A Letter Addressed to Martin Van Buren, President of the United States, in Answer to the Late Attack Upon the Navy, by the Official Organ of the Gover

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Excerpt from A Letter Addressed to Martin Van Buren, President of the United States, in Answer to the Late Attack Upon the Navy, by the Official Organ of the GovernmentCan people to be tarnished by the filthy outpourings of this foul vehicle of slander. I shall merely notice some of its more opprobrious epithets and comparisons, and may, perhaps, allude to and rebut one or two of the graver assertions, before doing which, however, I will brie¿y give my reason for addressing this letter to yourself. You have adopted the maxims and principles of your illustrious predecessor, pledged yourself to follow in his footsteps, and will consequently do as he did - take the responsibility of the acts and doings of the different Depart ments, more especially Blair's, as this seems to receive more of the executive attention and supervision than any or all of the others, nothing, at least, can appear in its venal and prostituted columns, without being.written, dictated, or sanctioned, by the Executive. The whole navy has been the object of this slander and abuse. Old and meritorious officers have been abused, insulted, and vilified, and the faults of the few have been made to attach to the many. It has been charged upon this gallant corps, that there is a total want of the esprit da corps, without which there is nothing high or ennobling in the profes sion of arms. Grant this for the sake of argument, (which by no means do to whom are blame and censure attributable? And who should receive condemnation at the hands of the pub lic? The officers of the navy, or those who have had the control and management of Certainly the latter as in their hands has it fallen to its present ebb, for its condition when the present party came into power was sound, efficient, and well organized - admitted to be so by the present dynasty, who were the celebrated reformers of that day. It was the pride, boast, and ornament of the country, and to be one of its members was considered a sufficient passport to the very best society of the day. In those days reputation and fame were gained by merit and service, not by cringing servility to the party in rule, for such was not then the order of the day. But how sadly has this once high-minded and honorable corps fallen since then! It seems by your own showing that they have not been exempt from the corrupting influences of the infected atmosphere at Washington, and, as there can be no effect without a cause, there must be a reason for it. Is it to the force of example in other Departments, or to a new one in their own! If to either, the present administration is unquestionably the source of the evil. It is attributable to the weakness, inefficiency, and dis.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.