Literary Cadet And Rhode Island Statesman

METASTASIS OF AMERICAN POLITICAL AFFAIRS
Since the formation of the American Republic, the state of our political affairs, never assumed a more singular posture, than it does at present; and, it is with some anxiety, and more surprise, that a great body of the people, behold a new, and efficient Administration, opposed with all the zeal and perseverance, that an opposing faction can conceive, to put down that Administration, and to establish another, to be composed of the basest and violent spirits of the nation,---of men, whose motto has been, "oppose the Administration, whether its acts be right or wrong, or if they be as pure as the angels which stand at the right hand of God."

Mr. Adams had hardly taken his seat, and formed his Cabinet---nay, he had not done even this---before the Hydra-headed opposition commenced its operations, and the Chief Magistrate of a great nation, who had not as yet been tried, was assailed with all the virulence of the combined faction; and though, he had been elevated to the Presidency, by the legal provisions of the Constitution, and by the will of the people, the cry of "down with the Usurper," was set up by the Opposition, and reiterated by prostituted presses, from the St. Lawrence to the Sabine, and echoed by all who had the power, and who possessed the inclination of opposing.

At the onset, this cry of proscription---the exclamation of "crucify him, crucify him"---was looked upon as the pitiful bickerings of the disappointed office-hunter---the yowlings of the minion pimps of the political adventurers; and, whilst the friends of the Administration listened to it, they simply responded, "we are ready to have the Administration judged by its works, and when its acts shall have proved disadvantageous to the country, and positively corrupt, then will we be among the first to depose those who stand high in office;---until then, our favorite Administration, that Administration which has been the choice of THE PEOPLE, shall receive our cordial, and undivided support."

The wheels of the Administration were put in motion, and though the machinery of state, worked upon those old and popular principles, which gained for a Jefferson, a Madison, and a Monroe, a fame as lasting as eternity itself, its first acts were met at the threshold with fire brand and missile, and combatted with a ferocity, and an ardor, which might have well become the intemperate zeal of the leaders of the French Revolution.

Whatever acts were recommended by Mr. Adams, were eagerly opposed, no matter whether they were calculated for the benefit of the faction, or the party in power, or mutually for both: for, the Opposition had sworn that they would oppose him, "right or wrong, even if his acts were as pure as the angels, which stand at the right hand of the throne of God." Their oath, like that of the misguided Hassan, was taken, it was kept, and like that which was administered to the hot-blooded Hannibal, it will, in all human probability be adhered to, though its keeping, should shake the Republic to its centre, and overturn the superstructure of American freedom, and American greatness.

The violence of the Opposition, at first, was regarded as idle ebullitions, created by those angry passions, which, when not restrained, and are suffered to go on, work out their own destruction, and falling to the earth, visit with tenfold vengeance, the heads of their authors.

Thus did the friends of the Administration look passively on;---they made no exertions to repel the attacks of the foe; and, whilst the enemy was skulking around their camp, and circulating his poison, they regarded him not; but, relying on their own purity, and the certain purity of the Administration, they suffered him to carry into execution, his unlallowed designs.

A degree of lethargy, of inaptitude, at once censurable, if not absolutely criminal, has been observable in the conduct of the friends of the Administration throughout the whole of this political war of proscription; and, whilst those men, who have been elevated to the first offices in the gift of the nation, have toiled in season and out of season, to further the happiness of the people, they have beheld with deep mortification, the supineness of their supporters;---they have seen their professed friends lying on their oars, and refusing to afford a friendly hand to sustain them, whilst the friends of their incorrigible opposers, have labored in their unholy war, and fought with the fierceness of a desperado, to attain the ends, aimed at by their generalissimos, or political leaders.

To the lethargy of the friends of the Administration, may be ascribed the success of the Opposition, and its accumulation of power, at the expense of our party. We have said to OURSELVES, TRUTH IS TRIUMPHANT, AND MUST PREVAIL, and relying on the truth of the maxim, we have done nothing to strengthen our cause, or to ward off the assaults of the enemy. Though secure in the conviction, that truth and justice are almost impregnable structures, they should have remembered, that falsehood uncontradicted, passes for truth, and that scandal, when suffered to proceed, often succeeds in destroying the fairest and most spotless reputations.

