emancipation. We have seen the fell spirit of civil dissension rebuked, and, perhaps forever, stifled in that Republic, by the love of independence."

*

Deeply interested as we are in the prosperity of our sister Republics, and more particularly in that of our immediate neighbor, it would be most gratifying to me were I permitted to say that the treatment which we have received at her hands has been as universally friendly as the early and constant solicitude manifested by the United States for her success gave us a right to expect. But it becomes my duty to inform you that prejudices, long indulged by a portion of the inhabitants of Mexico against the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, have had an unfortunate influence upon the affairs of the two countries, and have diminished that usefulness to his own which was justly to be expected from his talents and zeal. To this cause, in a great degree, is to be imputed the failure of several measures equally interesting to both parties; but particularly that of the Mexican Government to ratify a treaty negotiated and concluded in its own capital and under its own eye. Under these circumstances, it appeared expedient to give to Mr. Poinsett the option either to return or not, as, in his judgment, the interest of his country might require; and instructions to that end were prepared; but, before they could be despatched, a communication was received from the Government of Mexico, through its Chargé d'Affaires here, requesting the recall of our Minister. This was promptly complied with; and a representative, of a rank corresponding with that of the Mexican diplomatic agent near this Government, was appointed. Our conduct towards that Republic has been uniformly of the most friendly character; and, having thus removed the only alleged obstacle to harmonious intercourse, I cannot but hope that an advantageous change will occur in our affairs."

Mr. Poinsett went home, and Mr. Butler remained as Chargé d'Affaires from the United States to Mexico, and the instructions which he bore to Mr. Poinsett were extended to him. As to the circumstances attending the appointment of Mr. Butler to this office, there was no document that he (Mr. A.) knew of that explained them; but he believed that, among the mass of documents which had accompanied the President's message the other day, and which the House had laid on the table, and refused to print, enough would be discovered, at least, to raise the suspicion that this same Mr. Butler was himself deeply concerned in speculations in Texas lands. Mr. A. was unwilling to set on foot suspicions to the injury of any one, and he should at this time refrain from saying what he thought was evidence that Mr. Butler was interested in the lands of Texas, and in the revolution which followed soon after he went to Mexico.

**

One step further, and one year later. Here we have the state of things as they existed in 1829. I will now (said Mr. A.) take the liberty of reading from a letter, written by Dr. Mayo, a confidential officer of the Government at the time, written in 1830, to the President of the United States, in which there was enclosed cipher, the cipher, I believe, of the Masonic order,

Here Mr. Boon rose, and called the orders of the day, alleging that the morning hour had expired.

Mr. HOWARD Would make an inquiry. It was now Friday; the House was to adjourn on Monday; in case the gentleman from Massachusetts did not finish his remarks, so as to afford time for a reply at this session, could they be replied to at the next session of Congress ? The CHAIR said that that would be for the House to decide at the proper time.

* See note, ante, page 106.

Mr. ADAMS remarked that the time of that House was under the control of the gentleman and his friends, and not in his own.

And here the House proceeded to the orders of the day.

SATURDAY, JULY 7, 1838.

Mr. ADAMS. When the hour expired yesterday, I was adducing evidence to show that the conduct of the Executive Administration of this Government toward that of Mexico was marked by duplicity and hostility-by hostility to the extent of a deliberate design of plunging us into a war with that Power, for the purpose of dismembering her territories, and annexing a large portion of them to this Union. This projected war was avowed, openly, sixteen months ago, by the Executive, and was countenanced and supported by a report from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, but not by this House, at that time. The same hostility and the same duplicity have been continued to this day. I stated that, in consequence of the application by this Government for the purchase of Texas, made through the gentleman now at the head of the Department of War-a gentleman of the highest respectability, but who is himself a citizen of one of the slaveholding States most interested in the perpetuation of the system of slavery-the Mexican Government became so dissatisfied with him, then our Minister there, that it had demanded his recall. In the annual message of the President, at the Congress of 1829-'30, it was stated that the recall had been made, and that a Chargé d'Affaires had been appointed to that legation in the place of the Minister thus recalled. I referred, among other things, to a very remarkable document, dated 25th August, 1829, drawn up by a gentleman, then Secretary of State, but who has since become the Chief Magistrate of the Union, in which the proposition for the purchase of Texas is renewed, and urged with extraordinary earnestness and very elaborate argument. But I neglected to notice the fact that this letter of instructions was prepared precisely at the time that a Spanish force from the island of Cuba was invading Mexico. I read from the letter a passage going to show that it was within the knowledge of this Government that Mexico was then in a distressed situation, and that it might be charged upon us that we took advantage of that state of things to press our application for the purchase of a part of her territory; but disavowing, in the strongest terms, every thing like such a design. I entreated members of the House to read that document, as containing demonstrative proof of the duplicity which I have charged upon that Administration.

