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THE ALBANY RATIFICATION MEETING. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. J. D. BRIGHT, OF INDIANA, 
 
 DELIVERED AT ALBANY, N. Y., JUNE 14, 1848. 
 
 [reported for the ARGUS.] 
 
 Mr. BRIGHT said: 
 
 Fellow-Democrats: At this late hour of the night, I am not vain enoufh 
 to believe that your call on me" to address you proceeds from any ardent desire 
 to hear me. I apprehend that it is intended as a mere compliment. [Vehe- 
 ment cries of " No, no."] I am too well acquainted with human nature not to 
 know, that when an audience has stood some four hours on their feet, listening 
 to individuals so distinguished as those who have preceded me, they must 
 necessarily be impatient to get away. [Renewed cries of " No, no."] To 
 relieve you from any apprehension on this score, I will say, that my remarks 
 will be very brief. Under different circumstances, it would afford me pleasure 
 to address you at length. Not that I have the vanity to suppose I could add 
 anything to what has been so well said on the great cardinal principles of 
 Democratic truth by my friend from Ohio, (Mr. Allen ;) but, if time permitted, 
 I could enlarge somewhat on topics which he did not fully present. I dispense 
 with all further preliminary remarks, except to say that I promise in advance, not 
 to detain you later than 12 o'clock. 
 
 1 regard it as unnecessary, fellow-democrats, in this ei-'a of 1848, to revert 
 back to and discuss all the old issues that have been before the country for the 
 last twenty years. Nevertheless, as a party — the great Democratic party of 
 the Union, the party that has made principle its guiding polar star from the 
 beginning — we should not lose sight of these issues. It is important to us as 
 a party — it is not less important to the country — that .we should keep our eye 
 steadily fixed on the great principles on which we stand. For I hold it to be the 
 duty of every man, (I care not what his political feelings and views may be,) 
 when satisfied that he is wrong, to stand forth and acknowledge the fact, and 
 change his position. The Democratic party, standing on its principles and 
 measures, has nothing to fear, nay, everything to gain, from a fair and candid 
 examination of both, and may well challenge scrutiny and investigation. 
 
 That the history of parties and politics for the last four years is in itself 
 "practical proof that Democratic principles and measures are right and conducive 
 to the benefit of the masses of our people, no man, in my humble judgment, 
 can deny. The issues that were before us in 1840, and again in 1844, have 
 been practically illustrated, and carried into successful and highly beneficial 
 operation, under a Democratic administration. I take, for instance, the bank 
 issue, on which the Democratic party took the side of firm and strenuous oppo- 
 sition. The Whig party, as a party, as decidedly took ground in favor of it. 
 The Democratic party pro[)osed and advocated a substitute for a national bank, 
 wbich was once termed by our opponents the " odious sub-treasury." This 
 sub-treasury, gentlemen, has been in practical operation, under a Democratic 
 
administration, for the last four years, and is admitted, by ever)' man who under- 
 stands its practical results, to be one of the most valuable and satisfactory 
 reforms ever devised or carried out in the management of the Bscal affairs of 
 Government. I venture the opinion that there is not one man in a hundred, 
 even of the Whig party, who is thoroughly conversant with the action of the 
 old United States Bank, and with that of the sub-treasury, (so called,) who 
 will not concede that the latter is all that could be desired, if not all that 
 had been claimed for it by its authors and supporters, or who, if he had now 
 the power, would desire to exchange it for the old bank. 
 
