The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-06-16
SON OF THE MORNING, HOW ART
THOU FALLEN

Clay, crushing and burying the prospects his
most sanguine friends may have entertained for
his elevation to the Presidency. 10 settles has
destiny Joreper. His standard was everywhere
hoisted his own bold and indomitable spirit
was transfused into his followers throughout the
Commonwealth; his nfammatory letters from
| Washington were everywhere circulated his
pathetic, beautiful, subtle, eloquent farewell, ne
yer excelled since Mark Anthonys Grafton over
the bloody corpse Of Caesar, was repeated in
thrilling tones from the sea-board to the noun
tains by the unrivalled popular orators of Virgi-
mas everything of clap-trap and deception
every incident of a past and brilliant career
every appeal to the pride of Virginia TO, her ma
tive son-every apology for political errors-eve-
~ promise for future orthodoxy-every thing
that would deceive the mind, enlist the feelings,
infame the Imagination and kindle sympathy
all--al were put in requsiton. The Wing par
ty was induced to rally under the banner Of
| Henry Clay-a banner stained with disasters
and Furnished with no victories, but still radi-
ant, like the sun struggling amid clouds, with
the lustre of the great man whose genius il re-
| fleets. Never did party march with more en-
thusiasm to the strife. Drilled like veteran gre
naders, moving but by one impulse, fighting but
for one object, marshalled by experienced Off
GERS, hanked by every advantage and precauon,
supplied with all that wealth and capital could
furnish, and knowing that the utter and final ex-
tinction OF their cause would follow failure, they
shouted the name of Clay and rushed gloriously
into the battle. And lphat is the result? A
| San Jacinto defeat-routed horse foot and dra-
| goons-cut up in detail and in mass-extin-
gushed, exterminated and annihlated-
camp deserted, their entertainments abandoned,
their tortresses surrendered, their standard bro
ken, their army disbanded, and now the banner
of democracy, planted on the tomb Of Jefferson,
pours its floods of light and glory over the broad
limits Of that noble State. We rejoice at the
result. We rejoice not only that it forever puts
to rest the possibility of Mr.. Claws. accession to
| the Presidency, but ii redeems the Wing party
itself from the tyranny Of the Dictator. Mr..
! Clay is not, and never has been, the favorte OF
the mass of the Wing party. The farmers, the
| mechanics, the retail dealers, the laboring men,
the pre-emptoners who may be attached to the
Wings, as a body have never preferred him.
He has always been the organ of the cliques,
the companies, the banks and the manufactu-
rers-and these, from their superior wealth, ia
cilities Of concert and influence over the press,
have uniformly, save in one memorable instance,
contrived to rule the Wing party Time after
time have they forced Mr.. Clay forward as the
| Wing candidate, and as often has he been de-
| faotaJ baliaya hot be cnul1
| have defeated Mr.. Van Buren, in 1910. Ii is
I folly to think so. On that occasion, the Wings
! gained two victories. The workingmen of the
party reused themselves to put down the cliques
in their own ranks they determined to be led
no longer by politicians they went TO Harris
! burg, put down Mr.. Clay and his wire-workers !;
and the very effort, union, vigor and zeal, it was
necessary to create to do that, enabled them the
more easily to win the great victory that followed.
| Had Harrison lived, or had they rallied around
| Tyler adherng to the Harrisburg policy of rul-
| ing off Mr.. Clay, they would have been irresst-
4 ible. But the.men who elected Harrison were
| not politcians-they had no mercenary views
| they suspected no fraud-they laid aside their
| arms and went quietly TO their occupatlons-and
commenced plotting for Mr.. Clay-again at
| tempted to force their accused banking system
| upon the People, sick to the heart of shinplas-
| ters--quarrelled with the President-proected
| tax on the necessaries of life-dagrammed
course of measures to be adopted to make the
rich man richer and the poor poorer-and finally
declared that Henry Clay should be the Wing
can d1nte far tho 10
ence to convention or to the wishes of the
Wing party. What has been the consequence
Why, the Wings have lost all they gained by
the election Of Harrison. In this State, the
Clay candidates-in spite of the money, the ira
duction, the cowardly bulysm brought into
play, were distdnced-and the elections through
out the Union have teen series Of unparalleled
Democratic victories The Wings have all the
elements of great party Numbers, intelli-
gence, talents, patriotism, perseverance, But
they are cursed with cliques-with castes-with
ire-workers-with an aspiring, but shallow
aristocracy. who rely on the length of their
purses and not on the size Of their brains-with
men who underrate the understanding and indie
pendence of the People-who are aristocrats in
principle, and become rowdies when they affect
famliarity-and who never feel that their party
can do enough for them, although that
party may have been defeated for them dozen
times. Men who are ambitious but heartless-
lavish Of money for themselves, but mean and
selfish towards every one else-and whose kind
ness, friendship, and intimacy with their pcli
cal friends, uniformly evaporates with an cleo
pioneering canvass. The Wing party cast off
this class Of men when they put down the
cliqnes and brought forward the patriot Harrison.
They have been defeated every where by per
hitting them again to rule Their recent dis