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NEWS & PLANTERS’ GAZETTE.
J>l. DOTTING, Editor.
W SERIES.]
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iii
i'll
iii him], unless at the
the Kditor, without the settlement of
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insure attention. No communication shall be
published, unless we are made acquainted with
the name of the author.
TO ADVERTISERS.
Advertisements, not exceeding one square, first
insertion, Seventy-Jive Cents; and for each sub
. sequent insertion, Fifty Cents. A reduction will
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w advertise by the year. Advertisements not
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bid. and charged accordingly.
Sales of Land and Negroes by Exec utors, Ad
ministrators and Guardians, are required by law,
to be advertised, in a public Gazette, sixty days
, previous to the day of sale.
The sales of Persona l Property must be adver
tised in like manner , forty days.
Notice to Debtors and Creditors of an Estate
must be published forty days.
Notice that application will be made to the
Court of Ordinary, for leave to sell Land or Ne
groes, must be published for four months—
notice that application will be made for Letters
of Administration, must be published thirty days;
and Letters of Disfhission, six months.
Mail Arrangements.
POST OFFICE, i
Washington, Ga., Sept. 1, 1843. y
EASTERN MAIL.
By this route, Mails are made up for Raytown,
Double-Wells, Crawfordville, Camack, Warren
ton, Thompson, Dearing, and Barzelia.
ARRIVES.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 9, A. M.
CLOSES.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at li, P. M
WESTERN MAIL.
lly this route, Mails are made up for all Offi
ces in South-Western Georgia, Alabama, Mis
sissippi, Louisiana, Florida, also Amens, Ga. and
I the North-Western part of the State,
r arrives —Wednesday and Friday, by 6 A. M.
closes —Tuesday and Thursday, at 12 M.
ABBEVILLE, S.C. MAIL.
By this route, Mails are made up for Danburg,
Creek, and Petersburg.
ARRIVES.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, by 1 P. M.
CLOSES.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at C A. M.
LEXINGTON MAIL.
By this route, Mails are made up for Gentre
ville, Slate Rights, Scull-shoals, and Salem.
arrives —Monday and Friday, at 9 A. M.
closes —Tuesday and Saturday, at 9 A. M.
APPLING MAIL.
By this route, Mails are made up for Wrights
boro’, Waite Oak, Walker’s Quaker Springs.
arrives —Tuesday and Saturday, by 9 A. M.
closes —Monday and Friday, at 9 A. M.
ELBERTON MAIL.
By this route, Mails are made up for Mallo
rysville, Goosepond, Whites, Mill-Stone, Ilarri
sonville, and Ruckersville.
Arrives Thursday 8 P. M., and Clows same time.
LINCOLNTON MAIL.
By this route, Mails are made up for Rehoboth,
Stouey Point, Goslieu, Double Branches, and
Darby’s.
Arrives Friday, 12 M. j Closes same time.
’ ILF The Letter Box is the proper place to de-
; pos'te all matter designed to be transported by
Mail, and such as may be found there at the
times above specitied, will be despatched by first
Kpostr"*~-’
&, BUTLER,
f ATTORNIES,
f TTAVE taken an OFFICII on the North
rJL side of the Pul lie Square, next door to
the Branch Bank of the State of Georgia.
October, 1843. 28
NELSON CARTER,
dealer in
Choice Drugs and Medicines, .
Chemicals, Patent*Medicines,
Surgical and Dental Instruments,
Perfumery, Brushes,
Paints, Oils, Dye-Stuffs,
v. Window Glass, S-c. Spc.
RED MORTAR, j AUGUSTA, Ga.
October 12, 1843. ly 7
HAVILAND, RISLEY &, Cos.
Near the Mansion House, Globe and United
States Hotels,
AUGUSTA, GA.,
£ DEALERS IN CHOICE
DRUGS AND MEDICINES,
Surgical and Dental Instruments,
Chemicals, Patent Medicines,
Brushes, Paints, Oils,
I Window Glass, Dye Stuffs,
&,c. &c.
