Indiana State Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 31, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 January 1845 — Page 1

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COXGKESS. Speech of 3Ir. Owen of Indiana, In the House nf Representatives, January B, 19-15, cm the subject of Vie Annexation of Texas. Mr. OWEN said: In the brief time which our rule allots to debate in this House, ons is compelled to select from among the various topics of any important subject. Leaving, then, the details of the several plans of annexation to be discussed by their authors, shall say but a word on the constitutional argument, already ably touched on, an argument, however, which cannot be fully and with precision made, until we hall be able to distinguish in what particular form innexation is like to be consummated. I ; We have talked of a "treaty of annexation, until these havu become familiar words. Is it certain jLat such an act can be properly consummated by a treaty at all ! A treaty- is a compact between two sovereign nations. Now, at what moment could what we have called a treaty of annexation have been such a compact ! Not certainly before it wag ratified. Until then, it was of no force whatever ; an escrew, inchoate, as lawyers say. But would it have been a treaty after its ratification ! The instant the last pame on the Senate roll was cilltd, and the last ratifying vote given, would the instrument, even at that jrst moment of final action upon it, at that very first moment of its legal existence, then have been a treaty 1 A treaty between whom 1 A compact between jvliat two sovereign powers 1 Between us and Texas 1 That last vote would have stricken Texas from the independent sovereignties of the earth.-And there would have remained nothing, but what ia familiar enough to us what Congress has often consummated, and will consummate again and again, as a matter of course compact between the federal government, and a portion of our own territory ; a compact coming within the province of Congress, not of the treaty-making power. There would be stipulations still to be fulfilled but not what could be properly called treaty stipulations, for there would be no foreign sovereign power then existing with whom we could fulfil them. My , argument is not that an act of annexation is nothinj more than a compact between the general - government and one of her Territories. I but 6ay, that it resembles that quite as much as it resembles a treaty. But, in truth, it is neither the one nor the other. :. It is an act sui generis. - Talk of precedents to justify it! You might as well seek in his ances tdrs, the fame of Napoleon Buonaparte. He was himself an ancestor ! There never was, in the history of the world before, so far as my reading extends, an offer made by one of the independent nations of the ' earth to merge her sovereignty in that of another. It is a contingency wholly new. The action npon it must be new. Our action in this case will become a precedent. That we have the right, in some form, to extend our territory by accepting such a proposition, no sensible man, I think, can very seriously doubt". A sovereign power without the power of receiving an acces ion of domain would be an anenia'y in jurisprudence, if not a contradiction in terms. To deny to a nation such a power of increase! is a scrt of Shaker doctrine in politics, which we may expect to see received in theory, and acted out in practice, in this world, when the doctrines of Mother Ann Lee are professed and practised by mankind not till then. Our decision as to the most appropriate form, in which to set so great a precedent, ought, in my judgment, to be chiefly determined by the consideration, that it is desirable it should receive the most complete national assent that can be given to it, under our institutions. And surely it is not the best mode of effecting such an object, to exclude from all participation in that assent, this, the popular and most numerous branch of the Government. With thee brief hints. I leave the constitutional point to others, older aud of more experience in legislation than myself, and pass to a review of the subject, in its foreign aspect. I purpose to speak of the justice and expediency of this great measure ; in con nection with tue public entipentof this country, and with the laws of the civ vilized world. In all irattcrs of controversy, however important, there are commonly certain main principles, which once established, the whole subject in dispute is settled. And if we desire to obtain clear views of things, we do well to ük ojr eyes steadily on these, nor suaer I our attention to bs withdrawn byt incidental propositions, not relctant, or, at least, not essential. If this ba true in the general, the remark applies with especial force to the subject befjre U3. It would be difficult to find a matter, where the decisive points at issue are so few and simple yet one that has been so smothered up by a load of extraneous matter, as this Texas annexation. The right or wrong of the case is a question of public justice, of international law : it hangs not on the tone of a despatch or the wording of an accompanying document. The expediency of the measure involves considerations flatiorial in the widest sense of the term, co-extensive with 'the Union, reaching to after ages ; let it not be dwarfed down to a party wrangle, or a Northern and Southern dispute; a quarrel tuat has no higher aim, than .to give oScc to a man, or sustaining aid to a temporary institution. The public pres3 is loaded down with comments on the diplomatic encounters of the past year, between us and Mexico. These paper weapons mar decide our opin;on of men ; they ought no to influence our judgment of measures. Let those who find cause of . onence in their language and spirit suffer me to re mind them, that, wnen they have Settled that point, they are no nearer the true issue than befjre. We may not like the terms in which a claim is urged ; yet, if we are just, we shall still look to the substance of the claim, not to the manner of preferring it It is easy and invidious to find fault, especially when a transaction is passed and its results have be come apparent. Yet 1 trust I hall not Ptve offence. nor be held failing in respect to the parties concerned, if I express regret that the question of the right or me wrong oj. Vic lcxtan revolution has been suffered to mingle, even incidentally, with the true issues, in our uiuiuiiiauc corresponaence Willi .Mexico, iiie Texians, indeed, have most ample justification of their revolution, i he war which gloriously ended at New Orleans thirty years ago this very day, was not more , jusiman mat by wbicü lexas became lndeoendent. One half the provocation Texa has received would have dissevered our Lmon long ago. There is not a State of the twenty-six f-o poor cf spirit, that her cit izens would not have risen, as a man. acamst euch ' usurpation. But however un.jietionable the right, it is not one, in my judgment, which we were callsrd up on, or which we should have permitted ourselves to argue with Mexico. With Texas, not with us, was the question of pat grievances against Mexican authorty open, if open at all. Bat in truth it was clos ed ; closed, Jong sincÄ by that stern arbitert the sword. ior oocs it seem to me, that it was otrr place, as negotiator, even to allude to former rights under by gone treaties. . JJd w claim Texas under the treaty t,l ! iNot at all. biznor Kpjob so construes it but that is only one of the ,men of straw he sets up lor the convenient fleas ore of comfortably demolishing bim again. . . 4 . As between us and Texas, the argument from that

