Whole JV,
Tarhovough, (Edgecombe County, X. CJ Tuesday, March G, 1835
Vol. VUIAo. 29.
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DEBATE IN THE SENATE,
On Mr. I (in Duron's nomination
REMARKS OF MR. 1IAYNE.
Mr. President: Before the
question is taken on this nomi
nation, I desire merely to state
the grounds on which my vote
shall rest. I do this ns an act
of justice to myself, without de
siring or intending to influence
the vote of any gentleman here.
When the resolution offered by
the Senator from Maine (Mr.
Holmes) was before the Sen
ate, a few days ago, proposing,
among other things, an inquiry
into the conduct of Mr. Van Bu
ren, I took occasion to say, that
though I could not vote for that
resolution, because, in the form
in which it then stood, it propo
sed to make a call upon the
President, which I not consider
as quite respectful in its cha
racter, and also because, even
in relation to Mr. Van Buren
himself, it was altogether too
vague and indefinite to lead to
any practical result; yet that, if
any Senator would move for
an inquiry, in proper form, 1
would not only vote for it, but
cheerfully abide by the result.
The friends of Mr. Van Buren,
while opposing ihe resolution of
Mr. Holmes, had not them
selves thought proper to insti
tute any such inquiry. I do not
mean to censure them for thi?,
nor to draw any inference from
their course, in this respect, un
favorable to Mr. Van Buren.
They believed the charges
against him required no inves
tigation, and for my own part I
was willing to acquiesce in the
suggestion, which had been
thrown out,- that from the na
ture of the case it was peculiar
ly proper that each gentleman
should make the necessary in
quiries for himself, and having
satisfied his own conscience, act
accordingly. I have, Mr. Pre
sident, pursued this course, and
by the result shall my conduct,
on this occasion, be governed.
From the time when Mr. Van
Buren took possession of the
Department of State up to the
moment of his departure for En
gland, I have been an attentive
observer of passing events here.
I have, also, since this nomina
tion came before the Senate,
taken pains to inform myself,
from the very best sources, as
to the correctness or incorrect
ness of my first impressions
with respect to the conduct of
Mr. Van Buren while Secretary
of State, and the result has
been, a firm conviction that 1
ought not to give my advice
and consent to his appointment
as Minister to England. From
facts and circumstances which
have fallen under my own ob
servation, many of them notori
iu nit; wijuiu country, as
well as from information derived
from sources on which 1 impli
citly rely, I have arrived at the
following conclusion: that when
Mr. Van Buren came into the
cabinet, he found a state of cir
cumstances here that opened a
I'&Hiujisnuicni or an
influence favorable to his per
sonal views; that, instead of ex
erting himself to remove the
causes of discord and disten
tion by which the Executive
was unhappily surrounded, he
dexterously availed himself oj
them, and wielded them for the
promotion of his own personal
and political interests, and for
the advancement of his friends
and supporters to office, to the
exclusion of almost all others.
It is known to all who hear me,
that Gen. Jackson came into
office under most auspicious
circumstances, which, properly
improved, could not have failed
to secure for his administration
the highest honor, and, as I still
believe, lasting benefit to his
country.
It is notorious that the fruits
of the great political victory
which brought him into power,
have been, in a great measure,
lost. The expectations of the
country have not been fulfilled.
Dissension and discord have
divided a party who were once
cemented together by the stron
gest ties. Men who espoused
Gen. Jackson's cause at the
earliest dawn of his political
fortunes, who stood by him in
the heat of the contest, have
been discarded from his confi
dence and pkosc hiked; while
i hose who came in (like Mr.
Van Buren himself) at the ele
venth hour, who never lifted a
finger in his defence, or raised
a voice in his favor, now have
undisputed sway. Sir, I have
no doubt whatever that for all
this, the country is chiefly in
debted to the influence of Mr.
Van Buren, successfully, tho'
cautiously, directed to the sin
gle object of advancing himself,
at the expense of all who were
supposed to stand in his way;
and what is worse, at the ex
pense of the success of the ad
ministration, anil at imminent
hazard to the best interests of
the country.
