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 ALBANY ARGUS EXTRA. 
 
 MR. VAN BUREN AND THE WAR. 
 
 The United States Telegraph, the befitting 
 organ of the Second Coaliii|^j attempts to 
 falsify liistory, and impose upon the credulity 
 of its readers, in a labored article, on the 29th 
 of Feb., from wliich the following extracts are 
 made : 
 
 " The partizans of Mr. Van Buren, who have ta- 
 ken upon themselves the task of elaborating public 
 sentiniont, and of relieving the people liom the 
 trouble of thinking for themselves, have endeavored 
 to break the force of the objections urged against 
 the confirmation of his appointment as minister to 
 England, by suppressing the speeches of those se- 
 natoi-s who voted against him, and chargiifg a coali- 
 tion between Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Web- 
 ster; and with unblushing impudence, connect the 
 }n-occeding3 of the senate, on Mr. V. B.'s nomina- 
 tion, with the Hartford Convention." 
 
 " The attempt to identify Mr. Calhoun with the 
 Hartford Convention, or even to assail Mr. Webster 
 on account of it, comes with a bad grace, indeed, 
 from the partizans of Mr. Van Buren. Mr. V. B., 
 at that day, was rising into consequence, as a mem- 
 ber of tl>e republican party of New- York. Gover- 
 nor Clinton was selected by the anti-war party, (the 
 real Hartford Convention party), as their candidate 
 in opposition to Mr. Madison, who had been selec- 
 ted as the candidate of the republican party of the 
 nation, and whose re-election to the presidency, it 
 was well understood, would be construed as a de- 
 claration, on the part of the American people, of 
 their determination to prosecute with rigor, the 
 war, which was the leading measure of his admini- 
 Btration." 
 
 " Where, then, was Mr. V. B.'s patriotism 
 
 where his devotion to republicanism.'' At no period in 
 the history of the government was a sacrifice of per- 
 sonal considerations more necessary to the glory of 
 the country, and the experiment of self-government, 
 than during the late war. We had engaged with a 
 powerful nation, in a bloody contest for our rights; 
 •and the honor, nay, the very existence of the go- 
 veniraeut, in some measure depended on the unani- 
 mity of the republican parly in its efforts to carry 
 out the war it had commenced, to a successful ter- 
 mination. At such a time, private griefs and per- 
 sonal aggrandizement might be expected to yield to 
 tlie calls of a bleeding country, and the necesssities 
 of that party which efTected the political revolution 
 of '98. Where do we find Mr. Van Buren in those 
 days of gloom and apprehension .' Is he then to be 
 found breasting the torrent of opposition which 
 threatened to bear down not only the President se- 
 lected by the republicans ot '9S, but even to cxtin- 
 gnish the very party which p laced Mr. Jefle5fon in _ ^ ... 
 power? Or was he found chimiTTg irT^tve^ccWrcbrdj lowing [Tat: 
 with those federalists now so'TiTberally denounced .' j-^gntg ; 
 He wai»." ' 
 
 " Yet, Mr. V. B.'s partizans have the unblushing 
 impudence to arraign Mr. Webster for pursuing a 
 similar course, though hs had all the pride of party, 
 all tlio power ot its discipline, and all the consisten- 
 cy of opposition, founded on political principle, to 
 plead in his behalf, and to justify his conduct." 
 
 If there is any period in Mr. Vaw Br- 
 REs's life, to which more tiian another, his 
 friends can recur, as evidence of bis devoted 
 patriotism and transcendent talciiis, it is to 
 his course in the Senate of tliis State, during 
 the war : And his friends, l.'owever much they 
 may despise the base calumnies of the Tele- 
 graph, have reason to thank the author of 
 them for the occasion which he has aflbrded 
 of re-kindling the fire of the second war of 
 independence ; and of showing tliat Mr. Van 
 Buren 's Avhole soul was engrossed in that 
 great contest, for which Jackson fought and 
 conquered at New-Orleans. 
 
 " Vv^he?e," asks the Telegraph, " do wo 
 find Mr. Van Buren in those days of gloom 
 and apprehension?" We answer, on the side 
 of liis country, where be has always been 
 found: And in confirmation of this, we can 
 refer with proud satisfaction, to every act of 
 Ms life. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren was elected to the legis- 
 lature in April, 1812. War was declared in 
 June of that j^ear. The legislature met in 
 November following ; and this was the com- 
 mencement of Mr. Van Buren's career as 
 a legislator. According to the practice at that 
 period, each house returned an answer to the 
 Governor's speech. In the senate, the com- 
 mittee to draff an answer to the Governor's 
 speech consisted of Mr. Wilicin, Mr. Van 
 Buren and Judge Platt, the latter haraVg 
 been at a preceding election, the federal q.an-' 
 didatc for governor, against Daniel D< 
 Tompkins. The answer agreed upon by 
 Mr. Van 5'^''^^^' '^'""^1 b®"- Wilkin, and 
 reported Noj^ 10, 1812, contained the fol- 
 fic and truly American senti-' 
 
 ■atrff)! 
 
 /ni'. 
 
w 
 
 ^'\ 
 
 To his excellency Davikv D. Tompkins, Uo- 
 vernot oj the State ofJVew-Vork — 
 
 Sir — The senate fully concur with your exeel- 
 lency in the sentiment, that at a period like the pre- 
 sent, when our countiy is engaged in war, with one 
 of the most powerful of the nations of Europe, dif- 
 ference of opinion, on abstract points, should not be 
 suffered to impede or prevent an united and vigo- 
 rous support of the constituted authority of the na- 
 tion; and duly impressed with a conviction, that in 
 the breast of the real patriot all individual conside- 
 rations and feelings should be absorbed in a para- 
 mount regard for his country's vvelfare,the senate will 
 cheerfully and firmly unite their exertions with those j 
 of the other departments of the government, to ap- 
 ply the energies of the state to a vigorous prosecu- 
 tion of the war, until the necessity of its further 
 continuance shall be superseded by an honorable 
 peace, the only legitimate object of war. 
 •■ The different subjects submitted to the consi- 
 deration of the senate, by your excellency, shall re- 
 ceive their early and prompt attention; and believing 
 as they do, that respect for tlie memory of the sol- 
 dier whose life is sacrificed in the service of his 
 country, and to make provision for his destitute fa- 
 mily, is the duty of all governments, and especially 
 of a government like ours, in which more than any 
 other the character of the patriot is united with that 
 of the soldier; — the situation of the families of the 
 officers and soldiers of the militia of this state, who 
 have fallen or been disabled in the battle of Queens- 
 town, shall receive the seasonable attention of the 
 senate, and be disposed of by them in such manner 
 as shall in their judgment best comport with the ho- 
 nor and justice of the state. 
 
