Rising Sun Times, Volume 2, Number 102, Rising Sun, Ohio County, 24 October 1835 — Page 1

THE

" rtEPfiin to ko party's arbitrary sway, we'll follow trith where'er it LEADS THE WAV.

IIY ALEX. E. tJI.lJXW.

BIOGRAPHY. nrcm i.. white. toxcLvntn. Wc arc now to review the life of Hugh L. White in the most important and interesting scenes of the many in which lie has taken part. Hitherto, wc have viewed him chiefly as a jutisl and a local politician. But hi lite and act heroine now identified with national history and national interests. And from the character which he has acquired in lids political rapacity, from the ability an.l faithfulness with which he has discharged the functions of the high stations which he has occupied, must he stand or fall to the people of this nation. Ten years a no, Hush L. White brought into cur national comm. cil. great weight of character. Has he sustained it? At that time he had the unlimited confidence of every party in the government. Has he forfeited il ? During this era of at achieve ment in our political history memorable fr the revolutionizing of our national policy for the demolishing of lng established institution", and the building up of now for bold and untried adventure in the theorv and prac;i e of government a period p u teuli.iuslv pi egnat.t witii doubtful and si range doctrines, which will distinguish this era of our political history for age toco-no during all this mighty onllict of principle, le, Hugh L. White h as been constantly upon ln : ground. He bore hi prt in them all, as friend or foe. He has feailesslv carried the standard info the thickest ranks, or checked the sallies of dangerous rashness by the voice of wisdom and the weight of cars. And now, at tin" c lose of the drama, when the conflict is over, and the elements of stiife are composed into harmony, and the horizon is brighlenii g up, he stands up before the people, whom he has helped to pilot out the breakers, and asks to be tried by his actions. Upon the measures there advocated, by t tie opinions there avowed, and by the honest v and ability there displayed, let him be tried by a candid and enlightened people ami upon the result, let him stand or fall. Justice and candor demand no more than thi. Let this be done, and justice and candor will be satisfied. This period is toi) fresh in the memory of all, and the. measures loo notorious to be detailed in this place. But during this comparatively short period of his public career, more weighty subjects have been dicussed more doubtful points of national policy settled more difficulties removed from the f;eo administration of government more political heresies broached or exterminated, than in any other period of Anviioan history of the same length. The whole theory of government has h.-en subjected to an inquisition, which spared neither the ancient, nor the venerable, nor tin strong, nor the weak. In the scales of justice or honesty they have all been weighed, and have found the level, or the supposed level, of their merits. It maritime and commercial policy lias been revolutionised. Its hanking es tablishments upturned. 1 he powers of the general government in Internal Improvements and Executive Patron age have been scrutinised and settled. The origin and nature of the federal Compact have been discussed with ear nestness and ability; and its value has been calculated, and its fundamental principles bandied about with the fa miliarity ol tos. these momentous micstions have aii heen scaled, and hc people fir.vc fixed upon the result! ...... .. . 'in... I ;f ho seal of their sanction. Lhe man who can pass such an ordeal unscathed having borne an active and energetic paifin them all, to say the least of it, does not lack experience in public affairs which would lit him for any ollic.o in the government. With what character Judge White lias passed thro these scenes, is known to every man in the nation. His political doctrines are of the great republican school. During Mr. Adams administration, when the Panama Mission was agitated which brought into discussion the powers of the general government J I u Mi U White opposed the measure w ith unusual ability. As to the Tariil he has always shown a firm hut rational opposition to it both by his vote and tmon the floor. In 182C he avowed himself an enemy to extensive F.xccu live Patronage, and the measures nat nrallv growing out of it. Internal Im provement by the general government

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l.-.a novrr mel Ills santeioil. M ih.ii mi:

