USA > Georgia > The bench and bar of Georgia: memoirs and sketches. With an appendix, containing a court roll from 1790-1857, etc., volume II > Part 46
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(From the Monitor, May 15, 1844.)
TEXAS QUESTION .- The letter of Mr. Van Buren has produced great dissatisfaction in the Democratic ranks South. We notice that in Hunts- ville the Democrats wish to revoke the instructions to the delegates to sup- port his nomination at Baltimore.
At a meeting in Perry county, just before the receipt of Mr. Van
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Buren's letter, a Democratic Elector of President said "he was almost ready to brand any man at the South with abolitionism who was opposed to the annexation of Texas to this Union." This was no doubt intended to mortify the Whigs because of Mr. Clay's letter. We notice that in other parts of Alabama the Democrats have been quite severe upon Mr. Clay's letter, and in a short time had the dire misfortune to find that Mr. Van Buren was also opposed to annexation. In this particular the two can- didates for President occupy similar ground.
Now, we see no sufficient cause why the friends of Mr. Van Buren should desert him on account of his views on annexation. It may be that they are tired of him, and make this a pretext to throw him overboard. There is no grave principle involved. If he suits them in other respects, it is but reasonable and fair that they should pardon this difference of opinion. Mr. Van Buren's letter furnishes cogent reasons why annexation should not be accomplished now. He denies that our recognition of the independence of Texas is a bar to our relations with Mexico on what she conceives to be her rights of territory. We took the position, a few weeks ago, that the national character of Texas once admitted by our Government cancelled all obligations to notice Mexico in our intercourse with Texas. The letters of Mr. Clay and Mr. Van Buren on this subject have convinced us of the essential distinction between a government in fact and one of right, and that it has been the uniform practice of this country to recognise the one without concluding the pretensions of the other.
Even if we could not agree with Mr. Clay on annexation, we should not waver in his support. At most, it is a mere question of expediency, presenting no party issues. We have always treated it as purely a national, not a party, question. One reason why we desired immediate annexation was to prevent Great Britain from acquiring Texas. The President's organ at Washington had stated that evidence the most positive existed of such a design, which we have since perceived has been officially disavowed by that Power. This consideration justifies our with- drawing from the support of immediate annexation at all hazards. We believe that Texas will either preserve her national character, or, if unable to do so, that she will be incorporated into our Union at no distant period. Mr. Clay deems it a sufficient cause for the employment of force on our part to arrest the design of any European Power on Texas.
The argument used by the heated friends of instant annexation, that it will extend free institutions, is baseless. Texas has already copied our system of government, including slavery. What more can the South ask ? What more could it do for Texas ? When the proper time arrives-when the measure can be accomplished consistently with the national honor and interests-we shall advocate it. Until then we shall direct our attention to subjects in which the people of the whole country have a more imme- diate and practical concern. We desire to see the wide extent of territory which forms the Union wisely and honestly governed; and with that view we shall support the election of HENRY CLAY to the Presidency, as the paramount good. There is nothing in the letter of Mr. Clay to exclude the possibility of acquiring Texas under his administration with clean hands.
(From the Monitor, June 19, 1844.)
MR. CLAY'S TEXAS LETTER .- It has been falsely charged by his oppo-
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MR. CLAY'S TEXAS LETTER.
nents that Mr. Clay addressed himself for support to the Abolitionists of the North, in the following passage of his letter :-
I do not think that Texas ought to be received into the Union, as an integral part of it, in decided opposition to the wishes of a considerable and respectable portion of the Confederacy.
Without reflecting on the sense of words, the enemies of Mr. Clay pervert his meaning to answer their sinister purposes. They ought to know-in fact, they do know-that " Confederacy" means a league of States, not a community of people. The American " Confederacy" was formed by thirteen sovereign States, and now embraces twenty-six. The "Confederacy," then, is composed of the States in their political cha- racter, and is distinct, as a league of sovereigns, from the individuals who reside within its limits. In a previous part of his letter, Mr. Clay says :-
If, without the loss of national character, without the hazard of foreign war, with the general concurrence of the nation, without any danger to the integrity of the Union, and without giving an unreasonable price for Texas, the question of annex- ation were presented, it would appear in quite a different light from that in which I apprehend it is now regarded.
