Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-03-26
RICHMOND:
FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH %, 1924.
EDITORIAL DUpLIeITY AND BLARNEY.


burg Convention, whilst it has placed the intention
OF Pennsylvania, to support the General, beyond
controversy, has exposed her to much censurc,
ticularly from those presses which advocate the
claims of Mr.. Crawford. Notwithstanding the uni
versal indications which were displayed throughout
Pennsylvania, of hostility to MIR Crawford, it is not
to he denied that great calculations made up
on her, by his friends, from her characteristic sim
plcity and good nature. Had this not have been
the case, the caucus in Washington had never been
held, and MIR. Galatn had never been nominated
to the Vice-PreSidcncy. 1t was not doubted, or at
least it was greatly hoped, that Pennsylvania would
obey this call of the pretended Democratic party,
with her wonted checrfulness, and the nomination of
MIR. Galatin (whose claims to the Vicc-Prcsdcnc,
or Presidency either, willing aud ready to
dcfend) was the douceur to her state pride. How
miseraby these prospects have been blasted, all
know. The Harrisburg convention mct-nearly
every county i'll the state was represcnted-and Mr..
Crawford received one vote. Upon this the Trea-
sury papers filled with structures, and indig-
nant nmentaries-the n ational Advocate, Rich-
mond Enquirer, and above all, that chaste and vr-
tuous print, called the Washington Gazette, all
spoke the same dissatisfied aud disappointed lam
guage. Their hopes had been high, in spite of the
repeated and general manifestation of Jackson
feeling in Pennsylvania, and under the influence of
rule which IS true throughout nature, their spirits
when the truth was known, sustained u Correspond
ing depression.
This recapitulation is necessary to euablc us to
pring III with propriey the editorial tricks 10 which
| the title of this article refers.
Like the Crawford editors, we also disnpnrov
ed of the nomination of Gen. Jackson by PennsvI-
vania-not as they would infer, because we were
nortihed at that states not supporting Mr.. Adams,
Tor such an event was never nationally anticipated
but upon general and national principles. We con-
sdered it melancholy augury for the future pcncc
and welfare of the United States that military quail
hcations were to be preferred TO civil, in filling the
Presidency of the United Strtes As citizens attach
cd to the pacific policy which becomes both the in
terest and the character of q Republic to pursue
| and which has been pursued and avowed by the U
States, we regretted the establishment of a prccc-
dent, which might ultimately force this country
from that policy by awakening the ambition of tur-
hulent men, and constituting military success the
rcadiest passport 10 the confidence of the pcopl,
and TO the highest appointments which they had TO
give With much gratitude for the military servi-
ces of Gen. Jackson, and high respect for the gen
eral talents with which nature had literally encow-
cd him, we could not forget that his claims were
precisely of this description, and that they were
based ndeed upon one isolated action of his life in
which perhaps, luck had almost as much agency as
skill and courage, though the presence and exer-
else of the last were conspicuous. We could not
forget, that Gen. Jackson, in the exercise of every
military command with which he had been entrust-
ell, in the defence of New Orleans, III the Seminole
war, and in the occupation of Florida, had violated
the Constitution Of the United States. That in the
of his victories, he had displayed recklcssness
of human blood, and that in defiance of positive in
sructions, and the still more imperative nunctons
of the Constitution, he had undertaken to exercise
the prerogative of making war-a prerogative every
where the attribute of sovereignty, and which i'm
this country alone, requires the express consent of
the people, and the appreciation of the Executive
authority.
| For these reasons we had ever considered the
! claims which were set up for Gen. Jackson to the
Presidency, originating i'm, and confined to- Ten
fl,a of
who blinded by their partially, ilisgatcd bv
that sort of enthusiasm, which belongs to his cha
racter, OF impelled by of individual interest
We neUer did believe, that he himself or his friends
entertained serious hopes of success until the result
| OF the Harrisburg Convention. Upon that event we
| changed our opinions of course--but could not al
the same time, refrain from expressing our altered
opinion of the character of Pennsylvania. We did
think it strange, not that she had refused to adopt
| the sentiments of the Washington Caucus, which
| eren Pennsylvania saw, composed of a handful
OF men, forming but small minority Of the Repub-
lcan party in Congress, and many of them directly
and knowingly misrepresentng those whose opinions
they pretended to concentrate; but that protesting
still the pacific principles of her great progenitor
William Penn, and in opposition all her neighbors
| she should have, with uneXamped unaninity, taken
| up the unsubstanta claims of Gen. Jackson mi
ltary chief-violent impetuous and domneeriue-
without the experience of a Statist--and not even
recommended by single sectional considerations
Our course in this respect, least entitled to
the credit of independence if that virtue is any lou
ger entitled to credit, since differed with all the
papers, With which, the Presidential question in
regard to the claims of Mr.. Adams, we are in the
habit Of acting.
The Treasury papers, however, have taken us up
at every turn. They have published our reflections
on Pennsylvania and General Jackson in capital
letters. They call them the ADAMS opinion of Penn
II sylvana and ask that State they will counenance
Candidate whose partizans think thus of its intel
lects They refer the conciliatory course of the
Crawford party towards her, and ask her to mark
the difference between the two.-We will offer a
few illustrations.
/ The Enquirer, which had in pointed terms disap-
proved of the Harrisburg proceedings, and subjected
the pretensions of Gen. Jackson a rigid though
just scrutiny, seized that opportunity by way Of con-
trast, to compliment Pennsylvania on her sisterly
regard for Virginia, her upright Intentions her De-
mocracy, her enlightened character, &c.
The Washington City Gazette bels the Editors
of this paper, inv iousy crtcizes their remarks on
Pennsylvania, and compliments her with the second
intellectual rank in The Union, New-York holding
the first.
II In series of editorial essays in that paper, pre-
ceding and succeeding the criticism OH the Harris
burg Convention that Conventionis expressly charg-
cd with faction, dupticity and hypocrisy.
The Philadelphia Sentinel considers our remarks
high contempt of the great State of Pennsylvania
and contrasts them it'll the mild, the bland, the
conciIiating observations of the CrarfoyG paper the
Enquirer on the same subject!
Now, gentlemen, is this honest, candid or liberal,
Have you not all expressed, indirectly, the same
sentiments of Pennsylvania, on this occasion, and
do you not in your hearts, consider her nouDa ton
OF Gen. jackson evidence of the deplorable agg-
ing of her population in the intellectual march? You
do, every rascal (a i'll fun gentlenen) of you Nay,
could you give stronger proof Of your contempt for