KIKIXU SUA, irVHIArVA, SATIUHAY

subject of F.xecutive Patronage was again brought before the IIoue, under a chanze cf administration, Hugh L. White advocated the sane principles; though fer his consistency he has been accused of deserting the present adminit ration. The man who possesses prin ciples which arc too stubborn to bend for cilice or emolument, for smiles or frowns, cannot be justly accused of "desertion. ' If there has been a change any w hcre.it is in the desertion of present Republican from the principles which they held ten years ago. But Hugh L. White is to be viewed in a still more conspicuous light. In 1 8 32 John C. Calhoun resigned the ice Presidency of the United States, and the Senate was left without a presiding officer. It w as on the eve of that memorable session when the debate upon Ihe Tariff had w ell nigh severed the Union. The first talent of the nation was there congregated, and every man had arrayed himself on one side or the other. The prize at issue was the Constitution. And the leaders of the respective divisions came armed with the desperate resolution to carrv their measures, though disunion on one side and civil war on the other, were the consequence. Proud in the strcngh of conscious greatness, irritated by supposed aggression or tyranny, and discordant to a degree that almost banished deliberation, they foresaw thattronbleous times were not far distant. It was seen that no ordinary mind could be. able to curb the outbreaks of passion, an to maintain its equipoise through so doubtful a contest, hi full view t;f all these difficulties, Hugh L. White was elected President of the Senate and how he sustained the exalted expectations of that body and the nation, is now a matter of history. The firmness, impartiality, decision and dignity with which he presided over the stormy debate, proved that no false estimate had heen placed upon his character. But mildness and honesty alone would not have commanded respect in so discordant and hostile a body. Virtues may su ay the affections, hut mind alone can commaiui mind, it was great mot-1 il and intellectual strength, based upon! the most commanding civil courage, the loftiest attribute of mind, that aw ed the combatants into respect and chal lenged their homage. Phe intellectual character of Hugh L. White would bear a fair and honorthlc comparison with the first talent in the Senate. As an orator, in the popular acceptation of the term, he is not so distinguished as many members of (he Houses of Congress. He possesses little of that rich pmfusion of imagination which throws such a charm over lhe otatory of a Clay, or a Pinckney, or a Wirt. But if oratory mean the c arrying point, and the demolishing of adveise positions, he has few superiors. As a reasoncr and debater, he has shown strength and cogency of argu menl, on more than one occasion, which w ould rank him as one of the ablest logicians on the floor of Congress. His speech upon the Indian question, which was made too under circumstances in which few men would have chosen to appear in their seats, was considered one of the most powerful efforts ever made in that body; and of the same character were his speeches upon the Bank and the Panama Mission. In the discussion of the latter, Hugh I White was particularly distinguished and the combatants on that debat were no stripplings in mind and attain ments. I i-e prolmindest talent in the nation, and the deepest constitutional earning were brought to bear upon it; iut the speech ot Hugh L. White was pronounced to be the ablest exposition ol the powers ol government made du ring the w hole discussion. The char icter of his reasoning partakes of the lominant quality of the mind. He nev er descends from the lofty position of honor and seW-respect, to avail himself of the cunning tricks of controversy or of adroit subterfuges or to avoid conclusive arguments by a stroke of w it, or conceal beneath a flood of idle declamation the falsehood or weakness of his premises, lie attacks no sub iect in the flank; but marches up, bol and fearless, to the Jronl and marks out . . his positions with such precision, and lays his premises so deep and sure, that be seldom fails to reduce the enemy Phis is the order of mind that seem pi culiarly adapted to the discharge of dif ficult and heavy duties. Of our seven Presidents but one was an orator and

he w ;is the most unpopular that ever sat in the Chair. In the bold characteristics of his mind. Judge White approaches nearer Washington, Momoe and Madison. Madison il is well known, was a wonderful logician. Jlverv sub

