Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1838-04-12
Prom the New York Commercial Advertiser
LETTER NO.I
To Martin Van Esurcm,
PRESIDENT OF TIE U. STATES.

to you, and through you to the people
of the United States, a series of letters
on the present very alarming and dis
,tressing condition of our public affairs.
1t will be my principal object TO make
manifest the cause Of this unexampled
state of things. think | understand
the relation you bear to the people as
well as that which the people bear to
you. We the people, owe you, as
chief magistrate Of the republic, be-
coming respect, and, so far as your acts
merit it, u support. You, in your turn,
owe to Us protection, and the rccogni-
tion and maintenance of such policy
and the adoption Of such measures, as
will secure the national prosperity. We
do not acknowledge you to be our sovc-
reign, yet we can very well compre-
hend how, by the employment of corrupt
means, and especially those which your
predecessor so pathetlcally, but, as his
acts demonstrated, so lypocritically, de-
precatcd, you may concentrate IN your
position as much power as will enable
you to play the despot. When we con-
template you, sir, it is through the me-
dunn of the constitution, and through
that medium only. You were made by
the people, and are subordinate to them.
Your responsibility is to them, as a
whole in word, sir, the people arc
your superiors. Being one Of the peo-
pie, and occupying this relation to you,
in common with the rest, | shall say TO
you, frankly, what have to say.
! 1t may be as well, at the outset, 10
let You sec in what light we the people
view the question, as between dcspo-
tism and republicanism. | can do this
in noInore direct way than by employ
ing the words of one who understood,
exactly, the qualities and properties of
both. His definition is" The soye-
reignty of despotic monarch assumes
the power of making wrong wright, or
wright wrong, as he pleases ; or as it
suits him. The sovereignty in re-
public is exercised to keep right and
wrong in their proper and distinct
places, and never to suffer The one 10
usurp tie place of the other. Arepub-
! lie, properly understood, is sovereign
ty of Justice, in contradistlnction to 4
sovereignty of will.'
Il II is hardly to be presumed that yon
will question the fitness otthis discrllnl-
nation. 1t is upon this ground | mean
to try your fidelity to the great trust
which the people have coniided to you,
and which you are sworn faithfully to
maintain and defend. If / shall demon
strate, in the sequel, as expect to do,
that it has been, and yet is, the con-
stant tendency of your acts to make
right wrong, and wrong right, Just
as il may please yourself and your par
ty, you will not attempt, il is hoped, TO
escape from the conclusion, that, in
stead Of being President of the United
States, exercising, by virtue of your
office, "a sovereignty of justice" D." YOU
are despot, exercising the "soye-
reigpty of will"
! / do not mean to he understood, that
because | shall demonstrate your des-
potsm, yield to you the titled proro-
catiycs of royalty. Far from it, My
object is of another sort. 1t is 10 ex-
pose TO the public gaze, through the
medium of truth, the ruinous tendency
of your acts and policy, that, under your
responsibility and accountability To the
people, YOU may learn from them such
lessons, as, in the exercise oithcir con
stitutional powers, they may think II
ripht and proper to read TO YOU. j mean
If the public press will aid inc, and |
,rcspcctiully solicit its aid-that this
whole people shall comprehend those
principles Of an usurpcd despotlsm
which are every where, under your par
ticular direction, laying waste the bull
warks of their liberty, and destroying
alike their prosperity and their honor.
No more horrible acts, none mere OPP
prcssiyc and ficnd-like, have ever dis
glacod humanity, than arc those that
have been acted out by the usurpers OF
the old world, under the sacrilegious
employment of the terms" by the
grace of God" Nor have any acts
ever been so CALLING to the people ofthis
country, or so destructive of their pros
'pcrity or so blighting to their honor, as
those which of late years have been
committed, and are vet being commlt-
ted, in the name of A" the people. "
\ | shall shcw, in the sequel, in the
language Of the same author whom |
have already quoted, that "every con
t.stituent is member of the republic
I which is Il station of more consequence
To him than being member of a party
and though they may differ from cacl
= ,th,r i'm their choice of Dersons To trans
act the public business, il is of cquu
importance to all parties, that the bust
ness be done on righ, principles, other
wise our laws and acts, instead of bcins
! founded in Justice will be founded II
party, and be laws and acts of retalia
iion, and instead of being u republic o
free citizens, we shall be altonatcl,
ityran,s and slaves"
n How far your acts, when fairly an'
candidly investigated, shall identity yo,
with tyranny, and as being the instru
mcnt of the existing dcrtngement OF ou'