asaa

BBS

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATES

Gift of
HENRY R. WAGNER

POLITICAL SKETCHES

EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON;
IN FOUR PARTS,
WITH ANNOTATIONS TO EACH.

A GENERAL APPENDIX: AN ALPHABETICAL INDEX:

A SERIES OF CHARTS,
GIVING A COMPARATIVE STITOPSIS OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL
STATES, AND THE UNITED STATES.

BY ROBERT MAYO, M. D.
Author of an Inaugural Thesis on the Sensorium, University of Pennsylvania, 1808 ;
Compiler of an Epitome of Ancient Geography, with Maps, for the use of Seminaries, Phila
delphia, 1814; and a New System of Mythology, with plates, Philadelphia, 1819; Compiler
of the Pension Laws, with opinions of Attorneys-General of the United Sftates, and Analyti
cal Tables, by desire of the Secretary of War for the use of the Pension Office, Washington,
V. C. 1832, tfcc. &e.

BALTIMORE:
PUBLISHED BT FIELDING LUCAS, JR.; GARRET ANDERSON, WASHINGTON;
R.J.SMITH, RICHMOND; CAREY, HART & CO., DESILVER, THOMAS & CO.
AND J. DOBSON, PHILADELPHIA; G. & C. CARVILL & CO. AND COLLINS,
KEESE & CO. NEW YORE J C. C. LITTLE & CO. AND HILLIARD, GRAY &
CO. BOSTON. 1839.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, on the twenty-seventh day of
December, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, by Robert Mato,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Columbia.

PREFACE

From a transient glance at the panorama of political events that have
crowded the canvass within the last eight or ten years, it has at length
become apparent to every eye that those great operatives time and
experience are bringing all their resources to bear on the fate of our
once promising constitutions of government ; the one aiming its wither-
ing powers at their destruction, the other exerting its conservative facul
ties to cure the diseases which have at the same time been gradually
undermining them.
In this political portraiture, the recent demonstrations of the federal
Executive upon the government of the state of Pennsylvania stands in
bold relief, and deserves the close inspection of every American citizen,
as well as the serious deliberations of every statesman. To aid them
in making out a more digested and methodical sketch of the materials
which compose this section of the general scheme, I have thrown to
gether in a Postscript to Part the First of this work, the principal facts
with appropriate reflections from the columns of distinguished editors
and other unquestionable authorities. For a more ample review of our
whole political canvass with the diversified commentaries connected
with the present important epoch in the history of free government, I
would commend the historian to an examination of the leading journals
of either political party, as the best sources of a correct narrative of the
varying phases and incidents of American history, except where the
facts are incontrovertibly established by public records, official reports,
and congressional proceedings.
In the following work I have proposed to myself the lighter task of
bringing the prominent features of these materials together in such
connection of affinity which cause and effect have appeared to my mind
to point out, in order to demonstrate their practical bearing upon the
durability of our institutions. And I am truly grieved, as an American
citizen, to say, that in looking deeper than the mere surface of the recent

PREFACE.

rebellion at Harrisburg, a most atrocious conspiracy of the members of
the federal Executive against the stability and purity of our popular
institutions, both state and federal, is obvious and undeniable ; and that
the agency of corrupt men of all parties throughout the Union, are
among the means resorted to, to promote and accomplish their purpose.
For, though the outbreak has taken place in Pennsylvania, the scheme
of disorganization is not confined to that state. True, their operations
have been more industriously pursued in that state, as the most suitable
theatre, from its central position and other appliances, to enact the first
part of their diabolical tragedy.
In making this exposition the more clear and conclusive, I have
thought it proper to remount a little beyond the day, to show the quo
animo of their former rehearsals upon the same, and the adjoining thea
tre of Maryland ; but not meaning it shall be inferred by these selections,
that the like have not taken place in New York, Baltimore, Boston, and
elsewhere, as part and parcel of the various riots that have occurred by
their direct or indirect instigation of the deluded democracy of numbers.
The following sagacious remarks of the experienced editor of the
Baltimore Merchant will give a foretaste of those sinister party proceed
ings as exhibited in the Postscript above mentioned. These extracts are
indeed invaluable as a preliminary to those exhibits ; and they are still
the more so for the facts embraced in the first, particularly, which, to
my mind, taken in connection with other facts in every man's recollec
tion, go to correct a very fatal error that has heretofore tended more to
inflame and perpetuate party dissensions and denunciations than all
other causes united. That error consists in the sweeping injustice with
which political parties are wont to stigmatize their adversaries, in mass,
as being actuated by views and objects inimical to the interests of parti
cular States, of the Union, or of the general wellfare. But whatever may
have been the radical and irreconcilable differences between the views
and principles of the whigs of the revolution and the Tories of that
day, it is clear to my comprehension, upon a fair inspection of the mate
rials which of late years have entered into the composition of the Jack
son-Van Buren party, that Mr. Jefferson was mistaken in denouncing the
federalists (who derived their cognomen from their advocacy and
success in the adoption of the federal constitution) as hostile to republi
can principles and the best interests of the Union. So palpable an
inconsistency charged, and injustice practised, towards those ever to be
gratefully remembered patriots, down to the last day of his life, is the
more surprising, as he had, at his. first inauguration, in the true spirit of
that compromise which took place between his friends and opponents in

PREFACE. V
effecting his election, solemnly and truly declared that 'we are all fede
ralists, we are all republicans.' And under a like estimate of those who
have renounced and abandoned the unrighteous firm of Jackson and Van
Buren in disgust, it is equally erroneous in the federalists, federal repub
licans or whigs, to denounce the self-styled republicans per excellence
in a body, as radical anarchists and disorganizes, inimical to social order
and the supremacy of the laws, instigators of mobs, insurrections, and
the levelling process of agrarianism in impugning the sacred rights of pro
perty and the inviolability of contracts. Yes, when we see daily before
our revolted sense. of consistency and common honesty (patriotism out
of the question as a stale and unfashionable commodity) that the Jackson-
Van Buren party, is, in a great degree, made up of odds and ends of all
parties, consisting of men of broken fortunes and crooked principles, of
easy consciences and adventurous spirits, we are justified in the deduc
tion, that the censures reciprocally cast upon each other by conflicting
parties, properly belong only to the dishonest individuals of either party,
who have come into the political market wilh the price of their con
sciences on their tongues, and are ready to serve any party that hap
pens to be uppermost, or is so likely to be, and will pay them best. My
inference, therefore, is, that an honest man, whether he assumes the party
denomination of whig, republican, federalist, federal-republican, demo
crat, or democratic-republican, or any other of the hundred denomina
tions of party nomenclature, is worth a thousand dishonest men, what
ever may be their hollow professions of devotion to the will and the
interest of the people. An honest man, whose fundamental principle
necessarily is to give every man his due, is a patriot, a philanthropist,
and pre-eminently a republican, all the world over, be the banner under
which he is enlisted or the country of his allegiance what they may :
while a dishonest man is the reverse of this, under whatever form of
government he may live, or whatever party professions he may attempt
to deceive others withal.
Nay, an honest, patriotic, and magnanimous prince, for all practical
good, is preferable to a dishonest, hypocritical, canting loco foco of the
Tammany Hall, district attorney, Price, or Independence Square, would
have been tory, and now rebel, blood-thirsty, Ingersoll stamp. But
there are so few honest men in the world, that I would take no man
upon trust, no matter what party colour he professes. And certainly not
him, under any considerations, who can have the hardihood to sow
rebellion at broad-cast and in every form throughout the land, by pro
claiming the heresy, that 'government is instituted to secure the greatest
benefits to the greatest number? thereby instilling the mischievous, preda-

VI PREFACE.
tory doctrine, in other words, that the few have no rights, and are
entitled to no benefits of government, that their millions in store as the
fruits of their industry, their providential care, and bountiful thrift, is the
rightful property of the worthless vagabonds, paupers, and vagrants of
the land, if they should happen to outnumber the more worthy portions
of society — thus holding out a reward to worthlessness, and a punish-?
ment to merit.
, With these qualifying preliminaries, the reader will, I hope, peruse
to advantage, the following extract from the Baltimore Merchant, of the
19th of June last, as it justly applies to many other prominent actors in
the present political drama, whose names are not there mentioned :
'Glimpses of real character. — Mr. Jefferson who knew mankind well,
always believed that the leading federalists were monarchists in disguise. This
he often declared, and not without reason. After the signal defeat of that party,
though the vigilance of others was suspended, he always kept his eye upon them,
and observed all their windings and turnings. In his letter to Lafayette, a short
time before his death, he speaks of them as being still a strong party, and more dan
gerous, because they had changed their name. He doubtless foresaw their
policy would be to attack the constitution under the more popular title of Demo
cratic Republicans. Their old leader, Mr. John Adams, in his letters to Cun
ningham, recommended them to change their name, and mingle with the repub
licans. The election of Gen. Jackson furnished them with the occasion and
they availed themselves of the counsel. They changed their name and mingled with
the Republican party, the members of which they very soon succeeded in driving
out of the administration. They then took entire possession of the government,
and all have witnessed the consequences. The government tended immediately to
monarchy, and has become one, in all save the written forms. They have left
the parchment only.
The declaration of some of these new disciples of democracy in past times, are
striking enough. Mr. Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, while he acted in his true cha/
racter, declared that 'if he had a drop of democratic blood in his veins,
he would let it out.' He put this royal declaration on paper, and it has risen
up in judgment against him. But this is nothing to the super-royal averments of
Mr. C. J. Ingersoll, a flaming disorganizer and democratic republican, and at
present a candidate for Congress and a leader of the Royalists in Pennsylvania. The
last Philadelphia paper brings us the following account of him. Such are the men
who have controlled the federal government for years past.
That party not only in this State, but through its official organ, the 'Globe,' holds
up C. J. Ingersoll, Esq. as a perfect sample of their principles and politics. His
sentiments, with regard to political duties and feelings, are their sentiments and
feelings. Nay, more— he is the candidate for Congress of that party in the hot bed
of their party, the third Congressional district, in the county of Philadelphia. If we
can, therefore, ascertain whether his sentiments are those of a Tory, the question
will be settled as to the whole party.
Fortunately we are left in no doubt on that point. We have his principles pro
claimed over his own signature, as early as 1807; and up to this day, as far as we
can learn, they are the only principles which he has never deserted.
In the Democratic Press of Friday, June 5th, 1807, the following paragraph was
published. "A would-have-been Tory.— One of Governor McKean's officers who sud-
planted a democrat, and who officiates in the Orphans' court, was heard to sav the
other day, that— 'had he been a man during the American Revolution he would'have
been a Tory— that every man of honour was a Tory during that time."

PREFACE. VU
The Tory referred to, knowing who was meant, addressed a letter to the editor of
that paper, which was published on Monday, June 8, 1807, from which the following
extracts are taken. The whole letter will be re-published, if desired.
'Mr. Binns: — Some^days ago, on my way to the Sheriff's office, where I had
occasion to call, I found that gentleman and Judge Jonathan Smith on the area in
front of the state-house ; after despatching my professional arrangements with the
sheriff, we talkejd politics, as we are in the habit of doing often, and with perfect
good humour. Mr. Smith remained entirely neutral. General Barker was, I thought,
unusually animated in reprobation of Tories, upon which I said, as you have pub
lished, that had I been a man during the Revolution I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A
TORY — that many of the best men in the country were so then. * * *
I endeavour to molest no body with my political sentiments, though I disdain to
disguise them, however heretical they may sound at this time of the tide. If I had
been capable of reason and reflection when the American colonies took up arms against
the mother country, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A TORY— NOR CAN I EVER
CONSIDER THAT AN APPELLATION OF REPROACH.'
(Signed) C. J. INGERSOLL.
No. 189 Chesnut-st. June 7, 1807.
So much for this Democrat. The Virginia public will now be at no loss to
understand why this gentleman is so great afavourite with T. Ritchie, and why the
Richmond Enquirer has been so zealous in its support of the administration for some
years past.'
About the same time that the above made its appearance, and before
the conspiracy to which the following relates, was blown to the public,
the editor of the Merchant made this solemn annunciation :
'That they (the Executive functionaries in this city) are keeping up an active
correspondence with leading demagogues in Philadelphia and elsewhere, we all know ;
and that there are secret organizations of men in more places than Philadelphia is
highly probable. ^ It is no difficult matter to create a pretext for the employment of
military forces thus organized. ' The supremacy of the laws' means as every man
knows, obedience to the orders issued, from time to lime, by the Executive. Resistance
to these orders is resistance to the 'laws,' as has been intimated on more than one
occasion in the last few weeks. Our security is in constant vigilance. It will not
do to trust these men. Our eyes must be constantly upon them ; for the past gives
us full assurance of what we may expect in the future. Depend upon it, as their
fortunes grow desperate, their efforts to redeem them will be desperate. They are
capable of attempting any thing.'
No man is better skilled in the late Executive tactics than General
Green, who was, for some time, their chosen official organ of the press.
But whoever should be disposed to question the correctness of his inspi
rations, or his insight into the tactics of the heir and imitator, will aban
don his doubts when subsequent developments have established their
truth. And to satisfy himself of that, the reader may now turn forward
to the postscript, or go regularly on, through the first part of the
political panorama I have endeavoured, in faint outline, to sketch before
him, till he reaches it, and there, recognizes this beginning of the circle.
One other subject must be noticed here. I have stated in a note,
page 14, in relation to the circular of the paymaster-general to disburs
ing officers — 'that it is considered at the treasury department as a bureau
arrangement of the paymaster-general's department.' The following
extract from Mr. Biddle's letter of the 10th of December last, to the

Vlll PREFACE:
Hon. J. Q. Adams, indicating some mistake in the above-mentioned
statement, I am induced' here to advert to it, to say, that it is verbatim
what was said to me by the chief clerk and occasionally acting secretary
of the treasury department, as late as October last. The obvious refleo
tion is, that as the chief clerk of the department is necessarily sup
posed to be acquainted with the immediate transactions of the secre
tary's office, the hypothecated comment with which I concluded that
note, comes to be true, without impugning Mr. Young's sincerity in the
least. •III. During these movements it became important to understand distinctly the
course of the government. In my letter to you of the 6th of April last, I stated my
'conviction that there could be no safe or permanent resumption of specie payments
by the banks until the policy of the government towards them was changed.' This
change was soon and happily made. On the 30th of May, the specie circular,
requiring payments in coin in the land offices, was repealed by -Congress. On the
25th of June, the bill called the sub-treasury, requiring coin in all payments to the
government, was negatived. In the month of July, the government agreed to receive an
anticipated payment of the bonds of the bank io the amount of between four and five
millions of dollars in a credit to the treasurer on the books of the bank — and arrange
ments were made for the more distant public disbursements in the
notes of the bank. These arrangements, as honourable to the Executive offi
cers, as they were beneficial to the public services, brought the government
into efficient co-operation for the re-establishment of the currency, and opened the
way to a resumption of specie payments. The resumption accordingly took place
throughout the middle states, on the 13th of August, and in many of the southern
and western states soon after.'
All commentary upon this development, will be superseded by the
hearty congratulations with which the intelligent and business commu
nity will be disposed to greet the secretary of the treasury upon these
symptoms of returning reason, though he seems to have been ashamed
to avow it, in his late financial report to Congress.
Washington^ January 1st, 1839.

TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE

A DEDICATION.

