Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1830-05-14
From, the National Journal.
LETTER FROM MRS. BARNEY TO GEN.
JACKSON.
BALTIMORE, JUNE 18th, 18e

BALTIMORE, JUNE 18th, 1899.
SIR: Your note of the 22d April. addressed to
me through your private Secretary, accompanying
the return of nv papers, which expresses your
6 sincere regret that The rules which you had jA
bo,rud TO aciopi for the government Of such cases,
did not permit the qualification Of my ,pishes,'
affords no palliatlon of the injury you have in
Aicted on meritorious officer aud his helpessta-
mily. II is dark and ambiguous Knowing that
the possession was not alone sufficient justification
for the exercise of power; unwilling that your
character for firmness should suffer by the lmpu-
tation of caprice or that your reputation for hui
manity should be furnished by an act of wanton
cruelty, you insuouate a cause; you hint at
binding rule, and lament that my husband is with
in its operation. fit were not unworthy the cha
racter of Gen. Jackson, ask you, was it not be-
meath the dignitn of the President of these U. 5.
to sinuate, if bold assertion had been in his pow
er. When you had adopted for your government
this memorable r,te, was it not cruel III you to
conceal it from those on whom it was to operate
the most terrible calamities? Why should the
President Of a free country be governed by Sc
crct rules? Why should he wrap himself up IN
the black robes Of mystery, and, like volcano,
be seen and fet in his effects, while the secret
causes which work the ruin that surrounds, are
YOU speak law of the land; is it construction
drawn from any articles of the Constitution, or is
it section Of the articles of war; Is 1t a rule
of practice, which, having been acted upon by
any of your iilustnous predecessors, comes down
with the force of aFh0ri'yupon you? Did it go
yern the conductof that great man in whose mould
according to your fatterers) you were formed?
If so, why should YOU conceal it? The Consti-
tuition and the laws, civil and military, will justi-
fy YOU. and all who obey them; and the robes of
power which goa wear cannot be stained by an
act which finds precedent in the conduct OF
any of your predecessors, Is it any old princi-
pie of new application in the art of government
which, having escaped the searching mind of
Washington, & the keen vision ofsucceeding Pre-
sidents, has been grasped by your gigantic mind?
| Or is new, wholesome principle patented toyou,
and for which you alone are to receive all the re-
wards (of glory at least which succeeding ages
never fail to bestow on the first inventor Of pub
| lie blessing?
The Office Harpies who haunted your public
walks and your retired moments, from the very
dawn of your administration, and whose avidity
| for office and power made them utterly reckless
of the honorable feelings and just rights of 9TH
ers, cried aloud for Rotation in Office. Is that
magical phrase, SO familiar to the demagogues of
all nations, and of times, your great and much
Wanted principle of Reform? If it be, by what
| kind of rotary motion is ii, that men who have
| been but few years, or few months in office.
are swept from the boards, while others your
| friendsl remain, who date their official Calends,
perhaps, from the time of Washington? WI hat sort
of adaptation of skill to machinery is that which
brushes away those only who were opposed to
your election and leaves your friends in full pos
session?
Your official Organ would impose upon the
public the belief that YOU had adopted the Jeffer
| sonian rule of honesty and capacity, and that
incumbents, as well as applicants, were tested by
that infallbe touchstone. The alleged delin-
quincies of one or two public officers have for
this been made color, and the dye of their avow-
ed iniquity has been spread with industrious cum
ming over the skirts of every innocent VICTIM
Even of those few who have been thus charged,
their misconduct (reported) was unsupported, I'M
til the prying eyes of their successors came to in
spect the official records of their proceedings.
when their delegated Ingenuity. as in duty bound,
could do no less than find them guilty, and there
fore could not have been the cause of their dis
missa. Yours, therefore. is not the Jefiersonian
Rule. You ask, respecting incumbents and ap-
pIiCants, other questions than, sis he honest, is
decides the applicability of your rule. BY thus
ascertaining what your secret rule is not, we may
easily come to the discovery of what it is. Sup
posing you serious when Won say you are control
tedby a rule; and that you do not move blindly
like other storms. but that you have eyes which
see, and ears which hear, and hence that have
not yet described your rule; there remains how
ever. but one motive which could possibly have
governed you-'' punishment Of your political
opponents, and re'sards for your friends" This
is your raie, and however you may wish to dis
guise it, or to deceive the world into the belief
tina: your secret principle is something of no
bier sort, the true one is visible to every eve.
and, like red meteor, beams through your mid
night administration, portending and working
mischief and ruin. 1t was prescribed to you be-
fore you had the power to pursue it, by one to
whom you are allied by happy congeniaIty;
whom YOU have neither the ability nor the wish
to disobey, before whose omnipotent breath your
Presidential strength lies nerveless as infancy;
who while he suffers your heart to pursue its won't
ed palpitations seems to have locked up the clos
ct which confines your intellect. In this impris-
0nment of your mental powers Won see with HE |