Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1849-07-25

furced to admit ] was not. then re-
PEELED his charge with a scorn which the
base insinua,ion, that | had any Know
ledge or connection with it whatever, de-
served. He was covered with confusion !:
aud vel he has The effrontery 10 introduce
il again 10 the public, accomp' MED WIN
the same insinualion which covered i'm
with disgrace a, its first introduction.
But the deepest wound, II seems was
inflicted bv a statement in my address to
the pennle o. Charleston, on my return
home after the session nf az aud AS, that
he voted for The bill establishing The tern.
tory of Oregon, containing The principle Of
the Wilmol Proviso, and that lie and Ien'
Houston were The only TWO southern mem
bers who voted for il that without 'heir
votes it would moi have been defeated, fol.
lowed by the expression of an opinion, that
for so dong, they deserved the Reproduction
of the whole south. Neither Of them
have ever denied the truth of my stale
ment, nor ever can. Every word Is true
as the journals Of the Senate show. The
statement itself is in plain language and
free from exlorlion or e~xagseralion' inc
fact stated. related 10 official acts which II
was important my constituents sh 'uld
know. In expressing my opinion ] ali.
stained from inpeaching mo'ives. All
was done within The rules Of decorum, and
those that govern parliamentary proceed.
ings. Wherein then consists the offence
| am at a loss TO perceive, except the prIn'
ciple be adopted, that the greater the truth
the greater the libel. 1t may he. thatit was
regarded as an offence because it was cal
| culated 10 cmbarrass him, and thwart what
he then medi'aled, and has since carried
into executiou-an open desetlion 10 the
abulilionists.
pass now to his next charges. He as
ser,s that ] gave away Texas, and to make
it ont he asserts that Texas belonged to
the United States. when the treaty with
Spain was made, by which she coded Flo
rida 10 ns. He claims that Texas was a
part of Louisiana, and that its boundary
extended TO The Rio Grande; that ii was
all slave territory, and looked TO a. The ma
lural outlet for their great increasing slave
population; and finally. that il was sur
rendered by the treaty Of Florida made in
1919, during the administration of Mr..
Monroe, of which | was one Of the mem
bers. On this statement he rests his
charge that | gave away Texas.
!, is difficult for one who lecks sincerity
and is acluated by violent passions. 10 es-
cape The greatest inconsistency aud contra
diction, in defending himself or assailing
others. in making a long speech. Benton
furnishes a strong illustration Of The truth
Of ibis position, aud never more SO than in
making the above statement. In order to
agsrava,e the act Of giving away Tens,
which he charges mo with, he has made
assertions entirely inconsistent with the
grounds he took, and the course he pur-
sued while the question Of the annexation
of Texas was before the Senate. lie now
asserts that the boundary of Texas as part
Of Louisiana extended to the Rim Grande,
when the treaty Of Florida was made. in
the very teeth Of the assertions he made,
when the question Of annexation was be-
fore the Senate. In The speech he made
in May. 1874, on the treaty for annerins
Texas, he assorted, that 1.-THE Texas
which we acquired by The treaty of 1903,
THAT of Louisiana never approached tie
Rio Grande. excepting near its mouth"
To show that "by near its mouth !" he did
not mean that it touched the river, he said,
speaking of Tamaulipas, one Of the States
Of Mexico, that sit covered both sides Of
the river, from It's mouth for some hundred
miles up" He asserted in The same
speech that all New Mexico, chihuahua,
Coahuila. and T%amaulipas made no part
Of The Texas which we acquired by the
treaty of Louisiana. He estimates the
part belonging TO Mexico lying on The cas-,
side of The Rio Grande TO be 1000 miles
long, 1.-THE whole length Of The %river.j and
some hundred broad, and concluded by
saying "he washed his hands of all attempts
10 dismember the republic Of Mexico by
Selling her dominions in New Mexico,
chihuahua. Coahuila and Tamaulipas."
These were his assertions, solemnly
made, and as he states after the fullest exa-
minalion, when his object vas 10 defeat
the treaty which | negotiated with the
Commissioners Of Texas for its annexa-
lion. For that purpose he attempted 10
show that the treaty covered a large part Of
Mexico, which never belonged 10 Texas,
although the treaty specified no boundary,
and left The boundary open on the side Of
Mexico, intentionally, in order to settle it
by treaty with her. But now, when his
obiec, is 10 show | that gave away Texas
by the treaty Of Florida, he holds a very
different language. He does not. indeed,
say in so many words, that Texas covered
the whole region from the Sabine to the
Rio Grande, for that would have been loo
openly and plainly a direct contradiction
to what he contcnded for when his object
was 10 defeat annexation ; but he does tie
same thing in a more covered and ohjec.
tiouable way, by using language that could
not fail 10 make that impression on all who
heard him, or may read his speech.
lie goes farther. In order 10 aggravate
the charge agains, me, he becomes appa-
rently a warm advocate Of slavery exlen.
siou, as he calls it., and uses strong Ian
guage 10 show the value Of Texas to The
south in that respect. lie says, it was all
slave territory that it was looked 10 as the
natural outlet of the Southern States with
their increasing slave population, and that
it was large enough 10 make six large