Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1860-09-22

eA@C oPCohCAon1P Va tLc 14OuSt VI IEeDre
sentatives, and received the highest honor
which the then. dominant party had it il
their power to bestow. In the course of .
speech made BY him, at festival in homo
of Judge White, in this place, on the ST.
Of October, 1885, Mr.. Bel, in illustration
of the efforts made to procure his supper
for Mr.. Van Buren,, read the following pas
sages of letter addressed to him by one O
the friends and supporters of Mr.. Van Blu
rem, resident of this place:
- Jan. LIST, 1885,
81 apprehend no great difficulty in elect
ing Van Buren,. The .great movement O.
October, 1899, has BOT spent its force. The
rally of the Jackson Van Buren, party upon
and in behalf of that movement, has beer
powerful one. < < 1t is the peeps
liar province of man of genius to per-
ceive when there is tide in his affairs
which, if taken at the food, leads on to for
tune.
. Your road is as plain as the milky iTay
In the Heavens, 'all studded with living
sapphires, glowing with cumulating light.
Come out tor the unity of the Republican
party-a national conyention-and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives
makes himself, IN one instant, zone of the
men of the times = < !: / have no
intention to feed your fancy with localities
L speak the words of sobernass and truth
This letter, written by prominent friend
of Mr.. Van Buren,, who was resident of
Nashville, shows that down TO the Ist of
January, 1885, Mr. Bell had not lostthe IA
Vor of Gen. Jackson and the Jackson par
ty, and that to preserve it in its m aSt re-
munerative form, he had onl- to become a
supporter of Mr. Van Buren, II the success
sion.
At the close of his speech, Mr.. Bell, re-
ferring to the subject matter Of this letter,
said:
{" may surely be permitted, in my own
Just defence, against the volumes of SLAM
der which have been circulated against me.
to make some allusion to the contrast be-
tween the course which was open to me,
but which l did not adopt, and the one
which did embrace. Had it been in my
power to have checked the movement in IA
vor of Judge White last winter, which | do
not pretend was SO, and had l presented my
terms to the Van Buren, party, leave you
and the public to decide whether they could
well have been too exorbitant for accep-
lance. l could not indeed expect that my
rewards would have resembled, in richness
and profusion, the milky way but whats
ever could have satisfied reasonable desires,
| might surely have exacted. If | had
chosen voluntarily and upon public ground,
to have approved that movement. and have
thrown myself boldly into the ranks of Mr..
Van Buren,, might l not confidently have
at least, upon the support of the
party, and the good will of the President;
and we all know how valuable that is? But,
sir, all these advantages | made up my
mind to forego; but this is not all. When
every consideration of present repose, the
prospect of the support of the party, and
Of the President [Jackson; when every in
ducement, every temptation, which might be
to dazzle my fancy, or operate
upon my hopes, had been resorted to in
vain, my fears were next appealed to. The
veil was for a moment thrown aside, and |
was permitted to have view of the vet
chained and Gagged furies which were ready
to be unleashed against me, if persevered
in the course I had indicated. / was SOL
smnly premonished of all that has come to
pass-by some, from motives of party, and
selfish interest-by others, from feelings of
real friendship. l was forewarned of har-
rowed feelings; of character mangled and
illuminated; of blasted prospects; of the
curses, not only of the venal and corrupt,
but of many credulous, yet honest men, who
were liable to be misled by them | was
of the probable course and feel
lngs of Gen. jackson. His influence and
power with the people were dwelt upon and
The fate of every public man
who, III the course of his administration,
had ventured to oppose his wishes upon any
question, In which his feelings were deeply
with circumstances of appalling
detail and truth. After dwelling upon the
sertain prospect of defeat in any political
views might have, while living, my supposed
ove of posthumous fame was strongly ap-
oealed to, in order to begpile me from the
awful precipice upon which l was supposed
% stand; and was advised that such would
De the potency of the name of Gen. Jack
son in future times, that the reputation of
any man would be blasted with posterity,
whom he should be known to have de-
AOAhSCO' LldA hIO tApIcSSCu li4tS
sentiment, | believe. was under sincere
conviction of its truth. When | had lis
ened, one evening, to another, bus very diff.
erent parsonage, during one entire hour, to
| recapitulatioD of these and many more
uch arguments, spoken in the most feeling
md impressive manner, my friend, (for he
vas my friend finding that he had made
10 impression upon me, suddenly rose, and
landing over me, with the tears actually |
'athered in his eyes, and my hand grasped |
II his, said to me: Il am done-I shall |
lever say word more to you upon this
remember-you are a dead |
man, ~ |
1t is particularly noteworthy, that in all |
is charges and insinua,ions against Mr.. |
Bells conduct, whilst representative in
congress, the Union and american writer |
owhere complains of his having, at any
inc, given vote that was contrary to the
fishes of majority of his constituents
he writer dared not bring in issue Mr..
'ell's fidelity to the trust committed to him
y his constituents, as their representative;
ecause he was well aware that their re-
lection of him in 1881, '33, '35, 81, and
80, would show, beyond cavil, how that
natter was. So well pleased were Mr..
'elrs constituents with his course, as their
representative, that he never had any oppo-
ition until 1887, more than two years after
he breach between himself and Gen. Jack
on, because he would not support Mr.
an Buren,, and more than two years after
ne commencement, on that account, of the
indictive warfare that ever since mas been
aged against him in the district by promi-
ent Jackson men, who went it blind for
Martin Yam Buren,! In 1855, indeed, there
Tas very strong desire among them to