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GENERAL TAYLOR'S POSITION. Some object, said the speaker, to General Taylor, because he is from the South, and is a slaveholder. Are we not one people? Do you not love the Union? Have I not the same rights as a Kentuckian, to all the benefits of our glorious Union, that you have as Pennsylvanians? We are one people, from the Atlantic to the Pacific; from our most Northern line to the Rio Grande, we are one people-it is all my country-it is all yours. There is no country, there never was a country, like this. Rome, in her mightiest days, never possessed so vast and splendid a country as this-so grand, so great, so glorious. Our destiny is as glorious as our country, if we hold together, and do not suffer sectional prejudices to divide us. We speak one language-our identity is the same we are one consolidated people--and our success has hitherto been glorious and unprecedented. Shall we, then, divide in feeling? No! no! No matter where our man is from, if he is an American. Gen. Taylor, in his feelings, knows no South, no North, no East, no West. He is an American. Where has he lived? In his tent for forty years. His home, for forty years, has been under the American Flag!-the flag of his whole country. He is a national man-he has lived everywhere, wherever the flag waves! He is not a Southern man—he is an American! He proscribes no one, either of the North or South; and will you proscribe him for the accident of birth and home? He condemns no man for the institutions of his State. Will you condemn him? He is a kind, generous, noble old man-a true American in heart.

GEN. TAYLOR'S HABITS.

He is a temperate man-he never drank a bottle of spirits in his life. His habits are exemplary.

GEN. TAYLOR'S INFLEXIBILITY OF CHARACTER. Finally, said the speaker, he is a man you cannot buy a man you cannot sell-a man you cannot scare--and a man who never surrenders !*

If this be not sufficient to convince those who are afraid of being betrayed, let them read the following from a gentleman long versed in political affairs, and whom our readers will not readily suspect of any design of demoralizing' the party. The Hon. Daniel D. Barnard, in reply to an invitation from the Whig General Committee, to attend the Ratification Meeting in New York, wrote thus:†

*New York Tribune, June 23d. † Courier and Enquirer.

It is a case not un

ALBANY, June 12, 1848. GENTLEMEN:-It will not be in my power to be in New York on the occasion of the Whig Ratification Meeting, on the 14th inst, to which you have done me the honor to invite me. I approve of the prompt call of this meeting; and if I were, or could be on the spot, I should attend, and join in "responding to the nominations made at Philadelphia ;" though I could not do so without a struggle with myself. To me, it would not be unlike going to a festival immediately after having witnessed the funeral obsequies of some long-cherished friends, while my inclinations would lead me rather to stay behind with the mourners. like the state ceremonies observed in other countries, when the monarch dies, and his successor is instantly proclaimed. The cry is"The king is dead-long live the king." CLAY, WEBSTER, SCOTT, eminent men and civilians all, of tried and known principles, sink down before our eyes, while, rolling in upon us from the South, a popular mountain wave sweeps over them, on the crest of which is borne in triumph the successful and war-worn soldier, ZACHARY TAYLOR. The cry is instantly raised--long live Zachary Taylor! Well, as the monarchy cannot do without its king, so this Republic cannot do without its President, and the Whig party must have its candidate. A National of the Whig party, has proclaimed the name of Convention, speaking, by authority, in the name General Taylor as a fit candidate before the American people for the Presidency. The

alternative candidate is General Cass-and

there is no other. As one of the people, I shall take General Taylor for my candidate, and not General Cass. I believe he is a better soldier, a better man, and will make a better President for the country than General Cass. And I am ready, as a Whig, without waiting to hear further from him, to tender him my support, and my humble but earnest efforts for his election; but I do this in the full confidence that he will show himself in the government to be a man thoroughly imbued with Whig principles. Taking these principles into the administration with him, and calling about him the right sort of agencies for their maintenance, I shall not, for one, like him any the less, if he shall seem, as President, to think more of his country than of the Whig party. I shall like him the better if he shall put his country before any party. I shall not indulge in any fear that the Whig party can suffer, so long as its cherished principles are maintaiaed by official authority and the power of the government.

