H0LL1NGER 
 pH8.5 
 
 MILL RUN F3-1543 
 
407 THE TEXAS BOUNDARY. 1 
 
 21 
 
 >V 1 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. DAVID S.KAUFMAN, OF TEXAS, 
 
 SHOWING THAT 
 
 Mexico Commenced the late War with the United States, by invading terri- 
 tory that belonged to Texas at the period of her annexation. 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 5, 1848. 
 
 The House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, 
 Mr. KAUFMAN, of Texas, addressed the Committee as follows: 
 
 Mr. Chairman: As the House is now in Committee of the Whole on the 
 state of the Union, I have risen to discuss a question deeply involving the honor 
 and character of that Union. 
 
 The Democratic National Convention which assembled in the city of Balti- 
 more during the latter part of last month, amoifgst many other admirable 
 resolutions, adopted with entire unanimity the following, viz: 
 
 " Resolved, That the war with Mexico, provoked on her part by years of insult and injury, 
 teas commenced by Iter army crossing the Rio Grande, attacking the .American troops, and invading our 
 sister Slate of Texas; and that upon all the principles of patriotism and the laws of nations, it is a 
 just and necessary war on our part, in which every American citizen should have shown himself 
 on the side of his country, and neither morally nor physically, by word or deed, have given 
 ' aid and comfort to the enemy'."' 
 
 On the other hand, it will be recollected by you, Mr. Chairman, that the 
 Whig majority of this House, on the third day of January last, solemnly resolved 
 that " the war with Mexico teas unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by 
 the President of the United States." This last resolution was attached, in the 
 shape of an amendment, to a joint resolution of thanks to Major General Taylor 
 and the men under his command, for their signal victory on the field of Buena 
 Vista. As I conceive this amendment an insult to the brave men the joint 
 resolution proposed to honor; an unjust and unwarrantable attack upon the 
 Chief Magistrate of the nation; a libel upon the Congress that declared the 
 war, and the country that so gallantly sustained it; a refection upon the justice 
 of the treaty lately negotiated with Mexico, which cedes to the United States 
 territory as indemnity for the expenses of the late war; and a slander upon the 
 title of Texas to soil won by the valor, and watered by the blood, of her sons, — 
 I shall devote my allotted hour to its refutation. 
 
 Here, sir, we have at least one distinct issue made up between the two great 
 
 Priulnd at tiie Congressional Globe utticc. 
 
2 ] ' 
 
 parties of this' country, which must be decided on the 7th November next by 
 the American people at the polls. In regard to the commencement of the war r 
 the Democrats believe that our country was in the right, and that "our cause 
 is just." The Whigs, on the other hand, assert that, through the "unneces- 
 sary and unconstitutional" action of the President, the war was unjust in its 
 origin, and our country in the wrong. " The American Democracy, who place 
 their trust in the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of 
 the Americon people," do not for a moment doubt, that, as the cartridge-box 
 has completely defended our honor abroad, the ballot-box will equally vindicate 
 our character at home. 
 
 The resolution of the Baltimore Democratic Convention, above quoted, 
 admits that Texas owned the country between the Nueces and Rio Grande. 
 The amendment of the Whig majority, above referred to, dtnies it, as do all 
 their speeches delivered in this House. If Texas owned this country, no one 
 of course would say that the order to General Taylor to march to the Rio 
 Grande was unconstitutional. The question, then, is, Did this country, at the 
 commencement of the war, belong to Texas, or was it a part and parcel of 
 Mexico? And that is the question which I now propose to discuss. 
 
 In the remarks which I intend to make, I purpose nothing more than to 
 present a plain unvarnished statement of facts. I shall make very few comments 
 upon those facts, not more than are necessary to explain them. My object is 
 to collect, in a brief space, for the use of the country in the approaching Presi- 
 dential campaign, the material historical facts bearing upon the Texas bound- 
 ary. If I can succeed in attaining that end, I will have accomplished all 
 I desire. 
 
 The right of Texas to the soil within her limits, and which she owns, is 
 founded upon -revolution. During her independent existence, her strong right 
 arm was the title by which she vindicated her right to the Rio Grande, and to 
 the territory confirmed to her by a treaty afterwards broken. Like the sturdy 
 Barons of Old England, when asked once by their tyrannical despot by what 
 title they held the lands of which they were in possession, a thousand swords 
 leaped from their scabbards, and their glittering blades gave at once a satisfac- 
 tory answer. To make that title a good one, the causes which produced that 
 revolution should be sufficient to justify it. Notwithstanding the unjust asper- 
 sions which have been cast upon the motives of those brave and gallant men 
 who promoted and sustained the revolution in Texas, yet the events connected 
 with the war with Mexico will go far to vindicate the truth of the grounds set 
 forth by Texas in justification of her separation from Mexico. The times are 
 propitious for the complete triumph of truth in regard to the revolutionary 
 history of much-slandered Texas. I will now read some extracts from the 
 Declaration of Texas Independence, made by her assembled delegates at the 
 town of Washington, on the 2d March, 1836 : 
 
 " The Mexican Government, by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo-American 
 population of Texas to colonize its wilderness, under the pledged faith of a written constitution, 
 that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to 
 which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United Slates of America. 
 
 " In this expectation they have been cruelly disappointed, inasmuch as the Mexican nation 
 has acquiesced in the late changes made in the Government by General Antonio Lopez de Santa 
 Anna, who, having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers, as the cruel alternative, 
 either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable 
 of all tyranny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood. 
 
 " It hath sacrificed our welfare to the State of Coahuila, by which our interests have been 
 continually depressed, through a jealous and partial course of legislation, carried on at a far dis- 
 tant seat of government, by a hostile majority, in an unknown tongue: and this, too, notwith- 
 
■standing we hare petitioned in the humblest terms for the establishment of a separate State 
 government, and have, in accordance with the provisions of the National Constitution, presented 
 to the General Congress a republican constitution, which was, without a just cause, contemptu- 
 ously rejected, 
 
 " It has dissolved, by force of arms, the State Congress of Coahuila and Texas, and obliged 
 our representatives to fly for their lives from the seat of Government; thus depriving us of the 
 fundamental political right of representation. 
 
 " It has demanded tiie surrender of a number of our citizens, and ordered military detachments 
 to seize and carry them into the interior for trial, in contempt of the civil authorities, and in 
 defiance of the laws and the constitution. 
 
 " It has made, piratical attacks upon our commerce, by commissioning foreign desperadoes, 
 and authorizing them to seize our vessels and convey the property of our citizens to far distant 
 parts for confiscation. 
 
 " It denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own 
 conscience, by the support of a national religion, calculated to promote the temporal interest 
 of its human functionaries rather than the glory of the true and living God. 
 