The professed friends of the Administration, have seen the men they elevated to office, assailed by a band of political Argonauts, who, hoping to renew their voyage, with their political Jason, and to feast on the "pap of the Treasury," have resorted to every species of scandal and detraction, which the imagination of man could invent, to pull down Mr. ADAMS and his Cabinet; and what, we ask, in the name of Heaven's mercies, has been done to parry the assault? Nothing, nothing, positively nothing!

The Press, it is true, has taken sides in the affray; but two or three of their conductors, too timid to be entrusted with the duties assigned them, have of late, been terrified with the rustling of an aspen leaf, and are ready to desert their first love, and go over, horse, artillery and foot, to the ranks of the modern Hero. We disclaim any allusion to those presses which are not timid, the timid will of course understand us.

It has often been said, with as much truth as justice, that the present Administration, has not committed any act, which is obnoxious to exception, and that of course, the Opposition have no right to complain, and that their complaints are not worth heeding. This assumption will not answer;---and though we know that the Opposition do not find fault with the doings of the Administration; they have set up a cry against its formation;---they say it was concocted, and born in corruption;---that its sponsor was an outcast from the true political Church, and it must be put down. These "men of Athens," who compose it, say they, are apostates, vile intriguers, foes to the country, and must be removed from office, or the Republic is not safe! This "cry and clamor" they have reiterated; we have listened to it, and though we know the "cry and clamor" to be vile, we have not refuted it, by the acclamation of public writings; and, the "cry and clamor" have been circulated like a deadly poison among the people, and have been believed!

Thus, by the supineness of the friends of the Administration, the Opposition have thus far succeeded, and the best men of the nation have been vilified and proscribed by the dastardly minions of an unrighteous faction.

And who, let us ask, are the men, who have thus been shamefully insulted, traduced, and wronged in "the nicest point, the honor of their house!"

The first is John Quincy Adams, a man who, for the last forty-five years of his life, has enjoyed the confidence of the people, and lived in the enjoyment of the good will, the respect, the honor, and patronage of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, and lived and labored to advance the happiness, the greatness, and dignity of his country. He has held numerous offices under the government of the United States---was Minister to the Courts of St. James, St. Petersburgh, Berlin and Portugal---a Commissioner of Ghent---Secretary of State, for the term of eight years; and at other periods was a distinguished member of the National Senate, and for the last three years, has filled the Chair of the Chief Magistracy of the Nation. In the discharge of all the duties which have been assigned him, he has given unqualified satisfaction, has been the pride and the boast of the Nation; and, previous to his late elevation to the Presidency, was hailed as the most favored, and distinguished statesman of the age.

Many of the prominent men among the very faction which now oppose him, were his warmest admirers, and were ready to ascribe to him those merits, to which he has always been fairly entitled, but which at this moment, for the sake of the faction, are emphatically denied.

As a statesman, Mr. Adams has few, if any, superiors;---his views are liberal and enlarged. and such as ought to meet with the approbation of all. His administration has thus far been marked for its wisdom, and prudence, and positive regard for the happiness of the people; and, no act of his, has been found fault with, or decried. To the vigor of matured age, he adds all the properties of experience, education, and native talent, and taken all and in all, he is just such a man as any country might boast of---just such a man as the country might trust, and fearlessly repose in his integrity and political foresight.---But he is the son of his father, say the faction---he is a native of Massachusetts, and must be put down and proscribed---a New-Englander has no right to hold the office of President; all New-Englanders must be laid level with the dust---and the FACTION must trample upon their decaying bodies. The only fault which can be found with Mr. Adams is this:---he is the son of his parents, and consequently is a bad man!

The second, is HENRY CLAY, a man who, from the moment that he entered the political circles of the age, has been the boast of his country, and the pride of our legislative councils. He commenced life under every possible disadvantage; but, there was within him an innate thirst for honest distinction, a devotedness to patriotic principles, and a love of country, which could not be subdued; and, casting aside the impediments that rose to oppose him, he went on to the fulfilment of his great designs, and in the end was triumphant. As a statesman, he has had no superior, and future ages will consecrate his greatness---he will be remembered and admired, when his enemies will slumber in forgetfulness.

