New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-03-04

party returned to power, and Franklin fiefoe DC
csue President Of the United States. 10 sne eye
Of the superficial observer the auspices under winch
the Dew Administration entered upon it, vast duties
were encouraging almost beyond precedent. MT
Pierce had been elected by great m.onty; MS
party, after having been rent by internal jesouses'
seemed to be again consolidated the ve1ed ques-
tons which had agitated the country were tnoagn'
to be adjusted; the Treasury wa full 10 overnow'
Dg, and our foreign relations were undnturoed.
Above al, Mr.. Pierce himself was the object OF no
little personal enthusiasm. The people had indeed
taken him upon trust, and the politicians had manu.
featured for him q reputation which ne has sgnaiy
failed to sustain. He was declared to be cordial
generous and manly-to be uncOmmonly Tree ron
the faults Of the narrow partisan, with only ialnss
which kindly censors are always ready to forgive In
his Inaugural Address he caught something OF Inc
spirit Of the hour. and dlated in roseate phrases
upon the peace which bis election had secured
upon the reconciistions which il would be BIS study
to cement, upon the suppression OF dangerous eA
elements, upon the fraterna feeling which was 70
be promoted throughout Union uEdisturoed py
trace of local animosities. The country listened
with admiring ears and calmly waited for the Go'
den Age of politics. There were those indeed who
doubted and dstusted; who did not believe that
great political questions could be solved by the
uttersnce Of pretty speech or by the huzzas oil
hungry ofice-hunters; who detected in the tone OF
the Address disincGnation ~ regard as of due i'm
portance the conscientious opinions Of large masses
Of the peoples who knew by painful observation the
Influences which surround and the temptations
which beset and the difficulties which harrass any
President, and who had but limited faith in the
ability Of Mr. Pierce to overcome or to resist them
They did not PREJUDICE, but at the same time they
were not ever. saDguine.
-Four years have gone swiftly by-four years OF
events unparalleled in our annals, of agitasions
fiercer than any we have before known of collisions
between rival systems, in comparison with which
preceding Misunderstanding seem like school
boys quarrels. The President has had an oppor-
tunity of achieving reputation for prudence, for
,sgscity, for honesty, for all the qualities which are
combined in the character of great statesman.
Many men in his position would have won fans
hardly second to that Of Washington. But Mr..
Pierce has secured only notoriety. Failure is
written all over the record Of his government.
There is want OF frmness, of shrewdness, of con-
sistency, of ability Of principle and of generosity
The administration Of John Tyler was incon-
ceiysbly small and ludicrousy housing; and the
people laughed at it accordingly. Alas they have
had little heart for laughter during the last four
years. 1t is possible to pssquinsde President
who only sells Offices and vetOes fiscal agencies,
who is very weak without being very wicked
but it is impossible to attack with the Light ances
ofridcule one who tears fugitive slaves from their
hiding places, who vetoes bills which have been
dictated by the most enlightened philanthropy, or
by the strongest sense of national justice who opens
wide tracts Of territory for the desolatng march of
,layery. who hears unmoved the recital of cities
sacked and pluDdersd, of the political power
of a people usurped by invaders, of viO-
lation of the dearest rights of American
citizens, of every conceivable iniquity of MURDER
of torture, of arson, and of robbery. As We re.
gard .uch public man, we grow sternly indig
nant, and do not care to restrain the language of
unlimited rebuke.
gard the administration of Franklin Pierce.
Many Democratic journals, in phrases more
or lers subsevient, will declare to-day that il has
been in the highest degree successful and glorious,
and that the retiring President will be followed by
the blessings Of grateful people. They will say
this in spite of the Cincinnati Convention, aud in
utter end total despite Of their own convictions.
But President who leaves behind him no nObler
record than the paid for pus of party ne vspapers
will stand but himsy chance with pOsterity. We
are willing TO leave the justice of our own criticism
to those who may come after US. This is rapid age
and events crowd closely upon each other; much
wrong passes into oblivion, and time tempers the
bitterness of political Judgments. But in the nature
of things many of the events Of the past four years
can never be forgotten, and can never be remem-
bered by the wise and good without indignation.
In all coming controversies-and many are at hand
they must be referred to, just as in history We
refer to the Massacre Of 81. Bartholomew, ~ the
levy ing of shpmoney BY Charles l., TO the Occups-
ton of Sesa by Frederick the Great, or to the
blunders of Lord North's administration In all the
struggles of the future this will be speriod from
which men will reckon; these viii be cited as the
times in which the Slave Power struck its first
open blow at the liberties of the people, and found
it no longer Necessary to dissembls or cloak its
pefarious schemes and this Administration which
we ale considering as the first which devoted itself
from the comm. encement 10 the close Of its power
TO the estabi,hme of the slave holding and slave
breeding policy. There is the tainted record, and
no lapse Of time can make il sweeter.
Indeed, the philosophical historian, when he shall
,riye at this point of our career, will nd only in
a desr asvo,;cn 10 the interests Of Slavery So