The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-27 00:00:00

AMERICAN AFFAIRS.

PHILADELPHIA, JAN. '24.—Sir, I propose devoting this letter to a very
brief notice of the President, Vice-President, and the Members of the
Cabinet.
Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, is a tall man, coarse
featured, thin, sharp visage, and repulsive countenance. His hair is
white, bushy, and standing erect. He appears to be emaciated and feeLle.
His manner is courteous and graceful. His movements those of a dis.
ciplined soldier. In conversation, on the ordinary topics of the day, he
is perfectly at ease. He possesses an apparent frankness and boldness,
well calculated to gain the confidence of a stranger. His education is
imperfect, insomuch that he may be pronounced an illiterate man. His
habit. have not been those of a student, and he ha read but very little.
He is not the author of his communications to Congress, or any other pub.
_ .

lie documents; they are prepared by his Cabinet, or by a friend. He
is, however, shrewd and cunning. In his intercourse with the world
he has been a close observer of the characteristics of men. In judg-
ment he is discriminating and sagacious. His prejudices are strong and
enduring. His temper is haughty, overbearing, and ungovernable.
When free from excitement he is susceptible of the most fulsome flattery.
He loves power, and is immeasurably ambitious. The tented field is
the scene of glory for him. He is a gallant captain, well qualified for
desperate enterprizes. He is an ardent and most devoted friend, in
whom confidence may be placed in the hour of need. He has filled va-
rious civil stations before lie was President. He has been a member of
the United States' Senate, but is no debater. It is believed that he never
spoke more than five minutes at one time in that body. As a public
man, he shrinks from no responsibility that the duties of his station
render it proper for him to assume. His policy is that of the
demagogue. All his measures and language are calculated (so far as he
has the power to render them operative) to encourage and extend the
prejudices of the poor against the rich. The people are ever in his
mouth. He is a strangefto the refined notions which are generally the ac-
eornpaniments of a cultivated mind. He is, systematically, a great
economist, by means of which hi has acquired an ample fortune—he is
a widower, and has no children. His age is matter of great doubt and
uncertainty. His friends represent him to be about sixty-eight, while
his opponents aver that he is seven years older. Whether this sketch
is calculated to create a favourable or an unfavourable impression of the
American President it is not necessary to decide. It is believed, how-
kver, to be faithfully drawn. _ _ .

