As the author has had recourse only to sources of information which are accessible to all, he has not thought it necessary to consult Mr. Van Buren with regard to the propriety of his undertaking. That gentleman, therefore is not, in any sense, responsible for the opinions advanced in the present work, except such as are fairly expressed by extracts from his own writings and speeches. The great obligations of the present writer to the Honorable Benjamin F. Butler, will be obvious to all who have noticed the ability and zeal, with which he has, on several occasions, defended the character of his distinguished friend. Among those who have kindly facilitated the collection of materials for this work, the Honorable James Vanderpoel, of Albany, deserves the particular thanks of the author. In submitting to the public, this contribution to the support of democratic principles, the author is well aware that he shall not escape the censure of those, who anticipate the destruction of all political and religious truth, by the leveling spirit of democracy. Without questioning the sincerity of their melancholy forebodings, he would adopt in reply, the language ascribed to an eminent statesman and philosopher of the present age :*"If by democracy, you understand that progress of industry, art, law, manners, and light, which has now for some centuries, been constantly increasing, I am well pleased with such democracy; and, for my own part, instead of blaspheming the age in which I live, I feel grateful to Providence for having assigned my birth to an epoch, in which God has been pleased to call a greater number of his creatures than heretofore, to a participation in the virtues, the intelligence, and the manners, which had been heretofore reserved but for a few." *M. Roger Collard. CONTENTS. PAGE. Mr. Van Buren's professional career, in Kinder- hook, from the period of his admission to the Bar, in 1802, to his removal to the city of Hudson, in 1808, Mr. Van Buren's professional course from the time of his removal to the city of Hudson, in the win- Mr. Van Buren's first agency in political affairs. Is active in supporting the election of Jefferson. Is delegate to a county convention in his nine- teenth year. His first appearance as an elector. Supports Lewis for Governor in 1804: and Tomp- kins in 1807. Is appointed Surrogate of Colum- 33 |