Whig National Convention

Extracta from the third day s proceedings of the Philadelphia Couvention, as reponed íbr the North American, the leading organ of the Whigs in Philadelphia: Mr. Allen of Massachuseets. rose to address the Convention, but, owing to the confusión, we could not hear the commencement of his remarks. The first words (ve caught were of tliis effect : Mr. President: I doubt not butthat aConvention of free Wliigs will listen íbr a moment to the voice of a free Whig State represented in that convenlion. That voice is from Massachusetts. I think I know sometlnn of that State. I express for myself what 1 believe to be the sentiments of that State, and I say that we caimot consent that this ghould go forth as a unarrimous vote of the Convention; (order, order;) and I will give (order) my (sit down) reasons. The gentlemen here commenced reading from a paper in his hand. Amidst cries of eit down, order, knock, hear him, go on, sit down, let him go on, &c;, we finally caught the words - the Whig party (order) of the North (sit down) are not to be allowed to fill vvith their statesmen, (sit down, order, hear him,) thereibre we declare the Whig party of the Union this day dissolved. (Cheers and hisses, and great excitement among the Southern members, several of whom got up to reply to the gentleman, but were persuaded by their friends to refrain. Let the North answer him. Let Massachusetts answer him. There is better whiggery there than thal. Cries for Choate, Choate, Choate, Cho - ate, were heard from all sides. and especially from the Southern members.) John A, Binghan, of Ohio, got the floor. Mr. President : I arise to offer a resolution. (Louder, louder ; we cannot hear you.) I do not wish to excite unpleasant feelings between the friends of the various candidates whose claims have been before this Convention. The only object that I have is to ascertain (gentlemen will please to keep quiet; order, order.) I will offer a resolution : " Resolved, That the Whig party, trough its representatives here, agrees to abide by the nomination of Gen. Zachary Taylor, (cheers,) on condition that he will accept the nomination as the candidate of the Whig party, (great cheers,) and adhere to ts great fundamental principies - no extensión of slave territory by conquest, (hisses and cheers, order, order, sit down, hear him,) protection to American industry, (tremendous clieers, order, rap, tap, knock, sit down,) and opposition to Executive patronage, (cheers and hisses.) Mr. Wilson of Mass. asked leave to make a statement, and after a protracted discussion, and opposition membcrs from ihe same State claimed that their colleague had a right to be heard, obtained the floor. Mr. Wilson. I came to this Convention as a Whig, committed unreservedly to the principies of the Whig party and its organization ; and, sir, I am willing to be bound by the proceedings of this body, provided we act as Whigs. But.sir, we have comehere and nominated a man - (Order, order, I cali the gentleman to order, no, no, hear him, let him alone hear him, order, order, go on, I cali the gentleman to order,) Is it out of order that we have nominated a candidato for the Presidency? (Laughter.) We have nominated a gentleman, sir, for President of the United States, who has stated over, and over, and over again, to the whole country that he will not be bound by the principies or the measures of any party ; and that he will accept the nomination of the Whig party, or the Democratie party, or any party in any portion of the country, who will nomínate him Sir, he has said - (Order, Mr. President, I cali the gentleman to order !) The President. A question oforder ig raised, and the gentleman will please to take his seat till it shall be decided. Governor Vanee, of Ohio. I raise the qustion of order, Mr. President, because I deny the right of any gentleman to get up here and criticise the proceedings of this Convention. The President. The gentleman will proceed with his remarks ïf he does not say nothing disrespectful of the Convention. Mr. Wilson. Mr. President Here another member rose and said, Mr. President, I rise to a point of order. I would ask that gentleman if he has not been identified with another party 1 (Good, good ; that's a hit.) Mr. Wilson. We have nominated a candidate who has stated, over his name, to the whole nation, that he did not intend to withdraw hig name from the contest, if Henry Clay or any one else should be nominated by this Convention. (Cries of no, no ! He never said so.) Yet, sir, we are required to support him. And, now, sir, I never yet scratched a whig ticket since I carne ofage, and all I asked of this Convention was the nomination of a Whig who is unreservedly committed to the principies of the Whig party. But the Conventíon have seen fit to nomínate a man who is anything but a Whig ; and sir, I will go home, and, so help me God, I will do all I can to defeaí the election of that candidate. - (Cheers and, yells.) Mr. Wilson continued to speak, amidst great confusión, noise, and tumult, but all we heard was the name of John Quincy Adarns resounding above everything. Mr. Galloway, of Ohio. Mr. President: - Will you hear me ? [Laughter.] Leave was granted. Mr, President: I am exceedingly gratified, after so many unsuccessful attempts, to adress the Convention ; I am now recognixed by the President as being in order. It is well and wiee foryou, gentleman of the Convention, to allow a full and free expression opinión. - The deed which has just been consumated has struck us with sudden and gore surprise ; and, if I mistake not the devotion