and unceasingly against the aggressions of wanton awer.lawless poomoodiif the dark period ha vnutw o t qqq 3 been speaking, he still bore up against the destroyers, nor wavered in the noble cause. Defeat came after defeat, but it left him, as it found him,

"Pale but intrepid, sad but unsubdued." Hope, though forlorn, still animated him. His profound knowledge of men and history, told him that in all time tyranny and misrule had worked their own ruin. But he did not wait idly for the completion of the parallel. At every new assumption of power, or violation of law, he indignantly denounced the enemies of his country and her Constitution. Once, the noble efforts of himself and his gallant compatriots of Virginia seemed about to be crowned with success. In 1834, her people, roused by the daring acts of General Jackson, responded nobly to the warning notes of her patriotic son. But the pause was momentary. The end was not yet. The clouds had parted for a moment, only that the tempest might set in with redoubled fury. He might not hope for its entire cessation until there was nothing left on which it could act.

It was something, however, to have gotten rid of the boldest and most daring spirit. We had still much to suffer, but we had less to fear from the Elisha of Democracy, to whom had descended the mantle, "a world too wide" for his diminutive frame. We have been disposed, if not to pardon, at least to pity this unfortunate recipient of democratic favor. Mr. Van Buren's was, in truth, a hard lot. He was forced to bear the odium of many misfortunes, which no human wisdom could have averted. The rash experiments made by his predecessor, perhaps in some cases advised by himself, were now unfolding their fatal fruits. It was impossible for him to prevent the baneful effects of the unhealthy excitement, and over-action, which had prevailed in every department of business. They had acted like those subtle poisons administered by the Borgias in the festive hour-which lent, for a time, rich flavor to the wine cup, gave fresh vigor to the arm, kindled new brilliancy in the eye. But the reaction was terrible as certain-the cheek paled, the eye grew dim, the hand relaxed, and the victim sank a helpless wreck !

Nor would we, except where it received the connivance of himself and his higher

officers, hold Mr. Van Buren to a strict accountability for that laxity of morals which induced such a host of defaulting agents, to "assume the responsibility" of removing deposites to France, England, and Texas; nor yet for the depredations of the speculator and the peculator. The moral sense had been deadened, and the worser part of our natures developed, by the examples of those high in authority in the infraction of nearly every law in the statute-book and the decalogue. A moral malaria had been generated, whose pestilential breath scattered disease throughout the land. Hence came the dark stain of repudiation-the bar-sinister of our escutcheon-the plague-spot of the nation. Repudiation!-that perversion of language, by which a sovereign State, in christening its foul offspring, robbed virtue of one of its brightest terms, and enrolled it as a new epithet in the vocabulary of crime.

But we do blame Mr. Van Buren for that cold and selfish spirit, which, in proclaiming that the "government must take care of itself," exhibited a Turkish indifference to the complaints and sufferings of the country. And above all do we censure him for his faithfulness to that policy which seeks, by continued boldness and recklessness, to overawe its enemies. This was fully developed by that monster in finance, the sub-treasury. We are aware that many in our own ranks were disposed to look favorably on this scheme, and amongst them the distinguished editor of the Richmond Whig. The whole monetary system of the country seemed rotten to the core. Anxious to forward their new scheme, our opponents endeavored to profit by their own errors, and denounced the profligacy of all banking institutions, as the seducer upbraids his victim with a fall from virtue. Disgusted and disheartened by this widespread corruption, Mr. Pleasants, like many others, was disposed to discard banks entirely from our system. But he was soon convinced of the utter impracticability of this step, and acknowledged it with that open candor for which he was so distinguished. When reflection brought conviction of error to his noble mind, it found no foolish pride of consistency to bar its entrance, or prevent its utterance. But even if the scheme were practicable we should make but a poor exchange in giving up the security of the private stockholder for the doubtful honesty of the single agent. It is a system based on false principles, and invidious in its

