SOME 
SERIOUS CONSIDERATIONS 
ON THE 
Present State of Parties, 
WITH REGARD TO THE 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION; 
WITH 
Cfje Kutijoc’jff ottm tajsc 
FAIRLY STATED, 
AND SUBMITTED TO AT.L CANDID AND COMPASSIONATE MEN. 
BY CHRISTOPHER QUANDARY. 
RICHMOND: 
PRINTED BY THOMAS YV. WHITE, 
Opposite the Bell Tavern. 
1827. Friends and FeWow-Citizens, 
1 am a Virginian born and bred—about half-educated in 
my youth, to say the most for myself—and ever since I at- 
tained to manhood, far from having time or opportunity 
to cultivate my mind, the only serious business of my life 
has been to earn a living. This, however, has not hindered 
me from continually dabbling in politics; though no other 
sources of political information have ever been accessible to 
me, but the casual conversation of others concerning public 
affairs, and the newspapers. To fall in company with a 
Member of Congress or a Printer (the two classes of men 
whom I venerate above all others) good natured enough to 
answer all the questions, which my eagerness for knowledge 
never fails on such occasions to suggest, has always af- 
forded me such exquisite gratification, that 1 dare say, such 
gentlemen, if they could have any idea of it, would, out of 
pure benevolence, be less anxious than they usually are to 
get rid of me: but in proportion as 1 am disposed to court 
their society, they seem disposed to cut mine: so that I have 
ever found my chief delight in the study of the newspapers, 
which are the only things in the world, communicative and 
patient enough for me. And, as my curiosity is unbounded, 
so also is my credulity: 1 am apt to believe every thing I 
hear, and especially every thing I see in print. The con- 
sequence is (as will readily be imagined) that I am every 
moment changing my opinions; veering, like a weather- 
cock, not only with the gusts and squalls that so often agi- 
tate our political atmosphere, but with the gentlest breeze 
that blows. I have often entertained the most opposite and 
contradictory opinions, in the course of the same hour; 
vet I can most conscientiously affirm, that I have been al- 4 
ways most sincerely solicitous to ascertain the truth, and to 
uphold it, if I could ascertain it. This peculiar temper of 
mine—insatiable curiosity, perfect impartiality and implicit 
faith combined—has often caused me much uneasiness, and 
has recently thrown me into such a slate of perplexity, that 
1 am well nigh gone distracted ; so that l feel an irresisti- 
ble impulse to lay my unhappy case before my fellow citi- 
zens, from whom, if 1 may not hope relief, l may expect 
sympathy or at least mercy. 
The presidential election is now the only political interest 
that engages the public attention, and the only topic of dis- 
cussion. Jt seems to be agreed on all hands, that Mr. 
Adams and Gen. Jackson will be the only candidates before 
the people. 1 would fain hear all that can be said on both 
sides, and hold fast to the best: but which is the best ? that 
is the question ; or rather, to me, the puzzle. If but a 
moiety of the praise, which the friends of these two gentle- 
men respectively lavish on their favorite, be allowed to have 
any foundation in truth, I defy the wit of man to determine 
which is the more worthy: if a tythe of the censure, which 
the friends of each bestow upon the other, be just, then he 
that can determine which of the two is the most unfit for 
the high station to which they are both aspiring, must have 
a far nicer faculty of discrimination than has fallen to my 
lot. I think the people at large, 1 am sure the people in 
my part of the country, regard the contest in the latter 
point of view; for ninety-nine out of an hundred of those 
I converse with, only tell me which they are going to vote 
against, not which they are going to vote for. [ have 
rarely heard any man descanting on the good qualities of 
either: 1 hear hundreds daily inveighing against the faults 
of both. This may be owing, perhaps, to a trait in the 
human character which has often been remarked—that the 
salt, pepper, vinegar and spice, with which satire is seasoned. 5 
make it grateful to the palate of the generality of men ; 
whereas panegyrick is always insipid, and (when living 
characters are the subject) often intolerably nauseous and 
disgusting. It is my opinion, founded on daily and close 
observation, that far the greater part of those who have 
made up their minds to vote against Mr. Adams, only read, 
or only heed, the objections that are urged against him 
with so much force and vehemence, by tbe opposition news- 
papers ; and that most of those who have resolved to vote 
against Gen. Jackson at any rate, give their whole attention, 
or at least their whole confidence, to the awful censures de- 
nounced against his character and conduct by the ministerial 
prints. But for me, studious to read and hear all that is 
said on both sides—inquisitive, credulous, impartial—how 
am I to decide, which to vote against or which to vote for? 
