Weekly national intelligencer., 1848-11-04
THE COMING CONFLICT.

determined, by the sufrages of the People the great
question, 10 whom is to be confded The Executive
authority in this Government for the next four
years; and within eight and forty hours OF the close
of the poll on that day we shall probably know
whether ZACHARY TAYLOR or LEWIS CAss has been
elected President of the United States, they being
the candidates between whom alone the contest lies.
Let US hope that every Wing will devote 10 the
cause OF his country every moment which be can
command Of the few intervening days; for every
such moment is important to her highest and best
interests. Let every man who desires that the
Constitution shall be administered on the principles
Of its founders; that the limits which it has pre-
scribed to The different departments of the Govern
ment should be restored; that the over-reaching
and encroaching spirit Of Executive domination
shall be arresled that the appetite for conquest and
territorial acquisition, which all history procaims
to be fatal to Republics, shall be no longer excited
and stimulated by administrative policy; that the
right of opinion shall be respected that the will of
the People shall be obeyed Let every American
citizen who believes that these issues involved
in next Tuesdays contest, exert, during the brief
interval that remains to him, his utmost ability,
lHHuenCt, energy III idFoi VI CoPlc Cdii-
dda,e, ZACHARY TAYLOR.
In contemplating the life Of this ustrious man,
we feel as if reading the story Of heroic age.
Widely distinguished from, and far above, tha. class
of warriors whose merits exclusively Of mill
tary kind, lie has shown in his whole career quail
ties emnently adapted to civic employment and
especially fitting him 10 be the Chief Magistrate Of
Republic. The same irmness, the same equa-
nimity, the same sagacity, the same forethought,
the same dedication Of self country which, thirty
six wears ago, characterized what a high military
authority called the almost unparalleled defence"
of Fort Harrison, and revived the spirit of the coun-
try, dropping with the shame Of the surrender of
the Northwestern Army-these same qualities have
marked every subsequent stage of his glorious
course. In every situation in which he has been
placed he has shown himself equal 10 the emer-
gency, however great. Never has he disappointed
public expectation, but, on the contrary, always
transcended it. till his achievements taught his coun-
try to expect every thing from him shor, OF actual
-impossibtes. But, in regard TO the crownng
glory of his life, his country, though she knew he
would do his duty, did not venture TO expect that;
the administration, whose good name was SO
closely bound in the success Of the war into which
it had uncons .tuonally and madly plunged the
country did not expect it. All that the Admins
tration dared to hope for-all that it pretended to
have given him the ability to do-was that he would
fall back on Monterey. 1t advised him to do SO.
Influenced by high military reasons, he rejected the
advice, and. in so doing, fought the battle of Buena
Vista to use his own words, with /" halter round
his neck" II was expected, he said, that left at
The mercy Of the enemy as he was. he would re-
treat or resign. 4 shall do neither, he declared,
in the same spirit of calm heroism in which he had
said. al the outset of the Mexican war, IL the
enemy oppose my march, in whatever force, shall
fight him." He fought the enemy, and achieved
a victory. under circumstances which would have
made il impossible to any but man Of high intel
lectual and moral qualities. We are told that, in
the heat Of the engagement, the parallel occurred to
him. as TO disparity of forces, between his stu,
alton and that of Henry v. at Agincourt. Reflect
ing on his position the night after that dreadful
battle, when surrounded by force quadruple of
his own, and determined to renew the battle on the
break Of day, we are involun,arly reminded of the
passage in Shakspeare's play of Henry V. which,
with the variation Of word or two only applies
to the Hero Of Buena Vista with almost as much
aptness as TO him Of Agincourt OF old
o, now, who will behold
The noble captain Of this weary band
Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent,
Let him cry, Praise and honor his head
For forth he goes and visits all his host;
Bids them good morrow with a modest smile,
And calls them brothers, friends, and counirymen.
Upon bis manly face there is no note
How dread army has surrounded him;
Nor Goth he dedicate one jot Of color
Unto the weary and alwatched night;
But freshly looks and overbears a,tant
With cheerful sembaacc.
Jus. so didnct our brave old General bear him
self, after breaking up his midnight council, with
full expectation Of renewing that fearful fight, and
until the dawn of day discovered that the adversary
had fled the field
The more closely the character Of our candidate
is scanned the more does il commend itself TO the
admiration Of his coun;rymen. Every ray Of light
which partisan scrutiny has shed on it, has brought
into view some merit which his own modesty had
concealed His strict sense Of justice, his consider
alton for the feelings Of others, which gave him un-