction as it occurred, so far as it is possible to remember it. 
 I am a farmer in the good town of Andover, in the County of 
 Essex. I will not say a " plain farmer," because I have observ- 
 ed that it is the style usually assumed by those who have some 
 design of deception on hand ; but I am placed far above any ap- 
 prehension of ordinary want, by the ownership of an excellent 
 and productive farm, bequeathed to me by my worthy father, 
 whose ancestors had held it for many generations, and which I 
 have worked on, man and boy, now nearly sixty years. 
 
 The occasion to which I refer, was one of our annual husk- 
 ing-meetings, which I have always been in the habit of keeping 
 up, as much for the purpose of social and friendly conversation, 
 as with any other object; especially as I cannot think it right that 
 a man who is receiving the good things of Providence should sit 
 down grudgingly, (and a sad effort it is,) to enjoy them by him- 
 self. My wife and daughters are always happy to take the care 
 of those comforts so necessary to make these occasions pass off 
 agreeably; and really, it is very pleasant to meet a neighbor or 
 two in this way, to chat about passing events at home and abroad; 
 to learn who has prospered, and whom the black ox has trod on; 
 and above all, to discover who needs the touch of a helping hand, 
 as the cold weather comes forward ; for if a man does not give 
 attention to such thoughts, especially in harvest time, in my mind, 
 he has very little idea of the business which he was sent into the 
 world to do. 
 
 The meeting, this time, promised to be a more than usually hap- 
 py one ; for my son, John, who has been settled in business at 
 the West, now several years, arrived at my house on a visit that 
 very afternoon. His coming caused great joy in my household ; 
 for we are both fond and proud of him. I shall not undertake to 
 set forth his merits here ; whoever reads this narration will soon 
 discover that he is no fool. He came so late that we had scarcely 
 more than time for tea, before we adjourned to the barn floor, for the 
 husking match. I endeavor always to keep up, in myself and 
 others, a spirit of gratitude to Providence for the good bestowed 
 
3 
 
 upon us; and at the close of a season so abundant as this has 
 been, it would show a base heart indeed to refuse to acknowledge 
 our blessings, and sincerely thank their Author. 
 
 " Well, my friends," said I, " this has been indeed a bounti- 
 ful season, and should draw forth grateful hearts ; the fruits of 
 the earth were never more abundant. The poorest man need 
 hardly suffer the wants that grind the poor of other countries, 
 unless, indeed, the farmers become more griping, because prices 
 are low. This would be a sad return enough, for the blessings of 
 plenty. And while I think of it, (for I am apt to have such 
 sideway sort of notions come into my head,) mankind must be al* 
 lowed to be strangely perverse. There seems to be every thing 
 we could desire. Nature and Providence have done for us much 
 ■t)eyond our deserts. We are living under the best of institu- 
 tions, secured to us at a great price, by the efibrts and sacrifices 
 of our fathers ; and yet, at this very moment, we are in a state 
 of the worst possible confusion and discord, and never were 
 men's minds more truly unsettled on matters of public concern !" 
 
 I ought, perhaps, to have premised that my sentiments have 
 always been of the true Democratic school. I have supposed 
 the Government only instituted to keep the State machine in 
 motion, and to maintain necessary law and order, so that each 
 individual citizen might attend principally to his private concerns, 
 and enjoy as much comfort and happiness and independence, 
 as is consistent with human affairs. I do not know how it 
 is, but either because the party professed sentiments similar to 
 those I held, or because many of my friends of the same neigh- 
 borhood took this course, or on account of the name itself, I too 
 insensibly (such is human nature) had become incorporated with 
 the modern Democratic party, many years ago. But I have 
 always endeavored to throw an honest, considerate and conscien- 
 tious vote, deeming it my duty to know exactly why I took this 
 course or that, and feeling that the only way in which we could 
 maintain our institutions, was by understanding as far as possible 
 the course of public events ; by taking pains for this purpose, 
 and when the time came, marching up to the polls and deposit- 
 ing my vote, as though the fate of the nation rested on my single 
 act ! I had long, however, become dissatisfied with my party 
 relations. I doubted General Jackson's fitness for the place of 
 President of these United States, even supposing him to mean 
 well, as some of our friends said was the case ; and whether this 
 were so or not, I now became convinced, by his conduct, that 
 he was doing all it was possible for any man to do to pervert the 
 minds of the citizens, and destroy the well-being of the country. 
 The avowal of Mr. Van Buren, that his only ambition was " to 
 follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor," you may 
 
4 
 
 suppose, displeased me ; in the first place, because it was evi- 
 dent that he was deficient in dignity and self-respect, and was 
 not fit to be the first man in the nation, who would thus bind 
 himself blindly to follow in the footsteps of any body ; and, sec- 
 ondly, because it was easy to see that he made this avowal for 
 the simple purpose of securing the influence of that large party, 
 which had elevated " his illustrious predecessor" to the Presi- 
 dential chair. I therefore became upon honest and sincere con- 
 viction, one of those who engaged, for twelve years, in earnest, 
 and I believe most right minded resistance to the corruptions of 
 those two administrations. The principles of the party I felt 
 were sound ; and it proved that the people thought so too, when, 
 in the memorable canvas of 1840, they elected, by an overwhelm- 
 ing majority, that excellent and single-hearted man, whom Provi- 
 dence seems to have removed from us for our sins ! The con- 
 duct of the people of the United States, in that election, must 
 have cheered the most despondent with the assurance, that there 
 was indeed a fund of good sense, and of good principle too, in 
 the great body of the citizens, which only needed to be convinc- 
 ed, and brought into action, in order to effect the most astonish- 
 ing and gratifying results. After this long preamble, it was to 
 this very point I was coming in my speech on the husking occa- 
 sion. 
 
 " Here," said I, " was indeed a great victory on the part of 
 the Whigs, hoped for, longed for, prayed for, struggled for ; 
 and finally obtained, to an extent which the most sanguine could 
 hardly have anticipated ; yet they have been in power scarcely 
 two years, and is not the public mind, as I have already said, 
 more than ever before unsettled ? Are not the people^ who hon- 
 estly expected great things, disappointed ? Is the situation of 
 affairs in reality any better than it was under Jackson and Van 
 Buren ? Must we again almost despair of bringing into exercise 
 the principles and the conduct of other and purer times ?" 
 
 I said some of these things partly to bring out John — " honest 
 John" — we used to call him when he was a boy ; and you shall 
 hear how he took the subject up. 
 
 " My dear father," said my son John, "you forgot that you 
 have yourself answered one of your questions at least, in the 
 most satisfactory and convincing manner. The election of 1840, 
 did indeed prove that the people are sound ; that though they 
 may be cheated and deceived and misled, for a time, they in 
 general mean to do what is right. " The voice of the people" 
 can be called the " voice of God," upon no other ground, than 
 that, if they have a fair opportunity to an intelligent understand- 
 ing of any question, and decide it without passion or prejudice, 
 the conclusions of the common mind are seldom erroneous. In 
 
my opinion, they are desirous of coming together now ; and they 
 are separated and their minds unsettled, only because some pub- 
 lic men have acted wrongfully, and others have endeavored to 
 throw a mist over public affiiirs, to answer their own ends ; 
 which it requires only a little attention and plain sense and hon- 
 est purpose, completely to clear away. And the evils, to which 
 you allude and which cannot be denied, are to be attributed, in 
 my judgment, mainly, to two causes : First, to the spirit of party 
 itself, " the bane of Repubhcan institutions," as Washington 
 himself styles it, in the Farewell Address, and which has arrived 
 in this country, to a fearful and most dangerous height ; and Sec- 
 ondly, to the unprincipled designs of leading politicians, in high 
 and low places, who have fostered and fomented this spirit, for 
 their own wicked and selfish purposes. They thus act and react 
 upon each other. And, as it unfortunately happens in all gov- 
 ernments that bad men of talent, being restrained by no motives 
 of good principle or modesty, stand a better chance of promoting 
 their own views, for a time, than good men of equal or superior 
 ability, who feel both these influences, — thus it is, that, as in the 
 boiling of a pot, much of that which is uppermost is the merest 
 and vilest scum ! But having secured station, they have thus, 
 from their very position, — from the honest confidence the people 
 would entertain, that only merit wins its way, and from the 
 thousand unseen but powerful motives, which connect multitudes 
 with persons in power, — they thus I say, acquire the means of 
 influencing the popular mind, through the innumerable minute 
 channels, visible only to the keen-eyed scrutiny of a resolute and 
 reckless politician. The people occasionally awake from their 
 apathy and dethrone these evil counsellors ; generally, however, 
 not before much mischief has been effected by their means. But 
 it is only when right-minded men, whh the public good really at 
 heart, league together for this purpose, and to this end lay aside 
 minor differences, that much good can be accomplished." 
 
