You must have been astonished in France at the President's Message;
here the sharp and reckless tone of a portion of the press had prepared
the public mind for some energetic demonstration; but the Message
has exceeded the hopes of those who wished to assume an attitude of
defiance in regard to France, and the fears of those who dreaded some
imprudent step. Had such a paper come from any former President,--from
Washington to John Quincy Adams,--it would have been looked upon as
an expression of the sentiments of a majority of the American people.
Neither of them would have been willing thus to commit the United
States, without being sure that the national will really required it.
Their rule of action would have been to let themselves be pushed on
by the nation, rather than to draw it after them, or to go beyond it;
and this, in fact, is more conformable to notions of self-government.
They would have had the question profoundly discussed by the cabinet,
not only orally, but in writing, as Washington did at the time of the
establishment of the first bank in 1791. They would have consulted
individually some of the leading statesmen of the country of all
parties and all interests. They would have listened patiently to the
representations of those upon whom the heavy burden of war would have
most directly fallen, the merchants of Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, and other large ports; and finally,
after having weighed all objections, measured all difficulties, if
they had been convinced that the interest and honour of their country
absolutely required the appeal to the last argument, they would have
reluctantly addressed the challenge to their oldest ally and friend, to
the firmest stay of liberty and improvement in the Old World.
General Jackson has changed all this; the rules of conduct and the
policy of his administration are no longer those adopted by the
wisdom of his predecessors. Some may maintain that this change is
for the better; on this point, the future, and no distant future,
will decide; but the fact of a change is undeniable. General Jackson
possesses in the highest degree the qualities necessary for conducting
a partisan warfare. Bold, indefatigable, vigilant, quick-sighted, with
an iron will and a frame of adamant, devoted to his friends, harsh
and terrible to his enemies, making light of obstacles, passionately
fond of danger, his campaigns against the Creeks and Seminoles were
marked by the most brilliant success, and his resistance to the English
army under Packenham, at New Orleans, was heroic. By these exploits
and the enthusiasm which military services excite in all countries,
General Jackson found himself the most popular man in the Union, when
the founders of the national independence disappeared, and naturally
became the candidate for the presidential chair. Objections were made
to his unbending temper, the impatience of contradiction which he had
shown throughout his whole career, his obstinacy in following his own
impulses, in spite of the provisions of the laws, and his disposition
to use the sword of Alexander, rather than to conform himself to the
delays of constitutional forms. His natural propensities, strengthened
by the habits of military command, and by the peculiarities of that
kind of warfare in which he had been engaged, must, it was urged, have
become ungovernable; and it would be impossible for him to acquire that
moderation, which is necessary in the exercise of civil authority. It
was predicted that in politics, as in war, he would be zealous for his
friends, implacable towards his adversaries, violent against whoever
should attempt to check his course; that, instead of being above
party-quarrels, he would come down into the arena in person. His arrest
of a judge in New Orleans, the execution of the militia men, and of the
two Englishmen, Arbuthnot and Ambristier, his invasion and conquest
of Florida in time of peace, his anger and threats when Congress was
deliberating upon charges founded on these summary acts, were all dwelt
upon.
But his chivalric character, his lofty integrity, and ardent
patriotism, seemed sufficient guarantees for his conduct, and from
reasons of domestic policy, which it would take too much time to
explain, many enlightened men, who had at first treated the idea of
supporting him for the presidency with ridicule, gave into the plan,
trusting that they should be able to exercise a salutary influence over
him. His fiery temper seemed in fact to be calmed by his elevation; the
recollection of his professions, which, at the moment they were made,
were made in good faith, was yet fresh; he had conscientiously resolved
to observe the principles consecrated by Washington, Jefferson, and
and the other patriarchs of America, to keep himself scrupulously
within the narrow limits of prerogative, as he had traced them or
allowed them to be traced out for him; to follow the current of public
opinion, without seeking to bar its course or divert it from its
regular channels; to be moderate, patient, and calm. During his first
term, he continued pretty faithful to his resolution, to his professed
principles, and to the advice of those who raised him to his seat. But
this state of constraint was insupportable to him; it is too late to
reform at the age of sixty years.
Besides, it is not all temperaments, or, I should rather say, the
distinctive qualities of all men, that can adapt themselves to that
high sphere of serenity, in which he who governs others should move.