In order to make the state of distressing perplexity in 
which I find myself, perfectly intelligible to my country- 
men. permit me (if it be possible) to force the public atten- 
tion (for it will never be voluntarily given) to the praises 
which the panegyrists of the two competitors have heaped, 
and are hourly accumulating, each upon their favorite ; and 
then to recapitulate the principal objections against them 
both which are resounding through the land : arranging 
both the praise and tbe blame (that they may make distinct 
impressions on others minds as they have made on my own) 
under three general heads—their political character—their 
public services—their personal virtues and accomplishments, 
vices atid defects. 
1 begin with the Eulogies: and 1st, as to their political 
character. The friends of JVLr. Adams represent him to us, 
as the most upright, disinterested and profound statesman, 
that ever adorned any age or country; especially skilled in 
the science of diplomacy, and in all the foreign relations of 
the nation: gifted by nature with a quick and sure judg- 6 
inent to discern what is best in all emergencies, which has 
been improved by an excellent education, and by long ex- 
perience in the weightiest public affairs; and with unequal- 
led powers of reasoning, to explain the most complex ope- 
rations of government to the plainest understanding, and to 
justify the most doubtful to the best: having no aim but his 
country’s weal, and knowing no means but truth, reason and 
justice: shrewd as Franklin; prudent as Jefferson; gentle 
as Madison ; firm as Monroe ; and ardent in his country’s 
cause as his own father: and withal, one of the soundest re- 
publicans in the nation—for proof of which last trait in his 
character, they refer to this known fact in his history—that 
he joined the republican party in 1807, renouncing and de- 
nouncing the federalists, out of horror of their odious prin- 
ciples and projects; thus giving the finishing blow to the 
One, and bringing a vast accession of strength to the other 
party. 'The friends of Gen. Jackson ascribe to him the sum 
total of all that is great and good, in one word—he is ano- 
ther Washington—whom Corruption durst never approach, 
even with the proffer of her aid to entice others to their good. 
For proof of his devotion to our republican institutions, they 
refer to the acknowledged fact, that he has never, when oc- 
casion required, shunned the awful responsibility of viola- 
ting particular provisions of the Constitution, in order to 
save the whole system from destruction : and to prove his 
qualifications for the presidency, they adduce this convinc- 
ing argument—that as he has resigned the offices of a Judge 
in his own State and of a Senator of the U. States, from a 
sense of the unfitness of his temper and talents for such sta- 
tions, we may therefore be sure, that he would never have 
aspired to the presidency, if he were not conscious that he 
possesses the suitable qualifications for the office. 2ndly, of 
the public services of Mr. Adams, his friends fit must be 
confessed) have not as yet thought it worth while to give a 7 
very particular account. They only remind us, in general, 
that he has been in the public service from his earliest man- 
hood ; and that he “ has had the confidence and applause of 
Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, in the most im- 
portant civil posts, pronounced by them all to be a wise states- 
man and an honest man;” not to mention the unbounded ad- 
miration of his father, the elder Adams, who now (since par- 
ty heats have subsided) is universally acknowledged to have 
been a wise and virtuous statesman. The friends of Gen. 
Jackson, enter boldly into the detail of his public services ; 
and thus, for the present (1 think), have gained some advan- 
tage upon this point. They remind us, that he has been the 
Hero of two wars; that in the late war, he almost extermi- 
nated the Creek Indians, “ whose known rule of warfare is 
an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and condi- 
tions,” and who moreover held an unreasonably large ex- 
tent of valuable territory; and that, above all, by his skill 
and prowess, he repelled a superior army of ruthless inva- 
ders, disappointed them of the beauty and booty of New Or- 
leans, preserved that most important city, the key of the 
Western States, and thereby in effect preserved the integri- 
ty of the empire. 3rdly, When I read the accounts, which 
have been given to the world, on unquestionable authority, 
of the personal virtues and accomplishments of these two 
illustrious men, I can find nothing wanting in the character 
of either, to entitle him to the love, respect, and veneration of 
all mankind. Mr. Adams, according to his friends, is a man 
of the purest morals, the utmost republican simplicity of 
manners, calm dignity, serene temper, incorruptible integri- 
ty ; an accomplished scholar, and the most brilliant rhetori- 
cian and eloquent writer of the age. On the other hand, 
the friends of Gen. Jackson, assure us, that he is a man of 
the most heroic courage, terrible indeed to the foes of his 
country, w'hether foreign or domestic, whether found in the 8 
ranks of an invading army or in a Hartford Convention, 
“ but to those men, who seek him, sweet as summer;” of an 
energy, to meet and conquer all difficulties; one of those 
rare men, who need not the adventitious aid of education— 
“ whom nature made a great man, and endowed with a ca- 
pacity of mind, and a strength and quickness of judgment, 
which qualify him for any exigency of human affairs.” In 
fine, we are told (in a truly classical strain of praise) that 
he is another Cincinnalus ; who, called from his plough to 
defend his country in her utmost need, won for her, safety, 
peace and glory; then nobly resigned his high command, 
and retired to his farm.—How is it possible for a man like 
me, to choose between two such august characters, which to 
vote for? When 1 read their praises, my bosom swells with 
the moral sublime, and I say with the poet—“ let great Ti- 
motheus yield the prize, or both divide the crown”—but my 
understanding rebukes my feelings for this folly—for neither 
will yield the prize, and as to dividing the crown, that, I 
take it, is unconstitutional. 