This, taken in connection with a "considerable and respectable portion of the Confederacy," proves that Mr. Clay meant the States; as much as to say that if any " considerable and respectable number" of States were to assume an attitude threatening the integrity of, or likely to dissolve, the Union rather than admit Texas, then, with such prospect, annexation ought to be abandoned to preserve the Union. This is the meaning of Mr. Clay ; and no other construction can be honestly given to his language. Until it is settled that "Confederacy" and "people" signify the same thing,-that a league of States means an aggregate body of individuals,- there can be no question or doubt that Mr. Clay referred to a " consider- able and respectable portion" of the States as members "of the Confede- racy," and not to the people in their primary character.
Mr. Clay's history shows his strong love of the Union. He saved it on the Missouri question in 1820, and again in 1833, in the collision between South Carolina and the General Government. But for his master-spirit and influence, this glorious Republic of confederated States would have been broken into fragments. Mr. Clay considers the Union indispensable to our safety and happiness; and, therefore, if Texas cannot be received into it without danger to the Union itself, and either Texas or the Union must be given up, he will stand by the Union at all hazards and let Texas abide her time. If Mr. Clay did not cherish the Union as the paramount good, he would not be fit for President of the United States.
We trust that the people of the South will not suffer themselves to be longer imposed on and misled by those who make it a business to pervert the language and misrepresent the views of Mr. Clay on all subjects. We have given what we consider to be the true meaning of that portion of his Texas letter. If Mr. Clay had intended otherwise, he would have used the word " people" instead of "Confederacy,"-terms of very dissimilar import, which can never be confounded. No man is uniformly more explicit than Mr. Clay. To say that he referred to the Abolitionists, or any other set of individuals, as a "considerable and respectable portion of the Confederacy," is trifling with public intelligence, as well as with the English language.
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APPENDIX.
Mr. Clay's Texas letter, straightforward and manly, neither turning to the right nor left, is in keeping with his independent character and com- prehensive statesmanship. The Presidency, tempting as it is to less exalted minds, is not sufficient to draw Mr. Clay one inch from that line of honor and duty by which his conduct and opinions have always been regu- lated. His Texas letter was not moulded for particular latitudes, but for the whole country. Time will prove the wisdom and correctness of his views.
The author enclosed to Mr. Clay a copy of the Monitor, with a letter of which the following is a copy :-
TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA, June 20, 1844.
DEAR SIR :- The Monitor of yesterday, which I send you by to-day's mail, contains an editorial on your Texas letter, intended to repel the con- struction given by Southern Democrats to a particular passage in that letter. I contend, as you will see by the editorial referred to, that your use of the term " Confederacy" was in a special sense, and qualified by the "integrity of the Union," which did not apply to the people, as a mass. The Union can never be in danger except from disaffection or violence of some one or more of its members.
You readily understand the object of your opponents in impressing the people of the South with the belief that you were propitiating a certain influence at the North, by the terms " a considerable and respectable por- tion of the Confederacy," in reference to the annexation of Texas. The charge, I know, is unjust, and I have endeavored to show its want of foundation.
The Texas question, forming a new issue, is pushed here with great assiduity by the Democrats. The nomination of a Tennessee candidate, and the circumstances under which it was made, afford them no other ground to rally upon. The tariff, better understood now at the South, than ever, has lost its terrors with the people. They say that goods are cheaper than two years ago, when the tariff was lowest, that the Govern- ment has recovered its credit, pays its expenses from imports, and that individuals are much relieved in pecuniary matters. These facts they know to exist, and state in reply to designing politicians.
May I ask of you to read, in the Monitor, the proceedings of the Clay Club of this city ? They exhibit the firmness of the Whigs of Alabama in support of their principles, maugre the Texas bubble.
Some very sound Whigs regret that in your Texas letter you did not leave a door open for annexation at a future time and when present ob- stacles may be removed. I have maintained that you say not a word to preclude your support of that measure when it can or shall be properly introduced; on the contrary, that your known influence with Mexico, and habitual deference to the will of the people when fairly ascertained, are the very considerations which should satisfy the friends of annexation that you, of all other men, are the most certain to accomplish it and at the same time preserve the national honor.