 " It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defence — the rightful 
 property of freemen — and formidable only to tyrannical Governments. 
 
 *' It has invaded our country both by sea and by land, with the intent to lay waste our territory 
 and drive us from our homes; and has now a large mercenary army advancing to carry on'against 
 us a war of extermination. 
 
 " It has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, icith the tomahawk and scalping knife, 
 U> massacre the inhabitants of our defenceless frontiers. 
 
 " It has been, during the whole time of our connection with it, the contemptible sport and 
 victim of successive military revolutions, and hath continually exhibited every characteristic of 
 a weak, corrupt, and tyrannical Government." 
 
 There is no freeman within the broad limits of this mighty Confederacy who 
 will not consider the causes above set forth as fully justifying revolution ; and 
 there is not one of our gallant army in Mexico who has witnessed Mexican 
 institutions, and experienced Mexican warfare, who will not at once yield his 
 belief to their truth. 
 
 The same convention which, on March 2, 1836, declared the independence 
 of Texas, on the 17th of the same month adopted the constitution of the 
 Republic of Texas. In that convention, the counties of San Patricio and 
 Bexar were represented. By articles six and seven of the schedule of that 
 constitution, " the county of Bexar was entitled to one Senator and two Repre- 
 sentative?, and the county of San Patricio to one Representative, and, in con- 
 nection with Refugio and Goliad, to one Senator." These counties have all 
 been uniformly and without interruption represented in the Congress and Legis- 
 lature of Texas and the convention that formed her State constitution. 
 
 In support of the right of Texas to the Rio Grande, I will first introduce 
 Mexican witnesses. The first great battle fought between Mexico and Texas 
 was at the city of Bexar, in December, 1S35. It lasted five days, and resulted 
 in a capitulation, from which the following are extracts, viz: 
 
 Capitulation entered into by General Martin Perfecto de Cos, of the Permanent Troops, and General 
 Edward Burleson, of the Colonial Troops of Texas. 
 
 Being desirous of preventing the further effusion of blood and the ravages of civil war we 
 have agreed on the following stipulations: 
 
 1st. That General Cos and his officers retire with their arms and private property into the 
 interior of the Republic, under parole of honor that they will not in any way oppose the establish- 
 ment of the Federal (Mexican) Constitution of 1824. 
 
 3d. That the General take the convicts lately brought in by Colonel Ugarfachea beyond the 
 Rio Grande. 
 
 14th. General Burleson will furnish General Cos with such provisions as can be obtained 
 necessary for his troops to the Rio Grande, at the ordinary price of the country. 
 
 19th. The commissioners, Jose Juan Sanchez, adjutant inspector, Don Ramon Musquiz 
 and Lieutenant Francisco Rada, and interpreter Don Miguel Arciniega, appointed by the com- 
 mandant and inspector General Martin Perfecto de Cos, in connection with Colonel F. VV. 
 Johnson, Major R. C. Morris, and Captain J. G. Swisher, and interpreter John Cameron, 
 
appointed on the part of General Edward Burleson, after a long and serious discussion, adopted 
 the eighteen preceding articles, reserving their ratification by the Generals of both armies. 
 
 In virtue of which, we have signed this instrument in the city of Bexar, on the 11th of Decem- 
 ber, 1835. JOSE JUAN SANCHEZ, 
 
 RAMON MUSQ.UIZ, 
 J. FRANCISCO DE RADA, 
 MIGUEL ARCINIEGA, Interpreter, 
 F. W. JOHNSON, 
 ROBERT C. MORRIS, 
 JAMES G. SWISHER, 
 JOHN CAMERON, Interpreter. 
 
 I consent, and will observe the above articles: 
 
 MARTIN PERFECTO COS. 
 
 Ratified and approved: EDWARD BURLESON, 
 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Volunteer Army, 
 
 A true copy: ♦ EDWARD BURLESON, 
 
 Commander-in- Chief. 
 
 Does not this capitulation show that Texas revolutionized with a view to the 
 Rio Grande as her western boundary, and not the Nueces? If the Nueces T 
 why send the convicts beyond the Rio Grande, and furnish supplies to the 
 army of General Cos to the Rio Grande? This is conclusive, and it is Mexi- 
 can testimony. 
 
 ■ I will next introduce the testimony of five Mexican generals, among whom 
 is Santa Anna, then the President of Mexico, commander-in-chief of all her 
 armies, and her virtual dictator. It is the following, and bears date May 14 y 
 1836: 
 
 Articles of agreement and solemn compact, mads and adopted by David G. Burnet, President of the 
 Republic of Texas, and the undersigned members of the Cabinet thereof, on the one part, ami Don 
 Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, President of the Republic of Mexico, and Don Vincenle FUisolag 
 General of Division, Don Jose Urea, Don Joachin Ramires y Sesma, and Don Antonio Gaona, 
 Generals of Brigades, of the armies of Mexico. 
 
 Whereas the President Santa Anna, with divers officers of his late army, is a prisoner of war 
 in charge of the army of Texas, and is desirous of terminating the contest now existing between 
 the Government of Texa3 and that of Mexico, in which desire the generals above named do 
 fully concur: and 
 
 Whereas the President of the Republic of Texas and the Cabinet are also willing to stay the 
 further effusion of blood, and to see the two neighboring Republics placed in relations of friend- 
 ship on terms of reciprocal advantage: 
 
 Therefore, it is agreed by the President Santa Anna and the Generals Don Vincente Filisola r 
 Don Jose Urea, Don Joachin Ramires y Sesma, and Don Antonio Gaona — 
 
 1st. That the armies of Mexico shall, with all practicable expedition, evacuate the territory of 
 
 Texas, and retire to Monterey, beyond the Rio Grande. 
 
 # # * * # * # * # * 
 
 3d. That the army of Texas are to march westwardly, and to occupy such posts as the com- 
 manding general may think proper on the east side of the Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo del Norte. 
 
 4th. That President Santa Anna, in his official character as chief of the Mexican nation, and 
 the Generals Don Vincente Filisola, Don Jose Urea, Don Joachin Ramires y Sesma, and Dorr 
 Antonio Gaona, as chiefs of armies, do solemnly acknowledge, sanction, and ratify, the full, 
 entire, and perfect independence of the Republic of Texas, with such boundaries as are hereafter 
 set forth and agreed upon for the same. And they do solemnly and respectively pledge them- 
 selves, with all their personal and official attributes, to procure, without delay, the final and 
 complete ratification and confirmation of this agreement, and all the parts thereof, by the proper 
 and legitimate Government of Mexico, by the incorporation of the same into a solemn and per- 
 
 Ketual treaty of amity and commerce, to be negotiated with that Government at the city of 
 lexico, by ministers plenipotentiary to be deputed by the Government of Texas for this high 
 purpose. 
 
 5ih. That the following be, and the same are hereby, established and made the lines of 
 demarcation between the two Republics of Mexico and Texas, to wit: The line shall commence 
 at the estuary or mouth of the Rio Grande, on the western bank thereof, and shall pursue the 
 same bank up the said river to the point where the river assumes the name of the Rio Bravo del 
 Norte, from which point it shall proceed on the said western bank to the head waters, or source 
 of said river, it being iinderstood that the terms Rio Grande and Rio Bravo del Norte apply to 
 and designate one and the snmc stream. From the source of said river, the principal head 
 branch being taken to ascertain that source, a due north line shall be run until it shall intersect 
 the boundary line established and described in the treaty negotiated by and between the Gov- 
 ernment of Spain and the Government of the United States of the North; which line was- subsc- 
 
<juenfly transferred to and adopted in the treaty of limit? made between the Government of 
 Mexico and that of the United Slates; and from this point of intersection the line shall he the 
 same as was made and established in and by the several treaties above mentioned, to continue 
 to the mouth or outlet of the Sabine river, and from thence to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 ****** 
 
 It is said, however, that this treaty is not binding upon Mexico, because 
 Santa Anna was a prisoner of war at the time of its execution. It is a fact 
 that General Santa Anna was a prisoner of war at the time, but it is equally a 
 fact that Generals Filisola, Urea, Rami res y Sesma, and Gaona, iccre not 'pris- 
 oners of war, they having been connected icith other divisions of the Mexican 
 army than that ichich met its disastrous defeat at San Jacinto. Leave out then, 
 for a moment, the name of Santa Anna from that treaty, and there are still left 
 the names of four generals, "chiefs of armies ," who acted with unrestrained 
 freedom, and as they thought best. But although Santa Anna was a prisoner 
 of war, if this treaty was not extorted from him, if he first offered, to treat, and 
 if in regard to this matter he acted entirely free from restraint, it is as binding 
 upon him and the nation he represented, as if he were as free as the four other 
 generals. Was, then, his signature to this treaty extorted or .not ? Hear what 
 General Filisola says upon this subject. After General Filisola's return fo 
 Mexico, he writes a despatch to his Government, dated June 10, 1836, in which 
 he says: 
 
 " His Excellency, [Santa Anna,] in my humble opinion, in the treaties [with Texas] that he 
 agreed upon., and that I had the honor to send your Excellency, acted with entire liberty, and 
 had nothing more in view than the interest of his country." 
 
 Santa Anna himself also said: 
 
 " When / offered to treat with the Government, [of Texas,] I was convinced it was useless for 
 Mexico to continue the war." 
 
 Let us hear no more, then, of Santa Anna's being a prisoner of war, and of 
 the treaty abovementioned, on that account not being binding upon Mexico. 
 In regard to that treaty, we have the highest Mexican testimony that Santa 
 Anna had " entire liberty." 
 
 In addition to the fact that Santa Anna proposed the above treaty, and 
 was at ''entire liberty" in regard to it, the Government of Mexico not 
 only substantially, but literally ratified said treaty. It ratified it substan- 
 tially, by receiving from Texas the full consideration for it, viz: the hie and 
 liberty of her President and many hundreds of her citizens; the safely of that 
 portion of the Mexican army which invaded Texas under the command of 
 Generals Vincente Filisola, Jose Urea, Joaehin Ramires y Sesma, and Antonio 
 Gaona, which was perfectly panic-stricken wdien they heard of the disaster of 
 San Jacinto, and but for that treaty would have fallen into the hands of the 
 victorious Texans ; and the preservation of her arms from further defeat and 
 disgrace. Mexico did not receive any money from Texas, but she saved her 
 arms, munitions, baggage, &.C., which were worth money; she preserved her 
 character, the lives and liberty of her citizens, which were worth more than 
 money. In confirmation of these facts, let me quote briefly from General Filisola. 
 After enumerating the deplorable condition of the Mexican army under his com- 
 mand, after they heard of the battle of San Jacinto, General Filisola said : 
 
 " If the enemy, under these critical circumstances, should have met us on the only road that 
 was left, nothing would remain but to die or surrender at discretion. The army is without 
 clothing, the arms ruined, ammunition of every kind in a very bad condition, horses and mules 
 badly used in the extreme. We. have neither physician nor apothecary; we are threatened with the 
 epidemic of the season, added to the innumerable sufferings which the army has undergone; and 
 shouhl this misfortune take place, the men will perish without the least assistance, in the midst 
 of discouragement, and abandoned without even the consolation of spiritual assistance, for we 
 have not a single chapiam to say mass for us. Cav'uiry sick; baggage, mules, everything that 
 
6 
 
 accompanied the army, was a confused mass, without any distinction, and without being able to« 
 move from the place where they were caught." 
 
 Iii his despatch of May, 31, 1835, alluding to this treaty, General Filisola 
 says: 
 
 " I do not mention other reasons perhaps more convincing:: and, in fine, I think I have saved 
 the whole army from a disaster, and the national decorum from a positive disgrace." 
 
 Such, sir, was the dilemma from which the treaty, now so flippantly repudi- 
 ated here and in Mexico, rescued the Mexican army, and such the valuable 
 consideration Mexico received for said treaty. 
 
 But, sir, this treaty was literally ratified by the Government of Mexico ! 
 The Mexican Government, immediately after they heard of the capture of 
 Santa Anna and the defeat of his division of the army, viz : on the 15th May, 
 1836, issued to General Filisola a despatch to the following effect : 
 
 " Secretary's Office of War and Marine, 
 
 " Central Section, First Bureau. 
 
 " Excellent Sir : With the most profound sorrow, His Excellency the President pro tern. 
 has learned, by the official letter of your Excellency of 25th of last month, the defeat suffered' 
 on the 2]st of the same month by the division commanded in person by the President General- 
 in-chief of the army, (Santa Anna,) and the very lamentable misfortune that his Excellency 
 should be made prisoner with other chiefs and officers. 
 
 " His Excellency the President pro ten. is in some measure consoled that a general so experi- 
 e*red as your Excellency should be the one who obtains the command, the which he expixssly con- 
 firms. 
 
 '• The first desire that his Excellency has is, that you address the enemy's General, exacting 
 from him, by decorous means, the liberty of the President General-in-chief, or at least, during the 
 time this point can be regulated, the consideration due to his high dignity and to a person so 
 distinguished in the annals of American history, and for whose preservation the entire nation is 
 interested by gratitude, and because lie is chief of it. 
 