Such a conformity was even more difficult for General Jackson than
for any other man; the turbulence and impetuosity of youth had not
been tempered in him either by age or by the fatigues of war. And in a
country where universal suffrage prevails, political disputes are of a
character to exhaust the patience of an angel. Step by step, then, the
stormy propensities of the Tennessee planter were seen returning. The
character of the bold, daring, restless, obstinate, fiery, indomitable
partisan chief, of the conqueror of the Creeks and Seminoles, gradually
broke through the veil of reserve, caution, gravity, and universal
good-will which had covered it, and tore in pieces the constitutional
mantle in which his friends had taken so much pains to wrap him.
At length, in 1832, South Carolina furnished a natural occasion for
giving the rein to his warlike propensities, which had now been curbed
for four years. That State had, on its own individual authority,
declared the tariff act of Congress null and void, and had armed
its militia to sustain its nullification Ordinance. The President
immediately began preparations for war, retaining, however, the
language of moderation, and obtained an act of Congress (the Force
Bill) authorising him to employ all means to maintain the laws of the
United States; when this storm was laid (see _Note 5_), General Jackson
was proclaimed the saviour of the Constitution; and perhaps sufficient
care was not taken to prevent a very natural mistake of an old soldier,
and to make him sensible that the congratulations of a grateful people
were addressed less to his warlike attitude, than to the pacific
measures taken under his auspices. In the heat of debate and the shout
of acclamation that followed the restoration of order, the old military
leaven began to ferment in the President's heart, and without a pause,
he rushed into a vigourous campaign against the Bank. This was a war
almost without provocation, certainly without a just cause, and for
some time it appeared that the General would be worsted. But he held
his own, and neither bent nor broke. In this affair he was the same
OLD HICKORY that the Indians had found always and everywhere on their
trail, whom they could neither tire nor surprise, and upon whom they
could get no hold, either by force or fraud. The last elections of
Representatives assure him the victory, and the Bank is condemned to
the fate of the Creeks and Seminoles, of Mr Clay and Mr Calhoun, of the
Spanish government of Florida, and of the English General Packenham
(see _Note 19_.)
The intoxication of success seems to have restored all the fire of
his youth, and at an age when other men look only towards repose, he
requires new perils and new fatigues. Last winter, Mr Clay declared in
the Senate, that, if phrenology were a true science, President Jackson
must certainly have the bump of combativeness, for his life had been
nothing but the perpetual exercise of that appetite; at fourteen years
of age, against the English, then against his neighbours the first
settlers of Tennessee, not a very tractable race, and who handled the
knife, the sword, the pistol, and the rifle, with as much promptness as
himself; next against the Indians, the English, the Indians again, and
the inoffensive Spaniards; then against Mr Clay, Mr Calhoun, and South
Carolina, and finally, for want of other adversaries, he was engaged
in a bout with the Bank. The General seems, in fact, to be possessed
with the demon of war; for no sooner had he put his foot on the throat
of the Bank, than he required a new enemy, and finding in America none
but vanquished adversaries, or objects unworthy of his anger, he flings
down the glove to France. Thus far the defiance thrown out to France
is merely the expression of General Jackson's humour. But, unluckily,
this act of an individual emanates from a man who is President of
the United States until the 4th of March, 1837, and who is even more
pertinacious in his enmities than in his friendships. Unluckily too,
the defiance has been inserted in a solemn document, which is looked
upon in Europe as the faithful exhibition of the sentiments of the
American people. And finally, the man who has set the United States in
this posture, has just made an experiment which shows the degree to
which he can lead the people to espouse his personal quarrels.
His tactics in politics, as well as in war, is to throw himself forward
with the cry of, _comrades, follow me!_ and this bold stroke has
succeeded admirably in the case of the Bank. If he had recommended to
Congress to withdraw the public deposits from that institution, he
would certainly have failed; Congress would have declared against it.
He, therefore, boldly took the first step himself, and ordered the
removal, in opposition to the advice of the majority of his cabinet,
two months before the meeting of Congress, without the slightest
possible pretence of the urgency of the measure. _I will take the
responsibility_, he said. The Secretary of the Treasury refused to
execute the order, because he considered it a fatal abuse of power, and
he was dismissed. The majority of the House of Representatives, and in
the last elections, of the people, have sanctioned those dictatorial
acts. General Jackson has, indeed, lost most of his friends in the
enlightened classes and among the merchants, but he cares little for
individuals, however distinguished; by virtue of universal suffrage, it
is numbers that rule here.
