dation of our whole system of government, is, that power should be controlled by the body over which it is exercised, and that, without such responsibility, all delegated power would speedily become corrupt. Whether he is wrong in giving too high an estimate to this favorite maxim is immaterial. It is, and long has been, his, and could not fail in having great influence in the decision which you have so seriously assaulted. Had his principles been like yours, as illustrated in your essay, it is possible he might have taken a different view of the subject; but, as he has decided in conformity with principles long fixed in his mind, there is something malignant in the extreme to attribute his decision to motives of personal enmity. You not only attack Mr. C.'s motives for this decision, but also his motive for the constitution of the Committee of Foreign Relations. You think it a crime in him that the venerable and patriotic Macon should be placed at the head of the committee. I will neither defend him nor the other members of the committee. They need no defence; but I cannot but remark, that the election of Mr. Macon President pro tem. of the Senate is a singular comment on your malignant attack on the Vice-President.

It would have been impossible that you should steer clear of the cant of your party, and we accordingly have a profusion of vague charges about Mr. Calhoun's ambition. The lowest and most mercenary hireling can easily coin such charges; and while they deal in the general, without a single specification, it is utterly impossible to meet or refute them; but, fortunately, they go for nothing with the wise and virtuous, saving only that, on the part of those who make them, they evince an envious, morbid mind, which, having no real ground of attack, indulges in vague, unmeaning abuse. It is highly honorable to Mr. C. that, in the midst of so much political enmity, his personal and public character stands free from all but one specific chargewhich is, that he has inclined, in his present station, too

much against his own power, and too much in favor of the inestimable right of the freedom of debate. That he has been indefatigable in the discharge of his duty; that he has been courteous to the members, and prompt and intelligent, all acknowledge. Not a moment was he absent from his post during a long and laborious session, and often remained in the chair, without leaving it, from eight to twelve hours. He has, however, committed one unpardonable sin which blots out all. He did not stop Mr. Randolph. This is the head and front of his offending. And who is Mr. Randolph ? Is he or his manners a stranger in our national councils? For more than a quarter of a century he has been a member of Congress, and during the whole time his character has remained unchanged. Highly talented, eloquent, severe, and eccentric; not unfrequently wandering from the question, but often uttering wisdom worthy of a Bacon, and wit that would not discredit a Sheridan, every Speaker had freely indulged him in his peculiar manner, and that without responsibility or censure; and none more freely than the present Secretary of State, while he presided in the House of Representatives. He is elected, with a knowledge of all this, by the ancient and renowned commonwealth of Virginia, and takes his seat in the Senate. An immediate outcry is made against the Vice-President for permitting him, who has been so long permitted by so many Speakers, to exercise his usual freedom of discussion, though, in no respect, were his attacks on this administration freer than what they had been on those of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Monroe. Who can doubt, if Mr. Calhoun had yielded to this clamor, that the whole current would have turned; and that he would then have been more severely denounced for, what would have been called, his tyranny and usurpation, than he has been for refusing to interfere with the freedom of debate? His authority would have been denied, and properly denied. The fact

that Mr. R. had been permitted, by all other presiding officers, for so long a time, to speak without restraint, would have been dwelt upon; and the injustice done to the Senator, and the insult offered to the State that sent him, would have been painted in the most lively colors.

These considerations, we are satisfied, had no weight with the Vice-President. Those who know him, know that no man is more regardless of consequences in the discharge of his duty; but that the attack on him is personal, in order to shake his political standing and prostrate his character, is clearly evinced by every circumstance; and, with this object, that he would have been assaulted, act as he might, is most certain. It is for the American people to determine, whether this conspiracy against a public servant, whose only fault is, that he has chosen the side of liberty, rather than that of power; and whose highest crime consists, in a reverential regard for the freedom of debate, shall succeed.

ONSLOW.

APPENDIX.

CORRESPONDENCE

Between Gen. Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun, President and Vice-President of the United States, on the subject of the course of the latter, in the deliberations of the cabinet of Mr. Monroe, on the occurrences in the Seminole War.

[NOTE. While the Works of Mr. Calhoun would be incomplete without the following correspondence, the Editor has felt some hesitation in deciding whether, in the imperfect state in which it here appears, and in which it was originally laid before the public, it would not have been better to have incorporated it among other materials relating to the same subject in the Memoirs of the illustrious statesman now being prepared for the Press. A large mass of correspondence connected with this most infamous intrigue remains unpublished. It was, no doubt, suppressed by Mr. Calhoun from considerations connected with the political condition of the country at the time, and from an unwillingness to implicate others who, at the hazard of losing all prospects of preferment, had voluntarily stepped forward to vindicate him from charges so wantonly and falsely preferred against him. Conduct so noble and generous on their part, while it might have strengthened his defence (if it, indeed, needed such aid), would certainly have insured their political destruction: for no motives however pure, no virtues however exalted, no services however eminent-no love of country or of truth and justice, were allowed as an excuse, much less as a justification, for opposing the purposes of the Chief Magistrate. He had determined that Mr. Van Buren should be his successor, and this correspondence was gotten up by him for the sole purpose of destroying his supposed rival.

A supposed friend of Gen. Jackson, has recently attempted to give a new exposition of the causes which led to this controversy; but his labor seems to have had no effect on the public convictions. Instinctive perception, coupled with the now well ascertained facts of history, has firmly settled the public opinion in regard to the whole subject. It would, therefore be unnecessary, even if it were strictly proper, to incorporate in a collection of his Works, matter which he thought proper to suppress. That duty belongs rather to the biographer than the editor. and the entire correspondence in relation to the subject, together with such notes and comments as may serve to explain the motives and objects of the chief actors in this shameful conspiracy, will be laid before the public in the Memoirs of Mr. Calhoun. Only that portion of the correspondence which he thought proper to publish in his defence, will appear in his works. The reply to Mr. Eaton, being directly connected with the controversy is subjoined, as serving to show who were the subaltern agents originally employed in the transaction. Other names may appear hereafter.-EDITOR.]

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

I come before you as my constituents to give an account of my conduct in an important political transaction, which has been called in question, and so erroneously represented, that neither justice to myself nor respect for you will permit me any longer to remain silent. I allude to my course, in the deliberations of the cabinet of Mr. Monroe, on the Seminole question. I know not how I can place more fully before you all the facts and circumstances of the case, than by putting you in possession of the correspondence between General Jackson and myself, which will show the difference between the views that we have respectively taken, and by what means, and through whose agency, this long gone-by affair has been revived.

I have not taken this step, strictly defensive as it is, without mature deliberation, and a calm and careful estimate of all the obligations under which I act. That there are strong reasons against it, I feel and acknowledge; but I also feel the most thorough conviction that the sacred obligation