E 675 C47 1872 CM7 C47 MAIN QUACK MENDACITY, OR, VER THE SAME; y 3 S3fl 003 THAT 1 ILLUSTRIOUS PRESIDENTS HAVE BEEN MOST ABUSED. B IEFORE THE REBELLION. ago, of all the men in the nation, ilifications and position, there [haps, who seemed less likely to Jt of these United States than ANT. Engaged in a vocation It attending the " learned pro- quietly gliding down the stream mambitious, filling no office, as tolding no intercourse with men f, and even unacquainted with |il Representative of his own.dis- ht have lived, and so he might lot the clarion of war called all With devoted alacrity he ions, mid at once gave all his js exertions to the sacred cause S MILITARY CAREER. iis new military career in a his rare ability was soon he constantly rose from a lower till he was the Commanding e forces of -the United States. .he was found to be fully ade- id his eminent fitness appeared placed. He, who until the the ,late rebellion, had never I e than a company, showed him le management, evolutions, and idreds of thousands-of soldiers, itory perched upon our ban- lous success was obtained for Kind an undivided country. It p placo Grant s military genius lederick the Grewtor Napoleon, I He is beyond question to be ranked among the i most able as well as the most illustrious Gener als now in t^e world. GRANT S CHARACTER. His countrymen, grateful for his distinguished services, and sensible of his eminent capacity, called him to occupy the highest station which j man can attain. As President of this great Re- j public, he has shown that there, as in all the ! humbler positions he has occupied, he was "the | right man in the right place." One of his pe culiar traits is, that wherever he has been, he j confined himself to his legitimate duties, exe*- icuting them strictly and faithfully, and never (producing complications, or exciting ill-feeling by trenching on the responsibilities belonging to others. It was enough for him to know his own duty, and to do it. This was his course as Captain, Colonel, and General, and it has been, and will be, as President. While; he shrinks from any ostentatious exercise of authority, yet, where his duty demands it, he acts with a dis cretion and a firmness that are irresistible. This trait has distinguished him, and renders him the very man with whom to entrust the ex ecution of the will of an intelligent and free- people desirous of efficiency and liberty. During the whole war he, was incessantly oc cupied with the vast responsibilities resting upon jhim, and never, daring that time, attended a theatre or other place of amusement, or indulged I in the enjoyments and relaxations of society. He I has ever conducted himself with amenity toward all classes, and has borne all his many honors with an inherent modesty which has never for a moment been obscured, dazzled or intoxicated. ARIES x 1672- *F.:, CHAPPAQUACK MENDACITY, MA M OR, PARTISAN MALIGNITY EVER THE SAME; AS SHOWN BY THE FACT THAT OUR MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRESIDENTS HAVE BEEN MOST ABUSED. GRANT BEFORE THE REBELLION. j He is beyond question to be ranked among the i most able as well as the most illustrious Gener- Twelve years ago, of all the men in the nation, , . \ als now in the world, of respectable qualifications and position, there was not one, perhaps, who seemed less likely to GRANTS CHARACTER. become President of these United States than ,-T- *.*>.* u j* i* T j _, , . His countrymen, grateful tor his distinguished ULYSSES S. GRANT. Engaged m a vocation . _" * , . , I services, and sensible of his eminent capacity, without the eclat attending the " learned pro- ,. . , . , . . . i_. i .,,.,., i called him to occupy the highest station which fessions, he was quietly gliding down the stream j . ;* ._ b ... ..... . . . V . man can attain. As President of this great Re ef lite, obscure, unambitious, filling no office, as I , ... . ,,. . . , ! public, he has shown that there, as in all the piling to none, holding no intercourse with men I J In high stations, and even unacquainted with | hu " lbler P ? 11 8 ^ has occupied, he was "the the Congressional Representative of his owu. dis- j n S ht raan m tlie "3 ht P lace One of hls ^ trict. So he might have lived, and so he might | cuhar trfuts 1S > that ^"erever he has been, he hav* died, had not the clarion of war called all | confined himself to his legitimate duties, exe- patriots to firms. With devoted alacrity fcj, cuting .them strictly and faithfully, and never obeyed the summons, mid at once gave all his producing complications, or exciting ill-feeling powers and all his exertions to the sacred cause I by trenching on the responsibilities belonging of freedom. i to others. It was enough for him to know his own duty, and to do it. This was his course as GRANT S MILITARY CAREER. ,, t . . , , . . . . . v aptam, Colonel, and General, and it has been, Commencing his new military career in ajand will be, as President. While; he shrinks humble capacity, his rare ability was soon j from any ostentatious exercise of authority, yet, recognized, and he constantly rose from a lower j where