The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-17 00:00:00

TIRE SUN, LONDON, r'TD Y MORNING, MAY 17, 1 944.

THE TEXAS.

TTA--
advice and consent of tho Senate, who. shall Meet at
Washington, Texas, within the period of six months
after the exchange of the ratifications of this' treaty,
and may continue in session 'not exceeding twelve
months, unless the Congres of the United States
should prolong the time. They shall take an oath
for
.the faithful discharge of their duties, and that they
are not directly or indirectly interested in the said
claims at the time, and will not be during their conti-
nuance in office; and the said oath shall be recorded with
their proceedings. In case of the death, sickness, or re-
signation of any of the Commissioners, his or their place
or places may be supplied by the appointment as afore-
said, or by the President of the United States during the
recess of the Senate. They, or a majority of them,
shall be authorised, under such regulations as the Con-
gress of the United States shall prescribe, to hear,
examine, and decide on all questions touching the le-
mality and validity of said claims, and shall, when a claim
t, -
is allowed, issue a certificate to the claimant, stating the
amount, distinguishing principal from interest. The cer-
tificates so issued shall he numbered, and entry made
of the number, the name of the person to whom issued,
and the amount, -in a book to be kept for that pur-
pose. They shall transmit the records of their pro-
ceedings and the book in which the certificates are
entered, with the vouchers and documents produced
before them, relative to the claims allowed or rejected
to the Treasury Department of the United States,' to be
deposited therein ; and the Secretary of the Treasury
shall, as soon as practicable after the receipt of the
same, ascertain the aggregate amount of the debts and
liabilities allowed ; and if the same, when added to
the amount to be paill to Frederick Dawson and the
'sum which may be paid in the redemption of the
Exchequer bills, shall not exceed the estimated Sum
of 10,000,000:dons., he shall, on the presentation of a cer-
tificate of the Commissioners, issue, at the option- of the
holder, a new certificate for the amount, distinguish-
ing principal from interest, and payable to him sr order,
out of the nett proceeds of the - public lands
hereby ceded,. or stock of the United State,, for the
amount allowed, including principal and interest, and
bearing an interest of 3 per Cent. per annum from
the date thereof ; which stock, in addition to being
made payable out of the nett proceeds of the public lands
hereby ceded, shall also be receivable in payment of the
same. In case the amount of the debts and liabilities
allowed, with the sums aforesaid to be paid to Frederick
Dawson, and which may be paid in the redemption of
the Exchequer bills, shall exceed the said sum , of
10,000,000 dollars, the said secretary, before issuing a
new certificate, or steel, as the case may be, shall make
in each case such proportionable and rateable reduction
on its amount as to reduce the aggregate to the said
sum of 10,000,000 dollars, and he shall have power to
make all needful rules and regulations necessary to carry
into effect the powers hereby vested in him. ,
" 7. Until further provision shall be made, the laws of
Texas, as now existing, shall re,wain in force, and all
executive and judicial officers of except the_Pre-
sident, 'Vice-President, and heads of departments, shall
retain their offices with all power and authority apper-
taining thereto, and the courts of justice shall remain in
all respects as now established ana organised.
•" 8. Immediately after the' exchange of the ratifica-
tions of this treaty, the President of the United States,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall
appoint a .Commissioner, who shall proceed to Texas
and receive the transfer of the territory thereof, and all
the archives and public property, and other things
herein conveyed, in the name of the United States. He
shall exercise all executive authority in said territory
necessary to the proper execution of the laws', until
otherwise provided.
"9. The present treaty shall be ratified by the con-
tracting parties, and the ratification exchanged at the,
city of -Washington in six months from the date hereof,
or sooner, if possible.
"In witness whereof, we the undersigned, plenipoten-
tiaries of the United States of America and of , the Re-
public of Texas, have signed, by virtue of our powers,
the present treaty of annexation, and have hereunto
affixed our seals respectively.
" Done at Washington the 12th day of April, 1844.
J. C. CALHOUN.
.4 ISAAC VAN ZANDT.
" J. PINCKNEY HENDERSON.'

The Washington Globe contains a letter from Mr.
Van Buren, on the subject of the proposed annexation
of Texas to the Union. The following is the con-
cluding portion of his letter :
" Having now replied, in the fullest and frankest
manner, to both the questions which you have pro-
pounded to me, I might here close-this letter, but
being sincerely anxious to put you, and others occu-
pying the same position, in possession of my views
and opinions upon the whole subject, as far as they
can with propriety be now farmed and expressed, I
will go a few steps further.
" Occasions do sometimes present themselves, in
the administration of public- affairs, when the de-
cision of great questions can be safely anticipated by
those whose subsequent duty, it may become to decide
upon them ; but to justify such a course, those ques-
tions must be such as are unavoidably dependent
upon circumstances and considerations of a fixed and
settled character. I have not been able to regard
this as being, in all respects, a case of that descrip-
tion. It is a matter affecting our foreign relations,
in respect to which every enlightened nation makes
it a rule to avoid, as far as practicable, public
annunciations of its proceedings and intentions,
beyond what is deemed necessary either to justify
its past course, or to make others sensible of its
determination to resist aggression, whether present or
prospective. As the action of the Executive upon all
questions that affect our relations with other countries
must be more or less influenced by their, onduct
wards us, it is, in general, desirable that our future
course should not be embarrassed by assurances given
at a period, when no safe opinion could be formed of
what their conduct would be. In respect even to
motives of a domestic character, it could scarcely
be deemed consistent with that prudence and
calm discretion which, in public as well • as
private affairs, is of such inestimable value, to
bind oursPlves in advance in respect to the parti-
cular line of conduct we will hereafter adopt in a case
of such magnitude as the present. When the period
for definitive action shall have arrived, the considera-
tions now taken into view may have lost the weight
they at present possess in the estimation of the public;
and others, not now regarded as of any value, may,
in the meantime, arise to affect materially, if not to
change, the whole aspect of the subject. The pre-
sent condition of the relations between Mexico and
Texas may soon be so far changed as to weaken, And
perhaps to obviate entirely, the objections against the
immediate annexation of the latter to the United
States, which I have here set forth, and to place the ques •
tion on different grounds. Should such a state of
things arise, and I be found in charge of the respon-
sible duties of President, you may be assured that I
would meet the question, if then presented to me,
with a sincere desire to promote the result which I
believed best calculated to advance the permanent
welfare of the whole country. In the discharge of
this, the common duty of all our public function-
aries, I would not allow myself to be influenced
by local and sectional' feeling. I am not, I need
hardly say to you, an untried man in respect to my
disposition or ability to disregard any feeling of that
character in the discharge of official duties. You, as
well as all others, have therefore at least some
grounds on which to form an opinion as to the pro-
bable fidelity with which those assurances would be
observed. _ _

" I shall add a few words to another aspect of the
question, and then dismiss the subject. Mexico may
carry her persistence in refusing to acknowledge the
independence of Texas, and in destructive but fruit-
less efforts to re-conquer that State, so far as to pro-
duce, in connexion with other circumstances, a de-
cided conviction of the part of a majority of the people
of the United States, that the permanent welfare,
if not absolute safety of all, makes it necessary that:
the proposed annexation should be effected, be the con-,
sequences what they may. The question may be
asked, what, under such circumstances, would be the
use you would make of the executive power, ifintrusted
to your hands ? Would it be wielded to defeat, or to
carry into effect the ascertained wishes of our people F.
My reply to such a proposition is, that I can con-
ceive of no public questions, in respect to which it is
more eminently proper that the opinions and wishes
of the people of the different States should be con
sulted, and being ascertained, treated with greater
respect, than those which relate either to the ad-
mission of a new member into the confederacy, or
the acquisition of additional territory with the view
to such a result; and that if any application for
annexation under such circumstances were made
to me, I would feel it my duty to submit the
same to Congress for a public expression of their opi-
nion, as well upon the propriety of annexation as in
regard to terms upon which it should take place. If
after the subject had been brought before the
country, and fully discussed, as it now will be, the
Senate anti the House of Representatives, a large por-
tion of the former and the whole of the latter having
been chosen by the people, after the question of an-
nexation had been brought before the country for its
mature consideration, should express an opinion in
favOur of annexation, I would hold it to be my
further duty to employ the executive power to
carry into full and fair effect the wishes of a majo-
rity of the people of the existing States thus constitu•
tionally and solemnly expressed.
"There may, notwithstanding, be those, on both
sides of this great question, who are unwilling to con-
e
wft eh
ore
would,
their
specific
ef
eifig
reha elected,lisuffrageseeplahlsetudtcsgohh: nei
usslro
sniunee whoin regard irsesr
respect
not
oc
tp
thert
oe prepared at
hreeeodutr
course
variouse giveh
sincerity—thatmh aateteornlnatyo
shaeyr—e:fatnedr havee
do
onrseoo-t
aspects
swe ht e d
theinT
the slightest disposition to question their right
rteogueolia4elaitnheoifr
its exercise.
anlfd
toias last
there
ell
be be the
one
who they believe can be more safely entrusted with
their interest in this or any other of the great questions
of public policy which are likely to arise in the ad-
ministration of the government, of which assurances
as to his future course are more satisfactory to them,
they will, without doubt, be. well warranted in giving
him the preference ; and they may be assured that
no one will more cheerfully acquiesce in a decision,
made from such motives, than myself. I have ex-
pressed a willingness to discharge, to the best of
my abilities, the responsible duties of the high office
in question, should the democracy of the United States
be able and willing to re-elect me to the same. But
I can take no steps to obtain it by which my ability
to discharge its duties impartially and usefully to
b:e d im-
paired; epvaeirreydrnrtoironcaonf oTu, rincoamnymoexntrceothuittlytrThewoiunlddu
cast a shade over the motives of my :past life, by
changes or concealments of opinions maturely formed
upon a great national question, for the unworthy pur-
pose of increasing my chances for political promotion.
" I am, Sir, very respectfully, your friend and obe-
dient servant, "M. VAN BUREN.
"Hon. W. H. Hammett'

LICENSED VICTUALLERS ASYLUM.— nt
1101 emd
enmesbdear
Licensedsy
itt eh
the Chair.
Conduithei
Housef
.
the seventeenth Anniversary
attendance Festival the
Victuallers' Asylum was celebrated at Mirnh
aTnhderferi
ewTrideasev eoerfntv.heeryMrin
numerousst.i
tut Broadwood,
ion
present,
between 400 and
500 sitting down to dinner on the occasion. Among
the gentlemen on the platform, supportine• the Hon.
Chairman. were—Mr. Foreman, M.P. for Bridgwater, Mr.
Mundell, Mr. C. Bleaden, Mr. Deane, Mr. Larby, Mr.
Vousley, Mr. Southall, Mr. Hodges, Mr. Wicker, and Mr.
Walter. The banquet provided on the occasion was excel-
lent. The usual loyal toasts having been duly honoured,
the Secretary read the report, which stated that the
benevolent, feelings of' the public had enabled them to
continue the liberal weekly allowances which for the
last four years the Board had made to the in-
mates ; such allowances make up the income of
each single person, widow or widower, to 6s. per
week, and that of a couple to 7s. per week. At this
period the Society's funded property consisted of
6,051. 163.8 d. Three per Cent. Consols, and 617/.65. 2d.
Three per Cent. Reduced Annuities, which two funds
together were of the value of 6,4001. ; and the Board
were gratified to say that the Society has defrayed
every claim against it to the present moment. There
were at the present time 102 out of the 103 habita-
tions in the Asylum occupied ; and, including married
couples, no fewer than 131 inmates were, at this mo-
ment, reaping, the comforts afforded by the libe-
rality of the donors at large, a fact which the contri-
butors to so noble a work of charity could fairly and
honourably boast of ; and some slight conception of the
necessities of the inmates might be formed from the fact,
that to the occupants of the 102 hohses now inhabited,
weekly allowances are at the present time made to no
less than 79 of them, being more than two-thirds of the
whole. Many excellent speeches were made in the
course of the evening. Subscriptions were announced,
amounting, in all, to 1,7411. Amongst the subscribers
were, the Chairman, 25 guineas ; Broadwood, Mundell,
and Co., in addition to 20 guineas, 50 guineas ; Mr. Ro-
bert Mundell, 15 guineas ; Mr. Huggins, 15 guineas ;
Mr. E. Huggins, 15 guineas ; Mr. C. Broadwood, 10
guineas ; the Directors of the Imperial Gas-light Com-
pany, 50 guineas ; the Directors of the Licensed Vic-
tuallers' Fire and Life Insurance Company, 10 guineas.
