The Virginian

we borrow this caption from the Richmond
Whig. in further prosecution of its design.
There is nothing more certain than that, with
all their cunning, the Editors of the Enquirer
have for once overreached themselves, with rela-
tion to the Presidential election. It is true, they
were opposed to Mr. Adams during the last con-
test ; but it is a fact, no less evident, that they
were not so much opposed to him as they were
to Gen. Jackson. Their first choice was Mr
Crawford; their second. Mr Clay ; their third.
Mr. Adams ; their fourth and last Gen. Jackson
Is it not strange, then, that. being defeated in
their first choice, and, by the election of Mr. Ad-
ams, securing their second and third in the Cab-
inet, they should attempt to revenge themselves
by exerting what influence they possess to bring
in him who was their fourth and last They
say. indeed, that they espouse the cause of Gen
Jackson, because, viewing the selection between
him and Mr. Adams as a choice of evils, they
regard him as the least. How long has it been
since the General found even thus much favor in
the eyes of the Editors of the Enquirer ? Let
us see what they said of him, so late as October.
1824, and ask if they ever spoke so harshly of
Mr Adams ?

"We cannot consent to lend a helping hand
to the election of such a man as Gen Jackson
He is too little of a statesman-too rash-tan c
cleat in his temper--his measures too much in
fit
clined to arbitrary government, to obtain our
humble support of the Editors of this paper -
WE WOULD DEEM HIS ELEC-
'TION AS A CURSE UPON THE COUN-
TRY"!