 Passing on to the tariff, was there ever a case where the predictions of a 
 party were so thoroughly refuted by results as those of the Whig party in rela- 
 tion to the operation of the tariff of '46? It was predicted, among other things, 
 that that tariff, though designed to be a revenue tariff, would not yield eighteen 
 millions of revenue. I refer you, in proof of this, to the speeches of leading 
 Wliig members of Congress. I refer you particularly to the speech of one of 
 the most distinguished members of that party in the United States Senate, who 
 rose in his place, just before the final vote was about to be taken, and pro- 
 nounced a malediction on the bill, and on all whcj were about to vote for it — 
 in the course of which, he uttered the memorable prediction "that it would 
 not yield eighteen millions of annual revenue," and "that it would result in the 
 commercial ruin of the entire country." But what: has been the actual result? 
 The tariff of '46 has yielded, the past year, over thirty-two millions of rev- 
 enue, every dollar of which has been brought into the treasury under the 
 operation of that law, not for the benefit of a few, but for the common benefit 
 of all. And here let me remark, that if I understand anything about the 
 tenets of the Democratic party, their fundamental policy is, so to frame the 
 laws of the land as to benefit all alike, without reference to a privileged few. 
 And whenever they cease, as a party, to advocate measures having only that 
 object in view, they cease to be worthy of the name they bear, and under 
 which we fight. There are other important matters v^bich I might refer to, that 
 1 regard as settled. The Democratic National Convention lately met, and, in 
 the name of the party, declared what they were for, and what they were against. 
 They have said, We are in favor of the sub-treasury, and against a bank — - 
 in flivorof a tariff for revenue, and against any system of taxation intended to 
 benefit the few and prejudice the many. They have declared in favor of the 
 extension of the area of freedom. They have declared their willingness to say 
 to all, " Come among us, of every nation, kindred, and tongue, the oppressed 
 nations of the Old World, here is room and enough for all ; come under the 
 benign sway of our laws and free institutions, and share with us, as citizens/ 
 the common inheritance ^\'hich of right belongs to all." In a word, they have 
 laid down a platform on 'which, as a party, we can stand and assert, with a 
 confidence backed and sustained by the history of past results, that Democratic^ 
 institutions give progress, prosperity, and honors to every citizen, whether the 
 inmate of a mansion or the humble tenant of a cottage. 
 
 How instructive the lesson, and, withal, how impressive the commentary 
 upon the value of the Government in which we live, to find the most venerated 
 and ancient 'monarchies of the Okl World, through force of popular moral sen- 
 timent, dethroning kings, abrogating oppressive edicts, and substituting, in lieu 
 of both, the ffirms and principles of the model Government on earth ! What 
 American citizen, native born or adopted, that does not feel proud America is 
 his home, and the political teachings of such patriarchs as Washington, Jefferson, 
 and Jackson, the political chart by which he steers ? 
 
France, our old and teloved ally in the darkest liour of our revolutionary 
 struggles, has, within a few weeks past, struck the chains and fetters of mon- 
 archy from around her, and proclaims to the world her devotion and attachment 
 to democratic institutions. And Ireland, oppresse^l and injured Ireland — how 
 long shall it be until she, seconded by the protecting hand of Him who "tem- 
 pers the wind to the shorn lamb," shall proclaim her emancipation from the 
 tyranny, injustice, and inequality that have so long been meted out to a popula- 
 tion worthv and deserving a place with the more favored nations of earth? 
 God grant' that before the birth of another year, Ireland and France may be 
 free — free in the true "American sense of the term." 
 
 A few words, now, in reference to the distinguished nominees of the De- 
 mocracy. In presenting to the American people the names of Lewis Cass 
 and William O. Butler, we have presented men who stand pledged to a 
 certain set of measures ; and the lives^of each, in civil and military stations of 
 great responsibility, are in themselves proof that they are worthy to be intrusted 
 with the high offices to which they have been designated. 
 
 If it were possible, in this age of criticism, to have selected two individuals 
 whose entire history, public and private, placed them beyond the reach of bitter 
 party animadversion, then, indeed, have we been fortunate in the choice of our 
 candidates- Uniting all those personal qualities that attach one good citizen to 
 another, they imbod'y, each within himself, all the elements of true, tried, and 
 faithful Democrats ; each has, at home and abroad, given evidence of his attach- 
 ment to Democratic principles, and his willingness and ability to proclaim and 
 maintain them. The records of our National Legislative Council bear full, am- 
 ple, and unmistakable evidence of their sound republican views on most, if not 
 all the great political questions that interest the country. With such men as 
 these at°the helm, the good old-fashioned Democratic party have nothing to fear, 
 but everything to hope for. 
 
