Whole No. f3S.
Tavborough, (Edgecombe County, N. C.) Saturday, January 24, 1835.
Vol. XI No. -h
The "Tarborough Press,"
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PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
Col. llentoiis Letter to the State
of Mississipp i.
Washington City, Jan. I, 1S35.
Dear Sir: We have learned
that you have declined permit
ting vour name to be used, as a
candidate for the Vice Presidency
of the United States, and thai you
have addressed a letter lo that
effect, some time since, to the
Committee of the State Conven
tion of Missiippi, by whom you
were nominated for that high
office. It will be a considerable
time before your determination,
communicated through that chan
nel, can be known to the People
of the United States we, there
fore, request the favor of a copy
of your letter, if you retained one,
for publication at this place, in
order that your friends elsewhere,
as well as in Mississippi, may have
3D early oppoitunity of turning
their attention lo some other suit
able person.
KOBERT T. LYTLE,
(of Ohio.)
HENRY HUBBARD,
(of New Hampshire.)
KATLIFF BOON,
(of Indiana,)
II. A. MUHLENBERG,
(of Pennsylvania.)
Hon. Tiios. H. Benton.
Washington City, Jan. 2d, IS35.
Gentlemen 1 herewith send
you a copy of my letter, declin
ing the nomination of the Missis
sippi Stale Convention for the
Vice Presidency of the United
States. Fairness toward my po
litical friends in every part of the
Union, required me to let them
know at once what my determi
nation was; and this I have done
in many private letter, and in all
the conversations which I have
held on the subject. The nomi
nation in Mississippi was the first
one which came from a Stale Con
vention, and therefore the first
one which seemed to me to justi
fy a public letter, and to present
the question, in such a form as
would save me from the ridicule
of declining what no State had
offered. The letter to Mississip
pi was intended for publication,
and to save my friends any fur
ther trouble on my account. It
was expected lo reach, in its cir
cuit, my friends in every quarter;
and as you surrest that it must
be a considerable lime before it
could return from the Slate id
Mi-issippi, through the news
papers, and thai in the meantime
my friends elsewhere might wish
earlier information, that they
might turn their attention to some
other person, I cheerfully comply
with your request, and furnish
the copy for publication here.
Yours, respectfully,
THOMAS II. BENTON.
Messrs. R. T. Lytle, H. Hub
hard. R. Boon, and H. A. Muh
lenberg. Washington City, Dec. 16, 1S34.
Dear Sir: Ycur kind letter of
the Cth ultimo has been duly re
ceived, and I take great pleasure
in returning you my thanks for
the friendship you have shewn
me, and which I shall be happy
To acknowledge by acts, rather
than words, whenever an oppor
tunity shall occur.
The recommendation for tjie
Vice Presidency of the United
States, which the Democratic
Convention of your State has
dune me the honor to make, is,
in the highest degree, flattering
and honorable to me, and com
mands the expression of my deep
est gratitude; hut, justice to my
self, and to our political friends,
requires me to say at once, and
with h e candor, and decision,
which rejects all disguise, and
palters with no retraction, that I
eannot consent lo go upon the
list of candidates for the eminent
office for which I have been pro
posed. 1 consider the ensuing: election
for President and Vice President,
as among the most important that
evir took place in our country;
ranking with that of 1S00, when
the democratic principle first tri
umphed in the person of Mr.
Jefferson, and with the two elec
tions of 1SJS, and 1S32, when
t Ike same principle again triumph
ed in the person of General Jack
son; and I should look upon all
the advantages recovered lor the
Constitution, and the people in
these two last, triumphs, as lost,
and gone, unless the democracy of
ihe Union shall again triumph in
the election ot 1S;(. lo suc
ceed in that election, will require
the most perfect harmony and
union, among ourselves. lo se
cure this union and haimony, we
must have ;t lew aspirants lor the
office of President, and Vice
President, as possible; and, to di
minish the number of these aspi
rants, I, for one, shall refuse to
go upon the ii it; and w ill remain
in the ranks ol the voters, ready
to support the cause of denocra
cy, by supporting the election ol
the candidate which shall he se
lected bv a (Jeneral Convention
of the Democ ratic party.