his duty demands it, he acts Avith a dis rank to a higher till he was the Commanding j cretion and a firmness that are irresistible. General of all the forces of -the United States. This trait has distinguished him, and renders In every position he was found to be fully ade- him the very man with whom to entrust the ex- quate to (ill il, and his eminent fitness appeared ecution .of the will of an intelligent and free- wherever he was placed. He, who until the j people desirous of efficiency and liberty. breaking out of the .late rebellion, had never commanded more than a company, showed him self master of the management, evolutions, and direction of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. During the whole war he. was incessantly oc cupied with the vast responsibilities resting upon him, and never, during that time, attended a theatre or other place of amusement, or indulged Through him, victory perched upon our ban- ; in. the enjo}"ments and relaxations of society. Us ners, and a glorious success was obtained for ! has ever conducted himself with amenity toward free institutions and an undivided country. It j all classes, and has borne all his many honors is no flattery to placo Grant s military genius with an inherent modesty which has never for a that of Frederick the Great or Napoleon, moment been obscured, dazzled or intoxicated. 2 CALUMNIES CONCOCTED AGAINST GRANT, Yet this man, whom it might be supposed would be unassailed, has been, and is, the target for the foul and acrimonious abuse of disappoint ed office-seekers, and sympathisers with " the lost cause. . The Democratic press has teemed with a virulence not merely political, but personal ana calumnious to a degree amounting to outrage* Not only has he himself been pursued in this shamelwss manner, but the sanctities of his family have been invaded, his parents, and those of his wife, his relatives, and his friends have been subjected to the same detraction. The vampires of calumny have held high carnival, but never has President Grant condescended to give the least notice to the vile falsehoods concocted against him ; sensible that they are as impotent as they are venomous. But if Grant is subjected to xiiis vituperation, scandal and misrepresentation, so were the greatest and most revered of our former Presidents. Washington, Jefferson, and Madison were more reviled and abused than Grant, and preserved the same silence respectiag the slanders, and felt for them the same contempt. Well has Avon s great master of human nature said: f-^ .. No raiftht nor greatness in mortality Can censure sc;ipe: back -wounding calumny The whitest virtue strikes : What King so strong Can tie the gall up m the slanderous tongue?" CALUMNIES AGAINST THE FATHERS OF THE COUNTRY. To illustrate the parity of personal and politi. cal abuse which now pervade the Democratic press, with that which equally existed in the days of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison, I shall present a series of extracts from publications and journals of ^hat period, which a few days research in the Library of Congress has enabled me to compile, and which, by a further employment of time might be increased to a vast extent. I had not the leisure to consult the files of scarcely any other papers than The Aurora, and the New York i Evening Post, together with some pamphlets, ser- | mons, and contemporary histories, the titles which will be given with the extracts I shall make. DENUNCIATIONS POURED OUT ON WASHINGTON It might be supposed that if any mortal man in this country could " censure scape," it would have been Washington, but I shall show that Grant has not been abused with more virulence. Speaking of the treaty which was concluded in 1795 between this country and Great Britain. Sparks, in his Life of Wasfiington, p. 467, says : " The controversy, occasioned by it, increased the violence of party discord to almost an in credible extent ; and even the motives and Char acter of Washington did not escape a full meas ure of the abuse, which was poured out upon all who approved the acts of the administration. Regardless of truth and decorum, his detractors assailed him with a license and malignity, which showed an utter despair of accomplishing their ends by honorable means. But, however, they might excite his commiseration, they could not disturb his peace of mind. I have long since re solved, said he, writing to the Governor of Mary land, for the present, at least, to let my calum niators proceed without any notice being taken of their invectives by myself, or by any others with my participation or knowledge. Their views, I dare say, are readily perceived by all the enlightened and well disposed part of the com- rnuuity ; and by the records of my administra tion, and not by the voice of faction, I expect to be acquitted or condemned hereafter. " WASHINGTON S INDIGNATION. If Washington s peace of mind was not dis turbed by his calumniators, as Sparks tells us, yet there were moments when he did feel irritated and annoyed by them. Jefferson, in his ANA, Works, Vol. IX. p. 164, gives an instance