 But how is it with our adversaries— this " universal Whig party," a party 
 that is generally much more universal before an election than after it — have 
 they nor°iinated a true and tried Whig, either by practice or profession ? (I say 
 nothing of their nominee for Vice President ; for of him I know nothing; 
 excepfthat he derives his principle notoriety from having been a violent Anti- 
 Mason in the days of Morgan.) Can any one tell me whether Major General 
 Zachary Taylor is a Whig, as Whigery is understood in this latter day and gen- 
 eration ? However, this is a delicate point — one upon which consistent New 
 York Whigs feel very sensitive, and I will not press it. 
 
 That the Whig party had aspirants for these high offices, imbodying all the 
 elements of Whig principles, no man can doubt ; nor is it any more to be doubted 
 that these men were anxious to be their standard-bearers. The man to whom 
 that party owed most — the great leader of it — its founder and builder — so far 
 departed from all precedent, that, a few months before the nomination was to 
 be made, he came before the country in a letter, imploring, in effect, in the most 
 piteous terms, that his party would give him one more and further trial ; and that 
 he whose locks had become whitened in services rendered to his party fornhe 
 last thirty years, might not be thrust aside, in his old age, and forgotten. And 
 well might Mr. Clay have pointed to those political warnings he gave his party 
 in 18:27, and cried, "Spare, oh! spare me, in the evening of a life spent in 
 your service, the mortification of being superseded by a military chieftain P' 
 In the year referred to, Mr. Clay denounced, in unmeasured terms, the effort 
 then making to place General Jackson in the Presidential chair ; notwithstanding 
 General Jackson had then filled various stations of the highest grade, both in 
 
the legislative and judicial departments of the country, and evinced powers of 
 mind that subsequently proved he was, emphatically, the master-spirit of the age 
 in which he lived. But Mr. Clay's objection to General Jackson was made 
 without reference to his capacity for civil employment; it was predicated upon 
 the ground that the liberty of people forming a government organized as oure 
 is, was endangered by encouraging " a blind and heedless enthusiasm for 
 mere military renown." As many of bur Whig friends have very short mem- 
 ories, and as some of them desire to be as consistent as the nature of the very 
 desperate case they have on hand will permit them to be, 1 will call their atten- 
 tion to an extract from one of the Imbodiment's speeches in 1827 : 
 
 Extract of a speech delivered in 1827, by Henry Clay, of Kentucky. 
 "Regardless of all imputations, and proud of the opportunity of free and unrestrained inter- 
 course with all my fellow-citizens, if it were physically possible, and compatible with my official 
 duties, I would visit every State, go to every town and hamlet, address every man in the Union, 
 and entreat them, by their love of country, by their love of liberty, for the sake af themselves 
 and their posterity— in the name of their venerated ancestors, in the name of the human family, 
 deeply interested in the fulfillment of the trust committed to their hands— by all the past glory 
 we have won, by all that awaits us as a nation, if we are true and faithful in gratitude to Him 
 who has hitherto so signally blessed us, to pause— solemnly pause— and contemplate the preci- 
 pice which yawns before us. If, indeed, we have incurred the Divine displeasure; and if it be 
 necessary to chastise this people with a rod of vengeance, I would humbly prostrate myself 
 before Him, and implore Him, in His mercy, to visit our favored land with WAR, with PES- 
 TILENCE, with FAMINE, ^vith any SCOURGE other them MILITARY RULE, oi- a blind 
 and heedless enthusiasm for mere MILITARY RENOWN T!" 
 
 My Whig friends, while upon this branch of the subject, seeing, from th® 
 indications around me, that many of you want an excuse to bolt a nomination 
 that threatens a dissolution of the Whig party, and is admitted by all candid 
 Whigs to be a total abandonment of Whig principles, I will give you a further 
 extract from the great I am, and I commend the latter part of it to the especial 
 attention of a new kind of Whigs ; and really you change titles so fast that 
 it is difficult for me to keep the run of you. I refer not to Democratic Whigs I 
 but Conscience Whigs! ! 
 
