Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1816-10-26

ri virtue To viii differently. Men reSnlute
and undismaysd. Men i'll ntifying them
selves wholly with their country ardent
TO promote her success, yet III ienanimons
ly willing TO share her ruin. Ibosc, who
from nduccm MS. merely personal, would
have clIng rnund the administration 1t a
moment so o.ninous, must have been M all.
Their Course was To shun communion with
COMMUNICATING associates. not fooiisllly eni
bark IN the fellowship Of misfortune. The
elements of executive popularity seemed
disso!ying the downfall OF the President.
dict tied by the enemy, and echoed by an
aspiring ard fierce band atiiome, was by
thousands looS :. for every instant, and 70
be as .ai possible vat Of the way OF
such catastrophe, was the rational de
cision OF ieaiers, VIII revcr dispersed,
whose politics hang upon commute ton of
chances. Bat. happily, these poor-minded
calculations, these base, ambitious timiCii-
dities, these hrArtless, guilty ponderings
over self, whca the grave was yaVsning, in
which American liberty might be buried
forever were not universal. The banner
of the republic was still up, the cause still
just, the peop.e Sill firm. The honest,
the InteXibis Monroe-he too was left
Faithful 10 his country from youth more
exalted la his con options Of suty with her
Epaninondas. feeling :" the ii1me of sacred
vchsmence" burn brighter at this hour of
her greatest tribnlttion, he was left, and
stood ready to court the risks of one Of the
vacant p ,sts. Dc it recorded to the last
ing honor OF Mr.. Dallas, that his fearless
patriotism stepped also into the guph of
the other.
Mr. Dali ash had never before had any
conu=xlon with the cabinet in the sunshine
of aft IRIS. In rushing into the fury of the
storm, If is known that he ablicated stu
alton in thus popuous aud wealthy city, in
which peCuniary and domestic alluremo. IS
joined their best aids to surround him
with the means and the objects of happi-
ness.
In what plight he found the Treasury
is as well known. Mr.. Gallatin's llereliction
took place when a course of unbounded
fiscal prosperity and ease became, for the
first time, darkened Just as the land
marks broke, and the waters were ali out.
This. followed up by total interval, by
Mr. Campbeli's short period of service,
and his i'll health, may b. said to have
placed all the business for eighteen months
in predieamept worse than at stand
Besides the appalling disorder OF the fnan-
ces, the vo.umlnous routine of the Office
had almost stopped. Papers unexamined
loaded its desks in accumulated heaps,
while to other sources of confusion, the loss
of the metallic medium at the moment Of
his arrival, filed up a prospect at the
thick gloom OF which an eye, the most
piercing, might have shrunk. The coun-
try, since the dreariest revolutionary day,
had not seen such an epoch. In add
ton to the hideous masses OF entaug' ement,
and startling v2culy of the Golfers. he had
20 faae an enraged and potsnt opposition
directing itself, 1t is true, against all the
other operations of government, but always
reinforced with numbers while Ievelled at
his. When measures touch the pocket,
nobody slumbers. New foes instinctively
start up the very lethargic get excited,
and political host ity, reused in all guar
ters, puts ON every form of activity and
evaporation. While only one man is
forming plans, ten thousand are pouring
their venom upon them. TIE first Secre-
tary Of the Treasury had his path in some
degree smoothed by the support of the
commercial interest but Mr.. Dallas had
the weight of this formidable body too, al
most wholly against him.
When he reached WASH gton, he found
it in ru MS. Surely, there Could have been
no better prsfiguration of the desolate CON
dition OF the department he was to WELD.
But the devastation, melancholy and huge
as it was, instead of overwhelming, invign.
rated with new alaorty his determinations.
Armed with transcendant genius, and a
Capacity for labor that is Irodigious-he
was a match for the frightfu scene. He
grappled. on the onset, with its dut es. To
reiostate inst nt'y, or go down in the vortex
that had swallowed up or driven away 9TH
ers, were alternatives between which it
was not left for him to halt. IF previous
habits or studies ever failed him in any
point, intuition stepped in as the resource,
always auxiliary and efficient. Tke pres
sing daily business of the Office, he cxecut
ed with ability and Dispatch. It's long
battling arrcars he put into a trim of re-
ducllon. Sedulously dedicating al his time
to the public, his nights rs well as his days.
and embarked in Investigations, lifting w
the mind to the largest couteioplsuons, &
plungng 1t into wearisome detail. the w ole
OF his energ tic and ripened faculties came
into action--Ais promptitude leading, his
patience closing the train. For the results
the history OF the country can be vouched.
whether seen in the luminous ranges of
the statesman, or in the in-essant la0ors of
the man Of business.
There h's not been full time 20 develnoe
the character Of all his measures. invaria-
bly, carried forward with AN unwaver.ng.
manly ard consistent hand. The true off
spring undoubtedly they were of mind
fruitful, indepcnd"nt and decisive, always
unfolding is distinct and rapid convictions
with candor, and sustaining them with
fcYf- Pm fftue