But, while respertlully declin
ing for myself, the highly honor
able and flittering recommenda
tion of your Convention, 1 take a
particular pleasure in expressing
the gratification which 1 feel, at
seeing the nomination which you
have made in lavor ot Mr. Van
Buren. 1 have known that gen
tleman long and intimately. We
entered the Senate of the United
States together, thirteen years
ago, sat six years in seats next to
each other, were always person
ally friendlv, generally acted to
gether on leading subjects, and
always interchanged communica
tions, and reciprocated confidence;
and thus, occupying a position
lo give me an opportunity of be
coming thoroughly acquainted
with his principles and character,
the result of the whok has been,
that I have long since considered
him, and so indicated him to my
friends, as the most fit and suita
ble perso'n to fill the presidential
chair after the expiration of Presi
dent Jackson's 2d term. In polit
ical principles, he is thoroughly
democratic, anil comes as near the
Jeffersonian standard as any states
man now on the stage of public
life. In abilities, experience and
business habits, he is beyond the
reach of cavil, or dispute: Per
sonally he is inattackable; for,
the whole volume of his private
life contains not a single act
which requires explanation, or
defence. In constitutional tem
perament he is peculialy adapted
lo the stalion, and the times; for
no human being could be more
free from every taint of envy,
malignity, or revenge; or, could
possess, in a more eminent de
gree, that happy conjunction of
firmness of purpose, with sauvity
of manners, which contributes so
much to the successful administra
tion of public affairs, and is so
essential, and becoming, in a high
public functionary. The Stale
from which he comes, and of
which, successive elections for
two anil twenty years prove him
to be the favorite son, is also to
be taken into the account in the
list of his recommendations; that
great State, which, in the event
ful struggle of 1800, turned the
scales of tine presidential election
of Mr. Jefferson, which has sup
ported every democratic admin
istration from that day to this; a
State which now numbers two
millions of inhabitants, gives forty-two
votes in the presidential
election, and never saw one of
her own sons exalted lo the pres
idential office.
But, what has he done? What
has Mr. Van Buren done, that he
should be elected President? This
is the inquiry, as flippantly, as
iuorantlv put bv those who
would veil, or disparage, the
merits of this gentleman, when it
would be much more regular and
pertinent to ask, what has such a
man as this done, that he should
not be made President? But, to
answer the inquiry as put: itjanu the denunciation oi me anu
might, perhaps, be sufficient, so j war party, the most energetic war
far :ii least as the comparative ! measure every adopted in our
merits of competitors are concern- America, the classification bill,
ed, to point . to his course in ihe as he called it: the conscription
Senateof the United Stales during; bill, as thev called it. By this
the eight years he sat in that body;
and to his conduct since in the
high offices to which he has been
called by his native State, by
President Jackson, and by the
American People. This might
be sufficient between Mr Van
Buren and others; but it would
not be sufficient for himself.
Justice to him would require the
answer to go further back, to
the war of 1S12, when he was a
member of the New York Senate;
when ihe fale of Mr. Madison's
administration, and of the Union
itself, depended upon the conduct
of that great Siate great in men
and in means and greater in po
sition; a frontier to New Eng
land and Canada lo British arms
and iiariioru convention trea
son; and when that conduct, to
the dismay of every patriot bo
som, was sen to nans, lor near
ly two years, in the doubtful
scales of suspense. The federal
ists had the majority in the House
of Representatives; the democra
cy had the Senate and the Gov
ernor; and for two successive
sessions no measure could be adop
ted in support of the war. Eve
ry am proposed ny tne uovernor
and Senate, was rejected by thej wonderful, and heroic victory,
House of Representatives. Eve- in defence of the grand cmpori
ry State paper issued by one, was nm of the West." Such was the
answered by the other. Contin-1
ual disagreements took place; in
numerable conferences were had;
ihe hall of ihe House of Repre
sentatives was the scene of con
testation; and every conference
was a public exhibition of parlia
mentary conflict a public trial of
intellectual gladialion in which
each side, represented by com
mittees of its ablest men, and in
the presence of bolh houses, and
of assembled multitudes exerted
ilselt to the utmost to juslify itself,
and to put the other in the wrong,
to operate upon public opinion,
govern the impending elections,
and acquire the ascendency in the
ensuing legislature.
