Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1832-08-27
LyNCiiBURG. AUGUST 81, 1892.
THE PRESIDENTS CONVERSATIONS.

mitasc in 1926, ON board cf steamboats,, at tavern
bars and Oh the highway, as well as those NJ his
own freside, would have taught him some little
prudence IN that particular. twas certainly hop
cd, that, If they should fan Of proper effect, the dig
nity of his Office would impose upon him a restraint
rum alike suggest TO minds accustomed to obey
their %salutary almonitions, but which appear TO
have had no weight with him. In this hope, how
ever, we have been disappointed.
Ii, therefore, tue President, forge,fuI of his dignl.
fed official character, and regardless of all proprie-
ty, will thus yield to the influence Of his bad pas
Sous, converting ais political opponents into per
sonal adversaries, attributlng then best actions to
the bases, motives, and d%efamlng their characters
as he travcrses the country, 10y unfouudcd ,mputa.
tons and slanderous " lnucndos,p he must expect,
and his tricnds must expect, thet he shall be treated
with as little ceremony as any other individual
who uniustly dcftmes personal character. HIS Of
ice aud higl, station, instead of screening him from
the indignation which the act would provoke II
perpetrated by a man OF ordinary standing IN HE,
should be regarded as an aggravation Of the offence
because, while a missile thrown by su h unwor-
thy instruments rs Blair, Kendall, and others OF
his mental understrapperS, would fail, like aspcnt
and blunted shaft, harmless at the feet of such men
as Mr.. Webster aud Mr.. Clay, they may have
power TO wounl, when hurled by the che .Magas-
irdte Of the nation.
During his recent journey from Washington CT
ty to Nashville the PRESIDENT is said to have IN
1ulged in this propensity to defame his political op
ponents, to the fullest extent. The Bank Of the j.
ni,ed States was his Misunderstanding Of the " moral
courage Ito use the eNekoQ phrase of the Heroites,
from Van Buren, down to Blair, which he display
ed in yetoins it, and charging the most eminent
and distinguished friends of that institution with
having boon : Jribe1' to give it their support
Among the persons implicated in this charge OF
. bribery Is Daniel Webster, OF Massachusetts,
Il nan, who, whatever may be the political errors
| oflis youth, boasts an unsullied moral character
| a spotless reputation, which malignity, IN It's mos,
yenomous mood, never dared asperse, until thu
| Pasidcnt of the United States, hating him for his
| hrse est opposition to his reelection, condescended Il
! coin-no. We VIII not charge him with hat-but tc
retail, to a crowd Of bar-room politicians, the infa
nous SANDERS invented by his vile parasites, to i'm.
pose upon his ctedullty, \ to feed his revenge. Ever
the charge were true-eycn hal Daniel Webster
polluted his hands withabasc bribe--had he sold his
honest name, and forfeited his high and harl-carnet
| fame for a little filthy lucre-cyen then, the Pfesi-
4ent should have hesitated to have become his ac
cusef, lest his anxiety destroy to such "A man, teare,
as well as hated, might be attributed rather to cleo
tioneering purposes than to indignation against the
crime itself.
With these remarks. we leave the President ano
his conversations in Other hands. We take lht
following article, on the subject, from the last Bos
ton Patriot which, from its tone and temper, We
infer rccei7ed Mr.. Webstcr's sanction before it ap,
pcared in thai journal:
The Alexandra Gazette Of the 9Th inst con.
ta,ns an account of a very extraordinary CONVERSE
ton, said to have been held by the Prc5.Ient of the
United States, at a tapern IN Virginia while on
his way TO Tennessee. He thought that time aud
that place proper, ii would seem, If tins account is
to be believed. to undertake. the defence Of his Bank
Bill Veto, aud to calumniate those who had supper
ted the Bill IN Congress, against his wlshes.-Both
the sentiments and the language ascrlbed u the
President on this occasion, are such, not only as no
public man could utter who fclt a degree Of regard
for his own character, but such, also IS cafid net
have escaped from any private person, who pro
lesscs TO recognize, in his intercourse with others.
the authority Of tcnth and the restraints OF ordinary
good manners. 1t would be altogether meredith
that the President OF the United States should have
been guilty ofsuch an outrage upon p%ropricty, II
this case stood alone, upon the authority of a Stn"lc
witness. But unfortunately there are other well
attcstcl instances Of has lndul ging IN passionate de-
Carnations against individuals, which render the
present Statement, the moro probable. Tn the occa-
sion now referred TO, members of Congress, and
particularly members Of the Senate, as IS usual
with him, were distinguished objects of his calunl-
ny. lie is reported to have said, among other
things, that he had no doubt II would be discovered,
II sufficient investigation were made, that many OF
the promlnen advocates OF the Bank Bill, were
bribcd fer their surport-and particularly that the
Bank had recently loaned Mr.. Webster ten thou
sand dollars, and had accepted him also, ns endor-
ser for Messrs. Gales and Sea;on, for a like sum.
The purpose, for which these atcmcn were
made, is sufficiently apparent.
ain answer to this Islander, and in addition to
the mere scorn and contempt which it excites, and
which is ~deepened by the nigh public situation OF
the author, we are authorized to say that since Mr.
Webster's residence in Boston, bills, accep;anccs
and other papers bearing his name. have been dis
counted at the Bank oithe United States, more or
less frequently, every year, in the ordinary way OF
business, as at other Banks, and never otherwise +;
and that no special loan, or accommodation, was
ever mado to him, a, any time, by the Bank, or any
of its Offices, to the amount of "A single dollar. We
are authorized further to state, that Mr.. Webster is
not endorser for Messrs. Gales and Seaton, at the
! Ranl. &C the IInitol Statcs Or elScM lere. tor any