11UNTUNGDO) JOURNAL.
BY JAMES CLARK :]
VOL. XI, NO. 48,
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.
Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House
Of Representatives :—ln resuming your
labors in the service of the people it is
it subject of congratulation that there
has been no period in our past history,
when all the elements of national pros
perity have been so fully developed.—
Since
your last session no afflicting dis
pensation has visited our country; ge
neral goon health has prevailed; abun
dance has crowned the toil of the hus
bandman, and labor in all its branches
is receiving an ample reward, while
education, science and the arts are rap
idly enlarging the means of social hap
piness. The progress of our country
in her career of greatness, not only in
the vast extension of our territorial
limits and the rapid increase of our
population, but in resources and wealth,
and in the happy condition of our peo
ple, is without example in the history of
nations.
As the wisdom, strength, and benifi
cence of our free institutions are unfold
ed, every day adds fresh motives to con
tentment, and fresh incentives to patri
otism.
Our devout and sincere acknowledg
ments are due to the gracious Giver of
all good, for the numberless blessings
which our beloved country enjoys.
• It is a source of high satisfaction to
know that the relations of the U. States
with all other nations, with a single ex
ception, are of the most amicable cha
racter. Sincerely attached to the poli
cy of peace, early adopted and steadily
pursued by this government, I have anx
iously desired to cultivate and cherish
friendship and commerce with every fo
reign power. The spirit and habits of
the American people are favorable to
the maintenance of such international
harmony. In adhering to this wise poli
cy, a preliminary and paramount duty I
obviously consists in the protection of
our national interests from an encroach
ment or sacrifice, and our national hon
or from reproach. These must be main
tained at any hazard. They admit of
no compromise or neglect, and must be
scrupulously and constantly guarded.—
in their vigilant vindication, collision
and conflict with foreign Powers may
sometimes become unavoidable. Such
.has been our scrupulous adherence to
the dictates of justice, in all our foreign
intercourse, that, though steadily ad
vancing
in prosperity and power, we
have given no just cause of complaint to'
any nation, and have enjoyed the tiles
sings of peace for more than thirty
years. From a policy so sacred to hu- '
Inanity, and so salutary in its effects
.upon our political system, we should
never be induced voluntarily to depart.
The existing war with Mexico was
neither desired nor provoked by the U.
States. On the contrary, all honorable
means were resorted to to avert it. Af
ter years of endurance of aggravated
and unredressed wrongs, on our part,
Mexico, in violation of solemn treaty
stipulations, and of every principle of
justice recognised by civilized nations,
commenced hostilities; and thus, by her
own act, forced the war upon us. Long
before the advance of our army to the
left bank of the Rio Grande, we had
ample cause of war against Mexico; and
had the U. States resorted to this extre
mity, we might have appealed to the
whole civilized world for the justice of
our cause.
I deem it to be my duty to present to
you, on the present occasion, a condens
ed review of the injuries we had sus
tained, of the causes which led to the
war, and of its progress since its coin-
mencement. This is rendered the
more necessary because of the misap
prehensions which have to some extent
prevailed as to its origin and true char
acter. The war has been represented
as unjust and unnecessary, and as one
of aggression on our part upon a' weak
and injured enemy. Such erroneous
views, though entertained by but few,
have been widely and extensively cir
culated not only at home, but have.been
spread throughout Mexico and the whole
world. A more effectual means could
not have been devised to encourage the
enemy and to protract the war, than to
/ advocate and adhere to their cause, and
thus give them " aid and comfort."
It is a source of national pride and
' exultation, that the great body of our
people have thrown no such obstacles
in the way of the government in prose
cuting the war successfully, but have
shown themselves to be eminently patri
' otic, and ready to vindicate their coun-
try's honor and interests at any sacri
fice. The alacrity and promptness with
which our volunteer forces rushed to
the field on their country's call, prove
not only their patriotism, but their deep
conviction that our cause is just.
The wrongs which we have suffered
•from "Mexico, almost ever since she be
crime an independent power, and the
patient endurance with which we have
borne them, are without a parallel in the
history of modern civilized nations.—
There is reason to believe that if these
wrongs had been resented and resisted
in the first instance, the present war
might have been avoided. One outrage,
however, permitted to pass with impu
nity, almost necessarily encouraged the
perpetration of another, until at last Mex
ico seemed to attribute to weakness and
indecision on our part a forbearance
which was the offspring of magnanimity
and of a sincere desire to preserve friend
ly relations with a sister republic.
Scarcely had Mexico achieved her independence,
which the United States were the first among the
nations to acknowledge, when she commenced the
system of insult and spoliation, which she has ever
since pursued. Out citizens engaged in lawful
commet ce were imprisoned, their vessels seized,
and our flag insulted in her ports. If money was
wanted, the lawless seizure and confiscation of our
merchant vessels and their cargoes was a ready re
source ; and if to accomplish their pu. poses it be
came necessary to imprison the owners, captains,
and crews, it was done. Rulers superseded rulers
in Mexico, in rapid succession, but still there was
no change in this system of depredation. The go
vernment of the United States made repeated re
clamations on behalf of its citizens, but these were
answered by the perpetration of new outrages. Pro
mises of redress made by Mexico in the mast sol
emn forms were postponed or evaded. The files
and records of the Department of `tale contain
conclusive proofs of numerous lawless acts perpe•
tented ups n the property and persons of our citi
zens by Mexico, and of wanton insults to our na
tional flag. The interposition of our government
to obtain redress was again and again invoked, un
der circumstances which no nation, ought to disre
gard.
It was hoped that these outrages would cease,
and that Mexico would be restrained by the laws
which regulate the conduct of civilized nations in
their intercourse with each other nfier the treaty of
amity, commerce and navigation, of the sth April,
1831, was concluded between the two republics;
but this hope soon proved to be vain. The course
of seizure and confiscation of the property of our
citizens; the violation of their persons, end the in
eults to our flag pursued by Mexico previous to
that time, were scarcely suspended for even a brief
period, although the treaty so clearly defines the
rights and duties of the respective parties that it is
impossible to misunderstand or mistake them. In
less then seven years after the conclusion of that
treaty our grievances had become so intolerable
that, in the opinion of President Jackson, they
should no longer be endured. In his message to
Congress in February, 1837, he presented them to
the consideration of that body, and declared that
"The length of time since some of the injuries
have been committed, the repeated and unavailing
applications fur redress, the wanton character of
some of the outrages upon tha property arid per
sons of our citizen., upon the officers and flag of
the United States, independent of recent insults to
this government and people by the•late extraordi•
nary Mexican minister, would justify in the eyes
of all natio,ts immediate war." In a spirit of
kindness and forbearance, however, he recommend
ed reprisals as a milder mode of redress. He de
clared that war should not be used as a remedy "by
justand generous nations, confiding in their strength
for injuries committed, if it can be honorably avoid
ed," and added, "it has occurred to me that, consi
dering the present embarrassed condition of that
country, we should act with both wisdom and mo
deration, by giving to Mexico one more opportuni
ty to atone for the past, before we take redress into
our own hands. I'o avoid ell misconception on the
part of Mexico, as well as to protect our own na
tional character from reproach, this opportunity
should be gi tien with the avowed design and full
preparation to take immediate satisfaction, if it
should not he obtained on a repetition of the de
mand for it. To this end I recommend that an act
be passed authorizing reprisals, and the use of the
naval force of the United States, by the Executive
against Mexico, to enforce them in the event of a
refusal by the Mexican government to estate to an
amicable adjustment of the matters in controversy
between us, upon another demand thereof, made
from on hoard one of our vessels of war on the
coast of Mexico."
Committees of both houses of Congress to which
this message of this President was referred, fully
sustained his views of the character of the wrongs
which we had sufferel from Mexico, and recom
mended that another demand for redress should be
made before authorizing war or reprisals. The
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, in
their report, say t After such a demand, should
prompt justice be refused by the Mexican Govern
ment, we may appeal to all nations not only for the
equity and moderation with which we shall have
acted towards a sister republic, but fur the necessity
which will then compel us to seek redress for our
wrongs, either by actual war or by reprisals. The
subject will then be presented before ( ongress, at
the commencement of the next session, in a clear
and distinct form; and the committee cannot doubt
but that such measures will be immediately adopt•
ed as may be necessary to vindicate the honor of
the country, and insure ample reparation to our in
jured citizens."
File Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives made a similar recommendation.
In their report they say that they fully concur
with the President that ample cause exists for tak
ing redress into our own hands, and believe that wo
should lie justified in the opinion of other nations
for taking such a step. But they are willing to try
the experiment of another demand, made in the
most solemn form, upon the justice of the Mexican
government, before any further proceedings are
adopted."
No difference of opinion upon the subject is he•
lieved to have existed in Congress at that time; the
Executive and Legislative departmetes concurred;
and yet such has been our forbearance and desire
to preserve peace with Mexico, that the wrongs of
which we then complained, and which gave rise to
these solemn proceedings, not only remain unre
dressed to this stay, but additional causes of com
plaint, of an aggravated character, have ever since
been accumulating.
Shortly after these proceedings, a special mes
senger was despatched to Mexico, to make a final
demand for redress; and on the 20th July, 1837,
the demand was made. The reply of the Mexican
rroiernment bears date on the 2tlth of the same
'month, and contains assurances of th.. 'anxious
wish' of the Mexican government 'not to delay the
CORRECT PRINCIPLES-SUPPORTED BY TRUTH
HUNTINGDON, PA,, DECEMBER 16, 1846.
moment of that final and equitable adjustment
whech Is to terminate the existing difficulties be
tween the two governments; that 'nothing should
be left undone which mi y contribute to the most
speedy and equitable determination of the subjects
which have so seriously engaged the attention of
the American government:' that the 'Mexican go•
vernment would adopt, as the only guides for Its
conduct, the plainest principles of public right, the
sacred obligations imposed by international law,
and the religious faith of treaties; and that 'what
ever reason and justice may dictate respecting each
case will be done.' I'he assurance was further
given, that the decision of the Mexican government
upon each cause of complaint, for which redress
had been demanded, should be communicated to
the government of the U. States by the Mexican
minister at Washington.
These solemn assurances, in answer to our de
mand for redress, were disregarded. By making
them, however, Mexico obtained further delay.—
President Van Buren, in his annual message to
Cot grass, of the sth of December, 1537, states,
that 'although the large number' of our demands
for redress, and 'many of them aggravated cases of
personal wrongs, have been now for years before
the Mexican government, and some of the causes
of national complaint, and those of the most of
fensive char ncter, admitted of immediate, simple,
and satisfactory replies, it is only within a few
days past, that any specific communication in an
swer to our last demand, made five months ago,
has been received from the Mexican minister; and
that 'for not one of our public complaints hassatie
faction been given or offered ; that but ono of the
cases of personal wrong has been rave? ably consi
dered, and that but four cares of both descriptions
out of all those formally presented, and earnestly
reseed, have as yet been decided upon by the
Mexican' government."
President Van 13ui en, believing that it would be
vain to make any further attempt to obtain redress
by the ordinary means within the power of the
Executive, communicated this opinion to Con
gress, in the message referred to, in which ho said:
On a careful and deliberate examination of the
contents (of the correspondence with the Mexican
Government), and considering the spirit manifested
by the Mexican government, it has become my
painful duty to return the subject as it now stands,
to Congress, to whom it belongs, to decide upon
the time, the mode, and the measure of ted ess.
Had the United mates at that time adopted com
pulsory measures. and taken redress into their own
hands, all our difficulties with Mexico would pro
bably have been long since adjusted, and the ex
isting war have been averted. Magnanimity and
moderation on our port only had the effect to corn
plicate these difficulties, and render an
.amicable
settlement of them the more embarrassing. That
such measures of redress, under similar provoca
tions, committed by any of the powerful nations of
Europe, would have been promptly resorted to by
the United States, cannot be doubted. The na
tional honor, and the preservation of the national
character throughout the world, as well as our own
self-respect, and the protection due to our citizens,
would have rendered such a resort indispensable.—
The history of no civilized nation in modern times
has presented within so brief a period so many
wanton attacks upon the honor of its Ilag, and up•
on the properly nod persons of its citizens, as had
at that time been borne by the U. Mates front Mex
icon authorities and people. But Mexico was a
sister republic, on the North American continent,
occupying a territory contiguous to our own, and
was in a feeble and distracted condition ; and these
considerations, it is presumed, induced Congress to
forbear still longer.
Instead of taking redress into our
own hands, a new negotiation was enter
ed upon with fair promises on the part
of Mexico, but with the real purpose, as
the event has proved, of indefinitely
postponing the reparation which we de
manded, and which was so justly due.—
This negotiation, after more than a year's
delay, resulted in the convention of the
eleventh of April, 1839, "for the adjust
ment of claims of citizens of the United
States of America upon the government
of the Mexican Republic." The joint
board of commissioners created by this
convention to examine and decide upon
these claims was not organized until the
month of August, 1840, and under the
terms of the convention they were to
terminate their duties within eighteen
months from that time. Four of the
eighteen months were consumed in pre
liminary discussions on frivolous and
dilatory points raised by the Mexican
commissioners; and it was not until
the month of December, 1840, that they
commenced the examination of the
claims of our citizens upon Mexico.—
Fourteen months only remained to ex
amine and decide upon these numerous
and complicated cases. In the month
of February, 1842, the term of the com
mission expired, leaving many claims
'indisposed of for want of time.. The
claims which were allowed by the board,
and by the umpire authorized by the
convention to decide incase of disagree- ,
meet between the Mexican and Amer
ican commissioners, amounted to two
million twenty-six thousand one hundred
and thirty-nine dollars and sixty-eight
cents. There were pending before the
umpire when the commission expired
additional claims which had been exam
ined and awarded by the American com
missioners, and had not been allowed by
the Mexican commissioners, amounting
to nine hundred and twenty-eight thou
sand six hundred and twenty seven dol
lars and eighty-eight cents, upon which
he did not decide, alleging that his au
thority had ceased with the termination
of the joint commission. Besides these
claims, there were others of American
citizens amounting to three million
three hundred and thirty-six thousand
eight hundred and thirty-seven dollars
and five cents, which had been submit
, ted to the board, and upon which they
had not time to decide before their final
adjournment.
The sum of two million twenty-six
thousand one hundred and thirty-nine
dollars and sixty-eight cents, which had
been awarded to the claimants, was a
liquidated and ascertained debt due by
Mexico, about which there could be no,
dispute, and which she was bound to
pay according to the terms of the con
vention. Soon after the final award for
this amount had been made, the Mexi
can government asked for a postpone
ment of the time of making payment,
alleging that it would be inconvenient
to make the payment at the time stipu
lated. In the spirit of forbearing kind
ness towards a sister republic,
which Mexico has so long abused, the
United States promptly complied with
her request. A second convention was
accordingly concluded between the two
governments on the thirtieth of January,
1843, which upon its face declares that
"this new arrangement is entered into
for the accommodation of Mexico."—
By the terms of this convention, all the
interest due on the awards which had
been made in favor of the claimants un
der the convention of the eleventh of
April, 1839, was to be paid to them on
the 30th of April, 1843, and "the prin
cipal of the said awards, and the inter
est accruing thereon," was stipulated to
"be paid in five years, in equal instal
ments every three months." Notwith
standing this new convention was enter
ed into at the request of Mexico, and
for the purpose of relieving her from
embarrassment, thenimants have only
received the intere tie on the 30th of
April, 1843, and th a of the twenty in-
I t
stalments. Although the payment of
the sum thus liquidated, and confessedly
due by Mexico to our citizens as indem
nity for acknowledged acts of outrage
and wrong, was secured by treaty, the
obligations of which are ever held sacred
by all just nations, yet Mexico has vio
lated this solemn engagement by failing
and refusing to make the payment. The
two instalments due in April and July,
1844, under the peculiar circumstances
connected with them, have been assu
med by the United States and dischar
ged to the claimants, but they are still
due by Mexico. But this is not all of
, which we have just cause of complaint.
To provide a remedy for the claimants
whose cases were not decided by the
joint commission under the convention
of April the 11th, 1839, it was express
ly stipulated by the 6th article of the
convention of the 30th of January, 1843,
that "a new convention shall be entered
into for the settlement of all claims of
1 the government and citizens of the
United States against the republic of
Mexico which were not finally decided
by the late commission, which met in
the city of Washington, and of all
claims of the government and citizens
of Mexico against the United States."
In conformity with this stipulation, a
third convention was concluded and
signed at the city of Mexico on the 20th
Novemb'r 1843, by the plenipotentiaries
of the two governments, by which pro
-1 vision was made for ascertaining and
paying these claims. In January, 1844,
this convention was ratified by the Sen
ate of the United States with two amend
ments,which were manifestly reasonable
in their character. Upon a reference of
I the amendments proposed to the govern
' meet of Mexico, the same evasions,
difficulties, and delays were interposed
which have so long marked the policy
of that government towards the United
' States. It has not even yet decided
whether it would or would not accede
to them, although the subject has been
repeatedly pressed upon its considera
i tion.
Mexico has thus violated a second
' time the faith of treaties, by failing or
refusing to carry into effect the 6th arti
cle of the convention of January, 1843.
Such is the history of the wrongs
which we have suffered and patiently
endured from Mexico through a long
series of years. So far from aflbrding
reasonable satisfaction for the injuries
and insults we had borne, a great aggra
vation of them consists in the fact, that
while the United States, anxious to pre
serve a good understanding with Mex
ico, have been constantly, but vainly,
employed in seeking redress for past
wrongs, new outrages were constantly
occurring, which have continued to in
crease our causes of complaint and to
swell the amount of our demands.—
While the citizens of the United States
were conducting a lawful commerce
with Mexico under the guaranty of a
treaty of "amity, commerce, and nav
igation," many of them have suffered
all the injuries which would have result
ed from open war. This treaty, instead
of affording protection to our citizens,
has been the means of inviting them into
the ports of Mexico, that they might be,
, as they have been in numerous install
' ces, plundered of their property and
deprived of their personal liberty if
they dared insist on their rights. Had
the unlawful seizures of American prop
erty, and the violation of personal liberty
of our citizens, to say nothing of the
insults to our flag which have occurred
in the ports of Mexico, taken place on
the high seas, they would themselves
long since have constituted a state of
actual war between the two countries.—
In so long suffering Mexico to violate
her most solemn treaty obligations,
plunder our citizens of their property,
and imprison their pereons without
affording them any redress, we have fail- '
ed to perform one of the first and high
est duties which every government owes
to its citizens; and the consequence has
been,- that many of them have been re
duced from a state of affluence to bank
ruptcy.
The proud name of American
citizen, which ought to protect all who,
bear it from insult and injury through
out the world, has afforded no such pro
tection to our citizens in Mexico. We I
had ample cause of war against Mexico
long before the breaking out of hostil
ities. But even then we forebore to
take redress into our own hands, until
Mexico herself became the aggressor
by invading our soil in hostile array and
shedding the blood of our citizens.
Such are the grave causes of complaint
on the part of the United States against
Mexico—causes which existed long be
fore the annexation of Texas to the
American Union; and yet, animated by
the love of peace, and a magnanimous'
moderation, we did not adopt those mess- •
urea of redress which, under such cir
cumstances, are the justified resort of
injured nations.
The annexation of Texas to thd Uni
ted States constituted no just cause of
offence to Mexico. The pretext that it
did so is wholly inconsistent, and irre
concilable with well authenticated facts
connected with the revolution by which
Texas became independent of Mexico.
That this may be the more manifest, it
may be proper to advert to the cause
and to the history of the principal events
of that revolution.
Texas constituted a portion of the !
ancient province of Louisiana ; ceded to
the United States by France in the year
1803. In the year 1819, the United
States, by the Florida treaty, ceded tol l
Spain all that part of Louisiana within
the present limits of Texas ; and Mex
ico, by the revolution which separated
her from Spain, and rendered her an in
dependent nation, succeeded to the
rights of the mother country over this
territory. In the year 1824, Mexico
established a federal constitution, under
which the Mexican republic was compo
sed of a number of sovreign States, con
federated together in a federal Union
similar to our own. Each of these
States had its own Executive, legislature
and judiciary, and, for all except feder
)al purposes, was as independent of the
general government, and that of the
other States, as is Pennsylvania or Vir
' ginia under our constitution. Texas
and Coahuila united and formed one of
I these Mexican States. The State con
stitution which they adopted, and which
I was approved by the Mexican confed
eracy, asserted that they were " free
and independent of the other Mexican
United States, and of every other power
and dominion whatsoever ;" and pro
, claimed the great principle of human
liberty, that "the sovreignty of the
State resides originally and essentially
in the general mass of the individuals
who compose it." To the government
under this constitution, as well as to
that under the federal constitution, the
people of Texas owed allegiance.
Emigrants from foreign countries, in
cluding the United States, were invited
by the colonization laws of the State
and of the federal government to settle
in Texas. Advantageous terms were
offered to induce them to leave their
own country and become Mexican cit
izens. This invitation was accepted by
many of our citizens, in the full faith
that in their new home they would be
governed by laws enacted by represen
tatives elected by themselves, and that
their lives, liberty and property would
be protected by constitutional guaran
tees similar to those which existed in the
republic they had left. Under a gov
ernment thus organized they continued
until the year 1835, when a military
revolution broke out in the city of Mex
ico, which entirely subverted the federal
and State constitutions, and placed a
military dictator at the head of the gov
, eminent.
By a sweeping decree of a Congress
subservient to the will of the dictator,
the several State constitutions were
abolished, and the States themselves
converted into mere departments of the
Central Government. The people of
Texas were unwilling to submit to this
usurpation. Resistance to such tyranny
became a high duty. Texas was fully
absolved from all allegiance to the Cen
[EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
WHOLE NO, 568,
. .
tral GoVernment of Mexico from the
moment that government had abolished
her State constitution, and in its place
substituted an arbitrary and despotic
Central Goiernment.
.- Such were the principal causes of the
Texan revolution. The people of Texas
at once determined upon resistance, and
flew to arms. In the midst of these im
portant and exciting events, however;
they did not omit to place their liberties
upon a secure and permanent foundation.
They elected members to a convention,
who, in the month of March, 1836, is
sued a formal declaration that their .
"political connexion with the Mexican
nation has forever ended, and that the
people of Texas do . now constitute a
FREE, SOVREIGN, and I.NnetNDENT
LIE, and arc fully
. invested with all the
rights and attributes which properly be
long to independent nations." They
also adopted for their government a lib;
eral republican constitution. About the
same time, Santa. Anna, then the dicta
tor of Mexico, invaded Tekas with .a
numerous army for the purpose of sub
duing her people, and enforcing obedi
ence to his arbitrary and despotic gov
ernment.- On the 21st of April, 1836,
he was met by the Texan citizen sol
diers, and on that day was achieved by
them the memorable victory of San Ja
cinto, by which they conquered their
independence. Considering the limn;
hers engaged on the respective sides,
history does not record a more brilliant
achieveMent. Santa Anna hiMself was
among the eaptiVes.
In the month of May, 1836, Santa
Anna, acknowledged, by a, treaty With
the exan authoritiei, in the most sol
emn form, the , 4 full, entire, and perfect
independence of the republic of Texas."
It is true he was then a prisoner of war,
but it is equally true that he had failed
to reconquer Texas; and had met with
signal defeat; that his authority had
not been revoked, and that by virtue of
this treaty he obtained his personal re
lease. By it hostilities were suspended,
and the army which had invaded Texas
tinder his command returned in pursu
ance of this arrangement, unmolested,
to Mexico,
From the day that the battle of San
Jacinto was fought until the present
hour, Mexico has never possessed the
power to reconquer Texas. In the lan
guage of the Secretary of State of the
United States, in a despatch to our Min
ister in Mexico, under date of the eighth
of July, 1842, "Mexico may have chosen
to consider, and may still choose to con
sider Texas as having been at all times
since 1835, and as still continuing, a re
bellious province ; but the world has
been obliged to take a very different
view of the matter. From the time of
the battle of San Jacinto, in April, 1836,
to the present moment, Texas has ex
hibited.the same external signs of na
tional independence as Mexico herself,
and with quite as much stability of gov
ernment. Practically free and inde
pendent, acknowledged as a political
sovereignty by the principal powers of
the world, no hostile foot finding rest
within her territory for six or seven
years, and Mexico herself refraining for
all that period from any further attempt
to re-establish her own authority over
that territory, it cannot but be surpris
ing to find Mr. de Bocanegra" (the Sec
retary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico)
"complaining that for that whole period,
citizens of the United States, or its gov
ernment, have been favoring the rebels
of Texas, and supplying them with ves
sels, ammunition, and money, as if the
war for the reduction of the province of
Texas, had been constantly prosecuted
by Mexico, and her success prevented
I by these influences from abroad."
The Texas which was ceded to Spain
by the Florida treaty of 1819 embraced
all the country now claimed by the State
of Texas between the Nueces and the
Rio Grande. The republic of Texas
always claimed this river as her western
boundary, and in her treaty made with
Santa Ana, in May, 1836, he recognized
it as such. By the constitution which
Texas adopted in March, 1836, senato
rial and representative districts were
organized extending west of the Nueces.
The Congress of Texas, on the nineteenth
of December, 1836, passed " An act to
define the boundaries of the republic of
Texas," iu which they declared the Rio
Grae from its mouth to its source to
be their boundary, and by the said act
they extended their " civil and political
jurisdiction" over the country up to that
boundary. During a period of more
than nine years, which intervened be
tween the adoption of her constitution
and her annexation as one of the States
of our Union, Texas asserted and exor
cised many acts of sovereignty and ju
risdiction over the territory and inhabi
tants west of the Nueces. She organi
zed and detined the limits of counties
extending to the Rio Grande. She es.
(CONTINUED ON FOURTH rAot.]