Many Democrats admit that the Whigs would probably have obtained the vote of Alabama in a contest with Mr. Van Buren, obnoxious as he was to them on account of his Texas letter. They boast, however, that Polk and Texas will sweep the State by an increased majority. That re- sult, however, is among the uncertainties of the future. The Whigs will use all fair and manly exertions to prevent it.
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LETTER FROM MR. CLAY.
Pardon this communication : it is made with entire respect, upon authority of the acquaintance I had the honor to form with you at Mobile and to cultivate on the boat to Montgomery.
With profound esteem, your obedient servant,
STEPHEN F. MILLER.
Hon. HENRY CLAY.
On the 15th July, a letter was received from Mr. Clay, which was published in the Monitor two days afterward. It may also be found in the volume of " Private Correspondence of Henry Clay," edited by Calvin Colton, LL.D., p. 490 :-
ASHLAND, July 1, 1844.
MY DEAR SIR :- I received and thank you for your friendly letter and the copy of the Monitor. You have justly conceived my meaning when I referred, in my Texas letter, to a considerable and respectable portion of the Confederacy. And you might have strengthened your construction of the paragraph by reference to the fact that at the date of my letter the States of Ohio, Vermont, and Massachusetts had almost unanimously de- clared against annexation, the Legislature of Georgia had declined to recommend it, and other States were believed to be adverse to the measure. As to the idea of my courting the Abolitionists, it is perfectly absurd. No man in the United States has been half so much abused by them as I have been.
I consider the Union a great political partnership, and that new mem- bers ought not to be admitted into the concern at the imminent hazard of its dissolution. Personally, I could have no objection to the annexation of Texas ; but I certainly would be unwilling to see the existing Union dissolved or seriously jeoparded for the sake of acquiring Texas. If any one desires to know the leading and paramount object of my public life, the preservation of this Union will furnish him the key.
From developments now being made in South Carolina, it is perfectly manifest that a party exists in that State seeking a dissolution of the Union, and for that purpose employing the pretext of the rejection of Mr. Tyler's abominable treaty. South Carolina, being surrounded by slave States, would, in the event of a dissolution of the Union, suffer only com- parative evils ; but it is otherwise with Kentucky : she has the boundary of the Ohio extending four hundred miles on three free States. What would our condition be in the event of the greatest calamity that could befall this nation?
In Kentucky the Texas question will do the Whig cause no harm. I am glad to perceive, in the proceedings of the Clay Club at Tuscaloosa, a similar belief expressed as to Alabama. It was a bubble blown up by Mr. Tyler in the most exceptionable manner, for sinister purposes; and its bursting has injured nobody but Mr. Van Buren.
Retaining an agreeable recollection of the pleasure which I derived from forming your acquaintance last spring, I remain
Your friend and obedient servant,
STEPHEN F. MILLER, Esq. H. CLAY.
II .- DEFEAT OF HENRY CLAY FOR THE PRESIDENCY. (From the Monitor, November 20, 1844.)
MR. POLK ELECTED PRESIDENT .- Contrary as it may seem to the fit- ness of things, the people in the United States have chosen JAMES K.
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POLK for President. We confess that this result has greatly disappointed us; but it is unnecessary to complain. We admit the right of the majority to govern. The people have decided, and we bow to their will.
Mr. Clay stands in no need of sympathy. No office could increase his fame. As a statesman of enlarged and liberal views, comprehending the whole interests of his country, present and prospective,-as an orator of the first grade,-as a man of generous and noble impulses, of sound judg- ment, of unbounded goodness of heart, of great frankness and integrity,- he contains more in his character to secure civic renown than any Ameri- can, living or dead. He has done more for his country. This defeat is a trifling consideration to him personally. If he have the ambition charged upon him by his opponents, he had already achieved enough, and his name was sufficiently known throughout the world as a statesman, patriot, and orator, to content the loftiest aspiration. His remark, years ago, in the Senate of the United States, that he had rather be right than be Pre- sident, is consecrated by events. For pursuing the course he believed to be right, and which was calculated to advance the prosperity and honor of this country, he has been defeated by a combination of influences alike discreditable to the national character and destructive of the best guaran- ties of republican government.
