Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-07-22
the strength of parties. Sixty-si

3 ;. =
the strength Of parties. Sixty-six
friends Of Gen. Scott would have re-
tired, leaving him only sixty-fve on
the field. Fillmore would have had
1872, Webster 80 or 30, and Scott
only sixty-fye instead of 131. Now
Gen. Scott knew all this well, and
would not say or write one word, cal
'culated to drive these abolition forces
from the Convention. He wanted
them to stay in it. Without them
the prize Of the Presidency would
certainly be lost; with them it might
be gained. Seward and his cohorts
saw at once, what immense obligation
their presence and votes for Scott
would impose upon him. That he
would iceland know, that his life or
death would depend upon them, and
that therefore, platform or no plat
form, they could control his future
actions.
'INow let US look how such can
didate, surrounded by such inAu-
enees, has become the whig nominee
for the Presidency. Such he would
a0t.hace been, if those who sustained
Mr. Fillmore and Mr.. Webster, had
maintained their ground. Nothing
but abandonment on the part Of
some of their friends could have
made him so. Continued fidelity to
the m would have made the lomina-
ton Of Scott utterly impossible
| They were pledged to stand by the
fugitive slave bill, the constitution,
and consequently by the South
Scott was q lot, and would give no
such pledge. Who then deserted
that part Of the compromise, and who
was it that trampled under foot that
part of the constitution On which il
rested? Who was it that opened
afresb the bleeding wounds of the
South, and exposed the Union to all
the dangers Of renewed agitation
Was it some Northern wing, a friend
Of Mr.. Webster, whose nerve and
virtue proved unequal to the trying
occasion? Or was some hand Of
the South that struck the murderous
bio "? The published proceedings Of
that convention must settle this mo-
me ntous question. 1t is published
that after fifty odd ballotings Ten
mes see gave way-no, not all but a
portion of the whig delegates gave
way and at last voted with the sixty
blac elk cohorts Of Seward, Greedy, & 6.
"But gentlemen, it is
useless now 10 lament over this
stra nge nomination. 1t is useless to
inquire who did it, and by what mo-
tives, good OF bad, the fatal deed has
bee IA done. 1t remains rather for
us to ascertain how it is to be de-
feated.
'In the first place l say that we
mus st not leave it to other States to
defeat it. Tennessee, or rather some
of her whig delegates, have done it,
and so it behoo yes Tennessee espe-
ciallys to come up to the great work
Of defeating it. In this work, wings
mus st help as well as democrats. \
They are bound to help. 1t was
your delegates who did this evil
thing-not ours. You placed them
in a situation where they we're ena-
bled to do it. You instructed them
not to do it. You commanded them
to vote for another. Still they final
ly disobeyed you, and so you are IN
der every obligation on earth, to
help to repair the wrong they have
done. Sirs, I viii ask you to do
nothing which l would not do in
like circumstances myself Suppose
the demo cratic party, instead of
Fra nklin Pierce, had nominated Mar
tin Van Buren,, with all his abolition
and free-soil associations around him;
suppose too it had been done in a
moment when this convention was So
divided, that the going over
of three or four delegates from the
State effected the nomination, think
you that l would support it? No
matter what he might say about my
platform of principles. l would an
swer, your controlling influences are
enough, for me, and | will rise supe-
rior to mere party ties. L will ele-
vate myself to the pure region of pat
riotism and honor, and will give my
heart and hand and vote to the whig |
candidate if he be free from the dam
ming plague spot which pollutes my
OWN ticket
sU The estimate we have ever