Chapter 10 Act 8 The Trial of Van Buren

The scene is the same as Act 1. God Li: (Stands up, hits the gavel) Now announce the opening of the 8th Court of the "Last Judgment" (sit down).Biography of the defendant Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States. (Van Buren rises.) God Lee: You are Van Buren, born in 1782, the 8th President of the United States. Van Buren: Yes. God Lee: Your height is 168. You are the first American president born after the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In popular terms, you can be called the "post-independence baby boomer" generation.You were born American, not British.

Van Buren: (laughs) By the way, I belong to that generation.I was born in 1782. In the second year, Britain recognized the independence of the United States.When others stood up and became independent, I became independent while lying there. (Laughter.) God Lee: Your English has a Dutch accent. Van Buren: Because my family speaks Dutch. God Lee: Your nickname is "Red Fox of Kinderhook" because you were born in the Dutch community of Kinderhook in New York State. Van Buren: Yes. God Lee: I know your religious beliefs are not very good, maybe you don't care much about "Last Judgment"?

Van Buren: I'm a lawyer by training, and I care about any trial. God Li: Your nickname proves that you are very slippery.You also mentioned that slippery story in your autobiography.When you were a senator, a colleague made a bet that you could express a positive opinion.He asked you: "It is said that the sun rises in the east, do you believe it?" You replied: "I understand that is the common acceptance, but I never get up before dawn, I can't say for sure. "You use "non-committal" to express your opinion, methodologically, it is acceptable; politically, it is too slippery.

Van Buren: (laughs) Sometimes avoiding a problem is actually solving it. God Lee: Another time, also in the Senate, Henry Clay tried to embarrass you.Clay delivered an impassioned speech about Jackson's economic disaster and asked Van Buren to implore the president to change his banking policies and save the country from ruin.You listen all the way and seem to appreciate everything Clay says.Finally, when the audience is watching how you react, you put down your gavel, ask a senator to act as chairman, you step off the podium, go to Clay's seat, and say: "Mr. Clay, you can lend me your good snuff One o'clock?" Startled by this sudden movement, Clay hands you the snuffbox.You take out a bit of snuff, put it in your nostrils, smile, bow to Clay and leave.Is there such a thing?

Van Buren: Yes.Sometimes avoiding a problem is actually solving it. God Lee: So smooth? In 1837, two months after you became president, the Great Economic Panic came. 900 banks across the country failed. You couldn't solve the economic problems. Van Buren: But I relieved it, -- I was president for four years without a salary. God Lee: But you didn't solve the problem. Van Buren: Some problems require subtraction.Let me give you an example, the Texas issue.Texas separates from Mexico and joins the United States as a state.Northerners generally opposed the annexation of Texas, fearing that the result would be the addition of another slave state to the Union.The South and West supported the merger.For my part, I had always agreed with the South that the issue of slavery was a strictly regional issue, not fit for national discussion, but this time I took the side of the North and opposed the annexation of Texas because it would deepen the Debate over slavery deepened regional divisions.See, I use subtraction, one more thing is worse than one less thing.It's also a smart way to solve problems.

God Lee: Including against the Indians?It also counts as subtraction, right?You follow the Indian policy of the former President Jackson, the Indians are gone.isn't it? Van Buren: Please don't forget my other nickname, Jackson is "Old Hickory" and I am "Young Hickory". God Lee: You are so mean to the Indians. Van Buren: No matter how moral a person is, he has no morals for Indians. God Lee: Listening to you, it seems like you white people have "surplus morals" to speak of except for Indians. Van Buren: It seems so. Our moral standards in the United States are being reversed. Originally, we were immoral, but then we forgot all about it and blamed others for being immoral.

God Lee: Your regret is that you died in 1862, you didn't really see how your American moral standards were miraculously flipped. Van Buren: Can you tell me a little bit? God Lee: (Takes out a book) Look through your "The Portable Emerson" (The Portable Emerson) published by The Viking Press, Inc. RW Emerson wrote a letter to the British writer Thomas Carlyle (Thomas Carlyle), in which he told the bootlegger: Carlyle’s "History of the French Revolution" cannot be pirated for the time being. Carlyle said apologetically, "I find it embarrassing that you educate our youth while we pirate your books. One day we will have better laws, and perhaps you will adopt our laws." But, "There are better laws." "Laws" to protect copyrights, you Americans are not so happy.You Americans know very well that in order to catch up, her home country, Britain, has pirated a large number of books from the European continent.Not only previous convictions, but current offenders, current habitual offenders, as was the case when Emerson wrote the letter.In fact, Britain's piracy of books from the European continent did not stop until 1886; the United States' piracy of books from Britain, Germany, France, and Russia did not stop until 1891.The most wonderful thing is that the rich American who warned the Chinese not to pirate the "Encyclopedia Britannica" today openly pirated the "Encyclopedia Britannica" published in the UK when he was a poor boy!This example just confirms what you said that the moral standards of the United States are being reversed.When he became rich, he condemned others for not copying.Emerson is still of high morality. He was contemporaneous with you, born 30 years after you, and died 20 years after you.

Van Buren: I didn't expect that when I was the president of the United States, the United States would be the stronghold of the pirate version. God Lee: Why differentiate yourself from the pirates?When you are two sides of the same body?As for your saying that you didn’t expect it, I don’t believe it. You are the number one politician among the presidents of the United States. One of your nicknames is “bastard politician” (bastard politician). Jackson was played around by you. Calling; your world is from magic and juggling, isn't it? Van Buren: Jackson was 15 years older than me. In his era, the world relied on fighting.Then the times changed and only we were left...

God Lee: And your morals.This concludes the trial, Martin Van Ruin. Van Buren: Let me correct, it's not Ruin, it's Buren. God Lee: No need to correct, it's Ruin.Let me recite to you a sentence from your contemporary railroad tycoon Vanderbilt (Cornelius Vanderbilt): You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you. (You play me, I will not sue you, the lawsuit is too slow, I will kill you.) Van Buren: Call me that, I admit it, I admire God Lee's attainments in American history, because a nickname that slandered me back then was "Martin Van Ruin".

God Lee: (laughs) Well, now I'm going to try the 9th President Harrison.Retire from the court (beat the mallet and stand up). (The curtain falls.)