New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-02-18

n
n desire to please which made him. in the pr |
vate circle when surrounded by friends and al /
1,irers one OF the most agreeable Of ex- 1
,eedipelv anxious 70 make figure. yet tar more |
DESTROYS Of applause than Of power tono oil ny
pothesis inclined TO dogmstlze little disposed 20
argument or controversy, impatient OF opPoslto1'
seeing everything so highly colored BY his ieel'
ings rs to be quite incapable of candor or Justice
toward those who differed from him; adroIt, sap
ME and " here he had an object 70 accomplish
understanding well how to iatter and to capt.
vste: led by the warmth OF his feelings TO lsy
himself open to bis friends, but toward the world
az large cautious and shy; cast, both as TO intel
lect and temperament, in mold rather tenla'ne
than masculine, Jefferson had returned from
France. strengthened and confirmed by his resi-.
depce and associations there in those theoretical
ideas of liberty and equality to which he had
given utterance in the Declaration OF lndepend'
ence
Though himself separated from the mass Of the
people by elegance of manners, refined tastes,
and especially by philosophical opinions on the
subject of religion, in political affairs Jefferson
was disposed TO allow a controlling. indeed abso-
Lutte authority to the popular Judgment. Inc
many be thought to be always more honest ana
disnterested, and in questions where the public
interests were concerned, more wise than the
few, who might always be suspected OF having
private purposes of their own TO subserve. Hence
he was ever ready tc allow even his most cher
ished theorical principles TO drop into silence the
moment he found them in conflict with the Popu-
lar current. To sympatbize with popular passions
seemed to be his test of patriotism to sail before
the wind as popular favorite, the great object OF
his ambition; and it was under the character OF
condescending friend Of the people that he rose
first to be the head of party, and then the CHIEF
Magistrate Of the nation.
We have next picture Of Mr.. Jeferson'ssreat
antagonists.
JOHN ADAMS.
The two men who stood most Immediately and
obviously in Jeifersons way were John Adams,
the Vice. Pres ident, and Hamilton, the Secretary
of the Treasury; men in character, temperament
and opinions as different from him as they were
from each other. By dint OF untiring energy,
seconded by great natural abilities, and an unex,
tipguishable thirst for eminence which brooked
no superior and hardly an equal, Adams had risen
from the condition of a country lawyer, the son Oh
a Door farmer and mechanic, through various
grades of public service, to the eminence Wnich
he now held. Nor did his aspirations stop short
of the hghc st distinction in the power OF the ma
ton TO bestow. Having risen by no Paltry arts
of popularity or intrigue, for which he was but
little fitted nor by say captivating charm OF per-
sopal manners which be was very lar from pos
sessing butowing everything to the respect Whicn
his powerful talents, his unwearled laoors, ana
his great public services had inspired be stll de
sired to be what he always had been, leader
rather than follower, rather to guide public opin-
ion than merely to sail before it. He too, had hls
Doitical theories very different from those oil Jei-
ferson-theories which he had not hesitated to
set forth with frankness very dangerous 70 MS
popularity. Alarmed at the leveling principles.
as he esteemed them, to which the progress OF
the French Revolution had given rise he had
lately Dublisbed in Fenno's United States Gazette,
a series of "Discourses on Davia," in which his
political views were enforced and explained, not
little to the disgust of Jefferson and others, who
protested peculiar regard for popular rights
ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
Much less of scholar or speculatist than
either Jefferson or Adams, bat very saSaclous
observer of mankind, and possessed OF practical
talents of the highest order HamiltOns theory OF
government seems to have been almost entirely
founded on what had passed under his own obser-
walton during the war Of the Revolution and sub
sequently, previous to the adoption OF the ne "
Constitution. As w ashingtons confidential ara,
decamp, and as a member Of the Continental
Congress after the peace, he had become very
strongly impressed with the impossl6lllty oil duly
providing for the public good especially IN times
| of war and danger except by government In
vested with ample powers, and possessing means
OF putting those powers into vigorous exercise
To give dye strength to a government, IL was
necessary in his opinion, not only to invest on
paper with sufficient legal authority, but to attach
the most wealthy and influential part OF the COM
munity to it by the ties OF personal and pecunlary
advantage; for, though himself remarkably disln'
terested, acting under an exalted sense of per-
sonal honor and patriotic duty, Hamilton was in
clined like many other men of the world, 10
ascribe TO motives Of pecuniary and personal 10
tereGt a somewhat greater influence over the
course of events than they actually possess
Having but little confidence either in the virtue
or the judgment Of the mass of mankind he
IL e 70
the hands of q select few nor in private CONVEX
sation did he disguise his opinion that, save her
liberties from foreign attack or intestine commO-
tions, America might yet be driven into serious
alterations of her Constitution giving to it more
OF a moDarchical and aristocratical cast. He had
the sagaoity TO perceive, what subsequent expe-
rience has abupdantly confirmed, that the Union
had rather to dread resistance Of the States to
federal power than executive usurpaton; bat he
was certainly mistaken in suppOsing that Pres-
dent and Senate for life or good behavior such as
he had suggested in the Federal Convention,
could have given any additional strength to the
government. That strength, under all elective
systems, must depend on public confidence, and
public confidence is best tested and secured by
frequent appeals to the popular vote.
We then have a highly colOred description of
JEFFERsoS's POLITICAL PREJUDIcEs.
Though a great advocate for liberation and lib
crafty In matters OF religion, in politics Jefferson
was a complete bigot. One single speculative
error outweighed, in his estimation, the most de-
voted patriotism, the most unquestionabe public
services Assuming to himself the Office at once
of spy and censor on his colleagues, he adopted
the practices of setting down in a note book every
heretical opinion carelessly dfopped-every little
piece of gossip reported to him by others which
might tend to convict his associates in the Cabi-
net of political infdelity-anecdotes recorded, not
as instances Of the speculative errors into which
the wisest and the best may fall, bat carefully
laid up as evidences gainst political rivals of set
tied designs hostile to the liberties Of their coun
try. Nor was he content with merely making
this remarkable record. After the lapse of TWEEN.
ty. five years or more, when the passions of the
times were passed away, and the reasons of the
transactions act alone upon the judgment" such
is bis own account Of the matter, he gave the