The champion of his country's rights; he was the first to advocate the war of 1812, and when the haughty foe had been subdued, he was selected by his government, to attend the Convention at Ghent, to settle the difficulties which existed between this country and Great-Britain. The peace concluded, he returned to his native country, not to riot in the lap of luxury, but to labor in the vineyard of the people---to toil for the prosperity of the nation.---Until the year 1824, the breath of suspicion, the contaminating air of scandal has not assailed him, but the moment that he exercised his constitutional privilege, and voted for statesman, in opposition to a soldier, the flood-gates of scurrility were opened, and the blacks and anathemas of a faction, were let loose, and he was charged with the commission of the grossest political venality. He had wronged no one---he had betrayed no trusts committed to his keeping---he had voted for Mr. Adams instead of General Jackson---and the ban of proscription was issued by the faction, and the Secretary was denounced as a subject worthy only of political impalement. But in the midst of all this clamor, the Secretary is, on all hands, admitted to be one of the first men of the age---a patriot and a pre-eminent statesman. But he voted for Mr. Adams, a man who happened to be the son of his father, and the faction say he must be put down!---We shall leave it for New-Englanders, for MANUFACTURERS to say, if such a man as Henry Clay is to be cut off from political existence; and, we appeal to them to say, if they will see the great author of the AMERICAN SYSTEM---the benefactor of American Manufactures, denounced, and prostrated, without offering a helping hand to sustain him!

The third, is RICHARD RUSH, of Pennsylvania, a statesman of distinguished talents and virtues---a man who has enjoyed the confidence of all parties, and rendered invaluable services to his country. In the year 1824, he was the pride of many of the party who now oppose him, but he consented to accept of an office at the hands of a man who is the son of his father, and a New-Englander by birth, and he too must be denied the rights of citizenship, and the privileges of a freeman.

The fourth, is JAMES BARBOUR of Virginia, a gentleman distinguished in the political annals of the country. During a larger period of his life, he has held a conspicuous place in the concernments of the republic, and until he consented to become a member of the present cabinet, no man dared to question his integrity. But in compliance with the solicitations of his countrymen, and in obedience to his own sense of duty, he consented to take charge of the War Department;---to become a component part of Mr. Adams' cabinet, and instantly the cry of corruption, of bargain and intrigue was raised against him, by the members of the faction.

The fifth, is SAMUEL L. SOUTHARD, of New-Jersey, the head and front of whose offending, is, that he ventured to serve his country during a part of Mr. Monroe's administration, and on invitation of Mr. Adams, after his elevation to the presidency, consented to remain at the head of the Navy Department. For this, according to the will of the opposition he is destined to share the common fate of his associates---he must be ostracised and condemned.

Such, is a brief outline, of the men who compose the American cabinet, or more properly the present American administration; and, we appeal to the people to say, if such men are to be proscribed, or sustained! Shall they be denounced and disgraced, simply that their opposers may obtain and enjoy, the offices they now fill, to the advantage of the nation, and to the honor of themselves!

THE CRISIS HAS ARRIVED: and the friends of the present administration, must come forward, in the fulness of their strength; they must congregate, and make the necessary preparations to sustain Mr. Adams and his cabinet: and, if this be not done, our hopes are cut off. and the victory, has been already won by the opposer.

The Manufacturers of New England, are deeply involved in the issue of this great question, and should the opposition triumph, it is not idle, or unreasonable, to anticipate, that they will witness all the vexatious embarrassments, which beclouded them in the years 1816 and 17, and which involved hundreds in ruin.

For the safety of our cause, we entertain no apprehensions, if the people---the advocates of Mr. Adams administration, will but awake from their lethargy---perform their duty, and be wise, but if they shall continue to be inactive and reckless of the consequences of future delay, ours is a hopeless case,---we are lost.

We again, and again, appeal to the great MANUFACTURING INTERESTS of NORTH America---we warn them to be on the alert, to be active and vigilant, if they wish to escape the calamities of former times---if they do not wish to see the cotton spindle lay useless within the walls of the manufactory, the water wheel yielding to the progress of decay, and the immense edifices which have been reared by the hand of industry and perseverance, at an incalculable expense, tumbling upon their foundations, and trembling at the approach of RUIN.