Being connected with Haviland,
Keese & Cos., New-York, and Hav
u.ami, Harral & Allen, Charles
ifnll ton i they are constantly receiving
fresh supplies of every article in
line, which they are enabled to sell at the
Newest market prices.
LF All goods sold by them, warranted to be of
the quality represented, or may be returned.
Augusta, August 1843. “ 51
SttiscclUmrotML
A REMARKABLE ADVENTURE.
The following historical incident, though
possessing all the intefbst of romance, is ex
tracted from the History of Illinois, now in
course of publication at the New Worid of
ice. The work, to which we have already
called the attention of our readers, is from
the pen of Henry Brown, Esq. of Chicago.
“ The pioneer who dwells in the vicinity
of Indian hunting grounds, forming a bar
rier between savage and civilized men,
learns to hate the Indians because lie hears
him spoken of always as an enemy. Hav
ing listened from his cradle to tales of sav
age violence, and perused with interest the
narrative of aborignal cunning anc! feroci
ty, and nnmbering, also, among the victims
of some midnight massacre his nearest and
dearest relations, it is not to be wondered
at that he should fear and detest the sav.
age. While thewarhoopis sounding in
his ear, the rifle is kept in readiness, and
the cabin door secured with the return of
evening.
Among those thus born and reared, one
Thomas Higgins of Kentucky, stands pre
eminent. During the war of ISI2 he en
listed at the early age of 19, in a company
of rangers, and came to Illinois. One of
the most extraordinary events during that
war occurred near Vandalia in which Hig
gins participated. Men talk of Marathon
and Thermopylae and Waterloo, as if deeds
of courage and danger were exhibited only
there, without reflecting that a single ran
ger of Kentucky had eclipsed them all.
A little fort, or rather blockhouse, hav
ing been erected about 20 miles from Van
dalia, late the capitol of Illinois, and about
8 miles south of the present village of
Greenville, to protect the frontier settle
ments from the Indians, Lieut. Journay and
12 men were assigned as its garrison. Os
the latter, Higgins was one.
The surrounding country was at that
time a continued forest; and the little ham
let of Greenville a frontier town.
On the 30th of August, 1814, strong in
dications of savages being in the neighbor
hood were apparent, and at night a party of
Indians were seen prowling about the fort.
On the morning of the 31st, before day
light, Lieut. Journay, with the whole force
under his command, sallied forth in pursuit
of them ; they had not proceeded far before
a large party of savages, 70 or 80 in num
ber, rose from their ambush, and at the
first fire the Lieut, and 3 of his men were
killed and another wounded—o returned
in safety to the fort and one(T. Higgins)
lingered behind in order to have one pull
more at the enemy.’
The morning was sultry ; the day had
not yet dawned ; a heavy dew had fallen
during the night, and the air being still and
humid, the smoke from their guns hung
like a cloud over the awful scene.
By the aid of this cloud the companions
of Higgins escaped to the fort. Higgins’
horse having been shot in the neck fell to
his knees; he rosehowoer again. Hig
gins supposing him to be mortally wound
ed, dismounted and was about to leave him.
Perceiving soon his error, and that the
wound was not dangerous, he determined
to make good his retreat, but resolved be
fore doing so to avenge the death of some
of some of his companions.
He sought therefore a tree, from behind
which he could shoot with safety. A small
elm scarcely sufficient to protect his body
was near. It was the only one in sight,
and before lie could reach it the smoke part
ly Arose and discovered to him a number
of Indians approaching. One of them was
in the act of loading his gun. Higgins
having taken deliberate aim, fired at the
foremost savage and he fell. Concealed
still by the smoke, Higgins reloaded, mount
ed his horse and turned to fly, when a voice
apparently from the grass hailed him with
‘ Tom, you won’t leave me, will you V
Higgins turned immediately around, and
seeing a fellow soldier by the name of Bur
gess lying on the ground, wounded and
gasping for breath, replied ‘No, I’ll not
leave you, come along.’
‘1 can’t come,’ said Burgess, ‘my leg
is all smashed to pieces.’