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action. It must either be oppressive or a nullity. It cannot be correct in any government, to draw a line between the ruler and the people. One destiny awaits both-a blended interest alone can insure fidelity in the officer, and bring prosperity to the nation. It will be a rare sight in the history of the world, to behold a government, discrediting, by its acts, the currency to which it condemns its people. Yet this was the wretched scheme for whose passage our political sabbath was desecrated, and which a party, lashed into its support, and proudly clasping their chains around them, heralded forth as a second Declaration of Independence. It was a fit conclusion to that folly which had its commencement in the fraudulent delusion of an exclusive metallic currency. And it was with characteristic fidelity to promises, that this party, which had induced us to believe that a stream of gold-reversing the laws of gravitation -would flow up the Mississippi; that every sunny fountain" would "roll down its golden sands," to say nothing of a private Pactolus for every neighborhood-should conclude the juggling scene, by proposing to lock up the specie of the country in strong-boxes, thence to be disbursed only to the faithful few who, in accepting her offices, honored their country and profited themselves! An appropriate corollary was furnished in the action of the majority in Congress, who gave unerring indications of their fidelity to States' Rights, their respect for the broad seal, and their honor for the sovereignty of New Jersey, in the same manner that we are told the pious Japanese, by trampling on its cross, yearly attest their devotion to Christianity! Beyond the unmitigated corruption of Mr. Van Buren's administration, these constitute the most striking features—a deficiency to be ascribed rather to poverty of invention than lack of destructiveness -and in some measure to a want of materials upon which to act. The conque ror becomes sated when he has triumphed on every field, and that party might be well content to fold its arms in inaction, after prostrating the currency, commerce and constitution of the country. We are charitable enough to hope that remorse stayed the hand of power from farther deeds of ruin: terror certainly had some agency in producing a cessation of evil. The watchful sentinels who had proclaimed the approach, and then the actual presence of the destroyers, were now for the first time heeded. Foremost among

these was the man whose genius and patriotism we seek to commemorate. With piercing eye had he marked the progress of the disease, and with wondrous skill he laid it bare to the inspection of his countrymen. Indignant at the wrongs imposed upon a confiding people, by an ungrateful party, he exhibited its enormities with an unsparing and unpitying hand. With withering satire he exposed the dishonesty of subalterns, and the connivance of superiors; the general corruption that festered through the body politic; the violation and degradation of State and Federal constitutions. And then with burning eloquence he pleaded for that purity which once was ours-he dwelt with fervor on

"The homely beauty of the good old cause," -on that lofty patriotism which looked ever to its country's good, and that hightoned honor which, in times gone by, had been the vital principle of our republic. Nor did he plead in vain. Roused by unnumbered wrongs, and disenchanted of the spells of their deceivers, the American people hurled from power these political debauchees, who fled, leaving their country, "like a neglected mistress, to perish of the diseases they had inflicted.”

A brighter day seemed to have dawned upon the Republic, and under the guidance of our good President, the patriot trusted we might once more regain the path which leads to prosperity, happiness, and virtue. In the full accomplishment of this, we were doomed to disappointment. Death, for the first time in our history, struck down the chief magistrate. and the alternate appeared upon the stage, as the farce comes to mitigate the horror of the tragedy, and conclude the spectacle of the evening. It is neither our inclination nor intention, to dwell upon the administration of one who, though the acknowledged child of fortune, could not, with any justice adopt the title, (which, according to De Stael, Nicholas of Russia applied to himself,) of being "un accident heureux." It was a sad day for the Republic, when death and unholy ambition came to blast the hopes of a great conservative cause. It was a cruel blow to be thus struck down "in the hour of might" by one whom we had nurtured and trusted. But it is a proud consolation to remember that the devoted attachment of the Whig party to its principles, was brought into bold and beautiful relief, by the dark ground of its misfortunes. We were ready at once to

acknowledge the error of our choice equally prompt to defend the welfare of our country from the attacks of faithless friends or open foes. In connection with this disastrous event, and suggested by it, we take occasion to notice the charge frequently made against Mr. Pleasants, of being too harsh in his commentaries upon those who happened to differ from his own, or the views of the party whom he represented. We do not undertake to excuse him entirely upon this point. Candor compelled himself frequently to acknowledge, that the warmth of his temperament hurried him into injustice of comment and criticism. But we may safely assert, that the anger of the offended, was never so great as the sorrow of the offender, and a refusal to accept the graceful and feeling apology, which a consciousness of error always induced, might be taken as fair evidence that it was undeserved. There is another part of the charge which has often astonished us. It is contended that Mr. Pleasants frequently forced individuals from the Whig ranks by the bitterness and has tiness of his paragraphs. If such were the case, we can only say, that the connection between these gentlemen and their principles, must have been very slight. That is not the highest order of virtue, which gives way to unjust suspicion; we should think the thief had but a poor apology, who plead that he had been induced to commit a crime, because its odium already rested upon him. Whilst we rejected the excuse, we should commend the sagacity which had noted so early the proclivity towards evil! Thus it was, that Mr. Pleasants, ever watchful, more readily perceived the symptoms of political putrescence, and hastened to remove the offending matter. He did not, perhaps, come up to the Machiavellian standard of a good party editor-nor was he of that cold and calculating nature which brings everything to the test of political expediency,

