The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-06-16

~nh muse osssmoioa IN thls nall, and they have
SHOWN oy all ther acts That they are not unworthy
Of their eonnexion. Although stgmatized by III,
Mexieans as serpent which they have warmed
IN their bosom, until IL has gained sufficient vitality
10 turn round and defend themselves from the az
gressions and wrongs ofther pretended protectors
serpent at all, they are like the brazen sepent o
oid, which, 10 look upon by that government who's.
oosy polite Is covered and deformed by eprosy
VIII heal them. That country from which we hay,
separated requires Christening hand; they requir,
something 10 teach them 10 regard the rights of 9th
ers, upon which they have trampled.
Mr. r., IN further portraying the unsoundness ofpo
tca constitution and the perkdious and revolving con
diuon Of Mexico, referred TO Zavala, formerly mem
Der Of the cabinet Of Mexico, and minister 10 France
who let that country voluntarily, its oppression.
having become intolerable 10 any man whose spir
was the spirit of freedom; and to the similar instance
Of Navarro, who submitted to long Imprisonment
before he would voluntarily go back TO that country
He could also cite the state Of Yueatan, which sep
araied itself from connexlon with the mother gov.
eminent without plea of robbery or theft committed
upon her. but because the liberty of the country had
been trttered away and il had al last become the spor
and the victim ola bloated priesthood and military
despotsu-to whose rule no lover of freedom would
submit. Towards the people of Mexico he had ma
III feelings. He paid high tribute 10 the amsbilitv
and other virtues Of their character and of their hgb
capabilities, provided they could be deyeloped
under the influence Of favoring government
and the institutions Of freedom. He NUMBERED
MeTIcans among his constituents; he knew
them to be quiet, Industrious, enterprisng men and
worthy citizens; and ii the Mexieans were de.
graded at all, he said it was the fault of their ,ro,Ld
DC masters All the war that was carried on now.
was carried on, IN his opinion, in defence of human
liberty: Any traveller In the country adjacent 10
the Colorado and the Guadaloupe, would And the
lhha6ltants-the Texans settled on that frontier
"hom he Tepresenied-men Of substance, liberal
generous IN all their views, upright in their depor
meni, attentive TO their own business and thriving
citizens. They have no desire to conquer Mexico:
they sat down there quietly during 10 years of the
ume they have lived there at every season no, know
ing when they sowed who would reap, thew defended
themselves against Mexico and against the Indians,
VINO were melted 10 plumber by the Mexicans;
'heI numbers, oy their constant exposure 10 dan.
gers ana hardshIps, have greatly diminished; and
venture the assertion, that one-haf of the band Of
lexan patriots now sleep beneath the clods of the
tauey' VINO were hale, vigorous men when went
mere was tnls no payment for the land which
"ey occupied was not this earning a title to il
which was ackno wledged throughout the world?
Ii might seem strange to a superficial observer
that the Texans, a small and struggling ma
ZION, should excite so great a sensation in the
United States. They have, however, received the
aid, the consolation AMI the care Of the citizens of
this country from extremity Of the Union to the
other, while they were an enfeebled nation; and
little deeper insight would show the moral They
were an oppressed people, and people oppressed
found sympathetic response to their hardships and
suferlngs in every human breast No nation was
so degraded, no nation lost To the feelings of
kindred and compassion, as TO be unmoyed at the on
pressons Of others. This feeling on the part Of the
people Of the United States arose from the fact thai
Texas was the injured party; Texas sought peace
with Mexico by all the means in her power; the
land in dispute, although hers by the best Of titles
was not worth prolonged quarrel, and Texas
sought 10 settle and heal the differences by pacific
policy; Mexico, nevertheless, refused ali her over
lures, until the time came when it was necessary for
her 10 say whether she would be annexed to the
United States. The annexation had taken place;
the UHited States found them in possession of
Texas, and they were morally bound to continue
the boundaries where the Texans had evidenced that
they were capable Of defending them. Il was not
necessary that they should have walked up TO the
very banks Of the Rio Grande, because, after thew
left the Nueces, there was no natural boundary un-
I'll the Rio Grnnde. To the generation that occupy
Texas, the boundary agreed upon by the United
States would be of little moment because every
citizen owning lands beyond the Neuces (had the
boundary been fixed there) would have had fair
claim on the United States for his property.
Mr.. P. could hardly find himself willing to reply
to that part of the speech of the gentleman from
New York, in which, after making Texas the
means of assault upon the administration, he de-
scended TO species Of attack never exhibited in
Texas; IN which, without fixing anything wrong
upon the Presdent-without impeaching his honor,
changes were rung upon Old Hickory ard
Young Hickory" &c. What was the object of
such course Of procedure Fix a charge upon
any man, point out what he has done, and whether
he be friend or foe that charge would 90 for all it
was worth. But merely in general terms to pour
out his denunciations against the Presiden-to call
him mushroom, and such like-was of little avail.
The high funcuonary which was the object of the
attack, was one whose head was white with labors
IN the service of this nation These halls testified to
the ability and industry with which he pursued his
career to honor and to glory. He bears along with
him the respect and esteem of the wise and the
good from one end Of this continent to the other:
and IN particular manner he has won the hearts
of the people have the honor to represent He
knew their worth; despite this Aimsy slang which
was heaped upon them, he took the acts of the Tex
ans as marks that they were not degenerate race.
will not reply to such language as have heard in
regard to Texans-the sheer, the scoff, and the
malignant charges; they proceed from creatures
whose instinct 1t is to light the rotten part and
leave the sounder flesh to nobler appetites
One part of the gentleman's speech | desire par
hcularly to notice, because it conveys an untruth-
dnnentiona, no doubt 1t is that part in which
the gentleman states that General Houston made :,
treaty with Santa Ana in regard to boundary.
allude to it with more pleasure, because it enables
me to contradict report injurious to that disn-
gushed individual, and to the character of the ma
ton. He released Santa Ana without condition
not because he deserved to be released but because
it was sound policy thereby establishing the mac.
nanimity of Texans, in releasing a culprt whose
life was forfeited, and gaining the good opinion of
the world.
The resolutions of Texas that show our claim n
the Rio Grande had been compared to the resolution
Of the Baltimore convention claiming the right of
the United States in the Oregon territory to $40 4O
the title Of the United States might have
been to Oregon, (and believe it was once good ! it
has no parallel at all to the title of the republic of
Texas to the territory claimed by it. Taa dcclara
ton in regard to $40 4U had never been followed
up by vindication OF the claim; no blood had
the SHOWS Of that region; no arms had
been there to conquer il from a foe lit was good
Il was good but it had strength like the claim of
Texas. If she had not originally particle of claim
she earned one she made her title good by that best
of all rghts-the right to use what she obtains. and
the power to obtain and defend it, "Where the
statesmen of the United States may fix the bound
airy, l cannot tell" says the gentleman MIR. P.
wished to impress upon this House that the Texans
themaelyes had n we'd he hound..,, l. ~