The Memories of Fifty Years: Containing Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished Americans, and Anecdotes of Remarkable Men; Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly Spent in the SouthwestSparks, W. H. (William Henry)
History
The Memories of Fifty Years: Containing Brief Biographical Notices of Distinguished Americans, and Anecdotes of Remarkable Men; Interspersed with Scenes and Incidents Occurring during a Long Life of Observation Chiefly Spent in the Southwest
Sparks, W. H. (William Henry)
Georgia -- History -- 1775-1865; Southwest, Old -- History; United States -- Biography
He returned to Congress, after his defeat for the Presidency, for no
other purpose than to give shape and direction to a sentiment which he
felt must ultimately result in her ruin, and to accomplish this he was
more than willing to hazard that of the Government. He felt, should
this follow, his own people would be in a condition to dictate and
control a government of their own creation, and which should embody
their peculiar views, rather than the pure and unselfish principles
enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, and preserved in the
Constitution of the United States.
The sagacity of George M. Troup was the first to discover this in his
conduct as President, and to sound the alarm as Governor of Georgia. He
came directly in contact with him, and determined he should be defeated
in one of his means for injury to the South. Troup knew and felt the
right was with him, and maintained it with the honest boldness of a
true man. He triumphed, and the doctrine of State rights was rescued
from a fatally aimed blow, and reaffirmed, gave renewed popularity and
strength to its supporters. The election of General Jackson soon after
followed, and, as the embodiment of the principle, rallied around him
its supporters from every section. With these, and his immense
popularity personally, he scotched, for a time, the Puritan snake; but,
true to its instincts, it struggled to bite, though its head was off.
Mr. Adams saw in Troup a strong and uncompromising foe; he knew, too,
the right was with him, and that if pushed to extremities the result
would be damaging to his fame, as having, in persevering for the wrong,
destroyed the Government, and at a time, too, when every benefit from
such destruction would inure to the South. Under the circumstances his
course was taken: he dared not consult or trust Mr. Clay with the real
motives which influenced him to yield, and made a virtue of patriotism
and magnanimity which cloaked his pusillanimity, and shielded from
public view his envenomed chagrin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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