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TtiV. MV,SSV..\U\'.n. TROM THE NASHVILLE GAZETTE. POLITICAL NORSK RACING, & PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST. As racing lias become a fashionable amusement of the day —whether it be the racing of grooms, or o politicians, 1 have here undertaken to amuse the lovers of sportwith the details ol a splendid political sweepstakes, which I recently witnessed. It had been announced by tbe ■stewards of the turf, that agreeably to tbe provisions of the constitution of the Jocky Club, on a certain day a Jocky Club Race would be iun over tbe United States track free for the entrance of any horse or gelding, mares being excepted ; said horse or gelding ‘ being a na tive ot these United States, and aged thirty-five years or over. 1 — Ihe distance —once round the turf ■—the course embracing the whole twenty four United States of Ame rica. The weight to be carried by the horses, nothing more than the obloquy which the respective riders | of each could throw upon the nags’ of the others. The entrance, gra tis. The purse the reward of speed and bottom, furnished by the jocky club, was a Liberty Cap, which invested the succesful candidate with the Presidency of these Uni ted States for the term of four years , from and after the 4 th of March 1825. The magnificence of the prize, produced great interest and ex citement; and it was supposed the turf would be crowded with the distinguished racers of the contin ent. Indeed for a long time pre vious to the day of trial the public prints were incessant at their annun ciations of celebrated coursers, who would be competitors in this con test. But when the day of entrance came, and the books were closed, the following five candidates were alone placed on the list—to wit: the Adams the Jackson, the Clay, the Calhoun and the Crawford. (N. B. It is said the Dewitt Clinton of New-York—a steed of no small celebrity, would have also entered , had not some of the Jockies of that state, last year, wilfully lamed him !) But to enable the reader to enter fully into the interests which this contest excited, I will add a brief sketch of the pedigree and per formances of the five nags which were entered. The Adams is a horse of illus trious ancestry. He u r as begotten by the celebrated John Adams who ran with such distinguished ap plause during the revolutionary war ; and although his performan ces in the latter part of his life de- tracted much from that high and deserved reputation which his early success had acquired for him —having been in old age, beaten and distanced by the pride of Vir ginia—that matchless courser Jef ferson —still he was unquestionably a horse of no mean prowess. The friends of the old Adams however attributed the defeat which he re- ceived at the hands of the Jefferson , to bad keeping , and threw the blame upon one of his grooms, named Hamilton ; but wholly with out authority, for the J efllcrson was evidently his superior. But jockies, you know are fruitful in excuses when ill fortune attends their nags. ‘The high blood ol the Adams seems to have been more sanguinely xelied on than either his figure or his previous performances ; for lie is an obese, stout buttockcd animal, and his excellence in racing par takes not of downright turf running, such as we now speak of, but ra ther of the light, air y ambling of the Pegasus breed. It is with difficulty he can be kept in the track, so much is he addicted to bolting. He displayed his propensity in this way in the year 1807. When run ning against some horses called Republicans over the course called the Senate, he suddenly reared, plunged and kicked up—threw oil his rider, one Oris, whom he re peatedly stamped, and forthwith clashed into a rich green clover lield that bordered the margin of the course, where he has ever since remained, grazing on the fat of the land. His sire was also vehement ly addicted to this practice of bol ting. The Adams has been frequently sent, to Europe by’ the American Jockies; but it is said the expenses attending the outfits, £?’c. always amounted to more than his v. in nings. He was raised in Massa chusetts ; or rather he was born there, for he was trained in Europe, having gone to that country when but eleven years old, and remained there many years, under the gui dance of some royal grooms. The J ackson is a tall,slim horse ; but 44 of mighty bone and bold em prise.” He is moreover exceed ingly’ spirited and high mettled.— In his own State, (Tennessee,) he has ran with wonderful success; never having lost a race there or else where —but it is the splendid victory which he obtained over the noted British horse, the Packfn ham on the Orleans Turf on the Bth of January, 1815, which has given him such distinguished repu tation. The Packenham was a lull blooded courser—a kin to the in vincible Wellington, who beat the far famed Napoleon on the field of Waterloo. ‘The Packenham was expressly picked bv the British King,from amongst the whole stud, and sent to the Orleans tort ex pressly to encounter an American horse ; vet the Jackson distanced him the first round. It is univers ally admitted, even by the knowing ones of England, that the Jackson ran that race in exceeding quick time ! The Jackson has also beaten the Creek , the Seminole and the Florida , horses of some note. As to the Calhoun, he is a mere colt— scarcely bridlewise. His for mer performances had given him no reputation—and the knowing ones were astonished at the rashness of his keepers in placing him in com petition with such tried speed and bottom. He is,’tis true, a sprightly, lively looking colt, but he has not one of the marks or points of a first rate.