Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-11-24

ry connection or practical application to the
subjeci-a mete genital abstract declaration On
the subject uf slavery, On ishth Mr. Calhoun
took position, and erected superstruciure Of
alarm which did more TO embarrass the cppo-
neni of the treaty and to inhame the country;
than all other ttiattefs put togelher. This cause
for this new alarm found in the superhuous
declaration "That Great Britain desires and is
eonsteaily ererting herssy 70 Prociire the gene
fui abolition Of siacery throughout he uorid."
This general declaration, although preceded
and followed by reiiefaied assnrances Of nom
interference with slavery in The United States,
and no desire for any dominant influence Id
Texas, were seized upon as an avowal Of a de-
sign to abolish slavery everywhere These
assurances were all dstegaided. Our Secre-
tary established himself upon the naked deca-
ration, stripped Of all qualifications and denials.
He saw in them the means Of making TO Nor
iheIn man (Mr Van Buren) just as perlous the
support as the opposition Of immediate annex
alton. So. making the declaration Of Lord
Aberdeen the text Of most elaborate reply, he
took up lie opposite ground (supPort and prop
agation of slavery arguing it generally in re-
|
the United States and Texas, and placing the
annexation so fully upon that ground that all
its Supporters must be committed to ii. Hero
/ was new turn, induced by Mr. Blair's article
10 the Globe, ard by whieh the support Of tho
treaty would be as obnoxious in the North as
opposition to il would be in the South
II must have been a strange despatch for d
: British minister 10 teceive-an argument in
favor Of slavery agandsm--supPoried by
comparative statements taken from the United
States census, between the numbers Of deaf,
dumb, blind, idioiic, insane, criminal and pau
, pers among the free and the slave negroes
showing large dispropoIlion against the free
negroes and thence deducing conclusion in
: favor Of slavery. II wss a strange diplomatic
despatch, and incomprehensble except with a
: knowledge Of the circumstances in which il
: was written. But il was not written for Lord
D Aberdeen, though addressed 10 him, and was
sent 10 those for whom it was intended long be-
: fore he saw it. fhe use that was made Of it
: showed for whom il was written. Two days
. after It's date, and before il had commenced its
: maritime voyage 10 London, j, was in the
$ American Senaie--seut in with the treaty, with
s the negotiation of which II had no connection;
+ being written q week afier its signature, and
!, aiier the time that the treaty would have been
q sen, in had it not been for the appearance of
!. the articles supposed to speak Mr. Van Buren's
: seniiments) in the GioJe. II was no embar-
n rassment to Mr. Van Buren; whose letter in an
IT swer to the inierrogatories had been written,
g ard was soon afier published. 1t was an en-
q barrassmeni 10 others. II made the annexation
Il sectional and slavery question, and insured
Il the rejection Of the treaty. 1t disguised Nor
N thcrn Senators; and that was one of the OBJ
> jecis with which it had been written. For tho
, whole annexation business had been conducted
St with double aspect-one looking TO the Pres
IN ideency, the other TO disnnon, and the latter
IS the alternative, to the furiherance Of which the
b an auxiliary step.
Il And while the whole negotiation bore thai
for one Of its aspects from the beginning, this
g er-Poa facto despatch, written after the treaty
II was signed. and given TO the American public
n, before il got to the British Secretary Of State
T. became the distinct revelation of what had been
ip before dimly shadoaeJ forth. All hope Of the
ie Presidency from the Texas intrigue had now
= failed-lhe alternative aspect had become the
Of absolute one and separate republic, consist
a ing Of Texas and some Southern States, had
l. become the object. Neither The exposure Of
b. this object The history Of the attempted an
n nexatiou belong TO this chapter. A separate
q chapter Is required, for each. And this Incl
n dent Of the Maryland ciiizens private letter
N from London, Lord Aberdeen's contradiction
le and The strange despatch Of Mr. Calhoun to him
to are only mentioned here as links in the chair
re Of the Presidential intrigue, and win be dis
D. missed with the remark that the Maryland ciii.
n zen was afterwards fund ant, and was discov.
ie cred TO be a citizen better known as an inhabi
is tant Of Washington than Of Maryland and
n that the private letter was intended TO be foi
public use, and paid for out OF the contingent
is fund Of the Stale Department; and the writer
b. person whose name was the synonym Of sub
We serviency 10 MI Calhoun; namely, Mr. Duf
OF Green. All this was afterwards brought oui
5, under call from the United States Senute
le moved by the writer Of this View, who had
: been put npon the track by some really private
c. information and when the Presidential Mes
ID sage was read in the Senate, disclosing al
v these facts. he used an expression taken from
is Spanish proverb which had some currency a
C the time. ''Af last he deuR is puhledJrom an
ID der The blankei."
he To be continued.
,&i