It did so happen that this letter of instructions did not arrive in Mexico till after the Mexican Government had peremptorily demanded the recall of Mr. Poinsett, and after the total failure of the Spanish invasion, which two events occurred at nearly the same time. The messenger who took out the letter was appointed Chargé d'Affaires, and the letter, being transferred to him in his new character, became the standing instruction of the United States diplomatic functionaries near that Government. In that letter, among other arguments in favor of the cession of Texas, is stated the fact that large numbers of the citizens of the United States were rushing into that territory, obtaining grants of land, with the purpose of exciting an insurrection of the province against the Mexican Government, and that this design had been cherished for years.

This fact was adduced, I say, in a letter bearing date the 25th of August, 1829, and urged as one of many arguments in favor of the cession. Now, it is a matter of notoriety that at that time there were large numbers of American citizens, particularly from the Western States, engaged in that laudable occupation. I believe that you, sir, as a citizen of Tennessee, may be as well acquainted with what I am now stating as any other individual in this House, or, perhaps, in this country; and I may, without hazard of contradiction, state, that in the State of Tennessee there existed great numbers of such speculators; and, further, that they had great influence with the then head of the Executive Government. I believe that this despatch may, in a great degree, be referred to the influence of those speculators, whether persons remaining in the United States and sending others out, or whether themselves going as adventurers into Texas.

I must add that this state of things was well understood in Mexico at that time. That it was, is evident from the report laid before the Mexican Congress in 1829, by the then Secretary of State, an extract of which I will now read to the House:

"The North Americans commence by introducing themselves into the territory which they covet, on pretence of commercial negotiations, or of the establishment of colonies, with or without the assent of the Government to which it belongs. These colonies grow, multiply, become the predominant part in the population; and as soon as a support is found in this manner, they begin to set up rights which it is impossible to sustain in a serious discussion, and to bring forward ridiculous pretensions, founded upon historical facts which are admitted by nobody, such as La Salle's Voyages, now known to be a falsehood, but which serve as a support, at this time, for their claim to Texas. These extravagant opinions are for the first time presented to the world by unknown writers; and the labor which is employed by others in offering proofs and reasonings, is spent by them in repetitions and multiplied allegations, for the purpose of drawing the attention of their fellow-citizens, not upon the justice of the proposition, but upon the advantages and interests to be obtained or subverted by their admission.

“Their machinations in the country they wish to acquire are then brought to light by the appearance of explorers, some of whom settle on the soil, alleging that their presence does not affect the question of the right of sovereignty or possession of the land. These pioneers excite by degrees movements which disturb the political state of the country in dispute; and then follow discontents and dissatisfaction calculated to fatigue the patience of the legitimate owner, and to diminish the usefulness of the administration and of the exercise of authority. When things have come to this pass, which is precisely the present state of things in Texas, the diplomatic management commences. The inquietude they have excited in the territory in dispute, the interests of the colonists therein established, the insurrection of adventurers and savages instigated by them, and the pertinacity with which the opinion is set up as to their right of possession, become the subjects of notes, full of expression of justice and moderation, until, with the aid of other incidents which are never wanting in the course of diplomatic relations, the desired end is attained of concluding an arrangement onerous for one party, as it is advantageous to the other.

"It has been said further, that when the United States of the North have succeeded in giving the predominance to the colonists introduced into the countries they had in view, they set up rights, and bring forward pretensions founded upon disputed historical facts, availing themselves generally, for the purpose, of some critical conjuncture to which they suppose that the attention of Government must be directed. This policy, which has produced good results to them, they have commenced carrying into effect with Texas. The public prints in those States, including those which are more immediately under the influence of their Government, are engaged in discussing the right they imagine they have to the country as far as the Rio Bravo. Handbills are printed on the same subject, and thrown into general circulation, whose

object is to persuade and convince the People of the utility and expediency of the meditated project. Some of them have said that Providence had marked out the Rio Bravo as the natural boundary of those States, which has induced an English writer to reproach them with an attempt to make Providence the author of their usurpations: but what is most remarkable is, that they have commenced that discussion precisely at the same time they saw us engaged in repelling the Spanish invasion, believing that our attention would, for a long time, be thereby withdrawn from other things."

There is an extract to be compared with the letter of instructions from Mr. Van Buren of the 25th August, 1829, which I have referred to, and with the offer made at the same time to purchase the province of Texas. The one is a commentary upon the other; and the two, taken together, furnish full demonstration of the truth of the charge that there has been, on our part, towards the Mexican Government, a series of duplicity and hostility, accompanied by a secret design to wrest from her possession a portion of her territory. I entreat gentlemen to compare these documents; to examine them; and to see the gross duplicity which is even avowed in one paragraph of this paper, and which, though less openly, pervades the whole of it.

I shall now present to this House, and to the country, a document which is not of a public nature. But, before doing so, I must refer to a letter from Dr. Mayo, a confidential officer of the Administration, to President Jackson, dated the 2d of December, 1830, one year after the date of the instructions I have read to the House. It begins thus: "To Gen. ANDREW JACKSON, President of the United States:

"The enclosed is the scheme of a secret alphabet, in the handwriting of

which came into my possession in the manner hereinafter mentioned, and which I confide to your excellency, together with the following statement of facts, to be used in any way your excellency may deem proper. Written out, the alphabet stands thus: [Here follows an engraving explaining the cipher alphabet referred to.]

