Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Mass.) 1828-1830, 1828-04-15

}, General jackson is. emphatically so
der. His reputation is purely military
all his laureIs have been gathered in tn
battlefield. It is not in human nature 70
him not to feel strong attachment to tn
pursuits which are identified with his Clio
J ry. He cannot hope to add to his reputa
ton by character for political wisdom
and yet he must desire to distinguish hi
Administration by some brilliant achieve
ments to be recorded in the rolls of fame
Our people, like the venerable and virtu
GUS Madison, do not look on carnage will
composure. What they would regard as
among the greatest of our national calam.
tiles, war, would be to him summons to
4 a glorious game, an invitation to pluck
frcra peril fresh renown; high and ami.
mating excitement. He is the Army can
didate. The military, almost without an
exception, are enlisted in his cause. Make
him President, and will not the pursuits OF
civil life be scorned by the ardent, the as
pring, and the bold Will not military
merit be the ordinary road to preferment ?
Will not the pacific policy Of our country
be tirt discredited, then abandoned ? Will
not conquest, glory, and pre-eminence in
arms, be the decisions of the day, and
shall we not ultimately become military
republic The steps between that char
acter anda military despotism may be few
or more but to this end, unless we dis
believe all history, we must come at last.
The very prospect Of his elevation to this
distinction, seems to us, to have already
produced an unfortunate change in the
tone of public sentiment and morals. The
pacific virtues, SO intimately associated
with the charities of life, and the best in
terests of social man, reverence for law,
restraint of passion, respect for age and
station, descency towards adversaries, are
thrown by as impediments which retard
the career of conquest. Violence, intimi-
dation, boasts of resistless strength, COM
mon military articles, are used to dispirit
and terrify resistance. I" In martial equip
age they issue forth" and little else seems
wanted, but the waving banner and the
warlike music, to make this march to
power military in all it's aspects. Should
it terminate in victory, may it be but a
victory over political foes, and not over
the Constitution, the peace, the morals,
the liberties of the country
Fellow-citizens we claim not to be
prophets, and if General jackson should
be elected, we trust in gracious Provi-
dence, that these evils will not be realized.
But we speak to you in sober seriousness,
Of the things which we do believe, the
evils which we do fear. Judge We, if we
believe or fear without cause. To those
who, ardent and unthinking, mock at our
apprehensions, as the visions of disturb
ed fancy, we would take the liberty to
suggest, that it is better " to be despised
for unnecessary fears, than ruined by too
confident security"
! Consider well, we entreat you, before
you decide; reflect calmly before you act.
All which good men revere, and patriots
hold precious, depend upon your deter
mination while every cause is in opera
ton that is likely to lead you into errour.
An imprudent gratitude-admiration OF
military glory-suspicions, too easily ex-
cited, and not thoroughly abandoned, even
when their cause is removed-prejudices
almost too powerful for reason-the mis-
conceptions of the hasty, and the misrep-
reservations of the artful-the resentment
of the disappointed, the clamours of the
violent, and the vehement zeal of the
seekers for popularity all concur, not
only to render elaboration difficult, bat to
give false bias to the judgment. Prove
that you are worthy of selfgovernment,
and disappoint not the hopes Of those who
deem that reliance may be placed on the
virtue and good sense of the people.
Choose without passion, and with an eye
solely to your country's good. On the
one side, there is certainly safety, proba-
bly, prosperity. On the other, rest clouds
and darkness. 1t is the way of peril, and
it may lead to the destruction of the best
hopes of man on earth. We have honest
ly discharged what we firmly believe to be
our duty. We owed it to the reverence
and affection which we cherished for those
free institutions that were purchased by
the blood of our fathers, and which we
hope totransmit, unimpaired, as precious
inheritance to our children. If we be
wrong, excuse an errour which springs
from motive that you must approve. Ii
we are right, act with us. And may He,
in whose hands are the hearts and under
standings Of men, who bringeth counsel
to naught, and maketh devises of none
effect" enlighten, guide, and direct you.
Signed in behalf of the Convention OF
the friends of the Administration in North
Carolina, this Goth January, 1923, by
i WIN. CASTOR,
WIN. DAVIDSON,
i EDMUND JONES,
THOS. P. DEVEREUX,
JOHN l.. BAILEY.