 Judge Platt offered a substitute for this 
 address, in which he " solemnly deplored the 
 unwise and improvident exercise of power 
 which has thus without preparation, and with- 
 out necessity, plunged our country into a war 
 wlh one of the most povv'erful nations of the 
 ■world " — and tliat " the unqualified claim 
 upon the state legislature, and upon our citi- 
 zens, to 'subserve the national will,' by vol- 
 untary exertions and supplies, whether that 
 will be wisely or unwisely directed, is a claim 
 of questionable right, and equivocal import." 
 This substitute was rejected by Mr. Van 
 BuREN and his political friends, 20 to 7. 
 In proceeding upon the original draft of the 
 address, Mr. Radcliff moved to insert after 
 the word " Vv'ar " — " in so far as the same 
 shall be directed to the purposes of defence" 
 * — which was negatived by Mr. Van Bur en 
 and those who acted with him. After this, 
 the original draft of the address was adopted, 
 and Mr. Van Bur en was appointed chair- 
 man of the commillee to Avait upon Govern- 
 or Tompkins, to know when he would re- 
 ceive the senate with their answer to his 
 speech. 
 
 Mr. Vast Buren, in the same session, 
 Toted for a resolution authorising the comp- 
 troller to subscribe half a million of dollars, 
 to the sixteeH million loan. This passed the 
 
 senate, 15 to 11, but was rejected in the as- 
 sembly, where the federalists had a majority. 
 During the winter session of IS 13, Mr. 
 Van Buren was found " breasting the tor- 
 rent of opposition," and supporting with the 
 zeal of a true patriot, every measure wliich 
 had a tendency to strengthen the arm of the 
 national government, or to give security to 
 the extended frontiers of his own state. 
 
 The close of the legislative session of 1813, 
 was an important crisis in the affairs of our 
 republic, Th(^ N^ew-England slates were en- 
 tirely under the control of the opposers of 
 the general government and the war. They 
 not only refused all aid to the national gov- 
 erimtient, in men and money, but a resolution 
 was passed by the state, which Mr. Web- 
 ster, the right arm of the coalition now re- 
 presents, declaring that it was "unbecoming 
 a moral and religious people, to rejoice at the 
 victories " achieved by our gallant coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 The syren song of " Peace, liberty and 
 commerce," had been sounded in the ears of 
 a people suftering under the pressure of war, 
 so effectually as to produce a decided major- 
 ity in the popular branch of our own legisla- 
 ture, against the national administration and 
 the war. 
 
 Such was the posture of affairs at the close 
 of the session of 1813; and the election, 
 which was to decide whether New-York 
 would stand by the government, or cast its 
 weight into the scale of its opponents, was to 
 take place in April. The eyes of the na- 
 tion were upon us — and it is no exage ration 
 to say, that every true friend of the integrity 
 of the Union, felt the most intense anxiety, 
 for the re-election of that faithful patriot, 
 Daniel D. Tompkins, as governor of this 
 state. We might aptly say of this period, as 
 Thomas Paine said in 1776, after the retreat 
 of Washington through the Jerseys — •" These 
 are the times that tiy men's souls. The 
 summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, 
 in this crisis, shrink from the service of his 
 country; but he that stands it now, deserves 
 the love and thanks of man and woman." 
 
 " Where do we find Mr. Van Buren, in 
 those days of gloom and apprehension ?" Let 
 the following extracts from the elo(}uent and 
 patriotic address from the members of the 
 legislature to the republicans of the state, an- 
 swer. This was written by Mr. Van Buren, 
 and is of itself, a most triumphant vindica- 
 tion of his course, from the aspersions cast 
 upoTf liim by envy^ and malice: And if his 
 assailants were not dead to every feeling of 
 honor and of j^atriotism, a perusal of these 
 
extracts would overwhelm them with shame 
 and coufusiou. 
 
 Extiacts fiom the Address of the Rejmhlicaji 
 Members of the Legislature, to their constitu- 
 ents, March 9, 1813. 
 
 Fellow-citizens — It is not to the arbitrary man- 
 dates of despotic power, that your submission is 
 demanded; it is not to the seductive wiles and art- 
 ful blandishments ot the corrupt minions of aristo- 
 cracy, that your attention is called — but to an ex- 
 pression and discussion of tine wislies and feelings 
 of your representatives. 
 
 You are invited to listen with calmntss and im- 
 partiality, to the sentiments and opin*ns of men 
 who claim no right superior to yours, -twho claim 
 no authority to address you save that of custom; 
 who would scorn to obtr-in the coincidence of your 
 opinion by force or sh'atagem, and who seek no in- 
 fluence with you, except that which arises from 
 conscious rectitude, from a community of hopes and 
 of fears, of rights and of interests. 
 
 In maldng this appeal, which is sanctioned by 
 usage, and the necessity of which is rendered im- 
 perious by the situation of our common country, we 
 feel it to be our duty, as it is our wish, to speak to 
 you in the language which alone becomes freemen 
 to use — the language to which alone k becomes 
 freemen to hsten — the language of trutli^nd sincer- 
 ity; — to speak to you of things as they ai'e, and as 
 they should be, — to speak to you with unrestrained 
 freedom, of your rights and your duties, — and if by 
 so doing we shall be so fortunate as to convince you 
 of the correctness of the opinions we hold; to com- 
 municate to you the anxious solicitude we feel for 
 our country and its rights, to turn your attention 
 from the minor considerations which have hitherto 
 divided, distracted and disgraced the ^lerican peo- 
 ple, and to direct it exclusively to the "ntemplation 
 and support of your national honor and national in- 
 terests, our first and only object will be effected. 
 
 That tempest of passion and of lawless violence 
 which has hitherto almost exclusively raged in the 
 countries of the old world, wliich .'has ravaged 
 tlie fairest portions of the earth, and caused her 
 sons to drink deep of the cup of human misery — 
 not satiated by the myriads of \ietims which have 
 been sacriliced at its shrine, has reached our hither- 
 to peaceful shores. After years of forbearance, in 
 despite of concessions witiiout numbt|, and we had 
 almost said, without limitation, that CMiel and unre- 
 lenting spirit of oppression and injusnce which has 
 for centuries characterized the spirit of the British 
 cabinet, overwhelmed nation after nation, and caused 
 humanity to shed tears of blood, has involved us in 
 a war, — on the termination of which arc staked the 
 present honor, and the future welfare of America. 
 
