Newspapers / The Tarborough Southerner (Tarboro, … / Sept. 13, 1831, edition 1 / Page 2
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If Ji i h, RMi-rion nml mvscif.'i that it was his intention to re- movo us from office for the canso mentioned, and 1 had earned fnun Mr. I. the evening before, who derived his inform ation from the Colonel, that he had gone so far as to make tem porary arrangements for the management of tho Depart ments, viz: Mr. Dickens for the Treasury, air. Kendall for the Wavy, and some one else, for Attorney General. This the President denied, and said he would send for Col. Johnson, and for that purpose, called for a servant. When the servant came, I observed it was unne cessary to send for Col. J. his word was sufficient. Well, said he, if you are satisfied. I told him, I was. We continued our conversation for some time. I attempted on that occasion, as I had done several times before, to convince him of the impro priety of his interfering at all in a question of such a delicate character, but his feelings were evidently too much enlisted too be a learned, pious and most weigh ami reasons ichich might . elonuent divine. Some short weigh any reasons which might be offered, 1 have already in formed the public that no paper was presented to me, or read to me, or alluded to, having refer ence to the future conduct of the members of the cabinet. On this head I cannot be mista ken. I may add that the Pre sident constantly insisted on the necessity of harmony among the members of the cabinet. Here I cannot refrain from a re mark upon this injunction of the President, that Maj. Eaton was the only dissatisfied mem ber of the cabinet, the only one who carried complaints to the President of the conduct of others the only one who em ployed his efforts to bring us into discredit with the public or the President. Among the oth ers the utmost civility and so ciability prevailed. No one an noyed him, Maj. Eaton, or made any efFurt to embarrass the ope rations of his Department, or in any manner acted towards him as inimical, cr deficient in re spect; and yet, we are to be punished for the discordances of the cabinet. Can any deci sion be more arbitrary and un just? A few days after this inter view with the President, Col. Johnson came into the Navy Department, and as he entered 1 rose to receive him. With his; wonted cordiality of manner, he expressed his satisfaction at the pacific aspect of our relations. I observed to him, with a smile, that the President denied hav ing authorised him to make such a communication as he had made. He good litimo red ly replied, "let it pass; I repre sented it. to you in the most fa vorable light;" and as he was burned, here the conversation ended. About the same time, T had an interview with Maj. Eaton, in the presence of Judse Berrien and Maj. Barry. This was brought about by the President. Maj. Eaton, it seems, had com plained to him, cither directly or indirectlv, that at a party ci- ven by my family, the last of September, or the tirst ot Octo ber, 1829, to the family of a most estimable friend and ref lation of mine, from Nashville, Tennessee, who was on a visit to Washington City, the Rev. J. N.Campbell, then of that place, now ot Albany, IN. Y. was a- rnong the invited guests. The circumstances were these: Mr. Campbell, who had resided in the city for some years previ ous to Gen. Jackson's innugura tion. was the naster of a church, i and such was his reputation that the President and three mem bers of his cabinet, viz: Mr. Ingham, Judge Berrien and my self took pews and became re gular attendants at his church. In the course of his ministry, he formed an acquaintance with my family, and occasionally vi sited them. He happened there while my friend Hill and his family were with us, con tracted an acquaintance with them, and when the party allu ded to above was given, my daughters invited him. He at tended and took the liberty of carrying with him, his friend Doct. Ely, of Philadelphia, who had just arrived. I knew no more of his being invited than of any other person who hap pened to be present. He was, however, not tho less welcome on that account, nor was his friend, Doct. Elv. Neither of these gentlemen require a re commendation where they re side. Mr. Campbell is known time after the party, I heard, ve ry much to my surprise, that Maj. Eaton and some of his par tizans were enraged with me, and threatened my destruction because Mr. Campbell and Dr. Ely were at my house as above stated. I could scarcely credit the report, until it was mention ed to me by the President, when I emphatically asked him, who questioned my right to invite whom I pleased to my house. He testily observed, no person; but as there was some misun derstanding between Maj. Ea ton, .Mrs. E. and Mr. Campbell, that he, Maj.E. thought it evin ced hostility to him. At the in terview above alluded to, be tween Maj. Eaton, Judge Ber rien, Maj. Barry and myself, Maj. E. mentioned the circum stances of Mr. Campbell and Doct. Ely being at my house on the occasion referred to. I asked Maj. Eaton, in the most frank and friendly manner, if this was his only complaint, and if he would be satisfied provi ded I convinced him that he was in error; assuring him, at the same time, that he had no right to consider me as being under the influence of unfriend ly feelings towards him; that on the contrary he ought to know, my personal attachment for him before