of this kind, which occurred during a Cabinet meeting, and which illustrates the extreme bitterness with which Washington was maligned. Jefferson says : " Knox, in a foolish incoherent sort of a speech, introduced the pasquinade lately printed, called the funeral of George W n, and James W n, King and Judge, &c., where the Presi dent was placed on a guillotine The President was much inflamed ; ran on much on the personal abuse which had been bestowed on him ; defied any man on earth to produce one single act of his since he had been in the government, which was not done with the purest motives ; that; he had never repented but once the having slipped the moment of resigning his office, and that was every moment since he was inaugurated ; that he had rather be in his grave than in his present situation ; that he had rather be on his farm than to be made Emperor of the World ; and yet they were charging him with wanting to be King. That that rascal Freneau sent him three of his papers every day, as if he thought he would be- insult him : he ended in this high tone." In a letter to Jefferson, dated Mount Vernon, July 6, 1796, Washington says :( Writings, XL 139.) "Every act of my administration is tortured, and the grossest and most invidious representa tions of them are made, by giving one side only of a subject, and that too in such exaggerative and indecent terms as could scarcely be applied to a Nero, a notorious defaulter, or even to a common pick -pocket." WASHINGTON ASSAILED IN CONGRESS. Daring the very last session of Congress before the termination of Washington s Presidency, a complimentary address was prepared to present him on the occasion of his retirement. So many amendments were oifered, and so much debate and criticism took place that Washington, at length, deplored the fact that any such address had been contemplated. In the [course of the debate, Thomas Blount [I quote from Gales and Seaton s Annals of the Fourth Congress, 2nd Session, p. 1667:] "Mo?ed to strike out the following clause in For our country s, sake, for life he so longed for and coveted, there appeared the following paragraphs in the editorial col umns of The Aurora for March 6, 1797 \ " Lord, now lettest thon thy servant- depart in peace, for mine eye-shave seen thy salvation, was the pious ejaculation of a man who beheld a flood of happiness rushing in upon mankind. If ever there was a time which would license the reiteration of the exclamation, that time has now arrived ; for the man who is the source of all the misfortunes of our country is this day reduced to a level with his fellow citizens, and is no longer possessed of power to multiply evils upon > Unitel States. If ever there was a period iov rejoicing, this is the moment. Every heart in unison with the freedom and , vis.li that your example may be the guide of your i exultation that iuccessors ; and thus, after being the ornament | this day ceases ind safeguard of the present age, become the | iniquity, and to the last paragraph , the sake of Republican liberty, it-is our earnest happiness of the people ought to beat witn wiah that your examnle mav be the eruid of your i exultation that the name of Washington successors and patrimony of your descendants. " Even in favor of such an excision there were 24 votes. After a fiery ordeal for the address, and after various amendments, alterations and suppressions had been considered, it came up lor final passage. Then Mr. Blount [I quote from the same Annals of Congress] " wished the yeas and nays might be taken, that posterity might see om to give a currency to political legalize Corruption. A new fcra is now opening upon us a new era which promises much, to the people; for public meas ures must now stand upon their own merits, and nefarious projects can no longer be sup ported by a name. "When a retrospect is taken of the Washing ton Administration for tight years pa$l, it is a subject, of the greatest astonishment that n sin*- gle individual should have cancelled the pri;i-> ciples of Republicanism in an enlightened peo- that he did not consent to the address." There I pie, just emerged from the gulf of despotism, were 12 votes against the adoption of it 12 who resisted to the last. GOVERNOR GILES AGAINST WASHINGTON. As a further specimen of what was said in open Congress by men of prominence, I will cite a paragraph from the remarks of Mr. Giles, himself a Virginian, and afterwards Governor of Virginia. He said : "As to those parts of the address which speak of the wisdom and firmness of the President, I must object to them. On reflection, I can see and should have carried his designs agninst the public liberty so far as to have put in jeppardy its very existence. Such, however, are the facts, and with these staring us in the face, this day ought to be a jubilee in the United States. ;? Is President Grant denounced in worse terms | than this by the most virulent and malignant of s opponents ? MARSHALL CONCERNING THE ABUSE OP WASH INGTON. But while a volume might be compiled to ex emplify the contumely and invective with which a icant of wisdom and firmness