Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1830-07-21


ian in the Legislature Of New York, his
efforts were principally directed to hum
BILE the ascendcncy of DE Witt Clinton,
and organize for party triumphs, the nu-
merous factions which have always ag-
ltated that great Commonwealth; we pre-
tend to no minute acquaintance with his,
orsthe history ofthe Legislation and inter-
nal affairs of that State, during the peri
cd of party ascendency, but iihe propos-
ed or achieved aught for the common
good, that argues extraordinary sagacity,
expansion, or benevolence, the fame OF
it has never reached our cars; as a Gov
ernor a single common place electioneer-
ing message, is the only monument of his
service. His career in the Senate ofthc
United States, is more generally known.
In that eminent body he was for many
years, Chairman of the Judiciary Com
mittce, one of the least Importance. In
that capacity, we arc ignorant of any
thing that proceeded from his pen, of
general nature, calculated either to en-
hance his reputation, or to advance the
jurisprudence of the country. AS a SEN
alor, a single speech on the Panama Mis-
sion, neither the ablest nor the most adj
mircd, Ia tho prime pal hasis Of hi, fame
as Statesman. What he has done as
Secretary of State in the shape Of instruc-
tons to those to whom is delegated the
duty OF managing our foreign relations,
is not yet developed, either by results, or
the publication of the instructions them
selves. Gin the name of all the Gods at
once, upon what meat has this our Cp-
sar fed, that he has grown so great"
In his works, we can find no sufficient
explanation ofths mans unprecedented-
iy rapid rise. lntrinsically, his senti-
ments are tame and common place-com-
pared with the abilities displayed by 9TH
ers, their conceptions o policy, and pow
or Of advocacy his may without the sus-
picion of pre- judice, be deemed mean and
altogether inferior. This comparative
and intrinsick inlcriority, would be more
than balanced by the discovery of his re-
cogntion of, and inlleXibIe adherence to
right principles. On the contrary, his
life has been succession of summer
sets. A Fcdcralist, Clintonian, Buc-
tail, latitudlnarian, Unitarian; he has
tried them all, and held fast just so long
and no longer, as it was personally con-
vcnent. The prospect of one day reach
ing the Presidency, opened upon him for
the first time, when by aiding Mr. Craw
ford in New York, he either presumed
or was told, that the favor would be CRATE
fully remembered His own State would
be ready to support candidate Of her
own, and the cooperating gratitude Of
the South, with incidental aid which OPP
portunity might secure, would be suili-
cicnt for success. The origin of these
ambitious aspirations in the mind of the
Secretary, is distinctly marked by nume-
rous circumstances. His pilgrimage to
Virginia; his pompous visit of friendship
10 Mr.. Crawford, the incessant adulation
which from that time forward, his mouth
pieces at Albany and New York, law
ished upon Virginia and every thing
south fthe Potomac, to an extent nausc-
Gus to the very objects of the lattery-
these and many minor indications, sufil-
ciently established the nature ofhis views,
the time when he first conceived them,
and the means through which he sought
success Now too, we first begin to hear
of his zeal for Slate Righis-a zeal sin
gularly deficient in good ,rorks, for while
the Senator from New Y ork endeavored
to propitiatc the strict constructionists by
professions of attachment to their princi-
pies, and declarations of his purpose to
aid in recovering "thc lost rights of the
States" he continued to the last, to vote
for those measures Of Improvement, by
which those "lost rights" were imagined
TO be chiefly endangered.
Such is a candid review, to the best of
our belief, of this mans public life; the
evidence of his talents, services, and at
tachment to principle; and the claims
which he offers for the most responsible
station in the nation. Defective in detail
it may bc-defectyc in delineation of
character and claim, VIC do not believe
it to be--dclective in candor, we know it
not to be
Whatever surprise one may feel at his
rise, so uncommon for its suddenness, so
disproportioned to the character of his i'll
tellcct and services, and so eclipsing ma
ny others, his supcrors in every respect,
he has still risen, and it remains to account
for the quo mode. The first great cause,
undoubtedly, is the character and prcton-
sions Of his native State, to conciliatc
which, is primary object with every ad-
mnistraton and every Presidential aspi-
rant We need look no farther than the
thirty six electors of New York, for the
proximatc cause Of his selection as Sec
e retary of State. Whether he desired a
reelection or not, the President must feel
every disposition TO keep in good humor