 Upon this, my neighbor Brown, who has always been rather a 
 considerate sort of Loco Foco, and in the main, a well meaning 
 industrious man, and, of late inclining a little towards Tylerism, 
 like many others of his stamp, spoke up : 
 
 " Well, friend John," said he, "I like a good deal that you 
 say, and should be very glad indeed to see the best men and the 
 best measures more the fashion than they seem to be now. I pro- 
 fess to bo a democrat, and I go for reform. I don't like aristocra- 
 cy, and want to see the people come to their rights. I want to vote 
 for hon:^st republican men, w^ho will go for equal rights and no 
 monopoliess. But who are they .'' that's the question ! I have 
 been t nking, of late, whether President Tyler was'nt about 
 right, a d don't know but I shall vote for him ; for our folks don't 
 seem to have anv bodv in the field, and I reallv don't know who 
 
6 
 
 they are going to pick up. Now, don't you think Tyler has 
 done some good things ? there's the Bank Veto, for instance ? 
 I go for that, punctilio ! (Neighbor Brown occasionally uses a 
 queer expression.) 
 
 " There are several points in your inquiry, neighbor Brown, 
 well deserving an answer," said John, " and I hope we shall not 
 be found to disagree on most of them in the end. 
 
 In regard to " aristocracy," however, let me first make you a 
 suggestion, and see if you have not given way to a little unrea- 
 sonable prejudice. I do not know who is really an aristocrat in 
 this country, but your good, honest and independent Farmer, who 
 cultivates the land his fathers bequeathed him, and often feels no 
 unworthy pride in its possession and permanence. Aristocracy, 
 in all countries, is undoubtedly founded on landed possessions. 
 Business fluctuates. He who is rich to-day, may be poor to- 
 morrow. We see this constantly occurring all around us. Our 
 laws are such, that riches cannot, in fact, remain in the same 
 family for more than one or two generations. Where is the ar- 
 istocracy of Revolutionary times ? Why, the descendants of 
 those who were then rich have learned trades, become farmers, 
 mechanics, and labored in professions. So it must always be in 
 our institutions. As to mere pride of money amongst us, to be 
 sure, nothing can be more ridiculous. But no change of institu- 
 tions, or rulers, could affect this. The difficulty is in the hearts 
 of men ; and those who are silly enough to be proud of money 
 in this country, would be so every where and under all adminis- 
 trations. ■ 
 
 "But I like your expression of ' picking up' a candidate, be- 
 cause it expresses precisely the present position of the Loco 
 Foco party, so called. Your old friends will be driven to the 
 expedient of picking up some one to serve their turn ; to answer 
 as the rallying-word of their party ; to be made use of, not be- 
 cause he best deserves the public confidence ; — not because 
 he is really the man whom the people delight to honor, ^our 
 present attitude shows that you have no such man entitled to 
 or who possesses the public confidence, or who can unite your party 
 in his support. But the individual whom your leaders may see 
 fit to pitch upon, on the new'and contemptible principle of 'avail- 
 ibility,' if successful, which may Heaven avert ! instead of being 
 the Father of his Country, can but be the tool of a faction! 
 I cannot, for the life of me, understand how it is, that honest 
 and well meaning men, like you and thousands of others in your 
 ranks, can consent to be led by the shallow artifices of men, who 
 are thinking only of their own elevation, or of the "spoils of the 
 
 victors," to do what ? Why, to sustain deliberately a party 
 
 without principles or definite objects. I repeat it, absolutely 
 without public principles — that is, plain, direct, certain, known 
 
and intelligible plans of public policy ; and to do this, without 
 even the name of a candidate to hold them together. Men usu- 
 ally contend for some object. Can you tell me what is yours ? 
 Why,^ one would think this was the veriest rope of sand, that the 
 roll of the first wave dissolved into its original elements! I hope 
 to convince you, before we get through, that the well meaning 
 and best informed, both of your party and the Whigs, are actually 
 at the present moment very much in the position of the old Fed- 
 eral and Democratic parties, who could not help coming together 
 finally, because there was really nothing left between them, upon 
 which it was possible for them any longer to disagree. Rely 
 upon it, the only bond that holds you together now, is old habits; 
 the dictates of Conventions, not always composed of the most dis- 
 interested individuals; the harangues of speakers, inspired by the 
 hope of winning your 'most sweet voices,' to help them to office; 
 and the idle, often false, declamation of newspapers, whose only 
 means of support depend upon maintaining a party which shall 
 maintain them! And this very view, which I firmly believe you 
 will find fully borne out by the truth, explains, quite clearly, one 
 of the suggestions made by my father just now. This is the 
 reason that 'men's minds are unsettled;' that so many say they 
 don't know where to find themselves ; because the leading meas- 
 ures of policy, proposed and pursued by the Whigs, are the very 
 measures which intelligent and honest Democrats themselves de- 
 sire to carry into effect. And this, in the nature' of things, must 
 be so. Occasionally, questions, national or local, spring up, 
 about which honest men may well differ; and hence parties arise, 
 and are set in opposition to each other ; but upon obvious and 
 necessary plans of national policy, honest men of every party 
 must eventually act together ; for their interest is the same, and 
 it is unavoidable that they should think alike. A sound curren- 
 cy, for instance, is as necessary for you as for me. It involves 
 the fibres of business, the security of property, the means of 
 life. I will not talk to you about ' hard money' and 'paper mon- 
 ey,' for I consider this child's play. There must be always a 
 certain amount of gold and silver, both as a means of circulation 
 and as a basis of credit, which paper money is. But one kind 
 of property is as good for this basis as another. Your farm is 
 better for this purpose than gold, because you get from it the di- 
 rect necessaries of life, and gold is not itself an eatable commod- 
 ity ; my stock of goods is a better basis than silver, for precisely 
 the same reason ; and enterprise, well directed and prudent, not 
 extravagant speculating enterprise, is as good a basis, perhaps, 
 as either of the other two. Neither your farm or my goods 
 would be worth much to us except in combination with skill, pru- 
 dence and energy, which is enterprise. The circulation of the 
 
8 
 
 country should depend on property, or well regulated skill. But 
 in order to make either of these of much value, the currency, — 
 the representative of their value, — the means of shifting and em- 
 ploying these in trade, and obtaining payment from a distance on 
 easy terms; this is what is essential in order to make all kinds of bu- 
 siness safe and prosperous. So that the trader in N. Orleans, for 
 instance, worth $20,000, who owes in Boston a debt of $10,000, 
 may be able to purchase exchange for $30 or $40 and with this 
 pay his debt; instead of withholding payment, because he can- 
 not discharge obligations amounting to half his property, without 
 sacrificing the other half to provide funds. This causes our em- 
 barrassments. There can be no disagreement about the neces- 
 sity of a remedy, however we may differ as to the means" 
 
 " And then again, as to the Protective Policy. No New 
 Englander who can count ten, has any doubt about the propriety 
 of this system. No sensible man would wish to be exposed to a , 
 direct tax (how to be raised I should like to know ?) upon the 
 necessaries of life, for the support of Government, when it can 
 be maintained much better and without perceptible burden to 
 himself, by an imposition on foreign luxuries ! No man would 
 wish to see our own ports thrown open without restriction upon 
 the importations of foreign nations, who all pursue for them- 
 selves the system of protection, and who would be the only gain- 
 ers by our folly ! At first, no doubt, we should have fine times ? 
 The country would at once be flooded with every kind of foreign 
 goods, and cheap too. We might lay up a stock of things not 
 perishable for some time, if we had money to buy with. In the 
 mean time, however, every mill and every manufactory has 
 stopped, and hundreds of thousands are thrown out of employ. 
 Handicraftsmen, of every description must certainly give up 
 their occupations ; because they cannot compete with the cheap 
 labor of other countries. Why ? Because they cannot and do 
 not wish to exist in the starving condition of laborers in other 
 countries. A mechanic here is a Freeman ; a part and por- 
 tion of the State ; with rights to exercise and a station to main- 
 tain. He desires to uphold his respectability and that of his 
 family ; to give his children education, and to enjoy some of the 
 comforts of life. He can do none of these things except by the 
 protection of labor. What shall we do then ? Competition and 
 other causes have long since shut up some of our old sources of 
 commerce, and made others much less profitable. If there be 
 no duty on imported woollens and cottons, the value of the raw 
 article must diminish at least in proportion to the amount not 
 consumed in the factories at home ; and I think there is no 
 doubt that the merchants would eventually feel this in the reduc- 
 tion of freights. The farmer, to be sure, would have his land ; 
 
but he would be surrounded by a poor instead of a thriving popu- 
 lation. He would get but a meagre price for his products ; 
 often, perhaps, nothing at all. This is Free Trade ! espe- 
 cially in a country like New England, which brings its bread- 
 stuffs from a distance, and does not raise much more of the ordi- 
 nary necessaries of life than are needed at home. Who does not 
 remember the period of emigration to " the Ohio," as all the 
 West was called with us not a great while ago ? How many a 
 melancholy picture of beggary and wretchedness does the recol- 
 lection call up. Compare the population of New England then, 
 with the swelling, increasing, striving multitude of the present 
 day. Do you wish to renew those scenes ? If so, repeal all 
 protective clauses, and introduce free trade. How soon you 
 would see throngs of half-starved creatures, taking up the mourn- 
 ful march again, not " to the Ohio," — but a step now, — but to the 
 far, far West ! A sterile soil, hke that of New England, though 
 yet able to sustain millions on millions, as the wretched serfs of 
 Europe are sustained, would not maintain New EngJanders, as 
 New Englanders would only be content to live. Carry out, then, 
 if you please, the doctrines which disinterested old England, and 
 your equally disinterested leaders are recommending to you, — 
 and if, from the thin population of twenty, thirty, forty years 
 ago, there was a "tide" of emigration to the West, — to what a 
 flood must it of necessity swell now. 
 
