The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1860-12-12

"A LAST WORD.
- was breaking down under IL; 49,;
DE attack which kept me for -
ACE to face with death SFher - ":t:2
this Examination, and h9 - hraoI. oei ~
ruptly, leaving two aods natnnnI,ad and
not even alluded TO B9~ides these two en-
TIRE He"uS4 NOW postponed there was anoth-
er "h+eh Wished to bring before the Amer
lcan people to wit The conduct of an Ad-
lnlhlStro tiOn and a Senate (called Democrat
lc), WI Itch has done, AMI is doing, what no
1ormer Administration and Senate whether
Wig, Federal, Democratic or Republican,,
e.. er did that is to say, suppressing and
COncealing the evidence of foreign nego-
tiation, after the negotiation is all over and
done with which negotiation is surrounds
ed by circumstances which connect it with
scheme to bring on n separation OF the
Slave from the Free States. l speak of the
Gadsden negotiation, and of fifty millions
he was authorized to give for Il broad side
of Mexico, with port on the Gulf OF Cali
fornia, and railway to it, to suit the nit
ell States South after the separation 10
which point all the schemes for a Southern
Pacific Railroad tend, while the credulOus
public are made to believe they are hunting
the best way to California, where they mean
it shall never go, because California rejects
slavery. Every Union-loying State Legis-
lature should post its Senator under instruc-
tions to bring those hidden negotiations to
the public view, though with but little
prospect of getting the whole truth after so
many years suppression-the same reasons
which have induced suppression thus far,
being equally strong to make it perpetual
so that much may be gone past recovery.
WASHINGTON CITY, September, 1857"
This " note" be it remembered, was writ
ten by Mr.. Benton while he had, as it were,
one foot in the grave. Mr.. Blair calls it
" the most solemn act of his life"
Mr.. Blair then quotes from Mr.. Bentons
written works to prove that Mr.. Madison
and Mr.. Clay entertained Mr.. Benton s views
in this connection, and believed that there
was settled conspiracy against the Union
amongst corrupt and ambitious men of the
South, who made the pretended aggressions
of the Free on the Slave States a pretext
for their reasonable work. Benton thus
points to the origin. and traces the move
ments of this plot:
In the year 1880 some Southern poll
ticians having some private griefs of their
own to redress, and some ambitious objects
of their own to accomplish, conceived that
a separation of the States, and the erection
of new Republic South, Was the way to
accomplish their purposes and at that OBJ
ject (the segregation of the States south Of
the Potomac) they went to wOrk-preteXt-
ing their operations with the expressions
Of an unconstitutional protective tariff. -
With this view aud upon this pretext, the
L Gnnfl, l.arnlinal ftonvnptiDn
was held in November, 1882, which passed
the ordinance of notification and secession
declaring the revenue laws null and void,
! fixing the first day oil February then next en-
| suing, for the secession unless Congress in
the meantime should abandon a protective
tarif), aud levying any army to maintain
/ her attitude. The jackson proclamation Of
! December, 1882, denouncing the penalties
/ of high treason on all who should commit
the covert act under that ordinance, and
| the full belief that he would do what he
said baked that project and gave birth to
| the tariff COMPROMISE OF 50, by which the
protective tariff las II pretext OF sccessiOn)
| was laid aside, To bc substituted by
! the slavery agitation, generated out Of
/ the alarms of the slave States for their
lives and property through fear of
the nntj-slavery 'nggre ssions, encrnach-
the South The substitution was instant
and notorious. On returning home from
| Congress, Mr. Calhoun told his friends that
! the South could never be- united against the
| North on the tariff question tlml the sugar
interest of Louisiana would keep her out
and that the basis of the southern union
must be shifted 10 The slave question; and
shifted accordingly it immediately was.
lncontinently, all the notification new pa
pers opened for secession for that new
| cause, filling the country with alarm for the
safety Of slave property, and spreading the
terrOrs of servile insurrection-incvitahle
consequence of the abolition designs The
whole South Immediately took fire. Before
the month of June-that is to say, in less
| than three months after the protective tariff
pretext tor secession had been laid aside
the new preteXt had been installed in lis
place, and SO fully developed as to be seen
hy all observers Mr.. Clay saw il, and On
the 28th Of May, in II letter to Mr. Madison,
| expressed his appreheusions of this new dan
ger and declared his disbelief of any found
alton for the alarm which was attempted.
! Mr.. Madison Immediately replied, rrcipro-
eating both his apprchehsionS and his disbe-
lief; and, in brief paragraph, fixing all the
| points-date, locality, actors, pretcxt, and
mode of operation-In this new phase of
! the secession movement, and branding it
| with as much Reproduction us the amablc
moderation of his temper would permit.
That letter becomes starting point in this
inquiry which history will seize upon aud
find in it the key which unlocks the door
that gives the inside view of all the mach
inations which have led to the present por-
tentious slavery agitation. In that letter
to Mr. Clay he sand
90 1t is painful TO see the uuceasing efforts
to alarm the South by impntations against
the North of unconstitutional designs on
the subject of the slaves. You are right.
| have no doubt that no such intermeddling
disposition exists in the body OF our North
ern brethren. Their good faith is suf-
ficiently guaranteed by the interests they
have as merchants, as shipowners, and as
manufacturers in preserving Union with
the saveholding States. On the other
hand, what madness IN the South TO look
for greater safety in disunion The danger
from alarm is, that the pride and resent
- L IL,