The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-23

ervation and publication Of Jefferson
"Anas." or diary which Is really a sort OF
letter to posterity, with its spiteful as
saults on the memory of Hamilton ana
other eminent men, showed an amazing
lack Of discernment on jefferson part
and has called out from all his eolt0rs
and biOgraphers excuses which accuse.
Never write a letter" said Talleyrand'
"and never burn one that you receive
If Nicholas Biddle had observed the hrst
part Of this injunction the fate OF the
United States Bank, over which he presto
ed, would probably have been diiIefeht'
Jackson would not have been able TO per-
form that second labor of Hercules IN
Staying the bank hydra" and the poll
tics Of the 30s would have lost one OF It's
most picturesque ep. sodes. An Interesting
and usually IeYel-headed parsonage, Bid
die had what JuVenaI called an ''incuraole
itch for writing and this led him and
his institution 10 their doom, defeated cay
aad the National Republican party IN
1882, and, as one of the consequences OF
The banks overthrow, brought on the
panic of 1887. The "Rhea letter. prec.pi-
tated the contest in 1880 between jackson
and Calhoun which put Calhoun out OF
the line Of succession to Jackson in the
Presidency, made Van Buren, Jacksons
political heir dwarfed Calhoun from
national to local figure, and turned him
10 the partisan metaphysics out Of which
were evolved notification and that morbid
and wire-drawn political philosophy In de-
Tense of slavery that brought on The war
which destroyed slavery,
There is a fine touch of poetic irony in
the circumstance that Van Buren,, the man
who said he would rather walk forty miles
to tell q person something than to intrust
his thoughts to a letter, met his doom
fhrpnpn IF q letter It
letter. however, which he was absolutely
forced TO write, and 1t was called out in
the spring Of 1874 by the necessity Of de
claring himself on the burning issue of
Texas annexation The letter, In which
he mildly and tentatively opposed annexa-
ton, defeated him for the nomination for
the Presidency a few weeks later and gave
the candidacy to the dark horse, Polk, an
outspoken annexationst. Everybody re-
members the wreck, which letter writing
inflicted on Blaine's fortunes by defeat in
the conventions of 1876. and 1880 and at the
polls In 1854. His fatal readiness with his
pen brought an Ilaid of woes to Clay. 81
am the most unfortunate man In Ameri-
can history" exclaimed Clay after one OF
his reverses to Henry A. Wise. Il get the
nomination in the years when no Wing
can be elected, and in the years when any
Wing can win the candidacy goes to some
body else" In the year, however, in
which his success seemed certain, 1874, he
was defeated by his campa gn letters on
the Texas que~tion. I'VE are beaten,
exclaimed Joshua r. Gidd ngs to Cassius
NJ. Clay, as somebody put into his hand a
paper containing one of Clay's letters just
before both of them mounted the stand at
a Clay mass meeting at which they were
to speak. He was right The letter
which made a surrender on the slavery
question, sent enough anti-slavery Wings
over to Birney, the Liberty party's candi-
date, in the decisive state of New Y DIRK to
give that state and the Presidency TO Pow
THE chief qualification which l shall re-
quire OF u Wing Presidential candidate
hereafter" said Meredith p. Gentry few
days after Clay's defeat, lis that he shall
be able to neither read nor write"