 " To New England certainly, the Protective System is the very 
 breath of its nostrils. It builds up our cities, it employs our op- 
 eratives and laborers; it affords the merchant his means of trade; 
 it supplies a market for the produce of our farmers ; it engages 
 the skill of our mechanics; it spreads a living, breathing, intelli- 
 gent population where there was before a wilderness; it makes 
 society thrifty, active and enterprising, which without it would be 
 torpid and unemployed. There is no man, in our region certain- 
 ly, who does not derive from it innumerable direct and incidental 
 benefits. Men of all parties, therefore, are interested in main- 
 taining this system, which, if it increases the fortunes of the ricli, 
 also diffuses the comforts of life amongst the poor; and the votes 
 of some of your own party in Congress on the Tariff Bill, at the 
 recent session would seem at length to settle this question as one 
 on which we cannot disagree. About what then shall we, or can 
 we differ, for I do not remember any other important question of 
 Whig policy, except the "reformation of abuses" and "one pre- 
 sidential term," — which, of course, you are too good a democrat 
 to object to, — unless it be the "distribution of the public'lands." 
 
 " This may be all very true," replied neighbour Brown, "and 
 I really think it is in the main; for I have long been of opinion 
 that moderate men of all parties were well disposed to come to- 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 gether, if they were not kept apart by the devices and ill-conduct 
 of their leaders. I assure you I shall take it into careful consid- 
 eration. But when you have answered my question on the Bank 
 Veto, I should like to ask you another as to how the Whigs have 
 kept the promises, on the strength of which they came into 
 power." 
 
 "You will be surprised then, perhaps, to hear me say," said 
 John, "that I have not charity enough to believe Mr. Tyler's 
 conduct on the Bank question waS dictated by honest motives. 
 I am one of those individuals who regard a United States Bank, 
 properly controlled and honestly managed, as the only sure and 
 reasonable system for perfecting the currency and sustaining the 
 business of the country. Politicians may declaim against it as 
 much as they please — and minister to what they style the "pop- 
 ular prejudice" — and declare that the Bank is an "exploded 
 idea;" but popular ^jrcjiidice is not always right, especially 
 when it is not the prejudice of the best informed among the 
 people, — and no idea can be exploded, which is the conclusion 
 of truth founded on experience and practical knowledge of the 
 case. In my opinion, the United States Bank, when General 
 Jackson commenced his assault upon it, was as ^ound an institu- 
 tion as ever existed ; its means ample, its business transactions 
 fairly conducted ; its bills, in every quarter of the globe, the best 
 and soundest currency which could be imagined, and so every 
 where considered. Some men called it an " aristocratic" insti- ^ 
 tutlon. It was so, only in the sense in which every man may 
 call his neighbor an aristocrat, because he happens to have more 
 money and therefore more power at command than himself. It 
 was aristocratic in the eyes of the " levellers down," but in my 
 view it was really the most republican system, and the most con- 
 sonant with the genius of our institutions, of any that could possi- 
 bly be devised. Why ? Because in no government is it desir- 
 able or safe that the public money should be under the direct 
 control of the Executive ; to be used either for good or bad pur- 
 poses, without some sense of responsibility to the community, 
 and the means in the hands of the public of calling him to ac- 
 count. I should as soon think of putting the town-funds into the 
 pocket of the Chairman of the Selectmen, to use them according 
 to his own fancy, widiout a bank-book or a cheque, to shew how 
 much he had drawn out and compel him to shew what he had 
 done with it. I am only surprised and mortified that so 
 good a republican as I hope Mr. Webster is, who has defended 
 the Bank so stoutly in the Senate, and with so much force and 
 clearness at Worcester in 1832, should now allow his mind to 
 be mystified wkh Exchequers and Sub-treasuries, or any ether 
 of the miserable tools of arbitrary and corrupt power. The 
 
11 
 
 vigilant wisdom of a Bank, a majority of whose directors are 
 disconnected with the government, is the best cheque upon an 
 ill use of the public money. But General Jackson knew that 
 the great body of Directors and Stockholders were not in favor 
 of his administration, just like leading men in every other situa- 
 tion, and he determined, if he could break it down, it should fall ! 
 Without a single act of corrupt management proved against it, he 
 proclaimed it a "mowsfer," and threw into the struggle against it 
 the whole power and influence of the Government. No institu- 
 tion could withstand this. The deposites were wickedly and 
 illegally withdrawn, and its resources not only thus extensively 
 diminished, but its business operations embarrassed by the sud- 
 den withdrawal of its funds. We all know the result. " Per- 
 secution," they say, " maketh a wise man mad." Mr. Biddle 
 strove to maintain and retrieve the fortunes of the Bank, by the 
 same ventures which have ruined thousands of individuals in this 
 country, in that insane thirst after wealth, which is the bane and 
 curse of the land. No Bank could resist the determined hos- 
 tility of the Executive, backed by hireling presses and a resolute 
 party iii power ; and, according to the common course of human 
 affairs, it is not singular that it lost some of its integrity when it 
 was curtailed of its resources ; .but impartial history will one day 
 relate, that hundreds were beggared, and hundreds of thousands 
 directly or indirectly deprived of their means of life, the busi- 
 ness of the country inextricably involved, its credit destroyed 
 abroad and the operations of the Government embarrassed at 
 home, its Treasury emptied, the public morals corrupted and 
 repudiation instead of honest payment the order of the day, be- 
 cause General Jackson hated the Bank that would not become 
 his tool, called it a " monster," and hallooed his partizans on- 
 wards to its destruction.! 
 
 " Upon General Harrison's accession there was reason to hope 
 that many of these evils might have been remedied, many per- 
 haps prevented. Providence interposed ! But to come at 
 length to your question — Mr. Tyler has, in my judgment, not 
 only outraged the principles and policy of the country, but has 
 trifled with every thing that ought to be dear to a public man. 
 He could not put his scruples on General Jackson's professed 
 constitutional grounds. He had himself voted for the Bank, in 
 the Senate ; he knew that every President from Washington to 
 Jackson, democrats of the old and democrats of the new school, 
 had decided the Bank to be Constitutional — and the Supreme 
 Judiciary had repeatedly confirmed this decision. He knew, 
 too, from the best source of information, that men of business, 
 every where, advised the Charter of the Bank. " If they had 
 fears" as Mr. Webster said at Faneuil Hall, " they also had 
 
