Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1848-07-20


Mr. G. B. Duxclk, who vas one q the Louis
lana delegates 70 The Nhig National Convention
Al Philadelphia, has published letter vindicat-
ing the delegation ffgnl csasafe ion some of As
proceedings in the courze of which occurs he
following interesting and important statements
At meeting Of the louisiana Delees-
ton before referred to, IN effort was made
by reason and Argument On the bart Of
the majority 70 secure unanimitv this
however, failed DR.. Brasear and myself
were asked whether Ke had any doubt
about General Tayi5ra b6litics. and m
being 4 true and a. Whig2 DR.
Brasear. aps&sd; nor .;ss =, 8. AZ .rAsi;@a.
on thSA subject, and at a. events he had
none,-that no man in Louisiana who
knew any thing on the subject could doubt
We were then asked whether we had any
doubt about the power Of the friends Of
Gen Taylor to withdraw his name from
the canvass in case he did not receive the.
and his determination to sup
port the nominee in case Of his own with
drawal2 On this point, ] understood DIR.
B. to have no difficulty; hut the case with
inc was far different told them that in
this lay my only difficulty, and although
i knew him to be true7hearted, genuine
Wing on all the great, Fundamental, lead
ing questions past and present of Govern
mental policy, yet that upon this isolated
point / had difficulties of SO grave char
acter as to have induced me publicly to
declare in New Orleans that would not
go to the Philadelphia Convention, and
shat / had been induced to abandon this
resolution only by the urgent solicita-
tons, oral and written, Of many Wings,
for whose opinions / had the the most pro-
found respect, and to oblige whom / was
ready to make any sacrifice The dele
:gates then informed me that the question
had been asked in special reference to the
position which they understood l oecu-
pied. They asked me whether l was will
ing to be satisfied that 1 was wrong -
My answer was that was not only ceiling
but that my sclieitude was boundless.
was then asked whether I was not aware
that Gen. Taylor had said that he never
cffered himself as a candidate-that his
position as such was. the work Of his
friends, that as he had not offered himself,
so he would not withdraw himself, but
his friends might I rePlied that was
aware of all that, but that l wished to
know where the organized body of his
friends could be found, that I might ad-
dress them and thus inform myself upon
the contingency upon which they with
draw him. To this I was informed that
his friends in this Convention. were those
recognized I ash d for the evidence
They asked what 4dencc ] wished To
this I replied tkat thsra are eentltmsE
here, members of this delegation, whom
know from their intimate personal inter
course with General Taylor-the fact that
they arc his neighbors and friends person
al and political-and from my knowledge,
too, of them, that NO word would be utter.
ed by them in which I did not place i'm
plicit reliance If they would say to me
that they had such assurance from Gen:
Taylor, / would be perfectly satisfied
1t was then that they read me letter
from General Taylor himseJ, tclich con-
tanned the recognition Of has friends III The
Philadelphia CoRrentton as those autSsor-
ICED 10 withdraw his name, If they thought
proper, as those referred 10 ia a prerio0S
publication Of his Tat once informed my
friends that this had removed mountain
of difficulty from my mind, and though l
had before resolved, under all circumstan-
ces, to support General Taylor, after the
first ballot, if Mr.. Clay was unsuccessful,
! should now do it with light and cheer
full heart. That WEg as he was, as I
knew him to be-as good Wing as Henry
Clay himself-I thought that the uncer-
tainty which hung over his position on this
point was peculiarly unfortunate
The Louisiana Delegation then discuss
ed The propriety Of their making state
ment to the Convention on this subject
founded on Gen. Taylor's letter. Some
opposed it-not on the ground Of such not
being the duty Of his friends in case he
should not be selected as the nominee, but
that it would be singing Gen. Taylor out
as standing on different platform from
other candidates,-that such a statement
would not be made or expected on behalf
Of any other candidate, and nothing should
be done On his behalf to influence the Con-
vention, which was not done by other can
didates. This discussion ended in de-
termination to draw up d statement in
strict conformity to the letter Of Gen: Tay-
lor,-as literally so as possible and to pre-
sent it to the Convention in the name of
the Louisiana Delegation. Such is the
h <.fk 80 y ~