 Extract of Mr. Clay's speech at Lexington, Kentucky, Jime 20, 1827. 
 "You were actuated by one of tlie noblest of virtues. I, too, acknowledge its sway. But 
 whilst military merit is no disqualification, but, when accompanied by other requisite attainments, 
 may be a reason for civil promotion — standing, as it appeared to me, alone, I did not think we , 
 could prudently intrust the Chief Magistracy of this great country to the distinguished object 
 of your choice. I felt with you the obligations of national gratitude. But I thought they 
 should be fulfilled in other forms. Let the public gratitude manifest itself in just and adequate 
 rewards, drawn from the public treasure. Let inspired poets sing the praises of our military 
 and naval commanders. Let the chisel and the pencil preserve their faithful iniages for the 
 gratification of the present and future generations. Let the impartial historian faithfully 
 record their deeds of glory and renown, for the admiration and the imitation of posterity. I 
 say, too, in the language of a departed sage, ' honor to those who fill the measure of their 
 country's glory.' But it should be appropriate, considerate honor — such as becomes its object, 
 and such as freemen, jealous, cautious, and enlightened freemen, ought to bestow. If my 
 suffrage is asked for the highest civil office of my country, the candidate, however illustrious 
 and successful he may be, must present some other title than laurels, however gloriously- 
 gathered on the blood-stained field." 
 
 What "other title than military laurels" does General Taylor present ? General 
 Taylor says, in one of his many letters, "I am a Whig, though not an ultra 
 'one, by any means; nor have 1 ever exercised the privilege of voting; and I 
 
'care not whether I am nominated by Whigs, Democrats, or Natives; but in 
 ' being thus nominated, 1 must insist on the condition ; and my position on this 
 ' point is immutable, that I shall not be brought forward by them as the candi- 
 ' date of their party doctrines." Such language as this carries upon its face 
 evidence that General Taylor was either ashamed or afraid to intermarry with 
 Whigery alone, but, knowing that candidates were never selected by the 
 Democratic party without the " whys and wherefores," he thought the chances 
 a iitde better for Whig favor, and therefore he leaned just far enough over to 
 catch the Whig breeze. No man knew better than General Taylor that the 
 Whig party had been driven to the wall upon all the old issues, and it would 
 require a large amount of bugles and cannon to resurrectionize them. General 
 Taylor has certainly managed very adroitly, though I think the sequel will prove 
 that he has written rather too many letters. In his letter of the 3d of August last 
 to Mr. Ingersoll, he says: "At the last Presidential canvass, it was well known 
 ' to all wiTh whom 1 mixed — Whigs and Democrats, for I have no concealment 
 ' in the matter — that 1 was decidedly in Hivor of Mr. Clay's election, and would 
 ' now prefer seeing him in that office to any individual in the Union." 
 
 This letter gave hopes and confidence to iVIr. Clay and his friends, and the 
 next thing was, to ascertain whether the General would take the pledge under 
 the conventional system. Accordingly, Mr. Baldwin, of Richmond, Vuginia, 
 on the 22d of April last, asked the General various questions. I give his reply 
 to one of them : General Taylor says, " I do not design to withdraw my name 
 ' if Mr. Clay should be the nominee of the Whig National Convention; and m 
 ' this connection, I beg permission to remark, that the statements which have 
 ' been so positively made in some of the northern prints, to the effect that 
 ' should Mr. Clay be the nominee of the Whig National ConveJition, 1 had stated 
 ' I would iiot suffer my name to he used, are not correct, and have no founda- 
 ' tion in any oral or written remarh; of mine. It has not been my intention at 
 ' any moment to change my position, or withdraw my name from the canvass, 
 ' whoever may be the nominee of the National Convention, either of the Whig 
 ' or Democratic party." 
 
