by him at that time, and most congenial with his own spirit and character at all times. Undiminished, unaffected by any subsequent occurrence, the relation of confidential friendship then commenced, went on strengthening in intimacy and affection to the very last. Mr. Blair continued to the last the friend with whom the old General most frequently and most fully corresponded; and the active industry of his pen, kept up even when the effort was extremely laborious and exhausting, is attested by reams of letters proving the unwearied warmth of his patriotic interest in the course of public affairs, in their bearing upon the welfare of his country and the continued ascendency of his principles. As a specimen of his autograph, which will at this time be deeply interesting to our readers, and as at the same time precious testimony from the concluding hours of his life, we have requested permission to engrave its concluding paragraph, which is subjoined to this

article.

The following incident, which has been communicated to us by a friend of Mr. Blair, is a curious piece of political history in more points than one. It is certainly a singular proof of the unblushing impudence with which the Bank of the United States undertook to "buy up men and presses like cattle in the market," and of the rampant extremes to which corruption then dared to go, that a Cabinet minister could be made the medium of a bribe offered to an important editor :

"One of the officers of the late Bank of the United States offered to pay to Mr. Blair soon after he came here, whatever he would charge for publishing in the Globe some report, prepared by the president of that institution. Mr. Blair refused any compensation for publishing the official paper. It was, however, inserted in the Globe as a public document, and the officer of the Bank was given to understand, in writing, that no pecuniary gratuity would ever be received from the institution. On another occasion, a friend of the bank-since famous as one of its instruments-left with a member of General Jackson's cabinet a check for a considerable sum, to be given to Mr. Blair, merely as an expression of the respect he entertained for his labors as an editor, and to assist them. This check was ten dered to Mr. Blair by the member of the cabinet, and repulsed, with an expression which cost the latter some mortification.

Mr. Blair continued his attacks on the bank; the consequence of which was seen some time afterwards, in the conduct of a portion of the cabinet towards him. He was approached by them through the mediun that nis course in the Globe gave much of a personal friend, and told dissatisfaction to a portion of the cabinet; th at it would keep the administration in a rainority in Congress, although a majority of members might be elected as Jackson men, and render the President's labors for the good of the country ineffectual, and desired that he (Mr. B.) should relinquish to a friend in whom he had confidence Mr. Blair declined the office; but prompthis editorial position, and take an office. ly said he would give up his place if General Jackson wished it. He went to General Jackson, and stated to him what had occurred, supposing the communication to him had not been made entirely without his sanction; and was prepared to take his leave. General Jackson said to Mr. Blair, I approve of your course, will stand by you, ANDREW JACKSON if nobody else does; and if nobody else will; and from that day to the day of his death he did stand by him through good and through evil report. I believe General Jackson esteemed Mr. Blair as highly as he did any man living, and I am sure that Mr. Blair loved-I think I may use that word-General Jackson more than he did any other person except his wife

and children."

To Mr. Van Buren's administration the Globe maintained a relation of uninterrupted confidence and powerful support. A still severer battle had to be fought, against the now combined forces of the corporate paper-money power, than that which before had been waged with only a portion of them. The triumphs which in 1838 and 1839 so splendidly redeemed the universal disasters of 1837, the bank suspension year, were the fruit of one of the most close, vigorous, and fierce struggles of parties in the general public debate of the Press, that the country has ever witnessed. In this contest, the Globe thundered daily in the van, and admirably performed the duty of its position of heading the press of its party. The following letter from Mr. Van Buren, though not designed for publication, appeared in the concluding number of the Globe, having been received on that day, by Mr. Rives. It is too honorable a testimonial of Mr. Van Buren's appreciation of Mr. Blair's character and services, to justify our omitting it here:

"LINDENWALD, April 24, 1845. "MY DEAR SIR: I thank you very kindly for your noble and manly letter upon the subject of the transfer of the Globe establishment, and repeat with pleasure what I have already said to Mr. Blair, that I approve of your course throughout. "In laying out of view your own opinions, in respect either to the necessity or expediency of the sacrifice you were called upon to make, and in regulating your conduct in the matter altogether by the wishes of those whom the democracy of the nation have placed in power, you acted with great propriety. If anything could have added to your credit in the transaction it is to be found in the liberal spirit by which it was characterized. You did not haggle for high prices, or indulge in censures of the conduct of those whose views you were about to promote, as is too often the case on the part of those who are called upon to postpone their own for the supposed interests of their party; but you evinced throughout an earnest and obviously sincere desire to carry the arrangement into effect upon terms and in a spirit which would be most likely to enable your highly esteemed successor to sustain himself in an undertaking confessedly not free from hazard. In all this Mr. Blair and yourself have acted in perfect consistency with your past characters, and have shown to all-what has long been known to me-your devotion to the democratic cause was not assumed for the occasion, but real, and of a nature which made you always ready to postpone your interests to that of your party, regarding the latter as second only to those of your country. For all this you will, in time, receive from the democracy of the nation the credit to which you are so well entitled.

"Your personal positions are, I am happy to believe, as favorable as you could desire. Thanks to your own prudence, and the favor of your political friends, for which no men have ever been more truly grateful, you are, though perhaps not rich, yet entirely free from pecuniary embarrassments; and the reputation you have acquired by your paper is sufficient to satisfy a reasonable ambition. The Globe has run its career at too critical a period in our political history-has borne the democratic flag too steadily in the face of assaults upon popular sovereignty, more violent and powerful than any which had ever preceded them in this or any other country, not to have made impressions upon our history and our institutions, which are destined to be remembered when those who witness its discontinuance shall be no more. The manner in which it demeaned itself through those perilous periods, and the

repeated triumphs which crowned its labors, will, when the passions of the day have spent their force, be matters of just exultation to you and to your children. None have had better opportunities to witness, nor more interest in observing your course, than Gen. Jackson and myself; and I am very sure that I could not, if I were to attempt it, express myself more strongly in favor of the constancy, fidelity, and ability with which it was conducted, than he would sanction with his whole heart. He would, I have no doubt, readily admit that it would have been exceedingly dif ficult, if not impossible, for his administration to have sustained itself in its contest with the money power (a term as well understood as that of democrat, and much better than that of whig at the present day), if the corruptions which were in those days spread broadcast through the length and breadth of the land had been able to subvert the integrity of the Globe; and I am very certain that the one over which I had the honor to preside could never, in such an event, have succeeded in obtaining the institution of an independent treasury, without the establishment of which the advantages to be derived from the overthrow of the Bank of the United States will very soon prove to be wholly illusory. The Bank of the United States first, and afterwards those of the States, succeeded in obtaining majorities in both branches of the national legislature favorable to their views; but they could never move the Globe from the course which has since been so extensively sanctioned by the democracy of the nation. You gave to the country (and when I say you, I desire to be understood as alluding to Mr. Blair and yourself), at those momentous periods, the invaluable advantages of a press at the seat of the general government, not only devoted, root and branch, to the support of democratic principles, but independent in fact and in feeling, as well of bank influences, as of corrupting pecuniary influences of any description. The vital importance of such an establishment to the success of our cause is incapable of exaggeration. Experience will show, if an opportunity is ever afforded to test the opinion, that, without it, the principles of our party can never be upheld in their purity in the administration of the federal government. Administrations professedly their supporters may be formed, but they will prove to be but whited sepulchres, appearing beautiful outward, but within full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness-administrations which, instead of directing their best efforts to advance the welfare and promote the