Mr. Van Buren, then a young!
man, had just entered the Senate
at the commencement of this ex
traordinary struggle. He entered
it, November, 1812; and had just
distinguished himself in the oppo
sition of his country to the renew
al of the first National Bank char
ter, in the support cf Vice Presi
dent Clinton for giving the casting
vote against it, and in their noble
support of Governor Tompkins,
for his Roman energy in pro
roguing the (jeneral Assembly,
(April, 1SI2,) which could not
otherwise be prevented from re
ceiving, and embodying, the
transmigratory soul of that de
funct institution, and giving it a
new existence in a new place, un
der an altered name, and modified
form. He was politically borne
out of this conflict, and came into
the legislature against the Bank,
and for ihe war. He was the
man which the occasion required;
the ready writer prompt deba
ter judicious counsellor court
eous in manners firm n pur
pose inflexible in principles.
He contrived the measures
brought forward the bills and re
ports delivered the speeches
and drew the State papers, (espe
cially the powerful address to the
republican voters ol the State,)
which, eventually, vanquished the
Federal part) , turned the doubtful
scales, and gave the elections of
April, 1S14, to the friends and
supporters of Madison and the
war; an event, the intelligence of
which was received at Washing
ton with an exultation only in
ferior to that, with which was re-
j ceived the news of the victory o!
i New Orleans. The new Legis-
Mature, noW democratic in both
branches, was quickly convened
by Governor Tompkins; and Mr.
Van Buren had ihe honor to
bring forward, and cany through,
amidst the applauses of patriots,
bill, the provisions of which, by a
fiew and summary process, were
so contrived as lo act upon prop
erly, as well as upon persons, an
army of twelve thousand Slate
troops, were immediately to be
raised, to serve for two years, and
to be placed at ihe disposition of
the General Government.
The peace which was signed
in the last d tys of December,
1S14, tendered this great measure
of New York inoperative; but its
merit was acknowledged by all
patriots at the lime: ihe principle
of it was adopted by Mr. Madi
son's Administration; recommen
ded by the Secretary of War, Mr.
Monroe, to the Congress of the
United States, and found by that
body too energelic to be passed.
To complete his course in sup
port of the war, and to crown his
meritorious labors to bring it to a
happy close, it became Mr. Van
Buren's fortune lo draw up the
vote of thanks of the greatest
State in the Union, to the great
est General which the war had
produced, "the thanks of the
N. Y. Legislature to Major
General Jackson, his gallant
officers and troops, for theii
appropriate conclusion lo his pat-
riotic services in support of ihe
war; services, to be sure not riv
alling in splendor the heroic
achievements of victorious arms;
but services, nevertheless, both
honorable, and meritorious, in
their place; and without which
battles cannot be fought, victories
cannot be won, nor countries be
saved. Martial renown, it islrue,
he did not acquire, nor attempt;
hut the want of lhat fascination to
his name can hardly be objected
to him, in these days, when the
political ascendancy of military
chieftains is so pathetically de-
plorcd, and when the entire per
ils of the Republic are supposed
to be compressed into the single
danger of military despotism.
Such is the answer, in brief,
and in part, to the flippant inqui
ry, What has he done?