in the Afl minis- the u Falher of his country . was c ri t j c j se d, I tranou for the last six years. I may be singular , ., ir . , f , ... Arhnini-trnMn i sna l content myself with one further illustra in my ideas, but I believe our Administration ! has been neither wise or firm. I believe, sir, i tive extract. Chief Justice Marshall, in hia a want of wisdom and firmness has brought this country into its present alarming situation. If, after such a view of the Administration, I was to come into this house and show the country a quiet acquiescence in this address, gentleufen would think me a very inconsistent character. lf we take a view of our foreign relations, we shall see no reason to exult in*the wisdoi ; or firmness of our Administration. I think no.li- ing so much as a want of that wisdom and firm: | Life of Washington, Vol. II., p. 370, says: 11 WASHINGTON S military and political charac ter was attacked with equal violence, and it was averred that he was totally destitute of merit, either as a soldier or a statesman. The calum nies with which he was assailed were not con fined to his political conduct ; even his qualities as a man were the subjects of detraction. That he had violated the Constitution in negotiating ness has brought us to that critical situation which we now stand." i a treaty without the previous advice of the Sen- 11 I ate. and in embracing in that treaty subjects | belonging exclusively to the legislature, was THE AURORAS IMPEACHMENT OF WASHINGTON, Such were some of the scenes in Washin*- I openly maintained, for whieh an impeachment | was publicly suggested ; and that he had draw p. ~ ; from the Treasury for his private use more than tons last Congress; but when his Presidency | the salary annex ed to his office, was asserted had ended, and he had entered into that private i without a blush. This last allegation was said 4 to be supported by extracts from tlie Treasury accounts, which had been laid before the Legis Ifiture, and was maintained with the most un blushing effrontery. Though the Secretary of the Treasury denied that the appropriation made by the Legislature had been exceeded, the atrocious charge was still confidently re ported, and the few who could triumph in any spot, which might tarnish the lustre of Wash ington s fame felicitated themselves in the pros pect of obtaining a victory over the reputation of a patriot, to whose single influence they as cribed the failure of their political plans." INFAMOUS CHARGES AGAINST JEFFERSON. I will nowpass to Thomas Jefferson. During his Presidency, and during the canvass and election which preceded it, the whole vocabu lary of abuse was exhausted by the federal press, and the charges were constantly rung upon Carter s Mountain: Mrs. Walker Black Sally the purchase of Louisiana the salt mountain mastodons and mammoths Infi Jeli- ty the inviting Thomas Paine to return here in a government vessel the proscription of Federalists removals from office ingratitude "And eVriry taint of vice where strong corruption Inhabits our frail blood." JEFFERSON SLANDERED IN DOGGEREL VERSE. I shall first present some poetical (?) attacks on the man now so enshrined in the hearts of his countrymen, that abuse of him almost seems like blasphemy. Thomas Green Fessenden, an author and journalist of some note in 1805 and thereabouts, wrote a Hudibrastic poem in two good sized duodecimo volumes, entitled "De mocracy Unveiled, or lyranny -stripped of the Curb of Patriotism" I have before me the third edition, pointed in New York in 1806. The work had a large circulation, and was very popular in the federal party. The federal magazines and reviews, and the universal fed eral press lauded it to the skies, and canonized Thomas Green Fessenden as a federal saint of rare excellence and potency. In this scurrilous poem, at once unmusical and slanderous, may be found, scraped together, the filth and defa mation which were poured out in that day, on Jefferson, on Jefferson s friends, and on the party to which he belonged. The democratic traducers and calumniators of present times, in manufacturing the detraction and calumny with which they asperse President Grant, are only fit pupils of the calumniators who endeavored to defame and disgrace Thomas Jefferson. But they and their infamous libels are forgotten, while the name of the man they hated shines resplendent in the temple of fame with a glory that will be eternal. So will it be with Grant and his envenomed detractors. From the cess pools of deserved and retributive obscurity I shall drag again to light a few specimens of the scurrilous calumny which formerly, as now, .was cast on merit by ignoble, envious, and disap pointed hatred. FESSENDEN s VITUPERATIVE RHYMES. Thomas Green Fessenden, in the third eanto of his doggerel, vituperative rhymes, speaking of the alleged prevalence of anarchy, says: " The mouldering flame in eecret burn d When Jeficrson from France return d To aid the Factions frantic schemes, "With fresh illuminated dreams. In Wei-haunt s school his lesson learn d He with pernicious ardor burn d, To introduce his