Now, let us look at the reverse of each of these pictures; 
and I must think, that every man, who believes that the por- 
traits resemble the originals in a single line or feature, and 
who has any love or pride of country in his heart, must turn 
away, with horror and loathing, from them both, as from a 
Gorgon’s head. 1st, The opponents of Mr. Adams repre- 
sent his political character, as the basest and most contempti- 
ble that can be imagined. According to them, his abandon- 
ment of the federal parly in 1807, was a vile apostacy, in- 
duced by no di like of their opinions, by no preference for 
the republican party, by no love of country, but solely by the 
hope of some advantage to himself; for he continued, and is 
still, a latitudinarian and ultra-federalist in heart and princi- 
ple, as every message he has sent to Congress avows, and the 
whole course of his administration proves. The treason de- 9 
served a suitable reward; the traitor is entitled to no res- 
pect, and worthy of no trust. He is destitute, not only of 
practical wisdom, but of common sense in public business; 
in consequence of which his political conduct has been 
one tissue of blunders: he lost the colonial trade by the 
grossest of blunders: the Panama mission was the most 
ridiculous of blunders: his quarrel with Georgia was the 
most wicked and pernicious of blunders. And as to his 
pretensions to republicanism, let their sincerity be tested 
by the claim he makes, to derive his authority, not from 
the people or the constitution, but jure divino from God. 
Against all this, the opponents of General Jackson offer 
a full set-off: they insist, that he is as much a latitudinari- 
an in his politics as Mr. Adams, and refer to his votes in 
the Senate to prove the fact: that he is a mere military 
chieftain, without the least knowledge of civil affairs, or 
the slightest regard for civil liberty: that he has never 
been trusted with power which he did not abuse, disdaining 
all subordination and all limits of law and constitution, and 
boldly erecting himself into a military despot, as a matter 
of right and even of duty. And, while they contend, that the 
charge against Mr. Adams, that he derives the powers of 
government from God, is a malicious falsehood, they as- 
sert, that Gen. Jackson has evinced by his whole conduct, 
in a manner not to be mistaken, that he considers the sword, 
the onlj' source, the only instrument, and the only measure, 
of authority; which is one and the same thing as to derive 
title to authority from the Devil. 2ndly, as to the public 
services of the two men—The opponents of Mr. Adams ad- 
mit, that he has been enjoying a public salary for the great- 
er part of his life ; but they ask, w ith great show of confi- 
dence, What distinguished act of public service has he ever 
rendered? They admit, as I remember, only one—his 10 
able defence of Gen. Jackson’s conduct in the Seminole 
War: yet some have thought, that if that celebrated de- 
fence was meritorious in itself, its motive was selfish and vi- 
cious; that it was dictated by a desire to conciliate General 
Jackson’s favor, and influence in the West, in support of 
his own pretensions to the presidency. On the other side, 
while the friends of Mr Adams cannot give any well vouch- 
ed account of the distinguished public services of their fa- 
vorite, History being most provokingly silent on that head ; 
and while the opponents of General Jaclcson are obliged to 
admit, that he has ‘‘done the State some service,” which 
History has taken great pains to record : yet these do not 
scruple to affirm, that the laurels he acquired by his victory 
over the Creeks, were such as only a savage warrior can 
envy—red with blood, most eruelly and wantonly shed: 
that the lustre of the victory of New Orleans, was tarnished 
by such outrages against the constitution and the laws, aS 
left the liberty of the people he had defended, prostrate and 
bleeding in the dust—the state legislature turned out of 
doors—martial law proclaimed—the writ of habeas corpus 
suspended—and judges brought to trial before a court mar- 
tial, for discharging their duty according to their oaths of 
office: that, even after the war was in fact at an end, he 
caused six militia-men to be executed, for differing in opin- 
ion with him and his court martial, on the construction of 
the militia law’s; wherein the opinion of the poor men was 
right, and that of the general and his court martial, plainly 
wrong: that during his Seminole campaign, he violated the 
laws of civilized warfare, transcended the orders of his own 
government, insulted the State authorities of Georgia, and 
in open contempt of the Constitution of the U. States, waged 
war against Spain; and whereas most of these last mention- 
ed violences of his competitor were vindicated and justified 
by Mr. Adams, his friends now implore us to remember, 11 
that that vindication was, in form, addressed to the govern- 
ment of Spain; which, they insist, is an ample apology to 
Mr. Adams, for justifying, in the face of the world and 
before high heaven, conduct which admits of no excuse. 
