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Jeffersonian Republican
From the New York Tribune.
The Whiffs and the War Where do
we Stand ?
Fiom the' first development of ihe plot of
Tyler, Upshur, Gilmer, Walker & Co. to arn
nex Texas to this Country, tip to the -consummation
of that giant iniquity, it was denounced
and resisted by the Whig Press and Whig
Sentiment of the Country as flagitious, unjusti
fiable, and a wanton rupture of our existing re
lations and stipulations of Peace and Amity
with Mexico. There were some exceptions
at the South lo the unanimtiy and heaniness of
this expression and a solitary one exception
in ihe Free States lo wit, the Courier and
Enquirer. At iirsi, the Whigs were not at all
peculiar in this view all parties, at least
lhroughout the Free States, shared it. The
protest of the Massachusetts Legislature in
J 843 against Annexation as iniquiious, was con
curred in by ihe Loco Foco Members ; so with
that of the Ohio Legislature in 1844. In this
we all accepted and affirmed the doctrine laid
down by our Government in 1837, when Tex
as first applied to be annexed to this Union.
Mr. Van Buren'a Cabinet took the matter into
consideration and unanimously rejected the
proffer of Texas, on ground thus set forth in
the answer to the Minister to Texas by Hon.
John Forsyth of Georgia, Mr.V an Buren'a Sec
retary of State, who said t
" So long as Texas shall remain at wart while
4he United States are at peace with her adver
sary, the proposition of the Texan Minister
Plenipotentiary necessarily involves the question
of War with that adversary. The
United States might be justly suspected of a
disregard of the friendly purposes of her com
pact with Mexico if the overture of Gen Hunt
were to be even reserved for future considera
tion, as this would imply a disposition on our
jtarl to espouse the quarrel oj l exas wun Mexico
a disposition wholly at variance with the spirt
of the Treaty, and with the uniform poliry and
obvious welfare of the United, States."
This decision, and the reasons assigned for
it, were received by ihe American People .with
universal approbation. The positions of Mr. j
Toyth were so manifestly sound that not even
the most unscrupulous instruments of the Tex
as land-speculators and sjave-jobbers dared
publicly lo controvert them. -eed we now
argue that they, emphatically condemned .any
Annexation of Texas to this Country until
Peacevshould be established between her and
Mexico ,?
Bear in mindt,ihat this was., after Mexico
had committed,, or permitted, most or all of the
upoljaiions upon our. citizens so justly com
plained of, and before she had adjusted them
by treaty and commedced paying them by in
stalments a process, only interrupted by our
.Government's assent to Annexation.
Mr. Van Buren in 3.844 reaffirmed and, en
forced the doctrine, thus laid .down by Mr, For
tjyih in 1937 as still pertinent and impregnable,
notwithstanding 4he long .cessation of actual
hosuli'ies against ,Jlkxsls1 by Mco- In his
letter to Mr. Ijlammett he said :
' If, as sensible men, we c.annoi avoid the"
conclusion ihat the jrnmediaie Annexation of
Texas would draw after tt a war with Mexico,
can il be expedient to attempt it ?
Xtould we hope to stand justified in the eyes of
4sta::kind for entering intp Mich a war more
especially if its commencement i ,tp be prece-
2 ?V lite appcopjljioft 40 jpur own pes oi me
miinrvi the sovereignty ol which is in dispute
ic
i io nations, one of which we are to
ola t This-. Sir. is s matter of
he very gravest import one m respect to, whifcfi
W American Statesman or cuiau v
STROUDSBUR' 1V10NR01E COUNTY; Tl., TH'URSDAiY,
afford to be indifferent. We have a character
among the nations of the earth ,tb maintain.4
It has hitherto been our pride and
boast that, while the lust of, power,. ,wilh fraud
and violence in its train, has led other and differently-
constituted .governments to aggression
and conquest, our movements in these respects
have always been regulated by reason and jus
tice. Should not every, one,
then, who sincerely loves his country, consider
and that deeply, whether we would not by the'
immediate Annexation of Texas, place a wea
pon in the hands of those who look upon us
with distrustful and envious eyes, that would
do us more real, lasting injury as a rtatioh than
the arquisition of such a territory, valuable as
it is, could possible .repair !"
Can the bearing of , this on the right and1
wrong of the present War be misunderstood ?
About ihe same time (April 17, '44) Mr. Clay,
in utter ignorance of Mr. Van Buren's letter
wrote from Raleigh to the National Intelligen
cer a frank and brief exposition of his own
reasons for opposing the Annexation scheme,
from which the following is an extract :
" Mexico has not. abandoned but perseveres, in
the assertion of her right to Texas by actual
force of arms, which) if suspended, are intended
to be renewed. Under these circumstances, if
the Government of the U,S. were lo acquire, Tex
as, it would acquire along with it all the incum
brances which Texas is under, and among them
the actual or suspended war between Mexico
and Texas. Of that consequence there cannot
be a doubt. Annexation and walr with Mexico
are identical. Now, for one, I certainly am
not willing to involve this country in a foreign
war forihe sake of acquiring Texas," &c.
Between the writing and the publication of
this letter, while we ..were all ignorant of its
existence, a great meeting of the citizens of
this Emporium was held at the Tabernacle to
enter our solemn protest against this Annexa
tion business, then pending. All parties united
in it ; the Whig party with entire unanimity,
with all .that pretended , to keep a conscience
among the Loco-Focos Henry Nicoll, the Con
gressman elect from this District being one of
the Vice Presidents. The chr was taken
by the venerable Albert Gallatin, the most
eminent citizen of New-York and ihe highest
authority on International Laty arridrig us. He
is one of the patriarchs of Jeffersonian Democ
racy, and now a Whig, though he takes no ic-
tive part in politics. Thai meeting, after full
deliberation, on motion of David D. Field,
chairman of a retiring committee, unanimously
" Resolved,-thai ihe Annexation of Texas to
this Union, as now contemplated, would, accor
ding to the acknowledged Laws of Nation's, be
a positive Declaration of War against Mexitd
a War of Conouestmd an unjust War, in which
this Nation would be supported by no sense of
right, and be condemned by the unanimous
voice of the civilized and Onrtaiian world.
Soph was then ihe universal sentiment of
the entire Whig party and a majority of the
Loco-Focos who had any opinion of their own
throughout the Free States at least. The Whig
Slate Convention which met at Syracuse on
the 12th of September of that year, to nominate
Clay Electors and Millard ivtllmore lor Govern
or, on the report of an able Whig Member of
Congress, unanimously
" Resolved. That the iniquiious and dishon
orable scheme for the Annexation of Texas, the
device of Treachery and Fraud, for the worst
personal and partjzan purposes, designed for
the benefit of speculators, plunderers and dis-
uniontsts, is an outrage on the Kights pi Man,
the Laws of Nations, and the honor of ihe
Country," &c. &c.
Such was ;he spirit in which ihe Whig par
ty throughout the Free Slates regarded the
scheme of annexing Texas; such were the re
sults anticipated from ii ; such was the judg
ment passed beforehand 'by the Whig party on
the authors and causes of the present War.
And Mr. Clay, writing about the same time
(Sept. 23) his last public letter before, the Pres
idential Election, reiterated his inflexible hos
tility to Annexation while Texas should con
tinue at war with and her independence unre
cognized by Mexico, saying
" I think it would be dishonorable, might in
volve us in War, and would be dangerous to
ihe integrity and harmony of the Union."
In perfect accordance with this, Gen. Hous
ton remarked in the U. S. Senate, when Con
gress was deliberating on Mr. Polk's War Mes
sage ,(May 13, .1845,) that it was too late now
to deliberate thai Texas and Mexico had long
been at war, and, that the United States became
m party to that War in corisenting to Annexation
Need we add orierWbrd to shriifr the tmbu
dent falsity; the utter. absurdityofyhg preience
that thia Wgrew.pUtf exican.Spqliatjohs,
or vras, insigated by any, act of Mexico what
ever i . . ...
Yet we will recall some testimony with
regard to that wanton act of Executive usurpa
tion, the march of our Army to the Rio Grande,
and the audacious assumption that Texas right
fully extended lo that River.
Saying nothing here of ihe conspiracies at
Washington and in Tennessee which organized
and gave success to ihe Texas Revolution, we
will commence with 1836, when the battle of
San Jacinto had secured1 the independence of
that extempore Republic. In August of that
year, Mr. H. M. Morht, dispalched" by Presi
dent Jackson to Texas as agent of1 ihe Uniied
States, wrote home to our Government that
"The political limits b'f Texas proper; pre
vious to the last revolution, were the Neuces
River oh the West; along the Red River on the
North ; the Sabine on. he Easts; and ihe Gulf
of Mexico on the South.'
The facts here stated can be pKoved by all
the Maps, Histories, &c. that bear on the sub
jeci, but we choose to rely on the official testi
mony of our own Government's agent. On
the 27th of August he writes again ihat
t
"It was the intention of this Gotenlmeni, of
Texas, immediately after the Batile of San
Jacinto, to have claimed from tfie mouth of the
Rio Grande along that river to the 30th degree
of North latitude,, and thence due West to the
Pacific. It was found, however, that this would
not strike a convenient point irt Oalijornia, tnai
it would be difficult to control a wandering pop
ulation so distant, and thai the territory now
determined upon would be sufficient for a young
Republic." See House Document No. 35
24th Congress, 2d Session)
Thus stood Texas when, 1843-4, she was
inviied by John Tyler to re-apply for Annexa
tion, with settlements on ihe Nueces, but hbl a
single hamlet or hut on any portion of the ter
ritory watered by the ftio GrandVtiel Norte 'or
any of its tributaries hot a shadow of actual
rule or authority wifhih ihe valley bT thai River.
Yet she claimed to be bounded by the Rib
Graride, and ihe Tyler Treaty actually described
her as bounded b thai River! Mexico; on the
other hdrlci, had seitieiiienii on both bank's of
that River, more than" a huhdred years bid; her
customhouse at ihe mouth' stood on the east
side of the River, and had never beeh visited
by Texan authority, either in peaceful or hos
tile guise; and in the upper portion of ihe val
ley her seiilemeiits; more than two centuries
bid, extended many miles eastward of ihe Riv
er, including cities or villages of 4,000, 5,000
and 6000 inhabitants, who had never seen a
Texan.flag of Constable. The Treaty of An
nexation was overwhelmingly rejected by the
Senate, after a speech frdm Col. Bent.oii in
which he exposed the utter Baselessness of ihe
claim that Texas, extended to the Rio Grande
declaring that ihe east bank of that River
never was any part of Texas that the claim
set up by Texas, if maintained, would cut off
from the parent country,
" the capital and forty lowns and villages of
New-Mexico, now and always as fully under
the dominion of Mexico as Quebec and all the
towns of Canada are under the dominion of
Great Britoin:"
Mr. Benton closed his speech by offering
the following resolution:
Resolved, That the incorporation of the left
bank of the Rio del None into the American
wt - ' . - r. :.t n
union, oy virtue oi a treaty wnu i exas, com
prehending, as the' said incorporation' would
do. at nortion of the Mexican departments of
New-Mexico, uninuanua, ioauuua.uuu i aiumc
lipas, would be an an act of direct dggtession
upon Mexico, for all the consequevces of which
'the United States would stand responsible.
To the same effect Silas Wngln. who lis
tened to the whole debate on tjie Treaty of An
nexation in tilence, and finally gave his vote
against ratifying it explained himaelf to his
constituent in, hjs Speech at Watenown, Jef
ferson Co,, in the, August succeeding as fol
lows :
I felt it my duty to tote against the raifi
catibn of the treaty for the annexation. 1 be
lieved that the treatjr fforri the boundaries ihar
must he implied from it-vembraced a country
lo which Texas had no claim, over wjijch she
had never asserted jurisdiction, and which sjie
had no right to cede." "It appeared 16 me
then" he continued " if Mexico should tell
us, 'We don't know you, we have no treaty lo
make with you-and we were left to, take pos
session by force, we must take ihe country as
Texas had cedec jt o u, and in doing thai, we
NOVEMBER 18, 1847.
iniusticb :io Mexico, a'nd: take alarib
pp'rij'dn. of" few Mexico, the people df hiclr
have never beeh under the jurisdiction of 'fev
asi This: to'-msrwas an ;uhslifmouhiable;.barri,
er---l coiildJibU pjace the country Jnjh&t posi-
tion.
With, these views widely disseminated among
ihe People, Mr. Polk was elected, and the suc
cess o Annexation in some form secured. "But
Congress look good care, hoi to leave any chancre
for pretending that by Annexation we "had a
greed to maintain ibV'preiensions of Texas 10
be extended to the, Rio Grande. The Joint
Resolutions consenting to Annexation express
ly provided that
Said .State, shall be formed: subject to the
adjustmeril by this Government of all questions
of boundary that may arise with other Govern-
Yet ih the face of (his proviso, Mr. Polk
gave the order for The advance of our Army
from Corpus Christi on' the Nuecesj where it
had remained unmolested for months, to thtf
bank of the Rio Grande. The following is the
Order transmifte'd (Jan. 13, '46.) 10 Gen. Tay
lor through Mr. Secretary MVrcy of the War
Department hot a whisper of it being cqm-
mnicated to Congress, then in session :
I am directed by the' President to instruct
you to advance 'and occupy, with the troops tin
der your command, positions on or near tne
east bank Of the Rio del IN one, as soon as it
can conveniently be" dbife, wilh reference to the
Season and routes by which your movements
must be made. From the views heretolore
presented tb this department U js presumed
Point Isabel will be considered by you an eli
gible position; this point, or some one nea it,
and points opposite Maiambrbs and Mie and
in the; vicinity-of Laredo, are suggested to your
consideration.
This order was obeyed: and the result is be
fore us. Our Army was met at ''the Sal Colo
rado creek, between the two Riversj by a Mex
ican force under Canales; and warned not to
prosecute its inarch, which of course was dis
regarded. Arriving at the mouth of life Rio
Grande, Geh. Taylor "found that ihe Mexican
authorities had1 jut abandoned the post, (Sab
Isabel) setting fire tb the custom-house. -Thbnbe
he proceeded np the River and took
posi opposite Matambras, the capital of the
Province of Tamaulipas. Hfe arrived there on
the 28ih of March, 1846, and bh the fjih April
following reported his bbediericb of orders to
the War Departrrtertti'irt a letter Which says:
'On Our side a battery bf four feighteen poun
ders will be completed, and the guns placed in
battery lo-day. Those guns bear upon the pub
lie square of Maiamoris, and within good range
lor demolishing the town. Their object can
not be-niisiakeii by ihenemy."
'The eiiemy,' do ou hear? Not a shb't had
been fired nor a man harmed by ihe Mexicans,
but Gen. Tavlo'r is neither & dissembler nor a
fool. He saw he had been sent where fighting
alone could maintain his position, and he made
rlisnositibns accordinelv. On ihe 19th of that
j-- - 0
month a mst intelligent officer of our Army, in
perfect uncohsciobsheag that he was saying
anything remarkable, wrote to the ZV. . Spir
it bf the Times, as follows:
Cartip opbosiie Mutamora$, April 19, 1846
"Our aituation here is an extraordinary one.
Rieht in the enemy's counwy, actually occupy
ing their corn and 6riiton-fields, ihe people of
the soil leaving neir nomeo, auu wc, wnu
small handful of men; niatchin'g with colors fly
ing and drums beating, right under ihe guns of
one of their principal cine,- displaying the star-
spangled banner, as if in defiance under their
verynose,.ahd they, with an army twice our
size sit least, sit quietly down, and make not
ihe least resisiancp, hot the first effort to drlvS
the invaders off. There is no parallel to it.
Do you hear again ? The enemy's country,'
4 the people Of the .soil leaving their homes,
and yet ' not the. first effort lo dfive the invaders
off.' And it was not till after the Mexicans had
forcibly and repeatedly remonstrated against
ihis shamttiul invasion and been virtually told
to help themselvesi-not till after Gen. Tayidr
had blockaded the mouih of the River, sd as tq
slop ihe subsiaience of the Mexican artny--not
till out dragoons under CoK Thdrnttth charged
a superior Mexican force which had not m'olest?
ed it-ihat actual hosiiiiiie were commenced
by the Mexicans. Such ts the stale of facts.
On which Mr. PoTk shuouncced ihat 41 Ameri
can blood has been nhed dn 'Ameribdti soil,"
and Congress gravely resolved that 1 War ex
lm,by the atl.of Mexico 1 Was; there ever a
more unblushing defiance of iruih !! '
So miih'K for iheoftirt of the War : now
No. 20.
let Us see in'w'hat light tnelvy hfgs regard if
The late very large State Ddnyemion. -of,
MAssAbiiusETTs Unanimously
'Resolved; That the war wiih MeXicOj tlio
predicted resuhi if not ihe legiiirriate Offspring1,
of ihe Annexation of Teasbegun in a pnU
pable viplaiioh of ihe constitution; and irt usu'r
paiidri bi ihe powers of Congress by iHa'Prean-
dent, and Carried on in reckless indifference
and disregard df the blotid arid treasure of iho
Karionj can have hb bbjedt which can be fs- t
fected but the acqutstnon of Mexican tetntury ;
and the acqui'siiion bf Mexican territory, under!