 While thus engaged in an arduous and interesting 
 struggle with the open enemies of our land from 
 without, the formation of your government requires 
 that you should exercise the elective franchise, — a 
 right which in every other country has been de- 
 stroyed by the ruthless hand of power, or blasted by 
 the unhallowed touch of corruption; but which, by 
 the blessings of a munificent Providence, has as 
 yet been preserved to you in its purity. 
 
 The selection of your most important functiona- 
 ries is at hand. In a government Uke ours, where 
 all power and sovereignty rests with the people, the 
 exercise of this right, and the consequent expression 
 of public interest and public feeling, is on ordinary 
 occasions, a matter of deep concern, but at a period 
 like the present, of vital importance; — to satisfy 
 
 you of that importance, and to advise you in its ex- 
 ercise, is the object of this address. 
 
 Fellow-citizens — Your country is at war, and 
 Great Britain is her enemy. Indulge us in a brief 
 examination of tlie causes which have led to it; and 
 brief as from the necessary limits of an address it must 
 be, — we yet hope it will be found sufhcient to con- 
 mce every honest man, of the high justice 
 and indispensible necessity of the at- 
 titude, which our government has ta- 
 ken ; of the sacred duty of every real 
 American to support it in that atti- 
 tude, AND or THE parricidal VIEWS OF 
 THOSE WHO REFUSE TO DO SO. 
 
 [Here follows an eloquent summary of the causes 
 which led to the war — of the preliminary efTorts, the 
 embargo, non-intercourse, &.Q., to induce the bellige- 
 rent nations to do us justice, without a resort to 
 that alternative— ^and of the series of aggressions on 
 the part of Great Britain, which rendered it, in the 
 language of the address, a measure of " high justice 
 and indispensible necessity."] 
 
 By this last act [the disavowal by the British gov- 
 ernment of the arrangement with Mr. Eskrine, and 
 the formal re-enactment, by that government, of the 
 orders in council, the doors of conciliation were ef- 
 fectually closed.] The American people — a people 
 rich in resources, possessed of a high sense of na- 
 tional honor, the only free people on earth — had re- 
 solved in the face of an observing world, that those 
 orders were a direct attack upon their sovereign- 
 ty; that a suhmist:lc7i to them iiivofved a surren- 
 der of their independence — and a s.^iemn determi- 
 nation to adhere to them, was officially declared by 
 the ruler of the British nation. Thus situated, 
 Nvhat was your government to do .' Was there room 
 for doubt or hesitation as to the hostile views of 
 England ? No. Lest such doubts might prevent 
 a rupture, to acts of violent injustice, were contin- 
 ually added acts of die most opprobrious insuit. 
 
 While the formal relations of amicy remained yet 
 unbroken — while peace was yet supposed to exist, 
 in cool blood an unprovoked attack is made upon 
 one of your notional ships, and several Amcif-an 
 citizens basely and cowardly murdered. At the 
 moment your feelings were at the highest pitch of 
 irritauon in consequence of the perfidious disavowal 
 of Erskine's agreement, a minister is sent, not to 
 minister to your rights — not to extenuate tlie con- 
 duct of his predecessor; but to beard your Execu- 
 tive — to add insult to injury; and to fling contume- 
 ly atul reproach in the face of the Executive of the 
 .dmerican nation, in tlie presence of the American 
 people. 
 
 To cap the climax of her iniquity; to fill up the 
 measure of our wrongs; she resolved to persist in 
 another measure, surpassed by none in ■' :grant 
 enormity — a measure, which of itself was acu-quato 
 cause of war — a measure which had excited the 
 liveliest solicitude, and received the unremitting at- 
 tention of every administration of our government, 
 from the time of Washington to the presen day; the? 
 wicked, the odious and detestable practice of im- 
 pressing American seamen into her service; of 
 entombing our sons within the walls of her ships 
 of war; compelling them to waste their lives, 
 and spill their blood in the service of a foreign 
 government — a practice which subjected every 
 brave American tar, to the violence and petty 
 tyranny of a British midshipman, and many of 
 them to a life of the most galling servitude — a 
 practice which never can be submitted to by a na- 
 tion professing claims to freedom; which nevor can 
 
he acquiesced in by government without rescinding 
 the great article of our safety, the reciprocity of 
 obedience and protection between the rulers and 
 the ruled. 
 
 Under such accumulated circumstances of insult 
 and 0'" injury, we ask again, what was your govern- 
 meiiL lo do? We put the question not " to that fac- 
 tion which misrepresents the government to tlie 
 people, and the people to the government; traduces 
 ane-haU" of the nation to cajole the other — and by 
 keeping up distrust and division, wishes to become 
 die proud arbiter of the fortune and fate of Ameri- 
 ca " — not to them, but to every sound head and 
 honest heart in tlie nation it is that we put the 
 question, — What was your government to do? Was 
 she basely and ingloriously to abandon the rigiits for 
 which you and your fathers had fought and bled ? 
 Was she so early to eower to the nation who had 
 sought to strangle us in our infancy, and who has 
 never ceased to retard our approach to manhood ? 
 No: we will not for a moment doubt, that every 
 man who is in truth and fact an American, will say 
 that WAR, AND WAR ALONE, was owr w?i/^ 
 refuge from national degradation,^ our only 
 course to national prosperity. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, throughout the whole period of 
 the political struggles, which if Uiey have not abso- 
 lutely disgraced, have certainly not exalted, our 
 character; no remark was more common — no expec- 
 tation more cheerfully indulged in — than that those 
 sevcro and malevolent contentions would only be 
 sustained in time of peace; that when the country 
 should be involved in war, every wish, and every 
 isentiment would be exelusively American. But 
 iinlortunately for our country, those reasonable ex- 
 pectations have not been realized, notwitlistanding 
 every one knows, that the power of declaring 
 war, and the duty of supporting it, belong to the 
 general government; notwithstanding that the 
 constitutional remedy for the removal of the men 
 to whom this power is thus delegated, has recently 
 been afforded; notwithstanding the re-election of 
 the same President, by whom this war was com- 
 menced, and a majority of representatives, whose 
 estimate of our rights, and whose views are similar 
 to those who first declared it; men, who by the pro- 
 visions of the constitution must retrain their respec- 
 tive stations for a peiiod of such duration, as pre- 
 cludes a continued opposition of their measures 
 witiiout a complete destruction of our national in- 
 terest — an opposition at once unceasing and malig- 
 nant, is still continued, to every measure of the ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, these things will not do. They 
 are intrinsically wrong; your country has engaged 
 in a war in the last degree unavoidable; it is not 
 waged to the destruction of the rights of others; but 
 in defence of our own; it is, therefore, your boun- 
 den duty to support lier. You should lay down the 
 character oi j]artizans, and become patriots ; for, 
 in every country, " war becomes an occasional du- 
 ty, though it ought never to be made an occupation. 
 Every man should become a soldier in defence of 
 his rights; no man ought to continue a soldier for 
 offending the rights of others." In despite of truths 
 so self-evident, of incentives to a vigorous support 
 of government so pressing, we yet have to deplore 
 the existence of a faction in the bosom of our land, 
 whose perseverance and industry are exceeded only 
 by tlieir inveteracy; who seek through every ave- 
 nue to mislead your judgment and to iullame your 
 passions. 
 