12 
 
 hopes, and promised them aid to carry it into operation." What 
 more could he desire ? Something must be done for the relief 
 of the country. The cry for this was universal from all classes 
 of men. Why, not to recount all the abstraciions, and wire 
 drawn trifling, upon the main or the incidental question, — says 
 he, " There is a popular prejudice against it, and I deem it inex- 
 pedient !" No doubt there was a prejudice, to some extent ; 
 but it was his duty, as a right-minded and honorable man, to 
 meet this prejudice fairly, to address it with reason and truth, to 
 comply with the wishes of intelligent men, to give it the benefit 
 of experiment, to throw himself into the conflict, should any oc- 
 cur, and to sink or swim with those who had placed him in his 
 responsible position. A public man must meet prejudices — con- 
 quer prejudices ; and look for judgment upon his conduct to 
 higher sources than that which to-daj denounces, to-morrow ap- 
 plauds ! Besides, had he not every thing to encourage him ? 
 The judgment of business men, — the sanction of Congress, fresh 
 from the people, — the pressing wants and embarrassments of the 
 country — the necessity of some system, which should give sta- 
 bility to business and confidence to public and private transac- 
 tions ! And yet the President declares it inexpedient ! Yes, 
 this creature of expediency, — placed in his very post only by 
 means of expediency, (the chief sin, in my opinion of the 
 Whig party, in selecting any man upon such motives instead of 
 by the solid and eternal rule of right,) this " available" servant 
 of the people is found unavailable, just when his services were 
 most needed — and he declares the Bank to be " inexpedient !" 
 " There was a popular prejudice against it, and the stock would 
 not be taken up !" To be sure there would be a prejudice and 
 an insuperable one, if the Executive officer of the Nation was 
 resolved to have no confidence in it ! Certainly the stock would 
 not be taken, unless the Government sustained it ! Neither this, 
 nor any other similar institution, could stand for a moment, or 
 enter at all upon living active existence, against the influence of 
 such opposition. No ! Rely upon it, that the very moment 
 when popular prejudice operated so powerfully upon the Presi- 
 dent's conscience, a glimmering streak of his present lucid 
 position had already dawned upon his mind ; and he had 
 already conceived hopes, shadowy and delusive as they were, 
 ot flattering the prejudices of that very party which convert- 
 ed the old Bank, tame enough before, into the very monster 
 which their imaginations prefigured ! And yet his partizans say, 
 in his defence, that the leading Whigs forced him to take a stand 
 — they compelled him to an issue which he would gladly have 
 avoided ! But what shallow sophistry is this ! He alone, then, 
 is entitled to adhere to his opinion. He alone on a question of 
 expediency, is excused from the responsibility of not yielding to 
 
13 
 
 the wishes and the judgment of others. He may if he chooses, 
 for mere expediency's sake, sacrifice the hopes and disappoint 
 the reasonable expectations, of his party and the Nation ! There 
 was a safety-valve for him, if he had seen fit to turn the screw. 
 Why not give it his official sanction, — express his private disap- 
 probation as he has since seen fit to do on other subjects, and 
 put the responsibihty upon those who so earnestly desired to lest 
 the virtue of the experiment ! No, — he, like Jackson, chose to 
 take the responsibility. Let him abide it ! 
 
 " I have harangued at some length, on this point, and will, there- 
 fore, make but one more suggestion. The only serious objec- 
 tion I ever heard to a bank, is one which equally applies to all 
 banks, — all institutions, — all human things, — that it was liable to 
 corruption and dishonesty. I should blush for my country, if 
 I supposed there were more than usual force in this suggestion ; 
 if I thought we were not capable of as much integrity as the peo- 
 ple of other civilized countries, in all of which, I believe such an 
 institution exists'; in a word, if I could conclude that there were 
 not honest men enough to be found amongst us, capable of man- 
 aging a Bank as it ought to be conducted. If this be so, indeed, 
 it is time for the people to consider their ways ; to reflect 
 whether the general moral sense has become blunted or pervert- 
 ed ; and if there be really no longer any trust or confidence to 
 be safely reposed in public or private men, instead of the inteUi- 
 gent and prosperous enjoyment of all the blessings which a re- 
 public is supposed to bestow, we need to bring us to our senses, 
 at least, all the discipline and the judgments which another twelve 
 years of mismanagement and destructiveness can impose upon 
 us ! 
 
 "In replying to one of your questions, therefore, my friend, I 
 conceive that I have also answered, in part at least, the other. 
 I contend, in the first place, that the- Whig party have been 
 thwarted and disappointed in the measures they hud at heart, by 
 the conduct of the Exeputive : secondly, that, notwithstanding 
 the outcry some men are endeavoring to raise against them, the 
 Whig Congress has really effected a great deal of good ; and 
 thirdly, that those who complain of them do not consider that 
 time enough has not elapsed, either for them to carry forward all 
 the reformations which were contemplated, or to test those which 
 they have in fact introduced, — or to see the results of measures, 
 which are already giving far seeing men a great deal of encour- 
 agement. It is but fair to conclude, too, that the lamented 
 death of General Harrison, and the consequent tiiange of men 
 and derangement of plans, had great influence in perplexing and 
 retarding the purposes of the party. 
 
 "The principal objects of the Whig party, as I have always 
 
14 
 
 understood them, those which they avowed before the election, 
 and which eventually carried them into power, were 
 
 1. The establishment of a uniform currency. 
 
 2. The fixed foundation for the revenue ; and incident to 
 this, the settlement of the protective system on a firm and just 
 basis. 
 
 3. The distribution of the Pubhc Lands. 
 
 4. A single presidential term. 
 
 5. The reduction, as far as practicable, of the public expen- 
 diture. 
 
 6. Generally, a reformation of abuses, and a return to the 
 simplicity and frugality of the old republic. 
 
 " This is a little difterent from the classification of Mr. Webster, 
 at Faneuil Hall ; who, with a feeling, perhaps natural under the 
 circumstances, and with which I have no disposition to find fault, 
 puts forth, as the first measure contemplated and proposed by 
 the Whigs, the late important and delicate negotiation in which 
 he has been so eminently successful ! Mr. W. can reap no 
 honor from my encomium — and it is of little consequence to him 
 that I should say, that the settlement of this question does him 
 great honor, like all the acts of his public life, before the fatal and 
 disastrous day that he became the advocate of John Tyler and 
 the undisguised opponent of Mr. Clay. But, much as it detracts 
 from the merits of the Whig party, I must be permitted to say 
 that he puts the treaty with England in an attitude which I never 
 saw it in before ; in a sort of expost facto position, which it 
 would require a good deal of ingenuity to maintain. I do not 
 think I ever heard of it in this view, before. No doubt many 
 well thinking men of all parties desired a settlement of our con- 
 troversies with England ; those who looked carefully at the gen- 
 ius and spirit of the times, and the importance to both countries 
 of maintaining amicable relations, anticipated a similar result, 
 sooner or later, to that which has taken place. It has been well 
 effected. But is it fair to claim it as a specific Whig measure ? 
 Mr. Webster-himself never alluded to the subject, in his admira- 
 ble speech at Worcester ! I do not know that a single orator 
 took the stump upon this question. Who does not know that the 
 negotiation, now so happily terminated, took its origin in propo- 
 sitions for an adjustment, made under the administration of Mr. 
 Van Buren .'' 
 
 " On some ofthe subjects in my list, Mr. Webster speaks; to 
 others, as being, under present circumstances, perhaps less suit- 
 able for amplification, he does not even allude. At Worcester, 
 in 18\52, when Mr. Clay was nominated with an enthusiasm wor- 
 thy of his character and eminent services, Mr. Webster enlarged 
 with great emphasis on the subject of the Public Domain, and 
 
15 
 
 urged that Mr. Clay's report and speech, made at the previous 
 session of Congress, on this question, were '-aniong the very ablest 
 of the efforts which have distinguished his long publiclife." He 
 is silent on this point in Faneuil Hall ! Mr. Webster says, in 
 1832, that the consideration of this subject was the result of a 
 " legislative movement, to throw on Mr. Clay, who was acting a 
 leading part on the subject of the Tariff, and the reduction of 
 duties, a new and delicate responsibility, from which he did not 
 shrink." In one word, it was an eflbrt of the party in power, 
 to embarrass Mr. Clay in the great work he had undertaken, and 
 which he carried through, to save, what then could be saved, of 
 the Protective System, to the hopes of the nation. Observe 
 the fling, in 1S42, at the Compromise Act in Faneuil Hall ! 
 Again — how could Mr. Webster, with ancient boldness, say any 
 thing about a single Presidential term, while he remains in the 
 service of John Tyler, who by an unworthy quibble, would be glad 
 
 To keep the word of promise to t!ie ear, 
 And break it to the hope ! 
 
 In fine, w^hat declamation could come with grace from Mr. Web- 
 ster, as to the reformation of abuses, when, in the language of the 
 Worcester speech again, " the administration had gone down to 
 low water mark, to make an ousting of tide-waiters ! had taken 
 away the daily bread of weighers and guagers and measurers !" 
 
 " Do I understand you then," said neighbor Brown, "to de- 
 fend the Compromise Act, and to approve of Mr. Clay's con- 
 duct on that question." 
 
 " Your question is capable of division, as they say in the Le- 
 gislature," ansvrered John, " and I move that the subject be di- 
 vided. I do not defend the Compromise Act, — and, yet, I hon- 
 or Mr. Clay's conduct in regard to it. You shall see that there 
 is no paradox here ; and the only way I can account for the fact 
 that he has been exposed to unjust odium from some quarters, 
 and most ill-merited obloquy from others, is, on the principle 
 well known to those conversant with public affairs, — that the very 
 actors themselves do not carry along the memory of events that 
 occur, from one session of Congress to another. This may 
 seem to you strange, — but all history and experience confirm it. 
 Have you ever observed, that one steady old thinker, at home, 
 can often give you a better account of what has been going on, in 
 the Legislature, than most members of that honorable body them- 
 selves? Especially is this the case, if his attention has been called 
 to particular measures. They have had many subjects before them 
 to confuse and perplex their minds. Just so it is with Congress. 
 And this may partly account for the fact that, notwithstanding so ma- 
 ny speeches to their constituents, members of Congress often leave 
 them quite as much in the dark as they found them. Another 
 
16 
 
 reason is, that these gentlemen, sometimes, have things to con- 
 ceal as well as to explain, — and thus select their own topics in 
 popular assemblies. 
 