The vote in ihe Senate, for the
tariff of IS2S. has sometimes been
objected to Mr. Van Buren; but
with how much ignorance of the
truth, let facts attest.
He was the first eminent mem
ber of Congress, north of the Po
tomac, to open the war al the
right point, upon lhat tariff of
182S, then undergoing the pro
cess of incubation through the in
strumentality of a Convention to
sit at Harrishurg. His speech at
Albany, in July, 1S27, openly
characterized lhat measure as a
political manoeuvre to influence
the impending presidential elec
tion; and the graphic expression,
ua measure proceeding more from
the closet of the politic;an than
from the workshop of the manu
facturer," so opportunely, and
felicitously, os-ed in lhat speech,
soon became the opinion of the
public, and subsequently received
Ihe impress of verification from
the abandonment, and ihe manner
of abandoning, of the whole fab
ric of the high-tariff policy. Fail
ing to carry any body into the
presidential chair, its doom pre
nouncetl by the election of Jack
son and Van Bui en, it was a
batuloned, as it had been created,
upon a political calculation, and
expired under a fiat emanating,
not from the workshop of tin
manufacturer, but from the closet
of the politician. True, that Mr.
Van Buren voted for the Tariff
of 1S2S, notwithstanding his
speech of 1S27; but, equally true,
that he voted under instructions
from his State Legislature, and in
obedience to the great democratic
principle demos, the people,
krateo, to govern,) which has al
ways formed a distinguished fea
ture and a dividing land-mark,
between the two great political
parties, which, under whatsoever
name has always existed, and still
exist, in our country. Sitting in
the chair next to him at the time
of that vote, voting as he did, and
upon the same principle, inter
changing opinions without reserve
or disguise, it comes within the
perception of my own senses lo
know, that Ire felt great repug
nance to the provisions of that
tariff act of 'S, and voted for it,
as 1 did, in obedience to a princi
ple which we both hold sacred.
No public man, since the days
of Mr. Jefferson, has heel) pursued
with more bitterness than Mr.
Van Buren; none, not excepting
Mr. Jtnerson himell, has ever
had to withstand the combined
assaults of so man', and such for
midable powers. His prominent
position, in relation to the next
Presidency, has drawn upon him
the general attack of other candi
dates, themselves as well as their
friends; for, in these days, (how
different from former limes!)
Candidates for the Presidencv are
seen to take the field for them
selves, banging away at their
competitors, sounding the notes
of their own applause, and deal
ing in the tricks, and cant, of ve
teran cross road or ale-house elec
tioneerers. His old opposition,
and early declaration (1S2G) a
gainst the Bank of the U. States,
has brought upon him the perva
ding vengeance of that powerful
institution; and subjected him to
the vicarious vituperation of sub
altern assailants, inflamed with
a wrath, not their own, in what
soever spot that terrific institution
maintains a branch, or a press, re
tains an adherent, or holds a debt
or. (It was under the stimulus,
and predictions of the Bank press,
that Mr. Van Buren was rejected
by the Senate in 1S32.) Yet, in
aNl this combination of powers
against him, and in all these un
relenting attacks, there is no spe
cification of misconduct. All is
vague, general, indefinite, myste
rious. Mr. Crawford, the most
open, direct, and palpable of pub
lic men, was run down upon the
empty cry of '-giant at intrigue!"
A second edition of that cry, now
stcreotpyed for harder use, is ex
pected to perform the same ser
vice upon Mr. Van Buren; while
the oj-iginators and repeaters of
the cry, in both instances, have
found it equally impossible to
specify a case of intrigue in the
life of one, or the other of these
gentlemen.