Martin Van Buren, Vice-President, is a dapper man, about five feet
six inches. He is very bald, and is becoming pray. His whiskers
are red, interspersed with gray hairs. His features ace small and regu-
lar. His countenance not unpleasant, although a sneer appears to be
constantly playing around his mouth. In his attire and manner he is a
cockney dandy, which accomplishment, it is said, he acquired ae, the
Court of St James's. In the social circle he is courteous and bland.
His colloquial powers are fascinating. His whole exterior is that of a
well-bred gentleman. He is plausible and insinuating, naturally of a
high temper, but perfectly disciplined. He is cautious and wary, and is
proverbially of that school of poll, ics, designated,in this country," non-
committal." He has no friendships but those compatible with his interest.
He is cold, insincere, and faithless. His ambition has no bounds. His
education was limited, but his application as a professional man has
been great. He possesses an intuitive quickness of perception. As a
counsellor, he a quired at the bar a high standing: • He is said to have
prepered his causes with great care and labour. In the management of
them he was adroit, and, in the true sense of the term, a cunning attor-
ney. His elocution is mild and persuasive. He speaks at the bar or in
the Senate chamber with fluency and ease. He is seldom eloquent—
never great or lofty—yet always so plausible, as to leave a favourable
impressisn upon his auditory. Through life he has been a successful
politician by trade. He is ignorant of every science, and has no prett u-
sions to the character of a statesman. He was born in the most humble
walks of society, and is a self-made man. When he has an object to
accomplish, he is not fastidious as to the means. He is mercenary, btit
being fond of pageantry and show, he is ostentatious and extravagant in .
Lis style of living. He has filled various stations under the Government.
He has been a M'mher of the Senate, Secretary of State, and Minister
to the Court of St. James's. He is about 53 years of age.
John Forsyth, Secretary of State, is rather under the middle stature,
and of a prepossessing countenance. He has been what the ladies would i
term handsooie ; but time has commenced its ravages upon his features.
He is very gray. Mr. Forsyth has received a liberal education. He is
of courtly and fascinating manners. While his demeanour is gentle.
manly, there is about him an air of hauteur uct uncommon in the
southern states where he was reared. He possesses all the chivalric
notions of that section of the country. He is too proud to descend to a
mean or sycophantic act. His temper is naturally irritable and violent.
He is well informed as to the foreign and domestic relations of the coun-
try, and in the walks of private life he is a pleasant and agreeable com-
panion. He is, however, a courtier and a man of the world. He
has been long in public life, and has had much experience. He is
undoubtedly an able man. He has been a member of Congress
for many years. He was formerly Minister Plenipotentiary to the
Court of Spain. His correspondence evinced talent, but with it
was mingled an asperity not becoming the station which he filled.
He is not calculated for a diplomatist. When called to the State
Department he was a member of the Senate of the United States.
As a debater he is uncommonly adroit ; long accustomed to
legislative warfare, he has great tact. His style of speaking
is animated and impressive. As a logician, lie is not among the most
argumentative; but never fails to evince skill and judgment in the
management of his case. His language is copious and chaste ; he is
sometimes eloquent. In no situation can Mr. Forsyth be placed where
he will shine wills equal splendour as in the Senate house. He never
was, and never can be, popular with the great body of the people. To.
wards that class his mein is repulsive and aristocratic. He is ambitious
and aspires to a station yet more elevated than that which he now fills;
but in this respect he will never be gratified. He is fifty-six years
of age.
Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, is of the middle height,
but stout and bulky ; his face is full, round, and of a vulgar appearance;
he is of of a cold, calculating, and phlegmatic temperament; he has re-
ceived a classic education, and is a man of business habits. Mr. Wood.
bury is by birth an eastern man, and has been Governor of the State of
New Hampshire; lie has alto been a member of the United States'
Senate. In every station to which he has been called, he has evinced
great industry and capacity for business. His talents are underrated by
his opponents. It were better if the qualities of his heart were equal
to those of his head; he is mercenary and mean; he is ambitious, and
as sycophantic as he is ambitious. By fawning and flattery he has ac-
quired great influence with the President, and it is said has the ascend-
ancy of his colleagues in the Cabinet. He ivabout 45 years old.
Mahlon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy, is a large-framed coarse.
featured man, bnt of a benign countenance. He is full six feet in
height. Although of rough exterior, he is honest and kind.hearted.
He is the antipodes of the Secretary of the Treasury. He is a man of
good education, sensible, and discreet. He has been Governor of the
State of New Jersey; and a member of the United States' Senate, His
manners are plain and assuming. He is indefatigable in his pursuits,
and will faithfully discharge the duties of any station to which he may

be called. He possesses great firmness and energy of character, not.
withstanding his retiring habits. In private life he is a most unoffend-
ing and amiable citizen. He is about 63 years of age.
Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, is of the middle stature, well made,
light complexion, and regular features. He was educated for the army,
in which he served many years. He is a man of fine talents ; a chaste
and classic writer. He is a most accomplished gentleman, of utbane
and courtly manner. He possesses a mild and conciliatory temper.
His whole exterior indicates the school in which he was bred. As a
sold,er he was a disciplinarian. In the field he was as calm and col-
lected as he was brave ; and yet, as a Statesman, the weak point in his
character is a want of energy. He is of a hesitating and faltering
disposition—a quality, that in the Cabinet, as well as in the field, di..-
qualifies a man from becoming great and distinguished, because his best
friends can never calculate with certainty upon him. General Cass is
not unambitious, but, ftr the reason assigned, will never be elevated
above his present station, He is in possession of an ample fortune, and
in private life is all that his most ardent admirers can wish.
William T. Barry, Postmaster-General, is a tall, slender, feeble man,
prominent features, and florid complexion. Mr. Barry's constitution is
greatly impaired by ill health, which has been increased by anxiety and
care. He is a man of great energy and respectable talents. His temper
and disposition is not unamiable. He has been, as Postmaster-General,
careless and negligent, while at the same tim.r he was surrounded by
worthless and unprincipled men, who, it is believed, have accomplished
his ruin by squandering the funds of the department, for which he is
held rzsponsible, and which subject is now undergoing a severe investi-
gation before Congress. He is about 60 years of age.
Benjamin F. Butler, Attorney-General, is a small delicate man. He
is of light complexion and pleasant countenance. Mr. Butler is of a
most amiable temper. His manners are conciliatory and kind. His
education is respectable. His character pure and unsullied. His ap-
plication to business intense. As a public speaker he is mild, bordering
on tameness, and is dinsive. He has acquired a high reputation as a
lawyer, perhaps deservedly, for he is a great student ; but he is no
statesman, not even a second-rate politician. He has no energy of- in-
tellect, no powers of eloquence, no reasoning faculties that can ever
elevate him to the rank of a great man.

Of such materials is the President's Cabinet Council composed. In
these haity sketches, " nothing has been extenuated, nor aught set
down in malice." A GENEVESE TRAVELLER.

FRILL> U. :-TIRt,:-, I'lti, fll'' AT ONE O'CLOCti.
Batik Stock ... '''';33-,I ki ; 1C,,, 'i twi- Cciit
3 Der Cent. Rel. 9!„a4 ; 111.1,1 4;,.:,,..' 256
3 Pct Cent- C-0, ..... -•• •••911A !4h'; 1: D::. li,.1:(1, ........... ...... 18 ;9 pm.
31,, per Cent 893,! Smith Sea Stock --
Pitt) Red. .99V, Ti I; ! ‘.•ld Annuities -
New 3i-f, per Cent t9 8% 9:,i 9, New Dit.o -
Assented —; 2 1,-; Cent. Annuities, 1151...
t 14tr Cent: ,,,,,,nted
.--- !FA Ch. 11i11,4,, .f. 1,1,00 81 s(i xi rna•
Rank Long Aunuiticsto expire Ditto 51X) ...... 34 3,1 311 pin.
Jan. is, 1506. l7w 5-18; Ditto Small 34 36 3:3 pm
‘Oct 10, 1859 —; Ditto C0mmercia1.......... - -- Pm.
Jan. 5, Irlti,'
!au. 8, lgS-0 , Rank `'tack for:Account...J.—
April 5, 1880 .. —; Indin Stock for Account.-
Jan. 5, 1810 --; Consols for Accou,,t... .........414 li :."-S•

• - -" - •
PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Austrian Bonds imivian Bonds —
Belgian Bonds
Ditto Account — i Port I: glicse Bonds 90% ti
Brazilian Bonds Alljt. I I:•ttto Account —
Ditio Account 8.04 4 yi I Ditto New Bonds 1/1., tali lii
Buenos Ayres Bonds
Ditto Account I Prussian Bonds —
Chillian liiiinde.- 44% N :0,6 5' Ditto Bontis,ll+2.2 —
Ditto Account 45 4 a.ian Bonds, 15•29. —.
Cliumbian Bonds — Ditto Account ... —
Ditto Account .... S'lli 7y'l Ditto Metallic —
Columbian Rends, MI-311.i 4Y..7 16 Spn.iii'm, Bonds 5.5 7g S',.i .
Ditto Account — • Ditto Account 594 ,ic,co-i %;
D .nii,h Bondi
I >itto Account
Grektk Bends —' French, 5 per cent. —f. —e.
• Ditto Bonds, 1925 — --- 4 per cent.. —f. —r.
listo Account - 3 per cent. —l. —c.
111-,.scan Bonds, 5 per cent —..- Exchange —f..-•-•.,.
Di:to Account — i Dutch, t'.,4 per cent. ...... ...53% 0!4
Dita, 6 per cent --• Ditto 'Account `5% 6%
Hitt" Account i Ditto. 5 per cent— ....... 1,214 k
geapolitan --I Ditto Account • 10-2%

PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Paid. Per -Mate
Brazilian Imperi,tl Mining Co. (Izsued at 51. pm.) f.'n 42
Beat del Monte Mining Co., Regiotered 711. IN. Rd.

Ditto Unregistered
Australasia Billk
British American Land Company

PRICES OF IRISH STOCKS, DUBLIN, FEB 23
3 per Cent. tens°ls ... ..... 91% Gra,l Canal Deb.. IS per cent. 921 i
Ditto Reduced — Ditto, 4 per cunt
.3,,,, per Cent. Stock SPI if hernia!: Bank
Ditto New, IS.IO - Steam C 0....... 101
314 per Cent. Debentures tarsi National Insurance Company ..8
Mink Stock 221 Cl' y Debentures, 4 per cent... SI
Rnyal Canal Stock
Grand Canal Stock

MAILS.
Arrived. Due. Arrived. Due Arrived. Duo
0 America 0 0 France 1 0 Lislion 0
0 Brazi: 0 U Guern.ScJer,.ey 0 0 Malta
0 Buenos Ayres... 0 0 Hamburg 1 0 Mexico 9
0 Cartlisgena • 0 0 Dollard
1 !)utilin Ol I Jananica
0 Flanders ... ...... 1 I r Leewardl,lands o I Waterf,rd.... _. tt

FUGM V ATE!t AT LONDON ratIDUZ To.mmutow.
Morning .53 minutes after 2 1 raeliing 13 minutes after 13

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