whimsicalities, And make them in our land realities. Nature ne er made a fitter man To givo ellect tw such a plan, Nnr do I think, with ten years pother, That she could hit out such another, Phlegmatic, cunning, and wrong headed, To visionary tenets wedded, A writer plausible, sophistical, Never profound, but always mystical; . PosM gs d of that mysterious air, Which makes the gaping vulgar stare, And ives the weakest men dominion, Founded on popular opinion. Hin native cunning to enhance, He adds the dark finesse of France, Eerlue d to system, by the rules Of Jaeobin-iliumin d schools; Supported by the factious heads Of ever restless anii-feds, RogHrs, to true liberty a pest, Who make her seat a hornet s nest; That were no! justice in arrears These new-school folks would lack their ears !" &c. t &c. FESSENDEN s PUTRID DOGGEREL. "The Jeffersonian " is the title of the fourth canto of "Democracy Unveiled," and this canto commences the second volume. It is eighty-two pages in length, and in it are re* hearsed all the calumnies with which it was so vainly attempted to tarnish the illustrious au thor of the Declaration of Independence. I will again disinter some specimens of the cal umnious rancor which festers in the putridity of Fessenden s doggerel verse : "We. otTer with all veneration Due to his Highness high station, O;;r Cervices to daub and gloss over A philanthropical philosopher. The mighty chief of Carter s Mountain, Of democratic power the fountain ; We would extol, his favor buying By most profound and solid lying. But shall we undertake to hire gome democratic muse, a liar, Who would, for pelf, in lays most civil, Sing hallelujahs to the Devil ? Or seek in dark and dirty alley A Mr. Jefferson s Miss Sally, In o\\rfree government no matter Whether coal black, or swart mullatto ? Though his High mightiness was skittish, When~meuae d by the bullying Bulish, The Feds are wrong. to make a clatter About the Carter-Mountain matter. * A chief who stands not shilly shally, But is notorious for a Sally, Might Mars defy, in war s dire tug, Or Satan to an Indian hug. Great men can never lack supporters, ""Who manufacture their own voters; Besides tis plain as yonder steeple, They will be fathers to the people ; And tis a decent, clever, comical, New mode of being economical ; For when a black is rais d, it follows It saves a duty of ten dollars. "Wisdom in JEFF descends to cunning; Talents a knack at danger shunning; Morality to be complete in What some old fashion d folks call cheating. In literature, his reputation A fabric is without foundation. Hif style is tinsel, glare and whirnsey, No lady s novel half so flimsy; As full of glaring contradictions As viol s works are full of fictions; And what, indeed, we might expect, HIS morals are as incorrect As are his writings- froth and flummery Express them both in manner summary. Why don t our Carer-hill commander, Who s so beset with federal slander, Pursue the rogues who dare devise, Against his Majesty such lies ; Because in spita of his renown HJ knows the truth would put him down, Nor has he hardihood to sport His rotten character iu court." There are, independent of prefaces, introduc tion and index, three hundred and ninety-four pages of this kind of stuff; but the extracts I have given will suffice as an example of the abuse and falsehoods which were so shamelessly circulated against Thomas Jefferson, and which the democrats are now endeavoring to equal in regard to President Grunt. THE OLD NBW YORK POST AGAINST JEFFERSON. I shall now exhume some prose specimens of eloquence quite equal to the poetical garlands already exhibited. In the New York Evening Post, for July 20, 1803, we are informed that " Mr. Jefferson came to the government by means which have raised thousands before him to power, and he will share the fate of every parasite of (those whom demagogues call) the people! In 1793 he took the fatal resolution of opposing to the administration of the Federal Government the farce of sophistry, calumny, and misrepresentation ! He has continued the great file leader of the malcontents, the vicious, und all who favor revolutionary liberty. Mr. Jefferson may fancy himself secure in the wretched con fidence /of popularity ; but he is deceived ; Vint will vanish and leave him to repent, atleisure^ of power ill gotten and scandalously abused." JEFFERSON DENOUNCED AS A LIAR, &C. On the 2nd of September, 1802, Mr. William Colmau, then Editor of the New York Evening Post, thus expressed himself in his editorial columns : See Jefferson convicted in the face of dayj Of crimes the most degrading a mean calumniator of men whose worth he knew, and whose ser vices he has seen ! A fawning hypocrite who could pretend affection while lie basely traduced; a LIAR who could proclaim his respect for characters which to his intimates he described as contemp tible." The same paper for June 22, 1802, says : " This [Jefferson] is the man who is eternally canting and whining about executive influence. Take it away, he exclaims, take it away and his ministers say it u taken away while every law is repealed, and all