3rdly, Against the personal character and qualifications, the 
private life and morals, of the two high contending parties, 
the most sweeping sentence of condemnation has been ful- 
minated. The opponents of Mr. Adams assert, that he is 
the father of that ridiculous system of etiquette, which is 
now' established at the court of Washington; that, for all 
his canting affectation of purity, he purchased a billiard ta- 
ble at an enormous expense, as soon as lie came into office, 
and, to the scandal of the nation, set it up in the palace pro- 
vided for him by the public; that he assumed the payment 
of Mrs. Moulson’s rent to Mr. Kerr, took a mortgage of the 
poor woman’s effects for his indemnity, and then threatened 
to plead her coverture, to exonorate himself from the obli- 
gation of his endorsement of her note; that he is opiniative, 
obstinate, petulant, wanting in even the manners of a gentle- 
man. I thought it was admitted by his enemies (and, 1 own, 
the admission surprised me) that he is an able and elegant 
writer; “a Scholar and a ripe and good one but 1 have 
lately been credibly informed, that, taking his Baltimore 
toast and speech in connection with his 4th of July oration, 
“ we are justified in the conclusion, that he has been in every 
respect far overrated, but more so in reference to his literary 
character than any other A The opponents of Gen. Jackson 
assure the public, that his youth and the prime of his man- 
hood were exhausted in Card-playing, Horse-racing, and 
Brawling; and that, in a duel provoked by his own inso- 
lence, after receiving his adversary’s fire unhurt, he grated 
his teeth and buttoned his coat, deliberately walked up to that 
now defenceless adversary, put his pistol to his breast, and 
(in Mr. Adams’s phrase) “sped the bullet to his heart ’ 12 
Moreover, they do say, that this great man is so illiterate, 
that he cannot spell the commonest words in the language. 
There is yet another topic concerning the private life of die 
General, which (tho’I fully intended to sum up all) decency 
and manly feeling forbid me to repeat. In short, the zealous 
partizans of Mr. Adams represent Gen. Jackson as a d—n’d 
brutal ruffian, and those of Gen. Jackson represent Mr. 
Adams as a mean s-n of-a b-ch. This is very vulgar lan- 
guage, 1 know ; but it is language which I have often heard, 
and truly there is no polite language that would exactly ex- 
press the thought, which the invectives I daily read and hear, 
convey to my mind. How can such a man as nature, educa- 
tion and habit, have made me, determine which of these con- 
summately bad men 1 ought to vote against ? 
Finding it impossible, whether 1 looked at the bright or 
at the dark side of the characters of the two men, as pour- 
trayed by the most intelligent and candid of their respective 
friends and enemies, to determine which is the better or 
which the worse; and being most anxious to find relief from 
so painful a suspense of judgment on this deeply interesting 
subject; I bethought me, that, as the friends of Mr. Adams 
assure me his penetration and candor are worthy of all con- 
fidence, and the friends of Gen. Jackson commend his 
judgment of men and things as intuitive and infallible ; if, 
therefore, I could find out the opinions these gentlemen en- 
tertain of each other, I should have a sure and easy method 
of forming a correct estimate of their respective merits and 
demerits. Into this inquiry, then, 1 resolved to enter; but 
I found Disappointment standing at the very gate. All the 
deadly sins of which Gen. Jackson has been accused, were 
committed before the last presidential election. But Mr. 
Adams, in his inaugural speech, spoke of him in terms of 
the highest respect and veneration, and did most devoutly 
wish, that it were possible the choice between the general and 13 
himself could have been submitted to the people. Yes, it is 
ceitain Mr. Adams then expressed a favorable opinion of his 
competitor. Can it be supposed, that he now entertains any 
such opinion ? that he now dissents from those sentiments 
towards Gen. Ja< kson, of strong abhorrence, which all his 
own friends, high and low, feel, and to promote his success are 
propagating with all their might? Or was that passage in 
that solemn inaugural speech, a mere flourish of rhetoric? 
On the other hand, 1 have always understood, that when Mr. 
Adams was elected to the presidency, Gen. Jackson took 
prompt occasion to testify to him, in the most conspicuous 
manner, his respect and congratulation; conduct, which I 
w’illingly attributed to his magnanimity. But noiv 1 infer 
from Gen. Jackson’s letter to Mr. Beverley, that he had, 
at that very time, the strongest grounds to suspect, nay al- 
most to know, that Mr. Adams owed his election to a cor- 
rupt bargain with Mr. Clay, by which Mr. Clay agreed to 
give him the Presidency, on condition that Mr. Adams 
should appoint Mr. Clay to the Department of State, and to 
the hopes of the succession in the line of safe precedents. 