Higgins dismounted, and taking up his
friend, whose ankle had been broken, was
about to lift him on his horse, when the lat
ter taking fright, darted off in an instant,
and left Higgins and his wounded friend
behind.
‘This is too bad,’ said Higgins; “but
don’t fear; you hop off on your three legs,
and I’ll stay behind between you and the
Indians, and keep them off. Get into the
tallest grass and crawl as near the ground
as possible. Burgess did so and escaped.
The smoke which had hitherto concealed
Higgins, now cleared away, and he resol
ved if possible to retreat. To follow the
track of Burgess was most expedient. It
would however endanger his friend.
He determined therefore to venture bold
ly forward, and if discovered to secure his
own safety by the rapidity of his flight.—
On leaving a small thicket in which he had
sought refuge, he discovered a tall, portly
savage near by, and two others in a direc
tion between hipt and the fort. He paused
for a moment, and thought if he could se
parate and fight them singly, his case was
not so desperate.
He started therefore for a little run of
water hard by, but found one of his limbs
failing him; it having been struck by a
ball in the first encounter, of which, till
now, he was scarcely conscious.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY MORNING.
WASHINGTON, (WILKES COUNTV, GA.,) AUGUST 1, 1814.
I The largest Indian pressed close upon
him, and Higgins turned round two or three
times in order to fire. The Indian halted
and danced about to prevent his taking aim.
Higgins saw it was unsafe to fire random ;
and perceiving two others approaching,
knew he must be overpowered in a moment,
unless he could dispose of the forward In
dian. He resolved therefore to halt and re
ceive his fire. The Indian raised his rifle,
and Higgins, watching his eye, turned sud
denly as his finger pressed the trigger, and
received the ball in his thigh, which other
wise would have pierced his body.
Higgins fell, but rose immediately and
run.
The foremost Indian,certain of his prey,
now loaded again, and with the other two
pressed on. They overtook him! Hig
gins fell again, and as he rose the whole
three fired, and he received all their balls.
He now fell and rose again ; and the Indi
ans, throwing away their guns, advanced
upon him with spears and knives. As he
presented his gun at one or the other, each
fell back.
At last the largest Indian, supposing Hig
gins’ gun to be empty from his fire having
been thus reserved, advanced boldly to the
charge : Higgins fired and the savage fell.
He had now four bullets in his body—an
empty gun in his hand—two Indians, un
harmed as yet, before him—and a whole
tribe a few yards distant. Any other man
but Higgins would have despaired. Napo
leon would have acknowledged himself de
feated ; Wellington, with all his obstinacy,
would have considered the case as doubtful
—and Charles of Sweden have regarded
it as one of peril. Not so with Higgins,
lie had no notion of surrendering yet. —
He had slain the most dangerous of the
three; and having little to fear from the
others, he began to load his rifle. They
raised a savage whoop and rushed to the
encounter —but kept at a respectful dis
tance when Higgins’ rifle was loaded, but
when they knew it was empty, they were
better soldiers.
A bloody conflict now ensued. The In
dians stabbed him in several places. Their
spears however were but thin poles, hasti
ly prepared for the occasion, and bent
whenever they struck a rib or a muscle. —
The wounds they made were not therefore
deep, though numerous, as his sears suffi
ciently testified.
At last one of them threw’ his toma
hawk. It struck him upon the clieeck,
passed through his ear, which it severed,
laid bare his skull to the back of his head,
and stretched him upon the prairie. The
Indians again rushed on ; but Higgins, re
covering his self possession, kept them off
with his feet and hands ; graspingat length
one of their spears, the Indian in attempt
ing to nui it from him raised Higgins up,
who, taking his rifle, smote the nearest
savage and dashed out his brains. In do
ing so, however, his rifle broke, the barrel
only remaining in his hand.
‘File other Indian, who had hitherto
fought with caution, came now manfully in
to the battle. His character as a warrior
was in jeopardy. To have fled from a man
thus wounded and disarmed, or to have suf
fered his victim to escape, would have tar
nished his fame forever.
Uttering therfore a terrific yell, he rush
ed on and attempted to stab the exhausted
ranger ; but the latter warded off bis blow
with one hand, and brandished his rifle-bar
rel with the other.
The Indian was as yet unharmed, and
under existing circumstances, by far the
most powerful man. Iliggins’ courage,
however, was unexhausted and inexhausti
ble. The savage at last began to retreat
from the glare of his untamed eye, to the
spot where he dropped his rifle. Higgins
knew if the Indian recovered that his own
case was desperate ; throwing therefore his
rifle-barrel aside and drawing his hunting
knife, he rushed upon his foe. A desper
ate strife ensued—deep gashes were in
flicted on both sides. Iliggins, fatigued
and exhausted by the loss of blood, was no
longer a match for the savage. The latter
succeeded in throwing his adversary from
him and went immediately in pursuit of his
rifle. Iliggins at the same time rose and
sought for the gun of the other Indian.—
Both therefore, bleeding and out of breath,
were in search of arms to renew the com
bat.
The smoke now passed away, and a
large number of Indians were in view.—
Nothing, it would seem, could now save
the gallant ranger. There was, however,
an eye to pity and an arm to save: and
that arm was a woman’s!
The little garrison had witnessed the
whole combat. It consisted of but six men
and one woman; that woman was of her
self a host—a Mrs. Pursley. When she
saw Higgins contending, single-handed,
with a whole tribe of savages, she urged
the rangers to attempt his rescue. The
rangers objected, as the Indians were ten to
one. Mrs. Pursley, therefore, snatched a
rifle from her husband’s hand, and declar
ing that ‘so fine a fellow as Tom Higgins
should not be last for want of help,’ mount
ed a horse and sailed forth to his rescue.
The men, unwilling to be out-done by a
woman, followed at full gallop—reached
the spot where Higgins fainted and fell, be
fore the Indians came up; and when the
savage with whom he had been engaged
was looking for his rifle, his friends lifted
the wounded ranger up, and throwing him
across a horse before one of the party,
reached the fort in safety.
Higgins was insensible for several days
—and his lifo was preserved by continual
care. His friends extracted two of the
balls from his thigh—two yet remained—
one of which gave him a great deal of pain.
Hearing afterward that a physician had
settled within a day’s ride of him, he de
termined to go and see him. ” The physi
cian (whose name is spared) asked him
•SoO for the operation. This Higgins flatly
refused, saying it was more than a half
year’s pension. On reaching home he
found the exercise of riding had made the
ball discernible; he requested bis wife to
hand him his razor,;and with her assistance
he deliberately laid open his thigh until
the edge of the razor touched the bullet,
then inserting his two thumbs into the gash
‘he flirted it out,’ as he used to say, ‘with
out costing him a cent.’ The other ball
yet remained : but it gave him little pain,
be carried it to his grave.
Higgins died in Fayette county, Illinois,
a few years since. He was the most per
fect specimen of a frontier man in his day,
and was once doorkeeper of the House of
Representatives in Illinois.
The above account is taken principally
from a newspaper ; its author is unknown.
The facts, however, therein stated, are fa
miliar to many, and were first communica
te! to me by one of the Justices of the Su
preme Court of this State. They have
since been confirmed by others, a>'d there
is no doubt of their correctness.”
FOIiITKA L.
Extract from Gen. Waddy Thompson’s Tex
as letter.
After arraying the arguments used by
the Democratic advocates of annexation, to
the effect that it would result in the aboli
tion of slavery ir. the older Southern States,
Mr. Thompson proceeds thus :
“If I believed, with Mr-Walker, that
abolition either was or would become bene
ficial or necessary for the South, I should
certainly be in favor of annexation, as both
the most certain and best mode of accom
plishing that object. But Ido not think so,
but believe, on the contrary, that it would
be injurious, deeply injurious, and in the
end destructive to the slaves themselves,
disastrous to the whole Union, and abso
lutely ruinous to the South. Holding these
opinions, my object is not to postpone this
result for a short time, but to prevent it for
ever. Will any one deny any of these pro
positions : 1. That the most efficacious
measure in favor of abolition would be to
destroy the value’of slave labor ? 2 That
the reduction of the price of cotton to three
or four cents would destroy the value of
slave labor in the old slave States ? 3. That
any large increase of the quantity of cotton
produced would have the effect to reduce
its price to that point, or even lower ; say,
for example, a sudden increase of five hun
dred thousand bales ? and, 4. That the an
nexation of Texas would cause such an in
creased production ? Much the larger por
tion of the produce of slave labor is cotton.