ALDERMAN GIRDS AND CHARITY PROPERTY.—On
Wednesday, Mr. Day, the vestry clerk of St. George
the Martyr, Southwark, had an interview with Mr.
Rock, the newly-appointed churchwarden of St. Ste-
phen's, Walbrook, relative to Mr. T. Dickenson's gift,
who, by will, dated the 18th of December, 163 t, directed
that the sum of 121 should be paid every ten years, by
the churchwardens of St. Stephen's, for placing poor
children, belonging to St. George's to a trade. Several
applications had been made to Alderman Gibbs for an ac-
count of the property of the charity, but the Alderman
was not inclined to let the gift of the donor go out
of his hands. A curious correspondence hereon has
taken place. Mr. Rock states that it was in consequence
of the manner in which Alderman Gibbs managed
the charity property which came into his hands, that
first induced him to bring the matter before the pub-
lic ; and the most tangible case which presented itself
to his notice was Dickenson's gift. By the will of the
donor, the moneys arising from the estate were to be
kept separate from the parish accounts, but which was
not done ; Alderman Gibbs had mixed them both up
in one account. He added, that having been elected
and sworn in as the Churchwarden of St. Stephen's, he
certainly would take care that' the charity property held
in trust by the churchwarden should be properly carried
out, or, it it was necessary, to join amicably with those
parishes which were interested in any gift, and to obtain
a scheme for the better distribution of such property.
It is at length arranged between the legal advisers of
Mr. Rock and Mr. Alderman Gibbs that the question of
churchwarden shall be tried in the Queen's Bench next
term, by means of a feigned action for trespass.
SEDUCTION BY A FRENCH PRIEST.—A letter from
one of the communes, in the department of Loir-et-
Cher, states that a great scandal was lately caused by
the curb having seduced a young girl of 16, belonging
to one of the most respectable families in the place.
The parents knew that she frequently went to visit him,
but thought it was for the purpose of religious instruc-
tion. On May Ist she disappeared. and the public voice
having accused the cure of being instrumental in the
business, a great clamour was raised against him. He
at last acknowledged that he had sent her to Mans
under the care of a servant, in order to conceal the con-
sequences of the seduction. The father immediately
lodged a complaint with the Procurenr du Roi at Blois,
and a few days back two ecclesiastics came from that
city,. and carried off the cure in a carriage with such
precipitation that he could only take with him his
umbrella and his breviary. The Bishop had previously
suspended this priest for a similar act, and had restored
him to the exercise of his functions only on the most
pressing solicitations.
MURDERS IN SrAnt.—The following appears in a
Spanish journal. It seems to us, however, too impro-
bable for belief •-•." A terrible crime has just taken
place in the neighbourhood of Igualda. A woman
having lain in, in au isolated country house, her
neighbours took the child to the next village
to have it baptised, leaving a woman behind, who
had offered to remain by the patient during their ab-
sence. When they had all departed, this woman, draw-
ing forth a knife' commanded the patient to rise, and
show her where her money was placed. Thb latter
obeyed, and taking her into, another room, contrived to
lock her in. She then- celled to her two Children, who,
had been left behind, and sent them for help. But a
man who was concerned in the affair was prowling
about outside, and, stopping the children, he
learnt their errand, and returned with them, saying to
the mother that if she did not at once open the door
he would put them to death. The poor woman
not paying any attention to this threat, he stabbed
one of them with a knife, and knocked out the brains of
the other against a stone:- He then proceeded to force
the (Igor, and had nearly succeeded, when the people re-
turned from the baptism, and the Assassin took to flight.