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; . : ' i t 1 BY G. A. k J. T. CHAPMAN. treaty, in its moral bearing, is a strong one ; and as such I have, on a previous occasion, alluded to it. Our solemn promise publicly made in 1303 we violated in 1319; and though we moy not take advantage of our own wrong still to claim Texa against our formal cession, yet neither ore we released from our obligation to receive her, so soon as circumstances lawfully and honorably permit, and she herself desires re-annexation. If any thing can strengthen our moral obligation to repair a great wrong, committed for the sake of acquiring the Floridas, it is the fact, not generally known, that the Texians, numbering in 1S19, over ten thousand free white inhabitants, formally protested1! Just four months after the signature of the Floru da treaty, against this abandoning of their persons and their territory to the tender mercies of Spain. In Niles's Register for 1319, at page 31, is to be found this protest. It is contained in "a copy of a declaration issued on the ÜJd of June (1319) by the supreme council of the republic of Texas," in which, after stating that the Texians had long indulged the hope that they would be included in the limits of our Union a hope, they add, which the "claims of the United States, long ai d strenuously urged, have encouraged"' the Council proceeds to say : Th recent treat between Spain and the Unittd States of America has dis-ipated an illusion too long fondly cherished, anl has roused ibe citizeus of Texts from the toipor into which a fancied security had lulled them. They have seen themselves, it a cokveütiok to which thct were no pamtt, Lirr.aALLT abasdorco to the com 15109 or THE crown or Stau, and It ft a prey not only to impositions already intolerable, but to all those exactions hieb Spanish rapacity is fertile in devising." This remarkable protest is signed by the President and becretary of the "bunreme Council." If I am asked here to produce the credentials of these gentle men, and to show under what precise law this Coun cil Was elected and qualified, my reply is, that in the early efforts after independence put forth by new and thinly settled countri , little of rigid formality can be expected. The declaration is ar expression of public sentiment, as official, probably, ts the then con dition of Texas permitted. And at all events, theau thonty of the Texian Council was quite as regular as that of stout Lthan Allen and his handful of volun tecrs, when the old soldier more than a year in ad vance of the Declaration ot Independence, thundered at the gates of Ticonderoga, and bade her surrender "in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continen tal Congress !' But all this, I repeat, touches but the birk of the controversy. Let us penetrate . that, and reach its substance at once. , lexas is an inaepenacnn.epuoiic, occupying a separate and equal station among the nations of the earth, legally possessing her own soil, lawfully administering her own laws,- or she is but a revolted province, over which Mexico has preserved all her rights; her government but a provisional usurpation, the title to her territory still in the mother country. Settle tliat one point and, as regards thi question in its loreign relations, every thintj is settled. It seems strange to me, that we should yet be re quired to argue sucli a question. And yet we are Day after day pour forth from the leading journals of our opponents protests and denunciations. We who favor annexation are, if their words are to be taken for it, bj.',t a band of land-robbers, on a inaimificent scale; leetjucd together for the avowed purpose of tilcbmg icom Alexico, without a color of right, some two bunc.red million acres ot her lawful territory History is ransacked for examples of similar profli gate amDition ; ana, in a recent number ot the Na tional Intelligencer, (of December 24.V our rrovern rnent is likened without scruple, to "that politic warrior and tyrant, Frederick the Great;" who, having "cast an eye of longing upon part of a neighboring realm which suited him,"-, bade his Minister prepare a manifesto, making clear the justice of his title. The Minister obeyed, setting. forth "the intended act of rapine as an errand of grace, mercy and justice." - "Alt this," f adds the Intelligencer) "the Minister dressed up irt.a.very captivating foim j nothing coalibe mote riht fill, nothing moii nec&saiy fur bis own' afety fiom en eroacuing neighbors, nothing more chaiitable, rothii g more rr ine giory i uoa ana ioe advancement ol religion. 'Stop, cried fieutiicK, wnen nis Miniter came to thai part of ih iwaime'io i -ieave oui uoa ana reunion; 1 want a pro vince . " - . Similar accusations &n& a voice on this floor. gentleman from Massachusetts Mr. Winthrop whose character and standing give weight to the charge arid demand lor it a reply, scrupled not, but the other day A- J .1 i .. to uenounce inc proposed act ot annexation as scheme "monstrous beyond all power of expression ; as a project., "contrary to the law ol nations and in violation of the good faith of our own country." My colleague Mr. C. B. Smith who has just spoken, takes, tne very same ground. lie characterised the plan of an icxation as an attempt "to rob Mexico of a part ot her territory." ' iNow, sir, I, far one, when I give my vote,-as I lope yet th s session to ffive it for the annexation of Texas to these United States, am not willing to irive it silently, under such imputations. Let our oppo nents here prove to us not assert it merelythat this projected annexation is but an "act of rapine ;" that it is a trampling under foot of justice, morality, good laitn, international law that we have no better excuse for it than this, "we want a province !" and if all the dreams of Marco Polo, were realized in Texas ; if there, at last, were to be found Cipango's shores f gold, the treasures of Antilla not by my vote should even such a land, wrongfully wrested from a weaker neighbor, become part of this, yet undishon ored Union. But in proaf of charges so rrrave, there lacks some thing beyond mere idle iteration. There lacks proof, that Texas is not an independent State. . I maintain that she is : and if the Committee will cive brief at tention, I purpose to show, somewhat more at large than on ä previous occasion, ffHd cause for the opin ion. Not lightly should this question be approached ; not heedlessly decided. Let us beware ! The fate of our offspring, the destinies of our descendants, may hang upon the decision. We, of the West especially, are as birds of passage. Our instinct attracts . uJ to regions distant and new. In Oregon or elsewhere the question may arise, as now, what is just revolution, and what, lawless revolt. Id judging the Texians today, we may be deciding, of our own children, in after years, whether, they shall be held to be freemen, meriting honorj or traitors deserving death ! Leaving out of ?iew the prime cause of the Texian revolution that " violation of the fundamental laws," which, Vattel declares, gives to a sovereign's subjects 'a legal right to resist him" passing by that, we come to the fact, that, nine years ago, jlexico and Texas engiged in war. Texas was successful. She conquered, and his since peaceab'y possessed, her territory. Has she now a good title to that ter ritory 1 . Has she a right to convey it to whom she will I Let Grotius answer ; Grotius writing two cen türies ago ;- writing under the eye of a kin; ; dedicat ing his celebrated work t a king. Our whig friends cannot accuse me of dnifrin in the radicalism of some modern innovator, to sustain my position. I presume to hope, that the counsellor of Queen Chris tina, when he happens to decide in favor of liberty, will not be rejected hy them as ultra-democratic au thority. Yet here is his doctrine:

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INDIANAPOLIS, JANUARY 23, 1815.

"According to the law of nations, not only the person who makes the war upon jot ciound j but any one whatever engag td in regular and formal war, hecomit absolute proprie tor o tverf thing whirti.be taxes from the enemy, so th it all nations retpect hit title, and the title of all, who derive through him their claim to such possessions which, as to all füre ig o relations, constitutes the true idea of dominion." . As to the principle according to which the words takes from the enemy" are to be construed, Grotius adds1: "In this question upon the rizhts of war, nations bare de cided, that a person ts understood to have made a capture when he detains a thin in such a manner that the owner has abandoned all probable hopet of recovering it." In regard to ship?, for example, they are held to be captured, Grotius says, when they are ca-ried into some of the captor's ports, or to some place where their whole fleet is stationed." And as to personal effects generally, he inform us, that European powers have made it an "established maxim of the law of nations," that ''captures shall be deemed good and awful which have continued in the enemy's "posses sion for the space of twenty-four hours." . As to lands, the principle is the same, but the ap plication somewhat different. ' Grotius's words are : "Lands are not understood to become a lawful poesüon and absolute conquest fiom the moment they are invaded. For, although it is tine, that an at my takes immediate and violent possession of the country which it has invaded, yet that can only be considered as a temporary poses n, unac companied by any of the lights and consequence alluded to in this woik, till it has been secured by some durable means, by cession or by treaty." And a Lttle further on is an example of the "dura ble means" here spoken of. He says: . "Now land will be conilcrt at completely coneuered when it is enclosed and iecured by permanent fortification. 10 that no other Slate or sovereign can have frt-e acces to it without first making themselves masters of lhoe ratifications. On this account, FUccus, the Sicilian, assins'no improbable coniectuie fr the 01 Lin of the word tcrritorv. be cause the enmj- is deterred from entering it." Here, without ccss;on, without treaty, fortifications are held to be "durable moani" to secure territory. and to give absolute title. r rom all th.s the rule of law is clear. Temporary possession ot territory, by mere invasion, does not confer legil title.. . Permanent possession does Possession to be permanent, must be secured by cession, by treaty, or by other durable means, as for example by fortifications. Tne latter condition was strictly applicable in former ages, when, as Zenophon expressed it, " in timo of. war the possession of a country is kept by wulU, strong-holds and barriers." But such is not now the custom ; and the law does not require what is nugatory and useless. Any other Condition of things which destroys all probable hope3 of recovery; which provides means as effectual as were the fortifications of olden tims, to dater the enemy from entering a conquered territory ; does, in fact, equally with that antique. s;ecification, confer legal title. Such a condition of things is a regular government, formally established and duly administered, extending its laws over the territory in question, peacefully and with general acquiescence ; an organized army and navy prepared to protect that government ; but, above all. stable, enduring possession ; entire possession, with not a city, town, or even petty fortress remaining in the hands of the enemy ; possesession undisturbed by any invasion that is respectable or formidable enough seriously to threaten reconquest. Such a state of things exists, and has for years existed, in Texas. It eminently fulfils the condition, that possession shall be secured by durable means, so as to take away all probable hopes of recovery. It fulfils it far more effectually than do Zenophon's " walls, strong-holds and barriers." The plain truth is, that the government of Texas shows, at this very moment more 6ighs of stability than that of Mexico ; and that the province, to say the least of it, has quite as good a chance to cöiiquer the mother Country, as the mother country to reTSubjugate the " province." This, I admit, has not, even since the battle of St. Jacinto, alwavs been so. It is Time, the enactor of, and voucher for, the Common Law under vt hich we live it is Time, that has perfected the Texian title. "What to-day is fact," as some one has well expressed it, to-morrow becomes doctrine." For a brief space after Houston's brilliant victory, the world still remained in suspense as to the ultimate issue of the contest. The "durable means" had not yet been used, to secure permanent possession. And while that condition of things lasted, scrupulously did the United States conform o its requirements. In the autumn of 1$36. Texas formally applied for admission into our confederacy. .What. did our Chief Magistrate he wuo now, 111 nis retirement, bids us not delay j .uiu he evince (as the gentleman from Massachusetts charges that we have, evinced,) indecent haste, to obtain this rich territory 1 Cii the contrary, he rejected the overture. A too early movement," said General Jackson, "might subject us, however unjustly, to the charge of seeking to establish the claims. of our neighbors to territory, with a view to its subsequent acquisition by ourselves.'' . ...... A second time, in August, 1337, the Texians applied, through their Minister, General Hunt, desiring to be annexed to our Union. And yet again this time by Mr. Van Buren- the proposal was declined. Thus, iu the early stage of Texian self-goverument, we but rlrnowlpdTil hpr i niipnpn(trnr aa rietinrr in facU We suffered year afier year to set its seal cfpcrmanehie on the existence and the institutions of tjle young republic, before we permitted ourselves to accept any offers, however advantageous, that involved the question of the validity in law of that independence, and the consequent competency of Texas to convey, under rrood title., her tcrritorv. But the years of suspense ana probation have pissed. ' It is weakness, not prudence, in us longer to delay her full recognition. In former years we judged the fact of the independence of Texas for the time bcin" and acknowledged her de facto, ow, we judge of her permanent independence, and acknowledge hcrj also de jure. We are for ourselves, in both cases, the jud;re. That is, as a sovereign people, our privilege. V hat plea will Mexico or Mexico s friends set up, in arrest of that judgment ! . I bethink mc of but one ; Mexico has a thousand times urged it; it is the burden of her justification. The plea is, that the Texian struggle was a" rebellion, not a revolution ; that the Texians are still but rebels and traitors, and have none of the rights of enemies in war. . It might be enough to reply, as Webster replied to Bocancgra : ' M The government of the United States does not maintain, and never has maintained, the doctiine of perpetuity of natural allegiance. And surely Mexico maintains no such dctriue; because ber actual exi ting government, like that of the United States, is founded on the principle that men may throw on the obligation of that allegiance to which tbey were born." , . But there lacks not authority higher than Webster's in the case. Vattel has treated it at large. Here is the substance of his doctrine : - , . Some writers confine this term (civil war) to a just lnsur rection of the subjects against iheir sovereign, to ditinguish that lawful resistance from rebellion, which is an open and unjust resistance. But what appellation will they give to a v.i,- which arisri in a republic torn by two factions 1 or in a monarchy between two competitors for the crown " A little firther ho proceeds to give his own answer to the question : The sovereign indeed, never fail to bestow the appellafion of rebelt cn alt such of his subjects ts openly re.-ist binar but when the latter Aap acquired stßeient strength

