WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1827
102
less numerous than this House. Having, by the corruption of hls judges, screened himself from the punishment, he afterwards de- graded himself from the rank of a Patrician to that of a Plebian, that he might become a Tribune. By this step he acquired power sufficient to compel Cato whom he hated, as General of the Army, to undertake an expedition against the King of Cyprus, in hopes, from the difficulties of the campaign, that it would prove unsuc- cessful, destroy the reputation of Cato, and ruin his interests in Rome. Cato was successful. Clodius was disappointed. He did not dislike one Patriot alone; he was the inveterate enemy of Cicero, and procured his expulsion from Rome, on the charge against him that the adherents of Catiline had been put to death without a trial. He exposed the goods of Cicero to sale; but to his great mortification, he could not obtain purchasers. Cicero was recalled to Rome, hls goods restored to him, and Clodius fell a victim to his own crimes. Sir, h·as General Jackson persecuted any man? Has he sought to destroy any man for his patriotism and faithful service? Has he been accused of bribery? Has h~ descended from competition for the highest office in the gift of the People, and accepted a subordinate situation from a com- petitor-a man whom he had denounced, and thi_s for the purpose of acquiring influence and patronage, that he might thereby aggrandize himself? If he had done so, his degradation would have been like that of Clodius. Jackson, like Cato, has been willing and ready to encounter every privation, and breast every danger for his country's honor and independence. But we are told that the "bloody butcheries of vulgar war, are not to be compared to the sublimities of intellectual warfare." This cannot be intended to deride the glorious achievements on the plains of New Orleans. If such be th.e object, it will require some address to persuade the People of the United States that there is not some honor and ~ome glory attaching to that transaction. Attempts have been made to strip from the brow of Jackson his well earned laurels, and transfer them to the veteran Adair. His fame requires no aventitious aid. He wears the laurel wreath which his own valor won. With a magnanimity which will ever distinguish a soldier and patriot, he has spurned the low artifice which would deprive a compatriot in arms of the meed, which his skill, patriotism, and valour have won. But, Sir, Jackson is a "Military Chieftain." He must be put down. A crusade must be made _against his popularity. What was the course pursued
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