The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume V

PAPEHS OF :i\lIIUUE.\U BtiONAPAHTE LA:\IAR 73 Lucre & honors depend upon the popularity of his name. That they will _therefore, he with him i11 the ren1oval of the Deposites, admits of hut Ji ttlc douht. They have ever supported measures so revolting to frc><>mc11, & ha,·c stooped so low & tlebasingly to this prince of despots, that. it is difficult to persuade us that they are capable of opposing any usurpation, howe,·cr flagrant an<l dangerous, or kindling at any any l'sic] indignity, however insulting, that might be offered them, by the foot of Gen. J ae;kson. 'l'hey imagine that by bending quiescently to his acts o[ tyranny, they partake of the glory & greatness of the tyrant; like the blundering dunce, who fancied himself a great scholar, bcc.:ause he had entered a college at one cloor, & was kicked out at the other. There is a little fa,vuing animal, called the Spaniel, which licks 110 haml 80 affectionately as that which smites him; and it ap- pears to us that there is a race of human spaniels, whose attachment is to be secured by se,·erity,-and who will receive from those in power any outrage, with gratitude, because it shows that they are not below contempt.. A servile subject once boasted, that the King had con- uescen<led to speak to him- "Ancl what did the King Say?" enquired one of the Company; ""'by he said; get 01.1,l of the u:a.y, you impudent i·a_qabon.d, or I'll dri11e 01,e·r you." Now, this low & degraded fellow felt flattered, even by an iuclignity by his royal master- and just so it is with many of the admirers of Uen. •Jackson; they mistake kicks for kindness, & constrne degradation into duty. To convince the con- firmed ancl im·eterate partizan of this stamp, that the remornl of the deposites is n flagrant & dangerous as!'umption of power, is certainly what we shall not attempt; and neither ~hould we hope to convince them, that the remornl of the whole puhlic.: treasury, to th(> Hermitage, as private property, would l,e nuythiug more than a justifiabl(' & laud· able measure, for the remuneration of past service8, which the im- mortal hero had a right to secure, for his glorious victory at ~ ew Orleans. To reason with such para8ites of power, iR the most ahsurrl folly. Those who feel that another is "born to co1n111and," mm:t feel that themselves are bom to submit, & of consequence, must look upon the lowest humiliation as the hlghe8t virtue of the citizen; pretty much as an ass, which bears the lica\'iest burden with the greatest docility, is considered the best beast. Of rour:::c we do not 1ul1lress ourselves to this cla::s of Gen. Jackson's friends; for no argument, however cogent & conclusirn, can haYc 1111y weight upon the mincls of tho8e, whom instinct teaches, that man-worship, is the sublimest of all ue\'otiou, and that 8uhmission to arhitrary power is the pure8t pa- triotism. Rnt such, however, is not the charndN·,-aml we r<>joicc nt the fact-of all who ha,·c cnlii-ted und(>r the hannc>r of the Prri;irlent, in rlefe1H·c of the federal principles, arnl 1lespoti<' measure:,; of hi:,; ntl- mi11istratio1J; if it were, \l'C should bid adieu to democracy: Wl' shoul1l throw by om pen and seal our lips forever, on politiC'nl snl,jl'd:-;, in utter cle:-:pair of the principles of fret' Cio\'ernmt'nt in Ueorgia, Thl•i'c arc many, \'en· m:m,· ill this State, who ha\'C Ion~ ac.:t<>1l with th1• fc1l- eral party, wlio arr. ·really not federal in thrir freli111!::, hut. ha,·c ht•1•n hn·<>d from the support of d(•moc·rncy, hy tll(' nrt~ of sophistry. nllll th1• ::crlndi,·e iu1lur11t·P ol' popular len1l<'rs, who horn won tlwir 1-011- fidrnct• only to misl<'nd tlwir 111Hlt>r~la11di111,!. 'L'hcst• Wt' 1:1u1 look upo11 in 110 ollwr light, than. lli" trnP & ho1w::t patriot:-;_, fN•ling right: hut

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