1 f'JJifn-m,-.,,,.,,, ' ff. ti? ? ! a ;.r T B to give him effectual opposition, and to oblige him to carry an the war according to the established rules, be most neccssarily submit to t!ie use of the term, citii. w xa. " ; And, as to such a war, Vattel declares: It i evident, that the common laws of tear there maxirr.s oi tiumanity, moaeratiuo ana Donor which we Dart already detailed in thi work ought to bt observed by both parties in every cieUwar.", , . .. , A word about humanity by-and-by. Meanwhile suffer me to ask, whether in the case cf Santa Anna, j .i : I t;:. . i- . n t z me J.exiaii9 acuireu ouuiticiu aircutu ilf give mm effectual resistance." The Mexican Dictator will hardly deny that. And if he cannot, shall it be tolerated, that Mexico, by a paltry fiction which deceives no one, not even herself, should persivt in assuming that there is no such Republic as Texas ; that the 1 1 1 1 a 1 It 1 TkT . t . 1 C I.' lands lying between the Del Ndrte .and the Sabine form but a petty revolted province of hers, which, when she can find a few weeks leisure, she will deign to cliastise and re-subjugate! And all this, if the subject were lss grave, might pass as a p;ece of national pleasantry. As it is; it is little Bhort of an insult to the common sense of mankind. - And we but sanction that insult, if we longer hold back ia our juc! jment, sustained as it is by the common voice of the world, that Texas has been received as an equal into the family of nations ; and now enjoys, as fully as any other nation upon earth, the powers and r ght3 of an independent sovereign. , Lnouh on this branch cf the subject. But now, dismissing the question of right, we are met by nu- I merous objections against the expediency ot annexa- '

tion, as a measure fraught with evil consequences to . fere with commerce, favoring under the name of prohuman improvement, even with danger to the integrity tection, one section of our country, by taxing the in-

of our Union. One of these esteemed the gravest by dustry of another ; if, closely connected with our rjovsomc good men is made in a sacred cause ; in the ernment, there is to be a central money power, strong-