 When your government pursues a pacifiG policy, 
 it becomes the object of their scorn and derision; 
 
 the want of energy in your rulers is decried, as a 
 matter of alarming consideration; the injuries of 
 your country arc admitted, and the fact is trium- 
 phantly alleged that " the administration cannot be 
 kicked into a war." When they are impelled to a 
 forcible vjndication of our rights, the cry of enmity 
 to peace, ^f a wish to war with England to serve 
 I'"" ranee, isimmediately resounded througli the land. 
 When war is declared, public opinion is sought to 
 be prejudiced against the measure, as evincing a 
 disposition unnecessarily to shed your blood, and 
 waste your ireasures. When it is discovered, that 
 that declaration is accompanied with a proposition, 
 a just and^quitable proposition, to the enemy, on 
 which hosaities may cease and peace be restored, 
 that propoyion is derided as evidence of the most 
 disgracefuFpusillanimity. No falsehood is conside- 
 red too glaring, no misrepresentation too flagitious, 
 to impose on your credulity, and seduce your affec- 
 tions from your native land. 
 
 Lest general allegations might fail to effect their 
 unholy puifioses, and consummate their dark de- 
 signs, specific charges are resorted to — calumnies 
 wliich have again and again met the detestation of 
 an enlightened pubhc, are periodically brought for- 
 ward, new dressed, and with new authorities to give 
 them credence with you. Among the most promi- 
 nent of those charges, is that of enmity to commerce, 
 on the pai^of the republican administrations. Ne- 
 ver was tl™re a calumny more wicked. Enmity to 
 commerce ! We ask, and we ask emphatically, where 
 is the evidence of it? What is the basis on which 
 they rest their claim to public confidence? It is that 
 the administration is engaged in a war which they 
 claim to bet\mpopular. What are the causes for 
 which this 'war is waged, and which have hither- 
 to embroiled us vvitli the nations of Europe? They 
 are the violtition of our commercial rights, and 
 the impresmient of our seamen ! The administra-» 
 tion then, aaj jeopardising tlieir interest with the 
 people; the^furnisli weapons of offence to their ad- 
 versaries; they brave all dangers, for the mainte- 
 nance, and^upport of our commercial rights; and 
 yet they are the enemies of commerce! Can such 
 base sophistJy, sucli contemptible nonsense, impose 
 on the crecitiity, or pervert the understanding, of 
 a single honest man? 
 
 As auxiliary to this unfounded aspersion, the oft- 
 exploded, tlie ten-thousand-timcs-refuted tale of 
 French influence, is ever and anon brought upon the 
 carpet. It Jlould be insulting to your understan- 
 dings to del A you by a discussion of this odious and 
 insulting insimiation.Was it evidence of Frenchinllu- 
 ence on the adoption of every measure of commercial 
 restriction, to place both France and England on the 
 same tooting? Was it evidence of P^ronch intluence 
 to cause it to bo officially notified to the court of St. 
 James, on the adoption of each of those measures, 
 that in case they rescinded their orders in council, 
 the United States would assume a hostile attitude 
 towards France? Was it evidence of French influ- 
 ence to embrace the earliest opportunity to conclude 
 the arrangement with Erskine — leaving our affiurs 
 with France in a hostile attitude? If not, where, 
 then, is the evidence to support this impudent cen- 
 sure? Is it to be found in a similarity of manners, 
 of language, or of feeling? When an Englishman 
 visits your country, is he not received with the fa- 
 miliarity, and cherished with the hospitahty of a 
 friend? Is a Frenchman ever treated by you other- 
 wise than as a stranger? Away, then, with those 
 whining, canting professions, of fears and apprehen- 
 sions of the danger of French influence. Intelli- 
 gence must reject, and integrity abhor them. 
 
But to crown thiti picture of folly and of mischief, 
 they approach you under a garb which at once evin- 
 ces their contempt for your understanding, and their 
 total want of confidence in your patriotism; under a 
 garb which should receive the most distinct marks 
 of your detestation; they are "the friekds of 
 PEAC E !" While our enemies are waging against us 
 a cruel and bloody war, they ciy " Peace." While 
 our western wilds are whitening wii-h the bones of 
 our murdered women and children — while their 
 blood is yet trickling down the walls of their former 
 habitations — while the Indian war-hoop and the firi- 
 tish drum, are in unison saluting the ears, and the 
 British dagger and the Indian tomahawk suspended 
 over the heads of our citizens, — at such a time, 
 when the soul of every man who has sensibility to 
 feel his country's wrongs, and spirit to defend her 
 rights, should be in arms— it is that they cry peace ! 
 While the brave American tar, the intrepid defen- 
 der of our rights, and redeemer of our national cha- 
 racter, the present boast and future honor of our 
 land — is impressed by force into a service he de- 
 tests, which compels a brother to imbrue his hands 
 in a brother's blood — while he is yet "tossing upon 
 the surface of the ocean, and mingling his groans 
 with those tempests less savage than his persecu- 
 tors, that waft him to a returnless distance from his 
 family and liis home," — it is at such a period, when 
 there is no peace, when there can be no peace, 
 without sacrificing every thing valuable — that our 
 feelings are insulted, the public arm paralyzed, 
 and the public ear stunned, by the dastardly and 
 incessant cry of PEACE ! What, fellow-citizens, 
 must be the opinion which they entertain of you, 
 who thus assail you ? Can any man be so stupid as 
 not to percoive that it is an appeal to your fears, to 
 your avarice, and to all the baser passions which ac- 
 tuate the human heart? that it is approaching you in 
 the manner in which alone those punypoliticians who 
 buz about you, and thicken the political atmosphere, 
 say you are accessible, through your fears and 
 your pockets? Can any American citizen be so 
 proflijate as not to spurn indignantly the base Hbcl 
 uix)n his character? 
 