It is the price of cotton which regulates
exclusively the value of slaves, as of al
most every other article. Let it bo borne
in mind, too, that Texas is admirably a
dapted to the production of sugar, long sta
ple cotton, and tobacco—the only articles,
with the exception of rice, which are produ
ced by slave labor. But, if the price of
cotton is not thus ruinously reduced by o
ver production, it will not be denied that
slave labor can be employed in Texas with
at least twice the profit which it yields in
the average of the slave States of the Union.
Our slaves will then be carried to Texas by
the force of a law as fixed and certain as
that by which water finds its level. The
slaves will very soon disappear from Mary,
land, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee,
and Kentucky, and in a period very short
for such an operation, those States will be
come non-slaveholding States ; and when
ever that is the case, they will not only no
longer have a common interest with the re
maining slaveholding States to defend the
institution, but will very soon partake of
that fanatical spirit of a philanthropy which
is now pervading the whole .world. Thus
shall we lose the most important of our al
lies ; most important in numerical strength
at the ballot-box ; still more important if
we should be driven to the cartouch-box as
our last defence. And what are the advan
tages which we are to gain by this meas
ure ? 1 mean we of the slaveholding States.
Are we more secure against foreign attack?
The question is not whether Louisiana will
be more secure with Texas than without it.
I think it easy to demonstrate that such
would not be the case. But the real ques
tion is, will Texas then be more secure
than Louisiana now is? For Texas will
then be’a portion of our Union, and we shall
be under the same obligation to proteS
Texas as as we now are to protect
ana. With our rail roads and rivers, we
can assemble three hundred thousand men
in thirty days in New Orleans, or at any
other point in the slaveholding States.—
Not so with Texas. There would be no
means of transporting troops to Texas but
by the dangerous navigation of the Gulf;
thus encountering all the inconvenience in
the defence which an invading enemy
would have in the attack ; and, with a su
perior hostile naval force in command of
the Gulf of Mexico, which is to be antici
pated in the event of such an invasion, our
troops could not be transported at all. In
any event, it would be transferring the con
flictfrom the land, where we should be ab
solutely impregnable, to the water, where
we might be the weaker power, Then, a
gain, instead of the impassable swamps ly
ing between the Mississippi and Texas, a
natural and impregnable fortification, wo
should have an increased marine frontier
of several hundred miles, and a land fron
tier of two thousand, without rivers, moun
tains, or swamps, or any the slightest nat
ural barrier, unless we could realize the
very bright idea of General Cass of annex
ing all the contiguous territory. To do
which, we must round off our boundaries
by going to Cape Horn and the l’aeific. I
know only one instance of'an equally sa
gacious suggestion as that of General Cass
about contiguous territory, and that was of
the farmer who said that he discovered that
the squirrels destroyed only the outside
rows of his corn, he would secure
himself against future depredations by
planting no outside rows. If lam descend
ing from the dignity of tlio subject, it is
because ridicule is the only proper reply to
such an argument. It is said that the
annexation of Texas will increase the
political power of the slaveholding States,
and their vote in Congress. Such can
not be the result in the House of Rep
resentatives ; for the slaves will only
be diffused; their number will not be in
creased ; that is perfectly clear. But it
has been said that Texas will be divided in
to four or five States, all of which w ill be
slaveholding States, and of course repre
sented in the Senate, and tn rs give to ‘he
South a conservative, a checking power.
