Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1844-02-01

securities against the enlargement or A.
buSiye exercise of The powers OF that de.
partment of the Government
We will not stop here to enquire
whether the charge here made against
Mr.. Van Bnren's administration is true
or false. Suffice it to say :hat that adj
ministratlon was marked by 70 undue
exercise of Executive power: there was
no veto, no interference with the other
departments Of Government; but calm
aud dignfied Difference TO, and reliance
upon Congress for the success Of such
measures as were deemed essentaf9Hke
we'll being of the country. But our OBJ
iect now is to try MIR. Rives by the same
test that he applies to Mr.. Van Buren,,
and to show that his present laudation
of Mr.. Clay because Of his opposition to
Executive power, is flimsy and shall
low device to excuse his presen: support
of that gentleman. Let us recur again
to some Of Mr.. Riyes' past history. The
country has not forgotten the history of
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS John Quin.
cy Adams and Henry Clay. Bargain,
intrigue aad corruption were charged u
pom them from one end Of the Union to
the other. They were charged with hav.
ing obtained power by Il 'corrapt and un-
lawful agreement and with Striving TO
perpetuate it by equally corrupt exer-
else of the patronage and influence of
the Executive department. 'Retrenct-
meRt and Reform became the battle-Cry
of the republican party. Was MIR. Rives
silent at that time? No: he made
speech in tie House of Representatives,
in which he. urged all the objections
'stereotyped' or not. against the then ex-
istln- administrations. lie cried the slO-
gan ofExecutive Power ard Patronage
-'Retrenchment and RJo'm, and con.
tributed all that he could to swell the
fall tide of popular Indignation which
literally consumed MeSsrs, Adams and
C2qy.' The administration OF Gen.
Jackson came next; and then it vas, If
ever. that Mr.. Clay 80 'eminently dis
tln9uished his career by his efforts 20 re-
strain. and provide new bikes against
Executive power But where was Mr..
Rives? Why, instead of assisting MIR.
Clay in his patriotic war (as Mr.. r. now
esteews iI) upon the Executive, he was
found battling for it. He supported ev-
cry measure which Mr.. Clay opposed -
Jhey veto Of the Bank bill; the veto of
the Land bllr the veto Of the Lexington
and Maysvi'le road bill; the veto of Ait.
CIay's- Land bill; the Proclamation and
Force bill; the Removal of the Deposites
the Protest; the EXPUNGE, the reap
pointment of public officers who had
been rejected by the Senate each and
all Of these Executive measures were
zeaIousIy and unquaiiiedIy advocated
by MIR. Rives: while they were all with
perhaps the exception Of the Force bill
opposed by Mr.. Clay. JUDGED, what
ever of distinction Mir. Clay las earn,
81 during Gen, Jackson's administration;
while the highest distinction that Mr..
Rlves has earned was BY his support OF
that administration.
But to come down to a still later peri
cd; Does Mr.. Riyes suppose that his
course in the extra session Of Congress in
1871, has been 'erpungedH When Capt:
Tyler IN the course of some three week )
flooded Congress with quite an inunda.
ton of Executive power, in the shape of
OF as many vetoes, where was Mr.. Rives?
One would suppose from his newborn
zeal IN the service of Mr. Clay, that he
would have been found fighting side lay
side with that gentleman in his opposl-
ton to Executive power. But no! 'soli-
tary and alone he stood forth in the SEN
ate the accredited organ of A!r.Tyler and
the redoubtcd champion of the executive!
In 1910 Mr.. Rives, in his Fincastle
speech cOmpal ed Mr.. Van Buren, TO a
weasle. Comparisons says honest
Dosberry, ARE odorous;' but surely il
would be just as dignifed in US to saw
that 1t, as Mr.. Rives says Mr.. CLAW has
distinguished himself by erecting :dik.s
against Executive power,' he (Alr. r.
has been playing thr part of the musk raj
by boring holes in those 'dikes' and LEI
ting out the waters they we're designed
to stay. -
Here again. Mr.. Riyes pronources
'hasrant sentence Of qualification and in-
competence upon himself. s.