 Suftijr yourselves not to be deceived by the pre- 
 tence, that because Great Britain has been forced 
 by her subjects to make a qualified repeal of her or- 
 ders, our government ought to abandon her ground. 
 That ground was taken to resist two great and cry- 
 ing grievances, the destruction of our commerce, 
 and THE impressment op ourseamek. The 
 latter is the most important, in proportion as we 
 prefer the liberty and lives of our citizens to their 
 property. Distrust, therefore, the man who could 
 advise your government at any time, and more espe- 
 cially, at this time, — when your brave sailors are 
 exciting the admiration, and forcing the respect of an 
 astonished world, when their deeds of heroic valor 
 make old Ocean smile at the humiliation of her an- 
 cient tyrant — at such a time, we say again, mark the 
 man who would countenance government in COM- 
 MUTING OUR SAILORS' RIGHTS FOR THE 
 SAFETY OF OUR MERCHANTS' GOODS. 
 
 Next to the cry liir peace, the most potent spell 
 which has been resorted to, to alarm your fears and 
 pei-vert your understandings — is the alleged distres- 
 ses of tlie country. Fellow-citizens, it has been 
 our object, it is our wish to treat you fairly, to ap- 
 peal to your judgments, not to your passions; and as 
 we hope our address to you hitherto has been mar- 
 ked by that character — it is to your consciences then 
 that we appeal upon this subject. Is not this clamor 
 jnost unfounded, most ungi-ateful ? If you doubt that 
 it is 60, if you hesitate to believe that it originates 
 
 exclusively with the ambitious and designing — spend 
 one moment in comparing your situation with that 
 of the major part of tire civilized world. 
 
 [Hers follows a rapid and graphic sketch of the 
 condition of the several European nations; conclu- 
 ding with the following interrogation, — "Look at 
 the whole map of Europe; contrast your own situa- 
 tion with theirs; and then answer us, is it not impi- 
 ous and wicked to repine at our enviable lot?"] 
 
 Fellow-citizens— should those political witlings, 
 who are not only ignorant themselves of the leading 
 points of controversy in our disputes with the belli- 
 gerents, but who are uniformly assailing you as men 
 destitute at once of spirit and of judgment — should 
 they point to the wars which agitate and have con- 
 vulsed Europe, as arguments against the prosecu- 
 tion of that just and necessary one which has been 
 forced upon us, we know that you will indignantly 
 repel the unfounded suggestion. The w^ars of Eu- 
 rope are waged by monarchs, to gratify their indivi- 
 dual malice, their individual caprice, and to satiate 
 their lawless ambition. Ours is in defence of rights 
 which must be defended, or our glory as a nation will 
 be extinguished — tlie sun of our greatness will set 
 forever. As well might it have been said during the 
 revolution, that war should not be waged, because 
 wars had desolated Europe. The same rights you 
 then fought to obtain, you must now fight to pre- 
 serve — the contest is the same now as it was then 
 — and the feelings which then agitated the public 
 mind, which on the one hand supported, and on 
 an the other sought to destroy, the liberties of the 
 country, will be seen and felt in the conduct of the 
 men of this day. 
 
 Fellow-citizens — we are compelled to close this 
 appeal to you. The limits of an address will not per- 
 mit us to do justice to the various subjects which 
 should occupy your attention. We are aware that 
 this has been already unreasonably extended; but 
 the period has arrived when mere words and idle 
 declarations must be unavailing. We have, there- 
 fore, felt it our duty to give you, as far as practica- 
 ble, a clear view of yom^true situation, of your le- 
 gitimate duties. Unfortunately I'y us, when we 
 ought to be an united, we are a divided people. The 
 divisions which agitate us are not as to men only, 
 but to principle. You will be called on at the next 
 election, to choose between different candidates, not 
 only for the two great offices of state, governor and 
 lieutenant governor, but for every other elective of- 
 fice — to make a selection which the actual situation 
 of your country renders of infinite importance. 
 
 We are divided betvreen the supporters and oppo- 
 sers of our government. We have witnessed the 
 distressing tiuth, that it is not in the power of cir- 
 cumstances to destroy the virulence of party spirit. 
 The opposition offer foryour support, men, v\ ho, what- 
 ever their private wishes may be, arec'evotcd to the 
 support of a party whose views and whose conduct 
 we have attempted to delineate. In opposition to 
 them, we respectfully soUcit your support for the 
 men whose nomination accompanies this address, 
 one of whom [Daniel D. Tompkins] has for six 
 years served you in the capacity which we now offer 
 him; the other [.Iohn Tayler] has formany years 
 served you in the most responsible situations. The 
 notoriety of their merits supersedes the necessity of 
 oureulogium — their lires are their best encomiums; 
 they are the true friends of commerce; their views 
 are, and their conduct will be, in unison with the 
 measures of the general government; they are the 
 sincere friends of an honorable peace, the firm and 
 energetic opposers of a base surrender of our rights. 
 
We respectfully solicit lor them your undivided 
 support. We solemnly conjure every real friend to 
 his country, to reflect on tlic danger of abandoning 
 his government at a period so perilous; to rellect on 
 the impropriety of even indirectly aiding the views of 
 our enemies by continuing his opposition to govern- 
 ment at a period so eventful. 
 
 [Alluding to the republicans who had advocated Mr 
 Clinton's election to tiie presidency, the address has 
 the following appeal:] We solicit the honest men of 
 all parties—to remember, that ours is the last republic 
 — tlratall the inliuenceof the crowned heads of Eu- 
 rope has been exerted to propagate the doctrine, 
 that a government like ours can never stand the rude 
 shock of war; to reflect that this is the fust occa- 
 sion in which this government has been engaged in 
 a war, and that the great and interesting questions, 
 whether man is capable of self-government, whether 
 our republic must go the way of its predecessors, or 
 whether, supported by the hearts and arras of her 
 free citizens, she ehall deride the revilings, and de- 
 feat the machinations of her enemies, is now to be 
 tried. 
 
