Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1844-12-19
LETTER FROM HON. JOHN P.
KENNEDY,
To ROBERT G. CAMPBELL, ESQ.,, Presi.
den, OF the Young Mems Henry Clay
Association o? the City OF New York.

hoSOS futiOit VI tjC wy VI ANS" VI n
BALTIMORE, Nov. 81, 1874.
Dear Sri have received your note
Of the Both ult. juformisg me that | had
been unnn:nousl y elected an Honorary
,, MEMBER OF the Young Mems Clay Asso-
citation Of III City and County Of New
York. | desire that you will express my
thanks TO the Association for this comql-
ment, and assure them that set the high.
est value upon their esteem so kindly ten-
d, red to me by your letter.
This manifestation Of the good opinion
Of The Yourg Wings of New York, is not
the less grateful for reaching me at mo
ment of most unexpected disappointment
to that noble party OF which it is our
pride TO be members. We may all gath.
er consolation in this disaster, from the
generous alacrity with which every true
Wing in the land renews his vow Of de-
votion to bis country in this her momen,
Of peril. We have lost our battle, it is
true. Our present hopes have been crush
ed in great national Calamity; but the
spirit Of the Wings has not been crushed;
and we look steadfastly forward to the
dawuing Of brighter day when the still
persevering energy of our friends may
retrieve the shattered fortunes of the Re.
public. The whole land, not the Wing
party alone, is likely TO suffer under the
scourge Of the recent election. The tribe
OF demagogues may rejoice; few poiti-
Cal leaders may rejoice some chosen
<.C of tho Ja
who hunger and thirst for governm' nj
emolumenis, may rejoice the tens Of
thousands who have been duped may re-
joce, perhaps, for little while !; but the
great body Of the American People, even
those who have won, as well as those
who have lost the victory, will mourn
over a triumph that, it will eventually be
found, has struck down the integrity and
the prosperity oil the Nation. 1t will turn
out to be triumph only gained by the
temporary alliance of discol dant factions
who can come to no reckoning with each
other of the true issues for which they
strove, without a mutual scorn tor the
dissimulation by which each has deceived
the other.
In the midst Of this general sorrow
which pervades the ranks of TIE Wings,
we are not without topics Of Joy and con-
graduation. We have a joyful pride in
the consciousness that the great mass #
the worthy, patriotic and the intelligent
OF the land are united, strong and true TO
our cause, the more united, stronger and
truer iR this its adversely because :hey Seel
that now it iuvokes a still more earnest
proof of their attachment to the country.
Never has there been more visible de
monsiraiion Of the hazards 10 which pop.
ular representative government is expos
ed, than that exhibited in the elevation OF
James X. Polk. with all the impedimen,s
of his undistnguished hist nv, and of lis
equivocal principles, which no zeal Of in
vestigation has been successful to explore,
over Henry Clay, the most eminent of
living Statesmen, the purest and bright
est ornament Of the NaHon-that man
who, Of all others, has most thoroughly
identified his name with whatever, 10 the
public annals of bis time, has made our
Union powerful aud happy community.
When such man as the first is dellber.
ately preferred to the latter, we may CEASE
TO boast of that distinctive excellence in
our scheme Of our government which at.
tributes 10 the selection by suffrage the
certainty Of an ADLER Chief than he who
succeeds TO Maglstracy by the accident
Of birth.
The history of this canvass has proved
to us that, in an unhappy emergency, men
OF renown, OF known service, of accumu.
lated honorS, and of long avowed political
sentiments, must needs be thrust aside for
one whose whole strength is found in his
restitution Of all these, and in the unex-
plored medocrity OF his fame and talents.
10 the antagoniSm between these two op-
ponents, the wiser and the better has been
overthrown. What true lover of his
country would not count it a greater hon.
or to fall with Henry Clay than to Use
with such an adversary To fall with all
those who have strlven to promote the
great American aims embazoned upon
his banner, than rise with the shifting
equlvocatlons which on the opponent flag,
have fluttered in the not less variable