'And right or wrong, will vindicate for gold.' He was, in truth, the Bayard of the press -and when he saw the Whig party menaced by violence without, or treachery within, his whole strength was put forth to repel the one or crush the other. His proud spirit could not consent to parley with an enemy nor temporize with a traitor. Scorning treachery, and the arts of the demagogue, he was at no pains to conceal that scorn. The keen blade of his resentment descended upon the

instant of their discovery, as we read that Saladin slew the traitor, even in the banquet hall! If this utter detestation of deception sometimes betrayed him into error and injustice, we may forgive the fault for its rarity. It stands in striking contrast with that expansive charity which excuseth every excess, and pardoneth all enormities, in consideration of a firm adherence to the Democratic party!

It was under the influence of such feelings as these, that Mr. Pleasants removed to Washington in 1841, and established the "Independent," in connection with Mr. Edward William Johnston. It is a reproach to the Whig party that this paper was not better sustained. The highest order of talent, and the firmest devotion to Whig principles, were manifested in its conduct. Disappointed in his just expectations of success, Mr. Pleasants returned to Virginia.

It must not be supposed that in his attention to federal politics, Mr, Pleasants forgot the claims of his native State. To her he clung with filial zeal and unabated love. Mourning her decline. he strained every nerve to awaken that spirit which should restore her former glory. The increase of facilities of intercourse, improvement and extension of her educational system, the full development of all her resources, mental and physical, these engaged his earnest thoughts, and received his ardent hopes. May we not trust that a few years will witness the accomplishment of all that he labored so long and so well to effect?

On his return to Richmond, Mr. Pleasants resumed the editorial chair of the Whig, but was not regularly employed until the great contest of 1844. It was then that his genius shone pre-eminently. He was animated by a deep and abiding confidence, which he shared in common with the whole Whig party, that the hour of deliverance was at hand, that we were marching to a victory of which neither treachery nor slander could deprive us. But still he labored zealously and indefatigably. Never shall we forget the brilliancy of those articles which, passing from subject to subject, mastered them all, and, as with a pencil of light, showed how much we had to fear from the restoration of one party-all we had to hope from the success of the other. We measure the force of our language when we say that no country, and no age, has ever produced a man better suited, in all the essentials, for the conduct of a public journal. To him was given, in an espe

cial manner, that skillful generalization which readily seizes upon the strong points of a subject, that happy condensation of thought which, as by the dash of a pen, extracts the substance of an argument, and that pungent and epigrammatic terseness which addresses itself so powerfully to every mind. In pathos and satire he was unrivaled. Happy the statesman who won his admiration luckless the demagogue, or charlatan, who drew forth his ire. These powers were most conspicuously developed in the contest of 1844. The heart warmed with the recital of the brilliant acts of the patriotic statesman of Kentucky, who had linked his name with the brightest portions of our history; or shared his deep scorn, as he dwelt upon the course of that party which deserted its country for a war-cry and a semblance of principles; whose political opinions, even its religious tenets, were assumed or discarded at will, and "varied to each varying clime," with a rapidity and facility which has no parallel but in the pious versatility of Napoleon, shouting "I Allah" beneath the pyramids, and confessing him devoutly at Nôtre Dame.

The result of that election, proving how powerful is an organization for evil, has made many of his predictions matters of history; and could his life have been spared, with what terrible energy would he have portrayed their fatal fulfillment. In the restoration of this party we have found that

"Pardon is still the nurse of second woe." The President, foisted upon us to suit the purposes of the hour, as the beggar of the Arabian Nights was made an emperor for a day, has well sustained the part assigned him. With a policy shaped by the crude dicta of an irresponsible convention, his is truly a war administration-war without and war within--the honor of the country has been maintained by relinquishing a "clear and unquestionable title" to a nation whose bayonets bristle on every strand, and whose canvass whitens every sea-that we might wage a less hazardous contest with a hapless country, which boasts two steamships, and a few thousand ill-clad soldiers. His nationality has been exhibited by the creation of a national debt; and, under his advice, our American Congress, in replacing the colonial system, has restored to England all she lost at Bunker Hill and Yorktown!