 " But about the Compromise Act ! Let us look back for an 
 instant at the history of the Protective system. I conceive it to 
 have been first formally recognised as a part of our National poli- 
 cy, in the year 1816. When Mr. Lowndes and Mr. Calhoun, 
 then leading members of Congress from South Carolina, fairly held 
 the balance in their hands, amongst the fluctuating opinions of dif- 
 ferent parties ; and, after a rigid and enhghtened investigation of 
 the subject, became satisfied of its beneficial operation, and by 
 throwing their great influence into the scale, in that year it be- 
 came incorporated into the law of the land. It was, however, 
 by the law of 1824, that the policy, heretofore in its elements, 
 was, by the zeal and wisdom of Mr. Clay, brought to such a state 
 of perfection, as to " confer on that distinguished^ citizen," as 
 Mr. Webster says in his Worcester speech, " the title of " Au- 
 thor OF THE American System ;" and of the praise of which 
 some men are now, with so much fairness, endeavoring to deprive 
 him. I wish it to be remembered, as a fact of no little conse- 
 quence to be considered by honest men of all parties, that for 
 that very law of 1824, the most obnoxious to its opponents of 
 any ever passed on this subject. General Jackson, then a mem- 
 ber of the United States Senate, voted, and lent it all his influ- 
 ence. Li General Jackson's Message of 1830, the system is 
 commended with singular spirit, and maintained by arguments of 
 signal ability. In the year 1832, however, the mind of the 
 President had undergone an entire revolution on this subject, — 
 and in his Message of that year, he denounced it as not only im- 
 politic, but also unconstitutional ! This was a startling conjunc- 
 ture in which to place this great interest, in which so vast an 
 amount of property had become invested, relying upon the faith 
 of all parties, and the formal recognition of the system, brought 
 about by the President's aid in 1824, and earnestly recommend- 
 ed by him in 1830. What was to be done ? South Carolina, 
 too, had changed her former more enlightened and liberal posi- 
 tion. With interests much more deeply affected by the exhaus- 
 tion of her own soil, and the competition of new and enterpris- 
 ing States, than by any of the fancied evils of the American 
 System, she was all on fire with what she called its injustice 
 and robbery against her, and was in the full career of open Nulli- 
 fication. The President, like Mr. Tyler, discovered or imagin- 
 ed a " popular prejudice," and " forgetting the things that were 
 behind" boldly proclaimed it a monopoly, and an attempt " to 
 make a certain class of men richer, by act of Congress ;" with- 
 out adverting to, perhaps, without perceiving the fact, that the 
 
17 
 
 law could hardly be said, in itself, as he averred, " to array sec- 
 tion against section and interest against interest," since it left the 
 citizens of South Carohna equal liberty to employ their enter- 
 prise and skill in this way if they chose, as it did the citizens of 
 Massachusetts, or any of the Northern or IMiddle States. Be- 
 sides these causes of serious danger and apprehension, the Presi- 
 dent had at his command, a Congress now, for the first time in 
 the history of this country, only too ready to shew themselves 
 the subservient instruments of arbitrary power. It will be ad- 
 mitted that the system was in imminent peril. What should its 
 friends do ? Should they let it all go by the board, or save, at 
 least, a plank from the wreck, which might carry them to the 
 shore ? As Mr. Webster remarks, in his speech at Worcester, 
 to which I have before alluded, they were engaged in 1S32, 
 impressed by these portentous appearances, " in consulting about 
 the reduction of duties," in order to meet, as they best might, 
 the exigencies of the times. The dominant party threw every 
 impediment in their w-ay, — and then referred to the Committee 
 on Manufactures, of which Mr. Clay was Chairman, the subject 
 of the distribution of the public lands, which he so promptly and 
 so ably met. Mr. Webster does not there suggest ihat any 
 blame can be attached to any body for consenting to a " reduc- 
 tion of duties.", In 18.33, in the midst of doubts, and fears and 
 anxieties, the Compromise Act was passed ! Perhaps the Whig 
 party assented that it should be considered the settled rate of 
 duties — perhaps they did not. I have never heard any person 
 made responsible for such an agreement. Who made it .'' If it 
 was A. B., he could not enforce its obligations on C D. or E. 
 F. It is not to be supposed that the sentiments of the " distin- 
 guished author of the American System" had undergone any 
 change as to the principles to which he had devoted his ener- 
 gies and powers, upon which he had staked his reputation, and 
 by which he had acquired his proud and honorable title. Stop- 
 ping and looking for the better times which seem to be dawning, 
 and conscious that they could not and ought not to bind their 
 successors, the bill was passed, and the Protective Policy again 
 saved from unforeseen and casual, but still imminent danger. 
 Incompetent it was in its provisions, unjust in its principles, and 
 unsatisfactory to the interests involved ; but it was the best ilicy 
 could get, and there was great danger tliat they would get noth- 
 ing. It is known, that the Bill, after it had passed Congress, 
 was presented to General Jackson, and his signature fairly forced 
 from him, by one of his friends who still retained some regard for 
 justice and common sense ; that they refused his request to 
 retain it in his possession, because they knew, if he had the op- 
 portunity to consult the " Kitchen Cabinet," he would not sign 
 
18 
 
 it at all. After all, important as the System is, it was a mere 
 question of money — where expediency might well come in, in aid 
 of right, and I am one of those who would rather see the country 
 embarrassed or impovished, for a time, than exposed to the fatal 
 and lasting evil consequences of a civil war. The popular title oi 
 the Bill explains fully its character and intent. It was a com- 
 promise of existing and otherwise irreconcilable differences of 
 opinion ; a generous sacrifice, by those who knew they were un- 
 questionably right, to satisfy, for the time, those who were as 
 unquestioably wrong. It was the same spirit which settled the 
 constitution of the land, and made us a nation. I am too much 
 of an American^ not to regard all sections of the Union with 
 hearty good will ; and I am free to confess, that I should not 
 have felt justified or gratified, if, for the sake of a few more dollars 
 and cents, we had been compelled, under General Jackson's 
 " Force Bill," to see Charleston blockaded, or Soutii Carolina 
 reduced to the condition of a conquered province ! Besides, I 
 hold that a temporary consent to the passage of the " Comprom- 
 ise Act" was not only a generous, but, on other grounds, a wise 
 and prudent course. It was throwing a tub to the whale. It 
 gave opportunity for the experiments of better times. It afford- 
 ed leisure, for men to open their eyes, and see more clearly into 
 practical results. We must judge of measures partly by their 
 results. Instead of suffering a complete stagnation, without a 
 Tariff, for ten years, business has kept up some of its operations. 
 In the course of that ten years. Factories have been established 
 in various parts of ihe Southern States. They have thus acquir- 
 ed a new interest in the subject. In 1842, a Democratic mem- 
 ber of Congress does not flinch from boldly voting an honest 
 tariff ; and Southern members have come nobly forward^ and 
 placed the system anew upon a firm, basis, from which we may 
 hope it will not again be shaken. In my opinion, therefore, 
 bad as the principle of the Act of 1833 in reality was, Mr. Clay 
 and his friends have been subjected to very unjust and ungener- 
 ous opprobrium for their conduct in regard to it — and thus, as I 
 proposed, I think I have been able to reconcile a perfect justifi- 
 cation of their course with the indefensible character of the pro- 
 visions of the Bill." 
 
 " Well, but," said neighbor Brown, "you have got a Tariff 
 Bill now, which, I suppose, suits you. Mr. Tyler certainly 
 signed this bill. Here is one Whig measure which he certainly 
 has approved of." 
 
