North American. [volume] (Swanton, Vt.) 1839-1841, 1840-06-03

lDru 1tsaosf cNrLt body. IN ihts NutaRc !
was hailed with delight, and the thunde
Of artillery testified 10 totes on both side
OF The llne the pleasure ri The pa ople.
\ We are lilllc curious 10 know wha
has wrought So immediate and unexpected
change 10 The mind of Mr.. Van BuTer
IN relation TO The case OF Mr.. Macken'
zir. Last summer the petitions oil the
people and the appeals of the press were
addressed TO him, asking pardon for the
prisoner, but these he treated with con-
tempt. The certificates ot respectable
physicians were furnished him, stating
lhslMr. M'Kenzir's confinement ives incon-
sisten, with his health, but these TOO were
regarded, and no mitig alton of the cap
'ive's sentence was ordered. Again, du-
/ nng the present session OF Congress, Gen.
keitn, of Pensylyania, called upon the
1 President with petition from the Dem
ocralic Association OF Philadelphia IN favor
| oil Mr.. Mackenzie. The President re-
fused TO grant him any relief. His ,ex-
cuse was, Z" that in the present juncture
al our negotiations with Engla it would
be improper 10 interfere with The action OF
our courts of justice" But Gen. Keim
in'lmatrd that If The Governor General of
The Canadas pould REQUEST M
.Maeken.ie's release ii tgouid be granted
What magic influence can il be, then,
which has been working upon Mr.. Van
Buren, with such gratifying elIect' What
power has raised up before his vision, tu-
perior TO the Governor General Of the
Canadas, and even TO the petticaai sove-
reign OF EngIand' II is THE PEOPLE.
Yes, thank God, our countrvmen are vet
FREE, and THE SOVEREIGNTyIS
in THEIR HANDS. Once in four
years they are omnipotent, and then, If no
oltener, their voice must be obrved The
Presidential election is approaching and
Mr.. Van Buren, has the sagacity TO dis
cover that he now needs the support eli
those friends whom he has aenated by his
British policy. The people ofthe frontier,
Tor their attachment TO revolutionary prin-
cipIes, and their assistance To the cause
OF struggling and down-trodden freedom
in the Canadas, have been reproacbed
and insulted by the administration, ex-
posed 10 the evils OF a standing army quar-
tered among them, and subjected TO a
hateful military despotism, and il is but
natural, it is hut right, that they should !
resent .he foul injustice which has been |
done them. Like freemen and patriots
they have proclaimed their detesalion of
the base and infamous cooperation Of the
government Of the United States with
that OF Great Britain, in crushing reheIl-
ion and suppressing free principles in Can
ada, and though, Tor time, the President
has treated their complaints with apparent
indifference and scorn, we are proud to
say that the time has at length arrived, as
we were well assured it would, when even
the people Of the frontier, revled and
wronged as they have been, can claim
some little consideration at Washington.
Thousands of the best and ,ruest demo
,raIs in the Union have been driven, BY
The foreign policy OF the administration,
rom the ranks oi itssupporters, To posi-
ion with which il will be Inconsistent for
hem to support either Of the Presidential
candidates now before the country, and
Mr.. Van Buren must be aware Of the fact.
To win back those whose confidence he
las thus lost, may be considered, in the
PRESENT state OF parties, an object Of the
irst importance in reference 10 the fall I
elections. Measures which will be accept
bic 10 them must therefore be adopted. !
Hence the release Of Mackenzie. So c
much for firm and persevering adher- /
nee to good cause. Had the frontier dem r
crals become discouraged, because their c
numbers were few as compared with the {
whole country, aud given up the contest b
s hopeless, Mackenzie would have re- Ii
nained eighteen months in prison. But 1
hey were not TO be deferred from the per- U
ormance of their duties as republican free n
len by such considerations. True. thew S
we're told that the few disafI, cted indi S
iduals on the frontier were of TOO little e
to have any influence in the i;
AderaI councils. True, it was tauntingly d
aid that the sympathy for Canada extend a
d not beyond the first tier of counties along n
he line, aud that all their efforts would II
reduce no effect upon the country at large. a
'rue, they were ridicuIed Tor opposing e
measures which all parties acquiesced in. r
'rne, they had 10 encounter the sneers of a a
lie and unprincipled class OF citizens who 4
link il too old-Gashioned and vulgar to fol- b
NV in the footsteps of our revolutionary e
l,hers. True, every thing went adversely 81
, The cause OF liberty, and their continual p
drew upon them the v
liter taunts Of their opponents. But v
Ell they persevered, Tor they knew that il n
'ould not ALWAYS he So They feel TINT o