existing offices abolished to get at the federal officers and sacrifice them to make room for the friends and supporters of his EXCELLENCY, plain Thomas Jefferson." JEFFERSON RELEGATED TO HELL. In the collection of Political Pamphlets, in the Library of Congress, Vol 107, may be found the choice paragraph which follows, and which truly portrays the animosity felt toward Jefferson by his enemies. " Who are the enemies of the country ? Its rulers. What do they deserve ? Hell. A vaunt thou tyrant. If thou canst not be saved by re formation, go to Hell as thy proper abode. O thou disturber of the peace ; thou destroyer of thousands; what hast thou done ? Ask Bonaparte, ask the Devil. Thy grave will not secure thy bones from burning." JEFFERSON S PERSON AND DRESS RIDICULED. In the New York Evening Post, for January 7, 1803, is the following personal paragraph, wherein Jefferson s dress is described in a manner very different from another description which will im mediately succeed this one : " We hear that the mammoth cheese has been received by the President of the United States, at Washington, from the charge of Parson Leland. It is said tlio President stood in his door to re ceive it, dressed in his mit of customary black, with shoes on that close tight round his andes, laced up with a neat leather string, and abso- | lately without buckles, considering them as su- | perfluous and anti-republican, especially when a | man has strings " In the same paper for April 20, 1802, a Wash ington correspondent thus displays his graphic powers : " Jefferson is dressed in long boots with the tops pressed down about the ancles like a Vir ginia buck ; overalls of corduroy, faded by fre quent immersions in soap-suds from yellow to a editorial for the Tribune, World, or Patriot. Bat the people of the United States look back with pride and exultation to the administration of the dull white ; a red single-breasted cloth waistcoat, j illustrious Jefferson, well knowing that no pub- bearing unquestionable marks that he is in the ilic duties were then neglected by him, as none habit of feeding without a bib ; a light brown coat, with dull brass buttons, once gilt ; and both coat and waistcoat seem to be aged, at least, five years, more or less : his linen bespeaks that close attention to savings in his dealings with his washer-woman, which has been so much insisted upon by Mr. Bailey; his hair is undressed, and beard unshaven. " Such is the figure to whom you are presented as President of the United States." SUMNER S "SEA-SIDE LOITERIXGS." The whole country is aware of the obstreper. ous and hypocritical howl which the Democratic press sets up in regard to the temporary absences of President Grant from Washington, when now are by Grant, notwithstanding Sumner s sonorous phrases of " absenteeism " and "sea side loiterings." Whoever will look into Spark s Writings of Washington, (Vol. I., 456, 468 ; X., 113, 121, 146, 165, 166, 194, 200, 237, 295, 330, 334, 337, 352, 355, 368, 886, 415, 423 ; XL, 26, 54, 07. 69, 85, 130,) will find that during his whole administration he was at Mount Vernon as much as public business would allow him to be. Every year he was absent from the seat ot government months at a time. This, too, was while New York and Philadelphia were re spectively the seats of government, and when , Congress is not in session. But neither Wash- j 11 re <l uir e<J from four to seven days for letters ington, John Adams, Jefferson, or any of the j to reach the President, Yet no harm accrued former Presidents and their cabinets, except | on this account, nor does it appear that, it ex* Madison and Lincoln, who had a war to conduct, i P^sed him even to partisan criticism, though remained continually at the seat of government ! our republican institutions were then making during recesses of Congress. There is no need I the | r first trial, and that time was freighted with of such a constant residence, and such are now tneir future hopes. ABSENTEEISM OF JOHN ADAMS. the. facilities of travel and communication, that an inhabitant of the United States may almost be said to be always nearly as much in one place A similar examination of the Works of John as another. But there is never wanting a reason \ Adams wil1 show th &t he, too, was at Quincy for reproach and .condemnation where men are \ vvhenev er public duties did not oompel his stay purposely malignant and censorious. The same ! at llie seat of government. It required days captious complaints that are now leveled at Grant i for a letter to reacl1 hiin - Partisanship did as are but reproductions of siniilarjeremiads uttered against our most revered Presidents. ABSENTEEISM OP JEFFERSON AND CABINET. I. give a specimen of this clamor which ap peared in the New York Evening Post for June 1, 1802. Its Washington correspondent pays : " -SYMPTOMS OF ABSENCE AND NKGLECT OF DUTY. The President has retired to Monticello. Mr. Madison, Secretary of State, is gone to Vir ginia. Secretary Dearborn returned on the 17th, from an excursion to the Eastward. Mr. Gallatiu Secretary of the Treasury, is on a party of plea sure to Pennsylvania and New York. Perhaps some profitable speculation may fall under his sail him on account of this absence, and some of Adams s friends were frightened at the fierce objurgations of his opposers. Not so the old chief himself. General Uriah Forresf, in his alarm, wrote him a letter, dated Georgetown, April 28, 1799, ( Worto of John Adams, Vol. VIII., 637,) in which he says : kt I feel how improper it is, in so inconsider able an individual as I am, to be intruding on your time, much more, obtruding opinions and advice. I shall, however, hazard your censure, and be guilty of the impropriety which stares me in the i ace. # ^j )e p u | 3 i-; c very much against your being so sentiment s very muc ag notice,Vs he has much money at command. The i much away from the seat of government, from Postmaster General has gone, in the mail, to ! tl conviction that, when you are there, tho pub- Connecticut. Mr. Duane, (the particular friend H C ve ssel will be properly steered, and that of Mr. Jefforson and in the absence of Mr. Giles, i these critical times require an experienced one of his constitutional advisers) has repaired to pilot. The people elected you to administer Philadelphia. Levi Lincoln. Esq., Attorney Gen eral, was the only public officer, resident at the seat of Government, for some time past." ABSENTEEISM OF WASHINGTON. A change of names and dates would only be the government." In a letter, dated Quincy, May 13, 1709, (Works, VIII., G45,) and which date illustrates the comparatively slow transmission of mail matter at that time, President Adams says to necessary to convert this paragraph into an j General Forrest : "I received qn Saturday your friendly letter ] of 28lh April, and I thank you for it, and should be very happy if it were in my power to comply j with your advice, not so much on account of any real public utility, as in compliance with .vhat you call the public sentiment. I have iason to believe, however, that this sentiment , chiefly in Philadelphia and ^Georgetown. The people elected me to administer the gov ernment, it is true, and I do administer it here tit Quincy as really as I could do at Philadel phia. The Secretaries of State, Treasury, War. Navy, and the Attorney General, trans mit me d. lily by the post all the business of con sequence, and nothing is done without my ad vice and direction when I am here more than when I am in the same city with them. The post goes very rapidly, and I answer by return of it, so that nothing suffers or is lost." In a note to this letter, Charles Francis Adams says, that u in absenting himself from the seat of government during the recess of Congress, Mr. Adams did no more than his predecessor, General Washington." ABSENTEEISM OF JEFEERSON. Adams s successor, Thomas Jefferson, was no less open to the charge of "absenteeism." An examination of his Writings, (Vol. III., 195, 265, 456 ; IV., 393, 405, 413, 498, 507, 542, 557,562; V., 20, 65, 77, 148, 199, 261, 289, 299, 368,) will show that, both when Secretary of State and when President, he spent months at a time at Monticello, and various periods in journeys or in hunting. When at Monticello it required about seven days for a letter to reach him. But whenever public duty exacted his presence at the seat of government he was there, and the invectives of his enemies dis~ turbed him not. VINDICTIVE TIKADES AGAINST MADISON. I now pass to the administration of James Madison. At that time the United States was engaged in a second war with the most power- fnl nation on earth, as Great Britain then was. The war was eminently just, and had been post-< poned as long as our national honor could suffer it without stain. It was so recognized by a large majority of the people, and under such circumstances even dissentients, who wish for their country s success, help to sustain the hand of the government. But never was man abused more by his opponents than Madison. Resist ance of the fiercest kind was constant, and re bellion and revolution were not only threatened but almost executed. The same spirit of hatred and opposition which caused the slave-mongers of the South to rebel, then nearly produced the secession of New England. I have mnny ex tracts before me to illustrate my statements, but the space a-t my disposal will not allow me to present more than one or two. The Fedefal Republican for November?, 1814, says: " On or before the 4th of July, if James Madi- son is not out of office, a new form of govern ment will be in operation in the Eastern section of the Union. * * Mr. Madison cannot complete his term of service if the war con tinues. It is not possible, and if he knew human nature he would see it." The Boston Gazette also said : " Is there a federalist or patriot in America who will shed his blood for Madison or Jefferson, and that host of ruffians in Congress, who have set their faces against us for years ? Shall we then any longer be held in slavery by such" a graceless faction ? Heaven forbid !" CLEEICAL DENUNCIATION OF MADISON Al^D JEF- FEKSON. I might fill a folio volume with extract s of tile same character and virulence, and