 Thus we see, that as the dazzling glare of the Presidency seemed to approach 
 nearer the eye of General Taylor, his ardent love of Mr. Clay was smothered ; 
 and, bidding defiance to all previous rules for the selection of candidates, he has 
 most effectually driven the Whig party from their principles, and compelled them 
 to find shelter under the humiliating argument, availability. 
 
 To those who intend to take General Taylor as Mr. Tyler was taken— 
 nolens volens — I have nothing to say ; to those, however, who support Whig 
 men and measures, believing they are right, I desire to present one o.thei' extract 
 from the letter of General Taylor, written to Mr. Delany, on the 7th of June, 
 1847. Mr. Delany asked General Taylor's views in reference '"'to a bank of 
 the United States, and a protective tariff" — questions that have agitated this 
 nation for the last forty years — questions that it is presumable every man of sound 
 mind understands something about. General Taylor replies : ''I am not prepared 
 'to answer these questions; I could only do so after duly investigating those 
 'subjects, which 1 cannot noiv do, my whole time being fully occupied in atlend- 
 ' ing to my proper official duties, which must not be neglected under any circum- 
 ' stances ; and I must say to you, in substance, what I have said to others in regard 
 ' to similar matters — that I am no politician." 
 
 In connection with the admissions of General Taylor, as made in the fore- 
 going letter, I refer you to the extracts I have just read from Mr. Clay's speeches, 
 in 1827, on military chieftains, and ask, whether it does not fit General Taylor's 
 
6 
 
 case exactly ? One of two propositions is evidently true : General Taylor is 
 either entirely ignorant of all those principles of political economy that sustain 
 and keep a great Government like ours in motion; or, imderstanding them, he 
 repudiates the cardinal doctrines embraced by the Whig party, and while he 
 is willing to receive their votes, he is unwilling, and absolutely refuses, to " be 
 brought forward by them as the party candidate of their doctrines." In either 
 case, he is unworthy the support of intelligent freemen ; and while, under the 
 rallying cry of party, he may receive the suffrages of a majority of those calling 
 themselves Whigs, there is a very large and respectable portion of the thinking, 
 reasoning merrof that party, in every State in this Union, who value their prin- 
 ciples and appreciate their reputation for consistency, that will never sacrifice 
 one or both by sustaining him. 
 
 I here leave General Taylor, and his peculiar qualifications for the Presi- 
 dency, to the tender care and keeping of that portion of the Whig party who 
 have put Harry of the West on the political rack, and made a military chieftain 
 his executioner. With what truth and propriety can this patriarch and pillar 
 of the Whig temple exclaim, " Save, oh ! save me from my friends !" From 
 this day forward, sealed be the lips of the revilers of John Tyler; for while the 
 sound of wo and lamentation at his alleged treason to the Whig party is yet 
 ringing in our ears, we see the satne, the very same men who joined in the gen- 
 eral bewailment, engaged, and mainly instrumental, in presenting to the coun- 
 try a candidate of whom not a man in this audience — not a man in this State 
 or out of it — can stand forth and say that he is committed to any one measure 
 or set of measures, or, if elected, he will carry out any one of the fundamental 
 principles by which the Whig party has heretofore professed to be governed. 
 