Thus far have we traced, imperfectly,

the career of John Hampden Pleasants. If it has been pleasant to recount the incidents of a life devoted to the honor and welfare of the country, how sadly must we approach the closing scene which deprived us of the patriot. Mr. Pleasants continued to edit the Whig until January, 1846. He had been forced several years before, by pecuniary embarrassments, to dispose of his entire interest in that paper, and thus to relinquish its control at the moment when its success should have rewarded his great exertions and his brilliant talents. Adversity however could not check his ardor. He had just perfected his arrangements for the establishment of a new paper at Richmond, in connection with Messrs. Crane and Smith, when the difficulty arose which terminated in his untimely death. Whilst we forbear, of course, to express any opinion as to the merits of that controversy, we are left to mourn in its result the loss of one who, spite the errings of human nature, was the pride of his country and the ornament of his kind-and to express our abhorrence of that savage code of honor which has consigned so much of genius and greatness to the grave. The nation has made numberless sacrifices to this fearful code, but they will not be wholly lost, if a Christian people will unite to sweep from society this relic of a barbarous age, as little calculated to promote its professed object as were the judicial combat and the burning ploughshare, to test the guilt or innocence of the accused.

It is only left for us to record the melancholy fact, that in a rencontre with Thomas Ritchie, junior, John Hampden Pleasants received a mortal wound. He lingered for several days, and expired on the 27th day of February, 1846, after an exhibition of the most noble fortitude, patience and, we believe we may add, Christian resignation. The deep gloom which hung over the city, which had been the theatre of his fame, measured the loss and attested the sorrow of its people. A mighty concourse, in which party and sect were forgotten, assembled to mourn at his obsequies, and drop their tears upon his tomb.

"And fitly may the stranger lingering here, Pray for his gallant spirit's bright repose: The few in number, who had not o'erstept For he was freedom's votary, one of those, The charter to chastise which she bestows On such as wield her weapons; he had kept The whiteness of his soul, and thus men o'er him wept!>

"To make our country loved, our country ought to be lovely." This fine sentiment occurs amid the rich profusion of elevated thoughts that used to flow from the pen and lips of Mr. Burke. His eye was open to whatever was beautiful, both in the material world and in the world of thought. He was not insensible to that rich harmony which exists between the two. Love for objective beauty induced love for what is beautiful or elevated in thought and in purpose. In the bosom of every well-disposed man, we believe that this result will necessarily follow; but, more especially do we believe that the more a country be beautified, the more intense will be the feeling of its people, to guard its honor and to cherish its hope.

The sentiment of Mr. Burke is peculiarly an English sentiment. It is both understood and acted upon. Great Britain is loved by its people, and as it seems to us, in no small measure, for its loveliness. Everywhere the Briton bears about with him that strong and steady and fearless love. He may change his habits, his name, and his nature almost, in the Islands of Australia-he may linger for years under the soft skies of the Cape-he may worry away his stout English frame under the tropical influences at Jamaica; or he may change color, and grow hollow-eyed, and meagre, and irascible under the fierce suns of Hindostan, yet, ever through it all, his thoughts lean homeward, and his heart yearns for that little cluster of islands in the sea, which lingers in his imagination -green and beautiful. This beauty, or this greenness, is something about which his hand, or their hands, have been active increasing it age by age, year by year, day by day. So it has become the more his own; and so it is, that he loves it and cherishes it the more. He thinks of its great towns lying along the shores, busy with trade, and sending ships to the farthest waters of the ocean;

he thinks of its smoky inland citiesbustling with hundreds of thousands, and making with all their hands clothing for the nations of the world; he thinks of its clustering villages, seated upon plains waving with fruitfulness; he thinks of the roads winding among the hills, so as to conduct the traveler with most ease and comfort from town to village, or from the shore far on to the quiet interior; but, most of all, he thinks of its green hill sides, on which great ancestral oaks are gathering, and running their roots, broadly and deeply under the smooth grass land, and spreading out strong gnarled branches to shelter flocks of cattle. Most of all, he thinks of wide lawns, stretching out in pleasing sunshine, and of streams gleaming through openings in the wood, and of shaded pathways, and of copses rustling with game, and of cottages nestled in the shade of tall forest trees. He loves to think of these most, since his tastes have led him to their adornment most; and having adorned them, he cannot help but think of them lovingly.

The English are beyond all others a rural people. They love the hunt; no civilized nation loves it so well. They protect it by law, and they have made it venerable and respectable by custom. They love all the athletic sports of the country; above all, they love to adorn their country homes and landscape.

Have they not in this chosen the best way to make their country lovely?

To make a country lovely, it must be beautified; and how shall it be beautified? Cities may be built, with splendid streets opening a wide vista through them; temples or churches may be erected with centuries of toil; or galleries of art may be gathered from more gifted nations but in these events it seems to us that love for the individual objects, for the streets, for the temples, for the statuary, is separable, and naturally from that of country. Any one or all of the same objects may be

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