On, that mine enemy would write a book es-
claimed Solomon: and surely no man have greater
reason to wish that they had not written a pa-
peragraph during the last Presidential campaign,
than Messrs Ritchie & Gooch.
We cannot consent to lend a hand to the election
of such a man as Gen Jackson," they said
at October. 1824, and yet. long before October
1824, they were, and all nos, straining every
nerve to bring him into office' Him, whom
they pronounced, ex cathedra, to be "too litt-
le of a statesman"to fill the office of President at
a time when our relations with foreign powers
were plain intelligible and harmonious, they
now support, when those relations wear a dif-
ferent aspect and portend important conseque n-
ces' Him, whom they declared to be unfit to
preside at the helm, when the South American
states were tranquil, and apparently advancing
to the consummation of the brilliant destiny
which our hopes had pictured as the certain re-
sult of their arduous and bloody struggle, and
when our relations with all the powers of Lat-
rope promised no interruption to the existing
harmony, they now seek to elevate to an office.
which, more than at any other time, requires the
possession of a trained as well as a vigorous mind-
intellect, to meet the crisis that impends
over the Southern Republics, and to wrestle
with the practised strength of the British Minis-
try in discussing the principles of trade which
our government has so long endeavored to es-
tablish as the only fair bases of commercial inter-
Conurse between nations ' Those actions of Gen
Jackson which in 1824, the Editors of the En-
quirer denounced as " rashness now call from
them—
that which indicated courage of the paper, is
now nothing more than dean of character-
the General's inclination to " arbitrary govern-
ment. is now excess of republicanism, stimulated
by constitutional impetuosity rather than any
can ical disposition;and that result which was
predicted with so much anxiety and dread.
and which was deprecated as a curse upon the
country," is now eagerly anticipated and ardent-
ly invoked! We appeal to the sober, the rational
the reflecting part of the community to pause
before they irrevocably pledge themselves to
the cause of Gen. Jackson. We entreat them
to commune with themselves, and enquire whe-
ther the grounds assumed by the Enquirer in
the short paragraph quoted above, are not the
very 'same grounds which the opponents of the
General now urge against his election' And
are they not entitled to deep and serious consid-
eration It the objections urged by the Enquir-
er in 1824 were valid then, are they equally
valid now What redeeming act has General
Jack son since done to demonstrate their ground-
lessness and fallacy? Is he achieved any bril-
liant diplomatic exploit, to prove that he is a
statesman His he blotted out the records of
his rashness? Are there no living witnesses of
the violence of his temper It he was in-
clined to arbitrary government" then, upon what
circumstances may we build a hope that he is
less so now If his election would have been
"a curse upon the country" at that time, what
grace has he won of heaven since, which may
convert that curse into a blessing
But. it may be said that the opinions of the
Writers of the Enquirer are entitled to more
weight than those of any other men of equal in-
formation and ability: and that, therefore, the
fact that they formerly abused Gen Jackson and
deprecated his election as a " curse upon the
country." furnishes no reason why the friends
of the General should abandon him Granted.
so far as his original friends,-(those, we mean,
who zealously advocated his cause in the first
election )-are concerned. They have the same
reasons for supporting him now that they had
when he was first brought forward, to the aston-
ishment of almost every man in the community
They espoused his cause then, with a full know-
ledge of many glaring imperfections, as exhibit-
ed in a long and active life, and we expect them
to be equally blind or indifferent to those which
have since been developed. We do not ask them
to desert their idol But, we call upon those.
who, with the Enquirer, supported Mr. Crawford.
and who rejoiced, when the election was over.
that the office had fallen to a Statesman in pre-
ference to a Soldier, not to surrender their con-
sistency, and, at the same moment, give a vital
wound to the institutions of their country, by vo-
ting for the Military Chieftain. In the language
of an author quoted by a writer in The Enquirer
of the same date from which we copied the para-
graph on which we have been commenting. " a
mong the celebrated names of antiquity, those
of the great conquerors and generals attract our
admiration always the most, and impart notions
of magnanimity and power, and capacity for de-
minion superior to that of other mortals. We
look upon such men as destined by Heaven for em-
pire, and born to trample on their fellow-citizens
without reflecting on the numerous evils which
are necessary to the acquisition of a glory which
is built upon the subversion of nations and the
destruction of the human species : yet these
are the only persons who are thought to shine
in history, and to merit the attention of the rea-
der. Dazzled with the splendor of their victo-
ries and the pomp of their triumphs we consid-
er them as the pride and ornaments of the hu-
man race, whilst be paode and evil character.
though of all others the most beneficial to man-
kind. whose sole ambition it is to support the
laws, the rights and the liberty of his fellow cih-
zeas is looked upon as humble and contemptible
In the comparison The people of the United
States have never yet merited this reproach, and
we hope they never will
But. leaving entirely out of view the objections to Gen Jackson, drawn from his military
character, we solemnly aver, that, in our opin-
ion, the objections which operate against him at the
present moment, are four-fold more cogent than
they were at the last election Indeed, although
he had violated two of the great natural and le-
gal rights of the citizen, liberty and life, by or-
tering the execution of six militiamen, who had
committed no crime but the fact had not been
made public Then, too, he apparently stood
aloof from the contest, and assumed something
like Roman virtue. if he had it not, by not per-
sonally mingling in the affray. Then, whatever
trouble it may have cost him, he bore himself
with some sort of dignity, his conduct being a
ftementarvon has been roused seameut, that
the could "neither ask, nor decline the but
Ieye it with the people to decide. Then, he had
not sought to stab the reputations of his rivals by
gainstousine ado, no cnted them hate b
open declarations of hostility But now. it is
exactly the reverse, His new friends in the ex-
ubeianee of their zeal, have exposed his true.
rmce or his cruelty, in the execution of the un-
fortunate men who went to the field to fight the
enemies of their country. and who fell by the
reluctant hands of their own comrades. han-
da ed like culprits. though innocent of crime,
and buried with the badge of traitors, though
they had faithfully served their country He
has furnished fresh evidence of his rashness and
violence an temper, in abandoning the dignified
course he had prescribed to himself and followed
in the previous contest, first, in his letter to a
K atkdth ad
muisttation as corrupt to the core and second
y by tatthporz diy dsgct theg the name of
Henry Clay william anj Jaatoa which
insays one of Mr Clay from ad nde to him
though,waistn gy s paltytuscait
bic sapn sttoa, coastence, " wh nk cn
a ls ai at all.' weung fr in him the coulessiom
that he dud nat Anod, hat ony spposeI that M
cTv saucuom Iit! H his had, too the un
parlmaoterglasa(we dse a mild term)to say
that se was taa" nut at the people at the last
Iclon; aad tht ms decess at the next is no
cessay to cleanse the 1a an stile, antd n pu
rify tie polircal atu osphere theMeropnlts
He is electioy erldg tor te oilice wih a z1
Conmeusurate with hs dmhton sad fur o
stipug hs abilty, thus ren lermg the mst La
borrowed from the illastrrous Lowndes a con
temptible burlesque' And yet this man has
been compared to Washington'Yes. he who has
been, and is now, ferocious, sanrumary rash.
u.nbitious, vain ani nnchautable, is compared
to Washington, in whose constitution not one of
these qualities x si' In caparson would
be enough to drag that venerable patriarch from
his mid gnanttomh i itgrossa ss did not make
it appear a contrast rather than a similitude,
and create disgust rather than tonshent
We have extended these remarks to a greater
length than we expected, and must close for the
day. We have a few more doses on hand,which
shall be administered in due season. But we beg
to be understood as being influenced solely by
desire to serve our country. and not to lessen
the influence of the Enquirer. We copy its opin-
ions on Gen. Jackson, because we know how
much weight they carry with them. The same
arguments, if used by ourselves, would fall still.
born to the earth. The Enquirer will pardon us,
therefore, for seeking the aid of so powerful an
auxiliary even at the risk of exposing his incon-
sistency