liii

Jackson

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dli Z

JACKSON'S LETTER, &c.
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GENERAL JACKSOX to CARTER BEVERLEY.
' Hebmitage, June 6, 1 S??.
Dbar Sir: — Your letter of the 1 6th ult. from Louisville,
Ky. is just received, and in conformity to your request addresk
my answer to Wheeling, Va. ^
Your enquiries relative to the propositions of bargain, tnadii
through Mr. Clay's friends to some of mine, concerning the
then pending Presidential Eiectioa were answered ^ree/y and,
frankly at the tide, but without any^ealcijlatSon that. they
were to be thrown into the public journals — bat fads cannot
be, altered and as your letter seems to have been written for
publication, I can assure you thathavis^ no concealment my-
aelf, nor any dread arising from what Imay have said on the
sccasion and sabject alluded to, tnj feelings towards you are
not the least xhaikgeid. I always intended, should Mr. Clay
£on)e out over his own name, and deny having any knovv-
ledge of the communication made by his fri^n^f to my friends,
^d to me, that I would give bim the name of the gentleihaQ
through whom that communication came.
I have not seen your letter alluded t» as having been pub
lished inthe Telegraph; although that paper as I am inform'
ed, is regblxrly mailed for me at Washington, still I receive!
it very irregularly, and that containing your letter has not
Gome to band— of course { cannot say nPhether your st^te>
ment is substantially correct or not. I will repeat, however,
again tbe occurrence, and to which my reply to ydu must
have cooforjued, and from which if there has been any varia-
Hod, you can correct it. It is this: early in January, 1825, 9,
member of congress of high r^cctability, visited me one
morning, and observed that he had a communication be was
desirous to make to me ; that be was informed- there was a
great intrigue going on, and thought it was right I should be
informed of it; that he came as a friend, and, let me receive
the communication as I might, the friendly motives through :
wbich it was made, he hoped, woul4 prevent any change of
friendship or fecline^ with regard to him. To which I r^pli«<},
from-his high standing aa a gentleman and a member of con
gress, and from his uniform friendly and gentlemanly con
duct towards myself, T coulil not suppose he would make any
communication tome which he supposed was improper, there'
fore his motives being pure, let me thinK as I might of .the;
.caetniuoicittioD, ny feelings towaris kna would reiAain ujia^.

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itigred. The gentleman proceeded: He said he had been fev
formed by the friends of Mr. Clay, that the friends of Mr.
Adams had madeu)vertures to ttem, saying i£Mr. Clay and-
his friends would unite in aid of the election of Mr. Ad^ms,
Mr, Clay should be Secretary of State; that the friends of
Adams were urging as>i reason to induce the friends of Mr.
Clay to accede to their proposition, that if I was elected Pre-"
sident, Mr. Adams w^^uld be continued Secretary of State,
(in uendo, there would be no room for Kentucky.) That the
friends of Mr. Clay stated, the West did not wish to separate
from the West, and if I would say, or permit any of my con
fidential friends to.saj, that in case I was elected President,
Mr. Adams should not be continued Secretary of State, by a
complete union of Mri Clay and his friends they would put an
end to the presidential contest in one hour; and he was of
opinion il was right to fight such intriguers with their own
weapons. To which in substance 1 j-eplied, that in palitics at
in pvery thing elfe, my guide was principle, and contrarjr te
the expressed and unbiassed will of the people, or their con
stituted agents, I never would step into the presidential chair,
and requested him to say to Mr. Clay and his friends, (for 1
did suppose he had come from Mr. Clay, although he used the
terms Mr. Clay's friends) that before I would reach the presi
dential chair by such means of bargain and corrpption, I
wuuid see the earth open and swallow both Mr> Clay and his
friends and myself with them. If tbey had net confi4^<% in
me to believe if I was elected, that I would call to my aid in
the cabinet men of the first virtue, talents, and integrity, not
to vote for me. The second day after this communication
and reply, it was announced in tbe newspapers that Mr. Clay
, had come out openly and avowedly, in favour of Mr. Adams.
It may be proper^to observe, that in the supposition that Mr.'
Clay was privy to the proposition stated, I may have done in
justice to him; if so the gentleman informing me can explain^.
I am, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
ANDREW JACKSON.
Mb. Carter Beverley.
Mr, CLAVS ADDRESS to the PUBLIC.
On my arrival at Wheeling on the 23d inst. I was inform.'
ed that Mr. Carter Beverley, then at that place, had received
tile preceding night by mail, a letter from General Jackson,
which he had exhibited to several persons, and left vrith my
friend, Col. Noah Zane, for my perusal, and which I was told
formed a subject of general conversation, and had produced
much excitement in the town. The captain of ilie Reindeer
having kindly detained his steam boat for my accommoda
tion, and as I was uawilling longer to detain his departure, I
had only time to obtam a hasty but I believe a correct copy

{ 3 1
r
«f the letter^ nnd I now seize tbe first moment after, my arri
val at home to present it to the public, together with a copy
of another letter addressed by Mr. Beverley to Col. Zane.
I purposely forbear, at this time, to make several comments
wbich these documents authorize, and confine myself to a no
tice of the charges which General Jackson has brought for
ward in his letter.
These charges are, Isf, That my friends in congress, early
in January, 1825, pcoposed to bim that, if he would say, or
permit any of his Confidential friends to say that in case he
was elected President, Mr. Adams should not be continued
Secretary of State, by a complete union of myself and my'
friends, we would put an end to the presidential contest in one
hour; and
2dly. That the above proposal was made to General Jack
son, through a distinguished member* of congress, of high
standing, with my primly and Consent.
To the latter charge I oppose a direct, unqualified, and in
dignant denial. I neither made, nor authorized, nor know of
any proposition whatever to either of the three candidates
who were retui-ned to the House of Representatives at the
last presidential election, or to the friends of either of them,
for the purpose of influencing the. result pf the election, or
for any other pdiyose; and 'allallegations,intimati6ns, andin-
Hendoes that my vote on that occasion was oflfered to be giv
en, or was in fact given, in consideration of any stipulation or
understanding, express or implied, direct or indirect, written
or verbal, that I was, or that any other person was not, to be
appointed Secretary of State, er that I was, in any other man
ner, to be personally benefited, are devoid of all truth and
destitute of any foundation whatever: and I firmly and sol
emnly believe thatthe first of tbe two above-mentioned char
ges is alike untrue and groundless. But if (contrary to my
foil belief) my friends, or any of them, made any such propo
sition or offer, as is asserted in that first charge, it was with
out my knowledge and without my authority.
The letter of Gen. Jackson insinuates, rather than directly
makes, the further charge, that an arrangement was proposed
and made between Mr. Adams' friends and mine, by which,
in the event of h^i^ election, I was to be appointed Secretary
of State. I pronounce that charge also, as far as 1 know or be
lieve, to be untrue, and without the least foundation.
General Jackson having at last voluntarily placed himself
in the attitude of my public accuser, we are_ now fairly at is
sue. I rejoice that a specific accusation by a responsible ac
cuser has at length appeared, though at the distance of two
and a half years since the thajge was first put forth through
Mr. George Kreraer. It will be universally admitted, that
the accusation is of the most serious nature. Hardly any
tnore atrocious could be preferred against a representative of
tke|)eople in his official character. The charge in substance

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is, thfit deliberate " propositions of bargain''' were made by
inv coDgressioual friends collectively, through an authorizeii
arid distinguished m&njber of congress, to General Jackson;
that their obj«Sct was, by this " means of bargain and corrup
tion," to exclude Mr. Adams from the department -of 8tate,.or
to secure my promotion to office: and that I was privy and
assented to those propositions and to the employifient of those
means. '' ' ' ,
Such beirtg the actusation and tbe prosecutor, and the is
sue between us, I have; now a right to expect that be will
substantiate his charges by the etbibition of satisfactory evi
dence, In that event, there is no punishment which would
exceed the measure of my offence. In the, opposite event,
what oujht to be the judgment of the American people if
cheerfully submitted to their wisdom ajid judgment.
Lexington, 26th June, IB27. H. CLA^-

GENERAL JACkSONS ADDRESS to the PUBLIC,
In Answer lo the Foregoing.
A LETtER acilrassed by me to Mr. Carter Beverley, of Virginia, har
lat'^Iy, without any consent, agency, or lyish on my part, found it? \*-ay into
tbe newspapars, accompanied by a statement over thr signature of H Clay,
contradicting and denyingi not any thing I have nrritten, but that which bt!-
himself roakesi me to say. It is not the interpretstion given by him to my
letter^ but my owii: language aiid owb statement that I am called upon tc
defend, and expert to vindicate.
To explain the manner in which rtiy opinions have found their way into
tbe journals of the day, seems, in the first place, to be due both to the
public and myself. Mr. Beverley being on a visit to my house, requested
to know of met other gentlemen being present, whether the overtures here
tofore itAputedto IV(r..Clay were Well founded, and if I had a knowledge of
aiKy of the facts myself- I answered bim.candidly ; being unable as uowill.
ing to refuse telling things I had beard and knew to be true. A letter de-
feiling our conversation shortly iiftferwards obtained publicity in the N. Caro
lina Jouinal, printed at FayeUevil|e. Qn tbe 15th May last, from Louisville,
Ky. a communication was addressed to me by iWr. Beverley, staling, what
before I had not known, that he was the writer of tbis Fayetteville letter. —
He ex()lained the reasons for his having repeated the conversation, and re-
ijuested to be informed, if in any thing he bad misquoted or misconceived
tny meaning. Under such circutiistances, concealment and silence might
have seedied mere aflectation, or indeed something of a different and even
worse character. Publicity having been given to the conversation, aodan
appeal made to me for its accuracy, 1 felt it tb be due to Mr. Beverley that
nothing of fabrication should be imputed t<* him and tq myself, that what I
bad stated should becorrectl; understood. Accordingly, on the 6th of June,
and in reply to his of the ISth of May, Uddresscdbim aletter, of whichthe
public is already possessed. How, and by what means, it found its way into
the columns of a newspaper, Mr, Beverley has explained: he states to me.
that he gave it into tbe hands of Mr. Noah 2ane, of Wheeling, Va. it his
own earnest request, fur perusal, utider a pledge of honour that it should
be retmned. and w.th no expectation that any copy of it was fo be retained.
inat on his applying for and demanding the letter, it was refused to be re-
"r°M " » '*'*' ''T'^* *'*°"''' ^^ ""'"^^" Be proceeds to saj- :—
vo.iM^tf^!!"!' 'v '"^ ¦5"" respectable gentleman, asked the loan of
Ctar! 1^^ *¦'"''' •'"^•.i''"''''''"y*°»" <=»8'«"» «°d propriety in such
w;rt,«4' !i '. '=<'V-I^"«"'«" V'^. Ml-. Clay and his friends, took copies of if,
mihmA.my S^o<^i^Sse WipriWt^io an, way, and Wi «o«t Mking 4 leave tc

