By the hour I have
listened to the abuse of him, from the mouths of men whose lives had
been spent in his praise and support, simply because he had interposed
his talents and influence to arrest the oppressor's hand. They said he
had deserted his party, that he would live to share the fate of Burr,
and that he was as great a traitor.
The bitterness and injustice of party is proverbial, and its want of
reason is astonishing. Men who are cool and considerate on all other
subjects, are frequently the most violent and unreasonable as
partisans. It seems akin to religious fanaticism, and proscribes with
the same bigotry all who will not, or conscientiously cannot, act or
think with them. It prescribes opinions, and they must be obeyed by all
who belong to the organization, and without reservation or
qualification. Its exactions are as fierce and indisputable as the laws
and regulations of the Jesuits. These are changed with party
necessities, and not unfrequently are diametrically antagonistic to the
former creed; yet you must follow and sustain them, or else you are a
traitor, and denounced and driven from the party, and often from
intercourse socially with those who have been your neighbors and
friends from boyhood.
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