The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-12-14

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he and mill come dolrn--he need MOI shoot"
| Ii is strange that this man should be so
much abused for not yielding his conscience to
the dictates Of his party, when others OF ITS
members have been so much INDUCED in and so
easily LEI of for differences upon points involv--
| ing no conscientious scruples or constitutional
difficulties What seems TO be perfectly lawful
for others is unlawful for him. Where he is
traitor, they are true and liege. Who, accord
ing TO all party usages, ought to have been re-
garded as the true exponenis and representa-
tives of the Wing party Undoubtedly its
President elected by the party, and the Cabinet
chosen or continued by him. Their joint coun-
ellis ought TO have been taken as The Embodied
! will OF those they represented What did they
do2 II is well understood that they had come
| 10 compromise upon the vexed question OF
fiecal agent The Secretary Of the Treasury,
| Mr.. Ewing himself, proposed plan, which he
| recommended 10 Congress as one which would
conduct our finances and commerce, equalze
exchanges, regulate currency, and avoid all con
slitutional difficulties This was the very de-
sideratum, if il was what he described il 10 be
and this was emphatically by Wing Admins
tration recommendation, from the proper De-
| partment, said to be acquiesced in by the Pres-
dent, and il was called for by both Houses OF
| Congress. Ii was justly regarded as the Wing
measure OF the first moment and would, as such,
have been met and treated, doubtless, by the OPP
| position or Van Buren, party II was called Mr..
| Ewing's bill. Ii came from under his heavy
hand, but il no sooner came, than il was met at
the threshold of the Senate with scow and
sneer, and was denounced as a rickety con
ceynr BY whom Benton No. Buchanan
No. Calhoun No. No Opposition Senator was
given time to denounce il, or even TO study his
reason for so doing. Every man OF them was
saved the invidious task by another and far
different order Of politician. Ii was literally
| secuted by one who had won the soubriquet of
Great Pacifcator, by acting well in times past
| the part of Cancellation and compromise-by
one who, though of late, since the election OF
| Harrison and his decease, has seemed 10 forget
| his occupation and the foundation Of his fame
who has lost his temper in council and his
tone in debate-by one who has shown new
and opposite character in majority, TO any he
ever before exhibited in minority-mag nfcent
in the latter, and in the former dangerously
one who has caused some of his friends to
change their opinion Of him, by his being in
a position TO show the world what he would do
had he the poverty one, Of whom il is severe
enough to add. that TO make him admired and
his great qualities shine, he must be ever kept
down in minority, for the moment the weights
are taken oil the springs of his vauting amb-
| ton, his head flies into the clouds. This view of
him in majority, may for what care be contrast
ed with what said ofhim in my Tay louisville let
ter when he was in minority and if any of his
friends arc disposed to discuss my consistency,
| will avow vast change since in my opinion
of the man, and examine with them the reason
whether il has been caused by any fckleness in
me, or by any newly discovered defects in him.
| That letter has been paraded by his parasites,
and they had better not investigate whose fault
il is that their lord and master has lost more
sincere friend than are many of the halowed
hypocrites who fawn upon his favor and live by
1 4 al. H. r. ...l.C
nate it was who struck with his own hand the
first fatal blow, and uttered with his own tongue
the first whitening denunciation against the
leading measure OF the first moment OF his own
party Has he been rebuked2 No. Gently chided2
No. Has there been a murmut Of disapproba-
ton by press or partisan2 Not whisper. Why7
What good and sufficient reason had he, thus
licensed for dissenting from and denouncing
with impunlty party measure which none other
dared to differ from much less to assail The
reason of the assent Of the States! Mark that.
! Why, then, did his own very compromise, in
the very bill which he himself next proposed,
contain or pretend TO contain this very princi-
pie Of State assent Ay: bur it did moi, sax his
what he will. Then, # that be 50, i, was
fraud as compromise! The Dictatorship may
take either horn Of the dilemma it chooses. II
| shall not, however, in the same breath denounce
" One Man" for rejecting fair compromise, the
| principle Of which they urge he concurred with
in Ewing's bill and then, in the next instant,
TO defend Mr.. Clay's consistency, deny tina,
! his compromise contained feature which he
had Just repudiated as "a ricketty concern
II it did contain it, why on its account, did he
denounce Mr.. Ewing's bill2 1t did not, how
can il be defended as a compromise? Was he
determined to be the author Of the measure, or
that there should be no measure and that the
question should be left an open question II
asked loho defeated the Wing measure of ifs
cal agent, should say-no Veto, but one who
welded more power and power more dangerous
far than that Of Veto. Yet "fish has been
made of one man and flesh ofthe other;" and
the real truth is that neither Fiscal Bank nor
Fiscal Corporation, Ewing's assent nor Clay's
dissent was either 6 fish, flesh or good red her
ring p The Veto was wisely provided for Just
such nondescript jugglery OF political aspirants !;
and therefore it is that the Constitution itself, in
I its turn, comes in for its share of hot shot in
this war, for containing any such a thing as
Veto at all. Instead Of a Constitutional Govern
ment the Dictatorship seems TO desire a mere
Congressional majority Government, and when
that vital change of our sy stem is consummated
where will be the protection Of the minority
The majority is always strong enough to protect
itself. The Constitution was mainly made to
protect minority of the governed. Odths
were made TO preserve the Constitution. And
conscience, enlightened by reason and Chris
lianity, is the only guard of oaths. The free
dom OF conscience aud the sanctity of oaths de-
stroyed, all the defences of the Constitution
broken down. its restraints upon majority
swept away by majority, where will the mino-
rity Of the governed and their sacred and I'M
alienable rights and privileges find peace from
invasion or protection from power2 This is a
grave and solemn moral and political question
t raised by the issue which is now openly pre-
scented for the first time-Shal we be governed
, BY fixed fundamental law, called Constiu-
ton, framed to prescribe limits to a majority,