[ « ]
do so. Soon as 1 understood that such was the Ufe tliey were muking of" »{^
I deiranded of Mr Zahe the letter, and reinoistrated against the unpfecii-
denled course they were taking. He refused lo restbre it lo me, most pe
remptorily untii thej had satisfied themselves by furnishing to Mr. Clay one
topy, an-: reserving ano'berfor their own use."
The original conversation referred lo, and the above extract Of a letter
from Mr. Beverlev at Wheeling, dated26thuf Jime, 1827, are presented l(S
show that I have not, as is eharged, "placed myself in the attitude of a
-public accuser," and that whatever publicity Kas been given to this trans
action, has arisen from no agency or procurement of mine; andlbat Mr
t7<ay, in fact, hai himself held the matter up to public gaze. In doing this,
he should have quoted what I had writ'eii accurately aid fairly, foi- tben,
tbe text and his commentary would have suited together ; at prasenthis con-
Iriidiction is a something suggested by himself and is Aot contained in my
letter. The statement contained in my letter to Mr. Beverley is this : Thit in Ja-
puary, 1825, a member of Congress, of high respectability, visi,ted me one
mornini-.awd observed — " he lad been infbl-med by the friends of Mr. Clay
thai tbe friends of Mr. Adams bad made overtures to them, saying; if Ur.
Clay and his friends would unite in aid of the election of Mr. Adams, Mr.
Clay should be Secretary of State ; that the friends of Mr. Adams were ur
ging, as a reason to induce the friends of Mr. Clay to accede to this propo*
sition, that if 1 was elected President, Mr. Adams would be continued Se
cretary af State (muendo, there would be no room for Kentucky) — that the
friends of Mr. Clay stated, the West did not Want to separate from tbe
West, and if I would say, or permit any of my confidential friends to say,
' that in case I was elected President, Mr. Adams should not be continued
Secretary of State, by a complete union of Mr. Clay and his friends, they
would put an and to tbe presidential' dontest in one hour ; and he was of o-
pinion it was right to fight such intriguers with their own weapons."
This di» losure Was made to me by Mr. JaIuhes BtrcHAKAjr, a member pf
congress from Pennsylvania, a gentteman o' the firs' respectability and in-
talligence. The evening before, he had communicated substantially, the
same proposition to Major Eaton, my colleague in the Senate, with a desire
warmly manifested that he should communicate with me and asisertain my
views on the subject. This he declined doing, suggeisting tb Mr. Buchanan,
that he as well as himself could tonverse with me, and ascertain my opinion
an the matter; though from his knowledge of me he tfioughfhe could
conjecturemyanswer^-that I Would enter into no engajetilents whate»er.
It was the morning succeeding this interview, after Major Baton had object*.
ed to converse with me on th6 subject, aud before I had set ouf fro(n my
lodgings for the capitol, that Mr. Buchanan cairie to visit me, and when
the conversatioD I have stated took place. The answer returned has already
been published, and need not be here repeated.
To be thus approached by a gentleman of Mr Buchanan's high charac
ter and standing, with an apology proffered at the time ifor what he waS
about to remark to me — one who, as I understoodi had always, to that mo
ment, been on familiar and friendly terms with Mr Clpjy, assuring me that
oa certain terms and conditions beini^ assented to on my l)art, then, "by
B^union of Mr Clay and bis friends, tbey would put an end to the pre
sidential conteist iti one hour," what other conclusion «r inferencjE wa.s to
be made, than that he spoke by authority, either of Mr Clay himself, or
some of bis confidential friends. The character of Mr Buchanan, with me,
fcM-bids the idea that he was actiii^ on his own responsibility, or that under
any circumstances he could have been induced to proppse an arrangement,
unless possssst d of sai iSfactory assurances, that, if accepted, it would be car
ried fullyinto effept. A weak mind would seldom or ever be thus dispos-
edtoact, an intelligent one never.
^ " Under alf the circumstances, appearing at the time, I did hot resist the
impression that Mr. Buchanan ,had approached me on the cautiously m^- ¦
mitted proportion of some authorised person ; and, therefore, in g'ving
hira my answer, did request him "to say to Mr Clay and his friends,"
what that; answer had been. Whether the fommunicatioD was made to Mr.
Clay and his fl-iends, I know nui ; this, though. 1 do know, that while the
bpinions and course of Mr. Clay as to the dection, were but matter of oo,n»
3edBre wixhmany, at and before this time< very shortly after thisconvetw

[63
tiontook place, fill, anu ai» friends' opinions became, Wfhwttb, matter
of certiunty and general knowledge. Still I have not said, nor do I now
¦ay that the proposal made to me was "with U^ privity and consent" of Mr.-
Clay, nor either have I said that his friends in congress made propositiont
to me. Thesa are Mr Clay's interpretations of my letter to Mr Beverley, and
not what my letter itself contains. — What I have stated are the facte of a
conversation between myself and a member of congri^ss of high respectabi
lity. The conclusions and inferences from that conversation^thrtime— man
ner — and all the circumstances satisfied my mind that it was not un
authorised — So I have thoiight, and so 1 still think; and yet I again re-
{leat, that in thi'< supposition I may have posiibly done Mr. Clay injustice. If
he shmll be able lo sustain tbe averments he has made, and acquit him
self of any agency and participation in the matter, I beg leave to assure
him that so far from affording me pain, it will give me pleasure-— I cer'ainr
ly can have no desire that the character of my country, through the act*
of^ a prominent ctizen, shall rest under any serious Imputation for the
honor of tliat country, I should greatly prefer that any inference I have
made may turn out to be ill founded.
Mr. Clay declares his great satisi'action that this matter has at last been
brought to light, and to public consideration. £te feels rejoiced " that a
specific accusation by a responsible accuser has at length appeared." To
tbis a passing notice is due.
It must be recollected, that in consequence of a tetter from Mr. George
Kremer, in Januat^, 1X25, an inquiry Was set on foot in Congress, upon the
application of Mr. Clay himself.
On this memorable O.:casion, of guilt itOpuled on the one hand, and inno
cence maintained on the other, Mr. McDuffie, it will be recollected, sub
mitted for consideratioivto the House of Representatives, as matter of in
struction to the committee, the following r<^8olution: " That the said com
mittee be instructed to inquire whether the friends of Mr. Clay have hint-
«d that they would fight for those who would pay best, or any thing to
that effect; and whether overtures were said to have been made by the
friends of Adams to the friends of Mr. Clay, offering him the appoint
ment of-Secretary of State for his aid to elect Mr. Adams; and whether
the friends of Clay gave this inform" tion to the friends of Jackson, and
hinted that, if his friends would offer' the same price they would close with
them ; and whether Henry Clay has transferred, or resolved to transfer his
interest to John Q.- Adams ; and whether it was said and believed, that,
as a consideration for his abandonment of duty to his conatituenis, Clay was
to be appointed Secretary of State, and that the said committee be autho
rized to send fur persons and papery and to compel the persons so sent for
to answer upon oath."
Now here is a resolution, offically submitted, covering more than the
ground of my communication to Mr. Beverley : and resting in connexion
with an accusation publicly charged in the newspapers : and yet, Mr. Clay
at this late period, professes to be r jolced, that " a specific accusation by
a responsible accuser, has at length appeared." Certainly more than
two years ago, an accuser respectable, and an accusation specific were both
betbre bim — were both within his reach, and might have been jnet, bad. he
been at all disposed to the interview, or rejoiced at the prospect of nSceting
an accuser. Had Mr. McDuffie believed the charge groundless and untrue,
he is a man of too high sense of honor to have pressed upOn the considera
tion of tbe committee, an instruction clothed in the pointed phraseology
that this is; nor can it be inferred, that in a matter so serious, the friends
of Mr. Clay would have voted against extending this asked for power to
the committee. An innocent man,before anfimpartial tribunal, fears not to
meet the exercise of jmy powier that competent authority gives ; arid far
less should he distrust that exercise, when in the hands of cor rect and hon-
oralble men.
Innocence never seeks for safety through covert ways and hidden am-
huacades ; she fights by day and in the open plain, and proud in her own
f.'''"\^'^"'i5'*''^^'' ^"""y fearlessly. In the proposition submitid by
Mr. McDuffie. there was nothing to alarm, nothin-g that innocence should
have doubt, d about ; it was neither more nor less, than a callof the atten-
&on Of J}»e coqjmittpe Uj pariigulaJ- ioquiries, with an application for fow-