The mother related what had taken place, and fell down
in an expiring state. The alcalde, who had been invited
to the baptism, entered first into the room where the
prisoner was locked up. She stabbed him, then killed a
second, and escaped. The,naother died in the course of
the day, 14114 her husband is Pot expected to survive."
THE ORIGINAL Mss, OF TUE CIARINDA COR-
RESPONDENCE.—These interesting memorials of Burns
were sold yesterday • at Messrs.. C. B. Tait and Co.'s
rooms, Hanover-street. The attendance was numerous,
rag sot
cptoehet.TecAents specimens of and the spirited competition which took place fully
showed the great interest attached to these relics of
tli Scotland'slettet,
the " Lament of Queen Mary," brought 51. ss. ; No. 65
the prices,
brought 1/. lfis. ; No. 66 brought 11. 1 is. ; No. 69
brought 11. 10s. ; and the others brought corresponding
frices.—.4Cotsmun. containing

THE UNITED STATES and TEXAS.
The following Treaty fur the annexation of Texas
was concluded between the United States of America
and the Republic of Texas, at Washington, on the 12th
of April, 1844:--
" Art. 1. The Republic of Texas, acting in conformity
with the wishes of the people and every department of
its Government, cedes to the United States all its
territories, to be held by them in full property
and sovereignty, and to be annexed to the
said' United States as one of their territories, subject
to the same constitutional provisions with their other
territories. This cession includes all public lots and
squares, vacant lands, mines, minerals, salt lakes, and
springs, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, ports and
harbours, navy and navy yards, docks, magazines, arms,
armaments and accoutrements, archives and public docu-
ments, public funds, debts, taxes, and dues unpaid at the .
time f the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty.
"2. The citizens of. Texas shall be incorporated into
the union of the United States, maintained and protected
in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and
admitted, as soon as consistent with the principles of the
federal constitution, to the enjoyment of all rights, privi-
leges, and immunities of citizens of the United States.
3. All titles and claims to real estate, which are
valid under the laws of Texas, shall be held to be so by
the United States ; and measures shall be adopted for
the speedy adjudication of all unsettled claims to land,
and patents shall be granted to those found to be valid.
" 4. The public lands hereby ceded shall be subject
to the laws regulating the public lands in the other
territories of the United States, as far as they may be
applicable ; subject, however, to such
.alterations
and changes as Congress may, from time to time,
think proper to make. It is understood between the
parties, that if, in consequence of the mode in which
lands have been surveyed in Texas, or from previous
grants or locations, the sixteenth section cannot be ap-
plh.d for the purpose of education, Congress shall make
equal provision by grant of land elsewhere. And it is
also further understood, that hereafter the books, papers,
and documents of the General Land-office of Texas shall
be deposited and kept at such place in Texas as the
Congress of the United States shall direct.
" 5. The United States assume and agree to pay the
public debt and liabilities of Texas, however created,
for which the faith or credit of her Government may be
bound at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of
this treaty ; which debt and liabilities are estimated not
to exceed, in the whole, 10,000,000 dolls., to be ascer-
taiued and paid in the manner hereinafter stated.
" The payment of the sum of 350,000 dolls. shall be
made at the Treasury of the United States, within
ninety days after the exchange of the ratifications of
this treaty, as follows :-250,000 dolls. to Frederick
Dawson, of Baltimorevor-his. executors, on the delivery
of that amount of 10 per gent. bonds of Texas ; and
100,000 dollars, if so much be'required, in the redemp-
tion of the Exchequer bills which may be in circulation
at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of this
treaty. For the payment of the remainder of the debts
and liabilities of Texas, which, together with the amount
already specified, shall not exceed 10,000,000 dolls., the
public' lands heroin curled, andp the nett revenue from the
same, are hereby pledged,
" 6. In order to ascertain the full amount of the debts
and liabilities herein assumed, and the legality and vali-
dity thereof, four Commissioners shall be appointed by'
the 49sit1ent of the United States, by anti with the