If we may see the new dynasty-or rather I should call it, perhaps, the last phase of an old dynasty-the worst and most mischievous the country has ever seen-which began with Mr. Polk, also end with him, instead of being elongated under General Cass; a dynasty, whose brief career in the person of President Polk has

been signalized by the absorption of nearly all authority into Executive hands, by an unhallowed war of invasion and conquest, by the creation of an enormous debt, by the neglect and sacrifice of the great economical interests of the country, and by a policy looking at once to the extension of the political power of the slave interest, the acquisition of foreign and distant possessions, and the necessary exercise of a vast, overshadowing and imperial power at the seat of the Federal government;-if we may see an end put to this dynasty; if we may see the Congress of the United States once more become the government; if we may see the

Executive office once more reduced to its constitutional limits, and its power handled with modesty, and with becoming deference to the representatives of the national wants and the national will; if we may see peace and not war -the growth of freedom and not the spread of slavery-made the policy of the administration; if we may see the government mainly anxious for the consolidation of our Union rather than its infinite extension, for the improvement, advancement and true glory of our country as it is, rather than an external aggrandizement, to be maintained only by wars, secured, if at all, only at the cost of order, quiet, public virtue, popular contentment and felicity, and finally of the Union, and of liberty itself;-if we may look to the promise of advantages like these from the election of Gen. TAYLOR to the Presidency and we have many assurances that we may-certainly every Whig, and every patriotic and good citizen, will have occasion to rejoice over that election with unspeakable gladness and joy. In this confidence, I for one am ready to join the Whig party, and the people, in bearing Gen. TAYLOR forward to his destined place in the exalted seat once occupied by the Father of his Country.

I am, gentlemen, with great respect, Your obliged friend and fellow citizen, D. D. BARNARD. Messrs. J. H. Hobart Haws, Joseph R. Taylor, and Royal H. Thayer, Committee of Correspondence.

We cannot but be satisfied with such testimony. Had General Taylor ever discovered a taint of Locofocoism, his enemies would by this time have raked it out of oblivion. But there is no proof, nor at present any suspicion, of the kind, even in the mind of the most discerning of those who know him. We seek no further proof and shall not agitate the question; we hold it certain that the affections and prejudices of the nominee incline him to the side which we advocate. We do not ask of him an immediate declaration on every point of Whig policy. As he is

honest and prudent, he cannot speak without deliberation: his mind has been occu

pied with military affairs; in these he is well versed; but as the genius of the great commander differs but little, perhaps not at all in its kind, from that of the civil chief, we may be sure his government will be devoid neither of energy, wisdom,

nor economy.

With energy, prudence and moral force, qualities equally necessary in the Commander and the Governor, the history of the Mexican war shows him to be largely endowed: the same qualities that fitted him to plan a campaign and control the movements of armies, will go with him into the Presidency.

Our confidence in Mr. Clay as candidate was unlimited; but it was the character and principles of the man, and not the fact of his being a civilian, that that confidence": gave his traits are those of a great general as well as of a great statesman; he resembles those heroes who have been equally successful in the field and in the cabinet; the same moral force that makes him what he is could not fail to have made him a great general; it fits him equally to make successful use either of civil or of military science. Prudence, firmness, justice; invincible resolution, contempt of opinion, of danger and of accident, an elevated spirit;these features enter equally into the character of him who defends with success, and of him who justly governs, a free people.

In losing his powerful support the party lose indeed many prospects of advantage; yet it cannot be denied that the present nomination offers opportunities of reform of vast importance to the nation. By an election less violent and more popular, contested not so much against men as against principles and measures, the opportunity will occur of breaking down the system of party patronage to a great extent, and removing a cause of bitterness and contention more injurions than any other to the morals and happiness of the people.