[ 7 1
er t* ferret out the truth, through an appeal to the oath of those wlr»
might be called upon to depose before them.
Without documents aud unacquainted with the number of Clay's friends
in the Hoase, I cannot assert thatiAs^ wereinopposition to Mr. McDuffie'*
Resolution — yetitis ebirious that the nfluence he possessad would nav«
been amply sufficient to produce a difierent result, had Mr. Clay been at '
all desirous. tba< a different ene shpuld have been produced. The Resolu
tion contained strong imputations and serious charges — Mr. Clay and his
friends were both implicated. Can it be presumed under sucb a state of
general excitement, that, ii Mr. Clay desired it, he could not have found
present and ai band, some friend to ask in his behalf, that the resoliltion
should be adopteu and full power extended to the committee ? And more
over, can it be thought, that such an indulgence, if desired by Mc Clay or
any of his friends, could or wou^d have been denied } And yet it was deniedi
inasmuch as the resolution was rejected, and tbe power asked for refused
to the committee. A solicitude lu find a " specific accusation by a respon
sible accuser" could not have been so seriously entertained then as it.is ear>
nestly expressed now, or else so excellent an oppertunity^being afford
ed to encounter both could not' have been so carelessly regarded— so con«
temned, .did so thrown away. A controversy with me c!>n no more disclose
Dr render apparent Mr. Clay's innocence than could the controversy placed
within bis reach two and a half years ago; and yet, while the one wa*
avaided, or at any rate not embraced with a zeal corresponding with the
necessity of the occasion, at the prospects presented by tfe other, exceed
ing joy seems to be manifested. Then, as now, a specif accusation was be
fore him.
One further remark and I am done, with a hope that, onr this subject, I
may not be under tbe necessity of a^n appearing in the newspapers. ' Iu
saying what I have, all the circumstances considered, I have lelt it was due.
to myself audio the public My wish would have been to avaid having any
thing to say or to do in this matter, from an apprehension well conceived
that persons will not be wanting who may charge whatever is done to a de
sire to affect others and benefit myself. My own feelings, though, are of
higher importance and value to rae, than the opinion of those. wiio impose
censure trhere it is believed not to be deserved. I have been actuated by
DO such design nor governed by any such consideration. The origin, the
beginnings of this matter was at my own house and fireside, where surely a
freeman may be permitted to speak on pubhc topics without having ascribed
to him improper designs. I have not gone into the h^hways and the mar
ket places to proclaim my opinions, and in this feel that I traye differed from
some, wuo, eveu at public d.nner tables, have not scrupled to consider ma
as a legitimate subject of a speech, and the entertainment of the company.
And yet for tbis, who has heard me complain ? No one. Trusting to tbe
justice of an intelligent people, I have been content to rely for security on
their decision, against tbe countless assaults and slanders which-are sought
so repeatedly to be palmed upon them, without seeking to present myself
in ray own defence ; and still less, to became "tbe responsible accuser" of '
Mr. Clay, or any other person. ANDREW JACKSON.
Bermitage, Jvly 18, IW.7.
Geji. Jacfi^son to Col. Oaens, concerning the sion MILITIA MEN.
Robertson Springs, July 26, 1827.
Dear Sir: — Tour letter of the 22d instant was handed to mey
late last evening, and 1 hasten to answer the enquiries, ^as request
ed, in regard to tbe case of Harris and the other fire militia
men who were executed at Mobile.
The regiment to which these unfortunate men belonged, was
receired mto the service by the orders of the general gorern-
ment, was mustered for a six months tour, and was paid accord
ingly, for said service, as will appear by tbe muster and day rolls^
and by Col. Pip&in's report to me. These rolls with Col. Pip
kin's report, the proceedings and sentence of'the court martial de«
tailed for tbe trial, and all the circurngtaoces Q«Dfle«ted with th«

I « \
^libject, are, or ought to be, on record at Washington cjty, where,
I have no doubt Mr. Buckner has had a full opportuoity o.texaroip>
ing them. 1 confidently assert, that they stamp the allegations of
Mr. fiuckner with falsehood.
The letter which Mr. Buckner now makes use of, in order t»
injure my character, is well ascertained to be a forgery. It was
first published by Binns, editor of the Democratic Press, purport-
ia^ to be a letter front the unfortunate Harris to me. Now this
mein never vrrote but one letter tome, that I ever saw, or heard ot
before this publication, and in that be acknowledged biraself to be
guilty pt.the enormous crimen charged against him, and stated bis
willingness to meet the just sentence of the court. If Mr. Buck.,-
ner was as desirous to cull the truth from the archives of tbe na
tion, as he IS to pluck from me my hard earned reputation, he
would have,' seen thpit General Winchester, who commanded at
Mobile at the time that this Binns^ letter is dated, mude several
communications to me after that date, and before be had any know
ledge that tbe battle of New Orleans had been fought. Does not
this circumstance show the impossibility of Mr. Harris having tbis
knowledge at .the time stated, and still more that be could have
gained it in time to have made it a ground of application for mer
cy. The letters of Gen. Winchester to me show that he did,
not receive intelligence of the victory till the l'7th January; this.
forged letter ^fives' the intelligfence to Mr. Harris two days before.
Strange indeed, that Mr. Harris, closely coofined in jail, should
be so much earlier informed than the commandant of that post..
, It would give me great pleasure to send you printed copies froin
the^ocuments in' my possession, properly certified, proving what
I have here asserted, biit it is impossible that this can be done
within so short a^ period as that requestedr 1 trust, however, that
the statement here made will be sufficient, witb all honorable
men, to counteract the false impressions sought to ,be forced upoi^
tbe freemen of Kentucky by Mr. Buckner. As a public or private
zUab, speakiog of traiisactions that concern the reputation and cha
racter of others, every manly feeling should remind him, that
be ought to be guided by established &cts, not by the hearsay of
a party; and when he thus produces facts, or tbe least plausible
ifrounil upon which to bottom such charges, as those wbich yon
have recited, I pledge myseli lo be at all times ready to meet
him at the bar of my country.
it may be proper to remark in conclusion, that the finding o^
the court, pioves conclusively that those men were legaUyin ser
vice — '^or otherwise, that they must have been acquitted. I appro
ved of their condemnation, because they were the promoters afid
xtnglfiaders of the mutiny and desertion, committed at a pe^od[^.
when the safety of the Southern frontier was thres^tfined-^at,*
period, which called for the most euergetic measures, and when
eyery nerve of the government was stretched in tbe defence ,of
our liberties. Wheii they yiolaied the.l.iw in such atrocious man-.
Sep, the public good demanded the sacrificp. Had tbey.have done
their duty as faithful soldiers, their country would have lewarded
them with'iis protection and gratitude, '
lam, Sir, your most obedient servant,
„, „ ,, ., ANDREW' JACKgOW."
W^LCiAM Owens. ^

{ 9 1 ^
f. S. It wi|1 be recollected, in the Revolutionary War, at a tinii
'of great trial, Generat Washington ordered <le?ertevs to be shbt
without trial. Captain Reed, under this order, having arretted
three,, had one shot without trial, and his heiid brouglit lo the
General; but he, Gen. Washington, reprimanded lieed for not
shooting the whole three. Gen, Green near Rorish's mill. South
Carolina, says Gordon's history, had eight men hung, on ont pole
for desertion. — Johnson's life of Green sha? five, without court
martial. — I only approved of the proceedings of a court compos,
ed of men who were the friends and neighbours of tjiose to be
tried by them. Respectfully, •
ANDI^EW JACKSON.
Nashville, July 17.1827.
I, Robert W. Hart,'AdjutRnt GenerMl of the first Bmiide of Ten-;
iiessee Militia, in the late Southern War, do certify that 1 wiif af
the Encampment, within thrfee miles of Mobile,, in If 14, when
a Court Martial, of which Col. Peter Pipkin was Presi' ent, was
organized forthe trial .of certain Militia men, who deserted trom
Fort Jackson, under tbe command of Col. Pipkin— that I remain
ed at Mobile and thp neighborhood until (be Ijtisiness of the Court
Martial was completed, and for some time afterwards. 1 was
present at the execution of the six ringleaiiers adjudged to suff6r
death; but I. do certify that that part of the sentence of the Court
Martial ordering the one half of the heads of a large number of the
offenders to be shaved, and the offenders to be drummed out of
Camp, never was carried into effect, said delinquf nts having
been pardoned by General Jackson; in obedience to which pardon
i^ach and every one was honorably discharged. R. W. HAl^T,
Jldj. Gen. in U. S. Service
From the Lovisville .Advertiser.
SIX MIL1TI4 MEN.
A FULL and authentic investigation of tbe case of the six
Tennessee Militia Men is emliraced in the fQllowir-g extracts
from letters which recently . passed, betw-een M^'j- -A. L.
Campbell, near this place, and Col. G. C. Russet, of the U.
S. army. Col, Russel superintended the f xecution of the six
militia men referred to, and is now among the decided friends
of Mr. Adatns.
Extract of a htfer from Major A. L. Campbell to Col. G. C. Ru^,
sel, dated July 2Z, 1&27. •"'
1st. Pid not you command liie 3d Reg. U. S. Infantry, at
Mobile, in 1815, and, as commanding oifi£er at the time, did
you not cause the sentence o{ the Court Rl.irtial to be exe
cuted on this celebrated fellow IJarrig, with four other raili?
^ia men, and- one regular soldier?
2d. Did or did not the laws of the country authorize *the
draft of those men for the term of six months, and were they
BO,t actually drafted and mustered into service for that term^
^d. Ws» mt tbis celebrated Harris and. another ®ne of

