TAMIiSlI9
Whole Yb. 953.
Tarborottgh, Iklgecombe County, .V. V. Saturday, June S, 1
S14.
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Br George HowArtrt. Jr.
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From the Raleigh Standard.
"THAT SAME OLD COON."
MACITINE FOETKT.
That same OKI Coon is gone, 'tis said,
We ne'er shall see him more;
Duncan has cleft his cunning head,
And slit him down before.
Tory at heart, this Coon was found,
And also Whig in tail;
His head was found extremely sound:
Of brain, there was no trail.
Old Coon! you've spent a wicked life:
Old Coon! you know 'tis true;
You've always kept up party strife
And lied a little too.
Old Coon! you've closed your foul career,
Vo ir hour has come at last;
You've left your friends, the Whiggies
dear,
And to your home have passed.
For forty years and more, Old Coon,
You've preyed upon this land,
You know you have, you cunning Coon,
The flame of discord fanned.
And now, Old Coon, you are gone at last;
In peace forever rest;
May the Devil hold you very fast,
Durn you his very best!
Oh no! says Gales, he is not dead,
Just but look al him now;
How handsomely he holds his head,
And smooths his noble brow.
Just see him sittin' on his rail)
A grinnin' very fine,
Just see him switch his bushy tail;
And how his eyes do shine.
Oh Cooney! Cooney! do sit still,
And never move a peg:
We'll keep you very well, we will,
To ornament our "Reg "
ANTI-COON.
the democratic nominees.
James k. polk.
From the Democratic Review, May, 1SSS.
Mr. Jefferson having:, .sinrrelir. nn
doubt, but upon merely negative grounds,
questioned the authenticity of this interes
ting piece ot History, the legislature of
North Carolina, with a becoming pride of
patriotism, caused the evidence establish
ing its validity to be collected in a com
plete shape, and deposited in the archives
of the State. The people of Mecklenburg
were, almost to a man, staunch whigs, in
the genuine, revolutionary, acceptation of
ihe term, and have been up to the present
day remarkable for their unwavering ad
herence to democratic principles.0 As
an evidence of the sturdy independence
which characterizes them, it is often pleas
anlly observed that, at the last war, they
lookup arm. six months before, and did
not lay them down until twelve months af
ter, the government. In the contest for
independence, several of Mr. Polk's rela
tives distinguished themselves, even to the
peril of life. To be allied to such a people
and lineage, is a fit subject lor honorable,
pride. Liberty does not frown upon the
indulgence of a sentiment so natural. She
does not ivjuct the heritage of honor, while
refusing to add to its ocial or political
distinctions subversive of equal rights.
The American people have always manifes
ted an affectionate regard for those who
bear the names cf the heroes or martyrs of
the revolution. They furnish not a proof
of the alleged ingratitude of republics.
The father of Mr. Polk was a firmer of
unassumed pretensions, but enterprising
character. Thrown upon hi- own resour
ces in early life, he became the architect
of his own fortunes. He was a warm sup
porter of Mr Jetferson, and through life a
firm and consistent republican. In the
autumn of 1S06, he removed to Tennes
see, where he was among the first pioneers
of the fertile valley of Duck river, then a
wilderness, but now the most flou rioting
and populous portion of the State. The
magical growth of a country which was
but yesterday redeemed from the sole do
minion of nature, isa phenomenon of great
moral and political interest, and cannot fail
to impress a character of strength and en
terprise upon the authors and participators
of the wonderful result. How can man
languish or halt, when all around him is
expanding and advancing with irrepressi
ble energy? In this region, Mr. Polk still
resides, so that he may be said, literally, to
have grown with its growth, and strength
ened with its strength. Of course, in the
infancy of its settlement, the opportunities
for instruction could not be great. Not
withstanding this disadvantage and the
still more formidable cne of a painful afflic
tion, from which, after years of suffering,
he was finally relieved by a surgical oper
ation he acquired the elements of a good
English education. Apprehending that
his contilution had been too much impair
ed to permit the confinement of study, his
father determined, much, however, against
the will of the son, to make him a com
mercial man: and with this view actually
ces, to strenghten its temper and distin
guish it from unsubstantial pretension.
