Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1850-07-25
From the New York Tribune.
The Great Calamity.
SYRAcusE. Julv IO. 1850,

The first news OF Gen. Taylor's
illness reached this city last evening;
and when l saw the dispatch Of six
O'Clock. announcing that his life was
despaired Of, knew that the worst
was at hand. 1t was 10 this morn
ing before his death was known here,
and the general gloom bespoke the
common consciousness of a National
disaster. Our Free School Conven-
tion. though large, has been held as
if under pail, and so must be to the
end.
/ never spoke nor wrote to Gen.
Tayl ylor, nor sought his acquaintance
in any way. To the extent of my
ability and industry, | opposed to
the last bis selection as the Wing
candidate for the President. / be-
lieved that his education and politi-
cal knowledge were not such as that
Office required, and that one serious
consequence of his selection would
be an inflammation Of the youthful
passion for Military achievement and
renown which is one OF the chief
perils of our Republic. That he was
patriotic, brave, and upright and
naturally segacious, ! did not doubt;
that his heart was generous, kind and
true, who ever doubtedl That he
has done better as President than was
anticipated is, | think, very general
conviction. Peace TO the ashes, no.
nor to the memory Of the just and
good mani
He has been taken from US at a
fearful crisis in our Nations history
Ia crisis which he was prominently
fitted and seemed providentially des-
Iignated to brave and master. For
months, disunion has been Matching
IFS plots in the National Metropolis,
and quietly weaving its traitorous
webs over the South aud Southwest.
There are sixty men to-day in Con-
gress who mean TO live under no
government not devoted TO the ex-
tension and foriifcaiion of Human
Slavery: and despairing Of shaping
our Government to their further use,
their hearts are set on the dissolu-
ton Of the Union and the formation
ofa Southern Confederacy on its ru-
ins. The only man at the mention
Of whose name they quailed was
Zachary Taylor. He was their
chief antagonist no less by instinct
than by position. A STAKEHOLDER
himself, he yet held that Slavery
could not rightfully be and ought
rot TO be extended TO new realms.
A soldier OF the Nation, he loved the
Union with fervency and single
hearted devotion which it is but Just
10 the officers of our army and Ma
Wy 10 say is their universal passion.
Against any array OF treason and
notification, he would have poured
out his blood with Joy; and well the
plotters knew i'll They dreaded more
his personal opposition to their con-
templated ioray on New Mexico
than all the forces which the Gov
ernment can muster there; they
knew that a simple Proclamation
bearing his signature and denouncing
the employment of force against
New Mexico by Texas would paral.
we their efforts to raise troops
throughout the south, while TO the
New Mexicans themselves.
"One blast upon that bugle horn
Were worth FIVE thousand men,"
That Proclamation was anxious
ly and hopefully expecting, and
would not long have expected in
vain but for this most unlooked-lor
catastrophe. God is above all; yet
TO our human apprehension it seems
that there never was a time since
Washington's first term when the
death of a President would have
been so appalling a calamity. 1t
will be mercy scarcely less than a |
miracle ic the horrors of civil war
shall yet be averted.
Mr.. FILLMORE is wise and pure
statesman-cautious, conservative,
and devoted to the public weal.--
His knowledge OF public affairs is far
more extensive and complete than
Gen. Taylor's; his principles equal I
" sound, National and bene6cent.
Yet the difference in power and po-
sition between an elected and d SUBJ
President is immense; and
the difficulties Of the Presidential
station have been fearfuIly increased
and complicated by the change
Men who dare not wag their tongues
against Gen. Taylor will assail Mr..
Fillmore as a traitor and vote his
within six months for
doing precisely as they kne,o Gen.
Taylor would have done ifstill liv-
ing. The new President deserves {
md should receive the heartfelt SYM
pathy and support Of every patriot, {
and especially Of every Wing. That {
he will nobly sustain his new respon- [
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