Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1844-01-26

~ I'M" ~ III w leltcTs WHICH nave
been recently given to the public, sustained by
his well.known influence with his friends, and
his own high and unquestioned character for
frankness and decision, is a guaranty which ~,
portion of the nation will lightly regard
With. respect, TO the Bank, if the country shall IL
reduced to a choice between the odious and grindin,
Sub-Treasury Scheme and a National Institution Of
Finance, properly guarded against abuse by the jeal
Gus restrictions OF It's charter, as well as by a vigllan :
pubic supervision and control, | do not believe tina
the sober judgment of the people, under the pressure
OF such an alternative, would find any cause Of quar-
rel against those who, free from constitutional diff
chlties on the subject, should 90 for the latter, in pre-
ference to the former, And az to the Distribution OF
the proceeds of the Public Lands, that stands neces-
sarily and evidently adjourned, as a practical qties.
lon, untll the revenues of the nation, compared with
It's expenditures and engagements, shall be in n very
different situation from that in which they now are.
or are likely to be for years TO come. My own ind
vldual OPINIONS on these subjects have been so often
and fully stated that | need not repeat them here
What ! mean 10 say at present is, that these are T.
sues either, hypothetical and speculative, or neu'raliz
ed by equal and opposing con iderations on the othcl
side. and should not divert the mind for n monen,
from those higher, and more urgent and vital qles
tons, which are the true tess OF a sound and correcf
decision in the pending Presidential election. 1hos-
tests | have already nverted TO. They are such AZ
are inseperably connected with The purify, character,
and preservation of the Government itself and in nv
humble Judgment, are Overwhelmingly conclusive
against the pretentions Of Mr.. Van Buren,.
AS little shall we permit ourselves, I trust, to
be frightened from our property" by the old
ana hollow eSpedient of a sensless and arbitra-
ry use of party names. Those who are so prone
to ring the changes on the nomenclature o! Fed.
eraIist and Republican would do well to remem-
Der that they have men, reading and inquiring
men, to deal with, and not children. Try Mr..
Van Buren, and Mr.. Clay by any test derived
from the authentic history of political parties in
this country, or by the standard of those great
principles which exist in the essential elements
of our popular institutions, and Mr., Clay stands
before the world the far better Republican of
the two.
In that great array and struggle Of the two
parties OF the country (among the most memo
rable in our history which arose out OF the con-
troversy and war with England in 1912, where
was Mr.. Clay and where was Mr.. Van Buren,!
Mr.. Clay CALAMITY leading the Republican hosts
in the House Of Representatives, and sustain
ing the administration of Mr.. Madison with all
the energies of his patriotism and eloquence;
Mr.. Van Buren, uniting with the Federalists to
depose that lllustrIols man from power, and to
~supplant his Administration Try them again
by that standard which Mr.. Van Buren, himself,
in a most celebrated speech, delivered in the
Senate of the United States in 1875, declaring
to be the true and legitimate distinction between
the Fedora! and Republican parties-the one
seeking to ertend, the other to restrain, E.recu-
tire power. The public have not forgotten the
various schemes so sedniously devised or coun.
tenanced by Mr.. Van Buren, during the whole
period of his Administration and fully exposed
at the time, to augment Executive PATRONAGE.
discretion, and power; and nothing, surely, has
more emlnentlv distinguished the career of Mr..
Clay than his constant and perseverinr Efforts to
restrain, and to provide new bikes and securi.
tIps anainst tho H..
OF the powers of that department of the Govern.
ment. Judging them, then, by Mr.. Van Buren's
own definition of political parties, as correctly
lad down by him in 1928, but totally lost sight
OF IN his subsequent practice, let the sober and
Impartial Judgment of the country decide which
Is the Federalist and which the Republicans
II Is impossible for any rejecting man to con-
template the actual and prospective condition of
the country, without seeing in it already the
germ of new difficulties and troubles, which
may, IN their approaching development, aritate
our glorious Union to its centre. The Oregon
and Texas questions in our foreign relations
at home, a deficient revenue, with al its oraina.
ry sources pressed up to their fartherest produc.
tire limit, and some of them, there is reason to
a2prehend, beyond the tariff controversy REQ.
pened, with all the conflicting interests and pas
sion which never fail TO be awakened by it and,
added to these, the rekindled fires of the aboli.
ton eXcItement-each and al of them are uues-
tons which carry in their bosom the fearful ele.
ments of civil discord and intestine strife, The
worst and most dangerous ASPECT they present
is, that all of them bring into immediate and on.
posing array, If not into angry and hostile COLI
SION, the sectional interests and feelings of the
different geographical divisions of the Confede.
racy. whose, at such a moment, is the mas
ter-spirlt that may have power to still the rising
ItpmDpst- hpfora II Svyoonc u,i,b ,Jo., r,o,;,s 60
over the face of our yet happy Union or, shoud
this prove hopeless and impossible, whose the
commanding genius ito ride tho w~hirlwind and
direct the storm!" To preside over the des.
times OF a great Republic, in a crisis of such
complicated difficulty and peril. calls for some
thing more that the arts of the mere party poll
tician. 1t demands the highest moral and intel.
lectual qualities of the statesman-courape.
self-HosSesslon, elevation of character and eIe.
vations of views a nobleness and generosity of
nature that attracts confidence, and can INSPIRE
enthusiasm the spirit of persuasion and the
spirit OF command combined. Let the annals of
the country, in some of the darkest moments
which have ever lowered upon its fortunes, be
consulted, and they will answer whether HEN.
RY CLAY or MARTIN VAN buren, is the man
Tor such a crisis.
have thus, my dear sir, with the frankness
due to our relations of friendship, personal and
political, given you my views on a subject which
is soon to absorb so large a portion OF the public
attention, and to which no good citizen can be
indifferent. ! flatter myself they will meet your
; concurrence, and that of our Republican friends
who have acted with us in the trying scenes
through which we have passed but, in any
event, | am sure they will be received by you
with the kindness and cordiality, in the spirit OF
which, pray you to believe Inc, most truly and
faithfully, yours, w. C. RIVES.
Col. EDMUND FoNTAINE, Hanover.
SIN the speech alluded to, (made on the 18th
February, 1928, on the power OF the Vice Prcsi.
: dent, as presiding officer of the Senatc,1 Mr.