Kentucky Gazette

EXTRACT FROM THE LIFE OF
MARTIN VAN BUREN.

It only remains for the writer to add, that the private character of Mr. Van Buren is above censure or suspicion. In the relations of father and son, of husband, brother, and friend, he has always displayed those excellencies of character and feeling which adorn human nature. His delicate kindness to the partner of his bosom, while her life was spared, his filial devotion to his parents, his generous affection for the whole circle of his relatives, are attractive traits in his character, on which, did propriety permit, the writer would gladly dwell.

Extending our view to the larger circle of his personal friends, rarely has any man won a stronger hold upon the confidence and affections of those with whom he has been connected. The purity of his motives, his integrity of character and the steadiness of his attachments, have always retained for him the warm affection of many, even among the ranks of his political opponents. Mr. Van Buren has ever been an exemplary and strict observer of those moral rules which are essential to the well-being and decorum of society. He has never sought to display the strength of his mind by daring infractions of wholesome institutions, which are by some regarded as a rule of conduct only for ordinary understandings. Notwithstanding his long connection with the most exciting political questions and conflicts, he has avoided those personal rencontres in which political leaders are too often, almost by necessity drawn. Not the slightest stain rests upon the purity of his moral character; it has been so bright and unsullied that calumny has seldom ventured to assail it.

The ease and frankness of his manner, his felicitous powers of conversation, and the general amiableness of his feelings, render him the ornament of the social circle. Uniting in his character firmness and forbearance; habitual self-respect and a delicate regard for the feelings of others, neither the perplexities of legal practice, nor the cares of public life, nor the annoyance of party strife, have ever been able to disturb the serenity of his temper, or to derange for a moment the equanimity of his deportment. He has with equal propriety mingled in the full intercourse of private life and sustained the dignity of official station. Amid the most violent party conflicts, he has retained the personal respect of those opponents who have personally known him, and not unfrequently their confidence and friendship. As a politician, his course, though decided and unyielding, has always been liberal, open and noble.

No instance of bad faith, no example of double-dealing, no act of duplicity or intrigue has ever been fastened upon his political character. His friends challenge the severest scrutiny on this point, and invite the most unscrupulous exposure. He has himself done so, in his acceptance of the Baltimore nomination. Surely amid vigilant enemies and treacherous friends, the means of proof must exist, if there be any instance of intrigue or secret management. in his public life. The public will not be satisfied with vague general charges; proof must be given of specific acts. By such proof alone, can his enemies gain the public ear; it has been too often temporarily led by empty and false accusations.— Without such proof the common sense of mankind will be slow to believe that his regular and steady progress towards the highest honors of the government thro' a long course of public service, is ascribable to the low arts of duplicity and cunning. Such a supposition tends too harsh an imputation upon the penetration and virtue of the nation to be for a moment admitted. [His success as a political leader, will, rather, continue to be ascribed to the superiority of his genius, the extent of his attainments, the intrinsic excellence of his character, and his admirable knowledge of men. His clear perception of truth, his predominating good sense, the honesty of his own motives, and his sagacity in detecting the motives of others have, indeed, endowed him with a rare talent of harmonizing, concentrating and directing the varied feelings and exertions of the members of a great party. It is a talent which characterizes true greatness, and is as far removed from the intrigue and cunning of low politicians, as is the lofty ambition of the patriot from the mean self exultation of the demagogue. In personal appearance M. Van Buren is about the middle size: his form is erect and slender, but is said to be capable of great endurance.— His features are animated and expressive, especially the eye, which is indicative of quick apprehension and close observation; his forehead exhibits in its depth and expansion, the marks of great intellectual power. The physiognomists would accord to him penetration, quickness of apprehension, and benevolence of disposition. The phrenologist would add unusual reflective faculties, firmness and caution. If his advancement of Mr. Van Buren be destined to terminate at the present point, he will leave behind him a reputation which rarely falls to the lot of any man.