party in power. It was during the discussion upon this question that Gov. Marcy of New York, in defending the system of party removals, uttered the memorable words, "It may be, sir, that the politicians of New York are not so fastidious as some gentlemen are as to disclosing the principles on which they act. They boldly preach what they practise. When they are contending for victory, they avow their intention of enjoying the fruits of it. If they are defeated, they expect to retire from office; if they are successful, they claim, as a matter of right, the advantages of success. They see nothing wrong in the rule, that to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy." In this hour, when Mr. Van Buren was so bitterly assailed, Gov. Forsyth of Georgia paid the following beautiful tribute to his character: "Long known to me as a politician and a man; acting together in the hour of political adversity, when we had lost all but our honor; a witness of his movements when elevated to power, and in possession of the confidence of the Chief Magistrate and of the great majority of the people, I have never witnessed aught in Mr. Van Buren which requires concealment, palliation, or coloring; never any thing to lessen his character as a patriot or a man; nothing which he might not desire to see exposed to the scrutiny of every member of this body, with the calm confidence of unsullied integrity. He is called an artful man, a giant of artifice, a wily magician. Those ignorant of his unrivalled knowledge of human character, his power of penetrating into the designs and defeating the purposes of his adversaries, seeing his rapid advance to power and public confidence, impute to art what is the natural result of those simple causes. Extraordinary talent; untiring industry; incessant vigilance; the happiest temper, which success cannot corrupt, nor disappointment sour, these are the sources of his unexampled success, the magic arts, the artifices of intrigue, to which only he has resorted in his eventful life. Those who envy his success may learn wisdom from his example." Mr. Van Buren's rejection by the Senate must have been to him a great mortification. When the news reached London, it was proclaimed in all the journals of the city. That evening, Prince Talleyrand, the French minister, gave a party. Mr. Van Buren was present, as calm, social, and smiling as if floating on the full tide of prosperity. He returned to America, apparently untroubled; was nominated for Vice-President, in the place of Calhoun, at the re-election of President Jackson; and with smiles for all, and frowns for none, went to take his place at the head of that Senate which had refused to confirm his nomination as ambassador. Mr. Calhoun supposed that Mr. Van Buren's rejection by the Senate would prove his political death, and is reported to have said triumphantly, "It will kill him, sir,- kill him dead. He will never kick, sir,-never kick." This rejection roused all the zeal of President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated favorite; and this, probably more than any other cause, secured his elevation to the chair of the Chief Executive. On the 20th of May, 1836, Mr. Van Buren received the Democratic nomination to succeed Gen. Jackson as President of the United States. He was elected by a handsome majority, to the great delight of the retiring President. Leaving New York out of the canvass," says Mr. Parton," the election of Mr. Van Buren to the presidency was as much the act of Gen. Jackson as though the Constitution had conferred upon him the power to appoint a successor." It was one of the most brilliant days of spring, when the long procession which accompanied Mr. Van Buren to his inauguration passed through Pennsylvania Avenue. A small volunteer corps escorted the President elect as he rode in a phaeton drawn by four grays. Gen. Jackson accompanied his friend, and both rode uncovered. As they alighted from the carriage at the foot of the steps, and ascended through the dense and moving mass, the tall head of the old chieftain, with his bristling hair, towered above all the rest, and attracted every eye. The day was calm, and the air elastic. Twenty thousand people were there assembled. As Mr. Van Buren delivered his inaugural address, his clear voice, in its distinct articulation, reached every ear. The policy of the Government had been so distinctly marked out by Gen. Jackson, and Mr. Van Buren had so distinctly avowed his attention of following in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor, that there was no call for the introduction of any new acts, or for any change in the administration. Mr. Van Buren had scarcely taken his seat in the presidential chair, when a financial panic, almost unprecedented in its disastrous results, swept the land. Many attributed this to the war which Gen. Jackson had waged upon the banks, and to his en deavor to secure an almost exclusive specie currency. Nearly every bank in the country was compelled to suspend specie pay. ment, and ruin pervaded all our great cities. Not less than two hundred and fifty houses failed in New York in three weeks. All public works were brought to a stand, and there was a general state of dismay. At the same time, we were involved in an inglorious war with the Seminole Indians in Florida, which reflected no honor upon our arms. The slavery question was rising in portentous magnitude, introducing agitation, rage, and mob violence, in almost every city and village of the land. There was an insurrection in Canada against the British Government, which came near involving us in a war with that nation. A party of Canadian insurgents had rendezvoused on Navy Island, in the Niagara River, opposite the village called Fort Schlosser, on the American side. A small steamboat, called "The 66 Caroline," which was suspected of having carried ammunition and supplies to the insurgents, was moored to the American shore. The British commander, regardless of territorial rights, sent an armed force across the river, attacked the steamer, killed several of her defenders, applied the torch to the boat, and sent it in flames over the Falls of Niagara. The circumstance called forth a long and angry correspondence with the British Government; and, in the exasperations of the hour, we barely escaped war. About the same time, there also arose a contest between Maine and Great Britain respecting boundary-lines; and there was the angry mustering of hosts, in preparation for battle. With all these troubles on his hands, the four years which Mr. Van Buren spent in the White House must have been years of anxiety and toil. Still, he was anxious for a re-election. Gen. Jackson did every thing in his power to aid him. But public sentiment was now setting so strongly against the Administration, that the Whig candidate, William Henry Harrison, was chosen President, and Mr. Van Buren was permitted to retire to the seclusion of Kinderhook. He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits, and, living within his income, had now fortunately a competence for his declining years. His unblemished character, his commanding abilities, his unquestioned patriotism, and the distinguished positions which he had occupied in the government of the country, secured to him, not only the homage of his party, but the respect of the whole community. It was on the 4th of March, 1841, that Van Buren retired from the presidency. From his fine estate at Lindenwald, he still exerted a powerful influence upon the politics of the country. In 1844, his friends made strenuous efforts to have him renominated for the presidency. The proslavery portion of the Democratic party, however, carried the day; and James K. Polk of Tennessee received the nomination. Again, in 1848, the Free-soil Democrats brought forward his name for the presidency. Three hundred thousand votes were cast in his favor. Gen, Taylor, however, the Whig candidate, was the choice of the people. From this time until his death, on the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty years, he resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of leisure, of culture, and of wealth; enjoying, in a healthy, vigorous old age, probably far more happiness than he had before experienced amidst the stormy scenes of his active life. He was surrounded by friends, and his own cheerful disposition gilded every hour. Martin Van Buren was a great and good man; and no one will question his right to a high position among those who have been the successors of Washington in the occupancy of the presidential chair. |