I firmly believe, Sir, that it
was not until Mr. Van Buren
discovered, in the course of the
last winter, that, by creating a
unity of interests between the
President and himself, and ali
enating him from his faithful
and true friends instead of
elevating himself, he was pull
ing his benefactor down that
he determined to break up the
Cabinet, by withdrawing him
self, and driving his colleagues
from their stations; taking care,
however, to provide a safe re
treat for himself in this mission
to England. I think the disso
lution of the Cabinet, under all
the circumstances which atten
ded it, was most unfortunate for
the Executive and disreputable
to the country; and such, I am
persuaded, is the opinion of the
great body of the people, of all
parties, throughout the United
Slates. From all that I have
seen and heard upon that sub
ject, 1 have not the shadow of a
doubt that this event would not
have taken place, but for the
firm and manly resistance made
by certain members of the Ca
binet to the views of Mr. Van
Beren. If they had enlisted
under his banner, and consent
ed to follow his lead, all would
have been well. 1 believe,
moreover, that Mr. Van Buren,
while Secretary of State used
the influence derived from his
high office, for the purpose of
controlling, injuriously, the do
mestic and social relations of
this community; and that his
conduct was, in other respects,
mconsistent with ihe dignity of
his station and the character of
the country. Having arrived at
these conclusions, afier a care
ful and deliberate examination
of the whole case, my dutv is,
of course, made plain. We
arc called upon to give our ad
vice and, consent to the appoint
ment of Mr. Van Buren to a high
and most responsible ofiiee. I
know that a decision in his fa
vor will be regarded here, and
held up elsewhere, as a trium
phant acquittal from all the
charges that have been prefer
red against him. I cannot con
sent to be au instrument in pro
ducing such a result, believing as
I do, that these charges are true.
Allusion has been made to
the strong prejudices which are
said to have followed Mr. Van
Buren through his whole politi
cal, course, and of which it is
said he is now to be made tiic
victim. For my own part I am
unconscious of being under the
influence of any such feelings.
.... ... "
Phough I have never had the
honor to be classed among the
personal and political friends of!
this gentleman, yet, so far from
having ever indulged any pre-1
judice against him, my feelings i
towards him have been of an
opposite character. Up to the
time of Ins going into the Cabi
net, but a single circumstance
had occurred to shake my con-
fidence in him as a public man;
and notwithstanding this, he
went into the Department of
State with my "advice and con-j fen too well to believe, for a
sent;" and I should havo conti-1 moment, that he would desire
nued in the same relation to-j that any shield should be inter
wards him to this day, but for a - posed to screen him from a
course of conduct while in that 'proper responsibility; he belic-
office, which I honestly believe
has brought incalculable evils
upon thi3 country. In coming
to these conclusions, 1 have not
been governed, as has been sup
posed, by "vague rumors mere
ly." My opinions have been
made upon facts afid circum
stances which arc notorious,
some of which have fallen un
der my own observation, and
upon information derived from
the most unquestionable sour
ces. It is possible I may be
deceived, but if so, I can only
say, that so strong are the con
victions under which I am act
ing, that if I were now a juror
in the box, sworn to give a true
verdict in the issue now made;
up between Martin Van Buren
and his country, I should feel
myself constrained to give that
verdict against him. On this
conviction I shall act. Be the
consequences what they may, I
shall do what 1 believe to be my
duty, in recording my vote a
gainst Mr. Van Buren, as Min
ister to England.
REMARKS OF MR. BROWN.
Mr, Browh said, that unwill-lof
ing as he had been to partici
pate in the discussion, he could
not, in justice to his own feel
ings, and to the distinguished
individual whose nomination as
Minister to England was then
before the Senate, refrain from
giving utterance to the mingled
sentiments of indignation and
regret at the course which the
uKuaie unci laKen a course
which struck him as at least ex
traordinary, and extremely un-
just towards the nominee.
The acrimony with which
Mr. Van Buren has been assail-
ed, the epithets which had been
so liberally bestowed upon him,
required some vindication at the
hands of those who were favor
able to confirming his nomina
tion, against the injurious, mid,
as he believed, unwarrantable
charges which had been prefer
red against him. He would
here take leave to remind gen
tlemen that reproachful epithets
nltorded but a poor substitute
for argument, and more espe
cially when addressed to a bo
dy whose deliberations should
be governed by calm and dis
passionate consideration.
The Senate had been told by
the honorable gentleman (Mr.
Clay, who had preceded him in
this debate, that Mr. Van Buren,
when acting as Secretary of
State, had disgraced his coun
try, by certain expressions con
tained in his instructions given
to Mr. McLanc, late Minister
-to England, in relation to the
negotiation between the United
(States and Great Britain on the
subject of the West India trade.
Waiving all discussion as to
whom the responsibility should
attach, for instructions given to
our foreign ministers, whether
to the President of the United
j states, or to his Secretary of
State, he would concede to
those opposed to the nomina
tion the principle contended for
by them, that the Secretary of
State was responsible for his
j official conduct, to the fullest
. extent. He knew Mr. Van Bu-
! ved he would sooner court the
strictest inquiry tiian to endea
vor to escape from it. But to
return to the instruction. What
was the language which was
deemed so exceptionable? In
order to remove an impression
that a feeling of hostility was
felt in this country towards
Great Britain, which the' im
provident course of the late ad
ministration in relation to the
West India trade had produ
ced, the late Secretary of State
had alluded, in his instructions,
to the change which the people
of the United States had made,
in those who administered our
government, in the following
language: "The opportunities
which you have derived from a
f
participation in our public coun
cils, as well as other sources of
information, will enable you to
speak with confidence (as far
as you may deem it proper and
useful so to do) of the respec
tive parts taken by those to
whom the administration of this
government is now committed,
in relation to the course hereto-
i
lore pursuuu u pun inu bUOjeci
the coionial trade. Their
views upon that point have been
submitted to the people of the
United States, and the counsels
by which your conduct is now
directed are the result of tho
judgment expressed by the only
eartniy tribunal to which the
late administration was amena
ble for its acts." In making
this suggestion, Mr. Van Buren
had asserted what was most
true. Public opinion had dis
carded the late administration
from power; and the party to
whom the people of the United
States had committed the reins
of government, had been, and
were then, favorable to the pro
posed arrangement. He could,
therefore, recognize in this no
solid objection; but to his mind,
it had more the appearance of
the captiousness of verbal criti
cism than any thing else. If
there was any thing in the lan
guage which he had noticed, of
a submissive tone, as gentlemen
had supposed, by proceeding a
little further in the instructions
they would have found language
which would effectually have
removed all their apprehen
sions; and shows if the late Se
cretary of State knew how to
use the language of concilia
tion, he also knew how to speak
in a tone of manly firmness,
when urging the just claims of
his country.
That part of the instructions
to which he had reference was
as follows. "If Great Britaia
deems it adverse to her inter
ests to allow us to participate
in the trade with her colonies,
and finds nothing in the exten
sion of it to others to induce her
to apply the same rule to us,
she will, we hope, be sensible
of the propriety q'f placinghcr
refusal on those grounds. To
set up the acts of the late admi
nistration as the cause of for
feiture of privileges,which would
otherwise be extended to the
people of the United States,
would, under existing circum
stances, be unjust in itself and
could not fail to excite their
deepest setisibility. The tone
of feeling which a course so un
wise and untenable is calculated
to produce, would doubtless be
greatly aggravated," &c. Here
was language firm and spirited,
and indicating any thing else
but a disposition to yield or
compromit the honor of the
country, and he could but con
sider it as extremely unjust on
the part of the opponents of the
nomination, to single out de
tached parts of the instructions,
without adverting to their gene
ral tenor, and viewing them as
a whole; the only fair rule to be
resorted to, in the exposition of
public documents.
But to come back to the
charge of disgrace which had
been so strongly relied upon.
How, Sir, has the Minister to
England disgraced his country!
Where was the evidence of the
imputed disgrace to be found?
Was it to be found in the fact,
that an arrangement had been
made between the United States
and Great Britain, in relation
to her colonial trade, substanti
ally on the very same basis as
that proposed under the admi
nistration of Mr. Adams; and
were gentlemen icho then ap
proved that measure, now pre
pared to condemn the present
administration for having sue-