itude and my eyes with tears. It was not due to me that the enemy with which I contended was vanquished, but to the brave soldiers that stood by and sustained me in times of peril. To them belongs the glory, and to them I frankly yield all claim to the laurels that adorn their manly brows." Those who bear in mind the fact that political action was influenced very much in 1847 by the same causes and desires that affect the movements of parties to-day, will not be surprised by the fact that the victories of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma had hardly become known in the United States before General Taylor was mentioned by many men and party newspapers as not only an available but a strong candidate for the Presidency. As early as July he had been formally named in more than one convention as the man of destiny, upon whom the honor of a nomination to the highest office in the land should be laid. When the news of Monterey and Buena Vista was heard, the demand became more general and pronounced. Although he had been by vote and belief a Whig, these suggestions did not come from Whigs alone but from Democrats and Independents as well. Many letters were addressed him while in Mexico, in which he was not only asked for the use of his name, but urged to outline his views on public questions so that the public would know his beliefs and understand the trend and purpose of his political faith. To all such he replied with that directness and candor that might be expected from one who had passed his life in the military camp of the frontier rather than the school of diplomacy or politics. One of his responses may stand as a represen tative of them all : HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF OCCUPATION, DEAR SIR: By yesterday's mail I received your letter of the nineteenth June, and have given the matter to which it refers some serious reflection. and consideration. I feel very grateful to you, sir, and to my fellow-citizens, who with you have expressed the very flattering desire to place my name in nomination for the Presidency, but it becomes me sincerely and frankly to acknowledge to you that for that office I have no aspirations whatever. Although no politician, having always held myself aloof from the clamors of party politics, I am a Whig, and shall ever be devoted in individual opinion to that party. Even if the subject which you have in your letter opened to me were acceptable at any time, I have not the leisure to attend to it now; the vig orous prosecution of the war with Mexico, so important to the interests of my country, demands every moment of my present time, and it is my great desire to bring it to a speedy and honorable termination. With my best wishes for your health and prosperity, I am sincerely yours, Z. TAYLOR, Major-General United States Army. The determination already formed by many, even while he was in the field, to make of him a Presidential candidate was immensely extended and strengthened when he returned home crowned with victory and winning plaudits from all sides. The opposition to him in a number of states of the north, because of his southern residence and presumable leaning toward slavery, was the chief objection urged against him, but even that was ignored or passed over in the popular strength that he was sure to command. His modesty in relation to his candidacy was marked and genuine. In a letter written to a friend during this free use of his name, he said: Independent of my wishes, I greatly doubt my qualifications to discharge the duties properly of an office which was filled and adorned by a Washington, a Jefferson, as well as several other of the wisest and most accomplished statesmen and patriots of this or any other age or country. I almost tremble at the thoughts of the undertaking. . . . If I ever occupy the White House, it must be by the spontaneous movement of the people, without any action of mine in relation to it, without pledges other than I have previously stated, a strict adherence to the provisions of the Constitution, so I could enter on the arduous and responsible duties appertaining to said office untrammelled, so that I could be the President of the country and not of a party." A more definite expression of his opinions on public questions, and his purpose if chosen to the office of President, is found in a letter written while at Baton Rouge, under date of April 12, 1848. After stating that he had consented to the use of his name, he adds: "I confess, while I have great cardinal principles which will regulate my political life, I am not sufficiently familiar with all the minute details of political legislation to give solemn pledges to exert myself to carry out this or defeat that measure. I have no concealment. I hold no opinion which I would not readily proclaim to my assembled countrymen; but crude impressions upon matters of policy, which may be right to day and wrong to-morrow, are perhaps not the best tests for fitness of office. One who cannot be trusted without pledges cannot be confided in merely on account of them. "I will proceed however, to respond to your inquiries: "First. I reiterate what I have so often said: I am a Whig. If elected I would not be the mere president of a party. I would endeavor to act independent of party domination. I should feel bound to administer the government untrammelled by party schemes. Second. The veto power. The power given by the Constitution to the executive to interpose his veto is a high conservative power; but in my opinion should never be exercised except in cases of clear violation of the Constitution, or manifest haste and want of consideration by congress. Indeed, I have thought that for many years past, the known opinions and wishes of the Executive have exercised an undue and injurious influence upon the legislative department of the government; and for this cause I have thought our system was in danger of undergoing a great change from its true theory. The personal opinions of the individual. who may happen to occupy the Executive chair ought not to control the action of congress upon questions of domestic policy; nor ought his objections to be interposed where questions of constitutional power have been settled by the various departments of government, and acquiesced in by the people. "Third. Upon the subject of the tariff, the currency, the improvement of our great highways, rivers, lakes and harbors, the will of the people, as expressed through their representatives in congress, ought to be respected and carried out by the Executive. "Fourth. The Mexican war. I sincerely rejoice at the prospect of peace. My life has been devoted to arms, yet I look upon war, at all times and under all circumstances, as a national calamity, to be avoided if compatible with national honor. The principles of our government, as well as its true policy, is opposed to the subjection of other nations and the dismemberment of other countries by conquest. In the language of the great Washington: Why should we quit our own to stand on foreign ground?' In the Mexican War our honor