"Some time in the month of February last, as nearly as I can recollect, certainly very shortly after Gen. Samuel Houston arrived in this city, I was introduced to him at Brown's Hotel, where both of us had taken lodgings. Our rooms were on the same floor, and convenient for social intercourse; which, from the General's courteous manners, and my own desire to be enabled to do him justice, in my own estimation, relative to his abandoning his family and abdicating the Government of Tennessee, readily became frequent and intimate. Upon what he, perhaps, deemed a suitable maturity of acquaintance, he spoke freely and minutely of his past history. He spoke of his separation from Mrs. H. with great sensibility, and deprecated the injurious opinion it had made upon a considerable portion of the public mind, disparaging the sanity of his intellect, or rectitude of his moral character. Judging favorably, no doubt, of the progress of our acquaintance, and the prepossessing impression it had made on me in relation to the salubrity and general competency of his intelligence, with rectitude of impulses, he complained of the inadequate defence volunteered in his behalf by the editor of the Richmond Enquirer, and solicited me to write communications for the columns of that paper, and use my friendly interest with the editor for their publication. I promised to make a sketch of something anonymous respecting my favorable impressions, and show it to him. But before I had time or full pliancy of mind to digest any thoughts upon the subject, our frequent interviews, and his confidence in my serving his ends, doubtless, induced him to avow to me more particularly the ground of his solicitude to have his character and mental competency elevated before the public. He descanted on the immense field for enterprise in the Indian settlement beyond the Mississippi, and through that, as a stepping-stone, in Texas; and recommended me to direct my destinies that way. Without making any promises or commitments, I did not discourage, at this stage, his inflated schemes for my advancement, as I had a curiosity, now on tip-toe, to hear his romantic projections, for his manner and his enthusiasm were at least entertaining. Accordingly he went on to develop much of a systematic enterprise, but not half what

I have since learnt from another source; perhaps because he discovered that my interest in the subject did not keep pace with the anticipations he had formed for the progress of his disclosures. I learnt from him these facts and speculations, viz:

"That he was organizing an expedition against Texas; to afford a cloak to which, he had assumed the Indian costume, habits, and associations, by settling among them, in the neighborhood of Texas. That nothing was more easy to accomplish than the conquest and possession of that extensive and fertile country, by the co-operation of the Indians in the Arkansas Territory, and recruits among the citizens of the United States. That, in his view, it would hardly be necessary to strike a blow to wrest Texas from Mexico. That it was ample for the establishment and maintenance of a separate and independent Government from the United States. That the expedition would be got ready with all possible despatch; that the demonstration would and must be made in about twelve months from that time. That the event of success opened the most unbounded prospects of wealth to those who would embark in it, and that it was with a view to faciliate his recruits, he wished to elevate himself in the public confidence by the aid of my communications to the Richmond Enquirer. That I should have a surgeoncy in the expedition, and recommended me in the mean time to remove along with him, and practise physic among the Indians in the territory."*

There is much more to the same general effect; but as these documents are all contained in a printed pamphlet which is accessible to all, and has been some time in print, I forbear to read further. But the paper I am now about to read is not in print. It is a letter from the late President of the United States to William Fulton, Esq. then Secretary of the Territory of Arkansas, and the endorsement upon it shows that a similar letter was addressed to the United States District Attorney in Florida. The paper I hold in my hand is a copy. I have seen the original, in the handwriting of Gen. Jackson; it is now in this city, and can be seen by any gentleman who has a curiosity to examine it.

"(STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.)

“WASHINGTON, December 10, 1830. "DEAR SIR: It has been stated to me that an extensive expedition against Texas is organizing in the United States, with a view to the establishment of an independent Government in that province, and that Gen. Houston is to be at the head of it. From all the circumstances eommunicated to me upon this subject, and which have fallen under my observation, I am induced to believe and hope (notwithstanding the circumstantial manner in which it is related to me) that the information I have received is erroneous, and it is unnecessary that I should add my sincere wish that it may be so. No movements have been made, nor have any facts been established, which would require or would justify the adoption of official proceedings against individuals implicated; yet so strong is the detestation of the criminal steps alluded to, and such are my apprehensions of the extent to which the peace and honor of the country might be compromitted by it, as to make me anxious to do every thing short of it which may serve to elicit the truth, and to furnish me with the necessary facts (if they exist) to lay the foundation of further measures.

"It is said that enlistments have been made for the enterprise in various parts of the Union; that the confederates are to repair, as travellers, to different points of the Mississippi, where they have already chartered steamboats in which to embark; that the point of rendezvous is to be in the Arkansas Territory, and that the co-operation of the Indians is looked to by those engaged in the contemplated expedition.

"I know of no one whose situation will better enable him to watch the course of

*[Copy of endorsement on the above by the President.-"Dr. Mayo,—on the contemplated invasion of Texas,-private and confidential, -a letter to be written (confidential) to the Secretary of Arkansas, with a copy of confidential letter to Wm. Fulton, Esq., Secretary to the Territory of Florida."]