ihe circumstances df ihe country unless wiih
adequate securities for ihe protection dfhurhart
liberty can have no Oth'dr "probable result tharl
ihe liliimat'e advahcem'ent of the ae'ctidnal su;
premacy of the Slavg-Powef
Resolved, That the Whigs xif Massachusetts
are hdf prepared forihis result : they aeei iherei
fore; no rational or justifiable object in the pro
tracted prosecution of the war, and rejoice" irt
every manifestation bithe return of peace ; for
although1 sanctioned by a portion of the Whig
in lis earliest movemehtsi as a measure-for the
preservation of the Armythen in peril by thd
unauthorized acts of tile President yet the
war itself, while prosecuted lo secure thtJ sec
tional suprbmacy of the Slave. ;Power, Or ilia
conquest and dismemberment of the Mexican
Republic, has never had and never ban have
the sanction and approbation of the Whigs bf
Massachusetts.
Resolved, Therefore that the grpat and per-
manent interests of ihe Americau Union as it
is; and the highest and brightest hopes of ihe
liberties and rights tif oUr race on the Amerjcart
Continehi, require of the great North American
rtfepubltc io slay her hands, already tdd deeply
stained in ihe blood shed in this unnaiural war
between ihe. two great Republics of ihis Conti
nent, and inscribe on her stahdard, now waving
victoriously over the Halls of the Montezurtiks,
and deeply, oh the hearts of her ;Rulers-as her:
Well considered and unchangeable' purpose
"Peace with Mexico without dismemberment,
No addition of Mexican Territory to the A
merican Union."
Resolvsd, That; in ihe judgment bf this Con'
yentjon, this course of policy and action would
form a basis Oh which the whole- patriotism.
ahd intelligence; and mbral worth of the coun
try might hoh'estly rally and securely stand ;
while it Would place oUr cduiltry eminently m
the right, and show id the wbrld ihat we are,
as a nation; as invincible irt hioral principle a
ih miliiary power; ahd that we can conquer a
neace with Mexico by first conquering in our
selves the raging thirstof miliiary glory and
the mad ambition of foreign conquest.
to the same effect, the Whigs df Veiimont,
at their late State Convention, to Which near
ly all thb eminent Whigs in the- State Were
Delegates, Unanimously
1. Resolved, That it is a fundamental princi
ple of Republicanism, that every People ahalL
have a Government of their own choice, and
therefore the acquisition of territory bt
force of arms, or the attempt to propagate
Republicanism by the sword; a grdss viola
tion of this fundamental principle.
2. Resolved, That we cordially apprdVe oC
the principle of thb Wilmot Provisd; ahd de
mand that the same shall be invariably and:
effectually insisted on and applied td all future?
acquisitions of territory.
3. Hesolved, that iri the dplnidH bhis Con.
vention, the existing War with Mexico was un
just and unconstitutional in is ih'zeption arocf
prosecution, with the design and fbv the purpose
of ihe dismemberment oi mat rtepuoncr ana
thb conquest and acquisition bf her territory, or
tb compel her to sell us the same, which is
equally unjust.
4. Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress
io make all hecfessary provisions io bring the
present War to a speedy and honorable termin
ation, and, if necessary to that endf to limit and
quajify Sny appropriations, made, therefor.
.So .the Whig Slate Committee ofOmo issued
before their Election an Address taking strong
ground jn opposition to the War ; and, in their
Circular announcing the result of the contest,
they sayj
" Our Opponents during the whole canvaas,
urged the peoplb to sustain, a war of conquest
in MeicicOj and in iheir speeches and publica
tions distinctly made. that issue. 1'hey heaped
upon bbr distinguished Whig Senator rtiore than
a Usbal sharb of vituperation and abuse, in con
sequence bf the high; bold ahd . tommanding
ppsitiort he assumed in the Senate.
' The tesult is a severe rebuke to the advo
cates bf ihe Wat, and the villifiiers of such a
main We therefore again congratulate you
iipdn the result of our Election. It is a triumph
in favor Of thb blessings of Peace over the hor
rors and disgrace of an iniquitous and unjust
War.'
But We cannot make room for half the
commanding expressions of Whjg sentiment In
weeping, cdisUtenv opposition to. jht ?Yar
Ae we writ; tiie Boston- paper of yesterday
are laid befote us; ttd we open lo the Resolu
JsX.fc
i