Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1848-03-28
RICH o d, VA.
Tuesday Morning, March %, ls4s.
anr Yu,c AND H DrRurn OF nrsroRY.'

7atelu falsifed historical facts, By throwing upo'
the Federalisis The responsibility" Of a Natioha
Bank. lis silence might be fairly construed 'h'
an admission Of lis mistake, and we m'eh' "
content 10 let the matter rest where II does !
I'm, the charge Itself i, so grave and offensive II
lis character, that we submit 10 Inc r'u"o's y ~
Wing il they are mol bound TO sustain IL oeyon'
Question, or openly and candidly 10 relrac' II.
II NAV be that they are no, satisfied with INT
authority of Judge Marshall. lfso, we VIII give
them another scrap OF history from ano'he'
quarter. which, if no, OF MsS&r authority VIII
th,m they will see is al least direc, 10 the point
We ouo,e from the "Memoirs, Correspondence
&C.. OF Thomas Jefferson" Ali volume, page
44s. In his "Anas," after speaking OF lht
corruption which had already, at that day, beer
introduced into Congress, MIR. Jefferson says
al know well, and so must be understood, ina
nothing like a majority in Congress had yieiu'
ed 10 this corruption. Far IRON IT, But d a''
vision not very unequal had already taken
place in the lowest part OF that body, between
The parties styled Republican and reaeraL-
The latter being monaIchists IN princiPie' du-
hered 10 Hamilton, OF course, as their leader IN
that principle, and this mercenary phalanx una
is, The members who had been coIrupied) "addec
10 ,hem,'' Che Fejeralis,s) "ibsu cd him always
a majority in both Houses; so thai The whole ac'
lion OF Inc Legislature was now under The dlfec-
ton OF the Tleasury"-tGen. Hamilton being The
Secretary OF the Treasury Still the machiae
was no, complete. The effect Of the funding SIS
tenn, and of the assumption" (two DINER Federal
measures) "wouid be temporary-it would De lost
with The loss OF The individual members whom II
had e%pricned; and some engine OF influence more
permanent must be conlrived, while these myi-
midons'' (lhe corrupted members) "were yet IN
place, TO carry j, through all opposition. his
ENGINE WAS THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES
An that history is known, so | shall say nothing
about it. While the Government remained a.
Philadelphia, a selection Of the members of ooih
Houses were constantly kept as directors. who, on
eyery question interesting to that institution, or
10 the views OF the feferat head, voted al The will
Of that head, and, together with the siock.holdiDs
members, could always make the FEDERAL vote
,ha. Of The majority. By this combination, lesis-
lalive expositions were given TO the Constitution.
and all the administrative laws were shaped on
the model OF England, and so passed-ard fIom
this influence we were not relieved, until The re-
moyal from the precincts of the Bank TO Wash
ingion."
The words in paren,heses are our own, added
for explanation; and We have uat'e7 -ea some eI-
pressions; but, with these exceptions, the lam
euase is Mr.. Jeferson's, quoted rerIatsm.
The editors OF the Wing mus; admit, that Mr.
Jefferson represents the Bank Of The United
States to be a Federal measure. This is a fat.
which Mr.. Jefferson knew and coaM not BE- altS-
taken about, however mistaken he may have been
in the motives he attributes 10 the FedeIaiisis.-
The editors of the Wing must then either charge
f.s kisio7iisaT ,.a2,, viii. haying "ds'6Tot@'y faA..
were themselves ~ignoran, OF the historical
facts and thai their charge against the authors
of the address was mistaken and uniounded.-
Which will they do7 There is no escape Ina,
we can see from one or the other horn Of This di'
lemma; for we have more regard Tor their can
dor and fairness than 10 suppose they will con-
,inue silent, and after having, with so little
courtesy or p~roprieiy, and VIC. trust only loo has
tily, charged their political opponents with de-
ltberats t~ais.aood, refuse either 10 Sustain the
charge or acknowledge lis error, but dog
eedly remain as dumb as oysters"
In making this appeal 10 them, we must re-
mind them OF the authority before produced fiom
the Lille Of W Washington" and "Clay's speeches.
as they may have overlooked 1t altogether; anc
thai, il disposed 10 charge MI. Jefferson with having
deliberately lalsifed historical facts" they mus
include in the charge Chief Justice Marshall and
Mr.. Henry Clay. Itmay be, that in The anxious
desire of these editors 10 relieve The Fcteralisis o.
the responsibility of This measure, aud in ihei
obstinate Incredibly, they will baZaid Inns gross
impula,ion agains, all three of these gentlemen
By the way, We should like 10 know why IN,
editors OF the Wing are SO dispieased with In
Address of our Convention for throwing upo'
the Fsderalias The responsibility" OF Ibis nnir on
GUS measure Of a National ~Bank;'-saii 10 b,
"obsole,e" and abandoned by tll-and why lhost
editors should appear 50 anxious 10 throw II of
the Fsder0liSs and throw il on the Republicans?
We ~recolleci, they said il was only a Us
Interested desire or purpose ITO yihdicai
truth of history" but Dame Histor,
does not stand in need Of abusive language
for her vindication; and the use Of it shows
that tho Editors have some feeling in this
matter. II is this which perplcxes us. Though
they advocate all the Federal measures, we be-
lieve they set up for patent Republicans. anc
being such, why are they SO yehemen,iy an<
ious to assume for the Republicans the 'rcspon-
sibility' of a National Bank They cannot
mean, because they believe the Bank 10 be SO
good and glorious q measure, that il would DC a
merit in the Republican party to have advoca
ted it. If so, they use strange language to ex-
press their ideas, when they speak Of "thror.
ing upon the Federalists the responsibility OF a
measure" 80 excellent. Ii this is wnat they
meant. they would naturally have said
that the Address had faisified history, by
"udelding 10 the Federalists the merit oil
a measure which belonged solely to the Repuo-
licans.' 1t may be, they are beginning to be
afraid that they are Federalists themselves
Perhaps they can explain, for we confess we are
bothered. But this aside. II the Editors OF tie
Wing are disposed to disregard the authority OF
Mr. Jefferson, Judge Marshall and Mr.. Clay,
thew must still admit that it affords some color
able g,ound for the statement in the address,
and that its authors should therefore be acquit
ted of deliberate falsehood. They were perhaps
only mistakenly misled by these ignorant autho-
rites. And in conclusion, if this is not authori
" enough to furnish even an excuse for the sup
posed blunder of the authors Of the address, we
assure the Wing Editors that we have ga few
more Of the same sort left"
We have no desire to re enact the Scdition
Law-being perfectly willing to leave it to pub
lie sentiment to pass judgment upon the Rich
yh;,b rhile II denounces