It next occurred to me, that I might find among the 
friends or opponents of the two candidates, some one man, 
on one side or the other, on whom I might securely pin my 
faith. To that object I bent my endeavours. But here 
I was assured by the opponents of the administration, that 
the ministerial party is “ a corrupt coalition,” openly em- 
ploying, to retain power, the same corrupt means by 
which they acquired it; and by the opponents of General 
Jackson, that the opponents of Mr. Adams are “ a fac- 
tious and unprincipled opposition”—“resting, in fact, on 
personal jealousy and malice against the Secretary of State, 
heightened if not originating from hunger for office.” Ma- 
con, Tazewell, Randolph, actuated by jealousy of JWr. 
Clay, and by hunger for office ! I can only wring my hands, 
like King James II., and cry, “God help me!” T am 14 
going now for men, not principles; and for Virginians born, 
if I can find them, because I know them best. Some bid 
me “seek for the bold, frank, manly character of Henry 
Clay, risen, like America herself, from plebeian origin, to 
a high elevation and to a fair chance of a higher destiny.” 
[I pause a moment to ask, what that word plebeian means? 
Does it only mean, that Mr. Clay was not descended from 
a lawyer, printer, deputy sheriff or overseer ? These are 
the only privileged classes I know in Virginia, where he 
was born.] On the other hand, it has been proved to me, 
by cogent argument coming from the same neighborhood, 
that Mr. Clay owes his present station to the most shame- 
less corruption—to his dexterity in log-rolling (to borrow 
a very expressive Kentucky metaphor). Some assure me, 
that Mr. Secretary Barbour is every way worthy of the 
Vice-presidency; others, that he is (in his own far resound- 
ing language) an empty barrel. And (to my unspeakable 
surprise and dismay) I have lately been informed, that Mr. 
Tazewell is a mere sophist, or rather a Belial, who can 
“make the worse appear the better reason, to perplex and 
dash maturest counsels;” and Mr. Randolph, “ a com- 
bination of English arrogance, grafted on a petty stock 
of princely Indian descent, the growth of every barbarous 
tribe.” One asserts, that Governor Giles is the devil in- 
carnate ; and another boldly vouches Mr. Madison as the 
witness to prove it; yet Mr. Madison says he has never 
smelt any brimstone about him, nor seen horns, tail or clo- 
ven foot.—At one moment, evidence is adduced to me, to 
prove that Mr. Jefferson thought the election of General 
Jackson the only means left us to preserve the Constitution 
in its purity, as a government of limited powers: at the 
next, I am assured, that it can be proved in a court of jus- 
tice, that Mr. Jefferson thought General Jackson a bull 
dog that ought to be tied up in times of peace. 15 
So I was forced to relinquish all hope of finding any 
statesman to track after. Whither, then, should I betake 
me? Surely, I thought, I can find some honest editor of a 
newspaper, whose opinion has been formed on mature de- 
liberation, whose advice will be candidly given, whose ad- 
vice I may safely follow! No.—The ministerial journals 
are “subsidised” and “ affiliated presses;” and the editors, 
“unprincipled men—supporting the administration for 
wages—prostituting themselves, by inventing abusive epi- 
thets, and applying them, without regard to decency or 
truth, to honorable and distinguished patriots and other 
good citizens :” and the opposition journals are “ factious 
combination presses,” improved in their condition by that 
“arch-intriguer” Mr. Van Buren. 
Left now to depend upon myself—floundering in a 
Slovgh of Despond, as incapable of being causewayed as 
that described in the Pilgrim’s Progress ; and no kind Help 
Coming to shew me the steps across the foul quagmire, 
which its own filth, always spewed up in stormy weather, 
had rendered hardly visible, or which through dizziness 1 
had not seen; I at last determined to seek some guide to 
direct my course, in the arguments of the respective par- 
ties—but in vain. The disputants seem to agree in this 
fundamental—;that every man ought to ascertain, as well 
as he can, on which side the majority is likely to be, 
and to vote with the majority. I have heard many per- 
sons express the strongest indignation at the bare sugges- 
tion of such a rule of conduct: they repel with scorn, the 
recommendation, to vote for the Candidate they think 
ought not to be elected, or to vote against the Candidate 
they think ought to be elected, merely because they think 
the one will not be and the other will be elected, as a di- 
rect invitation to them to vote against their consciences : 
they say, that those who give such advice, plainly regard 16 
the good people of the United States, as knaves or fools, 
or both ; and that such advice is the more provoking, as 
it comes from persons, who are all the while telling us (as 
if we did not know without being told) that we are the 
most virtuous and enlightened people on earth. This in- 
dignation may be reasonable enough in those who think, 
that the Sovereignty does, in fact as well as in theory, re- 
side in the people. But to a man, who believes (as I do) 
that all the active efficient attributes of Sovereignty reside 
in the press (for why? the Press can do no wrong ; that 
