The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1848-12-16


present day, with the exception of his
own and that of his three immediate pre-.
dpcessors, which, for the sake of unity
and identity, we shall term tie Tcto Dy-
nasiy. We do not by any means question
the light of the President to place be.
fore Congress elaborate essays OH the ma
ture of Government in general and Of
our own Constitution in particular; but
we deny that he has any more right to
do so than any other individual in the
community, and especially for the pur-
pose of casting lmputations, as he has
done, upon the integrity and patriotism
ofthose great men of our Revolution, of
whom hardly one is now alive to repel
the wanton outrage The honored dead
at least might have been spared the SLAM
/ der, from such source, Of having con.
spired 10 withdraw power from the States
and the people, "and by construction 10 ap
prorimaie our Government to the European
Modc7s,' SC. And by rhom is this un
founded reproach hazarded! By a Presi
dent who, in contempt of all the rights
of the People, as represented in Con
gress, made Var upon neighboring ma
ton, under his own mere power of Com
mander ofthe Army and Navy, and usur
ped variety of other powers, having
no warrant in the Constitution euen by
construction; one of which this Message
itself very coolly dIscloses to Congress,
IN the passage informing them ofthe a.
mount of "military contributions collect
ed in Mexico,' the sums of such money
hsJurscd hy his order; the amount received
into the Treasury, and the supposed sums
yet remaining in the hands of Collectors
ofhis own appointment; all which pow
ers have been usurped by HIM without
authority OF Law or Constitution, and
solely by construction, thus approximatlng
TO use his own language) this Govern
ment to the European models, as though
he were our Sovereign Lord and King.
All these mere party topics, including
the argument worthy of Minister Of
the English Stuarts or of the French
Bourbons in favor OF the arbitrary use of
the Veto power, are, we repeat, wholly
misplaced in the Message, and Can be re-
garAed with no greater but with rather leSs)
respect than would the republication, al
this day, of an equal number of columns
of the electioneering editorials of the gov
eminent paper during the late Election.
Upon such arbitrary doctiines as these the
People have set The seal Of their condemna-
.ion, as well as Upon the Administration
which ha0 upheld them, and which now,
though wri,hing in the agonies Of approach
ing dissolution, clings 10 them with more
than parental fondness.
X X
ut is gratifying and consolny rehec-
ton for the opponets of the Executive mis-
rule Of the last three or four years, that, i'll
the course Of events, the President has him
self not only been compelled to abandon
his purpose Of overruning and anneXiHg all
Mexico, so openly avowed in his Annual
Message Of last year, bu, has even sooeled
down his rage for penetrating into the vi
tails of that country TO such level of COM
mon sense as 10 implicitly subscribe to the
conviction, to which all the efforts Of the
Wings had hitherto failed to bring him, bu
which is now fairly confessed in his mess.
age, that "TRANQUILLlTY AT HOME, AMI
Peaceful RELATIONS ABROAD, CONSTITUTE
THE TRUE PERMANENT POLICY OF OUR CouN
TRY" and that WAR, The Scouge of Ma.
tions sometimes becomes inevitable, bu
is a7rcoys to be auoided arhen it can be dom
consistently Nth the rights and honor Of tn
Nation."
From The Dcla'rare Republican.
ga President should, it seems to us. cor
fine himse strictly TO statement of tie
condition of the affairs of the country, ali.
merely SET forth the propriely ofcarryins
into effect the measures which he may think
proper 10 recommend. He should not at.
temp! 10 Ell folce his opinions, or those of hi
party, upon the people, in message, no
should he argue the propriety or the const
tu,ionalty OF measures which may have
been in effect under previous admmistra.
lions; Or may be adopted by future admin:
tations. To do so is 10 reflect upon his
predecessors, or TO PREJUDICE matters which
a proper sense of delicacy should promp
him to leave his successors. Many O
his positions are false-especially in regard
TO the bank, as that institution was created
by the Democratic party and sanctioned by
the President Monroe; and the American
system had nothing whatever, to do with
it, his reasoning in regard to protection is
false as has been repeatedly proven The
Me xican war is also discussed at length
and according TO one Of his views we should
getup war, every twenty Or thirty years
just to prove 10 foreign nations the powers
of our people.
The message, however, may be looked
upon as an elaborate defence of his admin
istration-of his abuse ofthe veto-and his
assumptions of power. With these por-
tons we have no patience, as they seem to
H.. Al