Litchfield enquirer., 1832-01-05

Popular governments most liable to great chan ges, SO long as knowledge s crcuInscribed, aDdils streams corrupted; and co long as selEaggrandise- ment shall be the ruling motive in men Of extensive influence, who act behind the curtain, and while
 they thus conceal ther hearts, direct the polluted machiDasions ofpOlitica discOrd and strife. The em bers of party spirit ever exist ready to be exered and are easily famed into as macy flames cunning demagogues desire. Bat it a the present task to
 investigate the causes that raise wicked men to pow er" to criticise on the degeneracy of the age. Our sohjec, is exclusively con6aed to men of public stations, who give light or shade to national charac. ter in different periods.
 This happiest land in which we dwel and which
 has experienced for ffiy-6ye years name and place among the nations, is the broad asylum of civil and religious liberty, and gives full scope and ,cense the exercise of all the various opinions which fallen men embrace or possess And while cherishes the rue principles of ireedom, 1t cherishea, likewise all the hidden elements that disurb and destroy hu- man happiness--that ratHce virtue, and overthrow the best governments: and these active elements have never been idle since the formation of lGis Re- public to the present day. Good rulers and wise councils have eouneracted and controlled in meas ure these " dark minister's" and bad rulers have made them subseryent to their nefroas purpos- es and designs for tn all evil there is aconnecng sympathy-a single soul.
 When we review that period of fifty five years that is past, with impartiality, see, chart, the national character delneated, wlsall it's lights and shades, and engraven for the page of future his tory. The former part of this period was rendered. illusirous by Washington and his conederates, the nnflinching heroes the patriots. and steadfasi guardians of their country. Most of them now sleep under monument of solid and everlasting fame and their shall shine in the history their country
 t 6 the sun grows dim with age, and nature sinks with years" and ill all sublunary things forgotten
 in the final obsequies of time itselc But the memory l and deeds of Washington have the highest claim the gratitude of every American, and possess charm at once go commanding and interesting, thu his l ory must banish indifference and ingra.iude, bleak as is the heart of man, from generations to ccnc.- For history will speak his eulogy; does his name need any other panegyric. Some ofthat patri- otic band of statesmen, who, under God, consumma- ted our Republican governmen. and institutions, aer being elevated to higher s,atons, departed from the policy of Washington, in many instances, and pursu- ed course of measures that shaded the American character, and greatly osructed the sources of na ,iona prosperity. Many men, perhaps falsely called great, when they in stations to which they have been subordinate, and netting independently of others than they have been accustomed to, beitay weakness and ndecsion of character, and some wild and visionary traits which before undiscovered. But we pass over the deeds and wrongs less degen crate men, and approach the present period of our | history with feelings of findigna,ion.
 The present administration is an anomaly. and an incongrui.y--a blot of the dsepes: shade-a stain the American character too deep for ages to wipe away, and too black for time iiselfto bleach. This may be through. strong language, but 1t ia no more 1 than the occason merits. It is no exaggeraton of
 idle words, nor madness but the words of truth and soberness." Has not the nations faith and honor been bariered away like toy of no importance, as obligation that may be sported with, as gew-gaw ! or an unmeaning jestf What is the Constitution. that palladium of our rights, when it longer affords protection to the deienceless I What are solemn treaties when they may De violated at the caprice of a man as notorious as CaIgula What are inaugu- ral promises, and what is the high oath of office, when both are vioaicd7 What are we to think of u man in the highest station in the Republic, thatwl connive at assassination and rave at ihe very de- mands of justice, for patry amount I And what must tnS WOTiu Vs V AECsiue"I ""Ot '" "'S VT" ercso of his :" royal prerogative, could make the cause of suspicious wonan uninteresling ns 1t is 10 the public, the al,eror cause of dissolying an entire national Cabinet? Waste and prodgality. injustice and prescription, the most prominent features of the present weak and inefficient administration; and this yields the reward that party favorites and poh
 cal sycophants receive, the expense of the naions faith and honor, and ofindyiduai merit. Corrupon 1 like pestence that walks in darkness" has poIu- ted the national sanctuary; and seven libatons n Jordon, seven times repeated, would De insufficient
 to cleanse the political leprosy of modern NaamaD, who wonld exclaim like the ancients, Are not Par phas and Ahanar, rivers of Damasc0s, better than all tle riyers of Israel !" andihus prefer his maady.
 I, is one of the mysteries of the age and proclaims i,s degeneracy, that totally void of every qua
 cation for the place to which lie has been snsssrv- edy raised should have been chosen by majority of ten millions of fcemen for their Chief Magstrats and that 90 large portion of bis enlightened people should be ihus dipped by the blind and disordered zeal of political phrensy. The noble naiicnnl ship, with sacI puSilanimous and unskal pilots, is hurry inR toward vortex of inevitable destruction, and 10
 degradation of character it will most justly merit.
 But we confidently irust that this dark shade on its character s before long, to he succeeded by poii- cal Iumioary, whose more genial beams shall cheer every American patriot and revive the dropping .-s. .f akn OMEGA.