has been vindicated; and in dictating terms of peace, we may well afford to be forbearing and magnanimous to a fallen foe. "I do not know that I shall again write upon the subject of national politics. I shall engage in no schemes, no combinations, no intrigues. If the American people have not confidence in me, they ought not to give me their suffrage. If they do not, you know me well enough to believe me when I declare I shall be content. I am too old a soldier to murmur against such high authority." On June 7, 1848, the Whig National convention met in Philadelphia, for the purpose of nominating a candidate for President. Although there was a strong and almost resistless current setting in toward General Taylor, his selection was not to be ratified without the consideration of the claims of others. General Scott, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster all had their friends and adherents, and the name of each was presented to the convention. Their claims were pushed with vigor and ability, and it was maintained with no small show of reason that one who had been for years in the thorough training of official life like Mr. Webster or Mr. Clay was eminently fitted for the office, and that whatever General Taylor's grand service might have been in the field, he was a soldier in education as in name, and had never laid any claim to a knowledge of statesmanship. Yet General Taylor had the great majority of his party behind him, and devel oped strength from the first, the first ballot standing: Taylor 111, Clay 97, Scott 43, and Webster 22. Four ballots were taken, the last resulting in his nomination by the following vote: Taylor 171, Clay 32, Scott 63, and Webster 13. Some of the opposition to his selection had arisen from a fear on the part of the minority that General Taylor would be a Presidential candidate even though he should not receive the regular Whig nomination, although sufficient evidence was afterwards adduced to show that he had no such intention and that he and his friends would have stood by the regular nominee, whoever he might be. When officially informed of his selection as the standard bearer of his party in the great contest then pending, General Taylor made the following careful and concise reply: BATON ROUGE, July 15. HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD, GREENBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA. Sir: I had the honor to receive your communication of June 10, announcing that the Whig convention which assembled at Philadelphia on the seventh of that month, of which you were the presiding officer, has nominated me for the office of President of the United States. Looking to the composition of the convention and its numbers and patriotic constituents, I feel duly grateful for the honor bestowed upon me, and for the distinguished confidence implied in my nomination to the highest office in the gift of the American people. I cordially accept the nomination, but with the sincere distrust of my fitness to fulfill the duties of an office which demands for its exercise the most exalted abilities and patriotism, and which has been rendered illustrious by the greatest names in our history. But should the selection of the Whig convention be confirmed by the people, I shall endeavor to discharge the new duties then devolving upon me, so as to meet the expectations of my fellow-citizens and preserve undiminished the prosperity and reputation of our common country. I have the honor to remain, with the highest respect, your obedient servant, Z. TAYLOR. The contest was conducted with the usual heat and clamor, and while General Taylor received formal endorsement from many not of his own party, there were some in that organization who believed that the selection was a mistake, and that he would meet defeat, or if elected so conduct the office as to bring odium on those who had placed him there. It was a time when many public questions of importance were before the people for discussion, and only the wisest statesmanship could command confidence and inspire hope of a sure and patriotic solution of them all. The proslavery men were pushing their claims on public attention with tireless energy, while more than a faint whisper of abolitionism was heard in various parts of the north. A wild purpose to capture Cuba and make it add to American glory and domain, as Texas had already done, was held by some, and private expeditions were being fitted out for that purpose. California was pleading for admission to the Union, while slavery stood ready to bid her nay. General Taylor had not been trained in such school of public life as would make it easy for him to grapple with these and other great questions of the day, nor was he in any sense a ready or skilful speaker or writer. Yet such was his sound good sense, the rugged honesty of his purpose, and the public confidence in his patriotism and sterling integrity of character, that the campaign in his favor was a grand success, and was crowned with a certain victory. The election occurred on November 7, and resulted in the choice of Zachary Taylor for President, and Millard Filmore for vice-president. One hundred and sixty-three electoral votes were cast in their favor, while their opponents, General Cass and General Butler, were given one hundred and twenty-seven. Seven free and eight slave states cast their vote for the Whig candidates, while eight free and seven slave states pronounced in favor of the Democratic nominees. General Taylor left his home at Baton Rouge on January 24, to enter upon his brief career of Presidential life and responsibility. The day previous to his departure witnessed a large gathering of friends and neighbors irrespective of party, who had come to bid him godspeed and farewell. A large procession was formed, which escorted him from his residence to the United States barracks, where he was addressed by one of the citizens and responded in an appropriate and touching reply. He again referred to his mistrust of his own powers as applied to the immense responsibities laid upon him, and gave the clearest evidence that a sense of duty rather than an unseemly ambition had led him to the place he then occupied. He had already resigned his command in the army, and in doing so had expressed the deepest regret at a separation from a service to which he was attached by so many pleasing and proud associations. He had expressed to the officers and men who had served with him, his warmest thanks for their zealous and cordial support in the execution of all the duties devolving upon them. Every line of his address showed that his heart had been with them, and with that branch of the public service to which their lives had been devoted. His reception all along the road from Louisiana to Washington was of the most earnest and cordial character. He reached the capital in the latter part of February, and on the fifth of March, 1849, was inaugurated twelfth President of the United States. His inaugural address was brief, plain and clear in each of its utterances. In the course thereof he said: |