which characterizes many of my fellow citizens, the intelligenceofyour recent act, will send a thrill of dissappointment into many hearts. Let me say to you Mr. President, and to this Convention, that the Whigs of Ohio will not embrace the cause of any man as their standard-bearer vvho is not fully indoctrinated with the creed of tho party - who is not adorned with the glory of an untainted polilical reputation, who is not pledged to the accomrilishmentofwise and patriotic measures - and whn cannot be recognised as worthy to carry a flag brilliantly and intelligibly inscribed with oldfashioned, but ever-dear Whig priciples. [Enthusiastic applause.j To the Convention which honored me with a scat in this body, I asserted that. in clioosing a candidato for the Presidency, opposition to the aggression of Slavo power, and to the acquisition of tenitory which might be visited wilh that peculiar nstitution, would constitute the prominent basis of my ', tion. I am the advocate of free soil and free i tearitory. I cannot be swerved from the i sition I occupy on this 6ubject by any party machinery or alliances. With my constituency upon this subject there exists deep and sa i cred feelings. Upon this topic they think and act with strong resolves. This platform they cannot and willjnot abandon. If a candidato is orthodox upon this fundamental principie, they and I can hail and receive him ; if he is not, he will be nailed by us as " base coin to the counter." Gentlemen of the Convention, take care that in your action you do not run athwart principies eitibalmed in the tion of Independence, and in tho hallowed ! characters of freemen's rights. [Cheers] I j cannot, Mr. President, on this occasion, on this subject, and in my present position, better descibe my aclion, and that thnse associated with me, then by uttering the sentiment of one of the poets of New Englard : " Ia this the land ouriathers loved T The frcedom which they son glit to win ? Is this the soil they trod upon ? Are these the graves they slumber in ? Are we the sous by whoin are borue The mantles which the dead have worn T And shall we crouch above those graves, With craven soul and fettered lip, Yokinl in with marked and branded slavea, And tremble at the master's whip ? No, by theso enlarging souls which burat The bonds and fetters round them set - By the free pilgrira spirit nursed Within our inmost bosom yet - By all above, nround, below - Be ours the indignant answer, ' NO " Mr. Campbell, of Ohio, obtained the floor, and addressed the Convention in substance as follows : - Mr. President: 1 addressyou and this Convention under circumstances peculiarly embarrassing. The loud and long huzzas which have been sent forth from the thousands who crowd the galleries, upon hearing the remarks of my venerable colleague, as well as the course which has been pursued towards the Ohio del egation by the majority on this floor forewarn me that what I shall say will fail to touch the same sympathetic chord. I care not, I ask no shouts, but, regardless of consequences, I will discharge faithfully the high and solemn duty which devolves upon me as the representative of six thojsand true and we!l tried Whigs in the valley of the Miami. Mr. President, what is it you now ask of Ohio 1 It is, sir, that the Whig party of that great, glorious young State should, through its delegates on thig floor, rise up and eolemnly apjrove of the nomination of Zachary Taylor. Sir, I scorn a hypocrite. I detest from my in nermost soul that man who, on an occasion like this, with the solemn duties resting upon him which I mast discharge, practice fraud and deceit for any parpose. I cannot, I will not do it. (Cheers.) The gentlemen of the South, who hrve controlled this Convention from its commencement, shall learn that there are those in Ohio who daré be frank, and who will speak to them in language not to be misunderstood. I am now asked to proclaim the approbation of the Whigs of the second Congressional district of Ohio to the nomination you have just mo'e. Personally I cannot approve of it, and lo do so in my representative capacity would be adirect and palpable violation of the solemnly expressed views of my constituents. In Ohio we are whigs, notbecause Clay is a whig, not because Scott is a Whig, not because any olher man is a Whig - but because we believe the prosperity and true glory of our country; and the perpetuity of our republ'ican institutions, depend upon the triumph of the great principies and measures which that party, since my first knowledge of its existence, has espoused. To me, sir, the sacrifica of Clay, Scott, Corwin, Webster, and a thousand olher equally gallant and patriotic Whig men, would be but as a feather in the scale, compared to the abandonment of Whig principies ! (Enthusiastic cheering.) Mr. President, every member of this Convention will long remember the exciting scène which on yesterday ensued after the introduction (vvhilst in private session) by myself of a proposition which, in the purer and better days of the Whig party, would have been considered perfectly proper and entirely harmless. It wil! be recollected, too, that on behalf of Ohio, that State which heads tho great Whig column of the Union - that State which, under thelead of old Tippecanoe (God blesshis memory,) and the gallant Henry Clay, gloriously and triumphantly reared aloft the proud banner on which were inse.ribed. Whig principies - I appealod to and implored our Southern brethren to give us some candidate who wo'd willingly raise that standard írom the dust, into which they had suffered it to be