The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-11-02

to be Attorney of the United States for the
district OF Oregon, vice Joseph J. Coombs,
who declines the office
1t is easy to say that General TAY-
LoR's experiment as President of the
United States has turned out to be a com
plete failure" 1t is easy to say that he
has shown himself dishonest man. 1t is
easy to charge him with abandoning the
people; and to denounce him as having
falsified the sacred word of soldier. II
is easy to accuse him with having procured
his election by false pretences, and with
having broken his plighted faith with the
country. All these charges, sayings, and
denunciations, are as easily uttered now
by his maligners as it was said by them,
before the election, that he would make
no pledges at all. They have but to write
down the words, and they are said. He
has been accused of imbecility, of break
ing faith, of being dishonest man, of
conduct which would disgrace a gentle
man; with endless reiteration he has been
so accused, and with bitterness and per-
severance which wax holder and fercer as
events make it more and more palpable
that these allegations are as mendacious as
they are brutal. II would be an insult to
the people of the United States to attempt
to defend General TAYLOR against charge
that he is ''disgraced gentleman" or a
''dishonest man." Such miserable profit
gacy of speech carries no conviction to
honest minds, nor corruption TO any hon
est heart Accusations of this nature may
be safely left to seek their way to the
slough Of fostering calumnies, by the grav-
itation Of their own infamy.
And in respect 10 the accusations of
"imbecility" and "'failure," coming as
they do from the same source, little heed
might be paid them. 1t had not fallen To
the lot of any of General TAYLoR's prede-
cessors to be called upon, in the first
months OF hIs Administration, to do so many
acts requiring intelligence, judgment, and
frmDess, as he has been summoned to
perform within that space of time. The
duties he has been specially invoked to
discharge, in the face of the nation and of
the world, are precisely such as taxed
powers and capacities which were de-
MED him by his assailants and the
thorough manner in which they have
been executed is a better vlndication OF
his ability and energy than any amount
Of argument or eulogy could afford In
what has he failed that he attempted
Did he fail in indicating the neutral rights
of the nation in the matter Of the steam.
ship United States Did he fail in bring
ing Rey back to liberty and the urisdic-
ton of the United States Did he fail in
suppressing the Cuba expedition What
ever opinion men may entertain OF the
/ policy Of the Administration in these trans
actions, none will say that it failed in
execution. So far from exhibiting want
Of energy, the Union itself has charged
/ the President with a vigor beyond the law.
II accused him with usurping power in
California, and grasping the prerogatives
Of the judiciary in the dispersion Of the
! Round Islanders. These are not the acts
of an "imbecile." Nor can the complete
success Of the measures adopted by his
Administration be pleaded to prove the
| President "faiure"
With equal confidence might we appeal
TO the policy Of the Governmental Florida
as evlncive Of a safe discretion, sound
judgment, and firm purpose. When the
news Of an Indian outbreak in that State
reached the Executive, General TAYLOR
adopted al once plan Of proceeding, from
4 which he could not be moved by the
threats Of opponents or the entreatles Of
friends. His ground was taken with the
rapidity Of military decision, and adhered
TO, despite the reproaches of the selfish or
the clamor Of alarm. The sequel has de-
lnonstrated the wisdom Of his measures,
whilst it put TO shame the apostacy Of
those whose faith had been shaken by
the soothing Of has enemies. Asssiled