The people have been deceived, not only by the calumnies heaped without measure upon Mr. Clay, but as to the principles of Mr. Polk. No Democrat who has the least regard for his character can deny that, in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and other tariff States, Mr. Polk was repre- sented by his supporters as the decided friend of protection to American industry, while at the South they held him up as utterly opposed to protection and in favor of free trade. On the subject of Texas, the peo- ple of the South were called upon to vote for him because he was in favor of immediate annexation, regardless of consequences ; while at the North his partisans declared that he was in favor of annexation only at such time as it could be effected without war and national expense. A man* who voted against the treaty, and is opposed to the acquisition of territory to the United States with slavery attached, identified himself, in the gubernatorial canvass of New York, with that very question, and secured the election of Mr. Polk.
By enlisting foreigners on their side through the darkest frauds ever practised in a free Government, Democratic leaders have come into power. The question will probably arise whether this Government is to be con- trolled by the native population, or by rabble foreigners, many of whom are from the lazar-houses and jails of Europe. It is not to be disguised that the most disorderly, profligate, and dangerous classes in our large cities are ignorant foreigners, who, beguiled by false ideas of liberty, think they are privileged to follow their unregulated passions. Far be it from us to say that all who come to our shores are of that description. Thou- sands are as upright, intelligent, and exemplary as any citizens we have, and would expend their lives and fortunes in defence of their adopted country. But this is not the time to pursue the subject.
The Whigs as a party are struck down only to recover with new strength. They will never despair of seeing this country in better hands and governed by wiser measures than those to which it has to succumb for a period. Mr.'Polk will have a difficult path to tread. We hope that his
* Hon. Silas Wright.
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SIGNS OF REVOLUTION IN EUROPE.
administration may prove the very reverse of what we anticipate. He is beset by his clan of " spoilsmen," who, like hungry wolves, will rush for his patronage, and cry for more. He must repeal the tariff, to satisfy South Carolina ; and he must let it alone, to justify the expectations of Pennsyl- vania. He must admit Texas immediately, or prove false to the South and his solemn pledges; and he must let the subject alone, to harmonize the Northern Democracy and perhaps prevent a dissolution of the Union. He must reduce the public expenditures, to fulfil electioneering promises; and he must increase them, for the benefit of many of his starved followers, whose incentives to exertion in the Democratic cause had no other basis. He must revive the Sub-Treasury, to carry out his financial policy ; and he must avoid it, from dread of explosion. He must employ the State banks as depositories of the public money ; and he must have nothing to do with them, lest he violate the fundamental maxim of Democracy of divorcing the Government from the banks.
Now that Mr. Polk is elected, his measures ought to be fairly judged, though we expect nothing good. His history as a partisan justifies the opinion, in advance, that, while he is nominally President of the United States, he will be in fact only President of the Democratic party. What- ever can strengthen that party will be preferred to the interests of the main body of the people for whose benefit the Government was created. Proscription will be carried out in full. Not a Whig need expect to remain,-if, indeed, one can be found in office. Whatever comes, we have the consolation to know that the Whigs have acted like honest men and true patriots. Their fall has been under a leader who has their entire confidence. They have never resorted to personal epithets to injure Mr. Polk. His character as a man has never been assailed. Though not a shade purer than that of Mr. Clay, it has been held sacred, as having nothing to do with the great issue before the people. The Whigs are too honorable, they set too high value upon the social relations, to stoop so low as to calumniate the private character of an opponent. In his retire- ment Mr. Clay has nothing to regret. No murmur will escape his lips. His country is the greatest sufferer by his defeat.
III .- SIGNS OF REVOLUTION IN EUROPE-1847. (From the Monitor, September 21, 1847.)