If the private opinions of Gen. Taylor do not fully agree, upon speculative points, with those of the majority, he will not entertain the nation with badly written essays upon Free Trade, under the name of messages to Congress; a conduct of which one look at his countenance may convince us he is incapable.

"This document went to show that Gen.

His friends

Taylor had taken no part in bringing his name
before the American people.
throughout the Union had placed him promi-
nently before the country, to occupy the high
office that was once held by the Father of his
Country. General Taylor considered himself
in the hands of his friends; and under the cir-
cumstances in which he had been brought for-
ward, he did not think it proper to withdraw

himself.

"Gen. Taylor wished it to be understood that,

It seems to be taken for granted by many | the attention of the Convention to the Whigs, that the integrity of the party can statement which he proposed to read. be maintained by none but an ultra Whig. Admitting this to be true, it is not at all certain that any one of the gentlemen nominated by the Convention were real ultra Whigs; we do not know that General Scott, or Mr. Clay, would fully agree with the ultra Whigs of Massachusetts, in all their views of Whig doctrine; or that Mr. Webster would in all particulars coincide with Mr. Clay, two independent minds scarcely ever harmonize perfectly. Mr. Clay might be too lenient towards the South, and Mr. Webster towards the North. It would very probably happen that questions of policy would arise on which the opinion of these gentlemen would not harmonize with that of Congress; all we should demand of them, in that event, would be, that they should not oppose the expressed opinion of the majority unless it was certain that Congress had acted hastily, or under an undue or improper feeling, which time and reconsideration would abate.

In regard to war, General Taylor has declared himself opposed to wars of aggression, and we are assured that he is not the man to excite a conquest fever in the minds of the people. Himself a humane and successful soldier, he knows too well the evils of a successful war to hurry us needlessly into a contest: nor is he likely to follow the policy of the present administration, which ruined itself by an enterprise, of which the only good results were to the glory of its political enemies.

The second disqualifying objection to our candidate was, that he had insulted the party by declaring himself an independent candidate, and saying that he should run, whether nominated by the Convention or not. The validity of this very serious objection was destroyed by the declaration of the General's friends in the Convention. On the second day of Convention, (Thursday, June 8th,) before proceeding to the first ballot, Judge Saunders of Louisiana obtained permission to read a statement presented by the delegation from Louisiana in reference to the position of General Taylor. He said, knowing General Taylor as he had long done, and knowing that his position had been misunderstood and misconceived, he called

IN HIS OPINION, HIS FRIENDS WERE BOUND TO
ABIDE BY THE DECISION AND WILL OF THE

CONVENTION, he being impressed with the ne-
cessity of a change in the Administration, and
thus of saving the country from its downward
But his friends would withdraw his
career.
nominee of the Convention."*
name from the canvass, unless he should be the

Thus by the clearest evidence, this most serious objection to the nominee is completely removed. He is a fair and honorable candidate of the Whigs, and the nominee strictly of the Whigs: it is impossible under these circumstances either to neglect or to oppose him.

When the Whig Delegates met in Philadelphia, and organized a Convention for the choice of a candidate, they pledged themselves virtually, by that act, to sustain, or at least not to injure, or oppose to the detriment of the party, the nominee of the Convention. If, after all that has been done and conceded, they withdraw their support from the nominee, it will of course be from reasons that can be explainedreasons of a solid and tangible character; but from no quarter, as yet, have we heard any such reasons.

The Convention was agreed upon as a necessary means for the integrity of the party. The delegates were not sent there to elect this or that man; their constituents knew very well, what they had often declared, that the members of the Convention did not go to Philadelphia to elect some one man whom they had in view, but only to elect a candidate who that candidate might be, was a question which only the event could decide.

The members of the Convention went

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there in good faith and with no sinister sentiments. They went for the party, to ascertain the sentiment of the majority; and by that sentiment it was their intention to abide. The vote which they cast pledged both them and their constituents to the nominee, whoever he might be.