I 10.)
llhose five, actually hired substitutes, paid or contracted wttb
|)y those who employed them for the full term of six months?
4th. Could any of those convicted prisoners have wrote to
Gen. Jackson suing for their lives, without yovt having a
knowledge thereof?
Mh. Did Harris write and send to Gen. Jackson the letter
attributed to him, which has been published in many of the
pubhc journals of our countrj?
6th. What was the general and special character of this
fellow Harris?
7lh. What was the magnitude of tbe crimes these meo
were charged with?
8th. What was the strength of the evidence that sapport*--
ed those charges?
9th. If any, what were the extenuating or excusable cir
cumstances in favor of those wicked orat least deluded men?
lOtb. What was the relative situations of oar military
force and country, with regard to the opposing force ef the
enemy, at the respective times of the mutiny, trial, and txa-
cution of those ill-fated men?
Uth. Was there not others, (and if so, how naaiiy) con^
victed at tbe same time, and for the same oflGiBces of those six?
1 2th. Was not all the others recommended by the Court
Martial to the mercy of the commanding General?
1 3th. Did not General Jackson pardon every one so recortli
mended? 14th. Could General Jackson, by any correct and intelli
gent principle of humanity, mercy, or military discipline,
have pardoned those six criminals tliat were executed?
16. Did not General Pinckney, within a year or two be
fore the time referred to, also order the execution of three
soldiers for similar, or perhaps minor crimes, to those eonv-
initled by the six referred to?
16. And did you ever hear an intelligent and honest man»
either in civil or military life, reproach him therefor?
A. L. CAMPBELL,
Sjctract of a letter from Col. G. C. Bussfil to Major .i. L, CampbeU, dated
Ju'y29, 1827.
Your lelterof yesterday's date, requesting me tu answer sixteen interro
gatories eyplanatory of tbe mutiny,'de-erlion, trial, conviction, and execu-
' on of sortie nviliua in 1815, etc was received last nig^it, and 1 shall answer
them in the ui-der in wUicb you have put them.
To the 1st I ansvi'er, tha. 1 was the colonel of the 3d regiment of Infan
try atthi' lime six militia and one legular soldier were shot, near Mobile, in
ISl.'j, p;iisuant to the >entence of a Coiin Martal, approved by General
Jacka-.n hen in New Orleans which agreeably to his orders, was carried
into effecl under my superimendence, in presence of all the troops tben off
duty ; but Ma jo- Gen. iM'Intosh, of tbe Georgia militia, was the coc.mand-
»ng officer of thai wing of the forces under General Jackson's orders, and
'^l '""¦ ^"'°"S file men that were executed there was a mau named Harris.
^.id The Regiment to which the men that were .shot belonged, was
}1T,\ i '"" r"""^*^, ^'"' ^'^ MONTHS service, which was authorized by
.,Ir. .I\"^ ' ""1'.'^^°'' '*''" doubted or questioned but bj. Ihe muti-
^uZ\7^U'Z > ^^ better,, »3 tbe, acknowledged previous te-

I n 1
Sil. Tl was sa'id and believed, that Harris, and one or two others of tW
^ that were shot, were hired substitutes, for the term which the regi'
nient had been di-afted and musicred, and that was six months.
4th and Sth While the prisoners were confined, they might have wrif-
ttn without the knowledire of any one but the guard. The privilege oi
writing, I believe, neve'- w 'S denied to men in their situation. It is, how-
ever, unlikely, tbi.' Harris or any of the others addressed Gen. Jackson to
spare his or their lives— for they did nit know what ihe result of their
trial was before the piomMlgaUnn of their sentence, which was accompanieif
by an order to he carried into effect a few days afterwards j so that a lettei'
could not have reached Ge: eral Jackson, from Harris, before tlie time
^^ppl).n^ed for his execution. Bvit to allow that Harris did write to the Gen
eral, to have paid any attention tail would have betrayed a weakness and
indecision in him that, in lb" then position of affairs, might liave been pro
ductive of fatal consequences; — for we had nokno-aledgeofa treaty of peace
h-iving been signed at Ghent till more than a month after the approval of
the sentence, and fifteen or twenty days after its execution. At such a time
the least relaxation in discipline might have proved ruinous to the country.
6lh. Hariis was a sort of preacher of that denomination called Baptists. —
He was in profession a saint, and in reality (under such a garb of sanctity,
with great pretensions to learnint; ami fcno'.>f(edgeJ a mischievous man
enough amongst more ignorant [ eople than himself.
7ih Mutiny and desertionir^ tbe highest crimes known to the law for the
government of the army.
8th. The evidence in suTjport of these charges against the miliiis^ was
positive and free from a shadow of doubt. They committed ihe offence in
broad day light ; in the presence of the troops that remained faithful, the
agents of the contractor, and every body on the ground.
9th They were w thout justification or excuse, though so long as they
hoped for life, they alleged as an excuse their pretended be'iefthatno
law ex sted ta hold them to service more than three months, in wbich they
had tieert sustained by the opinion-s of iiome of their officers. However, be
fore their execolion, they abandoned this excuse, as they knew better —
and said thsx (hose officers who eneoaraged them to the fatal deed ought ta>
die as well as they.
10. vvhen the mutiny and desertion look place at fort Jackson, I believe
that tbe British force, afterwards repulsed by the garrison on Mobile point,
in the attack ore that place, had showed themselves in the th' n Spanish har
bor of Pensacofa: and probabb Lt. Col. Nichols had issued his gasconad
ing proclamaticnita tbe people of Louisiana and elsewhere; and at Ihat
time tbe regular fire- ttr Mississippi and Louisiana consisted of the 2d, 3d,
7th, and Sth Reg. O! li-fentry, (none of them but little more than half full,
and s-me not that) defachmenig of the 24ih and 44th, with a few compan
ies of artillery, and tbe militia ander Pipkin, to which the mutineers be
longed. At the time of the trial, the intended invasion of the country con
fided to the care of General Jackson was known, and such measures as the
state of tbe national resources would allow bitd been put in requisition to
oppose it ; and at the time the men were shot, the British forces that had
been driven from before New Orleans had taken the fort on Mobile Point,
had received a reinforcement of twelve or fifteen hundr- d men under Col,
Bell, and had every thing in readiness to come up. Nothing prevented them
but adverse winds, which continued till the trea'y of peace was received. —
To prevent advantage or surprise, a system of vigilance was adopted,
suited to the occasion, and we were alias well prepared as it was possible
with uur men and means to oppose them. This, was the precise state of
the opposing forces when Khitis, and five more of the ring leaders of tl:C
mutiny, and desertion with one regular soldier, (who bad slept on his post,)
were shot. From what I saw of ttie &-iiish, lying on Dauphin Island and
tbe Point of Mobile, where I was sent with a flag of truce, their force was
more numerous than ours: iheir's consisted of old troops, and ours mostly
of militia from Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi, with but few regular
Infantry and artillery, and 6 or 7 hundred CtuciC'isaMrs, Choctaws, and
Creeks. 11 th, l-2th, atid 13th, At the same time that Harris and the other five
principal offenders were tried and found guilty, I think 192 more Wt^re
coiiVicted— and from ibg.fftcts <liscl8«e'' on the trial, ihope were only aonsif

i: 1^ ]
¦¦'Me^l as iiie foliowcrs of the six sentenced to su(ier ds-itii— and wci« Itrlie
let off by having their heads hall shaveil, to f .rfeit ihe pay due them, apd
be dru-i'med ot turned out of the lines. I do not recollect that the CoiirJ:
recommended ;hai the Gen-^ral should remit tbe nunisbmen' or not. .But
whether or i ot, he did remit f.at part of the, sentence fthich i,mposed the
use nf the r!i.-H'i-, it nothi g more. , ,,
14lh. In the thefl stjte of t'lingcas befoiedSscrlbed, I thou)»ht not, an;t
I can ni ver ente-tain any otiie' opinion. The execution of (lie whole pos.
sv. alttiough painful to befiolil, was notbit)5 moie than a due adinintsiration
of juiitice nor did I ever bear it doubted or qnesiioned, till in t e summer
of 1 fii'4, when the whole affair wa.s so per-veited and nriisreptesented, that a
»trar.<er, if hi; belieVed the fal^, miisi liaVe thought that the general and
all his officers delighted in shedding innocent blood foi- amusement. I felt
bound 10 collect the .absurd sfoty, when and wherever 1. beard it, and have
alwaj» c 11 tinued todo-soi , , , .
15th and i6ih. Intl-.e summer of 1814, under the orders of Maj. General
Pincknfeyi some men were shot, for sleeping on iheir post and desertion.
One was p. rdoned, and one more would Inve been uhot, had he not died
Uffeier before the day of i-vecution -irrived. For this noblatne was ever
cast upon Gen. Pingkney, because the necessity or propriety cf it, never
was doubted' '

LETTER of Mr. MUNDAY to Mr. CLA

V

Su — My former friendship and high fest- em for you as a man and a poli'-
ticiari, oontiected with >ourvote!in the last Presidential election, is the on
ly apology I shall offer for addressing voii rhroijgb the public journals.—
I was once your frieiwland neglibcur. and havfefelt a just pride in hearing
you spoUen of as ariaong the most distinguished men in the nation. At pre^
iseiit I ara locbied in the yiiungest and most western state in the Union, and
still hear voil and t/nur friends [not '¦¦' ur old .democratic friends of 'he school
of Jttff; rs in] it . o ir new on s of Hartford ronvention memory, such as
¦Wel.isier Os.ifu'd, Oils, Strong, and to cap the.climix, John Q Mam":
spoken of fr-eljr in every assemblage; bui how changed thepublic senti-
lB;-nt! Then ycm viias the Cwitipatrj t of Jefferson and Madison,, and novy
yxvu ai-e identified with the Hartfovd convention and John Q. Adams,
whom you have denounced in tlie most unqualified terms, I remember
well your opinion of this map. and 1 will call your attention to a conversa-
iion, held in your own office, in texingtor, Ky. shortly after your return
from Ghent, relative to Mr. Adams, in which you'Said, that
0:5=There was no doubt upon your mind, but that he was t'le greatest polit
ticaJ hytjocrite on earth ; that lie was as much a Federalist at that time as
be was in the days of his f,(th r's administration; tha ho was an opposer of
the westei-n inlei-esi, and tbit it Was as much as the "ommissioners associal;-
ied with hint at Gh.^nt could do, to prevent himfro.T) giving away the frefe
ssavigation of the Mississippi river to the British.,i3)
Y"U contirilied yotir remarks and said, that if ever Adams should become
President, the people would see worse times tiian they had under tne ad-
tninsilratidn of h.s father; You called him an east'-rnpiirilan.and indeed heap
ed so m,ioj opprobrious epithets tipon hiln during \ our observaionS, that
all who h 'd thf least v gatd for jWjr vfirScity miisl have looked upon Mr.
AdaiiiS 4s ihe basest of men , ¦ . ,
, VS.ith a know ledj;e ot theafe things fresh upon my mind,- 1 shall not under>
Jake to describe the is onishm rt, pain, and deep mortification I felt on
.learning th:<i iru, f^.r, was tbe v. ry ma - who elevated John Q Adams to
the highe.st officis in the gif of a free aud ii-ffcteiiderifpi-pple. Tbe ver
iest hypncrite on earth could not have done more than this, and tbtre was a
lime wi.eh 1 coifidetl so s r()i)f;lj in you, tb t ik man duld dart, with im-
puniiy. to tell me en-\ Cla> will commit this deed and betray his fi-iettda.
Bull' is done; iind I .siiir r..l> belif-ve i curtate is j stly jiiid irrevocably
¦Bv-Hled bj a muc'li ii.jortd anl insulud'pfebi le, wlu^se will \oii se- at defii
ai.ce, -„na which 1 c- luK! not bei;e\e yoii fever would du;af-"er hearing the
tepei-.-.i.,ou deljvewil a: [1 ghee's mills, against J. Pope, in which-you said
yoo 1" veMiadd.tohe.Ted Ilie |>< 0|-.|(», ho'r J<in never would, knowtheir
will (u,w yo., n„, (, " And now, sir, I Would -n-k iu what wav you are to
Moiie loi a.i open vioUtionof this great ruling principle of our govetr.