Safety fund banks, is another of
those cries raised against him; as
if there was any thing in the sys
tem of those banks lo make the
banking system worse; or, as if
Ihe money, and politics of these
safety fund banks, were at the
service of Mr. Van Buren. On
the contrary it is not even pre
tended by his enemies lhat he
owns a single dollar of stock in
any one of these banks! And 1
have been frequently informed,
from sources entitled to my con
fidence, that he does not own a
dollar of interest in any Bank in
the world! That he has wholly
abstained from becoming the own
erofany bank stock, or taking
an interest in any company incor
porated by the Legislature, since
he first became a member of that
hody, at.out two-and-tweni) years
:igo. Arid as for ihe politics of
tiic s;tlcty mnd banks, it iuis ht eti
recently anu authentically shown,
lhai a vast majority ot lotni arc
under the coutiol of his most de
termined and active opponents.
No public man has been more
opposed to the extension ot the
banking system than Mr. Van
Buren. The journals ot the New
York Legislaiure idiow lhal the
many vears during which he was
a prominent member of thai body,
he exerted himself in u continued
and zealon opposition lo the in
crease of banks; and, upon his
election to the Chief Magistracy
of the Stale, finding the system
of banks so incorporated with the
business and interests of the Pio-
pler as to render its abolishment
impossible, he turned his atten
tion to ils improvement, and to
the establishment ot such guards
against iraudulent, or, even unfor
tunate bankruptcy, as would, un
der all circumstances, protect the
holders of notes against lo-s. 1 he;
safety fund ssiein was the result
of view of this kind; ani if its
complete success hulieito (tor no
bank lias tailed under n) uird the
continued support and confidence;
of the representatives of two mill
ions of people, aie not sufficient
to attest its eflicacv, tiiese is
one consideration al least, which
should operate so lai in its lavor
as to save tt from ihe sitters of
ihcse who cannot lei I what the
safuly-fund system is; and that is,
the perfect ease and composure
with which the whole ol these
hanks rode out ihe storm of Sena
torial and United States Bank at
tack, panic, and pressure, upon
ihem last winter! This considera
tion should save Mr. Van Buren
from the censure ol some ptopie,
if it cannot altiact ttieir appioU?e.
For the resl he is a real hard-money
man; opposed to ihe paper
system in favor ol a national cur
itncy of gold in lavor of an ade
quate silver currency lor common
use against tne small note cur
rencyand in lav.r of confining
bank notes to their appropriate
sphere and original function, that
of large nott s lor large tr ansac
tions and mercantile t-pciullons..
Non-commmaij is another of
ihe flippant phrases got by rote
and parroted against Mr. Van
Buren. He never commits him
self, say these veracious obser
vers! He never shows his hand,
till he sees which vay ihe game
was jsotng? Is this true? Is there
any foundation lor it? On the con
trary, is it noi contradicted by
public and notorious iacts lor near
a quarter of a centuiy? By the
uniform lenor of his eiitne public
life? To repeal noll.iug ol what
has been said ol his opposition to
ihe first Bank of Hie United
States, his support ol Vice Presi
dent Clinton lor giving the cast
ing vote against the re-charier of
lhat iiisliiution, his support of
Governor Tompkins, in t lie ex
taordinary measure ol prorogu
ing the New York Legislature, to
prevent the metempsychosis of
the Bank, and its revivification,
in the City of New York; io re
peal nothing ol all this, and of
his undaunted and hi iliiaul sup
port of the war, from its begmnii g
to its end, 1 shall refer only to
what has happened in my own
time, and under my own eyes.
His firm, and devoted support of
Mr. Crawford, in ihe contest of
IJ324, when that eminent citizen,
prostrate with disease, and inhu
manly rssailed, seemed to be
doomed lo inevitable defeat; was
that non-committal?
His early espousal of Gen. Jack
sou's cause, alter the election in
ihe House ot kvtpresentatives, in
February, 1S23, and his steadfast
opposition lo Mr. Adams's ad
minisiralion; was that non-committal?
His prominent stand a
gainst the Panama Mission, when
that mission was believed lo be
irresistibly popular, and was
pressed upon the Senaie lo crush
trie opposition members; was lhat
also a wily piece of non-cornmit-