The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-09-04

then referred to the appointment OF John M
Niles, as Postmaster General, VINO not Tour
months AGO was rejected by the people by 1900
votes TO be thus beaten was a sure passport
10 an Executive Office. BY the by, ne said, the
office conferred upon Mr.. Niles was not very
| enviabe one for he had 10 take seat previous
~ oeeupied by creature, than whom more
| despicable creeping reptile could not be named.
His felow-citzens, he presumed, would know
10 whom he alluded
,he i,omoral tendency 10 which such course OF
i administration as he had been abiding TO, would
lad But ne trusted il would be checked-that
he great physician, the Ballot Box, was near al
| hand and that by November the disease wouid
| he ,net hv an effective and most salutary remedy
/ When before had such state of things as now
| exists been known2 When before such dis-
regard OF oLligations2 When before have o4 Out
| 81 land officers proved defaultersi when before
/ have defaulters not only been retained IN ONCE
| after their defalcations were known but abso-
| lutcly reappointedl He referred TO the appoint
| ment of Mr. Livingston as Secretary OF STATE at
/ a time when he was defaulter, but SAID he pre-
| sumed the President did not reflect sufficiently
/ upon the tendency such an appointment Wouiu
| have. He referred TO the Moore and Letcher
case and TO the appointment OF Hooker 10 the
best Office in the county for his services IN that
/ dark TRANSACTION. lie hau nedIu that iioShei
| had since proved defaulter.
| Mr.. Clay said he would like TO address him
/ self directly 10 the democrats within the sound
| of his voice. He wished 10 address them, not
| as enemies, but as brothers, as men equally pa
| triotic and equally devoted with the Wings, 10
| the best interests of the country. We differ,
said he, but upon what subject do men not dlferi
| Have all your hopes been realized in regard TO
the administration Of the government Have
the pledges that were made you, been fulfilled
! Take for example, the one term for the Pres-
dency. Did not the great Captain promise you
| that one term was enough for President to
| serve Was il carried out2 How was the pro-
mise, not TO appoint members OF Congress to
Office, carried out 2 How was the PROMISE 10
redue the eXtravagant expenditures, fulfilled -
What principle was carried out2 what promise
kept2 what pledge redeemed? Is there an adj
minstration man in this vast assenblage that
will answer, shouted the Kentucky orator IN the
loudest tones of his musical voice
Mr.. Clay said he had called the present vast
| assemblage, and he would take that occasion to
declare that there were more people and more
banners there than there were al the great Bal
tmore Convention. And why are there so
many people here, coming together from almost
every State in the Union2
Mr.. Clay said he claimed TO be a democrat in
the true sense of the word-a democrat ready to
stand by or die for his country He referred to
the great contest now going on, and asked that
nothing should be done to the injury of our OPP
ponents All, he sad were interested alike
all were on board the great ship of State-all
were alike interested in the success OF the voy-
age. But there were exceptions to the general
| rule; there were beings in the lead of the party
who could not be hung too high-beings who
set all the baser passions of men to work and
labor constantly and solely for no good. There
| was another class-the boistering Office holders,
the Prntorian band, the Palace Slaves-he was
about TO say Of Martin Van Buren, But then
TO call such man king over such people as
this great concourse oh, he would not so insult
| them!
| Mr.. Clay, in conclusion, addressed the Ten
nesseans particularly. He reverted to the posi-
ton of Tennessee and Kentucky They stood
side BY sde-their sons fought side by side at
| New Orleans. Kentuckians and Tennesseans,
now fight another and different kind of battle.
But they are fighting now, as then, band of
| mercenaries, the cohorts of power, They are
| fighting band of otfice-holders, who call Gen.
Harrison coward, an imbecile, an old woman!
Yes, General Harrison is coward--but he
| fought more battles than any other General dur
| ing the last war, and never sustained defeat
He is no statesman-and yet he has filled more
civil Offices of trust and importance than almost
any other man in the Unionl
/ A man in the crowd here cried out, "Tell us
of Van Buren's battles y
All! said Mr. Clay, will have TO use my col
| leage's language and tell you of Mr. Van Buren's
three great battles He says that he fought
General Commerce and conquered him-that he
fought General Currency and conquered him
and that with his Cuba Allies; he fought the
Semnoles and got conquered
Mr. Clay referred, with great good humor, to
the $4,000 Wing majority of Kentucky, and
asked if generous, chivalrc Tennessee would
not enter the lists of competition with her? lie
doubted not she would make gallant effort to
not only run up alongside, but TO come out ahead
of herr
We have seen no indication that promises
better for the cause of Harrison and Reform
than the result of this great Convention Of the
Southwest 1t inspires new hopes, in quarter
on which the Administration has hitherto chiefly
relied for support That the Western Conven-
lions should have exhibited great numbers and
intense enthusiasm, we expected. That the
Atlantic and Western States should have as.
scmbed their mutitudes at Baltimore, was nc
more than we had right TO anticipate, But that
there should have been on the very ground that
MIR. Van Buren, so confidently claims, demon.
straton SO omnous of his tate-that there should
have been such display of enthusiastic zeal in
the cause of Harrison and Reform in the very
shadow OF the Hermitage, we cannot but admit
was infinitely more than we had any reason tc
hope. In all sections of the country, the good
cause gloriousy prospers-and we assure ON
friends at a distance that it Hourishes no where
more vigorously than in the Empire State OF
New York
| PASSAGES FROM MR.. CRITTENDEN'S
SPEECH AT THE GREAT SOUTH
WESTERN CONVENTION.