Richmond Enquirer

THE JUNTO.

The hits that have been made at us by the affiliated Nullifiers at the Gloucester and Charles City Dinners, may perhaps excuse us for retaining such portions of the following communication, as relate directly to this paper.

TO THE EDITORS OF THE ENQUIRER.

I find, on unfolding the Enquirer of the 29th March, that a dinner has been given to Senator Tyler, at Gloucester Court-house, by a nullifying party of gentlemen, who are recognised by him as his personal and political friends. At the first glance, I felt extreme surprise, that such a party should have sprung up so suddenly in that ancient and respectable county; but, on a moment's reflection, I came to the conclusion that, in these ill-fated and abortive times,—when the wind shifts so easily and so frequently,—and trained politicians are seen bolting and breaking down in every direction, this rare exhibition of precocious talents and flaming patriotism, ought not to excite either astonishment or surprise. So eager, it seems, were these juvenile aspirants to tender the distinguished Senator their warm salutations on his return from the Capitol, as well as to congratulate him on his unexpected re-election to the Senate of the United States, that I am left to wonder why the committee of four did not hasten to meet him on the high-way, and escort him in all form to Gloucester Place—(English stamp!) But the Senator arrives; and with exceeding great despatch, the affair is hatched up, and all arrangements completed. The committee most courteously tender the honor, and the grateful Senator accepts with much pleasure. In a few days the banquet is prepared, and forty-five gentlemen surround the festive board. The flag of Nullification is now unfurled; the honored guest is toasted, and then the tremendous speech is delivered—with what effect, we need not be at a loss to conjecture. Of course, the paramount claims of Mr. Calhoun & Co. were held up in bold relief, and forced home by the powers of eloquence to the mind of every hearer. The last farewell warning of the revered Father of his country, was entirely forgotten; and Union—that pearl of great price—which must inevitably secure to us, and our posterity forever, the countless blessings of Liberty, was unceremoniously thrown upon the smoking altar of Nullification!! In passing over the list of the toasters, I was happy to observe that the hoary patriots of the county were not among the forty-five. I looked in vain for the imposing names of William Jones and William Robins, and their republican contemporaries; and I earnestly hope that they will never lend the weight of their authority to such a party, for such a purpose, but remain the genuine disciples of the old Republican school, and the unmoving friends of State Rights and our blessed Union. If the sound opinions and wise examples of such men are disregarded by the Quixotic youth of the country, the only reliance we have, for our future safety and prosperity as a people, is on our renewed and unceasing efforts in enforcing those golden lessons of wisdom which flowed from actual experience in the times of peril "that tried men's souls," and which were bequeathed to us by the venerated sages that have passed from the scene of human affairs. Go on, young gentlemen, in your hurried race of wild enthusiasm. Heed not the salutary advice of those who have warned you of the dangerous precipice that is crumbling beneath your feet; and you may have to pause to weep, when too late, over the dreadful evils and sad calamities which you have aided in bringing down upon the land of our fathers, and the inheritance of posterity. Pause, then. I beseech you, gentlemen, and read with profound attention, the farewell admonitions of our own beloved and immortal Washington. Let his paternal and solemn warning sink deep in your hearts, and you will never, save only in cases of extreme oppression, become the advocates of a dissolution of the Union.

Gentlemen, your readers cannot fail to remark, that while Mr. Tyler and Nullification are wafted to the skies, the Enquirer is not permitted to escape unnoticed; but is violently attacked and recklessly abused. And for what, I would respectfully ask? Because it has ever been the intrepid defender of constitutional liberty—because it adopts as its motto—Verite sans peur—and has inscribed on its banner, State Rights and Union—because it has ever been wedded to the redeeming principles of '98, and maintains them with a firmness that never wavers, and a zeal that has never yet abated. Because, when danger approaches, it sounds the alarm, no matter from what quarter it proceeds; and when tyrants brandish their swords, it hurls defiance back to their teeth. Because, when intriguing demagogues seek to blindfold the people, the bone and sinew of the land, as a sentinel on the tower of liberty, it cries aloud and spares not. Nor is this quite the head and front of its offending against the newly-organized Gloucester party, for which their youthful wrath has been thus fiercely kindled. It has kept a steady eye upon the movements of Senator Tyler for more than six years. It did not fail to apprise the public in what manner and by what party he was first elected to the Senate of the United States. It has also notified the good people, that the self-same gentleman "was abandoned last winter by his quondam friends, and re-elected by another party diametrically opposed to them. What a commentary on the course and principles of a prominent individual in so short a space! But truth is mighty, and must prevail. This same faithful record will show, that the Vice President of the Gloucester dinner, acted as Secretary of the famous Adams meeting in the same county in 1827; and continued the zealous advocate of the then administration, after it had lost the support and confidence of the Old Dominion. Now, the Enquirer exhibits him as a prominent member of the Calhoun meeting, and a devoted friend of Senator Tyler.

"At such a dinner, gentlemen, you say you could not expect to escape a hit;" and two of the company were kind enough to open a close fire upon the Enquirer.—Were you disappointed? Surely not. Remember, they are among "the unsophisticated youth of the county;" and, although you suggest the propriety of their tarrying at Jericho, till their beards grow, yet I think you would thereby impose upon them a most severe penalty. Some of them, I am sure, might pass almost a lifetime in the East, without requiring tonsorial aid. If, however, a destitution of beard be an evidence of pure morals and correct principle, some of these youthful aspirants, I assure you, might be found without spot or blemish, and of the true faith. We find one of these "unsophisticated youths" telling us, in his toast, what constitutes the eulogy of Nullification. If that gentleman's father could have been permitted to live till this day, I venture to pledge myself that his glowing eloquence would have been heard in defence of State Rights and in maintenance of the Union. His son would have been a true disciple, and now an ardent advocate of the doctrines of '98. Yes, gentlemen, I respect the memory of the father; and all that knew him, were compelled to admire his overpowering eloquence at the bar. And, as the personal friend of the son, I only hope that the paternal mantle may have fallen upon him.

But, gentlemen, I entertain fears in common with you, that many an honest and honorable man will be deluded by the machinery to be put in motion; and I humbly beg leave to caution my Gloucester friends and acquaintances to look out for the breakers ahead, and beware, beware of "the son of Virginia—the adopted son of Kentucky"—His health has been proposed to you: a tribute of respect—an offering of gratitude," is asked at your hands, for John Q. Adams's Secretary of State. Beware, I beseech you, of the Lion of the West, "whose powerful genius, whose mighty influence," has kept the Tariff like a mill-stone about our necks, until forced to loose his hold; but who still promises the craving capitalists, that their favorite system is not yet entirely abandoned, and may finally settle down upon the long-oppressed and tribute-paying South. In the name of the departed patriots of the county—the Pages, the Nelsons, the Burwells, &c. &c. let a fellow-citizen request you not to receive to your embrace, the man who has invoked war, pestilence and famine upon our Eden land, merely to slake the thirst of his ambition, and to feed his greedy vengeance. Shall we kiss the hand that has scourged us so severely? Will you drink his health with applause?

MIDDLESEX.