The Woodstock Age

POLITICAL.
From the Ohio Statesman.
TO THE THINKING MEN OF THE WHIG PARTY.

Henry Clay is now the whig candidate for the Presidency. His name has long been associated with that high office as an unsuccessful aspirant. Whenever placed fairly before the people, defeat has been his only reward, and mortification his principal consolation. The principles which govern his life are self-aggrandizement. His chief aim at this time is to reach the long expected goal of his ambition. From early youth his eye has rested upon the Executive chair-the attainment of which might perhaps satisfy his earthy ends. A man, who endeavors, as he has done, to accommodate his principles to every latitude of the Union, and coincide in opinion with all classes of men, must expect to find himself, often, in an unfortunate dilemma. He has advocated both sides of all the leading questions of the age. And has stood up in the halls of Congress, when in the ardor of youth and burning with the enthusiastic emotions of a republican patriot, and denounced, with all the eloquence of Demosthenes and the wisdom of a modern Lycurgus, the DANGEROUS AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL EXERCISE of the power in Congress to create a National Bank-a moneyed minion of corruption. The whole nation praised his name. He was a talented man, an able orator, and one whose motives none can impugn. His speech to this day has never been refuted. It is deeply engraven upon the hearts of the people-and the powerful reasoning of his giant mind must always remain unmoved. But alas, for his fair name, the poisonous fangs of that seductive monster of corruption, whose existence he had formerly endeavored to destroy, were slightly laid upon him-the syren song of selfish interest was sung into his ear, and like the foolish maiden once ensnared by the villain's hand, all self-respect was gone, his love of country lost. The United States Bank had paid him $17,000 as "bank attorney".-and he was from that moment forth the advocate of banks:-- The constitutional objections of others were not worthy of consideration-the will of the bank should first be carried out! Hypocrisy was then fastened upon his forehead, and from that hour to the present time its mark has never been effaced.

Upon the tariff how does Mr Clay stand? In different portions of the Union he is represented as being in favor of high tariffs and low, and in some, of none at all! Take his own declarations, and where can we place him? Sometimes for, and sometimes against a revenue tariff. To the manufacturers he says "I am in favor of a protective tariff"-but when interrogated by the friends of a revenue tariff, his answer is made to suit them exactly! Double faced and double-headed, he would be a dangerous man to wield the executive power of this great nation.

When instructed to vote for the repeal of the bankrupt law-an odious measure fastened upon the country by unwholesome legislation, he raised his arm aloft and announced his unalterable determination to maintain that iniquitous law in defiance of the instructions of his legislature, and the unanimous voice of the people of Ky. He was the advocate of the principle, that the servant of the people was bound to carry out the views of those who placed him in power. Let him speak for himself.

In 1839 Mr Clay thus defined the power of instruction:
"To conform to the will of our constituents."
"To act not in our own, but in a delegated character"
"Whenever they know the will and the wishes of those who sent them here, they are bound to conform to that will entirely."
"We are nothing more than the mirror to reflect the will of those who called us to our dignified stations."
"It is no matter in what words or language those instructions are given."
"And 2d." says Mr Clay, "AFTER MAINTAINING that the word REQUEST is better because more respectful, than the word INSTRUCT, I SHOULD FEEL MYSELF BOUND TO COMPLY WITH THEIR WISHES THUS COMMUNICATED."

The above is his profession of principle, but his acts were carried out in accordance with the other and far different tone of voice of which he is possessed.

When instructed to vote for Andrew Jackson for President, his reply was brief and characteristic. He said. "I WILL NOT."

Forever tumbling and turning, and continually endeavoring to delude all classes of men, he is governed by no fixed principles, and is consequently unworthy the support of a free and intelligent people.

But of all the political somersets ever thrown by unprincipled demagogues, the latest expression of opinion from Mr Clay upon the annexation of Texas, stands unrivaled. Every body knew that he would express his consent to this great national measure, provided, it would elect him to the Presidency. But who could suppose that a candidate for the highest office in the world could so far surrender all claims to self respect, and all regard for the honor of his party, as to pursue the course he has done? He finds the popular tide fast swelling against him-he sees the unalterable determination of the people to drive him back into the dark shades of retirement, there to rot and moulder in the corrupted sphere of his own corrupted existence. As the drowning man catches at straws, so is the expiring politician struggling for succor. But the Omnipotent Ruler of the universe has placed his seal of condemnation upon the ruined hopes of reckless ambition. The dangerous hour in which the abandoned demagogue shall rule supreme over the fate of eighteen millions of freemen has not yet arrived. The wheels of government are not now broken -nor is the honored constitution of our fathers mutilated by the ruthless hand of ambitious madness. All men agree that the liberty of a people is far more easily usurped than a successful struggle for freedom when the despot is firmly placed upon his throne.

Now is the time for those who love their country above party, to rally. Let those who regard the honor and interests of the nation as it is, fight for the cause of equal rights and equal privileges against chartered monopolies and corrupt schemes of government policy. The period is fast approaching in which the responsible duty of selecting your Chief Magistrate will devolve upon you.- Think wisely, and act with an eye single to your country's prosperity, and the individual interest of all, and you must be impelled to render your support to James K. Polk and George M. Dallas.

EQUAL RIGHTS.