 " His Excellency the President p-o tern, counts upon your Excellency's directing all his efforts 
 to save the remainder of the army, by concentrating it, so as to render it more respectable, placing 
 it in a convenient place for receiving provisions, for which the most efficacious measures are 
 adopted. The preservation of Bexar is of absolute necessity, in order that the Government, 
 according to circumstances, may act as they see fit. 
 
 " The fate of all the prisoners is very interesting to the nation, and it is recommended to your 
 Excellency to endeavor to alleviate it, giving authority from this moment to propose exchanges, 
 and to preserve for this purpose, and because humanity exacts it, the lives of the prisoners made 
 and that may be made from the enemy. Your Excellency knows the circumstances which may 
 result from an imprudence committed in this affair, but the Government fears nothing as regards 
 this, because it knows how great is the skill and zeal of your Excellency for the best service of the 
 country." 
 
 From this communication, it appears — 
 
 1st. That Filisola, instead of being a prisoner of war, succeeded to the chief 
 command of the Mexican army after Santa Anna's capture, which chief com- 
 mand was expressly confirmed to him by the Mexican Government. 
 
 2d. That the first desire of the Government of Mexico was, the liberty of the 
 President, (Santa Anna,) and that it was deeply solicitous ; ' to save the remain- 
 der of the army," and " to alleviate the fate of all the prisoners." (The pris- 
 oners were subsequently all released by the Texas Government.) 
 
 3d. That the Government gave full and unrestricted discretion to Filisola, 
 then the Commander-in-chief, to manage the affair, having no fears in regard 
 to it, on account of its confidence " in the skill and zeal of General Filisola for 
 the best service of the country." 
 
 Every instruction in the above despatch from the Mexican Government was 
 carried out to the letter, and that under the superintendence of Filisola, he sign- 
 ing the treaty and forwarding it to the Mexican Government. If this despatch 
 had been before the five Mexican Generals at the time they signed the treaty, 
 (which it was not, but is none the less binding on that account, for a subsequent 
 
ratification of the act of an agent is as binding as a previous authority,) it could 
 not have been more literally complied with. "The liberty of Santa Anna" 
 was secured, the ' ; remainder oi'his army was saved," and " the fate of all the 
 prisoners was alleviated." 
 
 Could the President pro tern, of Mexico, who ordered the above despatch, 
 have expected to obtain all these advantages without giving a consideration 
 therefor? He did not expect, lie did not intimate, such a thing. What, then, 
 was the consideration Texas received by that treaty? Her independence and 
 her boundary to the Rio Grande, to secure which she evidenced her intention 
 (as I have shown) in the very commencement of her revolution. And what 
 were the " decorous means''' (to use the language of the above Mexican despatch) 
 resorted to for both parties to attain their objects? The usual ones of a treaty. 
 Vattel, in his Law of Nations, says, page 436 : 
 
 " The captive sovereign may liimeelf negotiate the peace, and promise what personally depends 
 upon him, but the treaty does not become obligatory fin the nation until ratified by herself, or 
 by those who are connected with the public authority during the prince's captivity." 
 
 I have conclusively shown that this treaty was ratified '■' by those ivho were 
 connected with the public authority, during Santa Anna's captivity" viz: the 
 Commander-in-chief of the armies of Mexico, (Filisola.) and the President pro 
 tem. of Mexico ; and yet there are those who contend the treaty is not valid ! 
 "O shame! where is thy blush?" 
 
 But, Mr. Chairman, Santa Anna has given us other testimony in regard to 
 the Rio Grande being the western boundary of Texas. After the battle of 
 Buena Vista, in a despatch to his Government, bearing date 27th February, 
 1847, he says: 
 
 " F^nm the impression we had made on the enemy, he did not appear before us for three days; 
 the bearer of a flag of truce, however, arrived with a proposition from Gene-al Taylor, for an 
 exchange of prisoners, and for our sending for the wounded who had remained on the field. 
 He also expressed to me the desire winch the Americans felt for the reestablishment of peace. 
 1 replied — in order that he might say the same to his General — that we sustained the most 
 sacred of causes — the defence of our territory, and the preservation of our nationality and rights; 
 that we were not the aggressors, an( ' tnat our Government had never offended that of the United 
 States. I observed that we could say nothing of peace, while the Americans »wcre on this 
 side of the Bravo, or occupied any part of the Mexican territory, or blockaded our ports; and that 
 we were resolved to perish or vindicate our rights; that fortune might not always be favorable 
 to the enemy, and the experience of the 22d and 23d should convince them that it could 
 change." 
 
 When Santa Anna made the above admission he was not a prisoner of 
 war. No, sir; the honor of making him a prisoner belongs alone to Texas. 
 The United Stales conquered him; but it was the peculiar pride and glory of 
 Texas, without ordnance or ammunition, and with three to one opposed to her, 
 not only to conquer but to capture Santa Anna, and that before the charm of 
 his invincibility had been broken, and before the prestige which uniform success 
 had thrown around his name had been destroyed. General Houston, with his 
 brave little army, was the first conqueror and the only capturer of Santa Anna. 
 History records no more bloody, glorious, or successful field than that of San 
 Jacinto. 
 
 I might here state many facts showing that Texas held control over the 
 country between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, but they would only be the 
 assertions of myself and others. I will hereafter show that Texas ^passed laws 
 exercising jurisdiction over this country, and will now prove, by General Woll, 
 a Mexican general, that tbose^laws were carried into effect. 
 
8 
 
 In his proclamation, bearing date June 20th, 1841, declaring the armistice 
 that had existed between Mexico and Texas to be at an end, he says : 
 
 " Every individual who shall be found at the distance of one league from the left (pastern) 
 bank of the Rio Grande will be regarded as a favorer and accomplice of the usurpers of that part 
 of the national territory, and as a traitor to his country, and after a summary military trial, shall 
 be punished as such. ADRIAN WOLL, General of Brigade." 
 
 Here, then, is the admission of the highest military functionary of Northern 
 Mexico, that Texas " was the usurper or forcible possessor of the territory east 
 of the Rio Grande. This needs no further comment. 
 
 I have now, Mr. Chairman, shown, by the positive testimony of Mexicans, 
 that Texas held the country between the Nueces and the Kio Grande by as 
 clear a title as she held any other portion of that State, and that was, as the 
 Mexicans termed it, by usurpation or forcible possession. Nothing can be 
 shown fft)m Mexicans against this array of testimony. I will now prove, by an 
 authority that Whigs will not question, viz: Cassius M. Clay, one of the most 
 violent' opponents of annexation, that Mexico cared no more about our army 
 going to the Rio Grande than crossing the Sabine, because she looked on the 
 right of Texas to the territory east of .the Rio Grande as equal to her right to 
 any west of the Sabine. Hear Mr. Clay. 
 