Esteeming you as a confederated and fraternal community
within the purview of your social compact, influenced by no
sectional or party considerations, and acknowledging the control
or the vassalage of no political aspirant — but enjoying a bond of
alliance cemented by the assimilation of political creeds, institu
tions, and pursuits, which are daily elaborating the endearing
products of the general welfare, and actuating you more and
more to a laudable love of your whole country, in whose national
destinies not only are your individual interests and those of your
posterity to the latest generation especially identified, but also
the dearest hopes of the advocates of freedom throughout the
world — to your grave deliberations I take the liberty of inscribing
the matters and specifications of the ensuing volume — -which, in
all their material bearings are the rightful and exclusive concern
ments ofthe whole people, however frequently agitated, usurped,
perverted, and misapplied, to subserve merely sectional, indi
vidual, or party purposes.
Upon their due consideration, you will probably be more
inclined to 'estimate the value of the union,' to which you have
been so frequently challenged of late years ; to estimate it, how
ever, not in the light sense of taunt and defiance because it is so
secure, so guarded, so sacred, that it is in no danger; but pn the
contrary, with fear and trembling, because it is so insecure, so
unguarded, so profaned) as to be reduced to the most imminent
2

VI DEDICATION. ,
danger!— and danger alone, enables us to place a true and proper
estimate upon the most precious treasure in our gift, while, with
out a deep and sincere conviction of that danger, we hardly know
how to lay any value on it at all.
In these portentous and perilous times, it may be useful for
you to bear in mind, that 'self-preservation' is the great and para
mount law of nature, which no alienation of natural rights, in
framing the sum total of social compacts, ever infringes — which
no civil institution, however prone to encroachments upon all
reservations, ever disparages. This law, though the emanation
of natural reason for individual protection in a state of nature, is
found to be transferable and strictly applicable to communities in
their social intercourse, and hence it has become also a funda
mental international law, not conventional indeed, but universally
recognized, as a matter of course, by force of natural reason.
National communities, crowded together in geographical propin
quity, have nevertheless found it necessary, in order to insure
the observance of this law, to throw around it the guards of con
ventional laws, checks, guaranties, and treaties, constituting
what is well known among European States, as the 'balance of
power' — being among them the true conservative, effective, aux
iliary ofthe 'natural law of self-preservation.' But in your case,
on account of your remoteness of situation from the liabilities
to foreign interference, you have little or no concern with the
balance of power between nations, as an auxiliary to this conser
vative law. Yet this exemption does not secure you against the
wiles of the destroying demon. If you have no foreign enemy,
singly, or combined by cupidity or envy, to make you afraid, you
have hundreds- and thousands of insidious foes, who make up
in numbers and artifice their deficiencies of physical strength ;
whose internal location amongst you, whose ramifications, inter-
minglings, and seeming participations in all your concerns, give
them incalculably more power to work mischief and destruction
to your institutions, than can justly be apprehended from the
most formidable array of foreign states.
You already anticipate me, and will, I have no doubt, heave a
deep sigh of assent to the truth of the annunciation, when I tell
you who they are. When I tell you they are your own chosen
servants, affianced to your interests and to their duties, first by

DEDICATION. VM
their neighbourship, and next by their oath of office, you will
hardly deny, from sad experience, but that it is too true ! Yet,
when you reflect that these men, before they became public ser
vants, or aspirants to office, were bone of your bone, and flesh of
your flesh, and while soliciting your confidence and trust, made
all plausible professions of identity of interests, you must stand
for a moment petrified and confounded with the incongruous
problem of human nature — and ask yourselves if all is lost, if
indeed there is no hope in man ! That I have not ceased to
hope, this book, (which, with all deference, I dedicate to you,) is
my token : but that my hope is a slender one, »this book (which
abounds with palpable causes of despair,) is also too ample a
token. Be that as it may, I am free to declare to you in advance, what
can easily be demonstrated in its proper place, (without advert
ing, here, to the intrinsic frailties of your political system itself.)
That your public servants are too prone to lose sight of those inte
rests they most cherished while they were plain citizens, to aban
don those fundamental principles they then advocated, and to
avail themselves of the facilities of their official trusts, to grasp at
pelf, power, and patronage : That the interests of politicians
and public functionaries are mainly antagonistical to the interests
of the great mass of the people, who constitute the true demo
cracy of every country ; and that all distinctions and conflictions
of party, are the ingenious devices for advancing the designs of
the former, at the too sore cost ofthe latter: That the ambitious
political aspirants are the sole agitators of party warfare, each
trying to win, to inveigle, or to seduce the plurality of numbers
to his standard, under the plausible pretences of a name, a prin
ciple, or a dogma, hunted up, or manufactured, to suit the exist
ing emergency; and that which ever may happen to triumph,
the people are sure to 'pay the piper,' though, in fact, there were
not a pin to choose between them. Or, indeed, if there be a dif
ference, it is discovered when too. late, that the most seductive
and successful in the arts of deception, have generally been those
who inscribe on their banner, a popular name, and stigmatize
their opponents with an odious one — assuming for their motto,
the vox populi — and for their i creed, any series oi plausible
abstractions, whose magic may promise gold to the people with-

Vlll DEDICATION.

out work, a government without tax, an administration without
expense, and a society without laws or constitution : though
their golden promises may end in banishing gold from the sight
of the people ; though1 their promised relief from taxation result
in an enormous and unwieldy surplus revenue, that tends to
increase corruption ; though their boasted economical adminis
tration may quadruple the expense of any former one ; though
their society without laws, may teem with mobs, Lynch law,
and murder, throughout the land — with piracy of the avowed
pupils of the same party, practised on a neighbouring nation, and
similar interferences with the internal affairs of another friendly
power, actuated in both cases, by agrarian cupidity, which
threaten your country with a war at both extremities ! !
These are the prolific fruitions of a too indulgent confidence
reposed by you, in the frail promises of a party, spoiled and
intoxicated with a popular name, which they have assumed as a
carte blanche to violate every promise and every principle in
which your true interests are based ; and of which I will fear
lessly say, the like cannot be cited, in the thousandth degree, in
the deeds of any other denomination of party, however stigma
tized and traduced, as anti-democratic, monarchical, despotic !
What then, may I ask you, is there in a name, but a siren note '
of the most baneful poison, when it chants the tones of the most
captivating promise, and that, too, with the deliberate purpose to
deceive, to cajole, and to betray ! Who will now have the hardi
hood to say,, that the thousandth part of such misdeeds, perpe
trated by a less plausible or popular party, would not have con
signed them to eternal infamy, if not to corporeal 'pains and
penalties V Does not this sufficiently demonstrate the bad policy
of intrusting personal favourites, alias spoiled children 
to administer or execute your agencies, without restraints or
responsibilities, except such as they, out of their own freak,
assume and prescribe for themselves, suited only to their own
convenience, knowing that their too kind and indulgent 'constir
tuents,' will not enforce any responsibility against them ? Does
it not prove that the arcana of governments are too remote from
the popular view, to fulfil the spirit and pledge of accountability
intended to be guarantied by your constitution, enveloped as they
are, like an Egyptian mummy, in a thousand folds of mystery,

DEDICATION. IX
which the initiated are in general either too interested, too timid, '
or too indolent to remove, and lay bare for your inspection, the
abominations they conceal.
You will, doubtless, agree with me, that these matters are
peculiarly worthy of your consideration at the present crisis,
when, as is obvious from the course of public events and discus
sions for years past, and becoming daily more alarming, 'all the
fundamental principles of your institutions' seem to be torn from
their sacred record, and thrown into the air, for a general scram
ble between conservatives and destructives, federalists and repub
licans, whigs and loco focos, or what not, each endeavouring to
appropriate to himself a few favourite axioms, or to substitute
some plausible dogmas, regardless of their consistency, or good
keeping with the cognomen of his party banner, or his former
professions, provided they but promise to subserve the existing
emergency !
Now, when the spell of enchantment, recently cast over your
better judgments by force of circumstances, has run! its day, and
affords a fit moment for cool retrospection, you will also agree
with me in the importance of instituting a vigorous effort among
yourselves, to restore, and make practical application of those fun
damental principles, to which you have been admonished by
most of your state constitutions to have 'frequent recurrence.'
Your first inquiry, then, will be, what were those fundamental
principles, and where are they now ? Do they still exist in prac
tice, or only in name ? How, and by whom, have they been set
at naught ? How, and by whom, can they be rescued from the
hands of the spoilers ! be restored to their true reading ! and the
black lines, with which they have been chequered and defaced
by party traces, neatly expunged ! ! Whether this be effected
by means of a national convention, based on congressional repre
sentation, and selected from among yourselves, as citizens, exclu
sive of all office-holders, executive, legislative or judicial, state
or federal — or by means of consultations in your primitive assem
blies, in the true capacity of a sovereign people — it is undenia
ble, the danger is yours, and the remedy is with you !
But continue supinely to defer its application to an indefinite
future, and I will dare predict that the worthy remnant of your
sires of the revolution, who yet linger with you, will witness

X DEDICATION.
your extorted avowal, that the only advantage you nowenjoy
from their toils, their privations, their profuse expenditures of
blood and treasure, is the poor privilege of being pozened and
misruled by your own household on this side of the Atlantic, in
lieu of the same grievances formerly practised by the proud mis
tress of the ocean, against which your fathers indignantly pro
tested, and staked upon the issue, their lives, their fortunes, and
their sacred honour!

INTRODUCTION.

Could I hope to convince you, my countrymen, by peremp
tory asseveration how sincerely I deprecate the character of an
alarmist who raises the hue and cry on trivial occasions or
without adequate cause, and that the present inauspicious bode-
ments of your public affairs are sufficient to justify any patriotic
and well meaning citizen possessed of suitable facilities of
information in assuming the responsible charge to wind the
clarion of danger, I should not here tender you a long introduc
tory dissertation in order to arouse your attention and persuade
you to grant me a patient hearing through the ensuing Volume,
but would proceed at once to recount to you for your rightful
arbitrament the various ill omened and pernicious matters it
exposes, without preface or remark—save only to declare in
general terms the solemn conviction which their recital as a con
catenated whole must inevitably bring to every reflecting mind,
viz. that your boasted master-piece of political systems, your
once well-poised federal government, to all outward appear
ances so happily adjusted and proportioned for endurance in all
its parts, has already far degenerated into the deplorable condition
of a practical revolution — a practical revolution which but.
too probably shadows forth the reality ofthe coming catastrophe
that threatens speedily to manifest itself to every eye, when too
late, by its consummation in a self-elected executive — who having
but too successfully 'brought the patronage of the federal gov
ernment into conflict with the freedom of elections',* his conse
quent inauguration will be the only brief ceremonial that may
delay for a day his identity with a self-willed despot.
Yes, I say I would proceed at once, under such a hope,
to lay before you, without preliminary, among thousands of other'
particulars shocking to the ear of a republican and moral commu
nity to hear, but nevertheless important to a complete history of
the times — 1. a detailed account of three editions of mock
Reform, alias Proscription, with their partial execution and
•Having brought the patronage of the federal government into'
conflict with the freedom of elections. — Of this fact abundant evidence
will he adduced in its proper place hereafter ; sufficient, indeed, to hase an impeach
ment upon, were that power of the two houses- of congress not paralized by execu--
tive influence, and patronage.

12 INTRODUCTION.
general failure, during the last eight or ten years : — resulting in
the engenderment of abuses and enormities, vastly exceeding
those professed tc be reformed ; such as the creation of new and
useless offices, sinecures, party pensioners, and charity incum
bents ; the multiplication of defalcations and frauds to a frightful
extent, and the consequent conflagration of public edifices ; with
a general dilapidation of public morals, and the abandonment of
useful pursuits, under the seductive and reiterated proclamation of
the government Press, 'that General Jackson would punish his
enemies and reward his friends :' 2. The Executive process of
reducing both houses of congress to be subservient to his will,
whether in their joint legislative functions, or in the separate
advisory executive counsels of the senate : — resulting also in a
great degree, in the pervertion of their legitimate objects (of
legislation for the national weal, and affording a salutary check
on the executive power,) into those of the most sinister of party
purposes, vindictive personalities, and individual aggrandize
ment : 3. The operations by which political aspirants elaborate
their party claims to office, make their approaches to the Execu
tive, prefer their spurious pretensions to his favour, and consum
mate their induction into the vacancies happening or created,
whether in foreign missions ; on the supreme judicial bench of
the United States ; in the several executive departments ; or in
the minor offices ; some with ulterior views to the future decision
of party questions, others to the appeasing of party claimants to
office, honours and emoluments, and all regardless of their
intellectual ability, or other fitness, to do honour to their appoint
ment, to themselves, and to their country : 4. The defections to
the public good, and the corrupt party devices of federal
legislation : — showing, in this regard, the usurpations and
encroachments of the executive, upon congressional legisla
tion *, the great accessions of executive patronage, by means of
such legislation, combined with executive assumptions of responsi
bility not delegated by law or the constitution ; the tendency of the
government to resolve itself into executive absolutism, by the
exercise and abuse of this enormous patronage, in the form of
rewards and punishments, or bribes and threats of the Executive,
operating directly or indirectly on the reputed co-ordinate branches
of the government, and on the elective franchise of the people —
virtually swallowing up the legislative functions and constitu
tional checks of those, with the sovereignty of these, in the
universally congestive organ of the Executive, inevitably render
ing that functionary a surfeited and depraved autocrat or
executive absolute : 5. The origin and progress of the late
president's hostility to the Bank of the United States and its
consummation in the removal of the treasury deposites,* at the
* ^EM°7.AI- °f the treasury deposites.— It must he consoling to every ad
vocate of his country's prosperity, to be able to anticipate the complete triumph of

INTRODUCTION. 13
instigation of a selfish, factious junto of conspirators, as a
covert means of monopolizing the speculations in the Public
Lands in the hands of political partisans, while subserving the
purposes of an electioneering drill; by superadding to the presi
dent's power of increasing the sales of public lands to any amount
at his discretion, the further power of distributing the surplus
funds of the government among favourites and venal partisans of
the eleventh hour, by loans through the instrumentality of pliant
Deposite Bank Directors, under the protecting JEgis of the veto
power to prevent the restoration of the treasury deposites to the
legitimate control of the Legislature — thus affording these vul
tures the means of preying upon the despoiled treasure of the
body politic, or in other words of acquiring princely monopolies
of the public lands, inordinately thrown into market to the
enormous amount of $40,000,000, during the election campaign
of 1835-36 — not because the pecuniary exigencies of the govern-
the great American financier over this lawless assault upon the United States Bank.
Having procured a state charter of a similar import from the legislature of Pennsyl
vania, lie is successfully locating branches in Several other states, so as to promise
speedily to substitute and supersede the necessity of a National Bank. The accom
plishment of Such a masterly design will be greatly more desirable, and more secure
in its permanent benefits on the commerce, trade, and business operations of the
country, by equalizing exchanges and insuring a Uniform currency, than would a
National Bank, subject to the caprice and intolerance bf party politics, with which
the nation is sadly threatened to be permanently cursed !
Upon this occasion the National Gazette of Philadelphia, William Fry,
Esq. & Son, proprietors and editors, has made an excellent remark, that merits to
be set in gold. Though it redounds in conclusion to the ludicrous memory of a
certain veteran editor, I shall not on that account, forego the pleasure of preserving
it here, as I shall do hereafter by several other specimens of editorial wit and good
humour, though at the expense of the same indefatigable and deluded partisan.
Upon the arrangement in progress, the Gazette remarks — that 'ih relation to the pro*
bability of there being no furrier occasion to vex the public mind with the agitation
ofthe National Bank question-^if the views taken are correct, and the plan spoken
of be carried out, we do not see why a National Bank, chartered by thei govern
ment, should not be entirely superseded. If the exchanges San be equalized, and a
sound and uniform currency produced by the proposed arrangement, we shall be
heartily rejoiced, and prepared to congratulate the country upon the settlement of a
question which has been used by politicians for years past to suit their own pur
poses. Our felicitations will be somewhat dashed, however, by the reflection that our
exceUent friend ofthe Richmond Enquirer, will be deprived of a fruitful subject, pro
ductive with him o/ 'indignation paragraphs, and blood-an-ouns' articles without num-
feer^and we are afraid frequently without much sense,' — Of cou&se, is my indorsa
tion. And I am sorry to add, that he has, nevertheless, artfully managed to keep
the Old Dominion under his thumb for twenty or thirty years, while ne yet con
tinues to devote a mellow old age to the upholding of exploded dogmas and party
intolerance, in despite and defiance of the better lights of Mr. Madison on settled
constitutional questions, and the warning of Mr. Jefferson in his conciliatory inau
gural address, admonishing the American people 'that having banished from our
fend that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and sutfered, they
should reflect that we have gained but little, if we countenance a political in
tolerance — as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody perse
cution!' The arrangements above alluded to, of establishing agencies or branches in other
states, by the United States Bank of Pennsylvania, had been so far accomplished, as
to authorize the paymaster-general of the army to enter into an arrangement with
the bank, as expressed in his official circular to his disbursing agents, of the 8th of
October last That circular has been going the rounds in the newspapers with an •
editorial caption, as follows :
3

14 INTRODUCTION.
ment called for such large sales to replenish the treasury—not
because the great demand for lands to supply the increasing
emigration and agricultural enterprise of the people required so
sudden a movement upon the forests and prairies ofthe far West;
but for objects the most selfish and anti-patriotic that can be
imagined, better known to the conspirators than to the Presi
dent himself in all probability, and as every honest man would
fain hope, not even suspected by him : all with the inevitable
and now well known result of abstracting and diverting the
currency from the useful purposes of commerce and the busi
ness intercourse of practical life, to minister to the cupidity of
wicked speculators, driving the mechanics, the manufacturers,
and the merchants from their appropriate vocations heretofore
fostered by the laws, to seek their precarious subsistence in the
'Bank of the United States. — By the following circular from the office ofthe
paymaster-general, it will be perceived that arrangements have been entered into
between the government and that institution, relative to the payment of the United
States Treasury drafts :' [CIRCULAR.] Paymaster General's Office, ?
Washington, October Sth, 1838. )
•Sir: — Arrangements having been made with the United States Bank, to pay the
Treasurer's dralts to a certain amount at different places, and it being probable the
notes of that bank will be as acceptable to the claimants, and in some more conve
nient than specie, you will, should you receive drafts on that bank or its agents,
make as many of your payments by checks as you can, which will give the receiver
the option of taking paper or specie ; and the department has no objection to your
using the paper of that bank in all your payments, so far as it can be done legally. -
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
N. TOWSON, P. M. G.'
This has been construed by many editors as an evidence of a concession on the
part of the Executive to the United States Bank, and that the arrangement entered
into by the paymaster-general, has been made by the specific order or recognition of
the President. Such an inference, however, must be entirely gratuitous upon every
principle of reasoning; for, if those conciliatory views emanated from the President,
they would not only amount to a forfeiture of his general pledge 'to follow the
footsteps' of his patron, and his specific pledge of uncompromising hostility to that
bank or a bank of the United States, but it would be equivalent to an abandonment
of his favourite Sub-treasury plot — which would be a double treason against his
adherents, and those who made him a great man. Besides, did this conciliatory
arrangement flow secondarily from the politic reflections of the president, he would,
or should have promulgated it through his secretary of the treasury, for the general
benefit of all disbursing officers. But the probability that almost amounts to cer
tainty, is, that the paymaster-general being in a highly responsibile position as the
largest disbursing officer ofthe government, who is obliged to have funds convenient
and current at all points of the union, he only exercised the deliberate and cool dis
cretion of his office, by entering into this arrangement with that bank, as the most
beneficial to the public service under all the circumstances. This much at least, I
know to be true— that the arrangement is not based on dny official action ofthe Presi
dent or the secretary of the treasury ; but that it is considered at the treasury depart
ment, as a bureau arrangement of the paymaster-general's department. If it has
received the private sanction of the secretary of the treasury, or has been entered
into by his private suggestion or procurement, it is only one of the many modes of
reaching a desirable object by indirection, so characteristic of men in a dilemma,
instead of confronting the main question by frankly and boldly recanting their error.
There can be no doubt, the United States Bank will hereafter be the government
agent m transferring funds for disbursement, but by the indirect arrangements of dis
bursing bureaus, so that the president may preserve the appearance of keeping his
word with his associates in a conspiracy against the bank.

INTRODUCTION. 15
western wilds, as the servile tenantry or dupes of the pampered,
traitorous and tory monopolists of the public domain — ever to be
reckoned among the most diabolical of the many baleful and
treasonable fruitions of 'a spoils dynasty!!' 6. The instrumen
tality of sundry other plots and devices of your wicked partisan
rulers,* contrived to accomplish and to vindicate the above
leading projects, and to gull the tolerant and confiding spirit of
the people in their behalf, to the end that their abused trusts and
overgrmon power be not withdrawn from them till they shall feel
secure by the soothings of usage and undisturbed possession,
to declare them perpetual — such as the establishment of a
Central Hickory Club, and other juntos or conspirators! of
general correspondence, with an arch intriguer and knave at their
head, instigated by the avowed and professed object of organizing
their caste throughout the whole union into party associations
and affiliated societies, to be under, the control a«d dictation of
this Central Club or Party Caucus at the seat of government, to
propagate to every, district, county, precinct and fireside, the will,
the decrees of this would be dictator, under the pretence of
promulgating a 'new code of democratic principles,' to humbug
the 'democracy of numbers,' to undermine the established insti
tutions of the country, ahd indoctrinate our 'infant government'
withall ; to which schemes, yet secretly J working their criminal
purposes of sapping and undermining your public institutions
through the land, I would also add, the establishment of a servile
monopoly, government plenipotentiary journal, equally un
known to the laws and the constitution, or to the republican sim
plicity of former administrations, and that too, under the sheer
pretence of selecting a job printer to the executive departments,
when, in fact, the editor of this journal never set a type in his
life, nor even knows what a font of type is, but, being a pettifog
ger 'at the. glorious uncertainty of the law,' is deemed by the exe
cutive a fit pirate upon the rightful patronage of printers, to be
conferred on him as a reward for his skill at special pleading to
make the worst appear the better cause, by artful perversions, dis-
* Wicked partisan rulers. — I will take this early occasion to acknowledge,
that great allowances might be made for the ignorance of these men, even if their
wicked purposes would permit them to do as well as their slender abilities would
enable them, for it is notoriously admitted, that none of them have been selected so
much on account of their profound attainments or statesmanly qualities, as on account
of their adroitness and zeal at electioneering — qualifications which should rather be
a recommendation to the gallows or the penitentiary, than to fill any responsible
public trust.
t Juntos or conspirators. — For the criminal character of such associations to
which I here allude, I subjoin an extract from 'Livingston's Code of Penal Laws' —
a careful perusal of which entire work, would be vastly instructive and useful to all.
He says, (page 141.)
'4. Any malicious combination or agreement to injure any individual, or description
of persons, in their reputation, or profession, or trade, or property, by agreeing not to
employ them, or by other means that jfiould not otherwise amount to an offence, is a
conspiracy, and shall be punished by fine, imprisonment, or both, &c. fee.
t See Appendix (A.) for ample evidences of the existence and purposes of these
associations.

16 INTRODUCTION.
tortions, and mystifications ofthe truth, to cajole and soothe the
jealousies and occasional suspicions ofthe people, while he picks
their pockets 'by authority,' and aids to rivet on them the chains
of party infatuation for a name, whose true purport and patriotic
bearing now, only belongs to history ; for, in fact, the noble, the
public spirited, and high-minded democratic firm that first
erected, and conducted business under the republican standard,
have long since paid the debt of nature, and have been succeeded
by a conspiracy of political black-legs, who well know the value
of the ol$ sign board of an honourable company, the regimental
uniform of departed heroes, the party cognomen of revolutionary
patriots, in lulling the sentinels of the people, while they dis
honour and pervert the sacred name and principles of republi
cans, to the private purposes of peculation, power and pelf :
7. And finally, I would give demonstration of the necessity and
practicability of a separation of the impeaching power and elective
franchise from the other three departments of the government,
to constitute a fourth and a fifth department ; the former under
the existing arrangement being futile or inoperative, and the lat
ter being subservient to the controlling influence of the existing
three departments, as the reciprocal instrument and incentive
of political strife, in which the executive department wields the
strongest arm — rendered irresistible by the appointing power
(called executive patronage,) being used as a reward to the servile,
and a punishment to the refractory : and would precede all of
which, without other preliminary, by a development of the con
spiracy of Samuel Houston and his associates to dismember
the Mexican dominions, subsisting treaties of peace and amity
between that country and the United States, under the conni
vance, the patronage, and the friendly countenance of the Presi
dent of the United States, from its inception to its final cccom-
plishment, while protesting his ignorance and disbelief of it in
his diplomatic and disingenuous correspondence with the Mexi
can minister, denying the just complaints of that much injured
neighbour and sister republic, to the indelible stigma of your
national honour.
But, my countrymen — apathy and supineness, with a blind
devotion to men, who conceal their treason under the revered
ancient symbols of liberty and democracy, which they disgrace
in their practice and deride in their hearts, have been too long
the order of the day with the great plurality of the sovereign
people, for any one to expect to quicken your interest in these
matters, however they may demonstrate the disastrous tendency
of your government to revolution — unless he make a previous
extra effort by some such appeal as I would here essay, in
order to stimulate that interest into lively anticipation, in the
hope to obtain a patient hearing of those details, (notwithstanding
your laudable prepossessions under the influence of deceptious
arts,) and thereby to render you sensible of your danger, elicit

introduction. 17
from you measures of prevention by which you may obviate -the
direful perpetration of the threatened mischief, and give renewed
assurance to the consoling opinion ofthe illustrious Madison,
expressed on the detection and defeat of Burr's conspiracy, viz :
'that the result of that enterprise is among the auspicious pledges
given by the genius of republican institutions and the spirit of a
free people for future triumphs over dangers of every sort that
may be encountered in our national career.'* But, for many
years past, in the face of the same conspiracy revived, and of a
multiplicity of other defections more insidious in their character,
reposing, as you seem wont to do, in the deceptive appearances
of inviolable security, because you have no apprehensions of ex
ternal violence, and knowing that you have nothing to fear from
yourselves, you are at all times too gratuitously inclined to bestow
unlimited confidence in the good faith of your public servants,
and in the staunch trim of the political system in which your
all is embarked, without suspicion, without scrutiny, inquiry or
supervision. I would therefore, fain entreat you seriously to contemplate that
awful problem, the truth of which is but too apparent to the
anxious eye of all reflecting minds, while you in the aggregate,
seem unconscious of it, that you are rapidly careering
the CYCLE OF POLITICAL DESTINY which authentic
HISTORY ASCRIBES TO ALL NATIONS OF 'A MORNING'S DAWN, A
MERIDIAN RENOWN, AND AN EVENING'S DECLINATION TOWARDS
THE GLOOMY ABYSS FROM WHENCE THEY EMERGED !' For SUch
i§ the laconic figure by which the supposed inevitable fate of nations
or political systems has been most appropriately and graphically
delineated. But may not this continued recurrence of revolutions, sweep
ing into their vortex of destruction, the best organized popular
institutions, as well as the vilest of despotisms, be mainly attribu
table to the fact, that the great Democracy of Numbers who con
stitute the bulk of the busy, bustling, business-teeming world,
are by their daily vocations, necessarily precluded, from the means
of forming a just estimate of the occult cabalic arts by which
political systems, good and bad, are continually revolutionized
in the hands of the designing and treacherous few, under the
evil instigation of human passion and human crime ? Do not
these malign incentives, nurtured and kept in countenance every
where by the triple alliance of personal ambition, party intole
rance, and cupidity of pelf, but work out the sordid vocation of
the political dramatists, in every change they impress upon sys
tems of government, whilst the busy, bustling world are riveted
with astonishment when too late, at the inscrutible (as to them)
and unexpected revolutions which follow, though long before
seen and anticipated in some form or other, by the no less busy
labourers in the secret walks, by-ways, and sinuosities of political
* See Mr. Madison's letter to Thomas S. Hinde, Esq.— sequel.

18 INTRODUCTION.
intrigue? Yet the busy world of numbers, the great pack-horses
of party politicians, are nevertheless destined in all cases to be
saddled with the enormous burthens and forfeitures incurred by
the political black-legs of the day, let who will win the smiles of
fortune in these desperate chances of national lotteries, by a tem
porary advancement of their ambitious career. Or rather, are
these ever revolving cycles of national destiny, but the natural
process by which political institutions shall ultimately attain the
goal of perfectibility, to which human improvements are now
rapidly advancing ? — a process, indeed, most happily illustrated
by the analogous principle of alternate destruction and repro
duction that is visible in all the departments of the physical
world !
It is not pretended, however, that these cycles of political sys
tems are necessarily of one duration, or circumscribed by a com
pass of any definite dimensions. Some indeed, are ephemeral as
the natural day, or as fleeting and insignificant as the lichens,
the zoophites, or the earth worms of incipient living nature, which
perform their functions and die to give place to more mature
developments — while others, like the higher orders of creation,
with gigantic strides rise to magnificence, roll on, and endure by
the blessings of a more judicious and statesmanly equipose,
through a halcyon period of some years, without a material de
viation in their course, or dilapidation of their machinery. There
needs but a cursory glance of the eye over the history of nations,
however, to perceive that there exists not a system, of govern
ment in any quarter, which has stood beyond the ordinary span
of a single human life, without encountering civil wars, carnage,
and revolution ! The great duration of the Roman empire itself
would not contradict this statement. For civil wars and revolu
tions continually marked her career, even during her most suc
cessful and triumphant march in the extension of her imperial
power ; and the liberty of her people had long become extinct,
while the external form of the Republic were still preserved in
the caption of her laws, and borne on her official stamps and
military standards — her monogram S. P. Q,. R. still proclaiming
THE SUPREMACY OF THE SENATE AND THE PEOPLE OF RoME,
when there was not a vestige of liberty to be found. In like
mariner, may your monogram 'Liberty' still continue to adorn
the fillet that binds its emblem cap on the head of your patron
goddess, long after the reality has vanished from the walks of
private life — and the motto, e pluribus unum, may also continue
to wave from the beak of your towering eagle, or adorn the striped
standards of your star-spangled bunting that floats over the capi-
tol, long after numerous states they in part represent, have seceded
from the union !
But is it necessarily decreed that no political system shall be
so justly balanced, so happily proportioned, and projected upon
such directness of principle, as to move off and endure forever in

INTRODUCTION. 19
a right lined career from that ill-fated cycle of political whirl
about, which sooner or later, brings all nations back again to the
chaos of elements from which they sprung, or sinks them into
the bottomless depths of absolute despotism — a worse condition
this truly, than a chaos of elements or anarchy, from which some
hopeful organization might speedily again be re-produced — where
as, to relapse into despotism, that primeval 'simplicity of govern
ment' for which some of the party politicians* of the present day
so ardently pant, would but contravene those analogous princi
ples of reproduction and progressive improvement just glanced at,
and leave us where the progenitors of our race were at the be
ginning, when they had not even entered the horn-books of poli
tical or general science, much less conceived the first principle,
the alpha of popular government.
In regard to general science, it is not unworthy of remark
here, that improvements of all kinds are essentially reciprocal
auxiliaries to each other. They are severally and conjointly
progressive, not pari passu, indeed, in the literal strictness ofthe
phrase ; for some branches by favour of accidental discovery, and
others by the caprice of inordinate culture, shoot ahead and at
tain a precocious maturity, while others locked up in embryo for
ages, lag behind and lay dormant, until, touched by the wand of
diffusive and equalizing intelligence, they spring forward and
claim their place in the general march of science, of art, and of
civilization. But during the delays or deficiencies of either,
various human devices more or less satisfactory, are resorted to,
to answer the present emergencies of real or fictitious necessity,
and these expedients of the moment, in proportion to their seem
ing efficacy, tend also to retard in such cases, the accomplish
ment of the ultimate desiderata that befit their higher destiny in
the general scheme of amelioration.
It is also equally worthy of note, that the pioneers in the arts,
the sciences, and the cause of civilization, as well as those in
geographical, geelogical, asrial and nautical exploration, but rare
ly reap any other reward than the renown with which their
grateful countrymen and the world in general remember and
record their wonderful exploits and discoveries, achieved at the
cost of great pecuniary sacrifices, loss of health, and not unfre-
quently, the ruin of their families. This, however, seems always
to be esteemed by mercenary calculators, as reward enough for
those ardent spirits who press into the front rank of assiduous
enterprise in developing the beau ideal of human perfectability —
while, on the contrary, their disinterested devotion, equivalent to
* See the infatuated proceeding and disorganizng doctrines of the Slam-Bang-
loco focos, promulgated at their head-quarters in New York, and elsewhere through
out the country, under the patronage and instigation of Fanny Wright, the Post
master-general, and the President of the United States, with which the papers
of the day are ever teeming — the essence of which is, to violate the sanctity of pro
perty, and compel the wealthy to divide their earnings with the profligate. They
will be particularly noticed hereafter. Sef, Appendix (B.)

20 INTRODUCTION.
martyrdom in so glorious a cause, should give them an equitable
title to participate in the substantial fruits and benefits derived
from their intellectual labour, in their subsequent application to
use by practical, men and chartered companies. To the purport
of these combined efforts of genius, mechanical labour, and cor
porate enterprise, it has been justly remarked, 'that no age has
illustrated so strongly as the present, the empire of mind over
matter, and the ability of man to rise with the resources of his
own intellectual powers over the obstacles with which destiny
has surrounded him.' And it is equally true, that whoever by
his individual exertions, adds one ray of light.to the general stock
of intelligence, or contributes a single important improvement to
any art or science, is as fully deserving of pecuniary reward as
the enterprising mechanicians who apply them to practical use ;
and these classes of citizens, taken collectively, are still more
deserving the gratitude of their species, who profess to cultivate
and patronize the arts of civilization and peace, than the renown
ed class of pugnacious heroes, who spill the blood of their fellow
beings in unjust wars for the dismemberment, or extension, of
national empire. Yet it must be avowed, that in the present
stage of civilization, and popular estimate of merit, the successful
military hero, whether in self-defence or unwarrantable aggres
sion,* receives the full measure of reward from all sects and per
suasions, whether by artifice, blind habit, irresistible example, or
sincere devotion to the sanguinary profession ; and in like man
ner, those skilful mechanicians and corporate companies, who
give the last touch to merchantable commodities, render them fit
for social use, and transport them to our hands, have greatly the
advantage over the intellectual labourers and inventors, in the
eagerness of competitors for their finished products, on account
of the more ready sale and the greater profits they command for
immediate use, over the crude fruits of invention, which on ac
count of their immature state, promise but remotely to contribute
to the necessities, the comforts, or the luxuries of mankind.
Thus too, upon the principle of present or proximate utility, are
corporate or chartered facilities afforded by legislative acts gene
rally confined to specific objects of art, commerce, and local im
provement, according to the immediate prospects of profit held
out to enterprise and speculation, to which most capitalists seem
rather to graduate their optics, without sufficient regardfulness to
a general system — American system if you please — of improve
ment ; which, in truth, should embrace not only objects of imme
diate use and profit, but those also that contribute, however re-
* Unwarrantable aggression.— I cannot but anticipate the time, when by
favour of a mote propitious turn of events, the profession of the sword having become
longer useless under the benign influence and culture of the arts of peace, will be re
garded as odious as that of the pirate, the black-leg, or the highwayman— except
ing always a well-organized militia, so justly considered the proper reliance for
national defence in case of invasion, the only just occasion for war.

INTRODUCTION. 21
mbtely,- to suggest and prepare the best materials or to facilitate
their future subjection to social use, as well as to the abstract
elegancies of life, which, as such, are not merchantable commo
dities at all : nay, more, it should likewise comprehend those
other unmerchantable commodities of education, moral, religious,
and political institutes ; for these, after all, may well be consi
dered the vivifying sources, the channels, and the effectual gua
ranties of usefulness to all the products of human ingenuity and
industry, ministering to human comfort and luxury. Yet the
cupidity of mankind in general, is siich, that capitalists who have
shown their skill in amassing Wealth, rarely adventure in those
unmerchantable commodities just glanced at, but eagerly press
forward for corporate facilities for supplying the immediate ob
jects of social use and consumption, while those more remote and
less merchantable subjects, are left to the enthusiast virtuosos, to
elaborate to their hand, without other reward but posthumous
fame, that relieves not their families from indigence. If then,
those trading companies who live upon the brains of the pioneers
in discovery and improvement, and thereby hoard wealth for
their posterity, find the purse strings of society so readily relax to
aid and reward their enterprise, which could hardly fail of suc
cess, I would with due deference ask, if it be incompatible with
good national policy, to afford substantial encouragement to the
pioneers in improvement ? The occasional munificence of Con
gress in these regards, do indeed, afford some hope that a more
equal and systematic course will ere long be adopted, as a means
of rendering the good intent of the patent right and copy right
laws more efficient. But I must not be understood as cherishing
a disposition to wage a quarrel with the inestimable corps
of effectives, whether corporate* or individual, whose opera-
* Inestimable corps of effectives whether corporate, &c. — The arts,
the sciences, general education, and internal improvements of every description,
should constitute the Effective American System, to be the hand-maid of our
Republican Political System, and be patronized by it — the opinions of Mr.
Van Buren to the contrary notwithstanding. And how are these essentials to na
tional prosperity to be rendered most effective but by their regular organization into
a system, by means of corporate institutions, whereby the combination and re-union
of all the mechanical and- intellectual powers of man may be brought to a focus.
This re-union of effectives may emphatically be termed the strength of social
man, the lever and moving power of communities, by which their magnificent ope
rations can only be achieved. Whereas, on the other hand, individual exertion
is but little better than total inaction. And further, the credit system is the soul
of all corporations. It is the anticipation of that wealth which its laudable and judi
cious application is calculated to realize, by putting into operation all the productive
energies which real capital could do, and thus producing the wealth whose pre-
existence would otherwise have been necessary to set those operations in motion.
The credit system is, therefore, a substitute for wealth, where it does not pre-exist;
it produces wealth as it were, out of nothing ; it is, in fact, wealth by anticipation ;
it has the magic power of generation and re-production of wealth, which, without
this ingenious system, this device of profound statesmen and financiers, could never
exist. The essentials to its success, are, a judicious object, and that well followed.
But the motto of Mr. Van Buren's favourite caste of loco focos, literally is,
•perish credit, perish commerce, down with the banks, down with corporations, and

22 INTRODUCTION.
tions have done so much to advance the personal comforts of us
all, with the general commerce, wealth and prosperity of our
country. By the successful application of labour saving ma
chinery, and a thousand other improvements in the different
branches of industry, 'they have subdued the elements, annihi
lated space, supplied the defects, and in a great degree improved
the advantages of nature.' Nay, to show our increasing grati
tude to those who minister to our comforts, in proportion as they
come nearest to contact with us in their endearing function, I
might also here include a more humble portion of operatives,
who, by giving in fact, the last touch to commodities of imme
diate necessity and luxury, may justly be reckoned among the
beneficiaries if not the benefactors of our species. And it is upon
this principle that the most heartfelt praise is frequently awarded
to the tavern-keeper, the tailor, the milliner, and the cook, while
even the architect himself, in every sense of the word, is but
too scurvily forgot.
the devil take the millionaire' — if you hut divide their riches among the sans
culottes. Let these anarchists and professors , of agrariamsm, carry out their doc
trines, as taught at their head-quarters in New York, and we shall soon be without
a rail road, a canal, a cotton factory or a steam mill, without insurance companies
and a flourishing commerce, nay, without colleges and scientific institutes — a beg
garly and ignorant, degenerate race, of which the hard money schemes, and indivi
dual operations would hardly keep body and soul together, nor would the govern;
ment patronage itself be longer worth scrambling for.
These reflections are cast out here, apparently out of place, I confess ; but in fact,
they would not be out of place on every man's tongue, and in every American's
heart; therefore, the sooner they are expressed the better. And I will also here '
express the hope, that instead of the desolating purposes of the ruling dynasty
being ever accomplished, the time may soon arrive, when there will be yet a fur
ther extension ofthe credit system somewhat in this wise : that the annual appropria
tions of Congress to meet the expenses incurred by the government for the current
year, be paid in treasury securities or notes — which shall be again receivable by the
treasury in payment of the customs and other dues to the treasury, but not re-issu-
able under any pretence. As a further arrangement in connection with this plan,
it would conduce to its good results, to distribute annually, between the several
states, any excess or surplus of revenue that might accumulate over and above the '
amount of appropriations or disbursements. Also, in the event of a sudden emer
gency, calling for appropriations exceeding the probable or customary income for
any corresponding year, such contingency might be provided for by the constitu
tional provision of a temporary loan of the sum required ; which sum might be
repaid in all cases, by the instalments of subsequent yearly surpluses of revenue over
the annual expenditures, until finally liquidated, instead of dividing those surpluses
for the time being among the states ; but such liquidation of such debt incurred by
emergency being accomplished, the annual surpluses of the revenue thereafter
accruing, to be again distributed among the states, as before. One of the great ad
vantages of this system, would be to permit the full amount of the annual appropri
ations to remain in active circulation, uninterruptedly performing the proper func
tions of a sound currency, instead of being abstracted from circulation and locked
up in idleness, to the great detriment of trade, and the hazard of incurring a mi«-
chievous fluctuation in the value of money. The annual distribution of any surplus
would be a further guaranty against any considerable accumulation or abstraction of
money from circulation ; while the occasional borrowing of inconsiderable sums to
meet possible emergencies, would be comparatively trifling objections, to the benefits
derived from a constant and healthy circulation. On the other hand the accumula
tion of $40,000,000 on special deposite, abstracted from circulation, would of it«elf
be sufficient to bankrupt the country. These, I should think, are clear proposi
tions ; and, for the present, I shall waive any examples or reasoning to illustrate

introduction. 23
But although it is true, as a general rule, that the improve
ments in the arts, the sciences, and civilization, are jointly and
severally progressive; yet of all the sciences, arts, and evidences
of civilization, that of government for the general benefit of man
kind, is the most tardy in its career of emendation, though con
fided to the management and control of a portion of the intelli-
ligentfew — who, indeed, taken in connection with the intelligent
few of all other classes and callings of society, are always centu
ries in advance ofthe multitude, upon all subjects that contribute
to the melioration of our social condition. But why this excep
tion of tardiness applies to improvements in government, is one
of the most important inquiries of the present day. If it be not
entirely a new suggestion, it at least appears so to me, and I shall
in the sequel treat it as such, with the best lights I can throw-
upon it under the circumstance of its novelty to my mind, con
tenting myself with this remark in advance — that the question
will probably resolve itself into developments and demonstrations
of that all pervading selfishness, which ever sways the human
heart when there are great temptations and facilities offered for
individual aggrandizement at the public cost, without adequate
checks and responsibilities to restrain and counteract the domi
nant passion. And hence the intelligent few who happen for a
time to be entrusted with the care of national affairs in a popular
government, do not labour so much to perfect or improve this
unique branch of science in which they are employed, and with
the defective details of which, they have the best opportunities to
be conversant ; but on the contrary, rather seek all pretences in
their power to obstruct its further emendation, and, on the fit
occasions of great national calamity, popular excitement, and
party strife, (of which the prominent public functionaries are
generally the authors and plotters, the instigators and principal
actors,) propagate the doctrine, that the emergency calls for the
simplicity and energy of executive supremacy, after the example
of those who demanded a dictator in the trying times of the
revolution. They urge these plausible pretences of public utility
in curing or remedying the evils themselves have produced, with
arrangements and preparations vigorously pressed to upset the
foundations of the few improvements that may have been insti
tuted, and obliterate the restraints and accountabilities that had
been exacted by the public good to check executive wilfulness,
and in the high tide of the popular clamour they have set in
motion when the multitude are tossed to and fro upon uncer
tainty and doubt, whom to censure or whom to approve, they
seize the occasion to gamble desperately and adroitly with each
other for the prize of public favour, until again, when least ex-
pected-by their supine, or half confiding, half confounded consti
tuents, the brief experiment of a complicated popular govern
ment fails, probably for the last time, and is substituted by that
of a single, simple despot's will !