Mr. Polk's career at the University was
distinguished. At each semi-annual ex
amination he bore away the first honor, and
finally graduated in 181S, with the highest
distinction of his class, and with the repu
tation of being the first scholar in both the
mathematics and classics. Of the former
science he was passionately fond, though
equally distinguished as a linguist. His
course at college was marked by the sime
assiduity and studious application which
have since characterized him. His ambi
tion to excel was equalled by his persever
ance alone, in proof of which it is said, that
he never missed a recitation, nor omitted
the punctilious performance of any duty.
Habits of close application at college are
apt to be despised by those who pride
themselves on brilliancy of mind, as if they
were incompatible. This is a melancholiy j
mistake. Uenius has even been defined
the faculty of application. The latter is, at
least, something better, and more available.
So carefully has Mr. Polk avoided the pe
dantry of classical display, which is the
false taste of our day and country, as almost
to hide the acquisitions which distinguish
ed his early caieer. His preference for the
useful and substantial, indicated by his
youthful passion for the mathematics, has
made him select a style of elocution which
would, perhaps, be deemed too plain by
the shallow admirers of flashy declamation.
The worst of all styles is the florid and ex
aggcrated! It is that of minds which are,
as it were, overlaid by their acquisitions.
They break down beneath a burden which
they have not strength to bear
"Deep versed in books, buf shallow in them
selves." The mind should rather be fertilized by
culture than encumbered with foreign pro
ductions. Pedantry is al once the result
and proof of sciolism.
Returning to Tennessee, from the State
which is, in two senses, his alma mater.
with health considerably impaired by ex
cessive application, Mr. Polk, in the be
ginning of the year 1S1 9, commenced the
study of the law in the office of Senator
Grundy, and late in 1S20 was admitted to
the bar. He commenced hi professional
career in the county of Maury, with great
advantages, derived from the connection of
his family, with its early settlement. To
this hour his warmest friends are the shar
ers of his father's early pi ivations and diffi
culties, and the associates of his own youth.
But his success was due to his personal
qualities, still more than to extrinsic ad
vantages. A republican in habits as well
as in principles, depending for the mainten
ance of his dignity upon the esteem of oth
ers, and not upon his own assumption, his
manners conciliated the general good will.
works of internal improvement within the Maysville road veto as second in impor
States. He took ground early against the tance to none of the acta of General Jack
constitutionality, as well as expediency, of son's energetic administration. It lopppd
a national bank; and in August, IP29, con-j off one of the worst branches of the miscall
sequently several months before the ap- ed American system. Mr. Polk had ap
pearance of General Jackson's first mes- j sailed ihe bill before its passage with almost
sage, announced then his opinions in a pub- solitary energy j and one of his speeches,
lished letter to his constituents. He hay in which he discusses the general policy of
ever been opposed to an oppressive tariff, the ''American system" in its triple aspect
for protection, an was, at all times, the;ofhigh prices for the public lands to
sirenuous advocate of a reduction of the check agricultural emigration to the West,
revenue to the economical wants of the go- 'and foster the creation of a manufacturing
vernment. Entertaining these opinions ! population of hinh duties or taxes for pro-
l - 1 1
as we shall h ive occasion to illustrate, and
C itering Congress, as he did, at the first
session after the election of the younger
Adams, he promptly took his stand against
the broad and dangerous doctrines develo
ped in the first message of that c ief mag
trate, and was, during the continuance of
i his administration, firmly and resolutely,
jut not lactiously, opposed to its leading
measures.
When Mr. Polk entered Congress, he
was, with one or two exceptions, the junior
member of that body. Hut capacity like
his could not long remain unnoticed. In
consequence of lb? palpable disregard of
the public will, manilested in the election;
by ihe House of Mr. Adams, together with
the mems by which it was effected, a pro
position was brought forward, and mueh
discussed at the time, to amend the consti
tut ion in such manner us to give the choice
of President and Vrice President immedi
ately and irreversibly to the people. In
favor of this proposition, Mr. Polk made
his first speech in Congress, which at once
attracted the attention of the country by
the force of its reasonings the copiousness
of its research, and the spirit of honest in
dignation by which it was animated. It
w as al once seen Hint his ambition was to
distinguish himself by substantial merit
rather than rhetorical display, the rock up
on which most young orators split. At
j the same session, that egregious measure ol
political Quixotism, the Panama mission,
which was proposed in contempt of the
sound maxim, to cultivate friendship with
all nations, yet engage in entangling allian
ces with none, gave rise to a very protract
ed debate in both Houses of Congress.