have before me a large number selected from sermons deliv ered by the Rev. J. S. J. Gardiner, A. M., Rector of Trinity Church, Boston ; the Rev. David Osgood, D. D., Pastor of the Church at Medford ; the Rev. Elijah Parish, D. D., and other divines, also members of the Church militant, who de nounced Jefferson s administration as "a diabol ical Trinity, composed of Thomas Jefferson, Tom Paine and the Devil ! " I shall omit them, for the present at least, and shall c nly add a piece cl rim, but nevertheless laughable, humor on the part of a clergyman in the State of Maine, whose hatred of the Devil was mild in comparison with that which he entertained for Jefferson. When in the act of public prayer, he said : Oh Lord ! tliou cornmandest us to love our enemies, to do good to those who persecute us and despitefully use us, and to pray for wretches who are full of wickedness and iniquity. In obedience to thy commands, oh God 1 do I now at this time, pray for Thomas Jefferson, President of these United States." GRANT S FUTURE. We have seen how our best and most illustri ous Presidents have been the most reviled ; but we also know that the great popular heart of the country was never alienated from them that they were honored and beloved while living and that they were crowned with reverence and im mortality in their graves. The people called each of them to a second Presidential term, and tes tified their scorn for the detraction poured out on the men who were then and will forever be so 8 dear to them. Thus will it be with President GRANT who has been renominated and will be re-elected by a greatful nation, that knows and appreciates his excellence and his worth. VENOMOUS SLANDERS OP GRANT. Among the most persistent and malignant of the traducers of Grant, must be ranked a man to whom was formerly awarded a place of respecta bility i:i the republic of letters. But when Charles Suum^r descends to shairjeless obloquy and malicious calumny, he degrades himself to the level of Kilpatrick and Dana, " And falls to cursing like a very drab." Mr. Simmer delights in quoting the classics, and very oiten regales his auditors and readers with citations from Plutarch, Juvenal, and others. Scorn all his joy, and slander all his aim. But chief he gl ory d with licentious style To lash his betters, and their deeds revile. His figure enc-h as might hi? soul proclaim ; His iorrn wag burly, and one leg was lame. His mountain shoulders half his breast o erspread, His tousled hairs bestrew d his. shaggy head. Spleen to the good his envious heart itcssest, And much he hated all, but. most the best : Ulysses or /\ch;lles sti. l his theme ; But carping censure his delight supreme. r jihis caused the scorn of ev ry faithful Greek, \Vho felt disgust when thus they heard rum speak. Hoarse was tiis voice, which in a husky tone Hurl ed taunts with venom notably his own." Such is the picture of an ancient wrangler in whose footsteps Mr. Sunnier is treading, and his hoarse tones constantly reiterate the same stale and vindictive charges. They are both contra dictory and unfounded, and have been often fully refuted. But the Greeley-democrats none the less continue to repeat them. To state truth will have no effect, of course, on the pre meditated libelers and slanderers of Grant and In view of his late exhibition of billingsgate the Ptepublican Partv, but it will have its weight oratory, he may be referred to an ancient enemy with men of impartiality, and with those who of Homer s ULYSSES whose peculiar view of elo-j are animated with a regard for the true welfare quence he now seems very anxious to imitate and of the country. The disorganizers and con- excel. We would refer this arbiter elegantiarum ! spirators in the land will continue their virulent to a passage in the second book of the Iliad, and to Pope s translation, somewhat altered in obedi ence to later readings ! The lines portray Ther- sites, the orator of the Trojan war. Pope, in a note says, (Vol. I. p. 85.) " that Thersites hated Achilles and ULYSSES ; in which, as Plutarch has remarked in his Treatise of Envy and Hatred, Homer makes it the utmost completion of an ill character to bear a malevolence to the best of men." I shall quote : " Thermites mxdly clamor d in the throng, Loquacious, 1 mdi, and turbulent of tongue; Aw d oy no shame, by no respect controll d, In scindal busy, in reproaches bold ; Wiiii angry malice studious to defame, . abuse, but it will be like the darkness of night attempting to blot out the brightness and glory of the resplendent sun. Let sland rous DANA, grov ling on the earth, Vainly attempt to give his malice birth ; Still let him toil and labor to rehearse Falsehoods most vile, in either prose or verse; Daily malignant, let him raise his voieo, And vent his vengeful spite in jarring noise; Unheeded let him lift his churlish cry, A patriot s mind his hatred can defy Can feel contempt for all his puny rage, Secure of fatn,e in this and ev ry age, Always to virtue and his country true, Like that ULYSSES whom great Homer drew. U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES