TESTIMONY OF WESTERN TRAVELLERS AND OTHERS.
31
now stands; believing that in the present unsettled lately travelled with the Hon. Mr. Peyton, of
state of the country, less injury will result from its Tennessee, informs us that this distinguished
adoption than by making amendments at this time. member of Congress unhesitatingly expressed
Thus, gentlemen, I have answered every questioni deermntong use i iu i exrse
proposed, and if my views are conformable to those his determtiatl to i se his influence in
of the people of this jurisdiction, and thev should procuring the annexation of Texas to the
think proper to elect me, I shall serve them fearlessly United States, in order that a ntmher more
and faithfully. slave states may be created and admitted into
I am, very respectfully, the Union, to preserve the preponderance of
Your obedient servant, slaveholdingl influence and power in the goWILLIAx
H. JACK. vernment.
Columbia, 5th August, 1836.
hIear, also, the language of General Houston.
The following is from a late number of
the Washington Globe.
,"GENERAL HoUSTON.-The opinion of General
Houston is, that Texas, when it shall have asserted
its independence, will seek admission into the Union.
He is, himself, decidedly in favor of that course, considering
it essential to the interests of the new
country, and of much importance to the Union."
Notwithstanding that Stephen F. Austin
(and I may add many other actual settlers in
Texas) would have preferred a separate
independent Government, we now see that they
have no expectation of establishing one. On
the contrary, they unequivocally declare the
intention of annexing the country to the
United States, as soon as it can possibly be
done. They could not exercise their will in
the matter. The great majotity of the fomentors
of the rebellion, and the immediate
participators in it, ARE CITIZENS OF THIS
COUNI'RY. Such of the colonists as were
opposed to it, however, have been compelled
to acquiesce, and the agents of the "Combination
" have successfully dictated its prescribed
measures, and pursued the course originally
contemplated by it.
I will add a few more facts, collected from
various sources, to those already enumerated,
tending to prove the determination of southern
slaveholders to acquire the Texas country, for
the purpose of re-establishing Slavery, and
annexing the territory to the United States, as
aforesaid.
A gentleman of intelligence and veracity
residing in Ohio, formerly a member of the
Legislature of that State, recently visited the
south-western country, and gives the result of
his observations upon this particular subject,
in a letter to the editor of the VNational Enquirer,
as follows:-.
-' I have read the pamphlet entitled ' The Origin
and true Causes of the Texas Insurrection.'* I
was abundantly satisfied on this .point before I saw'it.
No secret is made of it on the Ohio and Mississippiit
is openly avowed, and warmly defended. The
colder slave countries feel themselves very deeply
interested, and now think of breeding slaves in earnest.
Men and money will be liberally furnished.
Numerous Kentuckians-young men, ambitious of
fame, and seeking fortunes-will even go from Illinois,
where they had previously emigrated."
Another very respectable gentleman, who
I
The following items, extracted from late
newspapers, may very properly be noticed and
borne in mind. The "' United States Telegraph,"
published at Washington City,
says:"'It
is stated, on unquestionable authority, that a
letter was found among the papers of the late
Huchins G. Burton, Ex-Governor ofNorth Carolina,
from a person high in authority, stating that Texas
would certainly be annexed to the United States,at
the same time offering to make him (Burton)
Governor of said Territory. If the statement be
true, and we do not doubt it, what a state of things
does it disclose!!"
The Telegraph proceeds to argue, that the
object of the " person high in authority," was
to obtain the political influence of Governor
Burton, in the coming election contest. We
have not a shadow of doubt respecting the
truth of the statement. We have heard it
frequently, and can trace it to unquestionably
authentic sources. Some noise has also been
made about it, recently, in the newspapers.
But the subject is not more connected with
politics, than with the long meditated, now
operative, attempt to provide for the extension
(f slavery to that part of the continent.
The " Mobile Advertiser," of a recent date,
holds forth this emphatic language :"The
South wish to have Texas admitted into
the Union for two reasons: First, to equalize the
South with the North; and secondly, as a convenient
and safe place, calculated from its peculiarly good
soil and salubrious climate, for a slave population.
Interest and political safety both, alike prompt the
action and enforce the argument The South contends
that preservation and justice to themselves call
for that aid to be tendered to them which would be
given by the acquisition of Texas. They are not
safe as they are. They are not balanced with the
free states. Their exposure to insurrection is fourfold,
with not one-fourth the means to redress their
grievances. They contend that they have an internal
foe within, and an awful foe in all those who demand
the emancipation of their slaves, and who call
upon them to give up their property now and for
ever. '1 he question is therefore put by the South
to Corngress and the country, ' Shall we have justice
done us by the admission of Texas into the Union,
whenever that admission may be asked by the Texians
themselves?' The question is a fair one, and
must soon be met by Congress and the nation. The
North almost to a man will answer NO. 'The West
will be divided, and the discussion of the questionwill
find two strong and powerful parties; the one
in favor of Texas, a slaveholding province, and the
other against it."
To the foregoing we subjoin a toast, lately
' A pamphlet containing a series of essays over the
signature of " Columbus," by the author of this. The
essays, alluded to, were first published in the Philadelphia
National Gazette, in the winter of 1835.