Will the bold policy by which he carried the multitude against the
Bank, be as successful now that he attempts to edge them on against
France? It may be compared to one of those feats of strength, in which
one may succeed the first and even the second time, but will break his
back the third. General Jackson may be considered to possess that sort
of popularity which is irresistible for a short time; but the duration
and solidity of which are in the inverse ratio of its intensity and
brilliancy; this, however, is a mere conjecture. One thing is certain,
that the General has the majority in the House of Representatives,
and from what is known of the composition of the next Congress, there
is every appearance that he will keep it during the term of his
Presidency; whilst the Opposition, which now has the majority in the
Senate, may lose it after the present session. Besides, it is not plain
to me, that the Opposition will be unanimous in censuring the measures
of General Jackson in regard to France. The opponents of General
Jackson, as well as his friends, are obliged to court their common
sovereign, the people. Now in all countries the multitude are very far
from being cosmopolites; their patriotism is more lively and warm, but
it is also more brutal, more unjust, and more arrogant, than that of
the higher classes. In France, they cry with enthusiasm, _Our country
before all things!_ Here the word is, _Our country, right or wrong!_
which is the perfection of national selfishness.
As General Jackson is not, however, a madman or a fool, it is difficult
to imagine, that he wishes the United States to pass at once from a
close friendship to a state of hostility with France. If he thinks
that France has exceeded all reasonable bounds of delay, that she has
exhausted all the patience she had a right to expect from an old ally,
from a nation whose independence was bought with our blood and our
treasure, why is he not content with proposing measures of commercial
restriction? A duty upon our goods would also be a means of paying
the twentyfive millions. He knows, that, if France has more to lose
than the United States in a war of tariffs, the United States, whose
commerce and navigation are much more extensive than ours, have more
to lose in a war of cannon, of which the sea would naturally be the
theatre. But which class in the United States will suffer most by a
war? The commercial, certainly. Who own the vessels and the goods? Oh!
the merchants and ship-owners who vote against the General and his
friends, his adversaries whom he detests and despises; the traders
of Boston, who beheaded his statue on the bows of the Constitution
frigate; those of New York, who have had caricature medals struck at
Birmingham, holding up his government to hatred and contempt; the
capitalists of Philadelphia, friends of Mr Biddle and admirers of Mr
Clay. General Jackson troubles himself very little about the interest
of such fellows as these.
On the contrary, an increase of the customs duties, whatever should
be the motive of it, would be particularly hurtful to the Southern
States, and would be very unwelcome to them. As it is the South that
produces cotton, the principal article of export from the United States
to France, the reprisals which the French government would not fail to
make, would fall chiefly upon the South. Now the democratic party at
present needs the support of the South, and is courting Virginia in
particular, the most influential of the Southern States. The success
of the plans of the democratic party, that is to say, the election of
Mr Van Buren to the presidency, depends much upon the attitude taken
by Virginia, not in 1836, the year of the election, but the present
year, not tomorrow but to-day. Public opinion is yet undecided in
Virginia; it is desirable, at any price, to prevent it from leaning in
any degree to the side of the Opposition, and it is well understood
that Virginia will not consent to laying any especial burdens on the
South. The Virginia legislature is now in session, and one of its
first acts will be the choice of a Senator in Congress. If Mr Leigh,
the present Senator, is chosen, then it will be committed in favour of
the Opposition, and perhaps lost to the democratic party. The loss of
the legislature may involve that of the State; the loss of Virginia
may involve that of the South. Considerations of this kind have much
more weight here than would be imagined in Europe. In the midst of the
changing institutions of this country, politicians live only from hand
to mouth.
It sometimes happens that European governments are clogged in their
foreign policy by domestic difficulties. General Jackson would have
been more cautious, if he had not thought that such is the position of
the French government at this moment. But be assured, that he also has
his domestic embarrassments, which affect his measures. This is more
peculiarly the case with him than with any other President, because he
is more a man of party, more entangled in party meshes, than any of his
predecessors. Congressional intrigues and sectional interests create
the same difficulties here, particularly for an administration like
his, which amongst us result from an ill-balanced population, and the
burden of the past. The French government may be confident of this, and
ought to act conformably.