The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1848-09-12

wen NONA AOiuNSh1 90 II
and townsmen, and to meet you to-day. am
not unwilling TO avail myself of this occasion
to signify 10 the people of the United States
my opinions upon the present state of our pub
lie affairs. l shall perform that duty certainly
with great frankness-I hope with candor.
1t is not my purpose to-day to endeavor to
carry any point-to act as anv mans advocate
to put up or put down any body. l wish,
and l propose, to address you in the language
and in the spirit of conference and consul
tation.
ln the present extraordinary crisis of our
public concerns, / desire TO hold no mans con-
science but my own.
My own opinions | shall communicate free
ly and fearlessly, with equal disregard 10 con-
sequences, whether they respect myself or re-
specl others.
We are on the eve of a highly important
Presidential election. In two or three months
the people of this country will be called upon
to elect a President of the United States and
all see and all feel that the great interests of
the country are to be affected, for good or G.
vii, by the results of that election.
Of the interesting subjects over which the
person who shall be elected must necessarily
exercise more or less control, there are esEe-
Oldlil lu1Ctf NltelAAl NOilLNNlCh. III III jug
ment, with the honor and happiness OF the
country.
In the first place, the honor and happiness
of the country imperatively require that there
shall be achicf magistrate elected who shall
not plunge US into further wars Of ambition
and conquest.
In my Judgment, the interests Of the coun-
try and the feelings of a vast majority require
it - Dco~,Iout - +boeo TT,,ta1 Sto4,, elnuIl
be elected, who will neither use official influ-
ence 10 promote, nor who feels any desire in
his heart to promote the further extension OF
slavery in this community, great eheeTing,O
or the further influences of it i'll the public
councils.
In the third place, if have any just csti-
mate-if an experience, (nct now a short one,)
i'll public affairs has enabled me 10 know any
thing of what the public prosperity demand,
In the next place l say, that the state of the
country does require an essential reform IL
the system Of revenue and finance, such a:
shall restore the prosperity, by promoting The
industry and fostering the labor Of the coun
try in its various branches.
There are other things important. I vii
not allude to them. These three / hold essen
tial.
4uCIG dTG lHINC Cd0ulOdlCS DTCsGHlGu tHN
choice of the American people.
General Taylor is the Wing candidate
standing upon the nomination of the Wing
Convention. Gen. Cas- is the candidate OF
the opposing and now dominant party in
the country; and a third candidate is present.
ed in the person of Mr.. Van Buren,, by a CON
%ventlon OF fellow-citizens assembled at Bufla-
10, whose ohject-or whose main object-as 1t
appears TO me, is contained in one of these
considerations which ! have mentioned; and
that Is, the prevention of the further increase
OF slavery. An object in which YOU and !,
gentlemen, so far as that goes, entirely concur
with them, | am sure.
Most of us who are here to-day are Wings
National Whigs--M massachusetts, WhieS-Old
Colony Wings, and Marshfeld Wings. (cheeys.)
and IT the Wing nomination made at Philadel
phla were entirely satisfactory to the people
Of Massachusetts, and to US, our path Of duty
would be plain.
The nomination of a candidate for the Pres
ldency made by the Wing Convention at
Philadelphia, is not satisfactory to the Wings
OF Massachusetts that is certain; and it will
be idle to attempt to conceal the fact.
1t Is now more just and more patriotic to
take facts as they are, and things as they are,
and declare our own conviction of duty from
what exists before us.
However respectable and distinguished in
the line ofhis own profession, or however es-
Unable as a private citizen, Gen. TAYLOR is a
military man, and a military man merely. He
has had no training in civil affairs. lie has
performed no functions of a civil nature I'M
der the Constitution of his country. lie has
been known, and is known only by his brill
liant achievements at the head of an army.
Now the Wings of Massachusetts, and l a.
mongst them, are Of opinion that it was not
wise nor discreet, to 20 TO the army for the Sc
lection of a candidate for the Presidency of
the United States. 1t is the first instance
in our history IN which any man Of mere mil
itary character has been proposed FOR that
high Office.
Gen. Washington was a great military
character: but by far a greater civil charac-
ter. He had been employed in the councils
Of his country from The earliest dawn OF the
Reyolution-he had been in The Continental
Congress-he had established a great char
ac.er for civil wisdom and judgment.
After the war, as you know, he was elect
ed a member Of that Convention which form
ed the Constitution orihe United States and
it il one of the most honorable tributes ever
pau ~ AiAHif Aid OJ nav oSSCiuDil VI EOOu
and wise men he was selected to preside o.
yer their deliberations And he put his
name, first and foremost, 10 the Constitution
under which we live.
President Harrison was bred a soldiers and
at different periods cf his life rendered impor
FAINT military services. But President Harri-
son nevertheless, was, for a much greater Pc
riod of his life, employed in civil, than in
military service. For twenty years he was
either Governor of the Territory, member
of one or H. other Houses OF Congress. or
Minister abroad and discharged all these
duties to the saIisfa cIion of his country.
This case, therefore, stands by itself
without precedent or justification from any
thing in our previous history. 1t is on this
account, as / imagine, that the Wings Of
Massachusetts feel dissatisfied with this nom
nation. There may be others-there are
othe.s-they are, perhaps, of less Importance
aud more easily 10 5e answered.