 At a festival given lately in Richmond, Kentucky, Cassius M. Clay said : 
 
 " Though a Whig, T do not stand here as a partisan. I shall speak with the freedom of his- 
 tory. I have no sympathy with the late outcry against President Polk, as bringing on this 
 war. I shall do the President the justice to say, thai in all Mexico I never heard tl\e first man 
 allege the inarch of General Taylor to the Rio Grande as the cause of the offence or of the war." 
 
 During my late visit to the North, Mr. Chairman, I was pained to find an 
 error prevailing to a great extent, viz: that Texas, previous tn annexation, only 
 claimed to the Nueces, and that her claim to the Rio Grande was afterwards 
 urged, to increase her domain, to enlarge the territory subject to slavery, and to 
 afford a pretext for commencing a ivar with her old enemy. &z,c, k,c. 
 
 This opinion is honestly entertained by many thousands of respectable, useful, 
 and valuable citizens of the North, who love the truth, and seek every occasion 
 to embrace it. I am myself a native of Pennsylvania* and address myself to 
 my northern brethren in the language of friendship and truth. 
 
 I will now, Mr. Chairman, proceed effectually to remove this erroneous im- 
 pression, and to show that Texas not only always claimed this country in good faith, 
 but that she exercised political, civil, and military jurisdiction over it — provided 
 for the construction of internal improvements there — that she laid off a collec- 
 toral district up to the Rio Grande, partitioned off counties, gave military pro- 
 tection, established land offices, organized district courts, and provided lor the 
 erection of trading posts, he, &c. 
 
 Texas, of course, could only be known and recognized as an independent 
 nation, with ccrain specified boundaries. Metes and bounds are indispensably 
 necessary to the existence of a political sovereignty. In view of the capitula- 
 tion of General Cos at Bexar, of the treaty of May 14, 1836, above partially 
 set out, of the provision in the constitution of Texas for the representation of the 
 counties rf Bexar and San Patricio, and generally of all the events which tran- 
 spired du .iig the short but glorious revolution of Texas, the first Congress of 
 Texas passed the following act: 
 
 , " To define the boundaries of the Republic of Texas. 
 
 " Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in 
 Congrers assembled, That from and after the passage of this act, the civil and political jurisdiction 
 of this Republic be, and is hereby, declared to be the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at 
 
9 
 
 he mouth of the Sabine river, and running; west along the Gulf of Mexico three leagues from 
 land to the month of the Rio Grande, thence up the principal stream of said river to its source, 
 thence clue north to the forty-second degree of north latitude, thence along the boundary line as 
 defined in the treaty between the United States and Spain, to the beginning; and that the Presi- 
 dent be, and is hereby, authorized and required to open a negotiation with the Government of 
 the United States of America as soon as, in his opinion, the public interest requires it, to ascer- 
 tain and define the boundary line as agreed upon in said treaty. 
 
 "IRA INGRAM, v 
 
 " Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 "RICHARD LLLlS, 
 " President of the Senate pro tern. 
 
 "Approved, December 19, 1836. SAM HOUSTON." 
 
 [I will here remark, that the law I have just read, and all the laws of Texas 
 
 I may hereafter read, are from volumes belonging; to the Library of the Congress 
 
 of the United States, where they are deposited, and to which all who desire can 
 
 have reference.] 
 
 On the 16th of December, 1836. an act was passed "to incorporate the 
 
 Texas Railroad Navigation and Banking Company," one of the sections of 
 
 which is as follows, viz : 
 
 " Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said company shall have banking privileges, with a 
 capital stock of five millions of dollars, as well as the right of connecting the waters of the Rio 
 Grande and the Sabine by means of internal navigation and railroads," &c. 
 
 On the 12th of June, 1837, the Congress of Texas passed an act "to raise 
 a revenue by impost duties," in which will be found the following provision: 
 
 " Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, ^x., That the following designated places, with their given 
 boundaries, be made ports of entry, and within which bounds custom-houses shall be estab- 
 lished and collectors of the public revenue shall be appointed and reside at the several ports for 
 which they were appointed, viz: commencing at the Rio Grande, and following the coast of the 
 Gulf cast to the mouth of San Antonio river, shall at present compose the southwestern collec- 
 toral district, which shall be called the district of Aransaso," &c. 
 
 The following is the preamble to " An act to authorize attachments to be 
 
 issued in certain cases therein named," approved December 18, 1837 : 
 
 " Whereas many Mexicans residing upon our frontier stole and drove off large herds of cattle, 
 and took and carried oft" other property belonging to citizens of this Republic; and whereas 
 those Mexicans have abandoned the country and removed beyond the Rio Grande, so that persons 
 from whom they have taken property are wholly without remedy: therefore," &c. 
 
 This shows that the ordinary process of the law was relied upon, where the 
 parties could be found east of the Rio Grande. 
 
 The next law on the statute book of Texas, on this subject, is the following, 
 viz: 
 
 "A JOINT RESOLUTION fixing the dividing line between the counties of Bexar and San 
 
 Patricio. 
 " Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in Congress 
 assembled, That a direct line running from lire junction of the Cibolo or San Bartola creek to the 
 Rio Frio, at a point thirty miles above its junction with the Nueces; thence in a direct line to 
 the town of Laredo, shall be considered the dividing line between the counties of San Palricio 
 and Cexar, and shall be respected as such by the surveyors of the respective counties: Provided, 
 That this act shall not affect rights previously acquired by surveys legally made by the surveyors 
 of the respective counties: Provided, That this act shall not affect rights previously acquired by 
 surveys legally made by the surveyors of the county of San Palricio, below the old road from 
 San Antonio to the Presidio of Rio Grande. "JOSEPH ROWE, 
 
 " Speaker of the House rf Representatives. 
 "MIRABEAU B.LAMAR, 
 " President of the Senate. 
 
 " Approved, May 24, 1833. SAM HOUSTON. " 
 
 In regard to the joint resolution just read. I will remark that I have previ- 
 ously shown that Bexar and San Palricio were represented in the Convention 
 that declared the independence of Texa-, &c. The town of " Laredo" is 
 situated on the left or eastern bank of the Rio Grande, and is now the county 
 
10 
 
 site of the county of Webb, established by Texas. This joint resolution shows 
 that both these counties extended to the Rio Grande; and that surveys were 
 made " by the surveyors of the county of San Patricio in this section of the 
 country;" and this line extending to the Rio Grande was the only one. restrict- 
 ing the surveyors of San Patricio and Bexar, thus giving them license to survey 
 as far* as the Rio Grande. 
 
 On the 21st of December, 1838, the Congress of Texas passed an act 
 entitled "An act to protect the northern and western frontier," in which will be 
 found the following section : 
 
 "Sec. 15. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the colonel of the regiment to 
 cause, at convenient intervals, the detachment on t lie Nueces to traverse the country between the 
 Nueces and the Rio Grande in such manner as shall give most protection and security to that section of 
 country." 
 
 The next act to which I will refer the attention of the committee, is the fol- 
 lowing, entitled "An act to alter the time of holding the fall terms of the courts 
 in the lburth judicial district. 
 
 " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in Congress 
 assembled, That from and after the passage of tiiisact, the fall terms of the district courts of" the 
 fourth judicial district shall commence and be holden as follows: commencing in the county of 
 Bexar on the second- Monday in September, and may continue in session until the Friday before 
 the first Monday in October; * * * in the county of Refugio on the fourth Monday 
 
 in October, and may continue in session one week; in the county of Goliad on the first Monday 
 after the fourth Monday in October, and may continue in session one week; in the county of San 
 Patricio on the second Monday after the fourth Monday in October, and may continue in session 
 until Ike business is closed. " DAVID S. KAUFMAN, 
 
 " Speaker cf the House rf Representatives. 
 " DAVID G. BURNET, 
 
 " President cf the Senate. 
 
 " Ar proved, February 5, 1840. MIR'ABEAU B. LAMAR." 
 
 The counties of Bexar and San Patricio being much larger than the 
 others, and extending, as I have already shown, by the act of May 24, 1838, 
 to the Rio Grande, a much longer time was given to the district courts of 
 Bexar and San Patricio to hold their sessions than to the other counties. 
 Nearly three weeks were given to Bexar, and an unlimited time to San 
 Patricio. 
 
 The first act that was passed by the Texas Congress, fixing the times of 
 holding the courts in San Patricio and Bexar, bears date December 22, 1836. 
 
 In the years 1836 and 1837, laws were passed providing for the holding of 
 county courts in Bexar and San Patricio: each of those counties was granted 
 a separate land office ; they formed a portion of the western brigade of Texas 
 militia; and an act was passed "to translate the Laws of the Republic of 
 Texas into the Spanish language," as an act of "justice to that numerous 
 portion of our fellow-citizens who understand only the Spanish language, and 
 which shall be distributed in those counties where the population alluded to 
 may reside" — a lar^e portion of whom then resided in said counties of Bexar 
 and San Patricio. 
 
 The following may be found in a law of Texas passed January 14, 1843: 
 
 " Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That the President shall cause to be established trading houses 
 or posts, which posts or trading houses shall be established as follows, to wit: 
 
 " Nr>. 1. On or near the south fork of the Trinity, somewhere between the lower and upper 
 Cross t'mlero. 
 
 " No. 2. At or near the Camanche Peak. 
 
 "No. 3. At or near the old San Saba fort or mission. 
 
 " No. 4. At or near Porto Vandero. 
 
 " No. 5. Jit or near the junction of the Moras and Rio Grande. 
 
 *' The places to lie designated by ihe commissioners that make the treaty icilh the Indians, not 
 to exceed twenty -five miles from the places designated in this section." 
 
11 
 
 " An act for the protection of the western and southwestern frontier, and for 
 other purposes," passed January 16, 1343, by the Congress of Texas, contains 
 the following sections: 
 
 " Sec. 16. Be it further enacted, That the companies raised by the provisions of this act shall 
 be stationed at or near the following places, viz: Two companies at the crossing of the Presidio 
 road of the Lenna river; two companies at the White House, on the Nueces river; onCcompany 
 at Tumblinsnn's block house; and the remaining company to be posted in the west, at the discretion of 
 the commanding officer. 
 
 "Sec. 17. Be it further enacted, That martial law shall be declared and enforced from the Rio 
 Frio and Nueces rivers to the Rio Grande, for and during the time hostilities may exist between 
 the Republic of Texas and Mexico." 
 
 The following joint resolution is here inserted to show that all the laws above 
 quoted in regard to the Rio Grande are not mere paper declarations, but that, 
 in addition to lawftd spoils captured from the enemy, money was actually paid 
 out of the impoverished treasury of Texas, to the rangers, to support and 
 enforce said laws. This proof, however, was unnecessary, as I have already 
 above quoted the authority of General Adrian Wall, who was in military com- 
 mand at Matamoros, and feared to meet the gallant rangers east of the Rio 
 Grande, and who candidly admitted, what the truth required, "that the Texians 
 were the usurpers, or forcible possessors, of that part of the national territory on 
 the left bank of the Rio Grande." 
 
 As a further historical fact that the Texians were the " forcible possessors " 
 of the territory east of the Rio Grande, I will merely refer to the furious Mier 
 expedition. Mier is in Mexico, on the west side of the Rio Grande. The 
 Texas volunteers in 1842, could not get a fight until they crossed the Rio 
 Grande and went to Mier. If they could have done so, they would not have 
 crossed the river. But to the resolution : 
 
 "JOINT RESOLUTION for the relief of Captain John C. Hays and the company under his 
 
 command. 
 
 "Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas in Congress 
 assembled, That the sum of six thousand four hundred and fifty dollars be, aifd the same is 
 hereby, appropriated for the payment of Captain John C. Hays, with the company under his 
 command, and the liabilities that have been created for the support of said company while 
 employed, in the protection of the southwestern frontier, during the year one thousand eight hundred 
 and forty-three. 
 
 "Sec. 2. Be it further resolved, That the Treasurer of the Republic be, and he is hereby, 
 authorized to pay the six thousand four hundred and fifty dollars, as appropriated by this reso- 
 lution, to Captain John C. Hays, who is hereby authorized to receive the same, and render his 
 account of disbursements to the proper department of the Government. 
 
 "Sec 3. Be it further resolved, That this -resolution shall take effect from and after its 
 passage. 
 
 " Approved December 19, 1843." 
 
 On the 23d of January, 1844, another act was passed, entitled " An act 
 authorizing John C. Hays to raise a company of mounted gunmen, to act as 
 rangers on the western and southwestern frontier;" in which occurs the follow- 
 ing section : 
 
 " Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the said company shall range on the western and south- 
 western frontier, from the county of Bexar to the county of Refugio, and iceslward, as the 
 public interest may require." 
 
 On the 1st of February, 1845, an act was passed by the Texan Congress, 
 "requiring the owners of lands in the counties of Refugio and San Patricio to 
 cause their lines to be designated and marked," whether the titles issued "from 
 the Mexican Government or Government of Coahuila and Texas." " Said lines 
 to be designated by the county surveyor of the county in which the land was 
 situated, and certified plats thereof to be returned to the general land office, (of 
 Texas;) which plats were to be delineated on the map of the county in which 
 
12 
 
 they lie, and from the time of such return and delineation to be regarded as the 
 only true boundaries of said land." 
 