Had any informality been suffered; had any fraud been practiced in Convention; had the friends of any one of the candidates been threatened, or in any way improperly influenced, there might be a doubt -there might be a question raised, how far they were bound to the nomination. But there was no informality, there was no improper influence; it was an honorable Convention, and its proceedings were judicious and satisfactory.

Six names were offered to be voted for, namely, those of Messrs. McLean, Clayton, Webster, Scott, Clay, and Taylor. The whole number of votes cast was 279. Of these Judge McLean had two votes, one from Ohio and one from Iowa.

The Hon. J. M. Clayton, of Delaware, had four votes; three from his own State, and one from New York.

The Hon. Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, had twenty-two votes; twelve from his own State, sir from his native State, and three from Maine.

Gen. Scott had forty-three votes, of which twenty were from Ohio, and nine from Indiana.

The Convention thus discovered that of the six candidates, four were nominated by single States or sections of country, and not by a diffused and national vote.

Had the forty-three votes cast for Gen. Scott been from all parts of the Union, it would have had a more sensible effect upon the Convention in his favor; but as this first ballot was to be a test of the relative popularity and nationality (if we may so speak) of the candidates, it was the most important of the whole, and necessarily threw out four of the names, notwithstanding that it was supposed that many would continue to vote their favorite names to the last. The question of reputation or of the people's choice, now lay between two candidates, namely, between Mr. Clay and Gen. Taylor.

The first of these gentlemen received 97 votes out of 279, something less than a third of the whole. These votes were

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given by twenty different States, New York however giving twenty-nine of the whole, which showed a great concentration of feeling for Mr. Clay in that particular State, analogous to the feeling of Ohio for Gen. Scott, and that of Massachusetts for Mr. Webster, and that of Delaware for Mr. Clayton. These great names are best beloved by those who stand in the best position to appreciate them.

The remaining candidate, Gen. Taylor, had 111 votes, scattered through twentytwo States.

The vote for General Taylor at the first ballot was 111; seven entire States cast an undivided vote for him, namely, the States of Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and Georgia. From the Eastern delegations he had six votes; from the Middle States 11 votes ; from the Western 15 votes; the remainder, being more than two thirds of the whole, Southern votes.

Mr. Clay had 16 Eastern votes: 13 Western: 23 Southern; the remainder from the Middle States. He had the undivided vote of two States, Maryland and Connecticut.

nance.

A second, third and fourth ballot gave General Taylor a still greater predomiHe now had the undivided vote of thirteen entire delegations, namely: Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island.

Mr. Clay had now the votes of no one entire delegation. Of his original 97 32 continued to vote for him. In this final ballot of 297 votes, General Taylor, having 171, a majority of all the votes, was declared duly elected candidate of the party. It was observed in this last ballot, that General Scott's votes rose to 63, whereas at first he had but 43.

The Convention then proceeded to the choice of a candidate for the Vice Presidency. Four names were presented, to wit: Abbott Lawrence, of Massachusetts, Millard Fillmore, of New York, Andrew Stewart, of Pennsylvania, and Thos. M. T. McKennan, of the same State. The choice fell upon Mr. Fillmore, who at the second ballot received 173 votes, Mr. Lawrence having 87.

Such are the most remarkable particulars of the election. The nomination was

received with applause and satisfaction, and the Convention discovered throughout a proper sense of propriety and decency, both in conduct and expression.

We conclude by presenting our readers with the following extract from an article in the Albany Evening Journal, as we have met with nothing that seemed more judiciously expressed :—

He expressed the hope that his friends would go into the Whig National Convention "pledged heart and soul" to the support of its nominee, add ing that that nominee would have his best wishes for success. These sentiments, but for what we must regard as an error of judgment in the friends of Gen. Taylor at Washington, would have been made known three weeks ago. Before the Whigs of the Union, therefore, Gen. Taylor stood, when the National Convention met, in a false position. This, however, was less his own error than the error of the Whig friends in whom he confided.