[ .13 1
4nent .» Are j-ou prepared to say the people of Kentucky were in favour «({'
.^dams .' or rather, on the contrary, can you deny but you had always be^n
liis deadly enemy, and us.-d your whole influence, and successfully too, tb
poison and rivet the public' mind against him up to the very hour of yoVir
aposiacy ? Far as you n^y have tyandered fronj the line of yourduty in vo
ting for <:r. Adams, 1 am persuaded yoti cannot raise your voice agalnit
truths so rotorioos as these, and 1 willingly submit them to that same con-
jc/e«rB which admonished you there was danger in the elevation of a' mlli-
taty Chieftain.' I mightenlargemuch on this sulgect, and call your atten
tion to many of jour, political opinions, relative to men and measure?,
which, when compared with your present situation, would go far to esta
blish yourinconBiSteocy and duplicity ; but I am not disposed 'o dwell upon
matters of this nature to any greale^r extent than the present times appear
o require of every cjtizen who feels an interest in the purity and perman
ency of our government ; »nd will conclude by remarfciij.g, that the con
tempt wi'h which" distinguished public servants treat the will of the people,
and -the repeated abuses of public confidence, assume the most alarming as
pect, and stronjjly admonish the people of the necessity of an immediate re
form. Impressed as I am with this belief, I hope you will nut attribute my
remarks to any thing but a wish to contribute, by all honarible means in
-•My power, to the stabiKty of a government to which I am devoted.
HARRISON MUNDAY.
iSr. Lowis, 24jA July, 1827.
EXTRACT FROM THE PREAMBLE
aTo the Resolutions adopted at the Jackson Dinner, near Le^ngtorfj
onthe2lstJuly,\B27.
It is a fandament-d! principle in all republican government?,
that a ^^'miajorily shall rule, " and that " the representative is
6ound l^.tkemll of his constituents; " and the ide^ has been
^dvftnced, upon tbe floor of congress by a distinguished states-
hian, Well known to us all, that it is '¦'¦sufficient for the represen-
&tive to know the zeillofhis constituents; that it imposes uponhim
as strong an obligation to obey that will as if he had reeeived for
mal and specific instructions. " These are democratic maxims
worthy of the representative, and we only regret they were
hot adhered to i:i the last Presidential election, by those upou
whose minds we had supposed they were indelibly stamped.-^
What are the facts in relation to the last Presidential election^.
Gen. Jackson had a plurality of votes in the electoral Colleges,
baving received 99, and next to Mr. Clay, was the acknowl
edged choice of all the western states who did npt give him ah
entire vote. In Kentucky, when in opposition to Mr. Clay,
fae received at the polls more than one third of all the votes
taken, while not a single vote was given to Mr. Adams. In
addition to all this, it is well known that the legislature, after
it was found that their own favorite was excluded from the
House of Representatives, in Congress, adopted a resolution
bj almost a unanimous vote of both branches of that body, " re
questing our representatives in Congress to vote for General
.Jackson, as the second choice of the people of Kentucky, "
fvfaen not a solitary voice was heard in favor of Mr. Adains.
Befere the election of Mr. Adams, we were repeatedly told,
and fj^m high authority too, that be was unfit to preside over
the destinies of a great nation; that he had but little practical
JfBowledge of the interests of the people of the United States;

i 1* ]
and that he was merely a cabinet statesman, but partially ac
quainted with human nature; that he bad received his educa
tion in a foreign land, and had imbibed^ in despotic courts, prin
ciples highly aristocratic and anti-republican in their tenden
cy, which were openly professed and acted upon by him until
the aristocratic party with whom he had iientified himself,
had been prostrated; he then apostatized and deserted from
his own ranks, and came into the republican camp on purpose
to betray; that he was narrow and selfish in his views as a
statesman; vindictive and revengeful in his feelings as a man;
and that -he had even, while a senator of the United States, so
far forgotten the dignity of his high station, as to become the
malignant reviler, in doggerel and obscure rhyme, of theil-
iustrious sage of Monticello, to the measures of whose adminis
tration, he was long bitterly and violently opposed; that he
had beheld witb jealous envy and cold suspicion, the rising
greatness and growing influence of the western country, and
fead always manifested the most unrelenting hostility to all our
great leading and important interests; that he had been inimi
cal to the acquisition of Louisiana b) purchase, and had, as
senator, voted against every measure which would enable the
Executive to take possession of tbe newly acquired territory.
He even voted against paying the militia of Tennessee who had
at thecal! of Mr. Jefferson, the then President, performed the
arduous and painful duty of inarching through a savage wilder
ness, a great distance from their homes, to put the governmenf
in possession of a country that was to give free outlet to the
agricultural products of the West, and add millions of Wealthy,
enterprising, aitd indiistrious citizens to our population; that
he had been at the treaty of Ghent in favor of giving the Bri
tish government the right of navigating the river Mississippi,
from its source to its mouth, thus enabling a foreign power to
exercise a direct influence over those immense hordes of sa
vages in the north whose destructive ravages, impelled by this
baneful influence, has already been the mournful theme of
many a bloody tragedy. Who can reflect on the cruel msssa-
cres that have been perpetrated by the wild savage of the fo
rest, under British influence, at Fort Mftigs, at River Raisirt,
ai Fort Wayne, and many other parts of our northern and
southern border, during the late war, without almost execra
ting the statesman, whose cold and selfish policy could at
tempt to add facilities by a solemn treaty, to enable a foreign
power to carry on this horrid and inhuman system of waffare?
Who would barter away the pecuniary interests, as^well as the
lives and blood of the western people, for the contemptible
privilege of drying codfish on the banks oi Neiefoundtandl
That Mr. Adams was in favor of surrendering by treaty this
privilege to the British government, at the treaty of Ghent, is
a tact that has been boldly asserted by Mr. Clay, one of his
colleagues on that mission, and not denied by Mr. Adams.
Mr. Clay has long since publicly pledged himself that he would

I 1* 3
make some developments in relation to the course puisueel
by Mr. Adams on that memorable otcasion; but it will per
haps be postponed by that gentleman to ^^some future time,
moreprapilioiis and suitable to the calm investigation of ihe snb'
ject, than the present," It was also alleged as a charge a-
gainst Mr. Adams, that he had surrendered to Spain, by trea
ty, without an adequate equivalent, the Province of Texas,
comprising a vast region of fertile territory, after demonstra
ting most conclusively in his correspondence with the Span
ish minister, that it belonged to the United States. So much
for Mr. Adams'" skilful diplonaacy.
Mr. Adams was also accused of being an enemv to inter
nal improvements, and his votes against the Cumberland road
and an appropriation to improve the navigation of the Ohio
river, while a member of the United States' Senate, Avere ad
verted to as triumphant proofs of his hostility to the system.
On the subject of the Tariffof 1 824, which gives protection
to our hemp, bale rope, and cotton bagging, it was said Mr. Ad
ams maintained a most ambiguous silence, but it was inferred
that he was hostile to the measure, as his northem friends,
almost to a man, with Daniel Webster at their head, were
most bitterly and violently opposed to it, and, with but few-
exceptions, voted against the bill, which afterwards became a
lavr. But above all, it was alleged that Mr. Adams was Secretary of
State, and that the custom of cabinet succession was growing in
to a most alarming and dangerous prpcedent, which, if not broken
down, would enable the President, with tbe patronage and inSoence
which his situation emponrered him to wield, to appoint his sue-;
cesser, and in this way convert the election of an otfieer, whom it
was intended by the framers of the constitution should be eleva
ted by the free and unbiassed voice of tbe American people, to an
idle ceremony — a useless pageantry. We believe there was much
force in this objection. Already have we seen that Bolivar who
has turned law giver to (he people of the South, has adverted to
this custom or ^precedent'' as an argument to justify him in engraft
ing into his Constitution of Bolivia, as a distinctive feature, the
monarchical principle of a '¦^President for life, with the poixer of
appointing his suaessor."
Let it not be said by those friends of Mr. Adams in Kentucky,
who were, before his election, his violent and bitter opponents,that
this IS the language of faction, and that these charges have ori
ginated since his election, with what they are pleased to call the
unprincipled opposition. We well recollect thft quarter from
whence the objections to Mr. Adnins, which we have attempted
to enumerate, were made, and we boldly assert, that they were
urged with great pertinacity, much force and complete effect be*
fore the people, by some of those who now stand bigh in his eon
fidence, who have become his eulogists and flatterers, and ivbe
now think proper to denounce and proscribe all who have too much
independence to be transferred, and who cannot be influenced to
support a man who they themselves had represented as totally
void of prineiple,-an<l whom they had succeed«d jn rendciriDg joii^

