The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1848-08-01
SPEECH OF MR.. CLAYTON,
OF DELAWARE,
IN DEFENCE OF GENERAL TAYLOR,
Ii THE u. S. SENATE. July ). 1913.


IL THE U. S. SENATE, July 5, lS4S.
Mr.. Foote having concluded an elaborate
address to the Senate against General TAYLOR,
and called upon the Wing Senators, and es-
pecially the Senator from Delaware, to ex-
plain the principles upon which Gen. Taylor
was to be sustained as q candidate for the
Presidency
Mr. Clayton rose to reply. Mr.. Niles, Of
Connecticut, called Mr.. Clayton TO order, de-
nying his right to reply, as the whole subject
introduced by Mr.. Foote was irrelevant, and
Mr.. Dallas the Vice President, refusing to
hear any debate upon the call to order, decided
the debate TO be out of order. But the Sen
ate, on j vote taken Immediately after this,
gave leave to Mr.. Clayton TO proceed, not
outstanding the decision of the Vice Presi-
dent
Mr.. CLAYTON then addressed the Senate as
follows:
The decision Of the Chair was indeed
unprecedented, and directly in opposi-
ton to his own solemn decision on 4 case pre-
cisely similar to this, made by him only a few
weeks ago. Neither l nor my friends origin
ated this political debate. We were content
to leave General Cass and General Taylor i'll
the hands of the people and the Senate will
unanimously bear ne witness that l have new
er introduced an irrelevant topic into any de
bate here. The political friends Of the gen.
tleman who occupies the chair began this dis
cussion. They attacked Gen. Taylor and his
character. and scoiied ut his claim to the Pres
dency. They were allowed to proceed with
out interruption from the Chair, through dc
bate which extended through the greater part
of two days The Vice President was, by the
rules of the Senate bound to call his own po-
litical friends to order if he thought the de
bate was out Of order But not word abOu;
order was heard from his lips till took the
floor to reply, and then he arrested the debate
and put seal upon my lips. The Senator
from Mississippi had charged upon ne and
my friends that We desired TO eva,le the discus.
sion--that General Taylor had no principles
which we dared avow-and said that he had,
on consultation with his friends, resolved TO
provoke us to a debate on this subject, and TO
sec that we should ",,odgc no blows which IN
chivalry and honesty we were bound to take
He even charged us with design TO pass the
resolution for 4 speedy adjournment of Con-
grcss in order to avoid and dodge this very dis
cussion. lie went further, sir. lie called on
me personally 10 meet him in debate on these
questions. Yet. after he had been permitted
to indulge in tins strain of attack on nc and
my friends, his own party associates seize the
occasion the moment ! rise to take up the
glove he has thrown at my feet, 10 dodge the
encounter These arc the circumstances I'M
der which twcnty-one Democratic Senators
have this day voted TO deny me the freedom OF
speech. They have 4 party majority here
but such and so gross was the injustice OF tins
attempt to stihe discussion which they them
selves provoked, that a majority Of the Senate
has oyeuuled their purpose; and to that ma
iority, and especially TO the chivalrous Senator
from Mississippi, (Nr. Footc,) who has ex-
pressed his own deep sense Of the injustice
done, tender my thanks.
have already stated to the Senate that
have no means of access to the opinions OF
Ger Taylor which are not in the possession Of
every member of this body and every citizen
Of the country. Honoring his character, as
sincerely do, have never yet had the pleas
ure of an introduction to that distinguished
mani have never addressed letter 10 him
in nv life, nor received one from him. have
formed my opinions ofthe principles Of the
man from his writings and actions, and from
what any other may have seen in the public
prints. To these meals Of information all
have equal access, and all can form an opinion
as well as | can on the whole subject OF debate
think it Is also due TO General Taylor TO
say, in the outset that the position which he
has assumed before the country, as candidate
for the Presidency, has been entirely misap-
pretended in the course Of this debate. lie
has been held up here IS merely VI hig can
didate. bound to sustain every Wing principle
with which that party has been identified. II
has been alleged that he is bound TO carry ont
all the dictates and obey all the behcsts Of
mere partv-that nc runs merely rs party
man-that he Is bound hand aud foot by party
pledgcs-ard that he must carry out, at all
hazards and under all changes Of time and CIR
cumstances, every ancient known measure
proposed bv the VI hig party. Now, undoubt-
edly Gen. TAYLOR is a Wing, but DO not
understand him as occupying any such position
as that which | have lust described. lie HIM
self has repudiated it in every letter having
reference to this subject. it is true that he
has been nominated by the Wing party; but
it is also true that he was originally nominat-
ed bv meeting composed both of Wings and
Democrats. Thousands of Democrats had
nominated him for the Presidency, before he
was nominated by the Wing party. Natur-
allied citizens and Native Americans, IN all
sections ofthe country. had nominated hIm
before he received the nomination OF the Phil
adelphia Convention. And now the great OBJ
lection urged against him is, that the Wing
marty of the Union has confirmed the nomina-
ton which Gen. Taylor had previously re-
ceived. He was nominated ny the Wing
Convention at Philadelphia, with the assurance
that he was Wing. In every letter that he
wrote on that subject he declared that he was
a Wbir. but he uniformly took the bold and
manly Ground that. If elected President Of the
United States, he should not consider himself
the mere servant or tool Of party, not even
of the party to which he had been attach
ed. but that he should be the President Of the
American people. Under these circumstances
the honorable gentleman from Mississippi can
find no difficulty in answering the questions
which he has propounded with regard to the
principles of General Taylor. If he will ex-
anime the principal letter which Gen: Taylor
has written with reference to this subject,th the
letter to Capt. Allison, he will see the ground
on which he places himself as candidate be-
fore the American people, Before proceed
further, permit me to read the following ex-
tract from that letter: