Litchfield enquirer., 1836-11-03
A BRIEF HISTORY,

DlTlng the eAnFQ1g preceding tho e1Dcti1n or l524 there were four candidates in. the
 Crawf0rds and Mr. Clay. Ali of these gen
 tlernen stood before the People upon their
 own personal merits, except Mr. Crawford,
 who was brought out under the imposing
 sanction. of a. Congressional Caucus at wash ington, the prime Fa0Rcr of which was Mar
 tin Van Buren. The people failed to elect their president, and Gen. Jackson entered the House of Representatives, backed by 99 cleo
 fcfal votes, Mir. Adams, S4, and Crawford,
 B, Mir. Clay being excluded The House,
 voting by States, conferred the Presidency on ] Mr. Adams, in derogation, as it was strongly
 insisted, of the superior right of General Jack l son, Mir. Van Burcn vehemently urging the
 election of Mir Crawford, whose right, ac-
 cording to the rule proposed, was far inferior
 to either. beg the fact to be remembered, l that at the election by the House in 1894, MT. Van Buren strenuously advocated the choice
 of MT. Crawford with his 5 votes, in opposi-
 tion to General Jackson, who came recom-
 mended by 99. I After the election of 1894, the contest for
 the succeeding Presidency was maintained l between Gen. Jackson and MT. AdamS-a
 contest which you we'll remember, for who
 can forget it? Mir. Van Buren was then the
 leader of powerful party in New York; I The animosity and rancor of party strife
 soon reached fearful height, and pervaded
 the whole Union from one extremity to the
 other The man could scarcely be found in
 seven cities, who had not taken sides. and who
 was not eagerly maintaining the side he had
 taken. To this remark however, Mir. Van
 Buren and his whole party were exceptions. From 1922 to 1927 they stood aloof from the contest. The election was now rapidly ap
 preaching, and the immense vote of New
 York was contemplated with the deepest so-
 licitude in every quarter. It was felt, more
 over, that Mir. Van Buren and his non conn
 initials, take which side they might, would
 carry with them the vote of New York, and that the vote of New York must decide the question of the Presidency. The decision of the contest therefore was in the hands of MT. Van Buren, who, with his whole party still forbore to declare themselves. Standing a. part from the contest they viewed the fearful | strife of the multitude around them with the ! seeming indifference of men having no con- cern in the struggle, andno possible interest in the result. They printed not syllable, they uttered not word, indicating the slight est preference for either party. A stranger would have supposed that regarding the strife as an unhappy family quarrel, they intend- ed upon some fit opportunity, to come in as peace makers. and heal, by their friendly counsels, the dissentions of the people. l
 At length MT. Van Buren set out from N. York on a tour of observation to the South-I He remained day or two in Washington, and then passed on to the Carolinas and Geor gia. Now what new lights he received on his journey, willnot take upon me to affirm, but this much is notorious to all America, that hastening back to New York, he gave the signal to his train bands 1; immediately, from the Atlantic to the Lakes, they broke forth in one simultaneous burst of deafening abuse of MT. Adams and his friends, which continued without abatement to the day of the election, mark the sequel General Jacksont triumph ed, and Mir. Van Buren was made secretary of state. Here let me pause. The perfect organization of this factio wheeling to the | right or Jeff, or retiring upon their arms, or charging in solid column, at the word of con- mand --is of itself a subject of no little novel, ty in a nation of peaceful republicans, and might afford matter for grave reflection, were not the mind irresistibly inpe ellHd beyond it,
 the still grayer problem, by what means, and through what persua asives, wasthis won-T derful organization effected That it was a vast conspiracy, formed and concerted for, the sole purpose of taking into its own keeping the offices and salaries of the government, great and small, and of excluding, by the mere power of combination, all other citi- zens from the hope or prospect of participa tion iii them that the conspilators recognis- ed no peculiar principles of policy, no max inns of government, no rules of right or rwrong, but held themselves free to profess, as occa- sion might require, just such principles, max inns, and rules as might from time to time, best suit the objects of the party-that these articles of Compact were distinctly understood and agreed upon beforehand that every man had given to them his full consent and appreciation facts of which no rational mind can doubt. sfsa& .itf sa
 But the mystery of the phenomenon is still unexplained. The point which puzzles me is, how so many freemen, spread over so wide space, proud of that eqr rality which they had been taught to regard as their ines .timable birth-right, could be approached, with the immoral and debasing proposals to F seize upon the offices, the power, and the money of the State, and, by confning the E distribution of the plumber to their own 6ody,l virtually excluded every other freemafi lrom
 those o0yenanted privileges for the enjhy-t | ment of which his fathers fought and bled, as | well as their own. And when thus approach | ed, how could they be persuaded, corrupted l and case hardened against all the natural | suggestions pf conscience, patriotism, and
 But the worst aspect of the case was the open, the avowed, the shameless effrontery with which they proclaimed their tlrnit,Ids.l The contest was one which in the firm beiiefl of the great mass of the American People. in-
 yolyed principles that were vital, and upon l the triumph of which was to depend the ptl 1 rity, if not the very existence of our most
 cherished institutions Party feeling had al- ready reached degree ofdeep. intense, un. I soaring bitterness alfooether isfexarnnled in