Gen. Taylor, though just what his answer to Col. Haskell, of Tennessee, imports—“ I am a Whig and a quarter over"-having been forty years in the army, was wholly unlearned and unpracticed in politics. His position now became as embarrassing as it was novel. The friends who enjoyed his confidence acquiesced in, if they did not advise the course he has pursued. That course complicated and perplexed the question. In all that was done, however, the FACT that he was and is a WHIG is fixed and remains.

We come not now to commend or to approve Gen. Taylor's letters. Though showing him independent, honest, and patriotic, time has proved that the idea of a "no party" President is wholly impracticable. And this truth, we doubt not, is as apparent to Gen. Taylor as it was and is to the troops of Whig friends whom his letters pained but could not alienate.

At an early day, before Gen. Taylor's political sentiments were known, leading men of the Administration party declared in his favor for President. But when the fact that he is a Whig became fixed, they generally fell off. Several such who had been nominated as electors, or who had been active in Taylor meetings, gave public notice of their secession, assigning as their reason, that they could not support a Whig. Those who adhered to him, regularly or irregularly, and of whatever political hue, finally referred their hopes and based their expectations upon the action of the Whig National Convention. They are therefore merged in the Whig party. Gen. Taylor is now, his friends having unreservedly pledged themselves to abide the result of the Whig National Convention, the candidate of the Whig party. To the past, well-intended but illjudged, there is an oblivion. In the future,

there will be abiding faith on the one hand, and enduring fidelity on the other.

It remains for us only to inquire what are the principles of our candidate, and what will be the character of his administration? Upon these topics we shall speak freely and frankly, from unquestionable authority, but as briefly and concisely as possible.

Gen. Taylor is by birth and early education, a Republican. His father, “Col. Dick Taylor," (as he was familiarly and honorably known in Kentucky,) was an elector of President who voted first forJefferson, and then for Madison. In 1808 Zachary Taylor received his first commisson in the U. S. Army, with which he has ever since been gloriously connected. He can look back through that long vista of trial and privation without finding a reproach upon his name or a stain upon his escutcheon. He has had no quarrels with his brother officers and no collisions with his fellow-citizens. He is "a Whig, though not an ultra one." But he is a Whig who was warmly in favor of encouraging American Industry; and after the National Debt was extinguished, he was as warmly in favor of a distribution of the proceeds of the Public Lands among the heirs of the Republic, as "the most just, equitable and federal" disposition of that surplus. He is a Whig who warmly opposed those wild Governmental Experiments which brought bankruptcy and ruin upon the people and the country. He is a Whig who warmly opposed the Annexation of Texas, foreseeing, as did other Whigs, that it would inevitably involve us in War and Debt. He is a Whig who, deprecating the spirit of conquest, was opposed to the subjugation or the dismemberment of Mexico. ***

Gen.

There is, however, another and a higher question involved in this issue. Shall the geographical boundary, and the political power of slavery, be enlarged and augmented by means of the territory wrung from Mexico? Taylor is identified by birth, location and interest, with the South and its institutions. He is a planter and a slaveholder. But what have been his sentiments upon these questions? Though a Southern man, like Messrs. Crittenden, Berrien, Mangum, Clingman and other distinguished Southern Whigs, he was firm and uncompromising in his opposition to the Annexation of Texas; and, to our shame and dishonor be it remembered, that while Kentucky and North Carolina and Tennessee cast their Electoral Votes against the Texas and Mexican War Candidate, New York! and Pennsylvania ! and New Hampshire! and Maine! are ingloriously responsible for the election of Polk, the Annexation of Texas, the War with Mexico, and all their attendant consequences! It was from no wish and no fault of Gen. Taylor, that we have Texas and a part of Mexico.

But now that we have, by virtue of conquest and treaty, vast territorial acquisitions, the

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