 " My good friend," said John, "allow me to correct your 
 phraseology on this point. Rely upon it, Mr. Tyler signed the 
 last bill, not because it was a Whig measure; but because he at 
 length thought it ivas not. That is, because Protection has, now 
 become the policy of leading and intelligent men of all parties ; 
 
19 
 
 because he knew that reasonable men every where were in favor 
 of it; because he was aware that Democrats in Congress were 
 pledged to sustain it ; that tlie times, and the opinions of men, 
 had so changed, that this system of policy must prevail, and it 
 would not answer to resist it. You can easily see to what party 
 he was looking here. He would not approve of a Tariff', unless 
 the Distribution Act was also repealed. He remembered, no 
 doubt, how the Distribution Act became connected, originally, 
 with the Tariff"; that, in the session of 1832, (vide Mr. Web- 
 ster's speech, at Worcester,) it was ' forced,' by the dominant 
 party, upon the Committee of Manufactures, of which Mr. Clay 
 was Chairman, in order to embarrass their deliberations on the 
 subject of Protection ! How n)uch his conduct, on this question, 
 embarrassed Congress, at its late session, let its nine months' 
 weary length of toil and anxiety, and untiring effort, give reply. 
 Why, it is, at this very moment, but about two months, since 
 members of Congress, and the nation, were despairing about ob- 
 taining any Tariff whatever. They had reason to despair. It 
 was almost impossible to determine what would really suit the 
 fancy of an Executive, that handled Vetoes, as though they were 
 children's rattles, — the effects all gone, just as soon as the jingle 
 was over ! By a generous 'compromise,' it finally passed the 
 House, by only one vote ; the credit of which, says Mr. Web- 
 ster, at Faneuil Hall, belongs quite as much to Mr. Parmenter, 
 or Mr. Appleton, as to Mr. Stanley, of North Carolina ! Is 
 not this the worst kind of sophistry .'' Were not Mr. Parmcn- 
 ter's opinions known — were not Mr. Appleton's well known, be- 
 forehand ? Was there not a party in Congress, whose course; 
 was perfectly well settled ? Nobody who understands this ques- 
 tion, but remembers the immediate effect of Mr. Stanley's vote. 
 Nobody but knows that it was given at a" very great sacrifice of 
 private feelings, and private interests ; and yet, when the point 
 came, like a right-minded man, he gave them up, in order to 
 sustain the principles and interests of the party with which he 
 was connected. 
 
 " While I am upon this subject, I may as well say that, in 
 my opinion, the public has been disposed to do great injustice to 
 the Whig members of Congress, at the late session. There 
 were many things, in the public demeanor of all parties there; 
 uproar and undignified conduct, — which excited the public dis- 
 approbation, as I think, justly — but much of this, .perhaps, upon 
 examination, might be found to be more or less excusable. But 
 the mere fact that, after all, Mr. Tyler, with the influence of 
 the Executive patronage, and all the other influences and attrac- 
 tions which set oft' the possession of power, could muster only 
 a 'corporal's guard,' in his individual support, speaks thunder m 
 
20 
 
 favor of the incorruptibility and fair patriotic motives of the 
 Whig members of Congress. If they had chosen to be dishon- 
 est to their princijjes, office was open to them ; or if they did 
 not need or desire place for themselves, every member of Con- 
 gress has a long list of friends and dependents, to whom the 
 smaller posts would be acceptable, — and yet they stood firm. 
 There must have been a strong motive influencing them ; what 
 was it? I say, principle; — and 1 am rejoiced that there is soiiie- 
 thing of this kind ' in the field,' to meet and eventually, I trust, 
 to triumph over, the corrupting influences of the times. 
 
 " I wish to say a word or two on this subject of Distribution 
 of the Public Lands. Notwithstanding the coloring which the 
 President's friends have of late endeavored to give this question, 
 I hold that it is, always has been, and always ought to be, a promi- 
 nent Whig measure. I shall not go into the particular action of the 
 Extra session on this subject. This was a temporary session; 
 it passed a temporary Tariff bill. Why not a temporary distri- 
 bution clause in connection with the revenue ? Perhaps it was 
 unwise that the session should have been called. The party 
 were flushed with success. Men's minds were too excited to 
 be very considerate. They looked towards the future, regular 
 session, to settle measures on a determinate basis. To the sub- 
 ject of Distribution, Mr. Webster, in his speech, at Worcester, 
 devotes about four pages of the printed document. He sustains 
 his view^s with powerful argument. He urges the reasons in fa- 
 vor of Distribution with great elocpience. The interest of Mas- 
 sachusetts was considerable, no less than one hundred and thirty- 
 seven thousand dollars a year, for five years. This is a minor 
 consideration. But he points out the dangers and corruptions 
 which have existed in other countries, by reason of an ill-use of 
 the public lands, in thd hands of an unprincipled Executive, and 
 the distractions and disputes, constantly increasing, while they 
 remain in their present condition. There are other reasons in 
 favor of distribution ; the danger that, sooner or later, those who 
 have the best claims to a portion, will find their rights frittered 
 away; and next, the improvidence of depending upon a source 
 of revenue, at best extremely various, and, therefore, constantly 
 exposing the Government to embarrassments, constantly dimin- 
 ishing, and certain, eventually, to cease altogether. For my 
 part, I cannot reconcile it with any known scheme of financial 
 policy, to rely on such means ; nor do I think it worthy of a 
 great, and, if it chose to be so, a prosperous nation, to base the 
 expenditures of the Government on temporary expedients, in- 
 stead of a settled, wise, and well-founded system. Indeed, I 
 never heard of anybody pursuing just sucli a plan before, except 
 our old acquaintance, John Watson, who lived. down in the 
 
21 
 
 woods; who sold his farm, buiU him a new house with a part of 
 the proceeds, and put the rest by in his chest. This he drew 
 out as he wanted it, as long as it lasted ; he then sold his house 
 again, spent the money as before, and finally came upon the 
 town ! 
 
 In my judgment, Mr. Clay's Bill on this subject in 1832, so 
 highly commended by Mr. Webster, was a very noble one, and 
 worthy a great and liberal mind, to distribute the proceeds among 
 the States, under a provision that they should be devoted to 
 some public object. Colonization, Education, or Internal Im- 
 proven^ent. This would have settled forever, what will forever be, 
 until it is settled, a vexed and troublesome political question. This 
 bill was defeated by the dominant party in Congress, at that time. 
 Its continuance as an open question has been the immediate 
 cause of half the difficulties of the last session, and those under 
 which we now suffer. Yet one of the President's friends gravely 
 tells us that the question is one '•'whose importance has been im- 
 mensely 'exaggerated," and another prudently slips by it alto- 
 gether, in Faneuil Hall ! 
 
 "In regard to three of the six great questions, therefore," 
 continued John, "I contend that JNIr. Tyler has defeated the 
 just expectations, and outraged the principles, of those by whom 
 he was placed in power. They are, 
 
 1. The establishment of a uniform currency, 
 
 2. The revenue, as connected with the protective system, 
 
 3. The distribution of the public lands. 
 
 " Let us look, only for a moment, at the other three. 
 
 "Take up the "reduction of the public expenditure" — .nn im- 
 portant measure, indeed, and one in which the people look a very- 
 strong interest, since IMr. Van Buren notoriously left the Treasury 
 worse than empty, immense debts contracted, the country fairly 
 bankrupt, and in a position requiring the highest skill and pru- 
 dence, and the lapse of considerable time, to bring affairs into 
 order ; to provide the means of discharging obligations and lop 
 off unnecessary expenses ; — in regard to these, I grant, that the 
 President himself could do comparatively little. But whoever^, 
 compares the balance sheet of another year with the last, will ^ 
 see, I am satisfied, that a great deal has been efTected by the 
 Whig Congress, and every thing which reasonable expectation 
 could demand. 
 
 "But what shall we say of the "reformation of abuses !" Here 
 was a matter entirely within the President's control. Here was a 
 system which, more than any thing else, I suppose, helped to 
 keep the former administration in power, and which, when the 
 people opened their eyes to its extent, more than any thing 
 else helped to turn them out. Here was room enough to return 
 
b 
 
 22 
 
 to the moderation, and magnanimity, and disinterestedness of 
 better days. Here was indeed the Hydra-headed monster, upon 
 whom every "Tray, Blanch and Sweetheart" of the Whig 
 party had, again and again, opened, when the hunt was fairly up ! 
 There was nothing so calculated to excite the just indignation of 
 freemen, as the infamous and indiscriminate proscription for opin- 
 ions sake which so often had carried the administration of the 
 other party "down to low-water mark." There was nothing so 
 repulsive to all our feelings of moral and personal independence, 
 as to behold our citizens dragooned by office-holders into slavish 
 obedience, or to see the o^ce holders themselves marshalled 
 into all the comphant and unquestioning servility of Parisian 
 gendarmerie^ or domiciliary police ! Nay, more ; compelled, 
 yea, at the price of office compelled, to contribute of the wages 
 of their iniquity to sustain the masters that trampled them in the 
 dust ! How has this great abuse been reformed ? Alas, the 
 Philadelphia Custom-House, like a mountain, rises between us 
 and all we hoped of the purity and patriotism of Executive im- 
 partiality. Alas, the long list of forced subscribers to Govern- 
 ment newspapers, — (unwilling, I know many of them must be, 
 for many were once, and still, I hope, desire to be, sound Whigs,) 
 this long and forlorn array, of poor, shivering, shaking creatures, 
 who avowedly dare not open their mouths to express an opinion, 
 in a land professing to be the freest on the face of the earth, — 
 this shall answer, whether we yet enjoy the common and ina- 
 lienable rights of freemen. These are they, — (but many of 
 them, we hope, are not yet sold to sin,) these are they, to 
 whom Mr. Webster so feelingly appeals at Faneuil Hall ! "If 
 the Whig party desert the administration, what is to become of 
 them } what is to become of Him V Truly a pertinent and 
 weighty enquiry to be thus seriously and publicly propounded. 
 If the spirits of '76, whose honor and integrity alone makes 
 Faneuil Hall "a name and a praise," — could have answered, 
 
 ' the reply would have pealed in unmistakeable thunders. I sup- 
 pose the expected answer is, — Let the State sink, but incum- 
 
 -^bents of office enjoy the sweets, and alas, the '"bitterness" which 
 
 , office brings. 
 