24 introduction.
If then, such be indeed, the doom that awaits your endeared
political system, as seems but too probable from the rapid march
with which the competitors on party hobbies, are pressing in that
direction, yet still I would ask, have you not the cheering hope
left, that you may, by the aid of wisdom and dear bought expe
rience, so reorganize and amend that system, as to rectify the
defects which time has discovered, and thereby ward off or
retard your fate, and insure the greatest possible duration to the
enjoyment of that invaluable boon of popular government which
your sage and patriotic ancestors have bequeathed to you? Yes,
undoubtedly, will be your cheering response ; unless perchance
you be so entirely of the predestinarian school, that no inspiriting
hope can dissipate the thickening gloom, no admonition of dan
ger can animate you to a vigorous effort to avert so pregnant a
mischief; for truly, I have found in my personal intercourse at
the seat of government, so great a proportion of the respectable
intelligence ofthe country resident and sojourning here, who are
of this disheartening, this sedative persuasion, that except for a
somewhat more ardent temperament than falls to the lot of most
men, I too should despond as they have done, at Ihe contempla
tion of a hopeless task, and abandon the purpose of this book — ¦
to point out those defects of your institutions which destroy that
beautiful proportion and solidity they were once supposed to
possess, and to recount those numerous practical evidences of
their dilapidating tendency, with which the inordinate lust for
power in the few, has interspersed and befouled your political
history, becoming, daily, still more numerous and daring, as the
successful attempts of your treacherous agents increase their
temptations to enlarge the executive power and patronage, as a
means to subvert the freedom of elections and perpetuate their
misrule, for the benefit of their individual favourites, or the
emolument of their servile party agents. But it remains to be
seen, whether I hope against reason, and vainly dedicate my un
tiring efforts to persuade you to make one more struggle to right
your ship of state, and rescue her from the whirlpool of destruc
tion, into the verge of which she has been rashly precipitated by
her late unskilful, headstrong and ignorant commander, surroun
ded by a corps of the most corrupt upstarts and evil advisers
that ever disgraced the deluded confidence of their fellow-men.
In prosecuting, then, with a becoming zeal, and to the best of
my ability, this laudable purpose, in a manner most promising of
beneficial results, it will not be inappropriate, the more deeply to
impress you with the awful bearing of the matters to which I
have invoked your solemn attention, to lay before you a few
striking evidences of the despotisms and the cruel persecutions
out of which most governments have derived their frightful
catastrophe ; and to admonish you at the same time, to make the
application and ask yourselves what have you to hope, if such is
the dread end to which the political cycle of nations prematurely

introduction. - 25
brings back those who neglect to take counsel of their wisest
statesmen, 'to have frequent recurrence to fundamental princi
ples,' and at stated periods subject the machinery of their govern
ment to the scrutinizing eye of their best constitutional architects,
in order to amend those original defects, and repair those occa
sional supervening flaws and blemishes,' to which all human
institutions are more or less incident.
Those evidences above referred to, will be exhibited in the
appendix,* by three copious extracts from 'The history of
Priest-craft and King-craft in all ages and nations, by William
Howitt, of Nottingham, published in London, in the summer of
1833 ; edited and republished by a clergyman in New York.'
That work condenses in a small compass the most touching and
eloquent reminiscences ofthe cruel horrors of history, written as
it were with a pen plucked from eagle's wing, steeped in the
liquid lightning of heaven, and guided by a mercurial sagacity
and intelligence equally inspired and superhuman.
The first extract gives a summary of priest-craft and king-craft,
whereof the author had been treating in detail ; and will prepare
your minds for the recitals of the other two. The second gives
a striking narrative of the secret associations of the Jesuits, and
the kindred institutions of the Inquisition. In the course of its
perusal you will perceive strong analogies and frequent identities
of feature, with associations already adverted to, secret or other
wise, occasionally gotten up here, under the patronage ofthe
government, not exempt from criminal intent, emanating in part
from political intolerance disseminated throughout the country,
and in part from the still deeper sin of premeditated mischief.
You will, at the same time, be the more interested in that narra
tive, by bearing in mind that the religious intolerance there por
trayed, with all its paraphernalia of racks and tortures, famine
and wretchedness, robberies, dungeons, carnage and death, were
the causes which contributed most to people your own America.
Thus, looking on that picture and then on this, I feel fully per
suaded you will be prepared to appreciate the tendencies of the
political intolerance of some of your leading demagogues to iden
tify itself in the end, with the fanatical religious intolerance from
¦which your ancestors fled for asylum to the then savage regions
of America; and finally to ask yourselves, are you prepared, are
you resigned, to follow up, blindfolded, your party leaders, in
this mad career of political warfare, without an effort, not merely
of reconciliation and compromise, but of legal and constitutional
interdiction, by a correction of those defects of your system,
which, in process of time, have engendered those growing evils?
The third extract exhibits in glowing colours, the abominations
of 'Church patronage' in England ; and is replete with the
strongest, the most minute and disgusting analogies to the uses:
, *See Appendix (C.)

26 introduction.
and abuses of 'executive patronage,' perpetrated in the adminis
tration of this government of your adoption, obviously not for the
promotion of its legitimate and constitutional object of the 'gene
ral good,' but clearly and avowedly for the maintenance of party
power, the benefit of individual favourites and family connec
tions, and the emoluments of the servile agents of party dictation.
Any one who is at all conversant with the practices of the execu
tive departments generally, and of the chief Executive in par
ticular, taken as a whole, from an early period of our history to
the present time, aggravated and multiplying as they -progress,
will be able to note those parallels whilst he reads this extract.
Those who are, fortunately or unfortunately, not so conversant,
will be able to note them hereafter, as they shall be fully made
to appear.
While perusing those important and ominous extracts, (apart
from the parallel of official favouritisms already in full practice
here, on the plart of 'church patronage' in England,) I would
commend the American people to bear in mind, not only that the
deeds of torture and misrule, there pourtrayed, have in fact been
perpetrated in hundreds of forms and degrees, more cruel and
unjust than can possibly be estimated from verbal descriptions,
glowing as those extracts are, with beams of a vivid intelligence;
but also let me intreat you to reflect emphatically, that they pre
figure a history, in advance, of scenes again to be enacted on
earth — your own case in prospective; if perad venture, you do not
avert it, by some such precautions as I have pledged myself to
suggest in the sequel of this book.
Permit me also to remind you, that the defects, the flaws, the
disorders of political systems, with their tendencies to mischief
and dissolution, are not devoid of their parallels in the other
departments of science and art ; which at once afford the happiest
illustrations of the former, as well as teach us the importance of
resorting to timely remedies in the medicable cases, and to
palliatives to stay or check the progress of such cases as are
immedicable. In the complicated system of the human consti
tution, a neglected weakness or disorder of a vital organ, pro
gressively undermines the general health, and sooner or later ter
minates in dissolution. Of these I cQuld give you thousands of
examples, and recommend every man to take their application
home to himself, in case of need, as they would afford a practical
illustration of an important principle — the remedy of prevention,
and the fatal consequences of the neglect of it. And reasoning
from analogy, he would thereby be assisted in appreciating the
salutary effects of applying timely remedies to the incipient dis
orders of political or other public institutions. As a single exam
ple will be no burthen to the text, I shall recite one.
I well remember the case of a gentleman, in whom a sallow
complexion, a livid tongue, and other concomitant symptoms of
obstruction in the functions of the liver, began to manifest the

introduction. 27
decline of that organ. I admonished him of his danger, and
advised him to resort to remedies promptly ; such as the medici
nal waters, and a course of alterative medicine. His reply was,
he had not time to take physic ! (He had been one ofthe severe
pecuniary sufferers by the late war with Great Britain, and was
now compelled to devote his personal exertions daily and hourly,
to provide a support for his numerous family.) But said I, at
this rate your family will soon be deprived of your services alto
gether ! Accordingly, in this frame of mind he unfortunately
persisted, no doubt hoping that a slow poison would never come
to a fatal issue ! He not only neglected the proper remedies, but
accelerated the decline of his health by unremitting, application
to an arduous calling, and in less than two years found himself
labouring under a confirmed scirrhus of the liver, which soon
terminated in universal disorder, dropsy, and death !
I could also recite numerous cases from the more hopeless
class of immedicable disorders to which the human system from
improvident conduct or original malformation is liable ; but which
may nevertheless be palliated and stayed in their career to disso
lution. Of these I will only cite a case or two from the more
rare disorder of aneurism; which consists of a morbid enlarge
ment or dilatation of an artery, thereby impairing its power in
circulating the blood. These aneurismal enlargements arise
either from a natural debility of the part of the artery affected ;
which is generally at the curve of the artery, where the action
of the current of blood is strongest and most liable. to aggrava
tion whenever the circulation is preternaturally hurried — or they
arise from local injuries to the coats of the artery, such as slight
wounds, punctures, contusions, or contiguous ulcerations. The
aneurisms from natural debility most frequently occur at the
great curves of the aorta and the pulmonary artery. Of the
latter, or aneurism of the pulmonary artery, I have incidentally
known a case of a Mr. Denny, formerly a clerk in the post office
department, which, from continual uneasiness and frequent
anxiety in respiration, was for a long time mistaken and treated
for asthma or rheumatism : and its fatal issue was surely not
retarded by the regimen adapted to a mistaken diagnosis, instead
of the proper palliative course of treatment for the true disorder.
Of the former description, or aneurism of the aorta-, was that of
the late Mr. Storrs, some years past a member of congress from
New York, who died suddenly at New Haven, about twelve
months ago, in consequence of the bodily exertion made in
ascending a long flight of steps to the roof of a pavilion, pro
ducing a rupture of the aneurismal sack, by the force of the
hurried circulation against that weak part. Mr. Storrs, also,
might have brought his life to an end much earlier after the
enlargement ofthe artery had commenced, by unusual or violent
bodily exercise of any sort, hurrying the blood upon this weak
part of its circulation. On the other hand he might probably

28 introduction.
have protracted his life for some considerable period longer, had
he carefully abstained from any activity that gives preternatural
impetus to the circulation.
But professional illustrations apart, I may be permitted to
remark, that it is not in the healing art alone, where the neglect
of salutary precaution and measures of prevention are most
conspicuous and prolific of evil, or most disastrous in their
devastations on human life. These calamities flow most pro
fusely, indeed, of late years, from our improvidence against the
casualties of steam and storm, of flood and fire ; which deadly
agents have swept off thousands of our most valued and enter
prising fellow-citizens, within the painful recollection of us all,
and to the inconsolable grief of thousands of friends and. family
connections. Shall I instance the heart-rending case of the
steamer Home, by whose wreck on a Voyage from New York
fbr Charleston, a year since, so many valuable lives were lost!
There were not only flaws and defects in the construction of that
vessel which would have condemned her as unseaworthy when
she went from the stocks, not only supervening disorders of her
timbers hourly making her fate, the more apparent to skilful
seamen at every voyage — but worse than all, there were flaws in
the consciences of her builders, her owners, and her commander,
which their maker alone can mend hereafter ! But is this and
a thousand ofthe same description of disasters, also immedicable
disorders ? Yes, indeed, I awfully fear, if they be not soon
taken in hand by the doctors of the senate and the other house.*
* It appears to be a very natural suggestion, that the construction of all descriptions
of vessels, machinery, &c. with which safety to human life is closely involved, be
as fit subjects for a board of inspection, as those of flour, cotton, tobacco, and other
articles of mere merchandise : and that their commanders or superintendents should
be as properly subject to an examination to obtain a diploma or certificate of quali
fication, as physicians, lawyers, or other professional men. And above all, that
proprietors of such vessels or machinery, should be liable to heavy damages for all
disasters that arise from the incompetency or negligence of the persons they
employ : for, without such a provision, the perfection of machinery and of archi
tecture, will be of no guaranty against the evil consequences of the unrestrained
depravity of low ambition in their proprietors or conductors. Witness the case of
the captain of the steamer Moselle, who actuated by the frivolous desire of acquir
ing for his crack-steamer the honorary cognomen of Eagle-of-the-waters, actually
sacrificed the lives of hundreds of his fellow-beings, himself among the rest !
Since the above was written, a penal law has been enacted by Congress, about the
close ofthe last session, with still more severe provisions than those above suggested,
the purport of which would, in all probability have been enacted nearly ten years
ago, had the late Mr. Dodridge, ol the Virginia delegation in Congress, not been
cut off in his useful career by sudden death, when laboriously engaged in collecting
facts and information preparatory to reporting a similar bill. Mr. Dodridge happened,
with myself, to be an eye-witness of the explosion of the boiler of the Potomac
steamer in Hampton Roads, which scalded to death four of her crew, obviously
occasioned by the intemperance of the captain and racing with the Richmond steamer.
The following extract from a Mobile paper, is strongly corroborative of the neces
sity for the law, and augurs well for its good results :
'The inspectors of steamboats in Mobile are playing the deuce among the boilers.
Nearly all of the boats which run to the interior are under condemnation ; and all
those to New Orleans are in the same predicament. It is certainly inconvenient
for the present; but who can regret it when such a momentous end as the preserva
tion of hfe is to be attained by it? As soon as they shall commence runnine
steamboat travelling will be as safe as sleeping in one's bed,'— Examiner

introduction. 29
Nay, worse than immedicable, because they have an ingredient
of wilful perpetration, to aggravate them with the compound
heinousness of sin and crime.
But should it now be objected — that there is a want of that
analogy I have bepn supposing to exist, between the frailties or
casualties incident to the subjects and productions of general
science and art, and those of the systems of government — or
even between the institutions of monarchical governments, or of
the ancient and modern republics of the old world, and those of
our own confederated republic — I would, in relation to these
objections, remark, first of the latter, that human nature is the
same throughout the world, and that though your institutions
are, in the main, if fairly administered, more salutary and con
formable to the inherent individual and covenanted social rights
of man, than most other political institutions have ever been ; yet
wherever there may happen to be a weak or unguarded point in
your system (however more numerous, or more gross, the defects
be in other systems) upon that point are the efforts of weak or
wicked men surely tempted to make their assaults: and in
regard to the former more general analogies, it is equally true,
that in all manner of frailties or weaknesses they may present,
their temptations operate alike upon all the elements of destruc
tion applicable to them, whether they appertain to human, natu
ral, or artificial productions. And of course it is these frailties,
these defects, these weaknesses, and liabilities to decay, which
pervade all nature, that tempt the demon of destruction to set his
elements to work; and therefore they constitute a very material
and striking analogy in all systems, or individual productions,
however different their general construction, material or origin,
may be. And the process of destruction under such liabilities
will as surely bring an otherwise well devised system to a speedy
end, as it would a worse conceived one — nay, more speedily too,
if the temptations should set the elements of destruction into
more active operation ; for a crazy vessel may ride out a benign
sea, while a more staunch one with some defect unheeded, may
go to wreck in a tempest, which would yet be harmless to
another that is well appointed and equipped in all its parts.
How then can you close your eyes to the rational deduction, sus
tained too by, abundant facts, that under similar circumstances in
regard to your political system, these assaults on its weaker parts
will be made and repeated by the same all-pervading spirit of
temptation, which in the human breast ever seeks to accomplish
the sinister ends of the central self, be the emergency what
it may, regardless too of the direful consequences they may
threaten — yes, whether subversive of their country's best hopes,
and of the best hopes of the world besides ; nay, were they even
sure ultimately to jeopard their own sordid object, it would mat
ter not to them, if that be but postponed or kept from their view
by a present intoxicating gratification.
5

