Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1831-09-01
Ereegla'E'ECAE.
From, the Political arena.
TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.

Fe!loo Citizens:
There probably among you who atho
you disapprovc most Of the acts of General Jack
sons Administration to which have advcrted, yet
your unwillingness to abandon him whom you
have once supported, find apology for all his
and faults in the evil counscllors with which
he has been surrounded; and look TO the recent
change i'll his cabinet, for entire change Of pol
icy and conduct. This plea in his behalf brings
me to my last specific objection to his reelection.
9TH, That cOmfcssedLy incompetent to the dis
charge If the higher duties Of his oGce he las ShcDn
himself incapable Of selecting discreet advisers, by
SchOnt his O;rn deficiencies MAY be supplied
There can be no harshcr ccnsure President
of the United States than is conveyed by the pre-
ccdng apology for Gen. Jackson. 1t confcsscs
him to be wanting i'll the qualification of all others
which he most requires Most OF the functions of
government, the chief magistrate has not only no
immediate agency III performing, but it is not
cessary that he should be intimately acquainted
with. 1t is, however, indispensable that he should
know how to select those who have such knowl-
edge and who possess the no less important moral
requisites. Unless he has this degree of discern
ment, and the purity and firmncss of purpose to
exercise it, he is unable to repe that class of men,
at once artful and mean, whom his patronage is
sure to attract Thus surrounded by individuals
without dignity of character, and who are ever
seeking TO pro note interest or grdtify some
feeling of their own his administration alternately
marked by inbecility and violence, is as fatal to
his own reputation as it is injurious to the public
1t 10 III may MN al
one time pursuing course OF policy that he had
once loudly condemned; at another, shocking the
public feeling both by removing good men from
Office, and the appointment OF bad ones; supporting
one set of political principles, in one place, and
another set in another; and finally, making himself
party in the personal quarrcs and factious dis
scntions which would be as certain to spring UP in
such a state of things, as weeds in Il neglected
garden
Let me ask you, fellow citizens, whether these
natural effects of an incapable president have not
been fully realized; and when you have seen some
scOundrel appointed TO Office good man re-
movcd-a false reason assigned for the change of
the cabinct-a disposition mcaniy flattcr one TO-
reign minister and wanonly to insult anothcr-and
an attempt to force upon the society of Washing
ton one whom it had deliberately rejected when
you see these things, is it any consolation to you
that these disgraocful acts have BEEN not the sug
gcstIons of his own mind but the fruit of evil coun
sells? You cannot discriminate between the mis-
chief to which he is impelled.by his own impulses
and that which he is prompted by others to COM
init. And though you may feel pity for the weak
ness that is runous to its possessor, it is not
the pity which ''moves the soul TO love-" but that
which leads to very ditierent sentiment The ha
bits and pursuits cf Gen. Washington's previous
life, like those of Cen Jackson, had not particu-
larly fitted him for the duties of civil Office vet
no man better qualified than nc to supply his
deficiencies by the choice of able councillors
NO man ever made better appointments. No man
was superior TO him in the faculty of hearing the
advice of all and of choosing the best. What cum
ming ilattcTcr attempted TO play upon his pas
sions crcduliy? Who ever heard of his attempt
ing to regulate the social intercourse between the
families Of Col. Hamilton or Gen. Knox, and Mr.
naii.."nh or that he Condescended to notice fcmi.
nine broils at ali muG less TO minglc them in the
concerns ofStatc? Yet to this man, cool, circum
spcct and dignifed before whom mean men in
stluctlvcly covered, and whom the wicked dared
not approach, have Cen Jackson's parasites affect
cd to compare him-crcdulous and vindictive as lie
is, and "roaring like lion" because the wife of
ono OF his iayOritcs treated by the members of
his cabinet better than she was treated by every
one else.
But reliance is placed the late entire change
OF the cabinet, a complete remedy for the mis-
chief of evil councils. The character and uuali.
fcations Of its new members said TO afford the
public sufficient guarantee ON this subject It is
not to be MED that the present cabinet is as res
pcctublc in point of talents and private worth as
any which the Jackson ranks afford; and that if
they had received their appointment sooner, thov
might have prevented much that has happened to
bring the present administration into public CON
tempt. But what security have We that the an
Pointmcnt of any Cabinet, however constituted
will exempt Gen Jackson from the danger Of evil
councils? Though his late cabinet never had the
confidence and respect Of the nation, nor even Of
the Jackson party yet the charge against the Pre-
sidcnt is not that he was misod by his cabinet but
that he put hiEscifunder the guidance Of inferior
irresponsible individuals who had contrived to OBJ
tain an influence over him, by hlttcry and subser-
viency, and then used it according to their own
weak judgments and selfish views. This is an in
trinity TO which one Of Gen. Jackson's intellect.
disposition and temper, is inevitably exposed and
it was confidently predicted by those whose udr
inents moi blinded by their partially for the
Hero of New Orleans" their hatred of his com
potitor The same cxcitable temperament will con
time TO atraEt to il all that is light and worthless