PROSPECTS IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE .- Every arrival brings evidence that the monarchies of Europe will soon be shaken to their foundations. The people of Great Britain begin to feel and manifest their power. The late famine has exhibited in such a strong light the disparity between the privileged and laboring classes, that the latter, as four to one, indulge opinions which, strengthened by the example of republican America, must ultimately lead to a change for the better. They will demand-
1. An extension of suffrage. The present system permits only one in seven of male adults in England to vote. A property-qualification is re- quired. Not only this : the few who vote dare not exercise their own judgment, but do the will of their landlords, who hold them to a strict ac- count, and turn them out of possession if they happen to vote contrary to their wishes. This is revolting to all notions of freedom, and should not be tolerated by any people who have to support government. The duty of the latter is to preserve, instead of destroying, the natural rights of indi- viduals, so as to conduce most to their happiness.
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2. A change of land-titles. The law gives to the eldest of each family all the real estate, and cuts off the younger members from the inheritance. This has created the overgrown aristocracy. Holding all the land, with slight exceptions, they exact oppressive rents in order to maintain their splendid establishments and roll in luxury. If they would live plainer, yet grand enough for all rational purposes, those who cultivate their lands would be permitted to retain more than a bare subsistence of potatoes for their families. Yet the evil does not stop here. Work and pay ever so enormously, a tenant can never acquire the soil, because it cannot be alienated. The crown must have a brilliant retinuc to uphold its dignity and show off its power, and this tail of royalty must be composed of nobles and aristocrats, who in their turn extract from labor its last drop of blood to pamper their highnesses. The people will soon move in such masses on Parliament to abolish this unjust system that the demand will not be fruitless. Kindred of equal degree will share the realty, and thus cause a proper distribution.
3. Separation of Church and State. As Christianity is a matter of conscience with each individual, the greatest liberty should exist in wor- ship. When Government assumes to declare a particular Church, and to tax the people of all denominations for its support, it is trespassing on the fundamental rights of mankind. Responsible only to his Maker, man is free to interpret His will and to judge what is required. No established sect or form of worship should be forced upon him. As a moral agent, he must know his duty and perform it. Much good may be done by the proprieties of a State Church; but, as religion consists of something else than external order, every person should be left to his own standard.
We are no enemy to the Church of England as a branch of the Christian body. On the contrary, we venerate its faith and ministry and its high moral tone. We object only to the principle of compelling the people to support it. Every Church should be free from the civil power, and every man free to sustain what Church he pleases. This creed the English people desire in practice, and they will have it. The same remarks apply to all other countries with an established Church. The Constitution of the United States, in this particular, will guide the nations of the earth and ultimately secure religious freedom to all.
The increase and cheapness of communication with this country, and the knowledge the people of England are gaining of each other by rail- roads, assure a contest. We believe that a liberal spirit is in the Com- mons, and when it whispers the Peers will give in, to avoid a storm on their castles. The queen is too benevolent and gracious to refuse the amelioration her subjects so greatly need.
With regard to France the case is similar. Grievances do exist with which we are very little acquainted, and the people are moving for redress. Songs of Liberty on the faubourgs of Paris begin to reach the ear of Louis Philippe. He has often escaped assassination, and is probably in constant dread. Forgetting the principles of July, 1830, which brought him to the throne, he has been amassing wealth for himself and providing royal alliances for his children to govern Europe. The volcano may pos- sibly be smothered until his death,-which must happen in a few years at most, as he is far advanced in age. On the question of a successor, Young France may reconstruct the political fabric with a full recognition and guarantee of popular rights. Mighty events are rolling on, to be wit- nessed by the present age.
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JUSTICE IN POLITICAL WARFARE.
IV .- GENEROSITY AND JUSTICE IN POLITICAL WARFARE. (From the New Orleans Commercial Times, October 24, 1848.)
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
In a few weeks the fifteenth balloting for President of the United States will take place before the sovereign tribunal appointed by our glo- rious Constitution to exercise the high prerogative of self-government. Of the electors who voted for Washington in. 1788, sixty years ago, and in 1792, perhaps not one is to be found among the living. Like the revered " Father of his Country," they have all descended to the tomb. Of the ten Chief-Magistrates of the Union since that time, seven have closed their earthly career : J. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J. Q. Adams, Jackson, and Harrison live only in fame, while Van Buren, Tyler, and Polk yet mingle with their fellow-citizens in all the courtesies due to long service in high position.
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