— His hackers frequently indicated a disposition to withdraw him, and venture their funds on the Adams; but in their councils 44 madness ru led the hour,” and he appeared up on the course a candidate for domi nation. The Clay is an airy supple joint ed fellow, of bright and cheerful countenance. Tie comes from the backwoods of Kentucky, where he has run with such success,at county gatherings, that in that state he has no competitor. In 1814 he ran at Ghent, where some American Hor ses, and amongst others the Adams, yvere matched against the steeds of old England; and success croyvned the heels of the Americans. It is thought by some that the Adams did not on that occasion maintain the interests of the yvhole American sportsmen, but that he ran only for the Cape Cod jockies. The western sportsmen had liked to have lost their all by him, and yvould, but lor the Clay The Crawford is a tall, majes tic figure, with wonderful bone, muscle and sinew.—His tread firm and indicative of great strength and activity’. He sprung from the old Virginia stock of racers ; one of the best strains in these United States. (Vide the American racing calendar titles, Washington , Jefferson, Mad ison and Monroe .) —When young he yvas taken to Georgia, and there oc casionally ran a feyv cider races suc cessfully, yvhen his oyvners, embol dened at his success, ventured to enter him in the State jocky club, yvhere he defeated the favorite horse of Georgia, although often opposed by that dare devil the John Clark , a nag of some distinction in that quarter, who has lately, hoyvever, become spavined,splinted and string halted.—lt is singular that the sup porters of all the other nags vied in their abuse of this horse and of his performances. Such are the characters of the horses which paraded on the day of trial. All of them had acquired re putation in their provincial racing, but how they yvould play their parts yvhen opposed to each other on the great theatre of the national turf, yvas all “ doubt and darkness.”— Bets were various—and the vocife rations of praise by the friends of the respective nags were boisterous and constant. Ihe shrewd Yankee yvas ready to risk his yvhole crop of Onions, together yvith the fruits of his year's toil in the Cod fishery, on their favorite Adams.—Hun dreds of the sons of old Kentucky around the Clay, yvho made the 4 yvelkin ring’ yvith their shouts.— They said 4 he yvas half Horse—half Aligator, and tipped with the snap ping Turtle.”—Nav, they avowed he yvas a very Steam Boat! —a 1 Mississippi Sawyer !’ They swore : he was the best horse on the turf, and that they could out run, out jump, out shoot, throw down or whip any man or set of men who da red to contradict them! 1 A faint uproar of approbation was occasionally heard lrom the friends of the Calhoun but it was 4 a dying sound .’ The Georgians and Virginians were loud in their plaudits —Ihev ottered to stake piles of old Virgin ia sweet scented and Georgia uplands on the Crawford. The Yankees looked with a yearning eye at the hogsheads and bales and sinned most heinouslv, in their hearts, against that commandment, yvhich forbids the coveting of thy neighbour s pro perty. The Jackson had about him some staunch friends, though ieyv in num ber. They talked of the ever glori ous eighth, and swore “by the deeds be had done,’ that he was 4 the horse of horses!’ The Adams had been long in training. He had been long under the care of tyvo famous sporting as sociations, called the 44 Essex Jun to,” and “Hartford Convention,”[*] yvhose system of training yvas fash ioned after the English plan. The Clay yvas trained chiefly in Kentucky, amongst the people , and rubbed doyvn occasionally 7 by the I friends of the South American inde pendence h the Mississippi boatmen. Some Dutch yvaggoners in Penn sylvania, had the keeping of the Calhoun, who stuffed him with rye straw and wheat bran ; a sort of food th t merely tended to puff him up, without invigorating him with any real strength. The Jackson might be said to be yvithout keepers: at least he had none of experienced professional skill. His backers said he yvas al ways at the service of the jocky club—that be required no keeping , and that he was always ready if the people should think ft to start him. — No studied preparation had there fore been made, and lie came upon the ground full and rough—relying on his native strength, unaided by the skill of the jockies. The Crawford was in famous plight. He was at first managed by some Georgia jockies. He yvas thence taken to the old dominion , yvhere he was again looked after by some of the old grooms of 98 ; the same who had trained the Jefferson, when he beat 4 t’other Adams.’