 Fellow-citizens — In the result of our elections 
 during the continuance of this war, these important 
 considerations arc involved, — the question of wiio 
 
 IS FOR HIS COUNTUy OR AGAINST HIS COUN- 
 TRY, must now be tried — the eyes of Europe are 
 directed towards us — the efficacy of your uiild and 
 wholesome form of government is put to the test. — 
 To the j)olls, then, and by a united and vigorous 
 support of the candidates we submit to you, dis- 
 charge the great duty you owe to your country, pre- 
 serve lor your posterity the rich inheritance which 
 has been left you by your ancestors, — tliat future 
 ages may triumphantly point to tlie course you pur- 
 sued on this interesting occasion, as evidence that 
 time had not as yet extinguished that spirit which 
 actuated the heroes of Brecdshill and of Yorktown; 
 of those who fell at Camden, and of those who con- 
 quered on the plains of Saratoga. 
 
 This noble appeal was not made in vain. — 
 The patriot Tompkins was elected govern- 
 or, in April 1813, by a majority of 3,500, 
 The assembly, however, continued in the 
 hands of the federalists, by a majority of 
 eiglit members. This enabled them to con- 
 trol all the civil appointments, extending- to 
 sheriffs and clerks of counties, as well as 
 justices of the peace. Tliis power in the 
 hands of those who were* opposed to the 
 war, together witli the negative of the assem- 
 bly upon all lav/s designed to give energy to 
 its prosecution, afforded the opposition the 
 means of greatly crippling the operations of 
 Gov. Tompkins, and of thwarting all the sal- 
 utary measures brought forward hy a repub- 
 lican senate, and consequently of embarrass- 
 ing the national administration. 
 
 In this state of tilings, gov. Tompkins, 
 with a devotion to his country which has few 
 parallels, assumed a responsibility beyond the 
 law ; and with the whole official power in ac- 
 tive exercise against liim, called out the 
 resources of the state, and almost single- 
 handed, protected our frontiers, saved tlie 
 honor of the slate, and shielded its character 
 
 from the blighting influence of the Hartford 
 Convention. The senate alone, in which Mr. 
 Van Buren, by his great talents and devo- 
 ted patriotism, had been placed on command- 
 ing ground, remained faithful to Tompkins 
 and to the country, at tliis eventful crisis. 
 
 The legislative sessions of 1813 and 1814, 
 were peculiarly trying. The measures of a 
 patriotic character which were adopted in a 
 republican senate, were defeated in a federal 
 assembly. " These differences," says a faith- 
 ful sketch of those events, " led to several 
 public conferences, in wliich the points in 
 controversy^involving the justice and expe- 
 diency of the war, and the conduct aiad mer- 
 its of the national administration, not less 
 than the particular measure in dispute — .were 
 debated at large, in the presence of the two 
 houses, by committees chosen on the part 
 of each, and with all the energy and ardor 
 which the spirit of the times was calculated 
 to inspire. These conferences, from the na- 
 ture of their subjects, the solemnity with 
 wliich they were conducted, and the crowded 
 and excited auditors that attended them, pre- 
 sented opportunities for the display of popu- 
 lar eloquence, almost rivalling, in dignity and 
 interest, tlie assemblies of ancient Greece. — 
 In all of them Mr. Van Buren was a prin- 
 cipal speaker on the part of the senate, and 
 by his dexterity in debate, his powerful rea- 
 soning, and his patriotic defence of tlie gov- 
 ermiient and its measures, commanded great 
 applause." 
 
 In the spring of 1814, the republicans 
 gained the ascendency in the popular branch 
 of the legislature. And such were the exi- 
 gences of the country, caused by the refusal 
 of former legislatures to co-operate with tlie 
 governor, and the great augmentation of the 
 British troops, released as they had been from 
 the conflicts of Europe — that gov. Tomp- 
 kins convened the legislature* by proclama- 
 tion, Sept. 26, 1814, to deliberate upon the 
 affairs of the state and nation. 
 
 At the opening of this session, Mr. Van 
 Buren wrote and reported to the senate an 
 answer to the Governor's speech, in which, 
 after alluding to the disgraceful course of 
 the enemy, in giving a character of more 
 
 * It was during this extra session that the Federal Repub- 
 lican, the leading paper of the federal party, issued the fol- 
 owing decree against the integrity of the Union : [tj" "0» 
 or before the ith of July, if James Madison is not out 
 of office, a new form of government viill be in operation in 
 the Eastern section of tke Union. Instantly after , the contest 
 in many of the states will be, whether to adhere to the old, or 
 join the new government." This traitorous sentiment was 
 uttered in November, 1814, and only a few weeks before the 
 meeting of tlie Hartford Convention. 
 
violence to the war, after having invited am- 
 bassadors for peace, it adds : — 
 
 " Whether this conduct has proceeded from an- 
 cient animosities, now seeking their gratification in 
 the infliction of injuries upon those vvho once defied 
 and foiled his power : Whether from a desire of 
 finding abroad employment for troops, whom it was 
 not thought prudent to disband at home: Whether 
 from hostility to our civil institutions, and the vain 
 hope of subverting the fair fabric, which by the 
 wisdom, the virtue and the valor of our fathers, has 
 been reared and secured to us; or from a calculation, 
 that by carrying his arms into the heart of the coun- 
 try, and marking his course with desolation and ru- 
 in, he could make an impression on the government, 
 which should avail him in the proposed negcciations; 
 or on the people, which should be remembered to 
 his advantage in any question which should here- 
 after arise between the nations : Whatever may 
 have been his motives, or whatever his expectations, 
 the senate cannot but exult, in Common with your 
 Excellency and the country, that thus far, ' we 
 have sustained the shock with firmness, and gather- 
 ed laurels from the strife.' That although he has 
 succeeded in penetrating to the Capital, his momen- 
 tary triumph, disgraced as it was by the destruction 
 of public edifices, and the subsequent plunder of a 
 defenceless city, has before this time been imbitter- 
 ed by the reflection, that by the conflagi-alion of 
 tliose monuments of art, which public spirit and 
 munificence had erected, and which were conse- 
 crated by the name of their illustrious founder — he 
 has kindled a flame of patriotism which pervades 
 every section of the Union, which has already lit 
 the way to his severe discomfiture, and which 
 threatens his complete annihilation at every assaila- 
 ble point of the Union, to which his ambition or his 
 resentment may lead him.* The senate have wit- 
 nessed with the same admiration evinced by your 
 excellency, the brilliant achievements of our army 
 and navy during the present campaign, achieve- 
 ments, which in their immediate eflects have been 
 so highly and extensively beneficial to our fiontier 
 citizens — achicvments Which have pierced the gloom , 
 that for a season obscured our political horizon, and 
 dispelled those fearful forebodings which past disas- 
 ters had excited — exploits which will not suffer in a 
 comparison with the most heroic efforts of the vete- 
 rans of the old world, which have fully maintained if 
 not enhanced the proud and enviable fame of our 
 gallant seamen — exploits which have covered the 
 actors in those briglit scenes with never fading lau- 
 rels, and which will, until public gratitude ceases to 
 be a public virtue, call forth the highest testimonials 
 which a free peoi)lecan yield to freemen — unceasing 
 reverence for the memories of those who have died 
 on the field of honor, and acts of unceasing grati- 
 tude to their heroic survivors. 
 
