Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-01-17

i
on il. 1t showed, plainly, tina, was mol The re-
volulionary spirit OF Texas which overturned the
Constitution Of 1924, but it was Mexican op-
preston and the armed hand of tyrant. Find
ing that The States around her did not respond 10
her call-hat there was not enough OF The love
of liberty in their hearts or councils 10 lnspill
them 10 strike for their freedom, The people oil
Texas took life from our example; they went up
al once 10 the ountain-head oflibery, and learned
theirrghl to absolyethe bonds ola government that
oppressed them. They felt that they were thrown
hack on their true original sovereignty. The u >.
had no claim over thcm Spain had no claim
over them, and whence came any right in hexl-
co? II was not 10 be found in the law ofnations.
She had never taken possession of the country,
either BY diplomacy or by arms; she had right
10 treat. She had exhibited for eight years The
spectacle of people free, acknowledged 10 be
sovereign, existing under Government OF their
own choice, regularly and lawfully administered;
eleciing her own officers: enacting her own laws;
forming treaties and, as the highest OF all acts OF
sovereignty, negotiating for boundaries. she
was now 4 soveregn-a sovereign with power TO
make an alliance, and TO make an alliance win
Us, unless this Government was esiopped from
such alliance by our treaty Of amily and com
mcrce with Mexico.
The inquiry, therefore, was, whether such an
alliance would be an Infringement OF that treaty,
and would interfere with a stale Of amity between
The Mexican Government and our own? Mr..
! Y. held the negative, and for this reason; that
| Mexico had no title 10 Texas. And the only
contingency under which We were forbidden 10
enter into alliance with the latter was, the exist
ence OF a war actually in progress. MIR. \. con-
fessed that fogrante helio we could make no such
alliance. But was there such n war? Could
it be maintained that 4 war was now in pro-
| 10 m.
lained that no military invasion or other act
Of acknowledged hostility had been authorized
by the Government of Mexico since the ever
memorable battle of San Jacinto. True, there
had been some forays, some predatory incursions,
but did gentlemen mean 10 call that war =
| Was that war in which no Mexican soh,ier had
ever seen or dared TO look upon Texan ban
ner, or The CLEAN OF one Texan bayone! twas
not war. There had been no regular invasion
so much as attempted. Why, Mexico, 50 iar
from being in condition 10 achieve conquest
over the AngluSaxon race, was mol able to
keep her own subjects in peace. To carry on
war with a foreign power, country must he at
peace al home She must have control over her
own subjects, and The means OF sustaining them
in their attacks upon The enemy. But Mexico
had neither. She was rent and torn within her
own bowels; and that very morning intelligence
had been received since the House was in session.
that Santa Anna had been deposed and banished
from The Mexican soil. That was The present
condition OF Mexico. Was she in condition 10
make war upon Texas She had not the means
10 do it, She was deficient in that which the chair
man of the Committee On Foreign Affairs (hlr.
c. J. lngersolD had very justly denomnated The
best and chiciest sinew of war he meant mo-
ney. OF this, Mexico had none. Ii was only a
paper war; and was Texas an independent, sove-
reign Stale, which had maintained her indie
pendence and whom Mexico could not conquer,
10 pause in securing great national good, be-
cause Mexico continued 10 prosecute war on
paper against her? A paper war was no more
10 be regarded than paper blockade It would
not be pretended b. any gentleman acquainted
with the subject that mere declaration on paper
that certain port was blockaded unsupported by
any military or naval force, was Of binding force
upon any body. The law OF nations, and the
common sense of mankind alike, required that
there should be means Of enforcing the blockade
or il amounted 10 nothing And would not the
same argument apply in this case? Were we Ia
be eslopped from The acl Of annexation, by wal
conducted on paper? No; as well Nigh, We he
obliged 10 regard paper blockade. Blu his time
would hot permit him 10 90 further into this ques-
ton.
And now he would inquire Of every gentleman
who heard him, il annexation was not forbidden
by The Constitution, nor prohibited by regard 10
the national honor, what was there 10 prevent III
Every administration had pursued The object as
eminen,ly desirable. The venerable and dsiin-
guishc gentleman from Massachusetts himself.
(Mr. Adams when he represented this Union in
the Chair Of State, pursued il as vigorously as
any one. Mr.. Clay himself exhibited The most
ardent zeal for its attainment; and indeed il there
was any thing which had relieved the Admins
lration of 1925 and 81 from The odium of being
thrust upon an unwilling nation, ii was this very
thing. President Jackson had exhibited the Sa me
zeal, and had pursued The object with vigor under
two successive Secretaries OF State And yet
now, when President Tyler undertook 10 effect
the same thing, the House heard wise heads and
the lips OF experienced statesmen nsul, him as
an accidental President, not chosen lay The peo-
pie. Such course did injustice 10 Mr.. Tyler :
views OF his duty. He was not an accidental
President, He would ask the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Winthrop for whom he had
voted in 1912 Was il not for Harrison and
Tyler! II would be an insult to The gentleman Ia
doubt il. And when he gave his vote TO these
candidates, did he not do it with the perfect
knowledge, that, il il should please Divine
| Providence 10 remove one OF these individuals
from his high station, that the other would he Pre-
sident Of The United States? And now he would
put the question TO the genileman-W ashe death
Of Gen. Harrison an accident Did The gentle.
man hold that an event oflhat magnitude had moi
passed under the eye and control Of an all-seeina
God! II he did, his venerable ancestry would
burst the tomb and rise to upbraid their recrcan
son. A Winthrop 10 deny the particular pruvi.
dcnce of God No; that event was no accident
Ii took place by The fiat OF that eternal King
whose ways were not as our ways, and whose
thoughts were not as our thoughts When Pre-
sident Harrison was called 10 his account al a d.
vine tribunal, Mr.. Tyler succeeded. The gen
llenan knew that This would be the case: and the
gentleman knew that Mr.. Tyler was no acciden
tai, but was both provdenlial and a consl,u
tional President. But The gentleman said he was
not the choice Of the people. Indeed2 Then die
the House learn for The first time and that from
the leaders of the party, that Harrison and Ty
Ter were not the choice Of the American people
1t followed then, that the Wing party, like The
Federal party which had preceded them, ruled
the country by the votes Of minority. And he
should be glad to hear the gentleman state IL
what he attributed the choice OF Mr. Tyler, i
not 10 the votes CT the American people FIe
was conslilutionally The President, and, being
such, what matter was it 10 that House wha
secret motives might have guided his public acts
Could the gentleman see his heart he could
his eyes were keener than Mr.. Us. The ac
savored well for the good Of The country; and lie
uiu llo civ pItlOSdllVe vi SIT
| ting in Judgment on The motives which gave il
birth. He had ever been taught that that was task
unfit for man, and that il belonged TO higher and
more awful tribunal.
But was it true, that, in annexing Texas, we
should take snap-judgment, and get the start OF
the American people? Why the measure had
been pursued with unremiltng efforts for 20 years
II was thoroughly known 10 the whole country
and every body in it; and more, if there was any
thing which had had The main agency in setting
aside an old and tried STA tesman, and setting up
comparatively new man, il was this very ques-
tion. This measure of annexation had done more
10 darken Mr. Clay's prospects than any other
thing That had ever happened The tremendous
Wing majority which, in 1910, had numbered
lis hundreds of thousands, had been overturned
and Frustrated in 1914 mainly by this Texas ques-
ton. snap Judgment Gel the start Of the
American people! Why, were not twenty years
time enough for the examination ofa public mea-
sure? No; instead Of getting the start OF the peo-