If 1 believed that the non-slaveholding
States would concede us this, I would dis
regard all minor objections and go for the
measure. But does any sane man really
believe it? Will the non-slaveholding
States, having the majority in the Senate,
as a legislative body, surrender that ma
jority, and also the majority in the House,
as an alternative electoral body of Presi
dent ? Will they divide Texas into four
States, and give to those four States equal
power in the election of President with New
York, Pennsylvania. Ohio, and Massachu
setts? Would we, under like circumstan
ces, consent to the annexation of Canada,
and divide it into four or five Stales^?—
Would we do this too at tiie risk of a for
eign war; and the more especially if our
Northern brethren, with a most remarkable
frankness, were to announce to us that their
great motive in desiring it was to take the
political power out of our hands and place
it in their own ? And are they less saga
cious in perceiving their interests, less
prompt to pursue them, or more liberal in
sacrificing them than we are ? Such cer
tainly is not the general estimate of their
character. A striking fact in this matter
is, that, at the very threshold of this ques
tion, it has been proposed by two Senators
from slaveholding States, (Mr. Benton and
Mr. Henderson) to divide Texas into an
equal number of slaveholding and non
slave-holding States. What then, will we
have gained in political strength? If South
ern Senators begin by making this conces
sion, there must be some show of reason on
that side. And is it to be supposed that the
members from the non-slaveholding States
will yield the point! As to the Missouri
compromise, the obvious reply which will
be made will be, that the compromise was
made with reference lo the territory which
was then included in the Union, and not to
future acquisitions by purchase or con
quest. In case of such a division, shall we
have gained any tiling by having non-slave
holding States of the Union on our south
western border instead of a foreign non
slaveholding State ? 1 decidedly prefer the
latter; for it is not to be denied that our
Northern brethren, in this respect at least,
“a little more than kin, and a little less
than kind,” often commit outrages upon our
rights which would not he submitted to from
a foreign Power; and, besides, if non
slaveholding States of the Union were es
tablished there, we should have the danger
ous element of political and party feeling,
which would not exist in the case of a for
eign ncn-slavehoidmg State. But the real
question is not between Texas, a foreign
non-slaveholding State, and Texas divided
into an equal number of slaveholding and
non-slaveliolding Statesof the Union; but
it is between Texas thus divided, if admitted
into the Union, and Texas, if not annexed,
an undivided slavebolding country. My
life upon it, Texas will not consent; five
per cent of her population can never be
brought to consent to the abolition of
slavery. And we should thus have a slave
slaveholding Republic on our border, with
similar institutions and interests, and which
must necessarily be our friend and ally,
and which would serve as a breakwater be
tween us and our non-slaveholding neigh
bor, and would guard our frontier ; to use
a familiar illustration, enjoying all the ad
vantage which I do wtth my neighbor
whose farm joins mine, while he has to keep
up the fence, which nevertheless protects
my crop as much as it does his own. But
if it is really intended that all the States to
be created out of Texas are to be admitted
as slave holding States, why was it not so
stipulated in the treaty—why was it not
thus “nominated in the bond?” Was it
intended to steal a march on the non slavc
holding States—to be silent now upon that
point, and hereafter to insist upon it? Ifso,
it should have been remembered that in the
body which must decide that question the
non-slaveholding States have the majority.
I solemnly declare that, in a recent visit
to the North, I have seen no single man who
was willing to receive Texas divided into
slaveholding States into the Union, nor of
the very few Northern presses which advo
cate the measure have J seen a single one
IW. J. KAPPEL, Printer.
which does so on the ground of its giving
security to the institution of slavery. I
believe that it is almost universally advo
cated by the few at the North who are in
favor of the measure upon exactly opposite
grounds. Will any leading politician of
the North come out and say that lie is in
favor of dividing Texas into three or four
slave States, and receiving them as such
into the Union ? Will Mr. Buchanan, of
Pennsylvania, sav so? 1 am not to be
frightened “front my propriety” by the
fear of Texas forming some alliance with
England disadvantageous to our interest. —
This is an old story. General Hunt, as
the Texian Minister, held out the same idea
more than seven years ago. Why has
such an alliance never been entered into ?
