State of Parties and the Country [pp. 1-53]

16 State oj Parties and the Country. uly,
certain mistakes, as well of the party at large, as of!isfe of
its more erratic elements. But the success of the Whigs, in
the election of General Taylor, was in appearance only, and
makes, in no degree, against the assertion that Pok's election, during the previous campaign, was to them a final and
fatal defeat. In plain language, Taylor was not elected by
the XV hig party at all. Working alone, they could not have
been successful. They were in a minority in at least twentyfive of the States, and hle was, in fact, put in nomination by
minority States. But for the unlooked-for aid of wings and
sections of the Democratic party, Cass must have beaten
him. That the Whigs again passed by Clay and Webster,
to fasten upon a man who, we know, had been totally unknown in their ranks-a man wholly without reputation or
experience-one avowing his total ignorance of politics-one
hostile to some of their best men, and who, even as a Whig,
professed his extreme moderation-is in proof of their anxiety to procure success at every sacrifice of their real preference-a procedure tantamount to a sacrifice of principle, and
which naturally contributed to work their defeat, even
though success should attend their man. Their aim was to
use his personal and military popularity to bolster up their
conscious weakness and deficiency. And this, too, without
any dread of that military despotism of which they professed
such holy horror whenever the Democrats had a military
nominee. Taylor was taken up everywhere, by Democrats,
without regard to party lines of distinction. Let. us ask,
why? There are, certainly, reasons for this, the solution of
which may serve us hereafter, in steering free of those
errors which have wrecked us occasionally in the past. How
was it that, with the capital in hand, resulting from the
really brilliant administration of Polk; with the success
everywhere of the Democratic principles; with the amelioration of the protective policy, and a decided step taken to wards free trade; with the acquisition of almost boundless
wealth of territory, full of mineral and metallic riches; how
was it that the power should certainly pass from our hantds,
though briefly, into those of our so often beaten opponents?
The truth is, that our very successes contributed, in some
degree, to this result. There is such a thing as an embar