ject w hich he touched seemed moulded into the greatness of his own mind and of him it might be safely said, as it w as of another great man, that he never undertook to prove, what he did not establish; yet Madison possessed but few e)f the charms and graces of oratory. Asa Statesman, Hugh L. White has sustained a character for talents t qually honorable to Ids station and iiis country, till he was sixty-two years of age. No man ever doubted tin in. Ho had grow n old in honors, an I envy or jealousy had not breathed a wok! of dissatisfaction lie had held some cf the highest and most responsible offices within the gift of the peopl.--, and he discharged them as they never were better, before or since. Hut in his sixty-third ear it was disc-vend thai the public had been deceived that this great debater and profound Statesman had no mill'. Alas, political consistency! And what increases the wonder of the discovery i-, that these who had ever been readiest to ae know ledge Iiis talents and extol his worth, are the fust to make the detection! Whether lhe deficiency of talent he as great in ihe venerable statesman, as the want of he tic-sty in the political iia-ui i r, w e I ave to the people to decide'. Iiis consistency as a politician has long been proverbial. A change of administrations creates no change in his doctrines, throws no new (lashes of light upon a question, ami brings to view no unseen excellencies wim.i be orewere not know n to exist. The w axing and waning ofpmccr bring no unea-iness or terrors to him and the periodical ebbing and flowing of opinions leave his principles as firm and unshaken as the ocean rock, while the empty -pray setves but to cleiir.se. them of the ir dross. In the administration of Mr. Adams, he pposeel the extension of executive pat ronage upon principle, in ii.5o. mese rumples had not changed .and he oposeu it again. 1 hose who thrive and etted by fawning and sycophancy, and oat on the tide of party through every idministration, call this adhesion to rinciple, ''desertion of the ranks." Inch L. White, belongs to no ranks. unl never did, but the rank of the con(itution. And w hen any of those who may nave happened to agree in opinion with him, are found sliding into er ror, he asks only lobe permitted to ren ins original ground, but let not the ubject be too elosedy sifted, lest it bo ound that, his accusers Have descried Manciple ami they may find that (lie charge ef inconsistency is more easily imposeel upon others, than it is shaken oil" when truth has fastened it upon themselves. To the calm and philosophic observ er ol the tide ot human aliens, w ho is unacejuainieel with the moral code, and the pliancy of conscience;, of the humble fraternity who live by sycophancy on one hand and detraction on the oili er, it would appear a strange pei versio of the laws of society, that such a man is the Western Cincinn atus, now when ie is gray with honors and years, should need a friendly hand to repel detrac tion and defamation, but the fan ila cism of parly stops not at inconsislen cies and absurdities. If the Father of his Country had defamation heaped upon him, malignant slander, and char ges of inconsistency and feebleness, in those days when an adherence to prin ciple had not ceased to be a virtue, sure ly w e need not wonder that the tin ice heated fury ot modern partisanship, should be less sparing of epithets, or more scrupulous of conscience. But if unbroken confidence, from the enrli est to the latest period ot his life, be : mark of consistency, such idle charges need not be attempted to be icpelied It would attach an importance to them which they do not deserve. Hugh L. White has held more ofli ces of trust, and probably refused iiwi i than almost any living politician. II has been twice upon the bench, am elected a third time. He has been Senator in the Legislature of his own state. He has been District Attorney of the United States. He has been President of the Bank of Tennessee He was selected a Commissioner be tween Virginia and Kentucky in the settlement of important land claims

OCTOUEHt 2-1, tS:S..

He has been Commissioner under I lie Spanish treaty. He ha been twice e lected Senator of the U. States; and has be e n President of the same bod v. lie has refused a place in the Judiciary of his mvn S'iite, am! also upon the Su prtme Bench of ihe United States. Iklias more than once refused a scat in the Cabinet ot President Jack-on. But Huh L. White is no seeker of dike or of honors. He has show n no keen ness of relish for I lie gathered fruits of his fame. They have been showered upon hirr. in rich profusion by a generous public, but he ha ever viewed ihem with the sacredness of a trust, wliieh he held for his country, and which he was always rcaelv to testore with usury. There i a harmony, an order, an elevated purpose in the character of Hugh L. White, which cannot be appreciated by I hose who breathe the atmosphere of fierce contention. They cannot conceive; of sincerity being allied to moderation, and thev feel suspicious id (be: lide lity of him w ho does not prostitute every faculty of mind and soul to lh succ ess of every ephemeral party measure;. But the gieat majority ed the honest and intelli gent fre emen of our count rv, w ho are: ittle perve-rted by the. bitter riv al ios of the press and inferior po'itiians, as they .are infected with their orruption, have rUnxed to.it estimate on bis ch;ii ac ler, w hieh exalted worth i i never failed io receive in this land of liberty and promise;. Another trait in the character of high L. White, which distinguishes iini (rem most politicians, is an intense I( Z-t)li'n l the duty l zehiih he has been ulhd. lie is the first man in his place in tlie Senate", and ttie lasi to leave it .and, says a distinguished member of -'engross, '"I know of no man e xcept udge Marshall, who rides about the iiy so little in carriages." When in th ie public pay, he: looks upon his time, is every honest man should, as no long er his own, but his eounln s and nei ther pleasure, nor private- biiMnes. nor ven the keenest and weightiest e.fihctiems have drawn him from it. And he has borne a share in the latter which eldom falls to the lot of humanity, lie has lollowed the greatest pari ol a large family of children, and their mother, (o the inave and this during Ihe course of his public life. One of lhe most )Owerful efforts he ever made in the Senate, was on the morning after he re ceived the tielings that the hand ofdeath lad torn asunde-r the tendercst fibrosed iiiman affection. It was his speech on the Indian Bill. This epiestion had oc casioned great embarrassment .and concern to President Jae kton. Hugh L. White w.'.s chairman of the; committee: the weight of the measure devolved upon him, and procrastination was certain defeat. But he .appeared in his tat asked no indulgence made no ipedogy and showing a fortitude wor thy of his character, made one of the ible.-l and most successful efforts ever witnessed in that body and carried the measure. Such lofty and honorable views of the obligation of a trust such intense devotion to its fulfilment, have distinguished Hugh L. White from the most of his colleagues in every station of life;. It may be affirmed of him, and the records of the nation will bear out the assertion, that in whatever station, high or low, he. has been engaged, Hugh . White tf!'.-s never knoxvn to fail to do his mi - I I I I tiuni. i ins nonoraoic nnu tnviaoie fact in his history, in these days of pohtscal vacillation, desertion and cnange, w ill be remembered when this generalion shall have passed away. ; raie instance of his delicate sense of honor md strict integrity in the private rela tions of life diserves to be recorded. While he was one of the Commissioners under the Spanish treaty, he was also President of the Slate bank, wnicn sia lion the friend of the Bank prevented him from resigning. While absent on i bo Commission, he still continued to correspond with and advise the Direct ors, by which the Bank remained in a verv flourishing condition. Alter Hie evuiration of the commission, he found ii.-.t Ida :irrnstomed salary bad been Il let v nased to his account. We have un ,ier.onahlc authority for saying, that there is now due' him, of undrawn salai v- nmr rirht thousand dollars, for ser vices rendered, as President of the Bank during the time mentioned above, ami at other times when he was employee! in public stations, which the Directory have repeatedly Urged upon his acceptance, hut which, from a delicacy that

