The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-10-19
WE BALANCE on BLUNDERs.

In the school Of Scandal, Mr.. Joseph Surfaces
jssuiIieal gentleman Of very smooth and plausible
sIteror-counsels another person in the drama, "lo
sin ia selfdefenee, and part with virtue to preserve
reputadon.n The organ of the wing party al the
scat Of government, appears to be acting resou'e'y
upon Mr.. Surfaces maxim. When taken TO TASK
Tor advocating international controversies Tor
eign interests against those Of It's own country and
especially for taking the side Of Mexico, in the pres
snt war, the Intelligeneer seeks TO turn away the
public eye from the odiousness OF It's position IN
this respect by forthwith endorsing and encouraging
the aboIitionisl course Of the wing Partyn New
England Il seeks thus 10 make up for assaillng the
foreign policy of its country, by attack upon its
domestic institutions. BY showing in this way how
little Il respects or appreciates the eompacts and
guarantees of The constitution 10 relation to our in
ternal policy, hopes to put aside or IN cover up
the odium accumulated upon its head by traitor
Gus advocacy OF the interests Of nation with
which we are at war Only in this view can
we understand the Of that journal in Offset
ting its declaration Of one day. that Jefferson was an
Abolilonist in the sense of the modern elderly men"
by its assertion the next morning that our war
with Mexico is "rapine," and that the adminisira-
ton, together with officers and soldiers, in pros
eeuling IT, are TO be considered as ''lawess men !"
BY way Of excusing this last declaration, however,
the lntellgencer of this morning displays its acute
ness in drawing distinctions, and proelaims that
"s President Is not the Uaiisd staiss"a most ndis
puiabe proposition But we submit that, notwith-
standing this, our present war with Mexico being
recognised and carried on under act Of Congress,
with only some dozen dssentient votes, may fairly
be considered as the war Of the United States. And
upon this premise we will leave to the ingenuity Of
the InteLgencer to determine what epithet best de-
scribes the action and character Of that public jour
nal in the United Sates which exerts itself day af-
ter day to impede the prosecution Of hosuies by its
own government, and to give encouragement and
counsel, "aid and comfort" to the public enemy
The force Of long habit, doubtless, in part ex-
plains the IntelligeneeTs disposition always to put
its own government in the wrong as against
foreign power. II is now acting in the case
Of Mexico only as il acted before in the cases
Of France and England, and upon the Texas
question But the abotionis, tendencies of the In
telligsncer are comparatively novel On its own
showing they have sprouted out since the election
of General Harrison. They show themselves now,
however, in form which we confess surprises us.
The Integenoer must see and know that the re-
cent demonstrations OF the wings Of New England,
upon his subject, are full Of evil omen TO the coun-
try They prove, beyond all doubt, that great
national party in one section of the county,
moro or less sympathzed with by the same
party in other sections-is at this moment al
most, it not quite, resolved and ready to COM
nit itself to am agitation for political purposes,
which is calculated when il shall come upon
US, to shake this Union TO its CENTRE The In
slgencer sees this clearly and with the Boston
oluons and the Boston speeches in itsj hand, pro-
claims that all is SAFE! Going yet farther than this,
it avows that il no danger in the union Of the
whole wing party throughout the country on the
Boston platform; and finally, to sustain this epinon,
it invokes the potent name of Thomas Jefferson as
an abolnonist Of the modern school!
We have pointed out the caumnious character Of
this proceeding, But the use which the IntelIi- |
gencer makes Of its perversion of Mr.. Jetfersons
example, is far worse than the mere defama-
ton Of an illustrious statesman. 1t cites the au-
this country into patient, IL not favorable regard
of that policy the subject of slavery which the
whole soul Of Thomas Jefferson would have loathed
Jefferson advocated under the strictest guards and
the diminutisn or the progressive Grad
icaton of slavery by the independent action of the
savehoding States themselves. So far ods he from
bringing the subject into aaiiona! politics, or from
iOlsraiing il in such a conneEon, that beyond all
question: ofhis leading notifies in seeking 10 touch
1t at ALL through exclusive State legislation, to keep
it out the national pocs-to prevent IT, forever from
haung anything TO do oih The organization or action of
national parties
The National Inteligencer is not satisfied with
keeping this alLimportant fact wholly in the dark
when citing the example Of Jefferson. 1t charges
him, on the contrary, with the "most runous
and radical plan of abolition" which has
yet been seen. 1t declares him to have held
the doctrine that federal legislation might be
invoked to carry this plan through. 1t thus defends
the abolitionists and the abolitionizng wings of
the north behind the shield of the great southern
statesman. And the one solitary preext for all
this, which the lntellgencer has been able to rake
up from all the vouminous writings of Jefferson,
is the bare suggestion by him that, under pos
sibe but undescribed arrangement, portion Of the
public lands, coded by the save-holding States,
might be put under State control with view to ia
cilitatc some form of prospective emancipation
through Independent and exclusive State legislation.
We shall not debate with the lnteigencer the suffi-
cheney Of this pretext We shall confne, too, with
in the limits of a single sentence, our solemn pro.
test against the constitutionaity of any such use Of
any portion of the public lands. Our business is
with the motive and spirit of the Inteligencers rep
And serious charge against that
Journal is, that it Knowingly perverts the doctrine
and the example of Jefferson, in order to familiarize
and reconcile the mind Of the country to the idea of
national agitation against slavery, intended to SUBJ
serve the temporary views and interests of an nau
entail section Of the wing party.
On this suppositon alone, the whole course of the
lntelligencer in referencct to the recent wing pro.