 On the same day and year last abovementioned, the following section of an 
 act was passed : 
 
 " Sec. 4. Be it farther enacted, That Henry L. Kinney be, and he is hereby, authorized to 
 raise and organize one company of forty armed men, with one captain and one lieutenant, for 
 the purpose of protecting the settlements at Corpus Chrisli and its vicinity." 
 
 Corpus Chiisti, then the county site of San Patricio, is west, of the Nueces, 
 and it was from the Indians that this protection was desired. 
 
 I have thus shown the solemn acts of the Republic of Texas, from the origin 
 of the government clown to annexation, and an impartial community will judge 
 whether the claim of Texas to the Rio Grande was an afterthought, as charged, 
 conceived since annexation, for sinister purposes, or whether she has not uni- 
 formly claimed it, and exercised acts of ownership over it. 
 
 I will now quote, from standard geographical works, some extracts which 
 prove conclusively that the Rio Grande, the Rio del Norte, or the Rio Bravo, 
 (different names for the same river,) was the western boundary of the Province 
 of Texas; that it is the boundary of the Republic of Texas, has already been 
 shown, and no one will dispute : 
 
 " Texas is bounded southeast by the Gulf of Mexico, west and southwest by the Rio del 
 Norte." — Morse's Geographical Dictionary, edition 1831. 
 
 "Texas, province of Mexico, bounded southwest by the PJo Grande del Norte." — Brooks's 
 Universal Gazetteer, edition 1823 . 
 
 " Texas, claimed by Spain as a part of the internal provinces, and bounded west by the Del 
 Norte," &c— Worcester's Gazetteer, edition 1823. 
 
 " Texas, province of Mexico, in the former pmvincios intemos, bounded southwest by the Rio 
 Grande del Norte." — Darlnfs Gazetteer, edition 1827. 
 
 " Texas, province of Mexico, in the former internal provinces, is bounded southwest by the 
 R.io Grande." — Davenport's Gazetteer, edition 1832. 
 
 These are the descriptions of impartial geographers of the boundaries of the 
 old province of Texas. 
 
 Let me, Mr. Chairman, in the next place, direct your attention and that of 
 the committee to the language of Andrew Jackson on the subject of the bound- 
 ary of Texas. His words are full of wisdom, and will outweigh all the decla- 
 mation of interested partisans. In his letter to Aaron V. Brown, General 
 Jackson says: 
 
 " Remember, also, that if Texas be annexed to the TJnited'States, our western boundary would 
 be the Rio Grande, which is itself a fortification, on account of its extensive barren and uninhab- 
 itable plains." 
 
 It was General Jackson's administration that acknowledged the independence 
 of Texas, with the limits that Texas prescribed for herself, and ivith the limits 
 ' that the United States, by solemn treaty with Texas, on the 2bth April, 1838, 
 under the administration of Martin Van, Buren, acknowledged to extend as far- 
 north as the 42d degree of north latitude! I allude to the treaty under which 
 a part of the eastern boundary of Texas was actually marked. But of this I 
 may perhaps on another occasion be compelled to speak more at length. 
 
 Even Thomas H. Benton, who was so frequently quoted by the Whigs in 
 1844, and has been since then to the present day in opposition to the Rio 
 Grande being the western boundary of Texas, said, in bis speech against the 
 treaty of annexation, in 1844: 
 
 " The real Texas which we. acquired by the treaty of 1803, and flung away by the treaty of 
 1819, never approached the Rio Grande, except near its mouth," &c. 
 
 Again : 
 
 " I draw a broad line of distinction between the Province of Texas and the Republic of 
 Texas. The Province laid between the Sabine a?ici the lower Rio del Norte, and between the 
 
13 
 
 Gulf of Mexico and Red river. The Republic of Texas stretches to the whole extent of the 
 left bank of the Rio del Norte. Of these two Texascs, I go for the recovery of the old one." 
 
 Mr. Benton further says, that the actual length of the Rio del Norte is two 
 thousand miles. So that, upon Mr. Benton's authority even, the President cannot 
 be charged with commencing the war; for Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma 
 are very ; ' near the mouth of the Rio del Norte," and consequently within the 
 real Texas, the Province of Texas, the old Texas, and the Texas that Colonel 
 Benton was in favor of recovering. 
 
 Mr. Benton also said, when Writing of the Florida treaty of 1819: 
 
 " Before the establishment of this boundary, (of the S.tbins,) all the country to the west of 
 the lower Mississippi, quite to the Rio del Norte, urns ours!"* 
 
 Hear John Quincy Adams on this subject. On the 13th of May, 1846, the 
 day war was declared against Mexico, he said: 
 
 " I utterly deny that I claimed the Rio del Norte as our boundary in lis fall extent. I only 
 claimed it a short distance Up the river, and then diverged to the northward some distance from 
 the stream !" 
 
 Weil, Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma are only u a short distance up the 
 n'uer," and therefore within what Mr. Adams claimed to be our boundary; and 
 consequently, according to his opinion then expressed, censure cannot justly be 
 cast upon the President. But what said Mr. Adams in 1818. He thus 
 expressed himself: 
 
 " The claim of France always did extend westward to the Rio Bravo. She always claimed the 
 territory which you call Texas as being within the limits, and forming a part, of Louisiana.'' 
 
 He further says : 
 
 " The claim of the United States to the boundary of the Rio Bravo was as clear as their 
 right to the Island of New Orleans." 
 
 And again : 
 
 "Our title to Texas is established beyond the power of further controversy." 
 Mr. Clay, in his Raleigh letter, written in 1844, said : 
 
 "The United States acquired a title to Texas, extending, as I believe, to the Rio del Norte, 
 by the treaty of Louisiana." 
 
 This statement of Mr. Clay is fully confirmed by the authority of Messrs, 
 Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, and indeed all the distinguished statesmen of 
 that period. 
 
 I will now, Mr. Chairman, introduce a very important witness — I allude to 
 
 the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, the distinguished Whig Senator from Maryland, 
 
 The following are extracts from his speech delivered 10th and 11th Jafluary, 
 
 1848, in the United States 'Senate : 
 
 " From the commencement of the revolution in 1834 to the independence declared by 
 Texas in 1836— from that period to the admission of Texas in 1845, and from 1845 up to the 
 present hour, no Mexican document can be found, either military or civil, no Mexican officer, 
 military or civil, has ever been known, maintaining that the territory lying between the Nueces 
 and the Rio Grande, belonged to Mexico by any other title than that which she maintained to 
 the whole territory between the Sabine and the Rio Grande." 
 