name of human liberty. It is, that-an receiving Txas, we increase and perpetuate slavery among men. . - . . We increase slavery ! By what process 1 When, by act of. Congress, or otherwise, we cause that country now called the Republic of Texas to be styled henceforth the Territory, or the Stite of Texas, ' does that reduce a single human being, not now a j slave, to the condition of forced vaesalage t TTo one! will pretend that it can. But it will increase the 1 number of slaves in the United Stales J Undoubtedly, Ana so aisj win u sureiy increase wiiuiu uitr vniiea 1 States, the number of murders, and thetts, and breaches of the peace ; unless we imagine lexas a TT t . 1 iT t t I u lopia, wnere crimes anu onences are uiieny unno n. j ; Every human enterprise is of checkered consequences. , " The lives of the best of us," as. it has been somewhere well said, "are spent iri choosing between evils." In this world of imperfections, the practical question to be, answered before we act, is, not whether our ac. ion is to produce unmixed good to no human ; nolicv is it riven thu9 to onerate but whether the i f J - . it " i good it promises will prepouüuiat vci th evils to which it may open the door. In admitting Texas we ' increase, lo.suuie i-Ait-m, uut siavo veriuury. uui shall we count it for nothing, on the other hand, that we increase also, by one-sixth, our Union happy, ' prosperous, blessed, even with all her; faults, as we I fuel her to be. Is it a privilege to be a citizen of the United States ; to sit down in peace and safety under the shelter of our republican institutions 1 And 6hall riiint fiir nrtliinr tili rtflnsinn nf tlmt nrJvitairo a ; " r....vö extension to millions more yet to live 1 I We can find no Utopia to annex.' It is rijjht or it is wrong, it is wise or it i unwise apart from all j icuipvrary niiu buliujuj i luiiauiciouuus, iu vaiiuu the national territory. IT right and wise, v. 3 must be content, iu carryinjr out such extension, to take

things as we find them. Who are we, that we should ; direction : then emerging to the surface, with, that be thus scrupulous in admitting into our own confede-1 observation for his guide, he sinks, at remote distances, racy a territory now tolerating slavery, because, in so j otjier shafts, confident tliät he, w Jl again arrive at doing, we are still to continue, over that territory or j the object of his search. Sj with the ricli ihd hidovcr a portion of. it,, to tolerate, for a time, thatitisti- don i0dej that stretch away into the great, mine of Trotutioa 1 Who arc wc, and what .has been our course ! j gressive improvement. Guided by an observation of Have, we hithcrtQ added one foot to the national . rast course, we may predict where an after gen-

aumaip Dy ireaiy wiia me jxvu win, i oay not wunoui finding e7il. in the added territory, but without creating them there I v hat think you of the transit tion 6tate of tic Indian, brought upon him by us ! in which we take from him the, bold, rude virtues of

aboriginal life, and bestow, m retiirn,only the, lowest 6urpri5e us to discover how much of thediiTerence Devices of civilization ! What think you of the slavery j twecn hem consists in omissions... . And of th'e.flcrof intemperance, the miseries of disease our fatal j thought of revolutionary hw-givers of the thirteen gifts to the original lords of this broad land ; now j articles that fjnri, the amendments to the federal con-

melting them away till their very name will disappear from the living tribes of earth 1 Yet when did the consideration of such consequences ever arrest the signature of an Indian treaty 1 . v But Texas annexation will pcrpcluale slavery. To me iU probable consequences seem the very reverse of .t 'im : - 1 .... 1 v,. uns. .me iiiiuisiou 13 uwuuuu gcm-iai, mm it would snecdilv drain off a lanre portion of the slave population of the t northern slave States, and aid in effecting, what modern abolition has retarded, the peaceful,, and . gradual emancipation of slaves in Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland," Delaware, and then in other States. . But there is yet another view to be taken of it. Slavery, like monarchy is a temporary evil. Il will disappear as all temporary evils must disappear, so soon as it becomes, aud is generally, felt to be, commercially unprofitable. We are rapidly nearing that point. The growing destiny of population and consequent increasing competition in manual labor, is .driving us, year by year, towards iL And as it is grtvdually reached, in the several States; as the dav arrives when a ffave becomes a nerrative quantity in the market ; when his master shall desire, by emancipation, to free himself from an incumbrance ; in that dav. whither fhall the necro co T . Are his friends wise, in desiring to -have the Cnitcd States hemmed in on the soiilh-west,! id .wishing to see a foreign, it might be a hostile power, interposed between us and Mexico 1 If there be for the liberated African a path' of deliverance and a .place cf refuge beyond, that path lies through Texas ;' that place of refuge, where the sun suits his blood and the institutions recoguize the equal rights of his color, is to be found in Mexico, in Guatemala, and the States farther south. Shut him out from these ui.d are you not, by that very act, virtually prolonging his iwndage ! f,; Slavery is not the true difficulty,. 13 replying to the arguments of the abolitionists, we are not at the bottom of the question. We have not penetrated to the depths of the opposition against annexation. "We have not vet touched the anruinent the strongest, the deepest -seated in the minds of its opponents. Late indications distinctly reveal it to us. In the columns of the leading Metropolitan Whig journal the most moderate and respected organ of the party in the leader of the National Intelligencer, under date of the 13th December last, I find the following : . " Deprecating any extension of the territory of the United States beyond its present limits as an evil, in iielf cf gicat magnitude protesting agaiot it, unde t inf circumstance, for the sake of the interests of the States ol the Uu ion, both old and new, which are, in onr opinion, deeply involved in Ui yet if any form, &c,k I pray you. to note that. I ask you to observe distinctly how tho matter stands. It avails not to argue with our opponents, the question of right to annex. It is idle to substantiate to them, from the pages of international law or the dictates of common sense, the legal independence of Texas. These outworks carried, there is & barrier beyond ; towering far above them ; standing untouched, if they were 1 levelled to the ground. It is not an extension of our

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Volume IV::i::::fNüliiljer 31. mtional domain on its south-western frontier, it IS ANY extension, .which our oppjneuts deprecate. It nnt Tm. as such. refect i the would ffeiect equally a country in any other latitude, peopled by any other face, bearing any other njimef They protest not against annexation, lor Ulli u may. increase ana perpetuate slavery ; they protest against it, as in 1803 they Protested a2aint the purchasa ' of Louisiana, under ANY circumstances." Is the whig party wrong in this, their great objection! . . - t . i . & .1 yi j Willis, 1 am nor. prepareu iu a.t:ri, uiey aic.-i Rome, in the, hevd iy of htr power, added province to province ; ana thu extension ot her territory but seemed to hasten hsr decline and fill. The mad ambiton of Alexander sufficed to conquer half a world ; yet, within a year afier his death, the overgrown em- ? 11 .1 11 1 1 11 - pire purchased by the blood of millions fell tq pieces. it seemed, from its own weight, Are these to be held as beacon lights for us. in the present juncture ! t If ours be a government like that of Rome under the empire, like that tf the Macedonian conquerer, undoubtedly yes. If it is fated gradually to approach such a character, still; undoubtedly yes. .Or if, like Mexico, we arc at last to settle down upon Centralism ; if the rishts of the States are to be stolen piecemeal, and the central power hero invested with their spoils ; if this city of Washington is to dispense, as did the mistress of the world from her seven hills, all laws to rrcvern drland ; riiY, without proceeding so far, if all doubtful powers m the constitution arc to be assumed as la,vful ; if the sphere of federal legislation is to be rrradually increased ; if we are to inter er in these days, and therefore more dangerous to hbcrty, than a standing army ; if the checks which the wisdom ot revolutionary djys incorporated in our con stitution, to arrest the hot haste of party, in its flush f oower : if these restricting checks arc to be swept away ; in a word, if the progress of our federal policy j3 to be from the less to the more of legislation ; then reject Texa abanorr Oregon, add not, by treaty, one acre more of Indian land3. Nay! if such is to be our policy, our Union is far too large already , it ouht never to have been permitted to overpass the AUegaaniCS. - But will such be the progess of legislation among w , Ourht it to be ! In following out, from age to O - CT org the storv of the ceaseless struzjrle between the ivieges 0 üje fcW aRlj tue rhu 0f the many, from eyery pagv blazoned on the experience of every nation 8huiea fcrt!l t!;e great tru,. that .overmuch ierrisla.tiora has been the curse of mankind ; and that jat fca8 beCome (aias ! how few the exceptions ) a weaporiof aggression rather than an cegis of defence, e. J9 W C J CdU, V C icni, Limv nie j;uht;vi.iv v v ? v, ment haa beeu overpaid f0T by its iutirmeddlings ; and tnat the 13 mi.,ut weu in word of the Cynic philosopher, tell tlie Alexanders of the world, that the j only favor they asked of them was fj stand out of their sunshine ! ., . Men are not wise an1 goqd enough to dispense with Uvr. Would that they were ! ' Government, like medicine, is to us a necessary evil. There is such a thino as the despotism of anarchv : and a kin? is not ? i-a h Ti : . inaispensaoie 10 a reijrn 01 terror. - x ue practical ques ticn is how many of the JS.bylline . leaves of legislation we may safely burn, yet leave the remainder more valuable than was the entire code. From the fate of pist -delusion we may determine j the trendmgs of future reform. When a miner sinks r his shaft and strikes a productive vein of ore, it is his nnrtr fi.t tn f.lW it so fir as to observe its leading ; eitioij wju fiU( them. But the principle cf. progress in legislation, has hitherto been from the more to the less. If we convj ... 1 n 1.1 : pare the statutes ana constitutions 01 xiepuuncau . Ameriea with the lawsof Monarchical Europe, it may stitution nine,' at least, are of a negative or resUictivc character ; circumscribing, within narrower lim its, the province of legislation. So in older countries and in formjr ages. , All the important provisions of i Mana Charta are prohibitory. A freeman shall not i i0seopr0perty or life by the m jnarch's decision; a trayel- . . : . - . . , .1 1 1 ier ima.11 not b Drevented iroui leavinjr tue ajnjaora or returning to it at pleasure ; anJ king's servants shall nU arbitrarily seize the property oi nis, euojccis. Even the minor privileges secured at nunriemede are of a sira.lar stamp ; as witness one, charateristic of those times, namely, that a baron's widow shall not be compelled to marry, if she prefer to remain single. So again of the Habeas Corpus Acalled by Blackstone " that second Magna Charta and stable bulwark of liberty," of which the provision is, in substance, that a man shall not be confined in prison on mere suspicion. All of these were rude efforts to narrow down the sphere of government. And still, even in later years, the same principle prevails.- Throughout Europe, but especially in Engl and, that half-liberal mother of rrmihlirs religion and the press have for centuries I struurrlin? ajrainst the interference of law ; with nnrtinl. hut nositive success. And commerce, 11 at some distance, has been gradually following their footsteps. All proceed in one direction ; all tend to one ffoal. ' , . . From 1 sVch facts the inference is, that in our. republic, as elsewhere,, we shall. gradually govern less that the province of our federal legislation will contract is our territory expands.. If it docs rid that it will the past may vouch Safely, yes, most beneficially may this Union and its blesings spread over the entire continent of North America ; each independent State secure its own separate sovereignty, and, but increas. ing by its accession, the wealth, the power, and the safety of the Great Confederacy. I shall notice yet another objectioiu It is. that annexation brings, io its train, the scourge of war i while by refusing to annex,, we obtain, surely and permanently, the blessings of peace.' Let us sift this matter a little- , v.. Two paths are open before us. The one, to declare, as most righteously we miy, the legal independence of Texas ; ,to act boldly on that declaration ; to accept what not a. government in Europe, if similarly flituar. ated would dream of refusing, Ue, proposition t-icc alreadv made to us. that We should receive rffiin Tex as within our borders ; and then-as all ,men and a.IJ nations must, be their conduct ever bo scrupulous to abide the consequences. The other ah, that we shall be told, is the path of safety and of peace ! At . r I a . w m a its entrance, it may bo ; many a path of danger and of death has a fair and pleasant entrance.' Let us look to tlie end. Say that we reject Texas, and IoareheT and Mexico to settle their quarret Very well. By so doing, we soothe the insolence of Mexku, arid quiet the jealousy of England. That is satisfactory. England makes a froe-trade treaty with Texas ; fextrndin over that republic (as the phraee now is) her ' rctci:-' orate tot that pes ! Mexico, relieved from aft

DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES and Jleasiircs. A simple and frugal Government, confined within strict Constitutional limits. , ... A strict construction of the ConstittltioiS; as2 ho assumption of doubtful powers. ' ; . , K o National Dank tu swindl the laboring population. No cennectipa etwecp the government andbank. ' A Diplomacy. akinr for notiiinrr but what is dear-

J ly right and submitting to noin wrong. . i . No public debt, eitlier by the General Government, or by the Slates, except lot objects of urgent necc; sity. - - ' ' " 1 No assumption by the General Government of the debts of. the States ejtLer. .directly or indirectly, by a distribution of the proceeds cf the public lands. ; . r, A Revenue tariff, titscriminating in favor of tho poor consumer instead of the rich capitalist. . , Jto extensive system of Internal Jmj.rovcmect by the General Government, or by the States! SJ A cpnstituTionai barrier against improvident btat loans. - The honest payment of ojf debts and the sacred preservation of the public faith.A gradual return from a paper credit system. .. j grantsiof ejclusive charters and privileges, by , special legislation, to banks. No connexion between Church and Slate. No proscription for honest opinions. Fostering aid to public education. A "progressive" reformation of -all abuses. apprehension of interference from us, proceeds to carry into effect the inhuman threats she lias lately made against our Texian neighbors. Is that to pass, tool Bfcfore we enter this same path of peace, let us look alittle in advance, and settle .whi-di is our way out. Mex ico has lormally, publicly, otf.cially warned the lexi-. ans to evacuate their country ; and declares, that, if they refuse, every one who shall be guilty of the crimt of being found anywhere in Texas three miles front her western frontier, shall be put to death. Is that. in this nineteenth- centurv. incredible 1 It is true . Witness the " Orders of General Wo!l " as official ly communicated by our Secretary of State, carrying but the provisions of Santa Anna's decree of June 17 ; a decree, which forbids all quarter to the Texians, under penalty, to the olScers.non-complying, tf the Lsi of their Commissions.,,. Here is the black record : ORDERS OF GENERAL WOLL. XicAWt AtTEas or rut Abmt or the NoTrr ' v Mie, June 20, . " I, AAiian Woll, General of Bifcade, &c, make known: " 1. The armistice agreed on wita the department f Tesai having expiied, aod Jbe war being, in eonenence. recmnmeosed against tfcer Inhabitants of the department, all cum municalion with it ceases. . . 2. Every individual of whatever condition, who miy contravene, the provisions of Ibe preceding aiiicle, shall be regarded at a traitor, and shall reci ire the punishment piescribed in aiticle 45, title 10, treatise 8, of the articles of war. 44 3. Ecery individual who may be found at a distance of or.e.Jeagiie from the left bank, of the Ili-t Brvo, triJ .be re garied as a. favorer and accomplice cf the usurer of thst part of the national termor y,nnd ts a traitor of his country i and, after a summary military trial, shall receive the abort puniihmmt. "I Every individual who may ,be compreheodrd witbia the provisions o the pieceding rarticle, and may be iah enough .to. fly at the sight f;arty force .belonging to the Supreme Government, sha 1 be parau- d, until taken or put to death." The orders are plain as language" can ake them! The.crime is being found in Texas. Every individuel frcm the fact, of. his being cq fviuid, is to be held and deemed to be a " traitor of hjs country ; " and, as eveb', monstrous as it may seem ! all for there is no d.stinction, no exception made or hinted at EVJtlY" human. being there found, is, afier summary military trial, to suffer a traitor's death ! - , In comfortably pursuing our path of peace and of, safety, these " Orders " meet cur, eye. Are we to pass them by I ' T-o, notice. lhcm might breed a quarrel. Have we a right to notice them 1 I suppose the next question will be, whether we have a right to fire on the pirate s flag, or to thwart his good pleasure, when he bids his victims walk the plank, and consigns them to a watery grave. But, if needs he, we may find proof, that the law of nations docs, in some cafees -7-and this is crie permit us to follow the dictates of mercy and justice. , In every civil war; as has been' already shown from Vattel, international law requires loth part es t "observe' the common laws of war, the maxims if hnmn n i fir mrwtfmtinTi nrtA t nnrir ' Wfi-it ,m 1 Vi r jaws ; yattei jnform U8. M On an enemy's submitting and laying down his arms, we cannot wi h jus'ice .take away his life. Thus, in a battle quarter u given to tho-e who lay ,dwn Iheir aroisj and, io a siege, a ganison offering to capitulate are never to beiefused thrir lives." Vattel, Bock Hi, chap. 8. . Werden, cbildien, feeble o'.d men, aid ick person, come ander tbe.