CMS [0 the people of Kentucky. Time has not yet erased the reco; ,
Jection of these facts from our memory. We believed at the peri
od they were first brought to our notice, that they were entitled tc
much weight, and however others may have changed, more re
cent events have confirmed us in the opinion, then formed in rela
tion to the political character of Mr. Adams, and his unfitness for
the high station to which he has been, so improperly elevated.
We ^ill iH't attempt to express our astonishment and regret.
on receiving inl^ormalion that " John Quincy Adams'''' had been
elfected PrHsident, although the highest number of votes was
given to Andrew Jackson, in the electoral colleges; and that u
majority of our representatives in Congress, in open violation
of the known will of the people of Keutucky, had vottidin fa
vour of the measure — some of them, the, very men too, who
had previously been the most loud and bitter in their denuin
ciations of Mr. Adams, Cabinet succession, which before
had been strenuously urged as objectionable, and dangerous
to our republican institutions, was now become " a safe prece-.
dent." He who had been charged with a deliberate design of
bartering away our important interests for a ^'¦mess of codfish^'
is now lauded in the highest strains of fulsome panegyric, as
a pure, and almost immaculate statesman, and the nation con
gratulated by those faithless betrayers of the sacred trus*
confided to them, that in thwarting the people's will by de^
feating the election oi Andrew Jackson, the citizen soldier, who
had proved dangerotis to none but the enemies of his country,
the government had probably been rescued from the iron
grasp of a military despotism. By what powerful agency this
almost miraculous change, from hostility to friendship, from
suspicion to confidence, from fierce defiance and threat to har
mony and an entire oblivion of past transgressions,was brought
about in the bosoms of those who were the most conspicuous
actors in this ever to be lamented drama, we will not pretend
to divine. The facts are before the American people, and
from the circumstances within their knowledge, we hope they
will pronounce a just and impartial judgment. We claim
the privilege as freemen, of examining with boldness, but at
the same time with a spirit of liberal forbearance, the acts of
our public servants, and to draw our own inferences as to the
effects and consequences of public measures, but not to scru
tinize the secret and hidden motives of the human heart. —
This power alone belongs to the searcher of all hearts.
We disclaim hostility to the measures of the present adminis
tration, so far as in our opinion those measures are conducive to
the public good; bat we protest agamst those measures, admitting
they have been wise and who!6Some,creating any obligation on our
pttrt to re-elect the present incumbent to the office which he now
falls. We will not, by any acts of ours, attempt to embarrass the
legitimate exercise of the powers entrusted to Mr. Adams; nor is
it Our intention to haveanr agency in turning him out at the expi
ration of the term for which he has been elected. Fortunatelji
fof us, that quertiOT H settled by the constitution of our countr^r;

t 11- ]
yi'e Bnly say, thtit in voting for j9nrfr«a) Jacfc«en as PreSidtwi^ \9t
preference to the present incumbent, we will havejexercised our
privilege as independent citizens of a community where all enjoy
fqual rights, of elevating a man, who we sincerely believe, ba^
higher cl'aims to our gratittide for services rendered, and who, we
think, will administer the gavernmpnt with a single eye to the
public weal, and on more sound, econoniical, and republican prin
ciples. In addition to the well founded objections t» Mr. Adams that
were urged against him before hie election to the office which he
now fills, some of which have been already enumerated, his ad
ministration has furnished m with ample giouods of opposition to
gome of his measures, and reasons which entirely jgstify us in op?
posing hU second elevation. We believe that since the organiza
tion of our government, no President has advocated principles so
contrary to the simplicity, the genius, and spirit of oorrepubhcan
iri*tilutions, or measures sa arbitrary in thpir character, or more
fatally detrimental to the moral improvement, ^nd. political pros
perity of our beloved country. He is the first President, who has
insulted the dignity of a free and high minded people, by recom
mending in a public message " the representatives rwt to bf palsied
by the will of their constituents.''^ Hp has claimed the right to cre
ate new and expensive diplomatic missions, dqriog the recess o^
Congress, " without the advice and consent of the senate." He
has, by what be calls, " a superadded obligation higher than humfin
auihoriiy,'" threatened the invasion, by a military force of a sovei-
eign and independent state. He has thrown the whole weight of
his administration, with all its pgwer and patronage, against such
an amendment of the constitution of the United States, as would
place the power of electing the Chief Magistrate more directly la
the hands of the people, and place it beyond the contronl of a
body where their voice has already bten disreg?^rded, and where
we have too much reason to believe, that the prediction contained
in the celebrated circular issued by tbe friends of Mr. Clay,
previous fo the last election has been truly verified, " that if ihe
election of President went before Congress, the voice of the people
would be no more h^ard in the contest; but all wovld be cairied by in
fluence and intrigue, bargain and management!'^ He has attempted
to corrupt the Press, and make it subservient to his own ambitious
views, in depriving some of the oldest and most stedfast editors of
republican journals of tbe patronage of the govproment, by taking
from them the printing of thelaws and giving it to big toolsand syco
phants, some of which were distinguished advocates of Ihp " HarV-
ford 6onventio9,^ and opponents of the late war; and others have
'brought themselves into notice, by Ihe most vulgar abuse of the
wife of General Jackson, as well as by forging slanders and giving
tbem currency against the General himself. Among those who
have entitled themselves to the particular notice and patronage pf
this piire and virtuous adciinistralion, is the Editor of the DpfnocrOf
^ic /'rijipf Philadelphia, the first who published the forged letter
of Harris, one of ttte six militia men from Tennessee who were
fried and found guilty of mutiny and deserliori, by a court martiai
regularly i:(mvened for that purpose. To reward thjs corrupt sji
oophanf.ap aged ajjd respectable viiiow, wjth a^r^e .*aFl?iIy pivfs

I « 1
l^bax ciMldr«B,w-a< deprived of the otBca ot ttatranerfbr the istnttm
house, which she had held for years. Is it possible that tbe me;»^
bers ot the present administration, can hope to maintain their pow-
«rand retain their^places, by means so unworthy? Is it possible
they have become so infatuated as to believe they can thus check
the spirit of enquiry among a free people? As well might they at
tempt to grasp the ocean or chain the winds.
To the present administration may justly be attributed, the less
jof the colonial trade, worth to tbe people of the United States
upwards of four millions of dollars, and of vast importance to the
people of the western states, as it furnished a market for an im
mense quantity of the agricultural productions of our soil. Mr.
Adams has set an example, which is calculated to corrupt the
morals of society, by purchasing with the public money, contrary
to law, a billiard table, with other gambling apparatus, and set
ting them up in the government house, which be occupies^
it is in vain that the several states enact severe penal laws to
put down this vice, so injurious to the purity of the public
«iDrals, when the Chief Magistrate encourages it in his pafc
ace, at the city of Washington.
We have sefen with regret the most improper uses made of
the power and patronage of the government, and a disposition
manifested to increase that patronage to a most dangerous
and alarming extent. We have seen it in the increase of the
diplomatic corps created by that useless and expensive mea
sure the Panama Mission, and we have witnessed with indig
nation the novel spectacle, of those who had received their ap-
pointments on that mission, instead of -going in pursuit of thh
fugitive Coiigress of Panama, permitted to remain at home
a whole season to canvass for state offices, one of them draw
ing his full pay as Secretary to the mission, while he was el
ectioneering under the patronage of the administration, as a
candidate for the guberaatorial chair of New York.
We have witnessed efforts the most bare faced by the mem
bers of the executive cabinet, and agents under their imme
diate pay and direction, to control the state elections, and
have men raised to office, who will he subservient to their
vievps, and advocates of their policy.
We think the people's money has been most improvldently
squandered in paying forthe number of useless surveys, and
.reconissances that have been made by order of the execu tivoj
-most of them entirely local in their character and evidently
designed as a means to contrt^l and influence the people, in the
various sections of the country through which they were made
We are decidedly in tavour of a Hberal system of Internal
Jaiprovement.=i not local in its character, where great public
¦works, benefaciij to the whole Union might be carried oo
, with the consent of the States through whose Territory they
would pMss, and which vvoald be of too great magnitude to be
accomplished by the .efforts and resources of a single statej
but we are fully impressed with the belief, that the measures
of the praseiit ,adini:.7J*tratior', on the stibject of Internal Im-

[ 19 ] ¦
fwavemeots, are calcntated to counternet the rerv oWect thoy
profess to have so much at heart. We believe the President
lias already ordered more surveys and reconissances for roads
and canals, than the whole revenue of the government, if ap
plied exclusively to theaccomplishmenlof tboseobj ects, would
effect in a century to come; and who does not perceive that
this more than useless expendituw of the public money, is re
sorted to by a falling administration, to enable its members to
retain their power more than for any practical result benefi
cial to the country? Who is so blind as not to perceive that
those improvident and anwiseroeasures, characterized by am*
bition and extravagance,instead of facilitating the great march
of Internal Improvements, are eminently calcnlated to check
and retard their progress? By holding out false hopes, and
creating expectations among the people, that never can be
iior never were intended to be realized, the exertions of the
states are paralyzed, their energies depressed, and they are
deterred, under the delusive hope, that the general govern
ment will undertake it for them, from commencing public
works useful and practicable, and entirely within the compass
of their own means and resources.
T^he people of Kentucky have been so long accustomed to
the syren song o( ^'¦Internal improvement," without deriving any
practical benefits from it, that they have become almost satia;
ted with the delusive sound. The munificence of the gener
al government and the "great American System," are talked
pf as if there were some thing magical in words, and what,
we emphatically ask, has this munificent Administralitih yet
done for Kentuc|£y? This question is easily answered. Mr.
Adams a few weeks previous to fhepending August elections
in Kentucky,sent forthtwooutof his regular corps of electioii-
cering engineers, who did us the favor of journeying through
our state at the rate of thirty or forty miles per day — not to
locate a road, or make a survey, for not a compass has been
set nor a course taken, but they have made what in the vo
cabulary of the great "American System" is called a "recon-
issance." It is thus the people of Kentucky are to be amused at their
own expence, and while Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Vir
ginia, and the other states of the Union, are improving and
adorning their territory with public works, which, from their
usefulness, magnitude, durability, and grandeur, excitethe ad
miration and astonislifnent of the age, Kentucky stands with her
arms folded, without making an effort worthy of herself, to imi
tate the brijliant example set by her sister states. Her states-
nien, instead of enabling her to put forth her energies, and ur
ging her on in the bright careerof glorious emulation,are teach
ing her people to rely for every thingon the general government,
(wfbich has yet a public debt of seventy-three millions un
paid,) and amusing her with the fallacious hope of the vast
Woe&ts which are to flow into her lap from that cxuherfiftt