is, it is accountable to no earthly tribunal; which I take 
to be the sure test of Sovereignty)—to a poor fellow of 
this creed, and so sadly perplexed as I am, the question is 
properly put, and the debate properly addressed, Which 
Candidate is likely to get the majority? At any rate, (for 
all I have seen) this is the only question, on which either 
party has pretended to offer any thing like argument. I 
wish I bad found the argument on either side, as forcible 
as I feel it to be pertinent. The opposite propositions 
contended for, are these :—Mr. Adams's friends affirm, 
that he has always had a decided majority of the nation 
in his favor, and that majority has increased and is increas- 
ing. General Jackson's friends say, that the fate of the 
present administration is sealed; that it is now reduced to 
a certainty, that General Jackson must get the majority; 
nay, that Mr. Adams was elected by the House of Repre- 
sentatives at first, against the known wishes of a majority 
of the people—to prove which last point, though it be not 
to the present purpose, they appeal to some facts, which 
would be very imposing, if three-fifths of our Southern 
slaves were not counted, which Mr. Adams’s friends say, 
instead of being counted, ought to be discounted. But 
now for the arguments on the main question: Which 
will get the majority? How shall I express mv disap- 17 
pointment and chagrin, when I found those arguments 
on both sides most exactly balanced; indeed, to my 
simple perceptions, not only like, but identical. Thus, 
the congressional election in Kentucky having resulted in 
the election of a majority of Jacksonians, the ministerial- 
ists went to work, and proved, by, arithmetical calcula- 
tions, that Kentucky will yet give her undivided electoral 
vote to Mr. Adams; calculations, which their opponents 
laughed to scorn. Shortly afterwards, the Maryland 
elections came on; and the people of that state elected a 
decided majority of friends of the administration to their 
House of Delegates; upon which the Jacksonians resorted 
to the same process of calculation, of which in the Ken- 
tucky case they had demonstrated the fallacy, to prove, 
that a majority of the electoral votes of Maryland will be 
given to Gen. Jackson. The Pennsylvania election 
quickly followed; and, according to the best information 
I can obtain, the Jacksonians have succeeded by a vast 
majority; but the ministerialists demonstrate by figures, 
a gain of strength to their party; a gain, so great and so 
rapidly increasing, that they very reasonably expect the 
Whole electoral vote of Pennsylvania for Mr. Adams. 
Hast came the New Jersey election: the people elected a 
decided majority of Mr. Adams’s friends to both Houses 
of their Legislature: but the Jacksonians have demon- 
strated to me, by as fair an estimate as ever I saw, that 
they may fairly claim the electoral vote of New Jersey. 
The New York election is going on: both parties are 
equally confident; and whatever be the result, I doubt 
not we shall have the same series of calculations repeated. 
All these calculations, and all the counter-calculations, 
are based upon the same rule of political arithmetic ; and, 
as the parties came to such opposite results, I resolved to 
examine the rule itself, to see whether it was correct in 18 
principle: and then I found, that the only rule resorted tc* 
on both sides, was that which is sometimes called the rule 
of position, and sometimes the rule of false. I then de- 
clared that I would vote with the majority of the people 
of Virginia; that is (as I thought certainly) for Gen. Jack- 
son; but I was told by the most intelligent friends of Mr. 
Adams I have heard speak on the subject, that a great re- 
action has taken place in Virginia, and there is good rea- 
son to believe that her vote will be given to him; at the 
same time, the Jacksonians say, that Virginia will vote for 
Gen. Jackson, as surely as that the sun will rise to-mor- 
row. “Well,” said I, “let us wait till the legislative 
caucus shall be held next winter: I will be resolved by 
that”—“Softly,” say my ministerial friends: “put no 
trust in that caucus: the unequal representation in the 
House of Delegates, disqualifies that body from indicat- 
ing the general sentiment of the people: besides, all cau- 
cuses are under sentence of damnation : lie guided by the 
pro-Adams and anti-Jackson convention, which we have 
called to meet on the 8th of January.” Well, I am now 
convinced, that the convention of delegates from the 
counties for this special purpose, which delegates any 
fifty, ten or two men may appoint for each county, is as 
fair (fairer I cannot think it) a representative of the sen- 
timent of Virginia, as a caucus of members of Assembly. 
But 1 cannot, for the life of me, discern the difference in 
principle, between a convention of members of Assembly 
called a caucus, and a caucus of Adams-delegates called a 
convention—How the one is less an unauthorised meeting 
than the other—How either can pretend a right, on this 
occasion, to represent the people, or to dictate to them— 
Or why both have not an equal right to concert an elec- 
toral ticket. But this is not my affair: the caucus and 19 
the convention will be sure to disagree, and I shall be left 
where I am. 