— JVtordecai Noah of Neyv-York also 4 ever and anon’ took him thro gh a course of exercise. The State of Maine yvas selected as the starting post. There, on the appointed day the candidates met; and from thence they yvere to run throughout the whole twenty-four States. The beating of the drums announ ced that the hour for the riders to mount had arrived. The rattling of this instrument of yvar, electrified Old Hickory. It was to the same music he ran yvhen he tried his speed yvith the Packenham. He pricked up his ears, bowed his neck, cham ped his bit, and carried lofty. But this note of yvar greatly affrighted the Adams, yvhose spirits are al yvavs startled at 4 yvild war’s deadly blasts ;’ and his friends yvere great ly shocked at sounds so offensive to the feelings of a peaceable and reli gious people. The Editor of the National Gazette was selected as the rider of the Ad ams, who has acquired some dis tinction both in this country and in Britain, as a rider. His system of political horsemanship partakes more of the English, than of the American mode. And it is more over said he is quite capricious in relation to his tenets, alternately the votary of 4 doctrines fashioned to the varying hour ’ He mounted his candidate for dominion : and the richness and gaudiness of his dress filled the people yvith amazement, lie yvas clothed in purple; and on his head he yvore a cap shaped like a crown ; and attached to this crown floated in the air tyvo ensigns, im pressed with appropriate mottos. — The one, however, yvas speedily tied up; the other rattled in the yvind, and displayed this inscription, [*This insinuation yve do not wish to go at more than its value. It is yvell known by every man of informa tion that Mr. Adams can in no way be associated yvith the Hartford Conven tion. We wish every candidate to be treated fairly, and that the writer had confined the display of his wit, in this, as yvell as in some other cases, nearer to the truth.] ■ i ’Ac arc all Federalist* ■•> e <.. a a Republicans .'’—lt yvas, however, whispered about, that this v.'as the same flag yvhich the Adams carried when he ran in Massachusets under the fictitious name of Publicola; and it yvas apparent that the ground of the ensign had been r.eyvly re painted; that the old inscription had been brushed out, and this ney7 one substituted in its stead. Noah , one of the Craw lord Jock ies, a keen lynx-eyed felloyv, yvas seen to gaze slyly, yet intently, at this ancient banner, and hinted that vestiges of the ancient yvritings vr ere visible ; a transcript of which being submitted to that burrower after antiquities, Doctor Mitchill, he produced the true and original reading to be thus:— 4 Huzza for the Alien and Sedition Laws !’— 44 Standing Armies and Direct Pax es.”—The rider carried in his hand a yvhip, made of a certain timber called 4 direct taxes,’ admirably cal culated for scourging. The Adams carried heavy weight fastened upon him by the opposing grooms, con sisting of huge masses of Federalism and Aristocracy. It was thought those burthens yvould not greatly impede his progress in passing over the dry sandy soil of the Neyv En gland Slates; but it was believed they yvould cause him to stick fast in the deep rich and loamy grounds of the West. He yvas led to the starting post by a federalist of the Boston turf. The Clay was mounted by one of the people; a rough, hardy Kentuckian, dressed in a linsy woolsy hunting shirt fastened around him, a coarse leathern belt, with deer skin mockasons, yvith a “ blue and white cotton handkerchief” tied round his head. He curried a whip, a mere tyvig, cut from the tree persuasion. His bridle reins were made of the people's will. He too un furled an ensign, which bore “ The Western States and the Mississippi!” The only extra weight which the 6'lay carried consisted in an old dirty pack of cards, heretofore much used, but ap parently long since throyvn bv, which the Jldams jockies sneakingly thrust into the girdle of his rider. A“ Western Citizen” conducted the Clay to the polls yvho merrily chanted as he led him up, My bonny brave Horse has come out of the West, And in all the great valley this steed is the best. A square built mynheer of Penn sylvania, led the Calhoun to the charge yvho pitched upon his back a mere catch (the Editor of the Franklin Gazette) as his rider. The little groom yvas al most weighed doyvn yvith epaulettes, sashes, lace, buttons, embroidery and plumes, lie yvore a fierce chapeau to yvhich was affixed, a golden plate, with this inscription, “ The Army Candid ate.” ’Tvvas cruel to oppress this year ling yvith additional weight; but an un feeling Crawford jockey thrust into the knapsack of the rider a huge Rip Rap Rock, yvhich almost prostrated the frisky racer. The Gallant War Horse Jackson was led to the poles—'The Editor of the Columbian Observer, officiating as his principal attendant, though his as sistance had previously been given to the Clay.