30 introduction.
And need I here remind you, that the quintescence of that
universal prayer of the Lord Jesus, which is in the mouths of
all men, women and children, throughout the christian world, is,
'lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil !'
Though it be obnoxious to the reproach of universal remark,
that the malign temptations of private life are abundant in ajl
grades of society, and that the evils which flow from them are
in almost as full proportion as if there were no corrective power
either in the municipal or corporate authorities, nor any redeem
ing virtue in the solemn emphasis and spirit of our daily prayer;
yet, that there should be public temptations latent in your popu
lar political institutions, which stealthily seduce your public
functionaries from their official propriety, and through them, even
cozen the people, yourselves, the democracy of numbers, from
their fidelity to their reserved and unalienable rights, thereby
creating on the one hand, public delinquencies innumerable, and
on the other, sapping the very foundations of popular sovereignty,
or rather transferring all sovereignty from the people to a despot —
would hardly be for a moment suspected by the incidental
observer, notwithstanding the daily increasing evils of govern
ment abuses, which must, in the nature of things, derive their
origin from the system itself, from its agents of administration,
or from both.
Truly your great and good Washington resisted temptation in
its most imposing form. And if it be a natural weakness to
yield to temptation, how ennobling is the virtue to resist it ! But
alas, how few are there who can summon the fortitude, or the
self-denial, to profit by so illustrious an example ? Unfortunately
too, the soothing monotony of seemingly unimportant events
awaken you not from the repose of delusive security, thereby
adding to the existing temptations to you unobserved, incentives
the most insidious and dangerous of all, as they are the more
congenial and propitious to the clandestine operations of artful
aspirants and their adroit coadjutors.
To begin then to entertain the first surmise of a doubt, in
regard to any defects of your political system, and the tempta
tions they afford to your unfaithful public servants to assail its
integrity, would require something more than the casual obser
vation of isolated facts and disconnected occurrences. Under
such circumstances it becomes incumbent upon the true states
man to take up his political telescope and draw all the lights, of
pertinent facts from the boundless expanse of time and space
into one concentrated focus, in order to see and note their
bearings, and profit by the inductions they would teach. With
out such precaution, he would be liable to flounder in a sea of
perplexity without definite object, or to fight against shadows
without winning a single valuable trophy to add lustre lo his
statesmanship, or advance the prosperity of his country and
insure the stability of her institutions. But with the lights of

introduction. 31
such a concentration of intelligence and pertinent facts, he would
be able to lay before the world the meanderings and the sinuosi
ties of party operations and demagogue pretensions, and estab
lish to the clear conviction of every mind the secret springs of
party intolerance, party inconsistency, party devotion to self,
glossed over with a sycophantic exterior towards the great demo
cracy of numbers — the people — who are of no party but their
country's — but who are nevertheless courted and humbugged by
all -party leaders in order to win the glorious plurality over to
their side — whether in advocating to-day the political landmarks
which the same leaders would demolish to-morrow, or at any
subsequent time, to proclaim others whenever their personal
views and those of their new coalitions shall tempt them to per
suade the people that they embrace the true republican creed —
no matter how often they have been abandoned and resumed,
scoffed at and new burnished alternately by the demagogues of
every party to suit the emergency of the moment. And yet the
most hypocritical of all parties are those who gratuitously
assume, without truth, to be the exclusive republicans, and the
only trust- worthy guardians of the people's rights — who eternally
thunder forth the most wrathful denunciations against divisions,
or rather the freedom of opinion even among themselves, and
pledge every man to swim or sink with their party leader right
or wrong — zany or knave — of which we have had more than
sufficient illustration of late years, in the party advocacy of the
pseudo- Jefferson, and afterwards his legatee to the presidency,
through the flickering jack-with-a-lantern practices of the former,
and the professions of the latter to follow the ignis fatuus footsteps
of the false Jefferson, and directly at variance with all the lead
ing Jeffersonian doctrines, on whose republican fame they have
foisted themselves, as the delusive means of recommending
themselves to the people, while they have been busily engaged
in searching out, and springing leaks in the weak parts of your
majestic constitution.
From such a state of the case, it is obvious, that 'Political
Sketches of Eight Years in Washington,' drawn up with
a view to important practical deductions, whether they contem
plate the recently past, or any other dynasty of your nominally
elective government, must remount far beyond the designated
period, in order to catch the connecting clue, which gives a
character to the whole train of causation designed to be developed.
Pursuing such a course with a discriminating eye, this clue will
be found to run through a kindred series of facts and circum
stances, modified by contingent casualties co-operating on the
inherent predispositions of your system, thus constituting a
chain of reciprocal causation — impressing and impressed — which
tempt the cupidity and strengthen the purposes of ambitious
actors, who would fain impart their peculiar roll, stamp and
heresy, to the great scheme of your political drama. Drama !

32 introduction.
you exclaim ! Yes, and I pray you be not startled at the term —
for drama, indeed, your political system may as yet truly be
called, seeing that it so readily yields to the impress of the
vapouring political heroes of a day, who happen, under the
favour of party freak or wicked design, to be taken up by the
managers of a secret political mechanism, which, by the magic
arts and devices of the prime instigator,* has the consummate
art of 'manufacturing little men into big ones,' to strut their
brief hour on the stage, and laugh to scorn the mortified pride of
superior merit and patriotic devotion ostracized by the artifices of
the same machinery, whose inner workings are sedulously con
cealed from the eyes of the people — yourselves — whom their
great end is to cozen and deceive, to make you the more subser
vient accessaries to their conspiracies against you !
I say, isolated facts suggest no deductions. But kindred inci
dents of remote date, brought in juxta-position, enable us to
discern the secret springs that have set them in motion, whether
actuated by the spirit of revenge for disappointed ambition, by
individual speculations for future aggrandizement, or by natural
influences continuously and successively governing the actions
and devices of all wicked men similarly circumstanced. Fixing
your attention, then, upon this concatenation of insidious causes,
and tracing them from their sources to their results, you shall find,
that certain inherent weaknesses or predispositions to a dissolu
tion of your government, discovered by the sagacious research
of wicked men, have tempted them to make assaults upon it in
those weak parts, for their temporary or permanent advantage —
notwithstanding the sanguine and eloquent comments upon the
checks and balances of the constitution, expressed by some of
your eminent statesmen, at the time of its adoption,f.and reite
rated on sundry occasions since.
* Magic akts and devices of the prime instigator. — See hereafter a
detailed account of these dark intrigues, from the nomination of General Jackson
by Aaron Burr, to that of Martin Van Buren and R. M. Johnson, by General
Jackson. ..
f It will probably be instructive to the reader, to have the checks above alluded
to, as detailed in the remarks ofthe honourable Mr. Bowdoin, in the Massachusetts
convention, laid before him in this place. The contemplation of them here, may
predispose his mind to appreciate their insufficiency after all, when their defects
come to be pointed out, and the devices by which they have been evaded be fully
exposed. In combatting the objections made to one of the most important powers
granted by the constitution to congress— that of taxation, the regulation of com
merce and levying imposts— the want of which in the old articles of confederation,
had been the chief cause of framing a new constitution, Mr. Bowdoin, remarked—
'It will be, and has been said, 'this great power may be abused ; and instead of
protecting, may be employed by congress in oppressing their constituents.' A pos
sibility of abuse, as it may be affirmed of all delegated power, whatever, is, by itself
no sufficient reason for withholding the delegation. If it were a sufficient one, no
power could be delegated ; nor could government of any sort subsist. The possi
bility, however, should make us careful, that in all delegations of importance, like
the one contained in the proposed constitution, there should be such checks pro
vided, as would not frustate the end and intention of delegating the power • but
would, as far as it could be safely done, prevent the abuse of it: and such checks
are provided m the constitution. Some of them were mentioned the last evening1 bv
one of my worthy colleagues : but I shall here exhibit all qf them in one view

INTRODUCTION. 33
The evidences of these weaknesses and of these assaults
upon them, are deducible from a train of incontrovertible facts
'The two capital departments of government, the legislative and executive, in
which the delegated power resides — consisting of the president, vice-president,
senate and representatives — are directly, and by their respective legislatures and
delegates, chosen by the people.
'The president, and also the vice-president, when acting as president, before they
enter on the execution of the office, shall each 'solemnly swear or affirm, that he
will faithfully execute the office of president of the Dnited States, and will to the
best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United
States.' 'The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members ofthe seve
ral state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of tbe United
States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support
this constitution.'
'The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be
removed from office, on impeachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or
other high crimes or misdemeanours.'
'No senator or representative, shall during the time for which he was elected, be
appointed to any civil office — which shall nave been created, or the emoluments
whereof shall have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any
office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his conti
nuance in office.'
'No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no person holding
any office of profit and trust under the United States, shall, without the consent of
the congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind, what
ever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.'
'The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union, a republiean form
1 of government, and shall protect each of them, against invasion and domestic
violence.' 'To these great checks maybe added several very essential ones: as, the negative
which each house has upon the acts of the other — the disapproving [veto] power of
the president, which subjects those acts to a final negative, unless two-thirds of each
house shall agree to pass the returned acts, notwithstanding the president's objections —
the printing the journals of each house, containing their joint and respective pro
ceedings — and the publishing from time to time, a regular statement and account of
the receipts and expenditures of all public money, none of which shall be drawn
from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law.
'All these checks and precautions, provided in the constitution, must, in a great
measure, prevent an abuse of power, at least in all flagrant instances, even if congress
should consist wholly of men who were guided by no other principle than their own
interest. Under the influence of such checks, this would compel them to a conduct,
which in general, would answer the intention of the constitution. But the presump
tion is, and if the people duly attend to the objects of their choice it would be real
ized — that the president and vice-president of the United States, and the members
of congress would for the most part be men, not only of ability, but of a good moral
character : [!!!¦] in which case an abuse of power is not to be apprehended, nor any
error in the government, than such as every human institution is subject to.
'There is a further guard against the abuse of power, which though not expressed,
is strongly implied in the federal constitution, and indeed in the constitution of every
government founded on the principles of equal liberty— and that is, that those who
make the laws, and particularly laws for the levying of taxes, do, in common with
their fellow-citizens, fall within the power and operation of those laws.
'As then, the individuals of congress will all share in the burthens they impose,
and be personally affected by the good or bad laws they make for the Union, they
will be under the strongest motives of interest to lay the lightest burthens possible ;
and to make the best laws, or such laws as shall not unnecessarily affect either the
property or the personal rights of their fellow-citizens.'
In its proper place, hereafter, the reader will have an opportunity of contemplating
the loop holes and crevices of the constitution, by which nearly all these 'checks and
Erecautions' of that instrument have been evaded, notwithstanding the sanguine and
onourable confidence reposed in their sufficiency, by the high-toned disinterested
ness and patriotism, imputed, upon trust, by the very worthy and eloquent Mr.
Bowdoin, to the officers charged upon oath with their observances.

34 INTRODUCTION.
extending through a long series of years, but multiplying and
assuming bolder defiance as time advances and renders them
more familiar both to the evil-doers and their traduced constitu
ents. And when these evidences shall be brought together in
close connection hereafter, divested of all immaterial circum
stance which confound the picture — appalling, indeed, I opine,
will be the lineaments they will reveal to you, in the grim por
traiture of an executive absolute, threatening, with iron grasp, to
choke down and trample under foot all the co-ordinate powers,
checks, and responsibilities, with which you thought and believed
he was only destined to co-operate — sustaining and sustained, in
political harmony forever, ministering, with singleness of pur
pose, to the general good, under the supreme direction of a
sovereign popular will I
True, it is rarely in the power of a single effort to unravel, a
perplexed skein. And to convince the sceptical, the incredulous,
the prejudiced, that I have hit upon the chain of causation which
leads to the primitive sources of the political evils that charac
terize these piping times, reeking with pollution, will require a
series of direct proofs, which I am sanguine will be found in the
elaborate details of the following pages. Though it was the
pre-eminent gift of an Alexander to solve a gordian knot at a
blow, the keen edge of whose scimitar and the hand to direct it-
fall not to the lot of many — yet it belongs to the indefatigable
labourer to grope his way by a slow and sometimes a surer pro
cess, in developing the arcana of moral or physical influences :
and when the chain is once struck, the continuity of links is
easily kept in view — just as, in the case of a vein of subterra
neous treasure, being once brought to light, its yield, however
reluctant at first, is inevitable now — its avails, whether conserva
tive or destructive, must stand forth to inspection, and abide the
estimate of man in subserving his personal comforts or social
relations. . Upon the sanie principle of analogy, I have persuaded
myself the radical defects of your political system might be
traced and detected ; and in like manner, the sublimated cunning
of arch intriguers and their coadjutors who avail themselves of
these influences and temptations to advance their personal ends,
might be ferreted out, and their criminal purposes exposed and
punished by the retributive impeachment of the sovereign peo
ple. It remains, however, to be adjudged, whether I have after
a laborious investigation, thrown some light on these topics in
the following pages.
I have at least satisfied my mind, that there are five capital
inherent defects in the Federal Constitution, which a course of
accurate observation and close scrutiny of connecting circumstan
ces and facts will render apparent to all: 1st, that there is too
great an extension as to qualification of voters, too great a
restriction as to the number of officers eligible by the people or
their immediate representatives, and an insufficient protection of
the elective franchise: 2d, that there is too great a portion ofthe

INTRODUCTION. 35
elective power thus taken from the people, concentrated in the
appointing power called executive patronage: 3rd, that there is
a corrupting eligibility of sundry officers of government, to exe
cutive appointments a,nd promotions, during their other term
of service : 4th, that the anomaly of vesting the important judicial
power of trying impeachments, in a legislative, instead of a
judicial branch ofthe government, is totally and radically wrong,
being inoperative in practice, except as an engine of partial
oppression on the one hand, or a party exemption from official
responsibility on the other : 5th, that the incipient and final legis
lation vested, in the president, by the power to recommend
measures to congress, and the power to veto their laws or bills,
leave but little discretion in congress to originate measures of
legislation, or to enact laws, without encountering the interference
of the president — though these constitute the avowed and proper
functions of the legislative branch of the government, which is
also declared to be independent of the Executive.
These five radical defects, though weaknesses in fact, are never
theless potent agents of self-destruction in the system they afflict,
by aid of the corresponding human frailty of sinister temptations
to make assaults upon them : and, as in all analogous matters,
after the first breach is effected by reiterated blows, they advance
in their dilapidating tendencies with geometrical progression,
until they consummate the work of destruction, by the diversified
auxiliary processes of official chicanery and fraudulent pretences
to be hereafter detailed. But it cannot be too early remarked, in
relation to the incipient and final legislation of the president,
whether separately or jointly considered, that they are suscep
tible of being made instrumental to the achievement of the
greatest possible mischiefs to the country. They obviously are
the most monarchical features of your system, and will probably
'ere long render it a monarchy in fact; if that be not already
accomplished by the re-union of the removing, and the appoint
ing powers with the usurpations above mentioned, as they are
now practised. Indeed, I should pronounce your government to
be already a monarchy of the most odious cast, elective in all its
branches at the monarch's own will — far more odious than the
British monarchy, whose laws at least forbid the king's officers
to interfere in the elective* franchise, the purity or freedom of
*In England the freedom of elections is secured against the influence ofthe crown
and its dependents, by statutory provision in severe penalties, as follows :
'No Collector, Supervisor, or other person employed in the collect
ing or managing of the duties of excise, shall by word, message, writing, or
in any other manner, endeavour to persuade any elector to give, or dissuade him from
giving Ms vote, for the choice of any knight of the shire, citizen or burgess ; and any
person offending therein, shall forfeit £ 100, one moiety to the informer, and the
other moiety to the poor of the parish, to be recovered by any person that shall sue
for the same in any of their majesty's courts at Westminster ;— and every person
convicted on any such suit shall become disabled of bearing any office relative to the
duty of excise, or any other place of trust under their majesties.'
This law is but an evidence that the evil has existed in England, — and the fact of
its existence here, may be the forerunner of its correction.

