The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-11-15
Prom The Srm-Werkly Evrnlng Posi-.
JOHN VAN buren, AND THE EVENING POST

Our readers will find in our columns today
an extraordinary letter from John Van Buren,.
in reply TO an inquiry addressed to him by one
Of the candidates for the office of Secretary of
State. The purpose of it seems TO have been
10 define more precisely his personal relations
with the editors of the Erening Post, and give
them and the public some evidence of the sin
cerity of his hostility to them, more reliable than
his own word We are quite sure Mr.. Van
Buren, over estimates the interest which the
public takes in his political or personal rela-
lions with u.s. but ~ he has seen fit to make
them the sole topic of a scurrious letter for the
newspapers, we trust our readers will excuse us
for devoting to 1T TO day portion of the space
which properly belongs TO more important
matters.
Mr.. Van Buren, seems 10 be under the i'm
preston that we were unwilling to have it
known that he was our political opponent, and
charges us with expressly refusing to admit the
TACT. There IS a vulgar saying that the good
will OF dog is better than his i'll will and for
the same reason, we confess that we should not
be indifferent TO the friendly regard of Mr. Van
Buren,, Were he twice rs unworthy of our re-
spect AS this letter proves him to be.
AT the same time, we are at a loss to imagine
his reason for suspecting US of disposition to
conceal his enmity, any more than his friend
ship for us, from the public. Neither are of
much consequence now to any one; but if we
were IN The habit of being guided in our per
sonal or political associations by selfish consid-
eratlons, we certainly would have lost no time
In proclaiming the fact that he WAS not our
friend
Mr.. Van Buren, states, however what Is nm
true, when he says we expressly" or implied
ly refused to admit that he was politically on
posed to US. What we said, and all we said
upon that subject, was, that "Mr. Van Buren,
knows better than ourselves, perhaps, whether
our relations to each other are henceforth to be
those of political opponents" We neither ad
mitted nor denied his statement We knew
that he and ourselves were not politically oppo
sed in lS4S, when We both supported his father
for the Presidency. We also knew that the
Eoening Post has ever since advocated the doc
trines it advocated then, without interruption
or change. If Mr. Van Buren, had resolved to
advocate different doctrines, then we were DO
htical opponents; if not, then we were not OBJ
ponents. Whether he had or had not changed
we did not pretend to determine, but simply
said that perhaps he knew better than we did
We had no thought of questioning his declara
ton, and submitted it to our readers for what
j; was worth. But we little dreamed how low
an estimate he placed upon his sincerity, until
we saw, IN the concluding paragraph of his re
cent letter 10 Mr.. Hatch, how much dignity and
selfrespect he found it necessary to sacrifice in
defending it.
Some may think that a character for SINGER
ity, which can only be maintained by FORGETTING
that of gentleman, costs more than it comes
to; but Mr.. Van Buren, thinks differently. and
conducts himself accordingly. Henceforth. il
will be our own fault, and not his, if We mis-
take him again either for gentleman or 6
friend.
Whist he says in regard to our misrepresent
ing his position in the pending canvass, is a
false as il is ungrateful. Our course toward
him, for more than year past, has been char
acterized by degree of forbearance, whicl
nothing but a reluctance to sunder relation
contracted under peculiar circumstances of tria
could excuse. In noticing the speech at Alba
ny, in which he commenced his assaults upol
this journal, we showed that he was deludin;
himself. but no one else, in pretending that h
did not endorse the Kansas Nebraska bill whel
he proclaimed his approval Of the resolution o
the 18th of August. In that article will b
found our justification for saying what We fel
called upon to say about his position in tn
present canvass; and we are quite willing T.
leave it with our readers to determine whethe
there was anything in that or in any previOu
plumber of this journal, which was not more re