 Now, let us turn, for a moment, to the condition of things here. It is said 
 there is division in the great State of New York, and that, therefore, the Dem- 
 ocratic nominee cannot be elected. Admitting this division to exist, let me ask, 
 how is that to benefit General Taylor? I do not propose to discuss the exci- 
 ting question said to be the basis or pretext of division here, involving the rights 
 of the States to make their own internal regulations; but if any- portion of the 
 citizens of New York seek what is called a " free-territory man," vv'ill t'ley find 
 him in the person of a man who works, every day, two hundred slaves? I ap- 
 prehend the division in this State (if any does exist between Democrats) grows 
 out of principle, and that no portion of the party that may be disaffected in con- 
 sequence of their dread of the extension of slave territory, can select or go for a 
 man who is himself among the largest slaveholders within the limits of the Union. 
 But the Democratic party can't carry the State of New York, it is said. I will 
 hot believe that. I have done too much hard work for the Democracy of New 
 York ; I have seen too much hard work done by the poor and laboring De- 
 mocracy of the great Western Valley, and for a candidate presented by and from 
 the State of New York, to believe that any portion of the New York Democ- 
 racy, when that great Western Valley, for the first time in the history of the 
 Republic, presents their man, their undoubted favorite — a man who has grown 
 up with the great West, and become identified with it in feeling, in interest, in 
 sentiment — a man true to it and true to the country at all times — tried in many 
 responsible and difficult trusts — their friend and fellow when that great West 
 was yet a wilderness, — I say I am unwilling, under such circumstances, to lay 
 at the door of any portion of the Democracy of New York the black and crying 
 sin of ingratitude. We at the West have sustained your candidates; we have 
 done for them as much as we could have done had they been from among us. 
 And when, for the first time, we present our candidate, shall it be said that New 
 
York, unfaithful to herself, influenced by local feelings, prejudices, or dissen- 
 sions, turned her back upon us, and caused our glorious flag, that has so long 
 floated in triumph over this Union, to trail ingloriously in the dust? [Loud 
 cries of " No, no."] I never will believe it until I see it. If we had presented 
 men unworthy of ourselves or of the support of our Democratic brethren of the 
 Union, it would have presented a different case. 
 
 But who can say that Lewis Cass and William O. Buder arc not eminently 
 worthy of the highest honors which the Democracy of the Union and the 
 country have to bestow upon any citizens? I know, that until the death of that 
 distinguished man who was as much beloved and admired by his countrymen 
 whilst living as he was universally lamented in death, and as sincerely from 
 home as at home — I say, up to the hour of his decease, he was the choice, I 
 was about to say, of a majority of the Democracy of the Western Valley 
 for the Presidency. I can say he was my choice, and, had he been living, 
 he would have had my vote as the candidate of my party. But Provi- 
 dence, in its wisdom, ordered otherwise. We were called upon to cast about 
 for some other individual of the Democratic party that we considered worthy 
 of the high trust to be confided in our candidate. And if that individual is not 
 to be found in the person of Lewis Cass, of Michigan, 1 should be glad to have 
 the Democrat here who is going to vote against him, come forward and nan^e 
 the man that he prefers to him. [A voice on the outside : " iMartin Van Buren."] 
 Well, (continued Mr. Bhight,) I have been a friend of Martin Van Buren. 
 I voted for him in the Convention of '44, when others deserted him. He was 
 then my model of a Democrat and an honest man; nor shall I pronounce 
 adverse judgment on him, until further developments shall leave me no other 
 alternative. I do not believe that he will lend his aid or countenance to any 
 effort to defeat the candidates of the Democracy of the Union — one of them a 
 man who lives my neighbor, within twelve miles of me : I know him well 
 I have seen General Butler travel and canvass in behalf of Martin Van Buren 
 and that, too, when he would not have done it for himself. Tell me that Mr 
 Van Buren is about to sacrifice the hold he has on the regards of the great body 
 of his party throughout the Union, by throwing his weight and influence against 
 such a ticket ! And would not, ought not, such a course to alienate the great 
 body of his party fi'om him r [Cries of " Yes, yes."] I v^as saying, that in 
 1844, Mr. Van Buren was my choice for the Presidency; but a majority of the 
 Convention of that year declared that another individual should be the nominee. 
 'Is it not democratic to yield to the majority? Another individual was preferre'd 
 by the assembled representatives of the Democracy of the nauon ; and we 
 elected that individual ; and I presume no man was more gratified at the result 
 than Mr. Van Buren himself. It may be out of place for me to call names ; 
 but as Mr. Van Buren was named by some one in the crowd, I felt called upon 
 to say that he was my model of a Democrat, until a few months past. 1 do 
 not say now that he does not stand where he has always stood ; but I do say, 
 that he is the last man whose name his family, relatives, or friends should pre- 
 sent again to the Democracy of the country. [Vehement cheers.] Oflices 
 and honors under the free institutions of America belong to the body of the 
 people — not to any one name or family. [Tremendous and enthusiastic cheCiS.] 
 It is the duty, nay, it should be the pride, of every Democrat, when he sees 
 that his party prefers, or when they even intimate that they prefer another in 
 his place, to step out of the way and make room. It is by adopting that 
 course, and that only, that entire harmony and union can be preserved in 
 party organizatioDj and the ascendency of great principles secured and perpet- 
 