36 INTRODUCTION.
which alone, can guarantee a popular sovereignty. And may I
ask you to ponder with yourselves, why should these things be-
aye, why should their reform be not looked after? — but suffice it
for the present to enliven your interest to this subject in advance
of the future discussion I purpose to give it, by suggesting here
that as to any benefit the country might expect to derive from
such a vestment of power, the president can never embrace in
his individual knowledge or intellectual cunning, more profound
views upon all the subjects of legislation, than the members of
the two houses of congress united; aided too as they are by the
r free discussion of the nation at large, and by the special instruc
tions of their respective constituents and state legislatures. On
the contrary, taken up as he may be at the hap-hazard of a com
promise between contesting parties and party divisions as the
most available candidate for the presidency, or as he has in fact
once been by the arrogant wilfulness of a popular predecessor,
his superiors will on such occasions, and probably will under all
circumstances, be found in considerable numbers in both houses
of congress, on every particular subject that his report of the
state of the union may bring before them ; while the advantages
of their joint deliberation, the public discussions, and the instruc
tions of their constituency, must give them further advantages
over him — which an obstinate monarchical wilfulness, pride of
opinion, and hauteur of office, would embolden him to disregard
and set at naught. Why then would it not be better to restrict
him in this regard, to the duty of laying before congress from
time to time, information of the state of the union, and leave it
to them to devise the proper measures, by individual sugges
tions or by those of their respective committees. The president
would then have no pretext of false pride to stimulate him to
sustain totis viribis his proposed measures of ambition or folly,
by wielding his patronage by proffers and threats; nay, by
denouncing his veto beforehand against any measures that
might be proposed as substitutes for his. Or are you under the
infatuation, to believe that the mere selection of the most middling
talents that compose the great galaxy of your public men, endows
the lucky individual with an instantaneous superiority over all
others, his former superiors, as if by the power of magical
enchantment, to take date from the imposing ceremonial of
administering the oath of office by the chief justice of the United
States, in the presence of the congregated people gaping at the
rituals of an apotheosis.'
In the meantime it will strike all reflecting minds with some
astonishment, when they ponder upon and realize the tardiness
with which a series of years enables us to regard in a proper
light, subjects on which we daily converse and familiarize to but
little purpose, till the gradual operations of time impart to us the
gift somewhat of clairvoyance or 'second sight.'
There can be no doubt that the framers of the Constitution

introduction. 37
considered its provisions in the cases above referred to, were as
well adjusted as any other parts of that instrument. It is at
least certain that the, three sages, Madison, Hamilton, and Jay,
(who performed such distinguished parts in its construction, and
in their commentaries upon it, under the signature of Publius,
commonly called the Federalist,) did especially regard the im
peaching poioer therein provided, as one of the strongest and
most effectual checks that could be devised, to obviate or punish
the abuses, and stay the aggressions of official power. But
as experience is destined to make its infallible commentaries on
tbe speculations and errors of the wisest heads — it has, in this
case, done so, with the most signal proofs of the fallibility of
human wisdom.
I say, the elective franchise, from its insufficient protection,
has gradually lapsed into the hands ofthe President — and he has
wielded it with a vengeance that threatens to sweep all before
him — of which, see the proofs hereafter. The power of making
appointments and removals, is also, by the courtesy and tolera
tion of both houses of Congress, actuated either by good inten
tions, or by the occult magic of official eligibility of their indivi
dual members, through favour of the chief magistrate, monopo
lized in practice by the President, as the instrument of rewards
and punishments, to be inflicted like a rod of iron on the refrac
tory, or kindly bestowed with, smiles and caresses on the pliant
partisan or recreant time-server at political summersets ; while
the power of impeachment is equally in the clutch of the Presi
dent, as can hereafter be made more particularly to appear — to
be let loose upon his political opponents, or to be stifled and put
under foot, when his own case, or that of an official favourite is
likely to be brought in question. Thus does this complicated
engine of executive power and usurpation, worked and wielded by
the autocratic will of one man, operate by its reciprocating levers
of the removing and appointing powers upon the fears of forty
thousand office-holders,* and the cupidity of ten- fold that number
* Fears of office-holders and cupidity" of expectants of office. —
This shocking picture is fully confirmed by their own a* owals, as well as by their
daily practice. Take for example, the following precious confession by their
able partisan leader, Mr. Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, as expressed in a speech in
the Senate, during the last session of Congress, viz : — 'When a man is once appoint
ed to office, all the selfish passions of his nature are enlisted for the purpose of re
taining it. The office-holders are the enlisted soldiers of that administration
by which they are sustained. Their comfortable existence often depends upon the
re-electioji of 'their patron. Nor does disappointment long rankle in the hearts of the
disappoiikjed. Hope is still left to them ; and bearing disappointment with patience,
they know, will present a new claim to office at a future time!' Now if the above
statement were not true in the entire extent of the 'official domain' before, such an
electioneering announcement as this, on the floor of the Senate, is sufficiently cal
culated to make it so. By the following extracts, the, reader may see how the above
proclamation has been. responded to during the recent election campaign, viz :
'Some of the subordinates of the New York custom-house being suspected either
of party unfaithfulness, or a lack of zeal in the cause of their masters, at the ap
proaching election, the administration paper there, has thought proper to sharpen
their allegiance, by addressing to them the following admonitory hint :'
6

38 introduction.
of expectants of office, dispersed throughout the country, and in
the two wings ofthe capitol, influencing and buying up the free
dom of elections and the freedom of legislation, and awing into
quiescence the power of impeachment — all for the want of a
reciprocal restraint and protection of each of the parts of this ma
chinery, to hold in check their reciprocal facilities for evil, or
the withdrawal of the powers of incipient and final legislation.
Nay, the simple ineligibility of the president to a second elaction,
would alone, go far to neutralize the evil consequences that other
wise are liable to flow from all these enumerated defects.
But how remote it has ever been from my mind, till recently,
to form what I now conceive to be the proper and just estimate
of these defective provisions of our Constitution may be made
apparent in a few words. I had ever been from early life, and
of course without reflection, until the transactions of a few years
past have stimulated me to political inquiry and investigation —
an ardent partisan of the republican school, and scoffing at fede
ralists, without taking the pains to understand or appreciate the
injustice of the distinction. Nay, such was my entire devotions
' We would just remark to those gentlemen, that a vigilant eye is upon them, and
that their proceedings on the three days of November next, (election days,) will not
escape scrutiny.'
'This is a specimen of the freedom of opinion allowed under a republican govern
ment — republican at least in its forms — and under an administration, professing to
be Democratic. — Nat. Int.
It appears that the said hint did not fail to produce the corresponding official
arrangement, as per the subjoined notice.
'New York, September 17, 1838. — The officers ofthe Revenue Department, residing
in. the Fifth Ward, are requested to meet at Riley's Hotel, Tuesday, 25th September, at
half past seven o'clock. By order, (Signed) Ichabod Prall, Chairman.'
'Above we have a call for a meeting of the officers of our custom-house, in order to
interfere with the coming elections, and the apathy of our citizens in regard to such
proceedings, is calculated to alarm every friend of the republic' — Evening Star.
Mark another extract, showing the fruits of the arrangement.
'New York, October 27, 1838. — * * * I know a case where one ofthe 'demo
cratic family' of office-holders, put a five dollar bill into the hands of a large number
of German working-men, to induce them to vote tbe loco foco ticket. A five dollar
bill to each voter!' — New York Correspondent.
In addition to the above, I will state in brief, that the returning officers and judges
of elections, friendly to the administration, have been publicly accused upon ample
testimony, of making false returns, and of otherwise showing foul play in the late
elections in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. And doubtless, the same
practices exist elsewhere, under the same vicious patronage announced by Mr. Bu
chanan.
The following remarks of the editor of the Richmond Enquirer, on the result of
the New Jersey elections, show the complacency with which that gentleman has
been used to view the abuses of party power in the Speaker of the House of Repre
sentatives, while that power was wont to be in the possession of his own men. The
prospect of its departure has put Mr. R. completely beside himself; and while in
the fitful paroxysm, his honest sentiments are disclosed. In his phrenzy he exclaims
thus wise — 'Have the Whig party become desperate ? Are they determined at all
events to seize the reins — to carry a speaker for the next Congress — and he
to shape out the whole Standing Committees of Ihe House, for the benefit of the
Wldgs!' &c. Sec. — Enquirer, November Sth, 1838.

introduction. 39
to what I understood to be the orthodox Jeffersonian republican
doctrines, that when Mr. Jefferson himself, first declared in his
inaugural address in 1801, that 'we are all federalists, we are all
republicans,' I felt great difficulty in reconciling that amalgama
ting remark, with my pre-conceived, but unenlightened party
repugnances. I had been taught by political commentaries,
party strifes, and snatches of American revolutionary and British
history, to regard the federalists as aristocrats — aristocrats as
monarchists — and monarchists as demons incarnate, devoid of
conscience, and with capacious stomachs that would devour the
people and all their substance, as their absolute right 'by the
grace of God.' And I dare ventuie to add, that most ofthe mat
ter-of-course republican party, par excellence, who have not scru
tinized this subject more philosophically than I suppose they
have had it in their power to do, have entertained towards fede
ralists, pretty nearly the same party prejudices and intolerance
with myself. For awhile, I doubted whether Mr. Jefferson had
not abandoned his most distinguishing political land-marks, or,
in s*ome degree substituted for their right-lined directness, a me
andering course, sometimes familiarly illustrated by the homely
figure of 'a Virginia worm fence.' However that may be, the
fact of tergiversation in his professed imitator, whether it
applies to Mr. Jefferson or not, has been happily illustrated on a
very opportune occasion, by that quaint genius and much regret
ted republican enthusiast, David Crockett, when he declared
on the floor of the House of Representatives, in Vindicating his
own political consistency — 'that he had not left general Jackson,
but that general Jackson had left him ; that he was still a good
Jackson man, but that general Jackson was no longer a Jackson
man!' It is perhaps fortunate for the good opinion universally enter
tained for Mr. Jefferson's moral and political integrity, that the
public generally, did not then know the important fact, that this
amalgamating expression, as I then considered it, though a mast
noble and magnanimous American sentiment worthy of a true
patriot, was the fruition of a compromise between the leading
republicans and federalists of that day, which resulted ih the
election of Mr. Jefferson over Aaron Burr, who, like an intole
rant partisan, obstinately held himself aloof and' inaccessible to
the proffers of that compromise — afterwards so handsomely incor
porated and reeognized as above stated, in Mr. Jefferson's inau
gural address, though, prudently, without adverting to the trans
action itself which gave it birth. Had Mr. Jefferson made that
explanation, in all probability, his name would have been stig
matised and consigned to eternal infamy by his own foster 're
publican party P intolerant as it was of those patriotic advocates
of the union, whom it sneered at as federalists, and exclusive as
it was in its claims to patriotism, and ever has been since — as if
we were not all the rightful co-inheritors of our common country,

40 introduction.
with its civil, political, and religious privileges — or rather as if
that party who strove so hard to defeat the adoption of the con-
stitution, would never forgive the patriotic federalists for their
success in advocating, and securing its adoption : no, not even
now, while they, by disingenuous artifice, fraud and cunning,
have seized upon and enjoyed, ever since, the patronage of that
union they so ardently put forth their strength to defeat, will they
cease their party intolerance, though their boasted patron admo
nished them in the same inaugural address, 'to reflect, that ha
ving banished from our land that religious intolerance under
which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have gained but
little, if we countenance a political intolerance — as despo
tic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecution!'
But as good fortune would have it, the terms of this compro
mise were kept secret from the public at large, and his party
in particular, until a crisis has arrived, when the palpable ter
giversations of that party, infuriated and driven to madness by
their own abuse of the long misplaced confidence of the people,
are rapidly furnishing the world with materials from allquarters,
to teach inquiring minds how utterly vain it is to look for patriot
ism and good faith in party intolerance, even in adhering to the
fundamental principles of a solemn compromise, equivalent to
the political compromise which gave birth to the constitution
itself, unless that good faith and patriotism be guarantied and
enforced by the controlling supervision of the people — and de
monstrate in conclusion, that Mr. Jefferson was yet a more pro
found philosopher than he had the credit to be, nay, infinitely
more astute in the casuistry of politicians, than the great body
of the self-styled republican party, in thus tendering the autho
rity of his avowal and acknowledgment, from which there is
no appeal, that the fundamental principles of national republican
or federal policy set forth in that compromise* had already re
ceived the stamp of enlightened construction, affirmed by prac
tice, confirmed by precedent, and sanctioned and approved by
public opinion and acquiescence.
For myself, at least, I am free to say, that with such reflec-'
tions as I deem it my good fortune to have had it in my power to
make, from the train of political incidents which have been tran
spiring and bursting forth to the light of day, both of old and
* This abstract may be relied on as correct, according to the statement of actors
in that memorable contest : After several days of ineffectual balloting, the federal
ists having received assurances from a source on which they could place reliance, •
that their wishes in regard to certain points of federal policy would be observed in
case Mr. Jefferson was elected, the opposition of Vermont, Delaware, Maryland,
and South Carolina, was withdrawn, and on the thirty-sixth ballot, Mr. Jefferson
was elected ; Mr. Jefferson having authorized a friend to compromise with the fede
ralists for these points of federal policy— First, the support of the funding or credit
system : Secondly, the maintenance of the naval system, for the protection of com
merce and national defence : Thirdly, a guaranty against the spoils system that is
that public officers should not be removed on the ground of their political opinions'

INTRODUCTION. 41
recent date, I have come to the conclusion, that Mr. Jefferson, in
his heart, and with the sanction of his deliberate judgment, set
less value on party distinctions and party exclnsiveness, than he
was supposed to have done — seeing, as he evidently did, that
they distracted the country with intestine feuds, and diverted her
energies from the proper objects of national prosperity and thrift,
to contentions and rivalry for government patronage and spolia
tions on the public treasure, under the hypocritical disguise of a
'holy war for principles ;'* principles which have since been
interchangeably advocated by every party in its turn, showing
* The tergiversations of this intolerant party, which is continually proclaiming
war of extermination to its opponents, because they do not concede them all the,
patriotism, and the undisturbed monopoly of the government, has been rhost happily
delineated recently, by a choice wit in the Charlottesville Advocate. The effusion
professes to be 'a special deposits' in the box at the window of the Advocate, for
the reception of small favours. It is a burst of drollery, in the semi-dolorous, semi-
ludicrous strain, as if from one ofthe 'enlisted soldiers,' while under drill — address
ed to the chief flugelman, whose stuffings, turnings, and flourishing evolutions had
made him so giddy in his steadfast eliorts to imitate them, that he hardly knew
whether he was standing on his head or his heels. Taking it all in all, I find it so apt
to the reflections that have been forced on my mind by the incessant clangor of
arms, and preparations for war in the same quarter, that I felicitate myself in the
opportunity to give it honorary place here, in advance of what I shall have occasion
to say hereafter, on the subject of party politics and the monarchial tendency of party
discipline in this country. In the meantime, I commend to the reflection of the
reader, the picture from 'long and hungry.' 'Long and Hungry, September 25th, 1838.
'Mr. Ritchie : Dear Sir : — I wish you to do me one favour, which, under pre
sent circumstances, I will never forget, and I hope you will, at your earliest conve
nience, attend to my case. I want to know where I am, and what I am ; whether
I am a democrat, or a republican, or a democratic-republican, or a federalist, of a
nullifier, or a conservative, or a whig ; whether I go for a bank, or for the banks,-
against a bank or against the banks, for hard money or against hard money, for the
President or against the President ; and whether 1 must abuse General Jackson,
or Mr. Van Buren, Mr. Calhoun, or Mr. Clay, or General Harrison; whether in
fact, I am on my head or my heels, in the parly or out of the party ? I have conclu
ded, in my own mind, that I am something of a special deposite just now, sorter so
and sorter not so, and I want to know whether I had best keep dark a while longer
or come out ?
'There is another subject about which I want your advice : Had I better stop the
Globe or the Madisonian, for it does seem to me too hard to expect a plain man,
without much learning to stick to both sides of ever}' question ? I have stuck to the
Enquirer through thick and thin, and I don't mean to mind the hard things they say
about you now, and to hold on as long as there is a pea in the dish — only I like to
show my colours sometimes. 1 went with you for the gun-boats, and against them*
under Jefferson, and for the war, and against the gun-boats, under Madison. I fol
lowed you and Jefferson against the bank, ditto to you and Madison when he went
for the bank. I read your paper and supported Monroe when you and he went
against Jackson, and I turned against Adams, tooth and toe-nail, and went for Jack
son when you did the like. I loaded my fowling piece when they began to talk
about light houses in the skies I went for the proclamation, and against the pro
clamation in spots, and, after that, I resolved not to split the party for any thing, and
swallowed the removal ofthe deposites, the protest, the black lines, and last, though
not least, Mr. Van Buren and Col. Dick Johnson. But I confess:I'm bothered now.
I want light, and would like to know, when it is convenient, whether I must now
go for principles without men, or men without principles ?
). remain yours until death, NOUS VERRONS.'
The venerable editor ofthe Enquirer, who seems to crave the estimation of being
a Frenchman from his constant use of the phrase nous verrons at the end of every
hing he says, has felt so sorely the barbed hits of his fellow-countryman, name-sake,

