Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1855-11-10

/ quite reasonable, and atsanother time and un-
der other circumstances, would have been en-
tirely agreeable to me, but, pre-occuped as
4 my mind was with the idea of an intrigue for
the Presidency, and a land and scrip specula-
, tion which | saw mixing itself up with it, and
! feeling as if | was to be made an instrument
in these schemes, / took fire at his words, and
answered abruptly and hotly That II qcas, o.,
the part Of some, an intrigue ior The Presidency
and a plot to dtsolret Tie Unioa--on the part of
1 Others, zsfas scrip aud land speculation anil
tAqt7 acas against 1t, .-s. "a B.. - ~.
| This answer went into the newspapers, and
was much noticed at the time, and Immediate
ly set up high wall-between me and the an
nexation party. | had no thought at the
time that Mr. Brown had been moved by any
| body to sound me, and presently regretted the
warmth with which | had replied to him m-espe-
clally as no part of whatI had said was i'm
tended to apply to him The occurrence gave
| rise to some sharp words at one another after
wards, which, so far as they were sharp on my
part, | have since condemned, and do not now
| repeat. .a r.t
Some three months afterwards there appear
ed in the Richmond Enquirer. a letter from
Gen. Jackson to Mr. Brown, in answer to one
from Mr. Brown to the General, covering a
copy of Mr.. Gilmer's Texas letter, and asking
the favor of his (the General's) opinion upon
it; which he promptly and decidedly gave and
fully in favor of its object Here was reve-
lation and coincidence that struck me, and
put my mind to thinking, and opened up
new vein Of exploration, into which went to
work, and worked on until obtained the se-
cret history of the famous Jackson Texas
letter." $50 it came to be called, and which
played so large part in the Texas annexation
question, and in the Presidential election of
1874, and which drew SO much applause upon
the, General from many who had so lately and
SO bitterly condemned him. This history now
propose to give, confning the narrative to the
intrigue for the Presidential nomination, eay-
ing the history of the attempted annexation
(treaty of lS44) for a separate chapter, or
rather chapters, for it was an enterprise of
many aspects, according to the taste of diffe-
rent actors, Presidential, dsunion, speculation
The outline of this history--that of the let
ter--is brief and authentic :; and although
we'll covered up at the time, was known to too
many to remain covered up long. Itwas part
ly made known to me at the time, and fully
since. 1t runs thus :,1 ~ers . .,..3 t..r...-..-.
Mr.. Calhoun in lS4lI2 had resumed his
design (intermitted in lS40) to stand for the
Presidency, and determined to make the an
neXation- Immediate ameXation-tlIe con-
trolling issue in the election. The, death of
President Harrison in lS4l, aud the retreat of
his whig ministers, and the accession of his
friends to power in the person of Alr. Tyler,
(then setting back in his old lore,) and in the
persons Of some Of his cabinet, opened up to
his view the prospect of successful enterprise
i'll that direction and he fully embraced it,
and without discouragement from the similar
budding hopes of Mr.. Tyler himself, which it
was known would be without fruit except what
Mr.. Calhoun would gather-the ascendant of
bis genius assuring him the mastery when he
should choose to assume it. Ills real compe-
titors (forescen to be Mr. Van Buren and Mr.
ClaE( were sure to be against it---mmediate
| annexation they would have a heavy
current to encounter, all the South aud West
being for the annexation, and stroug interest
also, i'll other parts of. the Union. There was
! a basis to build upon in the honest feelings
of the people, and inaamatory arguments to
excite them and if the opinion of General
| Jackson could be obtained in its favor, the
election of the annexation candidate was deem
cd certain. s.-..r. ..r.-. ---.....,.f.. .. r
With this view the Gimer letter was COM
posed and published, and sent to him and was
admirably conceived for its purpose. 1t took
| the veteran patriot on the side of his strong
feelings-loye Of country and the Union-dis-
trust of Great Britain-and a southern sus-
ceptibility to the dangers of servile insarrec-
ton 1t carried him back to the theater of
his glory-the Lower Alississippi--and ava
kened his apprehensions for the safety of the
most vulnerable point of our frontier Justly
and truly, but with q refinement of artifce in
this case, it presented annexation as a strength
ening plaster to the Union, while really intend
ed to sectionalize it, and to effect disunion if
annexation failed This idea of strengthening
the Union had and in itself deserved to have,
an nyncibe charm for the veteran patriot
Besides, the recovery of Texas was in the line
of his policy, pursued by him as a favorite OBJ
cct during his administration and this desire
to get back the country, patriotic in itself, was
entirely compatible with his acquiescence, in
its REIMBURSEMENT as temporary sacrifice in
1919; an acquiescence induced by the "ddmcs-
tic" reason communicated to him by Mr.. Mon
roe
The great point in sending the Gilmer letter
! to him, with its portents of danger from Bri-
tish designs, was to obtain from him an opinion
| in favor of Immediate" annexation No
other opinion would do any good. A future
annexation, no matter how soon after 1914,
would carry the question beyond the Presitlen-
tial election, and would fall in with the known
opinions of Mr.. Van Burcn and Mr.. Clay, and
most other American statesmen, the common
sentiment being for annexation when it could
be honestly accomplished. Such annexation
would make no issue at all. 1t wonld throw
Texas out Of the question. Immediate was,
therefore, the game and tesbring Gen Jack,
son to that point was the object. IS To do that
the danger of British occupation was present
ed as being SO imminent as to admit OF no de-
lay, and SO disastrous in its consequences as tc
preclude all consideration of present objections