-üescripüon .of enemies ; and we have rei tain rights over them, inasmuch as they belong to the nil ion with which we are at war. Itat they ate enemies, who tnaVe s resistance ; and con-equently we hate bo. tight to maltreat their persous, much lets to take a- ay their lire. . Thia is so plaiu a .natim of justice and humanity, that, at present, every.natiun in the least dtgtee civilized acquiesces ia it." Ibid. 1 .sr.- ' '. , 1 - ' 1 . " It was a dreadful error of antiqnity, 1 most onjurt and savage claim, to asum a right of Utting piisooer of war to iteath, even by the hand of the excutki er. Mure jut and humane pi incites have, long siucr, been adopted." Ibid. But Mexico, we may be toldj only threatens this flagrant violation. of the law.of nations. The threat is itself illegal What we may not do, neither are w permitted to threaten. Says VatU I : , , Whatever advantage you miy promise yonrself f.ora aa unlawful proceeding, that will not wariantyon in the ose 0 it. The meiiace of an uniust punhbment it unjust in itself 1 it is an insult and an injury." Bjok HL, thap. X. But lz threat is idle, it has been said; merely meant to intimidate ; too horrible to be fulfilled. If the blood shed on the plains of Goliad had a voice; if the wath pf the Alamo could sprak ; would they vpuch ' for it,' that Mexico is- too. 'tenderhearted to keep her word ! The treaty of capitulation wkh poor Fannin was formally drawn up and .signed by both Mexican and Texian officers ; yet the morning of Falin Sunday saw four hundred disarmcdten .marched out and shot down, like beeves in a slaughter-house. . Fronj wha. has been we are justified iii deciding wh"t will be. But still, if these threatened crimes are committer by Mexico, where do we find warrant to interposa an3 arrest tlieni! That, too, pji'afl be forthcoming.' It would be f trarge if it could not be found. Of what use is a law without a penalty ! Of what avail the laf of nations, if nations are not authorized to see it obeyed. ' So decides Vattel : ,. , , l - The hwa of : natural society are of such importance t the Safely of II the State, that, if. the custom once prevail ed of tranpling them under foot, no nati in could -flattrr brraejf with the hope, of pusorvin her na ional independence, and enjoying dumtslic tranquility. . . , All ratiif have therefore a right t resort to forcible mlantfor the pur? pose of repretting any ont particular nation who openly tier tales the Uws wf society which nature has established betweeu thpm, or who diitclly attack the welfatc and safety of that society. "Vattel Prelim. p. xir, iiere, then, we have the law and its application. Mexico has openly violated, and declared her purp 6 in aggravated form, again openly to violate, the, holiest llfws of civilized socieyr. By so doing she justifies us in resorting to force for the purpose of repressing her. Shall we do so !,. It is not always expedient to avail ourEclyes of a riht, .We are not bound to become the Don Quixotes of the age and sally forth to redreaS all the grievances of the civilized world. Thai has never, so far, been the policy of our .country. Greece and Poland had more or less of our sympathy, and that was all. We assumed not. to decide on tho British doings in Afghanistan, or t3 judge the conduct of the opium war against Chinti. . ut Texas is our next neighbor, and was once tinker our special guardianship. We are, t$ .empVj the. law phrase in it strictest sense, her nearest (riend. To us, if to any nation upon earth, she has a rijjh to took for 6uccor aqd, protection. Shall we forsaki her now ! If such be ouj decision, it behooves us, as prudent men, full, fo. digest our plan ; and trace Xo, it final consequences. ..ü?sy.that we remain inactive and neutral, and suffer things to take their course.. ..What happens! Just at. this moment Mex.'co is embroiled at home. Bui her civil wars are ever of short duration. And to Texas it matters little which of the barbarian tri umph. They have both, like Hannibal at the altar, sworn eternal enmity to her. They vie with each Other in protestations of xeaL Death and destructqn to the Texians ! that, even now, is the theme of every despatch, the burden of every proclamation. The victor, be he Farcdcs or Santa Acnai is pledged to. carry ont, without delay i all itj barbarity, the menaced invasion,. To sustain and gve brilliancy tu newly gotten power, he must redeem his pledge. Im-i agtup scqutd, ! The kio Brpvo is crossed. Another luugue, and a ruffian scldiery their swords yet wet with the blob! of their eouRtn-roen-enter the doomed bj.'J. ' Must I call up before yoir the. scenes that axe to ensue I Cruelj at best, and terrible, is the trada ef