trampled, and Iead us on to victory. I beseeched them to give us a Whig candidate - a man who wo'd accept ihe honorable posl of standard bearcr - and who would conduct his administration upon the great prinaiples of the Whig party. I prayed you, as brothers having a common interest with us, to present your candidate upon such a platform as would give to the young giant State of the West an opportunity of marching with you shoulder to shoulder in the great struggle against a comrnon foe. Sir, my proposition was rejected with scorn - my State and my constituency were treated with disdain - and I was myself treated by certain gentlemen more like a Locofoco than a delégate representing as many true and tried Whigs as are to be found in many of their entire States. You pressed lo the nomination of Zotíímry Taylor, who had proclaimed to the world that he would not accept our nomination orbe the exponent of our party doctrines. Sir, in this rash and precipítate movement, you have sowed the wind, and, if I mistake not, in November next you will reap the whirlwind ! (Cheers.) For myself, I cannot vote for the ratification of this nomination now. Your candidate must first hang his banner upon the outer wall, that all may exarnire its folds, and see that it is the same which the bold and gallant Harry of the West displayed, and that the old fashioned j Whig principies are inscribed upon it. For my constituents, I caunot approve it in tho dark. A voice in the Convention. General Taylor has proclaimed himself a Whig. Mr. Campbell. True, sir, and so did John Tyler. A voice. Don't name him, Mr. Campbell. I know it is wrong to speak cíisrespeclfully of' the dead, and I fear, if you have control of the Whig party much longer, it wll be wrong to name it, for thc same reason. I cannot, I will not, go it blind Wlien the nominee defines his position, my constituents can decide for themselves ; but, Mr. President, I can asaure you they will never iacrifice the principies they hold so dear, and under whose benign influence Ohio ib lndebted for so much of her prosperity, and under the practical results of which the " wilderness has been made bloom and blossom as the rose." Sir, Ohio has been borne down in this-Convention by tho South, and a deaf eo.r turned to her entreaties. I warned my brothers l:ere, from all quarters, of the consequences wtlich must follow. Yes, sir, you have crushed her to tnedust; but I teil the South, whn have perpetrated the deed, that, like truth crushed to earth, she'll rise again. Aye, sir, that great moral principie which ms fastened itself so firmly in the hearts of our free Whigs of Ohio so oloquently alluded to by my colleague, [Mr. Galloway,] wíl arouse to action, in all the majesty of her strength, the young giant of the West. Mr. Tilden, of Ohio. I have a resolution to offer, which was drawn up by all the delegation from Ohio ; and the vote of Ohio vvill depend considerably upon the consideraron which the Convention may give to this resolut:on. The resolution was as followa : Resolved, That while all power is denied to Congress, under the Constilution, to control or in any manner interfere with the institution of slavery within the several States of this Union, it nevertheless has the power, and itis the duty of Congress, to prohibit the introduction or existence of slavery in any terntory now possessed, or which may hereafter be acquired, by the United States. This resolution gave rise to a very animated debate. Mr. Brown, of Pennsylvania, moved to lay it on the table, and his motion was carried. The remarks of Allen of Mass, were afterwards reported as follows : Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts, in opposition to the motion, that the nomination of General Taylor should go forth as the unanimous voice of the Convention, proceeded as follows ; Mr. President: The discipline of the South has again prevailed. The small minority of the citizens of the Union, who has controlled the General Government, except at brief intervals, from its foundation, now demands the possessions of Executive power and patronage for another term of four years. The rights of the free States, to which even our opponents pay some respect, are trampled upon, in the Whig National Convention, by every Southern foot. Of the many distinguished statesmen from the free States not of Southern origin, who have upheld the Whig cause in success and in disaster, not one has been found worthy to receive a single vote south of Masons and Dixon's line. It is therefore evident that the terms of union between the Whigs of the North and the South are the perpetual surrender, by the former, of the high offices and powers of the Government to their Southern confederates. To these terms I thik, sir, the free States will no longer submit. And I declare to tliis Convention my belieef, that the Whig party of this country is here and this day dissolved. We have struggled to preserve it so long as it could with honor. Yet under the Providence of God, it may result well for the country, and for the strengthening cause of humanity throghout the world, that tbe elements should separate. The apphances, by the use of which it is supposed that a sufficient number of the voters of the free States will be retained, to preserve to the South its ascendency, will lose ther wonted efficiency. You have put one ounce too much upon the strong back of Northern endurance. You have presumed, that the State which led on the first Revolution for libertv. will now desert that cause, for the misrable boon of the Vice Presidency. Sir, MasSACHUSETTS WILL SPIRX THE BR1RE.