Surely Texas has stood in more need of it
than she does now. I have known a hesi
tating swain led to the altar by his fair la
dy, threatening him that if lie did not marry
her she would marry someone else. One
scarcely knows how to meet this phantom,
for it is perpetually changing its shape.—■
First it was, that, if we did not receive
Texas, she would throw herself into the
arms of England as a colony or dependen
cy. Then again it was that England was
to guaranty the independence of Texas up
on the condition of the abolition of slavery ;
and the last version is, that England is to
interpose forcibly, if need be, and nut an
end to th war, without any condition-as
to abolition. As to tiie two first versions,
England has over and ever again disclaim
ed any such purpose, and 1 know no simi
lar instance in her whole history of her
condescending to repeat a disclaimer once
already made and not credited. England is
not the country to do a mean and sneaking
thing. A wrong and an arrogant one she
may do, but that “old and haughty nation”
is incapable of deliberate falsehood ; and I
must say, in this connexion, that I can see
no justification for the jealousy and vitu
peration of England which is so common
with a certain class of politicians. 1 be
lieve that there is no country in the world
with which it is so much the interest, and
therefore the policy of England to cultivate
friendly relations as with the United States.
We consume nearly one-fourth of the pro
ductions of English labor. This bond of
interest is enough, but there are others (of
not less force) in language, laws, race, and
free institutions ; for, with the exception of
our own country, there is no other where
all the securities of private rights and all
tiie guaranties of public liberty are so nu
merous and perfect as in England. It is
not upon us that England looks with jeal
ousy, but upon the powerful despotisms of
the north of Europe ; and in a contest with
them,* a contest between unlimited monar
chy and the representative principle, she
looks to us as allies, not as enemies. That
England desires the independence and
prosperity of Texas Ido not doubt. Do
we differ with her in this,or shall we quar
rel with heron this account ? It is perfect
ly natural, too, that England and all other
commercial nations prefer to see Texas an
independent Power, with her markets open
to all the world, than to have her annexed
to our Union, and fenced in with our pro
hibitory tariff. And is the South disposed
to enter upon this crusade of annexing all
“ contiguous territories ” for the sake of se
curing their markets for the Northern man
ulacturers ?
I think it extremely improbable that En
gland will put in jeopardy the large capi
tal employed by her subjects in Mexico,
her profitable commerce there, and the fit'-
teen millions of specie which she annually
derives from that commerce, by’ an forcible
interposition in favorof Texas. The whole
of the English West Indian and \merican
establishments are paid with the specie thus
derived ; and I do not see, if this supply is
cutoff, how the deficiency can he supplied.
Thatthe abolition of slavery will be made
the condition of such interposition, I un
hesitatingly say is not true ; and if it were,
I as confidently assert that Texas will re
ject the proffered boon on any such terms.
That General Santa Anna will consent to
recognise Texian independence upon the
condition of abolishing slavery there, no
one can believe who knows the man. He
is the very last man in the world to be led
off by such a sickly, canting philanthropy.
I have strong reasons for saying that he has
no prejudices against American slavery;
and, like a wise man as he is, would have
no great objection to see it introduced into
Mexico. 1 will not be responsible that the
characteristic sensibility to insult which
belongs to the Castilian blcod. ari l which
the Mexicans inherit from their ancestors,
may not precipitate them, in a moment if
resentment against us, to do that with
view to injure us which no other indui
rnent could have tempted them lo do.
They are an impulsive and violent poop
and in a moment of passion there is notbi
two rash and violent for them to do ; a.
ail the circumstances connected with the
Texas treaty, and particularly the belen
guering their cities and frontiers with our
armies and navies, will deeply wound and
irritate them. Treat him with proper re
spect, and the proud and generous Spania <’■
will concede you any thing ; wound h -
pride, and he is forever your enemy. Arr>
injury, however deep, he will promptly fo>
give: an insult or disrespect, never.
At New Orleans on the 3d inst., war
rants were issued for the arrest of S. W.
Oakley, John Clairborn and Fonte
nette, three of the judges at the late elec
tion, on charges preferred against them by
several citizens, of having wilfully and
{jritudulent’y disfranchised ih*sm . j
[VOLUME XXIX.