Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-04-11
From the L.ynchburg Yirgin'an'
THE PRESIDENCY.

| maxim in law that an accHSer must come
ipro court with clean hands: in other WORDS, 'na'
a man who charges another with the commits
sion of wrong must be himself not only clear
| of anv nar,icipaton in the actual guilt when
attaches 10 il, but he must be also Tree from 'he
promptines of selfintereSt in the testimony
which he gives. If this be not his situation, no
matter whether he appear IN the light oil PRO-
secutor or witness, whatever ne may say -
Justly regarded with suspicion, and his !estimo-
nv weighs but feather in the scale. II TINS
he true in lac, il ought to be much more so IN
conscience. If i, be Of binding force in matters
Of mere individual concern, il certainly ought to
carry with it an influence almost beyond com.
nuta,ion, when it is made applicable to nnt'onat
mat,ers-when the charac,sr, the prosperity ana
the libertic; e @ whole people are in controversy
We have regarded the progress OF the pres
ent contest for .he Presidential office between
| Messrs. adams and Jackson, with intense ankle
~. We have seen during is progress, such an
p utter and absolute abandonment o. consistency
and principle; such an entire surrender. OF Iea-
son and temper: such prostitution OF good
feeling and decency; such glazing appeals TO To-
cal feelinps and such bold attempts at Severance
of .he Union that we have almost come % the
conclusion that patriotism and love OF country
are empty boasts;-that political principe is no.
thing more than cabalistic watchword, which
mighty minds use to control subservient mini-
ons; and that liberty itself is but another name
for profligacy and RIGHTEOUSNESS. When we
see two individuals brought forward Tor the
highest Office IN the CLIon, each OF them advo-
Gated by large number Of friends, who, IN
their private capacity, certainly possess every
qualification which renders man valuable as a
citizen or es,imablc as a friend; and when the
fhur
| side about one-half Of the whole population Of
the country, it ught to be conceded, for the
sake Of our common nature, that these men are
mot SO extremely vicious as factious partzans
and men without principle themselves, repre-
sent them to be, but that on the contrary, they
possess much more virtue than falls to the lot
| of mortals ordinarily: they never could be
| brought forward as candidates for such distin-
guished honors. If faults may be disccrncd in
| their early lives, which passion may have
prompted-or iE, in later years, an ardent tenn
permanent, chafpd to anger by real or fancied
wrong, may have led IT'S possessor to the COM
mission of gross outrages on individual right *
constitutional provisions, should recollect
| that no man ever breathed, whose actions could
abide the scrutiny OF an uncompromising inves-
tigation. Strange would it be, indeed, if, out o.!
a population Of millions, we cannot find man
] 10 over WHO Is not u mass VI SIlIuS anu
corruption. And is not this SAID 20 be the case
with John Q. Adams and Henry Clay! Do not
their enemies brand them with every epithet
which they can borrow from the Billingsgate
vocabulary, and which their own ingenuity can
frame? Do they not say that, in the vote which
| Mr.. Clay gave 10 MIR. Adams, he sold HIMSELF his
honor, his fame, his country! Do they not, in
dispite Of reason and common sense, aver that
he bartered The "m;ghy need Of his large no.
nors" for an Office, whish requires labor with
out conferring distinction, and which, at the
same time, is calculated to test all his talent, *
4, TO expose all his ignorance? 1t is enough to
| sicken the heart Of the patriot, and 10 induce
REIMBURSEMENT of all the honors to which an
able and Yiruous man may aspire, when he
| views the condition 10 which his honorable am
bition exposes him. Let him do what he may
for his country, even Gin her hour OF utmost
need"-let him traverse oceans to advance her
interests-let him pore over his studies night s.
day, to add to her stock of knowledg e-let him
lead her armies TO victory-he must be content
ed with having performed his duty, without
hopng for the reward to which these services
are supposed to constitute claim. The mo-
ment he aspires to Office, the whirlwind Of pas
sion begins to rage-the spirit of discord is E.
voked, and men who are themselves fit only for
the eibbet, assume to themselves the high pre-
rogative Of eliminating him.. His most trivial
doings are reported to The world distorted and