The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-08-31
Politics OF THE DAY.


.aas,as $4,000 and measures, there is moi Inc
"a .Sasr AZ shads OF difference between you ana NI.
Rves necessarily follows aoa' - an ,u,y your en.
ssr,nrdn ,rv exertions prevent The revieeton oi
Mr. Riyes 10 the SenateAand that Is that NJ WIN MOI
nIedge himself TO the support Of The re-eiecuon OF
Mr Van Buren, 10 the Presidency. Is this suiii-
Gent Justification This depends entirely upon the
;mportapce which Mr. Riyes attaches 10 the policy
Of Mr. Van Buren,, TO which heis opposed. Whai are
the objections which he urgesi That they are Nm
authorized by the consluon--hosiile 10 the rights
of the Siates--increase The power and enlarge me
patronage Of the federal Execuiiye--impaft TO the
Executive ancontrolled power over the currency
tend 10 Government Bank, and endanger me iioer-
ties OF the people. These are objections which Mr.
Rives has urged from the time this policy was nls'
proposed 10 the present time. Will You unaeHahe
10 say sir in the lace Of the people OF Virginia
these are not sufficient objections, II they are true 10
justify opposition to him who proposed, ana VINO =
pressing upon a reluctant people these dangerous
measures3 III you say no, then you should make
bonfire OF all the files Of the Enquirer from hs com
mencement until you identified yourself with the
I" sink or swim party, for they utterly condemn
YOU. II these are not sufficient objections, then
desire 10 be informed what But, sir Mr.. Riges
Is not alone in these objections. You, sir, have
urged them ALL and SO have the whole party, with
but few exceptions, who now so hot In the pur-
suit Of Mr. Riyes. Then, sir. Mr. Riyes whole
offence is that he thinks that the objections 20 these
measures, objections which you entertain IN com
mon with him are sufficient oppose The re-eec.ion
position to Mr. Van Buren, Is advocacy OF Mr. Clay
and his favoriIe policy. Is lhisso sir and you
serious In urging III To disprove the truth Of this
argument will give you an example, the force and
concusveness of which am sure you will not be
disposed to call into question. Did you moi, sir adj
vocate the election of General jackson, whose cleo
ton you bad pronounced would be "a curse 10 the
country" over John Quincy Adams, as choice Of.
evils II you then felt yourself justified in voting
for man whose election you bad desecrated as
curse to the country as choice OF evils, why do
you denounce Mr.. Rives because he will not avow
willingness to support the reelection Of Mr. Van
Buren,, in the very teeth OF Mr. Van Buren's avow-
ed purpose to press the policy TO which Mr.. Rives
takes such strong exceptions, and 10 which you take
the same exceptions Even suppose MIR. Rives
should honestly believe that the institute and in.
terest Of the country would sustain less injury BY the
election Of Mr.. Clay than Mr. Van Buren,, and
should, as choice oil evils" vote for Mr. Clay
does II necessarily follow that he will espouse Mr..
Clays policy2 Did you sir, adopt the principles of
General Jackson 10 which you were opposed, by
tanning his election as choice of evils2n lfyou
did not, why are you so uncharitabe TO Mr.. Rives,
whose whole course justifes the utmost confidence
that he will be faithful to his principles do not
mean 10 assert or remotely indicate, that Mr. Rives
will or will not vote for Mr.. Clay, for do no, know:
am only putting case alphabetically, and illus
traiing i BY your own example. One thing can
say, and that Is, that neither Mr. Van Buren, nor
Mr. Clay can be Mr.. RiveS' preference for the Pre-
sidency, maintaining as they do, so many opinions
to which he objects so strongly, and that ii either
shall be elected and attempt 10 put into practice these
opinions, they will find in him an incorporating
and unwavering opponents This is not the stua-
ton Of Mr. Rives alone: there are many of the
ableSt, most distinguished and IN ST patriotic men in
the State, who are in the same situation but who
however they may differ as TO whether Mr.. Van
Buren, or Mr. Clay be the lesser epil, will cordially
unite IN opposing the obnoxious measures OF ether
II this be aati.repWticap and aapatriotic then LEI
them die the death. The sum and substance then
of your reasons for sacrificing MIR Rives, who
lhertn ntad AMIR "A
confidence, IS, that he does not differ from you as
how the government shall be admnis,e red-upon
what principles; but by iohom-you abandon Mr..
