It is not in wantonness, that we speak.—but in the sadness of our hearts, we are compelled to declare,—that while we yield our confidence to the present Chief Magistrate in very different degrees, we are unanimous, and unhesitating in the opinion, that Andrew Jackson is altogether unfit for the Presidency, and that his election would be eminently dangerous,—that while we cheerfully accord to him his full share of the glory, which renders the anniversary of the 8th of January a day of joy and triumph to our land,—we must, in the most solemn manner, protest against a claim to civil rule, founded exclusively upon military renown,—and avow, that nothing has occurred in the history of our country, so much calculated to shake our confidence in the capacity of the people for self-government, as the efforts, which have been made, and are yet making, to elevate to the first office in the nation, the man, who, disobeying the orders of his superiors, trampling on the laws and constitution of his country, sacrificing the liberties and lives of men, has made his own arbitrary will, the rule of his conduct. . . .

Gen. Jackson has lived beyond the age of 60 years, and was bred to the profession best calculated to improve and display the faculties, which civil employment requires;—yet the history of his public life, in these employments, is told in a few brief lines, on a single page of his biography. He filled successively, for very short periods,—the office of member of the Tennessee Convention, which formed their State constitution,—representative and senator in Congress,—judge of the supreme court of Tennessee,—and again senator, in the Congress of the United States. Here was ample opportunity for distinction, if he had possessed the talent, taste and application suited for civil eminence. But he resigned three, and passed through all these stations, acknowledging his unfitness in two instances,—manifestly feeling it in all,—and leaving no single act, no trace behind, which stamps his qualification above mediocrity.

For civil government,—and in no station more emphatically, than in that of President of the United States,—a well governed temper us of admitted importance; Gen. Jackson’s friends lament the impetuosity of his, and all the work has evidence of its fiery misrule.

To maintain peace and harmony, in the delicate relations existing between the government of the Union and the various State governments, in our confederacy, requires a courtesy and forbearance in their intercourse, which no passions should disturb. . . .

But we have no security for the continuance of peace, in whatsoever hands the government may be placed; and it is not unreasonable to think, that in the hands of a man of military pride and talent, and of ungovernable temper, the danger of war will be increased. . . .

If you indulge the faint hope, that, under the administration of General Jackson, the tribute which agriculture will pay for the encouragement of domestic industry and enterprise, will be somewhat lighter than at present,—we ask you, first, whether the hope is not groundless,—and next, whether it is wise to insist on enjoying the profits of your estates to the uttermost farthing of their fancied value, at the risk of having your free allodial [titled] lands converted into military tenures, or fiefs of the craven. If you are fighting the battles of Gen. Jackson in this political contest, with the vain hope that victory will conquer from your adversaries some barren spot of constitutional ground,—we ask whether you will wage such a war with your countrymen, at the hazard of laying all your conquests, and all your former possessions, the constitution itself, and the freedom it was intended to protect, at the feet of a despot? This does not become the character of Virginians.

Source: Proceedings of the Anti-Jackson Convention, Held at the Capitol in the City of Richmond, with Their Address to the People of Virginia (Richmond: Franklin Press, 1828), 17–21.