 The senate have seen with great satisfaction, the 
 prompt and efficacious measures adopted by your 
 excellency, to avert the dangers, which threatened 
 
 * This extra session of the legislature wa.s summoned at a 
 most interesting |)criod of the war. Tlie l)atttcs of Chip- 
 pewa and Briilgewater had been fought in the prece- 
 ding July : The city of Washington was taken, and the pub- 
 lic edifices destroyed, in August— the dtmonstration up- 
 on Baltimore, was early in Sept.— and the battle of Lake 
 Champlain, on the 11th of the same monlli in which the le- 
 gislatnre met. It was well known that llie British army had 
 retreated from Baltimore to assail some more \TilnerabIe 
 point at the soutli ; and this was tlie very army, with some 
 additions, whose defeat at New-Orleans by Gen. Jackson^ 
 dosed the war in a blaze of glory. 
 
 the state, and believing as they do, that whatever 
 executive authority may have been exercised for 
 which no legislative provision existed, it has not 
 only been intended for the promotion of the pub- 
 lic good, but was rendered indispensible by the 
 pressure of existing circumstances; they cannot 
 doubt that the measures to which your excellency 
 referred, will be found to deserve their approbation 
 and support." 
 
 At this session Mr. Van Buren introdu- 
 ced the celebrated law for the classification 
 of the militia, enlilled " an act to authorize the 
 raising of troops for the defence of the state." 
 This law authorized the governor to call into 
 actual service, twelve tliousand of the militia 
 for two years. It preceded, in point of time, 
 the classification bill reported to congress by 
 Mr. Monroe, the same year. Mr. Web- 
 ster, and his disciples, in the east, stigma- 
 tized both of these measures as conscriptions 
 more odious than those of Bonaparte. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that our legis- 
 lature, in which these strong measures were 
 adopted in favor of the country, was in ses- 
 sion during the very period when the Hart- 
 ford Convention was holding its dark con- 
 claves in an adjoining state. Will an honest, 
 a patriotic, and a chivalrous people, allow the 
 nuUifiers of that day, and tlie nullifiers of 
 this, to form an unholy alliance, not only to 
 crush the fearless champion of our country's 
 rights in that day of her peril ; but to rob 
 him of the fair fame so freely aAvarded to lum 
 by his native state, for his matchless elo- 
 quence, and lofty patriotism .' Is the man 
 who was a faithful laborer with Tompkijvs, 
 in all the trials of the war, to be thus vilified 
 by the allies and co-workers of Daniel 
 Webster and the Hartford Convention .' 
 
 On the 13th of February, 1815, Mr. Van 
 BuREN was appointed on the committee to 
 report resolutions expressive of the sentiments 
 of the legislature, in relation to the battle of 
 New-Orleans. He prepared the following 
 draft, which was altered, however, in the 
 joint committee, by striking out the pream- 
 ble. 
 
 " Whereas, in all ages and in every clime, even 
 among the most uncivilized of mankind, the love of 
 country and the love of glory, the spirit of patriotism 
 and of heroism, have never failed to excite admira- 
 tion, to call forth applause, and to be crowned by 
 those grateful rewards which are ever dear to the 
 brave, the virtuous, and the wise : 
 
 And whereas, the duty of clrcrishing sentiments 
 so intimately connected with the welfare, honor and 
 prosperity of nations, devolves in a peculiar manner 
 upon the rulers of a people whose freedom and in- 
 dependence are the bright rewards of the patriotism 
 and the valor of their ancestors, and can only be 
 preserved by the exercise of the same inestimable 
 1 and exalted virtues : 
 
 j Therefore, resolved unanimously, as the sense 
 , of this legislature, that Major General Andrew 
 
8 
 
 Jackson, and the gallant officeH and soldiers un- 
 der hig command, for their noble defence of the city 
 of New-Orleans, that important military post and 
 grand emporium of commerce, especially in the ev- 
 er memorable conflict of the Sth of January last, 
 an event surpassing the most heroic and wonder- 
 ful arhievments which adorn the annals of man- 
 kind,] do eminently deserve the unanimous applause, 
 and the lasting gratitude of their country. 
 
 Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of this 
 legislature be and they are hereby presented to Ma- 
 jor General Jackson, and the otficers and soldiers 
 under his command, for that heroic and glorious 
 achievment. 
 
 Resolved ununinlously. That these resolutions be 
 signed by the president of the senate and speaker ol' 
 the house of assembly, that his excellency the 
 Governor be and he is hereby requested to transmit 
 a copy of the same to Major General Jacksox, 
 who is requested to communicate to his brave asso- 
 ciates in arms, the grateful sense which this legisla- 
 ture entertain of their signal services, in such man- 
 ner as he may deem consonant with the occasion. 
 
 Such were the embarrassments of the na- 
 tional government at tliis period, occasioned 
 in a great measure by the moiiied aristocracy 
 at the east, that the militia called into the ser- 
 vice of the United States, were discharged 
 without pay. The sum due them, was about 
 350,000 dollars. The attention of the legis- 
 lature was called to this subject, and the mat- 
 ter was referred to a committee, of which 
 Mr. Van Buren was chairman, and who, 
 on tlie 24th of February, 1815, presented a 
 report to the senate, in wdiich, after recom- 
 mending a loan to the general govern- 
 ment for the payment of the militia, he says : 
 
 " The committee further respectfully suggest that 
 the services proposed to be rewarded, have been 
 rendered by persons who, generally speaking, are m 
 immediate want of the sums respectively due to 
 them, and to whom further delay would be injurious 
 and distressing — that in the opinion of the commit- 
 tee, their claims to the friendly aid of this state, are 
 not confined to their wants, but are intJnitely enhan- 
 ced by the virtue and patriotism of the objects of 
 that aid — that the monies proposed to be loaned are 
 principally due to the militia of the northern and 
 western parts of this state, and such as were ordered 
 there from other sections of the state, — to the brave 
 men who met and successfully resisted the veterans 
 of the enemy on the banks of the Saranac, — to those 
 who performed tedious and laborious services at 
 Sackets Harbour, and at various other posts on the 
 western frontier, — and to that distinguished band of 
 volunteers, who under the gallant Porter, stamped an 
 indelible record of American valcr on the shores of 
 the Niagara." 
 