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is not common, he has peremptorily and forever declined receiving. What man in this government can hold up his public and private character to scrutiny, and suffer so little as Judge White? What man can look back upon, a long and eventful life with less cause of dissatisfaction, or look forward with brighter prospects to a high and final approbation from the country whie:h he has so long served. Few, very few, have ever engaged in the works and the interests of politics, without some loss of purity,of independence, of honor. But if the man lives who has passed through the scorching furnace, and come forth as he went in, that man is Huirh L. White. If nobler instances of hallowed patriotism, of rejected honors, of devotion to duty, of forgct fulness of self in the cause of his country, can be found upon the page of American history, we must look for them only in the life of the great J fashingfnn, the first and hast of his race, whom no man has equalled with w hom no man may be compared. Such is a brief and, ns wc believe, impartial sketch of the life and services of Hugh L. While If any think that we have not redeemed our pledge of impartiality, let him reflect, that when a brilliant scries of acts, which required thirty years to be performed, are condensed and brought to view in die space cf thirty minutes, they may hine with an effulgence of which they are not capable when viewed singly, as the' were performed. But let him also recollect, that unsullied worth is so rare a gem in the rubbish of political elements, that its appearance challenges our admiration, and may paliate and excuse earnestness of commendation. But to say that Hugh L. White is not a great and a good man, in the face of all this evidence, after having made all the deductions that any man will claim, would .argue a conception of human excellence and greatness not to be attained by human means. Such is the man who has been presented to the people of the U. States lor the first office within their gift. If he have ability, if he have honesty, if he have experience, let him receive that support which they deserve. Able, md it may be, honest and experienced competitors there are upon the field but are thev more so than Il'trrh L. v c White? We: would detract nothing from the well earned fame of others It is a doctrine of the White schcC that fairness and high-minded honesty a.iKe. no enemies w no need be feared that defamation and detraction make no friends worth lhe gaining. The pe culiar aspect of our country at this (imr , J ecms to need just the peculiar qualifinations of such a man as While. He is not fitted for the tearing down and building up at random. Revolution is not tlte clement in which he moves. His doctrines and his policy, r.g well as his disposition, are eminently pacific. ind such is decidedly the present poli cy of our public affairs. Most of the angry and boisterous questions, which have rent and torn our national harmony, arc now settled. France is too wise to provoke her old ally to a contest and there will be no war. The Bank has expired. The Tariff is laid at rest. Nullification has sunk to rise no more and the brave but deluded men, who called il into life, have witnessed its: death without a (ear, and, with a mag nanimity worthy of their sires, are hold ing a festival of peace over its grave with those w ho consigned it there. And now, when our country is recovering from her throes, and gathering up her scattered energies, the voice of her millions of freemen is calling for a sound head, a pure heart, and a firm hand to guide her onward in her mighty destiny. Who shalll be the man? Mammoth Cheese. We are informed that Col. Thomas S. Meacham, of Richland, Oswego county, who keeps 151 cows and has made this season 300 cheese weighing 125 lbs. each, has made one weighing fourteen hundred pounds, which he intends to present to the President of the United States. He! has also made several, weighing eight hundred pounds each, one of which he intends for the Vice President, one for Gov. Marcy, and one for each of the cities of New York, Albany, Troy and Rochester. Genesee. Farmer. . The i.iice of the tree with which th. Indians of the Oronoke envenom their arrows, is said to be a, certain specific for the cure of cancers.

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