Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-09


ism to which he was subjected, said: "Poor
BOZ; We did think there was common sense
| enough in the country to secure him a little
| peace and comfort, but it seems there il not
| The man is doomed" will hunt up letter
In which N. p. Willis e. New York corre-
spondent Of the Intelgsnoer tells Of his fret in
Urish Heap.
THE DEFEAT OF MR.. CLAY
in 1874 was most keenly felt at Washington.
where he was almost idolized The city was
largely whig in sentiment and Mr.. Clay had 90
long lived here-as Speaker, cabinet officer and
Senator-that every man, woman and child
knew him and loved him, and his defeat caused
the most poignant grief. Mr.. Joseph II. Brad
| ley. who was president Of the Clay Club an
| nounced the result in tears and many in the
| audience followed his example, and, conse-
| quently, Mr.. Polk was not very warmly well
| coined His cabinet was a very able one-Mr.
Buchanan, Secretary Of State; Robert J.
| Walker, Secretary OF the Treasury; William L.
Marcy, Secretary of War; George Bancroft,
Secretary Of the Navy; Cave Johnson Postmss-
| ter General Nathan Clifford (after ward Justice
| Clifford OF the Supreme Bench), Attorney Gen.
| eral. MIR. Bancroft resigned in 1886 and was
| sent as minister to England and was succeeded
| by John Y. Mason, and Judge Cliford's sue
| cessor was Isaac Toucey Of Connecticut. Mr..
| Polk, who as Speaker Of the House obtained so
| MANY oueuios ny us IuliuSb tuht ne
was refused the usual vote Of thanks, was
| charged with the same unfairness in the con-
| duct of the war. The whig party received no
recognition in the officers sent to Me xico and
the conduct of the war was controlled in .
great measure by the committee of Congress
| in charge of military affairs The committee
| on the conduct Of the war Of 1851, which so
| hampered Mr.. Lincoln, had precedent in the
| partisan action of a like committee in 1857.
1t Is hardly remembered that Col Benton was
| anpOintad nv Mr. polk iautapapt 0aneyal
| Scott and Taylor but the Senate refused to
confirm the appointment.
SCOTT AND TAYLOR.
The belligerent character Of Gen. Scott rem
| dered him particularly sensitive to the strio-
lures Of the War Department, and he replied
| with vigor which placed him at great dis
advantage. Gen. Taylor in the meanwhile
pocketed his dispatches without reading them
and answered them by the victories he won He
did not bring with him to Washington the blunt
manners which had obtained his name Of
Rough and Ready" He was kindly, courteous
and affable to every one, and it could hardly be
credited the stories told of his roughness, the
change was SO great. He might have been the
hard-swearing colonel on the frontier, as Mr..
Webster said. but it WAS only on the frontier,
| as Bob Acres was fighting Bob only in the
country. His secretary and son-in-law, Col.
Bllss-"Perfect Bliss" was his West Point cog
| nomen-was the opposite of the old general in
| the field and in frontier life.
MR.. FrLLMoREs ADMINISTRATION
was, as have said q very placid one the
cabinet able and thoroughly wing. His Secre-
| taries of State were John NJ Clayton, Daniel
| Webster and Edward Everitt; Secretaries of the
Treasury, VIM. Meredith and Thomas Corwin;
OF War, George W. Crawford and Charles M.
| Conrad; of the Navy, VIM. B. Preston, VIM. A.
Graham and John P. Kennedy; of the Interior,
| Thomas Ewing and Alex. II. H. Stewart; Post
| master Generals Jacob Collamer, N. X. Hall
and 8. ID. Hubbard; Attorney Generals, Reverdy
johnson and John J. Crittenden The cabinets
| in those days. and up to a very recent period,
were almost made up by public opinion-that
| is, tho men who were fitted to fill those exalted
stations were known and recognized by their
past services and experience in public life.
Now days-but l forget am writing of the
past not OF the present.
THE WHO PARTY's DEATH.
When the American party, as it was called
that's, the know nothing party" under another
name-nominatedM Mr.. Fillmore and he accepted
| the nomination it was the funeral knell of
| the old whig party One of poor Burwells
jokes comes up to me from memory's store
house when the names of Mr.. Fillmore and Mr..
Stewart are mentioned. The American organ
was published here by vespasian Ellis and Mr.
Burwell was one OF its editors. The afternoon
he returned from the convention which had
nominated Fillmore met him and said: "Well,
you have nominated Fillmore. Can you elect
nominee? He was nominated by a Virginian
and surely you will stand by him" "No, sirl
he was not nominated Sy Virginian-" Eyes
he was" said; "by Alex. H. H. Stewart" "He
is not Virginian, sir! He never paid secu-
rity debt he was never drunk in his life and
he always quits winner at faro. Sir, he has not
single attribute Of Virginian."
The nomination OF Gen. Scott was lament
able failure. Mr.. John Sherman, "Cerro Gordo"
Williams and Gen. Curtin were among the dele
gate which met at Baltimore June I6, 1852 and
about the only survivors can recall. Mr. Lin
coin was delegate. A speech by the Hon
Ogden Hoffman after the nomination reused the
convention to the highest pitch Of enthusiasm,
but, alas, it was only temporary. convention
WAS called to meet at Lundy's Lane on the an
nlversary Of that battle, where Gen. Scott won
his first laurels, and was expected to be grand
demonstration. l represented the InteHigencer
there and tried very hard to convince our
readers that 1t WAS great success, but the
crowds expected did not materialize. gen.
eral breakup was evident and the letters signed
by Alexander H. Stephens, Robert Toombs,
Meredith p. Gentry and other southern whigs
refusing to support Scott destroyed all hope of
success. The defeat was SO disastrous it left
but remnant Of the great old party,
which subsequently met at Baltimore in 1856
and nominated MIR. Fillmore. l attended that
| convention, which reminded me very much Of
IrumbulFs painting in the rotunda Of the
Declaration OF Independence. The same quiet,
sedate, gentlemanly demeanor marked the two
They had outgrown the knee breeches, but
dress coats. black satin vests and gold headed
canes prevailed. As picture OF the better
days OF the republic it would have made an
admirable pendent to Trumbulrs "Shinpiece,"
as John Randolph irreverently called it, but as
voters they had outlived their usefulness unless
the day Of election was fair. Grand old fellows
they were, though, and l am very proud to
acknowledge was nurtured in that school, and
hence my repugnance to the primaries" of
the present day and their unwashed controllers
Those members Of the noble old party who re-
main are about equally distributed between
the two parties Of the present day. and the Hon.
Edward Bates definition of an old line WING will
be accepted wherever they are known, as an
aged gentleman who takes his brandy and
water regularly and votes the democratic ticket
occasionally. john +. CoYLE.
Slow Work for Lightning.
From the Atlanta Constitution.
few days ago negro named Aaron Lowe
dropped dead. The coroners jury rendered q
ict in hats hat ha 10,