8 
 
 uated. In most cases where I have seen the Democratic ascendency, weakened, 
 it has been the result of a contest over the name of this or that individual— 
 never of a contest on principle. It is our duty on this occasion, as Democrats 
 as party men, desiring the elevation of our principles and the prostration ot their 
 Federal enemies, to forget the past, to bury all internal dissensions, to fix our eye^s 
 solely on the triumph of the great cause of Democracy, and to march boldly and 
 firmly on, one and all, to victory, without reference to troubles existing in the 
 family at home. [Cheers long and loud.] I have no means o knowing what 
 may be done in New York ; but I will make a prediction as to the northwestern 
 States, and I make one that will be verified by the result : We shall carry every 
 solitary one of them! Beginning with Ohio, we shall sweep every S5tate on 
 that side of the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers. I make a prediction as to my 
 own State ; that, too, will be verified : We will carry it against the W hig nominee 
 by 10,000 majority. , ^ , ... 
 
 A few more words, fellow-democrats, and I am done. I have said thus 
 much for the purpose of bearing rny testimony to what I considered due to the 
 great western Democracy. I have felt it my duty on this occasion, to say what 
 we expect of New York, in return for that we have done for her son when 
 presented to us as a candidate— the like aid we extended to her. [Unes ol 
 " We are with you."] I believe it. Never shall I forget the deep and anxious 
 solicitude manifested the other side of the mountains in 1844, to hear from the 
 Empire State. Every sister in the Confederacy had spoken to us but New 
 York. It was known that our destinies as a party, for the time bemg, were in 
 your hands. Well do I remember the congregated mass of beings on the banks 
 of the Ohio, at the glorious little city I reside in, old and young, Whigs and 
 Democrats — the honest yeomanry of the land. Many of them had travelled 
 from adjacent counties, all anxiously awaiting the hour for the vessel to^ome 
 that was to bring intelligence from New York — men that never held an office, 
 that never expected to hold an office, or desired one. They were true, tried, 
 old-fashioned Democrats, with hearts full of hope, and warmed onlywith a desire 
 to see their principles triumi)hant, and to enjoy the practical blessings to them- 
 • selves and their country, which they felt would continue to flow from such a 
 triumph. Need I tell you, their hearts were gladdened by the result when it 
 came, and the shout of joy rung from hill to valley? May we trust, when the 
 conflict shall have ended in 1848, the same note of triumph will reach us in 
 the West from the great State of New York ? [Cries of " It will."] It was 
 within the limits of New York that the light of Heaven first beamed upon my 
 eye. I naturally feel no small degree of attachment to my native State, and 
 her Democratic citizens. I have faith, and always have had, in the great body 
 of the Democratic party of New York. It was here that I received my early 
 impressions of the truth and value of Democratic principles. It was, I may 
 say, from this State that the very State I now live in borrowed her political 
 organization, which has done so much to concentrate the energies and build up 
 the Democratic party of that State. I trust we shall see in New York, at the 
 conclusion of this race, what we have seen and gloried in, in contests past and 
 gone. If that should be the result, it would of course definitively settle the great 
 question of the Presidency. But I make one more prediction : Let New York 
 vote as she may, Cass and Butler will be elected, and by a triumphant vote. 
 [Cries of "Good," •'good/' and loud cheering.] 
 
 146. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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