Democratic banner., 1849-07-09

opinion. COI. DeHIOn Is dHnuitiOuSs uuI hiS
ambition itself is cratic and Incompetent
sible. No mans chances were so good for
the Presidency as his, but by a monstrous
biuhder he sacraficed them forever, with his
uncalled for, unwise and unstatesmanlike
'sTaxas letter." He is bold and indepen-
dent, but there is in his course a trucking
subserviency, a fawning sycophancy to-
wards the willy "political grimalkin" ofNew
York, which richly merits, whatit is abun-
dainty receiving, the scorn and contempt of
the party which have made and have hon.
ored him.
The misguided and even criminal zeal Of
an adversary, we may sincerely pity and
deplore, whilst we find il imperatively
TO punish. General Washington
is said to have wept, while he signed the
death warrant of Major Andre. But the
deliberate treachery Of one who has been
honored and confded in, wins for the trail
tor as large an amount of contempt and ha-
tired from those who profit by the treason, as
it does of loathing and scorn from those who
are betrayed. Benedict Arnold was not
more hateful in America than he was con-
temptible and condemned in England. The
contamination which the treason of Judas
~lscariot attached to his "thirty pieces Of sill
ver," was so greet, that even the rapacityI
of a Jewish usurer, refused to handle the
tunclean thing" Whether Colonel Ben
ton stands in the attitude of the guilty z~eaiot,
or the deliberate traitor, the South will
scarcely hesitate TO condemn him.
Col. Benton was, for many years, a DEM
.ocrat Of "the most stric sect; his chart the
constitution, his creed drawn from the
school of Jefferson. Let us for a moment
see how far his recent positions can be re-
.conciled with his former profess %ions--how
far his present opinions are at war with the
doctrines of:he Jefersonian Republican, the
Democratic belief.
1t has been quite manifest. for a long
time, that Col. Benton was shaping his
course in such a way as to forsake his for
mer party connexions and 60 over to our
opponents. The strenuous efforts made by
Mr.. Polk to conciliate him, only served to
initiate to a still higher degree his already
insuferable vanity and self-conceit. An.
opportunity, a pretext, was all Col. Benton
waited for, to abandon his standard. That
.pretext has been afforded him, and now, he
is doing service for his former enemies-not
only against his friends but against his
country, which has upheld and sustained,
and made him what he is. But 10 the com
.parison Of his former and present opin-
ions.
The Senator from Missouri professed to
be a Republics AN, q Jeifersonian Republics an
a Democ rat. Believing him sincere in these
professions, the Democratic party has trus-
ted, confided in, honored him. Every mar
knows, that the first great fundamental prin-
ciple Of democracy is a strict construction of
the Constitution OF the United States. The
powers therein expressed are powers which
Congress may exercise. But such powers
as are not expressly granted, or necessarily
result from those which are expressly
granted, the Congress of the United States
has no power or authority to exercise
in any shape whatever, or upon any
pretext. This is the doctrine, these
are the sentiments and principles heretofore
entertained, but now abandoned by Colonel
Benton.
This gentleman has run up the banner of
Wilmot ProvSoism. He now claims for
Congress the right { and also the expedi-
ency of its exercise to control, by acts Of
that body, the entire question and subject
Of slavery throughout all the territories of
the United Stats. Yet there is not one syl-
liable in the Constitution giving to Congress
any such power. 1t is arrived at, then, by
implication; but Col. Benton has been war
ring against implication all his life. Admit
the right of congress to use a power by i'm.
plication in ons instance, and they have, by
that admission, the right to use it in every
instance whatever, where they in their dis
erection may think it necessary. Such are
MIR. Clay's and Mr.. Webster's opinions; it
is from this source that they derive the
power to establish a tariff for protection and
the United States Bank, and these are now
Mr.. Benton's opinions indeed he be as
honest to his new friends as he is false and
treacherous to his former allies.
But, says Col. Benton, the power of Con-
gress TO regulate slavery "has been
used repeatedly and acquiesced in." and
therefore Congress has the constitutional
right to exercise it. This is the miserable
stuff that Col. Benton resorts to for the pur-
pose of iustifying his barefaced apostacy,