The exploded federal doctrine was, upon
this occasion, revived, that, as under the
constitution, the Presdent and Senate ex
clusively are endowed with the treaty
making facult', and that of originating and
appointing to missions their acts under
that power become the supreme law of the
land, nor can the House of Representatives
deliberate upon much less, in the exercise
of a sound discretion, refuse the appropria
tions necessary to carry them into effect.
gainsta doctrine so utterly Subversive ol
the rights and powers of the popular branch
of Congress, as well as of the fundamental
Ihe confidence of his friends was justified principles of the demecracv Mr. Polk
by the result. His thorough academical . strenuously protested, embodying hi3 views
preparation, his accurate knowledge of the j in a series of resolutions, which reproduced.
law, his readiness and resources in debate, ! in a tangible shape, the doctrines on 1ms
Mr. Polk, who is the oldest often chil
dren, was born in Mecklenburg county,
North Carolina, on the second day of No
vember, 1795, and is consequently in the
fortv-third ear of his aiie. His ancestors,
his unwearied application to business, se-; question of the republican partv of '98
placed him with a merchant. Upon what;cuied njm at once, full employment, and: The first of these resolutions, which pres
slender thirds hang the destinies ot lile! jin less than a year he was already a lead- ents the general principal with brevity and
A little more, and the uncompromising
opponent of the Hank of the United Stales,
the democratic- Speaker of the House of
Representatives, might have been at this
day, in spile of his oiigin and early ten
dencies, a whig preacher of panics, uttering
u i i .iu-b hi' nh (lencies, a wing preacher ot pumcs,uitermg
whose original name, Pollock, na, ny oo- o i i &
, , ' ,i ;lfl nrn.pnt inrm hercmiaas lor the late ot that slndowy
vious transition, assumed its present lorm, j . j
. , . ,' . 0lTr. frnmiand intangible thing yclept "credit sys-
cmigrated, more than a century ago, irom e o j i j
Ireland, a country from which many ot j ICIU-
our most distinguished men are proud to qf shape it might be call'J, that shape had none,
derive their origin. 'I hey es'abliidred j Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb;
ihpmwdvPQ first ii? Mnrvlatid. where some Or substance might be call'd, that shadow seemM,
of their dtcendants s ill sojourn. The
Tor each seem'd either.'
branch of the family from which is sprung
the subject of this memoir, removed to the
neighborhood of Carlisle, in Pennsylvania,
and thence to the western frontier of North
Carolina, some time before the commence
ment of the levolutionary var. Its con
nection with that eventful struggle is one
of rare distinction. On the 20th of May,
1775, consequently more than a twelve
month anterior to the declaration of the
fourth of July, the assembled inhabitants
of Mecklenburg county publicly absolved
themselves from their allegiance to the
British crown, and issued a formal mani
festo of independence, in terms of manly
eloquence, which have become "familiar
as household words' to the American peo
ple. Col. Thomas Polk, the prime mover
in this act of noble daring, and one of the
signers of this first declaration of indepen
dence, was the great uncle of the present
Speaker, who is also connected with the
Alexanders, chairman and secretary of the
famous meeting, as well as with Dr. E
phraim Brevard, the author of the declara
tion itself.
Tradition ascribes to Thomas Polk the princi
pal acencv in brinino- about the declaration! He
appears to have given the notice for the election of
m: vuuveuwon, ana, oeing me coionei 01 we tuu
y, to haTe superintended the eler.tions-in each of
ihe militia uiStricts. He had been for a long time
engaged in the service of the province as a sur
veyor, and as a member ot the assemhlypana was
,thu3 intimately acquainted, not only in Mecklon
bunr, bat in the counties trenerallyi His.edu.ca
tion had been acquired, not within the classic; wajls
of an English university, but among his own no
lle remained a few weeks in a situation
adverse to his wishes and incompatible
with his taste. Finally, his earnest ap
peals succeeded in overcoming the resit
ance of his father, and in July, 1813, he
was placed under the care of the Rev. Dr.
Henderson, and subsequently, at the acad
emy of Mui freesborough, Tennessee, then
under the direction of Mr. Samuel P.
