He indulged in no
species of dissipation, but was temperate and prudent in all things. A
few years later he said of himself, "I eat and drink to live, not live
to eat and drink. Social glasses of wine are my aversion; public dinners
are my abomination; all species of gormandizing my utter scorn and
contempt. When I am hungry, I eat; when thirsty, drink. Wine or viands
taken for society, or to stimulate conversation, tend only to
dissipation, indolence, poverty, contempt, and death."
In 1827 the "National Advocate" changed hands, and, under its new
proprietors, supported John Quincy Adams for President. Mr. Bennett,
being a supporter of Martin Van Buren, then a United States Senator,
resigned his position on the paper, and soon after, in connection with
the late M.M. Noah, established "The Enquirer," which warmly espoused
the cause of Andrew Jackson in the Presidential canvass of 1828. About
this time he became a recognized member of the Tammany Society.
In the spring of 1828 he went to Washington, where he resided for some
time as the correspondent of "The Enquirer." In looking through the
library of Congress one day, he found an edition of Horace Walpole's
letters, which he read with a keen relish.
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