Rives Tor the sake OF a maa: Mr.. Rives abandons
man tor the sake Of his principles. Who is right
He who serves man, or he who serves his princi-
Ode rrury repuuI1cduE I ne veruirr -wnTrm Impaf-
tal history will record cannot be doub;ful--n will
pronounce that the institutions OF the country and
the liberties OF the people, are better secured by
strict adherence TO principle, than blind dspoion to
the chief of faction or party.
But, sir, Is there nothing due 10 Mr.. Rives' own
selfrespectl Shall he utterly disregard his own
feelingsl Shall he anely submit to that system Of
denunciation, detracon and abuse with which he
has been pursued, from the commencement Of his
opposition 10 that fatal measure, the Sub.treasury
scheme, which, like the serpent that entered the
peaceful garden Of Paradise, has brought upon the
Republican party all lis and all its miseres TO
the present hour II he can, he has patience and
foTiude which Job himself might envy. Standing
upon the principles which he had imbibed in his
earliest youth, and which he learned in the school
Of those distinguished patrarchs of liberty, Jetfer-
son and Misunderstanding the doctrines which
had indicted him into and sustained him n the pub
lie service-and refusing, at the command of power
and the dication OF parry 10 force TO the rghtabout
and assume position directly the reverse of that
which be and they had occupied-in word, With
has been assailed with the most bitter nveciive the
grossest abuse, and most violent denanciaon. He
has been charged with corruption, ubhallowed aspi-
ration and stigmatized with the polite the civil and
charitable epilhets OF traitor deserter, renegade,
bankbought and bank-bribed-indeed, the whole
billingsgale vocabulary has been exhausted upon
hm-and yet you sir, ask him TO submit not only 10
the violation OF hisprnciples but TO all this SANDER
and defamation, and tainely bow the knee to those
who have inflicted upon him these gross and violent
oulrages. Sir, while would not have Mr. Rives
infict the slightest wound upon the institutions and
prosperity Of The country, by INDUCING his resent
teach those who fill high places that thew are moi
beyond the reach Of responsibility, for uniusifabe
and wanton assaults upon the feelings of honorable
men. would not give them impuny
IL was said by Cicero, that great and excelent Ro
man, whose vast abilities, and the calamies Of his
country during his time, enabled him, by mouruf ex
perence, to form Just Judgment the conduct of tho
friends and enemies Of liberty that ",he Republic ia
always attacked with greater vgor than deendcd
for, the audacous and proHigate prompted by their
natural emny to it, easily imbeled to act by the
least nod OF their leaders Whereas the honast know
not Why are generally sioU and uariiinp TO STRAND
negfeeting always the beginning of hings are neuer
roased to exert The nselves but by the hst necessfy
so that through IsREsoLurioN aud DELAY, when they
would be glad to compound last for their QUIET at
the expense even Of their HONOR, they commonly lose
them BOTH" This sentiment to be found in Cirero's
Grafton for Sextus Its truth has been demonstrated
by the amentable experience Of two thousand years
and fear sr that we about to add another to The
many mournful caamtes by which its truth has been
illustrated The Sub-Treasury scheme has not !ony
been proposed, but is pressed with unequaed pcrse-
serance You are opposed to it-you have pronounced
dangerous TO the rights Of the States and to the
per.es OF the people-you have denounced it as hos
e republican principles, therefore necessarily mo-
noeIa'c, Yet, SIR, You ardently sustain the men who
PfoPoseu ~ and who, regardless Of every obsaca ron