Black, jns'ly celebrated in that region as a
classical teacher. In the autumn ol 1S15,
he entered the University of North Caro
lina, having, in less than two years and a
half, thoroughly prepared himself to com
mence his collegiate course. It will be
seen from this hasty sketch, that the histo
ry of the Speaker furnishes an interesting
example of talent and preseverance trium
phing over disheartening difficulties in ear
ly life. So frequent are such instances,
that it would almost seem that true merit
requires the ordeal of adverse eircumstan-
tive hills, and amidst the passions and feelings of
his countrymeni Dr. hphraim lirevard, the au
thor of the declaration, and Wraightslill Avery,
the first attorney general of North Carolina, were
men of the highest classical attainments, and con
tributing their enlightened resources to the shrewd
native enthusiasm of Thomas Polk, produced a
declaration at that time unrivalled, not only for the
neatness of its style, but for the moral sublimity of
its conception. Jones's North Carolina,
' Finally, the whole proceedings were read dis
tinctly and audible, at the court-house door, by
Colonel Thomas Polk, to a large, respectable, and
approving assemblage of citizens, who were pre
sent, and gave sanction to the business of the
day. Memoir of Jlevi Humphrey Hunter ibid.
ing practitioner, such prompt success in torce runs thus: "that it is theconstuu
a profession where the early stages are pro- tional right and duty of the House of Rep
verbially slow and discouraging, falls to the : resentati ve, when called upon for appropria-
lot of lew. . j lions to defray the expenses ot foreign mis
Mr. Polk continued to devote Some ; sion, to deliberate on ihe expediency or in
years exclusively to the laborons prosecu- j expediency of such missions, and to deter-
tion of his profession, with a progressive : mine and act thereon, as in their judgment
augmentation cf reputation, and the more j may seem most conducive to the public
solid rewards by which it is accompanied, i good.
In 1S23, he entered upon the stormy ca- rrom this time Mr. Polk s history is m-
reer of politics, being chosen to represent separably interwoven with that of the
his county in the State legislature, by a . House. He is prominently connected with
every important question; and upon every
one; as if by an unerring instinct of repub
licanism, took the soundest and boldest
ground. From his entrance into publi
life, his adherence to the Cardinal principle
of the democratic creed has been singular
ly steadfast. During the whole period of
Gen'l. Jackson s administration, as Jong as
he retained a seal on the floor, he was one
of its leading supporters, and at times, and
on certain questions of paramount import
ance. its chief reliance. In the hour of
trial he was never found wanting, or from
his post. In December, 1827, two years
after his entrance in the House Mr. Polk
was nlaced on the important Com
mittee of Foreign Affairs, and
some time after was appointed in ad
dition, chairman of the select committee to
which was referred that portion of the
President's message calling the attention
of Congress to the probable accumulation
of a surplus in the treasury alter the anti
cipated extinguishment of the national
debt. As the head of this committee, he
made a lucid report, replete with the
soundest doctrines, ably enforced, denying
ihe constitutional power of Congress to
collect from the people for distribution, a
surplus beyond the wants of the govern
ment, and maintaining that the revenue
should be reduced to the exigencies of the
public service.
The session of 1830 will always be dis
tinguished by the death blow which was
then given to the unconstitutional system
of internal improvements by the general
government. We have ever regarded the
heavy majority over the former incumbent,
but not without formidable opposition. He
was, for two successive years, a member of
that body, where his ability in debate, and
talent for business, at once gave him repu
tation. The early personal and political
friend of General Jackson, he was one of
those who, in the session of lS23-'24, called
that distinguished man from his retire
ment, by electing him to the Senate of the
United States; and he looks back with pride
to the part he took in in act which was fol
lowed by such important consequences.
In August, 1825, being then in his thirtieth
year, Mr. Polk was chosen to represent his
district in Congress, and, in the ensuing
December, took his seat in that body,
where he has remained ever tince. He
brought with him into the national councils
those fundamental principles to which he
has adhered through all the personal muta
tions of party. From his early youth, he
was a republican of the 'straitest sect."