—lie was rode by the Editor of the Nashville Gazette, who owing to the spirit of his steed, was mounted without yvhip or spur. He yvore an old Continental three cornered cocked hat, with ensigns pendant, in yvhich were inscribed “Camden, Tahoopka, Neyv-Orleans.” The Clay folks un generously endeavored to fasten to his croup a heavy southern mineral called Arbuthnot, yvhich however the noble animal shook off entirely, before lie started. Next “ in gallant trim” yvas mar shalled at the polls the lofty Crawford —His undaunted air, perfect figure, and agile tread, called forth the plau dits of the great assemblage—The Ed itor of the National Advocate, the fa mous New-York keeper, the same yvho last year lamed and pecked the Clin ton ; led the Crawford to the polls— The Editor of the Enquirer, a lad bred in the best Virginia stables, yvas seat ed on Ilia back. In his dress were blended the fashions of the yvhite man and of the Indian. On his flag glared in large Capitals, STATE RIG (I l’S —ECONOMY—REPUBLICANISM OF NINETY-EIGHT ”—and in the hack ground a painting ; a representa tion of an encounter, in which the how •f Cupid overcomes the scalping knife of the Savage, designed as an emblem of the new mode of inculcating civili zation by means of the pleasant process of intermarriages. lie carried neither scourge nor goad. His enemies thrust under hri saddle large bundles of mis-stated Treasury Reports—Suppressed Documents, &c. but his rider with the slight of hocus pocus, freed himself from these encum brances. Thev attempted too to point * * K l Oii £> >)[ I g(1 c* . t\i . Ali i V said had attached itself to him, 1 was bedizzened by the respler dapples of Republicanism which pen', ded his whole body. The competitors yvere at l<> r „,| marshalled at the post. The Jj.;’ gave the word—GO ! A hurra !\, shouted by the multitude ami < ; dashed the gallants; an empire tL prize. They started in the State of Maine through yvhich state there were tsi tracts, viz. the Missouri Tract and tin Maine Tract. The Crawford prom],: ly selected the Missouri route, wi llC ; he steadily pursued, and at the onset ran far ahead of the Adams, who Eg much time in temporising, in first trv. ing the advantages of one track, and then of the other, to catch the more |y> pular breeze. At length having gotten into the current, lie spread all Ins car., vuss, and then ensued a vigorous coo. test hetyveen the Crawford and the Adams, yvhich however resulted in the supremacy of the latter. Throughout New Hampshire the Adams continued to lead the van. The same success continued to attend him as lie onwards passed over Vermont; but as they dasli ed along the Green Mountains, the old W arriors of the Revolution shout'd zealously for Old Hickory, yvho made a run at the Adams under this cheer ing, but ineflectunllv. Massachusetts was next entered, the Adams tar ahead Here the rider ot the Adams unfurled his heretofore concealed banner winch, displayed 4 * The Hartford Convention and the “ Universal Yankee Nation!” and amongst those people yvho have so long cried “ England is the Bulwark of our Religion,” the efleet which these talismanic yvords produced was prodi gious. Faneuil Hall resounded with cheers. Throughout the Adams led the way. Once hoyveverhe yvas suddenly check ed in the career, on the plains of Lex ington, by the shades of those wings, yvhose bones are bleaching on those fields. They essayed to tear from the broyv of his rider the traitorous ensign yvhich he had just unfurled. The state of the turf in this State seemed happily fitted for the success ful progress of the Adams ; whilst the other nags trodc on a soil peculiarly heavy to republican hoots. No change yvas noticed in their pro gress through Rhode Island, hut as they readied the confines of Connecticut, the Adams evidently flagged, notwith standing the vehement application of the spur, whilst the others seemed to acquire new vigour. At Stonington the wind c field pass ed the Adams, yvho yvas at that period terribly frightened at the carousals of the people of that village yvho yvere just then celebrating the anniversary of their victory over commodore Hardy. “ The Gentleman ot Philadelphia,” yvho rode the Adams yvas much vexed at this accident, and declared it “ un becoming a religious and moral people to rejoice at their victories over their enemies.” This accident brought the com petitors together, and in a pretty well started line all entered the State of Neyv-York. In this State there yvas no sham riding. It yvas deem ed by all an important stage in the contest. The struggle was vehe ment on the part of each. The Crawford led the way, pressed how ever frequently, up to the girth, by the Adams. In this state the rider of the Adams douced his 44 Hartford Convention” flag ; but not so com pletely as to obscure entirely a glimmering of the ancient inscrip tion. The times had changed—New York 44 yvas herself again.” The ri der of the Adams tried each art to urge the dull delay ot his beast. A volatile genius, he had been 44 every thing by starts and nothing long.” He rode some times in federal style, sometimes in English style and sometimes in the republi can way, tho av.’kwardly enough it is true, but to no advantageous end 'The Crawford led the yvay; and this excited no astonishment in those yvho yvere appraized that No ah had taught Ritchie how to avail himself of all the near cuts in that mighty state. The course of the Adams in that state, yvas too devi ous for one yvhohad but little time to spare. ‘The poor Calhoun yvas greatly distressed. The Clay made a vigorous, but unsuccessful effort. —The Jackson yvas doing well, but yvhen he leaped across the great ca nal. his rider shouted, 44 Huzza lor Dewitt Clinton !” which so vexed the Tammanies that they threyv eve ry sort of rubbish and obstruction in his path New-Jersey. also became the arena of a vigorous contest, and it i*-difficult to say yvhich acquired the victory. But it is believed the Adams maintained a general supe riority in that state ; though as they I bounded across the fields of Prince - I ton and Tent on the Jackson gained