the cabinet was formed; and further, if he would obtain the consent of his brother-in- law, Maj. Lewis, to read a con fidential correspondence which passed between Maj. L. and myself in the winter of 1327, '23, on this disturbing subject, he would then be convinced of the disinterestedness and cor rectness of my course, and of its entire conformity to that friend ship and good will which had so long subsisted between us. I might have gone further and said, that Maj. Lewis, in the winter of 1827, 723, when there could be no unworthy motive to mislead either of us, considered Mrs. Eaton an unsafe associate for his daughter, although he was now endeavoring to induce Gen. Jackson to drive me out of the cabinet, because I would not compel my daughters to as sociate with her. Maj. Eaton would not say whether he would be satisfied or not, and the ex planation was withheld. But as we were about to separate, he ottered me his hand in a more cordial manner than he had done for some moths previous. 1 have no doubt that Mai. Ea ton, in tendering his resigna tion, stipulated for the dismies- al of the three offensive mem f the cabinet. Mr. Van Burcn, also, I have reasons to believe, urged the adoption of this measure. This gentleman had discovered that the three members of the cabinet (after wards ejected) disdained to be come tools to subserve his am bitious aspirings, and he deter mined to leave them as little power to defeat his machina tions as possible. It is said to be part of his character to tole rate politically no one, who will not enter heart and soul into measures for promoting his own aggrandizement. He had be come latterly, the almost sole confidant and adviser of the President.. How he obtained this influence might be a sub ject of curious and entertaining enquiry. But I shall not pur sue it. I may add, however, that amongst tho means em ployed, were the most devoted and assiduous attentions to Mrs. Eaton, and unceasing ef forts to bring her into notice, especially with the families of the foreign ministers. Finally, when the President found that his efforts to intro duce Mrs. E. into society prov ed abortive he became every day less communicative, and more and more formal in his hospitalities, until there could be no doubt, but that, as to my self, an unfriendly influence had obtained an ascendancy in his private councils, and the result shows that he had determined to sacrifice me to gratify the feelings of those whom I had offended, as stated above. I may at some future time add to these views; at present I take my leave with assurances i ot great respect and esteem. Yours, &,c. JNO. BRANCH. To Edm. B. Freeman, Esq. Halifax Town. P. S. 1 have not considered it necessary to notice a charge, made in tho Globe, against Judge Berrien, of suppressing a material part of a letter which I wrote to him, and my substi tuting another in its stead. If any peson has been misled by this bold accusation of the Edi tor of the Globe, and is desirous of obtaining correct informa tion, he has my permission to read the whole letter, although it was not intended to be made public. Gov. Branch's Letter. Our attention has been called to two errors in Gov. Branch's letter published last week, which were overlooked in correcting the proof sheet. The party given by the family of Gov. B. to Mr. Hill is staled to have been "the last of September or the first of October, J 829." It should read the 8th of September, 1820." The other will be found in the account of an interview with Maj. Eaton in presence of Judge Berrien and Maj. Barry, t r t t it . - . : wnicn snoum read: "I asked Maj. Eaton in the most friend ly manner, if this was his only complaint and if ho would be satisfied, provided 1 convinced him he was in error, remarking that I had dealt frankly icWi him before the cabinet was form ed, &c. &c Halifax Adv. From the Globe. MAJ. LEWIS'S LETTER. To the Editor of the Globe. Washington, 31 st Aug. 1831. Sir: Mr. Branch, in a letter dated 22d instant, to the Editor of the "Roanoke Advocate," written for publication, savs he told Maj. Eaton that if Im 'would obtain the consent of his brother-in-law, Maj. Lewis, to read a confidential corres pondence which passed between Major L. and myself, in the win ter of 1027 28, on this disturbing-subject, he would then be convinced of the disinterested ness and correctness of my course, &c." "I might have gone further, and said that Major Lewis, in 1827 28, when there could be no unworthy motive to mislead either of us, considered Mrs. Eaton an unsafe associate for his daughter although, he was now endeavoring to induce Gen. Jackson to drive me out of the cabinet, because I would not compel my daughters to as sociate with her." I will not stop to inquire by what right a gentleman, and a man of honor, presumes to speak of a correspondence, considered by both parties to be confidential without asking or obtaining permission. Upon that point I leave him to his own reflections. As to the cir cumstances alluded to iti that correspondence, i have to say, that the gossip tales of this city had reached me in Nashville, and not having the means to as certain their truth or falsehood, residing, as I did, 800 miles from Washington, it was natu ral for me to desire information from some friend on the subject, before I permitted my daughter to reside in ihe family. Major Eaton, under whoso protection I placed her while going to school in the city, at that