He has ever regarded the constitution of
the United States as an instrument cf speci
fic and limited powers, and thatdoctrine is
at the very foundation of the democratic
creed. Of course, he has ever been what
is termed a strict constructionist, repudia
ting, above all things, the latitudinariart in
terpretations of federalism, which tend to
the consolidation of all power in the cen
iral government. He has signalized his
hostility to these usurping doctrines in all
their modes. He has always refused his
assent to the appropriation of money, by
the federal government, for what he deems
the unconstitutional purpose of constructing
tection, and excessive revenue--and of in
ternal improvements, to spend this reven
ue in corrupting the country with its own
money, should be perused by every ond
who wishes to arrive at sound views upon
a question which has so much agitated Ihe
public mind. When the bill was returned
by Ihe President unsigned, a storm arose
in the House in the midst of which tho
veto was attacked by a torrent of passionate
declamation, mixed with no small share of
personal abuse. To a member from Ohio,
whose observations partook of the latter
character, Mr. Polk replied in an energet
ic improvisation, vindicating the patriotic
resolution of the Chief Magistrate. The
friends of State rights in the House rallied
manfully upon the veto. The result was
that ihe bill was reiected, and countless
log-rolling projects tor the expenditure of
many millions of the public treasure, which
awaited the decision, perished in embryo.'
In December, 1832, he was transferred
to the Committee of VVavs and Meanfi
with which his connexion has been so dis
tinguished. At that session the directors
of the liank of the United States were
summoned to Washington, and examined
upon oath, before the committee just nam
ed. A division of opinion resulted in the
presentation of two reports. That of tho
majority, which admitted that the bank
had exceeded its lawful powers by interfer
ing with the plan of government to pay off
the 3 percent, stock was tame, and unac
companied by pertinent facts or elucidati i$
details. Air. Polk, in behalf of the minor
ity, made a detailed report, communicating
all the material circumstances, and present
ing conclusions Utterly adverse to the in
stitution which had been the subject of in
quiry. This arrayed against him the
whole bank power, which he was made id
feel in a quarter where he had every thing
at stake; for, upon his return to his district,
he found the mdst formidable opposition
mustered against him tor his course upon
this question. The friends of the United,"
States Dank held a meeting at Nashville tgf
denounce his report. The most unscrupu
Ions mirepresentatidns were resorted to"
in order to prove that he had destroyed the
credit of the West, by proclaiming that his
countrymen were unworthy of mercantile
confidence. The result, however was
that after a violent contest Mr. Polk v?as
re-elected by a majority of more than ''rnj
thousand. Fortunately for the stabi1,1' of
our institutions, the panics which "fright
en cities from their propriety"do not sweep
with the same desolating force over the
scattered dwellings of the country.
In September, 1833, the President, in
dignant at the open defiance of law by the
Dank of the United States, and the un-
blushing corruption which it practised, de
termined upon ihe bold and salutary mea-.
sure of the removal of the deposites, Whlchi
was effected in the following month, '"hrt
act produced much excitement throUg!.;.at
the country, and it was foreseen , that a
great and doubtful conflict was about to en
sue. At Pitch a crisis it became important
to have at the head of the Committee of
Ways and Means a man of courage td
meet, and firmness to sustain, the formida
ble shock. Such a man was found iti Mr.
Polk, and he proved himself equal to the
occasion. Congress met, and the conflict
proved even fiercer than had been anticipa
ted. The cause of the bank was supported
in the House by such men as Mr. McDuf
fie, Adams, and lilnney, not to mention r:
host of other names. It is instructive to
look back in calmer times, to the reign of
terror, known as the panic session. The
bank, with the whole commerce of the
country at its feet, alternately torturingand
easing its miserable pensioners as they in
creased or relaxed their cries of financial
agony; public meetings held in every city
with scarcely the intermission of a day, de
nouncing ihe President as a tyrant and the
enemy of his country; deputations flocking
from the towns to extort from him a reluti-
tant submission; Whig orators traversing
the country, and ftimulating the passions of
excited multitudes, without respect everi to
the sanctity of the Sabbath; inflamaidry
memorials poured into Congress from eve
ry quarter; the Senate almost decreeing it
sell into a state of permanent insurrection,
and proclaiming that a revolution had al
ready begun; all the business of legislation
in both wings of ihe Capitol postponed to
that of agitation and panic; an extrajudicial
and branding sentence pronounced upon the
Chief Magistrate of the nation, in violation
of usage and of the constitution; these
On the BurTdl arid New Orleans Road bUj