Page:The American review - a Whig journal of politics, literature, art, and science (1845).djvu/20

a remarkable man. He possessed in an eminent degree many of those great qualities which give to one an indisputable command over the many. Born upon American soil while this continent owned the sway of the house of Hanover, he enlisted as a soldier of liberty before the flush of manhood had crimsoned his cheek. His growth was in a sparsely settled country, hardly to be distinguished from a wilderness, where the force of law, the restraints of society, and the rules of civilized life have but little weight. In such a situation self-preservation and self-protection are paramount to all other considerations. At an early day he formed such an acquaintanceship with hardships and danger as to give an indelible character to the man in after years. Self-instructed, and with none to render him assistance or to make the opening pathway of life smooth to his steps, without fortune, friends, or adventitious aids, he acquired an independence of thought and action, a disdain of danger, and a contempt of opposition, which followed him through all the vicissitudes of his career. Vigorous in action, energetic in the execution of his plans, ignorant of, or despising, alike the arts of the courtier and the nice distinctions of the casuist, he, in early life, acquired an influence in the border state of Tennessee which never deserted him while he had an ambitious wish to gratify, or a personal desire to be fulfilled. Possessing a haughty and unbending will which would brook no opposition, and which defied with equal boldness the threats of enemies and the entreaties of friends, he had nevertheless obtained an abiding influence over the affections of a vast body of the people, which rendered opposition to him at the polls almost a useless work. It was not because he was deemed a statesman that he was chosen as a candidate for the presidency, in exclusion of the other great men of the Republic. It was not because he was supposed to be possessed of any peculiar insight into the nature of our government, or of any intuitive appreciation of the duties of its chief executive, that the American people bestowed upon him their suffrages almost by acclamation. In an accurate knowledge of the theory and science of government, and of the details of legislation, Webster and Clay, Calhoun and Crawford, were immeasurably his superiors. His immediate predecessor was, without question, the most accomplished statesman of the day; profoundly learned in all branches of knowledge, versed in the history of his country, and understanding practically all its varied and multiform interests. Thus endowed, however, for profound and wide-seeing statesmanship, and fitted to be at the head of a great and growing republic, with all its complicated internal and foreign relations—nurtured among the heroes of the era of Independence, and himself the son of a Revolutionary statesman, John Quincy Adams was, notwithstanding, put down by a whirlwind of clamor and abuse, of falsehood and detraction, such as had never been witnessed in the political history of the nation. General Jackson had other claims to popular homage. It was the delusive glory of his military career which gave him this commanding prominence, and secured the enthusiastic support of the people. He had done the country signal service in its struggles with Great Britain; he had conducted our Indian wars with signal success; he had "assumed the responsibility," and invading the territories of another nation without the sanction of his own government, captured its capital, imprisoned its governor, and dictated terms of peace with all the authority of a sovereign. Right or wrong, he never hesitated in his movements; and, as success invariably attended his undertakings, he gained credit for sagacity and wisdom. The shrewdness of a few leading politicians discovered in his character a combination of all that was requisite in a party leader. He was selected as a candidate; the new cry of "democracy" was raised; and the self-commissioned invader of a foreign territory suddenly found himself the idol of a party that was not over-scrupulous in its means of warfare, or in its choice of weapons. The event justified the accuracy of their calculations. The brilliancy of his deeds in the field, the sternness of his character, and the obduracy of his will, was reflected from his person through the long lines of his partisans, until the humblest of his followers was inspired with an ardor which presaged the victory that ensued. In his private life, the conduct of General Jackson had been equally marked by stirring events. Duels, rencontres, and street-fights, where rapidity of movement and personal courage are decisive, were the methods chosen by him to settle private controversies; and there are probably those now living whose