nd weighty as the inducements for annexation appeared, they
were light when opposed in the scale of reason to the treaty of amity
and commerce with Mexico, which must be scrupulously observed so long
as that country performed its duties and respected treaty rights. Even
after the nomination of a President only sixteen senators out of
fifty-one voted for annexation, proving that the belief still
obtained, in the minds of a very large and influential portion of the
party, that annexation was decidedly objectionable, since it must
lead, as Benton put it in his great speech delivered in May, 1844, to
an unjust, unconstitutional war with Mexico upon a weak and groundless
pretext. Thus, Van Buren had behind him, the weight of the argument, a
large majority of the Senate, including Silas Wright, his noble
friend, and a party sentiment that had not yet yielded to the crack of
the southern whip; and he was ignorant of the plan, already secretly
matured, to defeat him with the help of the followers of Buchanan and
Cass by insisting upon the two-thirds rule in the convention. Under
these circumstances, it did not require great courage to reaffirm his
previous views so forcibly and ably expressed. Cognisant, however, of
the growing desire in the South for annexation, he took good care to
remove the impression that he was a hard-shell, by promising to yield
his opinion to the judgment of a new Congress. This was a long step
in the direction of consent. It virtually said, "If you elect a
Congress that will ratify the treaty and pay the price, I will not
stand in your way." In the presence of such complacency, the thought
naturally occurs that he might have gone a step farther and consented
to yield his opinions at once had he known or even suspected the
secret plans of his southern opponents, the bitterness of Calhoun and
Robert J. Walker, and their understanding with the friends of Buchanan
and Cass. Jackson's letter favourable to annexation, skilfully
procured for publication just before the convention, "to blow Van out
of water," as his enemies expressed it, was, indeed, known to Van
Buren, but the latter believed its influence discounted by the great
confidence Jackson subsequently expressed in his wisdom.[330]

[Footnote 328: Edward M. Shepard, _Life of Martin Van Buren_, p. 407.]

[Footnote 329: "Judge Fine, Mr. Butler, and other members of the New
York delegation, reposed great confidence in the opinions and
statements of Mr.