 Or else the world, and all that's in't, are nothing, — 
 The covering sky is nothing, Bohemia nothing ! 
 
 I answer, if they cannot live in office, as honest men, it is as 
 possible now, as it was when Benjamin Franklin took the alter- 
 native, to preserve their independence, and to keep it sound and 
 wholesome on good substantial yankee milk and hasty-pudding ! 
 I do not wish to see office holders over forward, either to sus- 
 tain or to break down any administration ; but I do wish them 
 
23 
 
 to remember that they are reasonable, intelligent, accountable 
 beings, and not the mere puppets of a capricious fancy. 
 
 "And, lastly, as to "one Presidential term." IMr. Tyler was 
 certainly elected, as General Harrison was, on the pledge to 
 carry this principle into full operation. What has he done, and 
 what is he doing now ? " I pause for a reply." ]Mr. Gushing, 
 the future Secretary of the Treasury, under Mr. Tyler, tells the 
 electors of Essex North, that "it is in vain to make politital capi- 
 tal as against Mr. Tyler and Mr. Webster," I know it. This 
 settles what was before undoubted — that Mr. Tyler proposes 
 to be a candidate for re-election, if he can find a State to 
 vote for him. Oh, vain and delusive hope ! Let Mr. Gushing 
 prophecy and warn us, as long as he has breath ; — not until his 
 native !iNIerrimack takes a refluent course, arid ascends instead of 
 falling down the locks of Lowell, will Mr. Tyler or Mr. Web- 
 ster gain the popular vote for President of the United States ! 
 I once hoped, once thought better things, of INIr. Webster. I 
 knew he had faults ; all men have these ; even Mr. Glay, I ad- 
 mit to be quite subject to this condition, from which no human 
 lot is exempt ; but his faults are open, frank, undisguised faults ; 
 faults of his temperament, not of his heart. I considered Mr. 
 Webster at least as a man of an upright intention, and a bold 
 and sturdy assertor of those principles which are indispensable to 
 the purity of our institutions and the virtue and welfare of the 
 people. It pains me to alter my opinion. "What shadows we 
 are, and what shadows we pursue !" 
 
 "The friends of Mr. Tyler tell us that he has been driven into 
 this position ; driven to truckle to the opposition party, and to 
 all his vain hopes of their support, by the conduct of the Whig 
 Congress, and the premature nomination of Mr. Glay. But this 
 is no recent aspiration, at least, on the part of Mr. Tyler's pre- 
 sent supporters, whatever may be thought of the sincerity of his 
 own former professions. Mr. Gushing informs us that Mr. Ty- 
 ler "in the midst of the Bank controversies, wished publicly to 
 decHne a re-election ; but the Whig-Harrison Gabinet advis- 
 ed him not to do so." Mr. Gushing says he is authorised to 
 state it ; but what does this indiscreet avowal prove ? Why, 
 that some members, certainly, of the "Whig-Harrison Gabinet" 
 had a keener insight into the nature of things than IMr. Tyler 
 himself:- — that they knew the moment INIr. Tyler declined, (as it 
 would have saved him many a heart-ache if he had,) the eyes of all 
 men would have turned, with one consent, upon INIr. Glay. This 
 would not suit the purposes of some of the Whig-Harrison Gab- 
 inet. The Whig party would be left, like sheep without a shep- 
 herd, and where should they turn, but to Mr. Glay ? The conduct 
 of Mr. Tyler, on the Bank question, did separate the Whigs from 
 
24 
 
 him ; they were left in this very condition ; they did look to Mr. Clay, 
 And this, Mr. Cashing complains of, as a premature nomination! 
 What should they do ? Submit to be scattered, or take some one as a 
 bond of Union ? They could then see, what subsequent events have 
 proved, that they had no hope in Mr. Tyler ; and surely they acted 
 a wise and honest course. People in this State, and that State, 
 were pressing the nomination; there was no alternative but Tyler or 
 Clay, and could they, hesitate ? They knew that Mr. Clay had had 
 reason to expect the nomination at Harrisburg, and that he bore the 
 disappointment with a generous magnanimity, and threw his whole 
 soul into the canvass for General Harrison — and why not lake him 
 now, when the field was clear ? They knew that Mr. Tyler wept, 
 at Harrisburg, when Mr. Clay's nomination was defeated ; it ought 
 not to be displeasing to Mr. Tyler certainly, especially if he did not 
 desire a re-election, that they should take up Mr. Clay, and nominate 
 him now ! No, Sir, it was the conduct of Mr. Tyler, and his friends, 
 which compelled the nomination of Mr. Clay, and rendered it una- 
 voidable. 
 
 "I confess that I have heard of no objection to Mr. Clay, but this 
 one of a "premature nomination." Even Mr. Cushing, (vide speech 
 at Newburyport,) " makes this point, and this only, with Mr. Clay, 
 at present," — that he has "broken through the level of the party." 
 (Vide Mr. Cushing's own recent public efforts to this very intent !) 
 The only difference is, that Mr. Clay breaks through the level of 
 party for one object ; Mr. Cushing for another. In the same speech, 
 Mr. Cushing admits Mr. Clay to be " a bold and frank leader," — I 
 use his very language, — "A bold and frank leader !" Why, these 
 certainly are good words. They are precisely the terms, which a 
 very distinguished Democrat indeed, the Editor of the New York 
 Evening Post, applies to the Revolutionary General Marion, — 
 
 "A leader frank and bold." 
 
 And what more can we desire? Nobody doubts Mr. Clay's abili- 
 ties, I think. " Boldness," in a good cause, is always a noble and 
 a generous quality ; and " frankness," which means, I take it, open- 
 ness, sincerity, ingenuousness, plainness, — is it possible that we 
 could fix upon a higher or better combination of qualities, thus 
 wrested from the very mouths of our opponents? Eminent ability ; 
 boldness to act as the right requires; frankness, which is honesty, in 
 the development and pursuance of his measures. Why, this is the very 
 heau-ideal of a Republican President ; and I hope the day is not 
 gone by, when such qualities can be appreciated and rewarded. 
 What is there opposed to all this? Why, premature nomination; 
 nothing else, so far as it is possible to discern on the surface of things ; 
 " three years struggle," says Mr. Webster, — but, at longest, cer- 
 tainly only two. 
 
 "But who cannot see, with half an eye, the motives,! will not call 
 them principles, which events now prove, actuate some of our lead- 
 ing men? While Mr. Van Buren, and his illustrious predecessor, 
 were in power, and it was necessary to overthrow them, that union 
 
25 
 
 of the party was maintained, which alone could insure success. 
 That end being accomplished, the leaders now show the other ends 
 w^hich they also had in view. Why oppose Mr. Clay's early nomi- 
 nation, except that it prevents the hopes and wishes of otljers '. Sub- 
 stitute Webster for Clay, in the resolutions at Faneuil Hall, 
 and we should have heard little of premature nomination. 
 
 I have said all I have to say of Mr.- Clay. Let me say a sin- 
 gle word about Governor Davis. When Governor Morton was, at 
 last, elected by his one vote, Governor Davis, then a most useful and 
 efficient member of the United States Senate, most reluctantly, and 
 at the urgent solic»itation of the party, consented to become a can- 
 didate for his present place. You all know by what an overwhelm- 
 ing majority he has carried the State. It would be treachery and 
 baseness to desert him now ! Desert him ! No, indeed : it would 
 be a desertion of ourselves, and our honor, and our true interest ! At 
 least, let old ^Massachusetts still stand firm. Let her standard still 
 wave ; and the great battle — far, far from being lost — will yet re- 
 vive, and gratify our highest and dearest hopes. 
 
