The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-04-26
MR.. CLAY'S GENERAL ORDERS! !

MR.. CLAY'S GENERAL ORDERS!
Choosing the United States Gazette as the
medium of his communication to The public, and
speaking in the person of its editor, Mr.. Clay
has honored with his notice some remarks OF
ours, published week or ten days ago. The
paragraph of our article, which Mr.. Clay
makes the subject of his observations is the fol-
lowing:
"As to Mr.. Clay's apparently graceful withdrawal
from the controversy for the sake of harmony, and
the letter produced and read the OCCASION there
was nothing in all this but show Mr.. Clays friends
gave up their persistence their pernacy their
adherence 10 the strongest parliamentary phrase)
to Mr. Clay's nomination., till he was beaten, tho
roughly beaten, irrecoveraby beaten, in the Conven-
ton. And then attempt made, adroit enough,
but such deceived nobody to turn his defeat into
withdrawal"
After sneers at this paper, and attempts at
wit, about as fortunate and apt as his late quo
tation from Blackstone, he pronounces the sub
stance of our remark to be falsehood, and in
tended to deceive; and proceeds to observe:
nTbe popular vote in the Harrisburg Convention
of 1882 was as follows:
Clay, M lO3
Harrison, 6l
Sect, 46
Now to any man who remembers the state of feel
ing in the lower part of New York, and the eastern
part New Jersey it is unnecessary to say that three
fourths of those " no voted for General Scott would
have preferred Mr.. Clay to General Harrison, and in
so doing would have represented the feelings of their
constituents better than they did. And we may say
the same of almost every delegation that gave Scott
vote. And not ttco of those WHO gave HARRISON
vote would have gone to Scott instead of Clay"
There is some art in this statement, and some
plausibity, but nothing more. The attempt is,
to show that Mr.. Clay was the real favorite OF
the Convention, by stating what is called the
popular vote" But that popular vote only
proves that the States favorable to Mr. Clay,
were more numerousy represented In the Con-
vention than the other States. This we all
know to be true; and therefore Mr.. Clay's
friends insisted on deciding the question, not
by receiving from each Delegation as many
votes as the States it came from would give in the
Electoral College, but by polling the whole Con
ventlon and taking the individual vote of every
member present. twas by successful resistance
to this last mode of voting, that the whole coun-
try was enabled to be heard. Each State in
proportion to its real strength; and the conse-
quence of this was Mr.. Clay's defeat. Mr.
Cay's friends, who are not apt to be negligent,
had taken more care than the friends of either
of the other candidates, not to be wanting
in numbers, when the Convention should
assemble and it was, in truth, death blow
to their hopes, and his hopes, to resolve
that a mere numerical vote of the MEM
bers present should not settle the question:
This resolution was adopted on the motion,
and by the support of clear-slghted men, who
saw into things as far as Mr.. Clay, and who
perceived, that without such mode of proceed
ing the result would be no true indication OF
public opinion. But those men MIR, Clay has
never forgiven, and never will forgive. 1t is
within our knowledge thathe has spoken of them
with the utmost anger and bitterness within
the last three weeks. He has been, and still is,
particularly incensed against those, who at first
voted for General Scott, and finally, not sue
ceedng in that first object of their choice, pre-
ferred ultimately General Harrison to MIR. Clay,
and thus secured the nomination of the former
gentleman We see by the remarks on which
we are now commenting, how sharply he re-
sents this. He will have it, that the New York
and New Jersey delegations misrepresented
their constituents, and violated their duty, IN
preferring General Harrison to himself. But
this is all groundless presumption. 1t is mere
Imagination of Mr. Clay's BRAIN New Jersey
was undoubtedly Harrison State, and had
been so for years. and as to New York, no
person of intelligence, acquainted with the cur
rent Of opinion in that State, can suppose that
Mr. CLAW could, under any circumstances, ever
receive the vote of that State.
The Wing strength Of New York lies in the
West, beyond Cayuga bridge, and in that whole
region, with the exception of few personal
friends, Mr.. Clay had never any strength at all,
and never can have, for reasons neither remov-
able nor conquerabe. Ii cannot be proved, ma
dramatically, but it can be shown, to the salts
faction of any reasonable man, and indeed, is
apparent enough TO persons acquainted with the
subject without any showing at all, that if MIR.
CLAW had been the candidate, New FORK would
most assuredly have given her vote for Mr. Van
Buren,. A similar result will happen hereafter,
should there be folly enough, as there is not like
ly to be, to try the experiment. Mr. Clay's at
tempt is to make it out that he ought to hdUe
been the candidate he attempts this by what ne
calls the popular vote'' of the Convention
But even in that vote he had not majority
and therefore he endeavors to raise proof OF a
majority in the country by argument, construc-
ton, and impntation the common resorts O.
defeated candidates. The article even goes the
length of saying, not only against notorious
facts, but also against its own statements, tina
the Convention was composed of ga large ma
e R.,A lie IL.