I S0 3
Sad exhaustless fountain of governmental manificeiice, ** tlie
j|rrffit American system."
We say let Kentiicky rouse from her supineness and lethar-
|;y on the subject of " m(enw/ im/»row«ien<s;" let her no ledg
er depend upbn empty and delusive promises from abroad,
but let her intelligence be employed in devising some practi-
. 'cable scheme by which her own ample means and resources
(Can be called into aictive. Vigorous, and efficient operation;
and if the situatiofl of the United States t^pasUry will justi
fy it, let congress annually apportion among the several stales,
a part of the public taioney to be appropriated by them for
improving their roads ^nd making canals, or let that body au-
tliorize the subscription of a part of the public mo
ney in joint stock companies, chartered byland tinder the btUi-
trol of the states. \^^e believe the goVernihent funds will h&
'expended much niore judicisusly in this way, and that greater
good wjuld be affected by it, whilst the withering and corrupS-
ing irifluence of executive patronage from this source, would
, he in a great measure avoided; and we might reasonably
hope that Kentucjky would come in for her full share, which
would be a most beneficial Auxiliary to enable her to carry
into effect her own listeful enteirpriii^s', in iniproving the piib-
lic roads and making canaU*.
- ForourfelvesiCjnSidering the "si'gnS of the times," we cnii
view the Harrisbugh convention, whatever may be the pre
tentions of Its friends (is to its objects, in pd other light than
as a dangerotis project, got up by intriguing politibians, from
mischievous and sinister motives; and we are bold to affil'm^
that we believe it i| notc&lled fot" by the ejdgencies bf the
times, not sustained by pviblic opinion^ nor sanctioned by the
usages and customs of the coiintry, unleSs indeed its friends
should think proper to rely on the meeting of the ever memo
rable Hartford conventionj *as a safe precedent.'''' What confi
dence can a political bodyj organised and constituted as this
must be con^posed of heated and interested partijiiins, blind
ly wedded to a pa, ticular policy, inspire in the great mass of
the people of the United States?, Do they embody and bring
together froiirt all parts of the Union, as much knowledge, and
as mlifch disinterestedness on any subject of policy in which tbe
igraat interests of the nation are involved, as the people's sworn
representatives! Would rtot a report from the chairman of a
¦standing comritiittee in Congress on the subject of the "awoWens
'bill" '^'f any othfer subject, be received v^ith nftdre deference,
and its details aud facts inspire more confidence in the delib-
'era'tions of that bddy, than any t-enYonstrance, petition, or ad-
'dress, from such self-created and irresponsible bodies as the
HarriSbiirgh or Hartford conVentionl We cannot perceive
^ne good purp 'se this convention is calculated to produce,
and We can im igine. without conjuring up groundless fears
^nd apnr'iei.si.ins, that it might be. productive of much evil.
Air^dy have we seen in years past, a convention of Delegates

21 ]
from several States, who undertook to menace the executive^
and control even Congrees itself. It was here we saw f&ction
assume its most appalling aspect. Itwas here that we sa^v'
combinations which threatened the existence of the Union
itself, developed in their most dark and hateful forms; ami
had it not been for the peace at Ghent, ahd the glorious vip>.
tory at New Orleans, the union and confederacy of these
States might have found a grave^ and the fond hopes of the
statesme.n and the patriots of tne t-eVolution, been biided in
the treasonable machinations oi a^'' Hartford Convention.''^
In relation to the delegates in the Harrisburgh conventioQ^
^e say, ascitiiens of a state, proud of its character and jea
lous of its dilgnity. they have oo right to pretend to speak the
volceof Kentucky, on any question that may form the subject
of deliberation in that body, and we shall protest against il*
exercise as an nn.'iuthorized usurpation ofpower^not warranti-
ed by the circumstances of their appointment. Kentucky has
6ighty-one counties, and out of that number, eight only haye
the shadotjv of a representation. In those eighty-one counties,
there are eighty-five thousand voters, and not more than five
hundred of that number, had any voice, directly or indirectly
in choosing tbe delegates which composed the Frankfort con-
ventioi), from which the defegates sent to Harrisbut-gh deriv
ed their authority. Ii this is not a mockery of the princi
ple of representation^ and an insult to the people of Kett-
tucky, we cannot conceive what is. That the result of
their deliberations, in caucus assembled, will be lis-efal to the
¦country, or respected by our representatives in Congress, who
alone are the legitimately authorised agents of the people^
who speak their will and enact the laws by which they are
"governed, we cannot believe, and we deprecate the policy of
a iew designing men getting up contentions, through meet*
ings suddenly called and thinly attended, for the purpose of
representing us, or df controlling or influencing in any man
ner the free and unbiassed deliberations of the legally consti
tuted authorities of the government.
Although Ynatiy 'of the frieiids of General Jackson voted in favor of the
" Woollens Bill" and had it not treen for their aid and co-operation, it would
evidenOy havr been defeated in tlie house of represeiiiatives, and many of
the friends of Ae idmii/isi ration voted against il; yet the friends of Mr.
Adams now atlempf, for .-lect:niiteci'in.4 pttrposes'; to n>ake the people be-
tieve,because itwas defeated in the senate and a majority of Jackson's friendt
Votrd ag'ai'>st it in tha: bod)', 'bat be and his friends are inimical to the
whole tariff system, or, as Ihej are pleased to call it, " the great American
system." We rejoice, whoever may have voted for the " Woollens Bill,**
whether from seifish and in'.erested views or mistaken notions ot policy, or
whether thev were the friends of Jackson or J. Q, Adams, we repeat itv
we r joice that lire senate anest. d iis farther progress, because we fii miy
-believe it uaa an impolitic mcasurt, and would have been partial, unjust,
and oppi-essive in its operations, pai ticularly lo the agriiulttiral interests
of the souti- and west. It would have been partia . because ii did not afford
that protection to the woo grower that it did to the manuCacturer, as no
additional dutj was to liav been laid upon the importation of foreign woo!
until neai :wo yea'-, bad e'apsed afier the law would have went into opera-
J!im, It thetriends of tiie bill had been apposed to act inipartiatly,wby di<S

i n i
l(h%)r aot eoment tp amend it by cddln^ an additioiutl duty oa ln>p«rt«^ i^
tits to protect our domestic liquors, articles of commerce in which Penniylo
Vania, Yirginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, are all much interested ? _Wliy did they
oppote adding an additional duty on foreign hemp, an article in which Ken
tucky is particularly interested ? These proposed amendments, we believeh
were all strenuously opposed by the friends of Mr. Adams. It wsuld bavs
been unjust and oppressive in its operation, because the descriptions of
woollen goods upon which, by the provisions of the bill, additional duties
were to be imposed, were of the coarser quality, such as are generally
worn by the poorer classes of society, while no additional duties were laid
upon the finer quality of sloths worn by the more wealthy and opulent dtf-
zen. It would haVe been oppressive, because it would have enabled the
manufacturing capitalist of the north to become wealthy, by the profits of
this legislative monopoly created in bis favour, and would, in the same pro
portion, have impoverished tbe already oppressed agriculturalists of tbe
south; and we are opposed to any tariff thus partial and unjust in its ope
ration, as subversiire of those equal rights to which tbe citizens of all tb*
States are equally entitied from tbe protecting and fostering care of the gor
neral government) which was not created for the benefit of tbe few, but tba
many. It would appear, however, that a deaf ear is to be turned lo the com
plaints of our brethren of the south, and alt our sympathies are poured
forth for the iraagioary distresses of tbe northern manti|acturers. Le.t us for
a moment enquire who has the most powerful claims to the exercise of those
generous emotions m their favor, and whose interests it would best suit our
policy to protect and support. We have heard from an unquestioiiabla
source that at " Boston larga quantities of domestic woollen goods have been
recently sold at auction, where the sales were brisk and at fair prices."—
Where is the sound policy or necessity, then, of giving the manufactu er
additional profits f Is not a fair price as much as he ouglit reasonably lo ex
pect for Ihe product of his labor and the investment of his capitaH
Let us now reverse the picture. — What are the complaints that salut«
our ears from the people of Ihe southern states, even under the eperatioo
of the present tariff? Ala large and respectable meeting recently held in
the city of Charleston, S. C. a raoit vivid and striking picture is drawn cf
the universal depression of all branches of trade and the general distresf
which pervades the country, amongst all classes of people, which if true,
(and we cannot doubt its auihenlicilyj then ought the people of Kentucky
to awake from their delusion, and promptly take that course wbich their
own interests, justice, and sound policy dictates. What are tite facts de
tailed by the meeting in CharlestXMr? They represent that their imports
have been much lessened ; their shipping interest nearly destroyed: their
metchants driven aWay, and tbe profits of all classes of men, especially the
agriculturalists, have been reduced almost to nothing. It becomes our du
ty seriously to examine what effect this alarming state of southern de
pression is to have Opon our trade and commerce with those states, wbich
have heretofore been so profitable, and lo pause before we give our coiv-
sent lo increase the eiisting tai-iff on woollen goods, when it already weighs
«o oppressively on tbe people of the south, with whose interests we ought,
from our commercial and social relations, to consider ntti-s indissolubly
connected, and we shouldfrown indignantly on the statesman who from sel
fish and ambitious motives, would attempt to sever those sacred lies. Wbere
«io we Bad a market for our surplus produce ; our mules, our horses, our
hogs, our bale rope and cotton bagging, and many olherarticles of export,
the growth of our soil and the product of our labor, but in the southern
states ? And do we not get in return for these articles bard money t What
single article of commerce, raw or manufactured, do we send to the New
England Stales from Kentucky ? We know of noitiing except the money
we get for our exports to the south. And yet we are called u-pion by Mr.
Adams' new made friends in Kentucky, to sanction an additional tariff upon
Xvoollen goodsjodicus and partial 'mils operations.and which is peculiarly cal
culated to ruin and impoverish the southern and grain growing slates, the in
evitable consequence of which is to lessen andjiiltimately prostrate tbe pro-
ifitabletrade we nowcarry on with them. We trust tbe people of Kentucbyare
t-iol yelprepared to sanction this suicidal polic) ,wbicb is at war with the bert
SfflSerests nf Wur 60«ntry, and we take tfeis ocGskoiito expTv^s our em'ne S»r-

