American watchman and Delaware advertiser. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1822-1828, 1827-10-12
from tie Richmond Wni~.

FROM Tue Ntchmonl jThi@.
u the public knew the author of the ESSAYS Of
which the following is the first number they would
require no invitation from US to read them We
will only say that they will amply repay the reader.
TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.
1t must be obvious to every observer Of passing
events, that the present aspect Of political affairs
is highly unpropitous, if not alarming. The time
has arrived when neutrality may be regarded as
crImlna-as indicating an insensibty to the sue
cess OF our happy institutions, a sordd and sell
tlsh determination to hazard nothing for their pre-
servat,on. With these convictions. ask leave to
submit for your deliberate consideration. some of
the views which have occurred to me as worthy Of
your notice. As | have no wish TO aid them by
any tactitious circumstance, and am equally I'M
willing that their influence should be impaired by
any unjust suspicion of the quarter from whence
they come. offer you pledge Of my sincerity in
designating by my signature the pursuits of my
lille. am no office seeker--believing that no pub.
lie station can be more honorable than that which
already enjoy as an Independent farmer. feel
that I'M exempt from any improper bias, and that
it there are errors in the views which present
you, they are errors of the head, and not of the
heart. In addressing yon, trust shall not for
get the respect due to my fellow citizens, but
shall at the same time speak frankly of men and
under which we are called to act forbid hattery or
cven forbearance. The times are distempered.--
The omens are threatening--and it behoves every
man, conscentously and fearlessly, to take his
station and to do his part. BY such means only
may we avert the serious evils which are lowering
over the future.
| beg leave cmphatcally to say 70 you. what
has produced the extraordinary state of affairs ia
which have alluded Three years ago all was
ttrap II r. ..I..i- ~.
long. The administration of public aftairs-which
was then conducted in the same spirit as how're
ceived the general appreciation Of the American peo
pie; and concord and good will prevailed through
put the republic. a political millennium seemed tn
have arrived. But, what is now condition !?
Discort and all uncharitabcness are every where
aeyailing. The characters of our most illustrl-
GUS citizens are assailed with ruthless barbarty.-
The press, designed as great auxiliary to virtue
teens with talsehood and defamation, so that the
guilty no longer fears its lash Every house aud
very hamlet is divided against itseif-onc por.
tim Of the union is arrayed against another--tie
eartul and impious question of disunon, in sone
quarters, is the subject of daily and familiar con
versation. Our Legislature denouncng the Gen
rra Government for exercising powers which have
ocen unquestioned before, since its foundation
and while the Governor of one State threatens
call out his divisions to wage war against the fed-
raj authority of the republic, another propagates
ldis0rganiZng sentiments on the anniversary Of
our independence, thus rendering them the more
heinous.
These are among the signs Of the times which
Justify one in saying that the aspect of affair.
is unpr0pltious. it not alarming. And we'll ma,
we press the inquiry, what has produced It, and
what is the source of these bitter waters.
The answer is plain one. We have suffered
the comparatively insignificant question of who
shall be our President, to absorb every other. An
officer designed by the Constitution to be our ser.
| want, to execute our will, has become already an
object Of more consequence in our eyes than the
best interests of our country, among which mean
to include liberty itself, and our free institutions.
which are now considered by some as cheap sac
rllicc, to the success of particular individual Is
this doubted If so, turn to the following senti-
ment-" Allegiance to Jackson is above all other
considerations y This was boldly proclaimed BY
one Editor. Another Editor has declared " that
if Jackson could not prevail by the ballot boxes,
he should by the sword.'
These were the signs which called forth from
that great apostle of freedom, Jefferson, his last
but terrible warning My countryn' said he,
rs th0u too. will experience the fate which has befa
len every free government-thy liberties will be
sacrificed to the glory OF some military chieftain.
had fondIy hoped to have found in thee an excep-
ton; but thy support of Jackson-a man who has
'iisregartled every order ne received-who has
trampIed under foot the laws and constitution of
his country-and who has substituted his own un-
goYernable will as his only rule of conduct-thy
support Of such man shakes my confidence in the
capacity of man for sell government, and fear all
is lost' This is the language of the dying patri
ot And if we followed him with undiminished
confidence, and with unexampled success, in times
and seasons when liable to temptation, what de-
ference is not due to his opinion. when delivered
under such solemn circumstances, and in a condi-
ton little less imposing than If he had just risen
from the dead Under such high authority, | the
mnre confidently assert that the effort TO elect