 " The committee, therefore, recommend the pas- 
 sage of the amended bill now reported by them, as a 
 measure, which, while it makes a beneficial provi- 
 sion for a numerous and highly meritorious portion of 
 our fellow-citizens, without detriment to the state, 
 will at the same time, in no inconsiderable degree, 
 conduce to the general good, by a decisive expres- 
 sion of our confidence in the credit of the nation; 
 and will moreover furnish additional evidence of that 
 
 f NOTK.— The words in italic, were stricken out nfter 
 theresolulion.s were reported to tlie legislature. 
 
 devotion to the interests of the Union, which it has 
 been the ambition of this state to evince, whereby 
 she has acquired a rank among her sister states, td 
 which her exertions in the late contest richly entitle 
 her, and which it should be the pride and the glory 
 of her sons to maintain." 
 
 The elevated standing which Mr. Van Bu- 
 REN had acquired by his able and faithfal 
 support of the war, induced the republican 
 party to appoint him, in 1815, Attorney Gene- 
 ral of the state. He continued, however, to 
 discharge his duties as a senator, and was se- 
 lected again to draft the answer to the Go- 
 vernor's speech, in the session of 1816, after 
 the peace. The following are extracts from 
 this production : 
 
 " While the senate sympathize with those of their 
 fellow-citizens on whom the sufl'eiings and depriva- 
 tions incident to a state of hostilities have fallen with 
 peculiar force, they cannot too strongly express the 
 proud satisfaction they derive from the reflec- 
 tion, that the war in which the nation has been in- 
 volved, arduous and sanguinary as it has been, was 
 not only righteous in its origin, and successful in 
 its j)rosecution, but that our country has arisen 
 from the contest with renovated strength and in- 
 creased glory. 
 
 "Among the advantages which have resulted to 
 our country from the late war, your excellency has 
 justly referred to the elevation of our national cha- 
 racter, and to our increased confidence m the etfica- 
 cy and stability of our political institutions. While 
 the former is to the nation wealth, strength, and the 
 source of happiness, the latter is the sheet-anchor 
 of their hopes and emphatically the palladium of 
 their Uberties." 
 
 We have now traced Mr. Van Buren's 
 career from his first entrance into the halls of 
 our legislature in 1812, through the whole pe- 
 riod of the war, and up to the ratification of 
 the treaty of peace. The extracts which 
 have been given from the productions of hig 
 pen during that great struggle, will re-kindle 
 the grateful recollections of those friends of 
 free principles, who witnessed these noble ef- 
 forts of a great and patriotic mind. And the 
 young, who have admired his honorable and 
 brilliant career since that pei'iod, will find in 
 these extracts the most triumphant evidence 
 of his patriotism and love of country, so con- 
 spicuously exhibited in the second great 
 struggle which " tried men's souls " and tes- 
 ted the soundness of their principles. 
 
 Every act of Mr. Van Buren, and every 
 page of our legislative journal, contradict 
 the calumnies of the Telegraph. The Globe 
 speaks the sentiments of every man of truth 
 in this state, when it says, that the calumni- 
 ators might with as much justice undertake to 
 convince the people of this state that Daniel 
 D. Tompkins was opposed to the war, as 
 that Martin Van Buren was. They 
 stood side by side in that fearful contest : 
 
And until the death of the former, they re- 
 tained for each other that ardent attachment 
 which springs up between those who have 
 mingled their exertions, their hopes and their 
 fears, in trying times. And Mr. Van Su- 
 re w remained long enough in the senate to 
 vindicate his patriotic friend, against the as- 
 saults of his heartless enemies. 
 
 Those who know any thing of the course 
 of the " Washington Republican," which was 
 established to hunt down Mr. Crawford, 
 by the basest calumnies — who remember the 
 A. B. plot, and the miserable actors in it — 
 who have more recently seen John C. Cal- 
 houn convicted of the grossest and most in- 
 excusable duplicity; of "paltering in a dou- 
 ble sense," with the honest old soldier, whose 
 frankness and single-mindedne-3s are such, 
 that he would not "tamper with his own heart 
 to hide its thoughts," and to whose popular- 
 ity this modern Janus was indebted for the 
 second office in the nation — ■who have seen 
 this second officer charging a plot upon Mr. 
 Van Buren which had no existence beyond 
 his own distempered brain — will not be sur- 
 prized at the false and slanderous allegations 
 of the Telegraph against Mr. Van Buren. 
 A consciousness that an alliance between 
 NwWficatioin and the Hartford Convention, 
 for the rejection of Mr. Van Buren, has 
 
 annihilated the aspiring hopes of the high 
 contracting parties, and that an indignant 
 people are summoning them to a certain doom 
 — has induced the "Lepidus of the second 
 Triumvirate," to "fall back upon his resour- 
 ces," and from his abundant store-house of 
 califilinies, to give Mr. Van Buren another 
 specimen of that crooked system for wlrich 
 Mr. Crawford's letter entitles the Vice 
 President to the exclusive right. Tliis i? 5 
 "system" under which a false coloring is gi- 
 ven to history itself, in order to assail 
 such men as Crawford, Jackson and 
 Van Buren — whose characters for honesty, 
 patriotism and truth, cannot be looked up- 
 on by this "child of squinting envy and self- 
 tormenting spleen," (to use the language of 
 his present allies), without "searing his eye- 
 balls." Unsatisfied aspirations after power, 
 drive him to madness, as the time approaches 
 when he is to surrender the seals of oflice, 
 which were confided to hin> by friends whom 
 he has betrayed and traduced ; he will sti-ug- 
 gle hard to defeat and defame those who have 
 remained faitliful to a cause which he has de- 
 serted ; for he plainly sees that an honest 
 people will no longer minister to his unchat- 
 tened ambition, and that he is to be left, 
 
 " Even as a flame unfed, which runs lo waste 
 " Wuh its own flickering, or a sword laid by, 
 " WliicU eats into itself, "and rusts ingloriously." 
 
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