Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1844-01-26

! II is no want of charity, then, but the
result Of the most candid and deliberate con-
sderation, when express the decided opin-
ion that Mr. Clay is far more to be relied
upon for practical adjustment of this deli
cate and complex subject, on terms just and
satisfactory to all sections of the union, Thar
monizing their various interests by the gold
en- rule of moderation, which is the only
pledge of permanence and stability in any
arrangement that may be made,) than Mr.
Van Buren,. The wise and temperate spir-
il so strikingy exhibited in his letters which
have been recently given to the public, sus-
tanned by his we'll known influence with his
friends, and his own high and unquestioned
character for frankness and decision is
guaranty which no portion of the nation will
lightly regard.
With respect to the Bank, if the country
shall be reduced TO a choice between the
odious aud grinding Sub-Treasury scheme
and National Institution of Finance. prop
erly guarded against abuse by the Jealous
restrictions of its charter, as well as by a
vigilant public supervision and control, do
not believe that the sober judgement of the
people, under the pressure of such an alter
native, would find any cause Of quarrel
against those who, free from constitutional
difficulties on the subject, should 90 for the
latter, in preference To the former. And as
TO the Distribution of the proceeds of the
Public Lands, that stands necessarily and
evidently Adjourned, as a practical question,
until The revenues OF the nation compared
with its expenditures and engagements, shall
be in a very different situation from that in
which they now are, or are likely to be for
years to come. My own individual opin-
ions on these subjects have been so often
and fully stated that need not repeat them
here. What | say at present is, that these
are issues either Hypothetical and specuIa-
tive, or neutralized by equal aud opposing
considerations on the other side, and should
not divert the mind moment from those
higher and more urgent and vital questions,
which are the true tests of a sound and cor
rect decision in the pending Presidential
election. Those tests have already adj
verted to. They are such as are inseparably
connected with the purity, character, and
preservation of the Government ITSELF and in
my humble judgement, are Overwhelmingly
conclusive against the pretensons of Mr.
Van Buren,.
AS little shall We permit ourselves, trust,
TO be frightened from our propriety" by
the old and hollow expedient of senseless
and arbitrary use Of party names. Those
who so prone TO ring the changes on the
nomenclature of Federalist and Republican
would do well to remember that they have
men, reading and inquiring men, to deal
with, and not children. Try Mr.. Van Blu
rem and Mr.. Clay by any test derived from
the authentic history ofpolitcal parties in
this country, or by the etandard 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 ihe most
memorable in our history which arose out
OF the controversy and war with England in
1912, where was Mr.. Clay anywhere was
Mr.. Van Burenl Mr.. Clay CALAMITY lead
ing the Republican hosts in the House of
Representatives, and sustaining the admin
istration Of Mr. Madison with all the ener-
gies Of his patriotism and eloquence Mr.. |
Van Buren, uniting with the Federaists 10 |
depose that illustrious man from power, and
to supplant his Administration Try them
again by that standard which Mr. Van Bu- |
rem himself, in a most elaborate speech, de- |
livered in the Senate of the IT, States in |
1898, declared TO be the true and legitimate |
distinction between the Federal and Repub- |
lican parties-the one seekingto ertead, the |
other 10 restrain, Erecutiue power. The |
public have not forgotten the various
schemes 500 seduously devised or counie-
nanced by Mr.. Van Buren, during the whole |
period of his Administration, and fully ex-
posed at the time, 10 augment Executive |
patrannge, discretion, and power and moth |
ing, surely, has more eminently distinguish |
ed the career or Mr.. Clay than his constant
and perseyering efforts to restrain, and to pro-
vide new bikes and securities against the |
enlargement or abusive exercise of the pow
er of that department of the Government
Judging them, then, by Mr. Van Buren's |
own definition of political parties, as cor
rectly laid down by him in 1898, but totally |
lost sight of in his subsequent practise, let
the sober and impartial judgment of the !
country decide which is the FederaIist and
which the Republican"
1t is impossible for any rejecting man TO
contemplate the actual and prospective con-
dtlon of the country, without seeing il al |
ready the germ ofnew difficulties and lroub-
les, which may, in their approaching deyel-
opement, agtate our glorious Union to its
centre. The Oregon and Texas questions
in our foreign relations; at home, def
Client revenue, with all its ordinary sources
pressed up to their iarthest productive limit,
and some of them, there is reason to appre-
bend, beyond; the tariff controversy respond
with all the conflicting interest and passion
which never fail to be awakened by il and,
added to these, the rekindled fires of the