The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1848-08-01
GEN. TAYLOR.

An intelligent occasional writer in the New
York Courier and Enquirer gives the follow
ing Extracts of Letter from the Hon. JOHN
C. SPENCER, who, while Secretary Of War,
was necessarily brought into frequent commu-
cation with Gen. TAYLOR, which gives a more
Just idea of his civil qualifications than per-
haps any thing that our readers have before
seen
"You ask me to communicate the opinion
which you understand has been expressed by
me, in reference to the attainments OF Gen.
TAYLOR, derived from his correspondence with
the War Department during the time it was
in nv charge. 1t is very true, i have often
stated my high opinion not only Of the sound
Judgment and unsurpassed discretion of Gen
erai TAYLOR, but also of his capacity as VIII
ter; and when doubts were cast upon the au-
thorship of the admirable dispatches which
came from Mexico under his name, declar-
cd uneduivocally my thorough conviction that
he was the author of them. And stated my
reasons for this conviction; that his official
letters and other communications which had
fallen under my observation contained the
same condensed vigor of thought and express
sion. the same peculiarities ofstvlc, ard beau
tv, and force Of language, that characterized
his Mexican dispatches; and that, from CIR
cumstances personally known TO me, | was GER
tain that he could not have had the aid in wrl-
tine the letters and communications referred
TO. which some of fhe newspapers alleged had
been rendered to him in Mexico. This opin-
ion now deliberately reiterate. You and
know perfectly well that persons who are in
the habit of literary composition can detect
the STYLE, manner Of thought, and turn Of ex-
preston of a writer, after having been ac-
auainted with some of his productions, with
certainty at least equal to that with which an
expert in penmanship can decide upon the sig
nature of one whom he has seen write his
name.
81 do not mean TO deny thTt Cen LAY
IoR. like General WASHINGTON, and like
every other modest man, may have had tne aiu
of a literary friend Unlocking over his despatch
es, written, as they must have Deen' uhder
oreat excitement and sometimes IN haste and
fbat friend may have erased a redundant word
or phrase. or rounded period. Hthis be evI-
dnnco of incapacitv. who shall escape? 1t Is
notorious that the writings of WASHINGTON,
and particularly his Farewell Address, under
vent the revision of Gen. HAMILTON; and
that the message and public communications
ofevery other President have always been sub
iectcd to the critical examination Of his C"bi-
net. Indeed do not hesitate to say that the
men who will submit important public papers
to the public scrutiny without the revision ofa
friend, when it can be obtained, will evince
more presumption Than good sense
For forty years Gen. TAYLOR has been IN
the military service of the country; more than
thirty years of the time in garTisons and AMI at at
nosts. where in a time Of peace he has had u
bundant leisure. His habits arc adml; tie on
all sides to be exemplary and Ih he to t5. be h AMY
n T, been his occupations during the tedi-
a p daT:, weeks, months, and years of garrison
J ut The answer to the question may Oe
found in the rich, manly, and condensed
thought that makes his compositions models Of
en;stolary writing. And it may be found IN
the significant fact stated by the veteran Gen.
GIBsoN to Mr.. CRITTENDEN, and by him pro-
claimed at Pittsburg that he had been for ma
nv years associated with Gen. TAYLOR In mil,
tary service, and frequently on courts martial