1 « 1
jpfobatton in Ani<of -of ttte oo«r«e pursued by such of onr repmsenMtvcK lit
Congress from this state, tome of whom are in favor of Mr, Adama, wtto
bad the firmness to vote against the " woollens bill."
We havs attempted we think impartially to delineate the political charao»
ter of John Q Adams, and endeavoured to ppurtray with tbe pencil of
truth some of the prominent features which b:ive characterized the policy
of hii administration, and we cannot for a moment believe he has any far
ther claims to the patronage of the American people. He has already baen
elevated for a term of four years to tbe highest office the nation can be*
itow, and we beheve has drawn more money from the public treasury (part
of it, too, in direct violation of a law of congress) than any public olfioer:
since the commencement of tbe government, and we are convinced he has
been more thon adequately rewarded for all the public services he has ev>
er performed.
He bas exercised powers and advocated principles that are calculated to
fill our bosoms with tbe deepest apprehension and alarm, which, if not
checked by the fiat of the people's will, may ultimately lead to a consolid
ation of all the powers of the state government. Should this fatal crisis
ever come, which heaven avert, instead of Ihe bold and spirited energy of
freemen supporting and maintaining unimpaired those constitutional rights
hallowed by the wisdom and consecrated by the blood of their fathers, we
may be doomed to witness a despotic government and an enslaved people.
It is for the purpose of averting even the most distant and remote proba
bility of an event so uopropitious to our country's happiness and welfare,
that we are in favour of placing ..Andrew Jackson in the Presidential chair.
He is probably the only one among the few survivors of ihe heroes of the re
volution upon whom it will be again in the powerofthe people to confer that
distinguished honor. No man since the days of Washington has stronger
claims upon the gratitude of the nation for services rendered, and none
Jiave performed those services witb an eye more singly directed to the best
interests of our common country.
It bas bf en said, he is merely a " military chieftain." If it is meant by
this appellation lhat be isincipable of discharging tfce duties of a civil sta.
lion, that his talents are purely military, and lhat he would, if elected, be
ilisposed to disregard tbe rights of the citizen, und by the strong arm of mi-
liiary potirer, trample upon ihe constitution of his country, it is a libel upon
bis character, and an insult to the understanding of the American people,
Bis talents are not " purely military," as the bigh civil offices which he bas
repeatedly filled, with credit to' himself and usefulness to his country wilt
abundantly show. Ue was a member of the con-encion which framed the
constitution of Tennessee. He received from Gen. Washington, who was
tben President, the office of Attorney General of the same slate. He was
for several years Judge of ihe Supreme Court, and twice elected a Senator
in the congress of tbe United States ; and who has ever been heard to com
plain that he bad not performed with ability tbe duiies incident to each of
the civil offices which he has, at various times, filled .' If the duties were
performed lo the entire salisfactioa of that community who were the most
.deeply interested in their faithful discharge, what better evidence can be
required of tlie integrity and abilities of the man who filled them .' We de-
iiy that General Jackson is in the common acceptation and true meaning of
the term a "military chieftain-" His fife ha.i not been principally spent in
camps and at the head of armies, trained and disciplined to war as a trade i
^ul when his country stood in need of his services, he has always been rea
dy and willing to unsheathe bis sword, and put forth his energies in ber de
fence. While yet in the dawn of manhood, that generous ardour which swells
the souj of tbe patriot, that thirst for true glory, that hatred lo tyranny
and oppresMon, which bas since so conspicuously marked his course thro'
Jife,impelled him lo seek his country's foes in tbe tented field, where, by tha
side of the warriors of the revolutioD,he mingled his blood with theirs in the
tiiJe uf battle. At the commencement of the late war, when our southern
frontiers were ^sited by thedesolating scourge of fndian warfare, he was
not a cold and inactive speclatbr of the distressing scenes of massacre and
blood whiob marked tbe track of our savage foe. He put himself at the
bead of the militia of his slate, and marched to mttx bis wily and inaidioiw
.'nemy, and by those bo'd and rapM ntov««cnf* vbWb bxv»so pccuIiuV

I 24 Y
iTtarked his system of advance and attack, he was enabUd, by a suecessktiv
•f brilliant victories and heroic acirtevem.;nl», te cliaslise bur rutbiea.. f je^
aud give peace and security to our t'loniier ii^habitaiits.
He waH afterwards appuioted a iVlajor Generaliti the army of the Unitr
ed Slates, and immediHteiy repaired to the 'post of danger. At a im^
when our affairs hud assumed the most glucimy aspect, when our arm* in
the north had met with the most discouraging reverses ; when the ciy of
Wdsbington had been invaded, and its ciipitol wrapped in fiarnis; when
the credit of tba gover.imeot wa»sunk, arid the treasury of the nation al
most exhausted.; when the umon iusi' was threatened by the tr^awtiabie-
piachinationg of a band of traitors assei.bied at Hartf.ird i when a powerful
enemy, flushed witb recent • ictory, end crooned wirh lUe bloody Isurels) of
Waterloo, was hovering upon uur coasts ^nd spreading fire and desol vtiuil
«long our shores, ; £^1 ibis iippaUin;; nod eventful crisis, wben dismay ha4
seized the stoutest hettrts, and a settled gloom marked every counteniince,
the soul of Jacka:'n was firm and undismayed. The government having the
highest confideiice to hie genius and patriotism, charged bim ^\ih ihe de
fence of New Orleans, tbe great emporium of the Wesi, and directed him
to use all tbe means in his pouer to protect it from Ibe tbreattned inva
sion. With but little aid.trom the general government, in the midst of n
population thought tu be doubtful in tbeir allegiance; far Torn any pointy
from wbich troops could be drawn, and almost entirely destitute uf the
means of arming, equipping, and subsisting an army, he shrunk not froth
the fearful respunsibdity, which his country had cast upon bim. He call
ed upon the gallant and patriotic sons of Tennessee, Kentucky, Missisiappi,
and Louisiana, and tiiis appeal >o tbeir love ofcou<itrv was not made in vain,
Tbe call was promptly obeyed, and out of the raw militia of these states.
General Jackson formed an army, pledged his own private fortune and
credit to equip and.gire it efKcieiit organization and inspired it witb a con
fidence and bravery^ whiob enabled him to tnumph over the invincibles of
SVellington, and drive back with defeat and dismay ihe proud foe who
had tbreateued Orleans with fire i^nJ sword, «iad whose sacrilegious watch
word was '* beauty «nd booty."
Such is the man, who with tbat disinterestedness that marks the patriot
— that generous recklessness of consequences with regard to himself, whicl;
would prompt him to risk all for hiscountry, that we are now told is a dan,-
jeroiis "military chieftain," who ought not to be trusted.
If the longtried patrioligin, tne consuipmate abilities, the arduous services'
and heroic devotion to his countiy, whi'li bas invariably marked tbe cohduct
of this mas from his youth up to the present time, is not considered a suffi
cient guaraiHee to entitle him to the farther confidence of the people, then
have we no faith in public virtue or naliob!|< gratitude.
It has been said on another occasion, and witb great truth, " tbat tbe
plainest narration of Jackson's exploits would rise into a panegyric, and
place him on a level with tbe greatest heroes and patriots of ancient or
modern times. Wfiai other Ameii .sn General has created tbe armies witif
which he conquered, With equal rapidity anddeciiiuii .' Provinces overrun,
towns taken, conspiracies crushed, savages subdued, armies variquisbed,
frontiers defended, and his country saved. These render his name illustri
ous, and the gratitude of the nation should be fall and lasting. The quali
ties of justice, disinterestedness, «;tM>ero^ty, and valour are CQiceded to bim
hy many of liis enemies, while bis friends agree that he is neither a de-
claimer or a ( oet ; that his imagination never betrays his virtue, nor mis
leads his understanding ; and, like tbe immortal Washington, bis great ca
pacity, though unostentatious and unpretending in its ordinary efforts, ig
fequai to the greatest occasions. The prevailing passion of his mind is
^dgment, enriched by geniusand .liasiened by experience ; the ruling
passion of his soul is love of count-y, and it* inteiisity his greatest foible.
This is the map, says the immortal Jefferson, " -a/to has Jilted the measure
t^ his country's gloKg." It rem.^ii.* ior the people, by bestowing on himthet
'^ghest XoiVOT in their gift, to fill the measure »f his ceuntryU gratitude.

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