My resolution was at one time well nigh fixed to vote 
for Mr. Adams, by an ingenious suggestion of one of my 
ministerial friends—that I could not do better than to 
take the Uti possidetis as my principle of conduct; that 
is, as he expounded it, that I ought to vote for the person 
already in office : this he commended to me, as a common 
principle of choice with Virginians, in all their elections, 
(which 1 knew to be true); and therefore, he argued, 
it must be a wise one. But, unhappily, I met with a 
Jacksonian, at the next turn, who insisted, that the pro- 
per principle to act on, is the status quo ante helium: that 
the question ought now7 to be decided, as it ought to have 
been decided in 1825; Gen. Jackson had the plurality of 
votes; he was certainly the choice of the people; Mr. 
Adams acquired the possession of power by fraud, which 
is worse than no possession at all; and, consequently, I 
ought to give my vote now for the man who ought to 
have been elected then.—In all my troubles, I have en- 
countered nothing that so confounded my faculties, as the 
relative merit of these tw o principles of the Uti possidetis 
and the status quo ante helium. 
As a last resort, I resolved to find out on which side the 
old republicans, and on which side the old federalists 
(parties which I perfectly understand) are ranged; and 
to determine by lot which of them I should unite with. 
Alas! I find them, like the combined fleets of France and 
Spain, at the battle of Trafalgar, arranged promiscuously, 
without any regard to order of national squadron. 
Which ever way I turn my eyes, new difficulties rise 
before me, new perplexity confounds me—I envy the hap- 
py decision of mind of two of my neighbors, which has 
enabled them to determine without the least difficulty, 20 
what I cannot, with the utmost pains, determine at all— 
namely, which of the candidates to vote against. I was 
the other day inquiring of them (as I am always inquir- 
ing of every body) how they intended to vote, in the hope 
of finding out how I should vote myself. One of them 
told me, he had' made up his mind, long ago, to vote 
against Gen. Jackson (of course for Mr. Adams) because 
he understood Gen. Jackson had as good as advised Mr. 
Monroe, to take federalists into his cabinet, and he verily 
believed that advice had prompted Mr. Monroe to appoint 
Mr. Adams secretary of state. And the other said, he 
was firmly resolved to vote against Mr. Adams (of course 
for Gen. Jackson) because Mr. Adams had justified Gen. 
Jackson’s conduct in the Seminole war. 
Give me leave now to express a few opinions of my own, 
upon which 1 set a peculiar value, because 1 have entertained 
them, without any very material change, for full fifteen days. 
I. It is my humble opinion, that the friends of the candi- 
dates, respectively, ought to abate somewhat of their pane- 
gyricks, and their enemies somewhat of the substance, and 
more of the violence, of their censures—For example, 
I think, that Mr. Adams's friends ought not to give him 
quite so much credit for his abandonment of the federal party 
in 1807—because it seems to me (considering that federal 
votes are votes, and that he will not have a great many 
votes to spare) that they ought to be wary not to offend the 
federalists; and because it cannot be prudent to remind the 
public, that Mr. Adams’s conversion was from the weaker 
to the stronger party, and not gradual or measured, but 
sudden and absolute, as if it had been worked by a miracle. 
They ought not to dwell so much upon his skill in diplo- 
macy ; because the public seems resolved to suspend its 
judgment on this head, until the secret history of the treaty 
of Ghent shall be published, to establish his claim to supe-t 21 
rior excellence in this line of public service. Their praises 
of his literary attainments should be more nicely measured, 
than they have hitherto been; for his toasts are certainly 
the worst that have ever been given or drank, and his Bal- 
timore speech no better; and this implies a defect, which 
must be allowed to detract a great deal from the merit of 
any American scholar, orator or statesman. On the other 
hand, Mr. Adams’s enemies ought to say no more about the 
Billiard table: it is a very small matter, at the most; and, 
until some of his friends thought it necessary to lay the 
blame of that transaction on one of his sons, 1 never could 
see any great harm in it; for, I understand, the Virginia 
statutes against gaming are not in force in Washington. 
They ought no longer to taunt him with the story about 
Mrs. Moulson’s rent; for that is a case for a court and jury; 
and no fair man ought to judge of it, without having all 
the witnesses confronted and cross-examined before him— 
petulance of temper is neither dishonesty nor meanness. 
They ought not to persist in accusing him with reviving the 
exploded doctrine of the divine right of kings: 1 am con- 
vinced the man meant no more than to express his sense of 
the religious obligation of his oath of office—which, 1 hope, 
is no unpardonable heresy. They ought not to harp any 
longer upon the colonial trade and the Panama mission ; 
as 1 doubt not he is by this time a sincere penitent in regard 
to both. 
