The Express.
London, England, 1848-08-16 00:00:00

GENERAL TAYLOR,

A recent number of the New York Courier and
Enquirer contains the following account of General Taylor,
the candidate for the Presidentship. This notice, it should
be added, is written by me of the General's partisans :
Zachary Taylor was born in Orange county, Virginia' on
the 2lth Nov., 1786, upon the soil which, in the words of
John R ,ndolph, is "fertile in presidential candidates."
While he was but a few months old, his father, Col. Richard
Taylor, who had distinguished himself in the war of the re-
volufioa, migrated with his family to Kentucky. Ile was
0.. e of the early pioneers. But ten years before, tor the first
time had the habitation of the white man hero seen any where
in the vast territory between the western boundary of
Virginia, and the far distant Mississippi. With his rifle,
even at the time of Col. Taylor's arrival, the enterprising
settler was compelled to dispute with the Indian and the
beasts of prey his title to the soil. There was a great deal
of useful, though rough discipline, in the hardships of a
border life. The dangers to which the inhabitants were
continually exposed, gave them self possession, a readiness
for emergencies, a d a conic rapt of peril, admirably adapted
to success in important undertakings. All the intellect was
brought into play, sharpened, and fitted for action.
It is a somewhat curious coincidence in the lives of
Daniel Webster and Zachary Taylor—one the greatest
statesman, the other the gr• ateet soldier of the co.:ntry—
that their earliest youth should have been passed under
such similar circumstances. The log cabin in which
Mr. We' ster was horn was on the remote frontiers of New
Hampshire. No smoke rose north of it this side of Mont-
real. His father, an officer, too, in the revolutionary army,
cultivated, when not engaged in the defence of his country,
• small farm for his own and family's subsistence. He was
obliged to carry to the field his rifle no li es than his line err
scythe. For till after the war of the revolution, the inhabit-
an's of the frontiers towards Canada were often exposed to
the predatory and a:fiords-mug excursions of the Indian. For
both of the now eminent men we speak of, this school, severe
OS it was, afforded no ordinary instruction. They stn,ve the
harder against circumstances seemingly adverse. They grew
up superior ; the one in arms, the other in council. And
such was the early training of either, such the character and
discipline of their mind and the nature of their pur-
suits, that their destinies might have been reversed by can-
trolling circumstances; the soldier and mate:man has;
changed parts, and become equally distinguished in relations
the opposite of the present. The trophies of Wellington
might have been Webster's, the glory of Canning, Taylor',
Both of these men, when young, were accustomed to hard
manual labour—aiding their Whirs in tilling the soil. Tnis
early exposure to the .everity en', a iciasitude a of the weather,
hardy habits and homely rare, laid the foundation of con-
stitutions, vigorous and even now uoinjuri ei at the age of 62
years Bat . attended schools in the winter months, when-
ever a school, however distant, a as accessible, and in summer
worked on the farm.
To soung Taylor the adventures of the school-Louie some-
what fereshadowed hi. !saute life. On one occasion an In-
dian, in the British uniform, was shot in its immediate
eicicity. And a schoolmate, or rather predecessor of his at
achool, gained a brilliant reputation among his associates,
from having started four Indiana near the school-house, and
successively shot them a:l in a running 'ight. This person,
Whetael by name, became aft; rwarde tutor in the art of war
to Taylor—the P. (unix .1 the American Achilles. His resit Is
and his example undoohteilly exercised a controlling in
fluence upon young Taylor's ductile disposition, and
madelong to iollow to the held some warlike
lord." Nor was the favourite study of young Taylor other
wise than encouraging to the formation of a military
taste. " Plutarch's Lives" he prized above all other books.
An irrepressible desire seized him to become, like Plutarch's
heroes, eminent for services rendered to his country. Upon
the models thus selected he fashioned himself. And who is
there that in these after days has become acquainted with
his history but will acknowledge that he has surpassed in con-
duct and in character the subjects of his imitation t While
he was yet under age, the movements of Astor Burr, in the
West, seemed to threaten the integrity of the Union, and he
eagerly enrolled himself in a troop raised to oppose
all treasonable designs. The excatemert upon this subject
soon subsiding he ri turned to the labours of his farm,
and to his studies, with • disposition, however, to serve
his country in arms much stimulated by what he had
seen of mimic war. An elder brother dying soon after, a
lieutenant in the army, he was, through the influence of his
relative, James Madison, appointed to the vacancy by Presi-
dent Jefferson, the 3rd of May, 1808.
Gen. Taylor no sooner entered the service of
.his country
than he exposed his life in her. cause. His
his
achieve-
ment was hardly less than a nairacle. By detence of Fort
Harrison against odds than is any but
.our time and our
pantry would have been deemed romantic, he saved a whole
frontier from devastation and ruin. From that early exploit,
as from a corner-stone, his fame has gradually risen, until
its summit o'erlooks a world. Forty years have witnessed
his devotion to his country; bin arms have used "their
dearest action in
.the tented field." He never hesitated to
'-ht, he never