 "At least," in the language of Mr. Webster, at Worcester, (and 
 this is the last time I shall allude to that famous speech) " at least, 
 let the star of Massachusetts be the last which shall be seen to fall 
 from heaven. Let her shrink back, let her hold others back, if she 
 can; at any rate, let her keep herself back, from this gulf, full, at 
 once, of fire and of blackness ; yes sir, as far as human foresight can 
 scan, or human imagination fathom, full of the thick darkness of 
 general political disgrace, ignominy, and ruin. Though the worst 
 may happen that can happen, and though she may not be able to 
 prevent the catastrophe, yet, let her maintain her own integrity, her 
 own high honor, her own unwavering fidelity, so that with respect 
 and decency, though with a broken and a bleeding heart, she may 
 pay the last tribute to a glorious, departed, free Constitution." 
 
 "After all, the people of this country must select somebody for their 
 candidate. " The snake is scotched, not killed." We must have a 
 struggle. This is the price we pay for our liberties, — to contend 
 for them, to watch for them, to maintain them. " We must fight," 
 — as John Adams said, in the ante-revolutionary debates," — we must 
 fight." It must be, too, under some leader. There can be no doubt 
 that the three prominent candidates will be Mr. Clay, Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren and Mr. Calhoun. I do not seriously believe that Mr. Tyler has 
 any expectations on this score, for liimself. The nomination at 
 Fanueil Hall, and a thousand other indications, ought to satisfy Mr. 
 Webster, that whatever judgment may be formed of his claims, he is 
 not the people's choice. Which of these three, then, will the Whigs 
 select ? Which would it be reasonable to suppose the moderate por- 
 tion of the late opposition party would select in order to promote the 
 union, which most men seem to think so desirable, and to secure 
 their own best interests. I never have seen-any indications of popu- 
 lar enthusiasm for Mr. Van Buren. I do not believe that Mr. Cal* 
 houn can be the popular candidate of this country. I cannot con« 
 ceive of any hesitation as to the choice ! 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 at the result in Ohio. ^"„^,,f7^^„trtunately happens, that business 
 has been a close one ^^ut^tjnor J ^^^^^^^ by political 
 
 „,en, xvho are much f^^ ^^^^^^different, upon any IHtle alteration 
 changes, are far too ^P^ *« f o^^ ^J^ jl, ,,„,ess specially urged 
 
 of the political horizon ^« "^f ^;^, by these occasional exertions, 
 to attend, and to f^^-g^^j " , ' ;\re so much interested can remain 
 the very business in ^^l^'^^^l^Zels, or properly, is only valuable, 
 worth attending to. A man ^^^' J ^„j enjoying it is perma- 
 accordingly as the V^-^^^'^JJlZ cln doubt, m the face of the 
 nently secured to h^^- Reside , ^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ bich 
 
 tremendous victory of 18^^^^ ^^ whig principles, in Mary- 
 
 may yet be brought torwara, m i 
 
 land, in Ohio, in the United t'tates^ personal friends was ill- 
 
 ^< Allow that the enthusiasm of Mr Cays pe ^^^^ ^ 
 
 advised, in. bnnging him orwardas^-Jl^ ^^^^ eircumstances 
 I do not think It so very eaily, ^^P^^ia y ^ ^. ■ bim forward,' 
 L which the party were pla-d > -d ^^Jo ^.^^^^ ^^^^ 
 
 _it is but a cant term «"d ^mg^ f ^ u/^P a man who has certainly 
 C/«y.--f brough himforwad 1 ^^^ ,,,elligent man or 
 
 been heard of befo e. 1 he r ^ \^ ^^^^ ^.rrned by his eloquence, 
 woman in this country, who has no oe ^ ^^^^^^ nomination' a 
 elevated by his nobleness. ^^"^ ^ ' '" ' jf^jes and all we hold. dear 
 Efficient reason ^r throwing up o« P-^^^P^^^i'^^^b our dinner, and 
 to us ? Shall we, like ^/P^^'!^^^^^ ^^^Ud a moment sooner than we 
 refuse to eat, because it has been servea 
 
 expected, or some of us desi^^^ f ^^^ ^^ ^^^^.^ 
 
 V< For my part, I am a Whig not n^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ irresponsible 
 
 principles. I am ^^hig because 1 equy ^^ ^^^^^^^_ 
 
 Ld oppressive admimstr a -n of d^^ and ^^^J^ ^^^^^ 
 tiveness, which would bury a gooai .ervility-and that infamous 
 I hate trickery,' and ^^^^'^"P}^"' ^^t^Je.e, vvould unscrupulously 
 policy, which, for the sake of its own '"^e^^^^^ j • j ,„d whatever 
 sacrifice its obligations to country, duty, princip , 
 
 should be dearest to a good ^^^^^l-^Jf f Jf^f ^bese gentlemen ask of 
 " It IS a light thing, indeed w^ich so^e ot t ^^^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 usi Only to desert every public P^^^'P'^'/''' , -yeVip all our 
 
 Le„ co„La„.g for theU. twenty ye^^o-y- j^Tr/g.d for 
 private integrity ! To im^iol^ ^ ou i common country ! 
 
 fhe institutions, our hopes for -^^^ ;^^^^,,,,,,„ , What altar 
 What motive is to lead us to ^1^'^''';'; .^ • -^ ,^bo requires our 
 are such garlands to decorate? Yif .ood are we ^ become ' dogs, 
 all as his victims ? For what unseen good are we i ^ 
 
 and do this great thing'? ^^y'n^"^^'/wn sele^ ^^ 
 
 lected by us, and who never ^-'^V^'^ddro^treven bis native 
 whom all the pride of local attachn.ent .^^'^ not bu.d ev ^^.^.^^^ 
 
 State; who, placed by the act of Pro-de>ice^ P-^^^^ ^P^ ^^.^^p. 
 
 has used it only to disappoint and betray "s^io ^^^^^^ 
 
 pointment, or to flatter the hopes of M; Webster ^ ^^^^^^ ^ 
 
 or Mr. Calhoun! To prostrate ourselves, subinissne.y. 
 
27 
 
 power we do not reverence, and cry, ' These be thy Gods, O Israel !' 
 Better, perhaps, described, as the poet delineates the heathen deities 
 from Homer, as 
 
 Gods partial, changeful, passionate, unjust ! 
 
 "Although I see Mr. Gushing recently warns you to beware what 
 you do against Mr. Tyler and Mr. Webster, I don't suppose you, 
 of Mr. Cushing's late district, have yet felt your necks, to see wheth- 
 er the rope or the guillotine would fit them comfortably. I think 
 you have not yet quite come to this. I think the honest, hardy, in- 
 telligent, independent yeomanry of Essex North are not yet afraid 
 of either Mr. Tyler or Mr. Webster ; perhaps they are subject to feel- 
 ings quite different from alarm, although these two stars should happen 
 to be in conjunction ! Why, you 7nake such men as these ! They 
 are the servants of the people, not their masters. A slip of paper, 
 not very large, makes and unmakes them also. Let not the men of 
 Essex be loarned, as to the exercise of their rights as Freemen ! 
 
 "What is the difference, after all, between the time-serving politi- 
 cian, and the honest, steadfast, true-hearted and clear-headed patri- 
 ot? Why, the one, in order 
 
 To beguile the time, 
 Looks like the time ; — 
 
 He conforms to " popular prejudices;" he sacrifices, without scru- 
 ple, all semblance of principle to his suppposed interests. He cor- 
 rupts himself, and corrupts others; and society, under his influence, 
 becomes loose, reckless, unreflecting; " earthly, sensual, devilish.'' 
 The other maintains his principles pure, whatever may be the cor- 
 ruption of the times, or the demands of popular prejudice. What- 
 ever other men are, he continues an honest man. When evil days, 
 at length, fall like a whirlwind upon the State, and danger and dis- 
 aster seem to threaten its inevitable overthrow, then men turn to 
 him. They look at his steadfastness, his purity — to the direct and 
 manly purposes which exemplify the clear mind, that dwells only, in 
 its highest excellence, in company with the sound heart ; and he 
 thus uses the power which he has kept in store, to renovate and re- 
 instate the falling fabric of the Commonwealth. The one gains, 
 perhaps— but more commonly loses, his present object. Winning 
 or losing, he takes with him the contempt of those with whom he 
 acts ; the sting of his own conscience ; the distrust of his own times ; 
 the scorn of posterity ; the execrations of history — and files his name 
 to undying infamy, on the same list with the Burrs and the Arnolds 
 of another day. The other exists in the hearts and affections of the 
 good— and the Jays, the Adamses, and,— there is but one Washing- 
 ton, — are the illustrious company, with whom he lives forever, in the 
 applause and gratitude of the world." 
 
' W46 
 
^^'^m 
 
 *.,-. 
 
 
 .^^ %J^.^.^ %-Tf.^T^.G^^ \-?^>^