 " Before that march, [the march of (S-eneral Taylor to the Rio Grande,] the Mexican Gov- 
 ernment were collecting their forces upon the Rio Grande, with the avowed design, not of taking 
 Eossession only of the territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, ami conceding to the 
 mited States that portion of Texas which lay east of the Nueces, but of disputing with the 
 United States the tide to the whole of the country between the Rio Grande and the Sabine, and 
 upon the ground that the whole and every part of that territory was still a portion of Mexico 
 by virtue of her original and paramount title." 
 
 * It is due to Colo'nel Benton to say, that in accordance with my interpretation of his language 
 above referred to, he makes no charges against the President. He is a friend of the war, and of 
 the Democratic party. I have merely copied the above language to prevent hereafter Colonel 
 Benton from being quoted as sanctioning, by his language in 1844, the accusations against the 
 President. 
 
14 
 
 " Subject to this test, who can doubt that Texas had the ability to maintain her title to any 
 part of the territory claimed by her between the Nueces and the Rio Grande? Let the facts 
 give the answer. After her declaration of independence, and after she had by force driven the 
 Mexican troops across the latter river, [the Rio Grande,] they afterwards returned but twice, 
 and were each time driven back; and from the period of the last incursion in 1843, no Mexican 
 soldier ever crossed the river, and no civil officer of Mexico ever exercised jurisdiction over that 
 part of it to which our [General Taylor's] troops were marched. Texas then claimed the ter- 
 ritory. Texas drove Mexico from it. Texas had apparently the power, and certainly the will, 
 to drive her from it whenever she invaded it. If these were the facts — and 1 appeal to the 
 honorable Senator from Texas for their truth — what doubt is there that to that pari of her constitu- 
 tional limits she has a perfect title ? 
 
 " Mexico is answerable for all these sad and sickening results. The war is just, because she 
 commenced it. It does exist by her act; and, so help me God, but for thai conviction, as I 
 reverence truth and detest falsehood, 1 would never have voted for the act [of war against 
 Mexico] of the 13th of May, 1846." 
 
 This lanpuao-e of Mr. Johnson shows that he had broken loose from the 
 
 
 
 shackles of party. The act of May 13, 1846, (which he says he never would 
 have voted for if he bad not entertained the sentiments above expressed,) it will 
 be recollected, in its preamble, said, that "the war was commenced by the act 
 of Mexico." Against this act, containing this declaration, on its final passage, 
 there were cast only sixteen votes, all of whom were Whigs — fourteen in the 
 House, and two in the Senate. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I might adduce many more authorities in support of my 
 position, but time will not permit. In the remarks which I have made, I have 
 endeavored, without the least attempt at oratorical display, to contribute my 
 mite to the cause of truth and to the support of the measures of the Democratic 
 party ; for, with the ascendency, of that paity 1 believe are identified the best 
 interests of the country. 1 trust 1 have conclusively proved that the Demo- 
 cratic party is in no manner responsible for the origin of the late war with 
 Mexico, except in so far as responsibility may arise from the mad infatuation 
 of Mexico, in resisting the consummation by the Democracy of the great meas- 
 ure of annexation, ifl have succeeded in showing that Texas extended to 
 the Rio Grande, by the testimony of Mexicans, Texans, Democrats, Whigs', 
 and impartial geographers, who had nothing in prospective to sway or influence 
 their opinions, and there are still doubters, the people will perhaps come to the 
 conclusion so well expressed in Hudibrastic phrase — 
 
 " Convince a man against his will, 
 He'll be of the same opinion still." 
 
 1 have no fears, Mr. Chairman, of the result of the approaching Presidential 
 canvass. I await with peifect confidence the verdict of the nation. 1 believe 
 the people will proclaim in their majesty and in tones of thunder what was so 
 truthfully said by the Whig Senator from Maryland, [Hon. Reverdy John- 
 son :] " The war is just because Mexico commenced it. It did exist by her 
 act." I believe they will vindicate the honor of their country, the justice of 
 her cause, the untarnished lustre of her arms, and will thus gladden the hearts 
 of those brave and gallant spirits who went forth to uphold their country's flag 
 in her contest with a cruel and vindictive foe. 
 
 With the names of our standard-bearers selected at Baltimore, the 
 Democracy of the Union will go forth conquering and to conquer. Their 
 pure and elevated characters, their chivalrous bearing, and the noble and 
 enlarged principles set forth in the resolutions of the Baltimore Convention, 
 will be a tower of strength throughout the whole land. These resolutions 
 were adopted with entire unanimity. Not one voice from the North m the 
 South, the East or the West, was lilted up against them. On the Democratic 
 banner, in addition to the loved names of Cass and Butler, may be seen, in 
 
15 
 
 letters of living light, these words: " The freedom of the seas ; the cause of 
 our country ; equal rights to all, exclusive privileges to none ; a strict construc- 
 tion of. the Constitution ; a constitutional treasury ; a rigid economy ; a fra- 
 ternity with our brethren in Europe in their attempts to break the shackles of 
 despotism; no corrupt alliance of Government ivith banks, State or National; 
 " the Union as it is;" t; no abolitionism, nor incipient steps thereto ;" and no 
 mutilation of the provisions of our glorious Constitution! 
 
 I say to' the Democracy, " In hoc signo vinces /" 
 
 Now, Mr. Chairman, in favor of what measures will our political opponents 
 fight the next Presidential battle ? I predict with confidence that their Con- 
 vention which meets the day after to-morrow will not. avow any! Their 
 banner, as it floats in the breeze, will apparently be a blank, with the excep- 
 tion of the names of their men ; but, upon close examination, may be found 
 concealed amidst its folds this motto: " The seven principles — five loaves and 
 two fishes!" This will appear more- and more distinctly every day until 
 the 7th of November next, when the people, indignant at the apprehended 
 betrayal of their interests, will consign the standard-bearers of Whigery to 
 privacy and retirement, on account pf their being found, according to the fable 
 of ^sojj* (I believe,) " in bad company," and her "seven principles" to eternal 
 oblivion. 
 
 *Fable. — Hasty and inconsiderate connections are generally attended with great disadvan- 
 tages, and much of every man's good or ill fortune depends vpon the choice he makes of his friends. 
 
 A good-natured spaniel overtook a surly mastiff as he was travelling upon the high road. 
 Tray, although an entire stranger to Tiger, very civilly accosted him; and if it would be no 
 interruption, he said he would be glad to bear him company on his way. Tiger, who happened 
 not to be altogethei in so growling a mood as usual, accepted the proposal, and they very ami- 
 cably pursued their journey together. In the midst of their conversation they arrived at the 
 next village, where Tiger began to display his malignant disposition, by an unprovoked attack 
 upon every dog he met. The villagers immediately sallied forth, with great indignation, to 
 rescue their respective favorites, and falling upon our two friends, without distinction or mercy, 
 poor Tray was most cruelly treated, for no other reason but his being found "in bad company." 
 
011 446 846