Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1832-10-25

not 50 bad as what it presages for the flu
ture. There is no rejecting man that
can fail to be struck with the change that
has taken place within these three years.
When MIR Adams went out Of Office, the
Union of the States was not supposed to
be in immediate danger from any quar-
ter. No State had then threatened open
and direct separation; no State had set
at naught the decisions of the Supreme
Court, and the laws Of Congress; no
power had been claimed, by any Presi-
dent, of refusing at pleasure to execute
the laws, or Of arresting at will their ope-
ration; no proscri ptlon or persecution,
for opinions sake, had yet spread over
the land; Offices of Government were yet
regarded as public trusts, nor as mere
party rewards; no public avowal had
been made, by men in power, that The al
tainment and possession Of hat po,cer was
their prolessed leading object; that pub
lie men owed duties, not so much to their
country as to their party; that public e..
lections were but contests, excited and
stimulated solely by private interes st; and
that, in these contests, "the sPoils Of the
enemy belonged to the victors." il Fad
not, ut that time, become habit with the
Executive, to refuse assent to important
acts of Congress, often without giving the
slightest reason: and, certainly, when
the power of the negative had been ex-
ercised, and reasons had been given for
1t, those reasons had always been such
as grave and sober-minded Statesmen
might advance. No push for power had
been made, by any President, such as to
threaten annihilation to all the other
branches of Government; aud it is not
unfit for this occasion to add, that Exc
cmive power had, then, never in Ameri-
ca obtruded itself upon social or private
Il life. The United States still wore their
accustomed aspect: they looked like what
they had always been-the country
which we have all been taught to love-
a'country Of real liberty, having Gov
ernment of laws, with none so low as to
be beneath their protection, and none so
high as to be above their control! There
was no usurpation exercised, or threaten
: ed; no despotic power claimed. What
Congress enacted, and the tribunals ad-
judged, the Executive arm was ready,
not to arrest, but to execute.
II Who can deny that, in all the forego-
ing particulars, fearful change has ta-
ken place? Who can compare our cen
dtion i'll 1929, with our condition at pre-
sent, and honestly say, that our Govern
ment has not essentially altered It's char
acter!
\ 1t is notorious, that resistance to the
laws of Congress, thing equivalent to
immediate separation, is now distinctly
threatened, by one Of the States Of the
Union; and that, by another, a law has
! been passed, directly reTugnant to an act
Of Congress, and free citizens immured
in dungeon under that law, where they
still remain, although the Supreme Court
has solemnly decided that such law vio-
lutes both the act of Congress and the
constitution of the United States, and is
therefore void! 1t is equally true, that
not the slightest disapprobation of these
proceedings has been manifested by the
President of the United States. He has
never invited the attention of Congress
to these occurrences-he has not called
, on the country to trown on this project for
, separation, and this contempt for the con-
, stitution and Laws. On the contrary,
D their authors are among those who elec.
ted him to office; they are still of his par
ty, and most of them, his personal and
t political friends. In the case of Geor-
{ gia, it is well known, that nothing has
l been done by her, but with the Presi-
} dents appreciation. He has openly re-
5 fused to execute the intercourse act oil
1904, and has not opened his mouth, mol
raised his finger, to release the Mission
l aries from their inhumane and outra-
geous Imprisonment. With Georgia, he
:" holds that all our Indian treaties, neal
= forty in number, and some of them as ole
2 as the Government, are no treaties at all
z with Georgia, he holds that the law pas
n sed in MIR Jefferson's time, and, at thi.
: moment, an existing plain, and positive
: statute, ought not to be executed; ant
@ with Georgia, he maintains that the de-
cisions Of the Supreme Court, instead O
being executed, should be contemnet
and despised.
With respect to the South Carolini
doctrine Of notification, the President.
n opinions, probably from his dislike to
s wards certain individuals, are not SO o
e penly in accordance with the opposers o
t the constitution of the United States, a.
i in the case Of Georgia; but he does moth
9 ing at all to discountenance that doctrine
e or to maintain the Union against its in
e huence. He dislikes Mr. Calhoun, tn,
>, chief Of nullifers, but he either dare
1t not, or does not chuse, to break will
d the teachers of that faith, generally. o.
y the contrary, many politicians Of tha