The friends of Gen. Jackson ought not to insist that he is 
the Hero of two wars: because, if they can prove the fact, 
his enemies will probably demonstrate by figures, that he is 
superannuated. They ought not to claim for him the whole 
honor of the victory of New-Orleans: let him have the larg- 
est share that ever was awarded to a commander in chief; 
but reserve some part, to be divided among the officers and 
soldiers that fought under him. Especially I pray them, 22 
never again to call him “another Washington:” it sounds 
like blasphemy: the two men stand in contrast to each other, 
not in comparison. Gen. Jackson1s enemies, if they be also 
Jriends of Mr. Adams, ought not to say another word about 
the Seminole war; since they can, by no possibility, avoid 
implicating Mr. Adams in the blame. They ought not now 
to insist upon calling the general to too strict an account of 
his administration of martial law at New-Orleans, lest they 
implicate the Executive and Congress of the day—the great 
body of the people—and the Editors of the JYational Intel- 
ligencer, who wilfully shut their eyes to his proceedings at 
the time, because (1 presume) it was then neither courtly nor 
popular to open their lips. I think they ought not to give 
implicit faith to the story of the duel, as their newspapers 
have reported it: I must believe there is some mistake or 
exaggeration on that subject. And if they will insist that 
the general cannot spell, they ought to know, that so neither 
could Marlborough, according to Lord Chesterfield, nor 
Buonaparte, according to Walter Scott. 
II. I think the friends of each candidate ought to exer- 
cise a little more charity towards the friends of the other. 
For instance, the friends of Gen. Jackson ought not to 
insist, that Mr. Buchanan’s evidence convicts Mr. Clay of 
that corrupt log-rolling bargain; because it is obvious Mr. 
B. did not so understand his own evidence; and because 
they ought now, in prudence, to go upon the circumstantial 
evidence—wherein (I am told) they have an undeniable text 
of law to stand on—namely, that when the direct evidence 
of the only persons supposed to be privy to a transaction, 
fails to furnish proof, circumstances are the very best evi- 
dence. 
The friends of Mr. Adams ought no longer to say that 
the members of Congress in opposition to the existing ad- 
ministration, are hungry for office—Does not the President 23 
hold in his own hands all the loaves and fishes? would not 
Hunger naturally go to him? Is it thought, that lie would 
be so hard hearted as to refuse them a morsel of bread for 
love or money? Is there no talent in the opposition, that he 
would gain to his side if he could? 
III. 1 beseech the editors of newspapers, one and all, to 
speak more reverently of each other. 1 fear, if they go 
on much longer, at the rate they have done for some time 
past, they will destroy the happy influence of the daily 
press upon the public mind—and then, farewell to liberty ! 
Even my veneration for them has been a little impaired 
by their fierce criminations and recriminations. 
IV. I beg leave to suggest, that Mr. Rush and Mr. 
Southard ought to be abused a little. If they do not 
play, they hold the candle; and if they be not abused, 
they will not be praised; and so those two high officers 
of State will sink into utter insignificance. Yet I would 
have them abused with great moderation.—I recommend, 
in general, a change in the style of controversy ; being 
apprehensive, that if its fury shall not soon abate, foreign- 
ers will conclude that we are a nation of knaves. I set 
great value on national character. 
V. I am clearly of opinion, that, whether we regard 
this contest, in the one view, as a competition between the 
two most meritorious citizens in the nation, or in the other, 
as a scuffle for power between the two most depraved 
of mankind, yet there cannot but be some honest and sen- 
sible men among the friends, and among the enemies, of 
both the candidates. 
VI. After long thought and some hesitation, I have 
come to a conclusion, that the peace and harmony of this 
United Federal Nation, are more important than the elec- 
tion of either candidate. 24 
Vll. Lastly, I implore the friends of General Jackson. 
to obtain from him, beforehand, an explicit declaration 
upon the following points—That, in case he shall be 
elected to the presidency, he will not, as commander in 
chief of the national forces, claim the right to suspend the 
writ of Habeas Corpus, whenever he shall think the pub- 
lic safety requires it—and that he will not hold the mem - 
bers of unauthorised conventions, assembled, during war 
or peace, to advise and in effect to direct the constituted 
authorities, amenable to military trial and execution, un- 
der the second article of war—or, at least, that he will 
exhaust the whole force of the article upon the members 
of the Hartford and Harrisburg conventions. This last 
is a very important matter : for in this age of conventions, 
if that article of war shall receive as latitudinous a con- 
struction as has been given to the constitution, only think 
how many will be involved in the guilt, and exposed to 
the punishment! 
For myself, the malady of indecision, suspense of judg- 
ment and neutrality, is, I fear, fixed upon me, beyond all 
hope of remedy: and a very distressing malady it is 
Buonaparte once told us, there should be no neutrals— 
which was generally thought to be contrary to the law of 
nations—but it is a settled point in the law of party. I 
pray it may be considered, that it is not my fault, that 1 
am neutral. I have been all along doing my very best to 
take sides; and I shall not remit my exertions; but now 
that both parties have established committees of safety and 
vigilance in every town and county, how am I to shew the 
least inclination to either, without being instantly detected 
by the other, and brought back by force or persuasion ? 
CHRISTOPHER QUANDARY. 
Essex County, Nov. 9, 1827.