time boarded with Major O'Neal, the father of Mrs. Eaton. When I came here, in 1829, 1 found Mrs. Timberlake the wife of Major Eaton, whom i believe to be one of the purest men living. J hat h had join ed himself for life to that lady, was, to me, the strongest evi dence of her purity; and having here an opportunity to inquire into the reports I had heard, I satisfied myself that they were totally without foundation. Had Mr. Branch been disposed to tell the whole truth, he would have said, that I had become so completely satisfied, with regard to the subject of my inquiry, that when I brought the same daughter to this city again, one of my first acts was to take her to visit Mr. and Mrs. Eaton, at whose house we spent much of our time. The honor of attempting to degrade and drive from society the wife of a confiding and de serving friend upon reports, which, to use his own language, "ze did not pretend to intimate that there icas the least truth in," I willingly leave to Mr. Branch. 1 do not envy the man, who under such circum stances, would not only sacri fice the wife of a friend, but the mother of two orphan daugh ters, whose reputations would be destroyed with hers. I have only to add, that the charge of my "endeavoring to drive him (Mr. Branch) out of tne cabinet, because he would not compel his daughters to as sociate with Mrs. Eaton," is wholly unfounded; and if Mr. Branch did not know it to be so, he might have known it, if he had made the proper enquiry. 1 am, with much respect, Your obedient servant, W. B. LEWIS. OMr. J. Q. Adams, on the 25th ult. delivered, at the Old South Church, in Boston, a Eu logy on the late President Mon roe. The discourse consisted principally of the history of Mr Monroe's life and services, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, i&si. The Southampton Massacre We learn from a gentleman of this place, who recently returned from Southampton, that the statement pub lished in our last, relative to tlu; in surrection was partially incorrect. The massacre commenced on Sunday evening, at Mr. Travis's house, at which there had been a negro preach iug on that day. On Monday, the negroes were overtaken by a part' of whites, when a skirmish ensued and Mr. Pope, of Southampton, was wounded, but not billed, as erroneous ly stated. The negroes engaged n the massacre have oil been taken or killed, except the ringleader, who calls himself General Nat. Turner. The number of whites killed, as sta ted in our last, was 53 2 children were killed in the place of James Sto ry and wife. About 30 negroes were killed, and about GO implicated and confined their trials were progress ing 2 were hung on Monday of last week, 6 were to be hung on Friday, and 4 on yesterday it is supposed that between 20 and 30 will be exe cuted. It is the general impression that it was a preconcerted movement, but that in consequence of five Sun days happening in August, the pre cise time was not correclly under stood. Nat T urner told the black women at the different places they vi sited, to keep things in order unlil Hie 10th March next, when he would return. There was no white person among the negroes. Gov. Branch. We present to our leaders, the statement of Gov. Branch, relative to the causes which led to the dissolution of the late Cabinet. If any doubts on this1 subject remained, after perusing the documents that have already appeared, this plain, "un varnish'd tale" will unquestionably remove them from the mind of every unprejudiced person. Mr. Lewis's letter, it will be seen, confirms the fact that the "gossip talcs" of Wash ington City, relative to Mrs. Eaton, had reached Nashville as early as the winter of 1S27, 52S consequently the combination against her existed before she married Mr. Eaton, and long before the families of Messrs. Ingham, Berrien and Branch removed to Washington City. We hope that this ''disturbing subject" will now be permitted to pass quietly to merit ed oblivion. Mr. Craivford's Reply to Mr. Calhoun. The last Milledgeville (Geo.) Journal contains Mr. Craw ford's long promised reply to Mr. Calhoun. It occupies nine columns of the Journal. We will endeavor to give an outline of its contents in our next paper. Respect to Gov. Branch. A res pectable meeting of the citizens of Bertie county, assemhled for the pur pose of expressing their high regard ior me private virtues, as well as the high opinion thev entertain of the firm and undeviating political course of Gov. Branch, have invited him to public dinner. The follow inr is the reply of the Governor: Enfield, Aug. 20th, 1831. Gentlemen: Your invitation of the 11th instant, to unite with a portion of my fellow citizens of Bertie county "around the social board," has been duly re ceived. Under the most auspi cious circumstances of my life, such marked kindness connect ed with the flattering manner in which allusion has been made to my private and public cha racter, could not fail to be high ly acceptable. But situated as 1 am recently expelled from the cabinet of Gen. Jackson by the ascendancy of certain "ma lign influences," and still pur sued in my retirement with a fiend-like vengeance, which, it seems, cannot be satiated but by the destruction of my good name nothing, I assure you, could be more grateful to my
The Tarborough Southerner (Tarboro, N.C.)
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Sept. 13, 1831, edition 1
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