42 introduction.
in fact, that they are exclusively distinctive of no party, but are
the common property of the whole nation, and of all mankind,
as their adoption and practice may be disseminated and found t6
promote the ends of the general welfare.
I have, therefore, with mixed indignation, humility and remorse,
struck down the bloody flag of party intolerance, which, under
the infatuations of party blindness, enthusiasm, and ignorance, I
thought it so honourable to bear, and I now freely proclaim
through these pages, the white flag of peace and good
will unto all honest men, with the motto of 'my country,
my whole country, and nothing that is inimical to the interests
and the honour of my country.'
Thus too, has* the same course of observation, which has
brought me to these conclusions, afforded me an insight of those
radical defects of your political system above mentioned, and
enabled me, from a train of incontrovertible and stubborn facts,
extending through a long series of years, but multiplying and
assuming bolder defiance as time advances, and renders thern
more familiar — to discover that in yielding to the malign tempta
tions of those defects, your public agents and representatives
have not only violated nearly all the fundamental principles
recited in the declaration of independence, and in the bill of rights
and pattern from the meridian of 'Long and Hungry,' that he has endeavoured to
extract a few of the deepest fangs, and has requested the universal corps of his
colleagues to assist him in the effort. In the poor opinion of my cbirurgical skill
however, it will only serve to fester and rankle them the deeper. But it would be hard
to deny him the benefit of his own great experience and practice in these matters
of forlorn hope. With every disposition, therefore, to afford him the relief of his
own suggestions, I too shall manipulate, with all the delicacy of touch possible, the
points he most complains of. But, in the words of another very intelligent profes
sor, 'if the veteran editor flatters himself that it will furnish any justification of his'
recent inconsistencies, or any refutation of the well directed irony of nous venons,
he enjoys a larger stock of self-complacency than I had given him credit for. It is
about on a par with Darby's explanation ofthe challenge of Monsieur Bagatelle.'
The editor of the Enquirer denies that he ever 'went for' the gun boats, instead
ofthe navy, for the protection of our commerce and national defence, while he was
devoting his whole strength to the support of Mr. Jefferson's administration : — that
he ever 'went for' the bank, as a conceded and settled policy ofthe country, while
he was giving equally vigorous support to Mr. Madison's administration : — and de
clares that he never 'went for' the whole proclamation of General Jackson against
state rights, while he was supporting with all his might the prescriptive claims of
party, in his person, right or wrong ; but that he pointed out the passages that re
quired explanation, which were afterwards explained accordingly, by the then keeper
of General Jackson's conscience, the immaculate Globe I — that he 'protested against
General's Jackson's Protest !' and yet protested against the people's protest against
General Jackson ! And so will he at a future time declare that he protested against
tbe establishment of that tremendous scheme of executive power, the sub-Treasury,
while he was chanting fulsome praises and flattery to Mr. Van Buren's 'gentle man
ners' throughout an entire summer's electioneering campaign in Virginia, from the
very sea-board to her far western limits ! A fig for such a consistency as blowing
hot and cold with the same breath. If it will always continue to avail his ends
of party proscriptiveness in Virginia, there are more than myself who will be mis
taken and grieved at the success of the artifice. The sum of it all is, however,
that Mr. R. had rather his country should sink into irredeemable perdition at the
bungling hands of his beloved party, than be saved by the superior skill of his re
puted enemies — so stigmatized without truth !

introduction. 43
of the state constitutions, with the important metes and bounds
of the federal compact, but they have committed infractions of the
most profligate and outrageous character upon every one of the
ten commandments of the holy writ, have set at naught all the
moral precepts of the sage JEsop, that are in any manner appli
cable to their spheres of official action, directly or contingently;
and have left the laws and the prophets, the sages, the statesmen,
and the patriots, to bow with degraded humility before the auda
cious presumption of licentious power, until you, the sovereign
people, who are the legitimate source of all political power, shall
reclaim your abused trusts, and reinstate a proper regard for moral
observances, the laws, and the constitution.
In conclusion — I would gladly now give you a brief sketch of
the party prepossessions and intolerant prejudices which operated
on my mind, in drawing me insensibly from my professional
pursuits into the political arena, to advocate what / mistook
'Jacksonian-republicanism' to be, in 1826-'27; and a like sketch
of the signal incidents which during several years of that political
hallucination, gradually ameliorated and finally dispelled those
delusions, by inducing me to study, understand, and properly
appreciate the fundamental principles of your federal-republican
institutions — whereby I have been enabled to substitute for the
most virulent party intolerance, the elevated Jeffersonian doctrines
and sentiments of pure 'federal-republicanism' already adverted
to, consisting of party concessions and compromise, based in
political as well as religious toleration. It would be the
more particularly gratifying to me to give this summary without
delay, as it might serve a double good purpose in presenting the
suitable testimonials to others by the earliest opportunity, to
enable them in due season to arrive at the same conclusions and
consequent reformation of their party errors, with myself, by the
analogy they might perceive in my case, with theirs. But such
a statement here would greatly extend this Introduction, which
already exceeds the limits that can be conveniently appropriated
to it.
Nor can that summary with propriety be introduced as a pre
liminary chapter to part first, which I have devoted to .
sketches of the foreign diplomacy of the United States ; in con
nection with which it would be misplaced. Indeed, with a due
regard to the harmony of subjects, that summary will be more
suitable for a preliminary chapter of part second, wherein I
shall commence the consideration of the kindred party subjects '
that are connected with the home departments of administration.
I therefore feel constrained to defer it for the second part ; and to
give the first part exclusively to the subject of our foreign
diplomacy, which on account of its paramount interest at the
present crisis, is entitled to precedence; and being somewhat an
isolated subject from those of the other departments, is suscepti
ble of a detached sketch without disparagement.

44 introduction.
But in as much as it is both probable and desirable, that this
book will find its way beyond the limits of the United States;
and even into sections within those limits where I am not known,
it seems to be equally justifiable and proper that I here give
place to a few testimonials, to satisfy a laudable inquiry that
may be entertained at the threshhold — 'Who is the writer of
these Sketches?' This course appears to be still more particu
larly called for, by the fact that the most extraordinary issue ever
known in the annals of this Republic, or perhaps of the world,
is hereby made by an individual volunteering in behalf of
himself and others with their common country suffering under
oppression, on the one part — and the government, on the other
part, both in regard to defects of its organization and the corrup
tions of its administration, arraigned before the tribunal of the
sovereign People, whose appropriate and reserved right it is to
adjudicate the matters involved. I will therefore here annex a
few letters I find by me, the remnant of an immense mass of
others, lost or mislaid, from distinguished personages, all of whom
are known to a much wider circuit than these sketches can ever
hope to extend. Nor need I make any definitions or comments
upon them, as their contents and dates sufficiently declare the
various occasions which elicited them, and the, pure casualty by
which they happen to serve the present crisis — without, indeed,
laying any claim whatever to the good will and good opinion
they express, beyond what the writers would be willing to repeat,
under all circumstances that have transpired since their dates;
In relation to the first from Bishop Madison, I will only remark,
that having been a student at William and Mary college while
he was president of that institution, he wrote me, upon my
graduation in medicine, this letter, on the occasion expressed
in it. Williamsburg, December 10, 1808.
Dear Sir — As it has been the rule of the present administration, that one department
is not to interfere with that of another ; and as all military appointments belong to Gen.
Dearborn's, I thought it better to write to him, than to the President or Secretary of Slate.
I do not know that my letter will be of any avail ; but I take a pleasure in the effort to
render you even the smallest service, and in manifesting the esteem, with which I am,
dear sir, yours very respectfully, J. Madisok.
Dr. Robert Mato, Richmond. Dartmouth College, December 27th. 1813.
Sir — I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of your Historical View
of Ancient Geography, forwarded by the mail, in a succession of sheets.
The view of any of the learned sciences ia enriched by embracing its relations and
bearings, in the different ages of improvement— and no one can become an accomplished
master of the same without the knowledge of its state and progress, in former times. This
remark is strikingly true, as applied to the geographical branch. It presents more than
any other, lively ties of connection between the ancients and moderns, and the purest aid
in judging of their relative condition.
I have read, with satisfaction, the pages of your volume. It promises more benefit to
the student, being calculated to fill an important chasm in its department, which has been
too long neglected. The materials are judiciously selected, and arranged with consistency,
and expressed, in general, with perspicuity and conciseness. The proposed maps of the
different countries and places, noted in the tables, will greatly increase the utility and
estimation of the performance. J

introduction. 45
«
No doubt of an opening for the disposal of a number in this quarter. It might be well
for some individual or individuals to attend, particularly, to the subscription and its object.
I could mention Mr. Joseph Perry, preceptor of Moor's Academy, and Mr. Justin Hinds,
bookseller, in this place. They sustain good characters ; and one, or both, as you may
incline, would conduct the business. I shall be happy in promoting your useful object —
and am, sir, your sincere and respectful servant, John Wheelock.
Robert Mato, M. D. Philadelphia. Dickinson College, June 6th, 1814.
Sir — I ought to apologize to you for not having before this acknowledged the receipt of
your View of Ancient Geography.
Modern Geography has, of late, been studied to the neglect of the ancient ; but without
some system of ancient geography, the student cannot understand ancient history. Under
this impression, I, some years ago, introduced among my pupils, Adams' Summary of
Ancient Geography and History. But, after much inquiry, I have been unable, of late
years to procure it. Yours is more concise, and yet extends to a greater variety of objects,
and is, on the whole, better fitted to be useful in our public seminaries. A work of this
kind was greatly needed, and yours will no doubt be very generally introduced. Wishing
you success in your labours, I am, sir, respectfully yours, Jeremiah Atwater.
Robert Mato, M. D. Philadelphia. Philadelphia, July 21th, 1815.
Sir — I have perused, with much satisfaction and improvement, your first volume of
Mythology, and really consider it an interesting and useful work. Your arrangement of
the subject matter is very judicious, and the authorilies you refer to are of the first
character. Should the subsequent volumes be executed with equal success, they will
collectively constitute a highly valuable acquisition for the accomplished scholar as well
as for the junior student. With great respect, I am, your most humble servant,
R. Mato, M. D. Jas. Abercromeie, D. D.
Philadelphia, July 21, 1815.
Dear Sir — With much satisfaction I have perused the first volume of your 'New
System of Mythology.' I confess I did not anticipate much novelty on a subject that
has already employed the talents of so many men well qualified for the task ; but in this I
have been disappointed. I am not only particularly pleased with the variety ofthe matter,
but also highly commend your success in the instructing and lucid order you have adopted.
I have no doubt that your performance, exhibiting the ingenious absurdities of a false
Mythology, and commending to the reader the beautiful and pure principles of the true
religion— will be perused by many with interest and pleasure. I wish you success in the
circulation of this valuable production of your useful pen. W. Staughton, D. D.
Dr. Mato.
University of Pennsylvania, July 20th, 1815.
Sir— Having examined the first volume of your 'System of Mythology,' I am free in
giving it as my opinion that it will be particularly useful to our colleges and schools.
I am yours, &c. Frederic Beaslet, D. D.
Dr. Mato.
Philadelphia, July 27, 1815.
Dear Sir — Without entering into a formal analysis of the valuable qualities of your
'New System of Mythology,' allow me to thank you for the pleasure and instruction I
have derived from a perusal ofthe first volume.
Whether regard be had to its matter or manner, the subjects it embraces or its mode of
illustrating them, it appears to be a work of real merit ; ornamental to the classical scholar,
useful to every one, and essential to all who are. ambitious of a knowledge of general
history. To some of the most interesting portions of the history of ancient nations, as well
as of several modern ones, an able and correct system of Mythology might be emphatically
denominated the master key. Such a key I feel persuaded your countrymen will not
fail to find in that of which you have commenced the publication.
Thus far of what you have published— respecting that portion of your work which is
yet to appear, it may be regarded as premature in me to speak. Judging, however, from
the specimen in my possession, candour and reason unite in obliging me to augur well
of it.
The third volume, in particular, if executed with equal ability with that which has just
been printed, promises to be a production of no common interest. While the first and
second volumes will be calculated to communicate information on a broader scale, and in
a more detailed form, the third, being an analytical epitome of the entire system, and
addressed to the eye, the best of the senses, will, if I mistake not, be well adapted to the
use of schools.

46 INTRODUCTION.
On the whole, enough has already appeared to encourage the belief, that when complete,
the work will be an addition to American literature, honourable to yourself, and useful to
your country. May it be welcomed under a patronage correspondingly liberal.
I am, truly and respectfully, your obedient and very humble servant,
Robert Mato, M. D. Ch. Caldwell, M. D.
Philadelphia, July 20th, 1815.
Dear Sir— I have examined the first volume of your 'New System of Mythology.'
Without arrogating to myself the right of deciding on its merits, a task which I willingly
leave to abler critics, I may be permitted to express my high opinion of the usefulness of
such a work ; and to add my belief, that competent judges will be less backward than
myself in bestowing their commendations on it. The industry and talents of the author
are the grounds of this belief.
Very respectfully,' I am, sir, yonr humble servant, J. S. Dorset, M. D.
Dr. Mato.
University of Pennsylvania, July 11th, 1815.
Dear Sir — The studies which engross my attention are so entirely foreign to the sub
ject of the work which you are now publishing, that I should think it inexcusable arro
gance in me to speak minutely on its merits. It gives me pleasure, however, to remark,
that the work is arranged with admirable method, written with great perspicuity, and filled
with interesting matter. Believe me, with the greatest respect, your obedient servant,
Dr. Mayo. R. M. Patterson, M. D.
Philadelphia, July 28th, 1815.
Dear Sir — I have read your work with as much attention as my leisure would admit,
and experience very great pleasure in adding my suffrage to the distinguished testimonials
which you have received to its merits. I am, dear sir, very respectfully yours, &c.
R. Mato, M. D. N. Chapman, M. D.
Quincy, Marcji 21st, 1823.
Gentlemen — I have received and procured to be read to me your pamphlet. The very
title of a Juvenile Library Company soundB delightfully in the ears of an old man, who
wishes well to posterity. The vivacity, intelligence, ingenuity, and elegance ofthe address
has given me great pleasure, and the whole plan appears to me to be judicious and meri
torious. To recommend books of merit to your adoption, would be to compose a very
large catalogue ; I recommend to all my young friends, Dr. Barrow's works, not for
his theological creeds and dogmata ; but for his moral discourses ; and especially his
five sermons on industry. And Bishop Butler's sermons, and the preface to these sermons.
Sir James Harris' works, especially his Dialogue on Virtue. These are the finest speci
mens of morals I have ever read.
An ardour for knowledge and education appears to me to be bursting forth into flames
in every part of the continent, which will afford means and opportunities to the rising
generation — for the industrious use of which they will be responsible to their country and
mankind. The prospect is so brilliant, and so attractive, as almost to excite in an old man,
a wish to live another age, at least it will be a great consolation in death.
I have given away all my library except a very small portion of necessaries of life to
your cordial well-wisher, and am your very humble servant. John Adams.
Messrs. Robert Mato. &c. Richmond- MontpeUier, March 31, 1823.
Gentlemen— I have received the copy of an address, in behalf of the Juvenile Library
Company, in Richmond, which you have been pleased to forward to me.
Knowledge ofthe useful kinds is so conducive to individual and social happiness, and so
essential to the form of government most friendly to both, that all the means of diffusing it
have their merit. Among these means, libraries adapted to the early period of life, and
placed every where within the reach of those most needing the instruction and rational
entertainment they offer, are well entitled to the persuasive recommendation, which the
address bestows on them. I wish for the institution in Richmond all the success promised
by the laudable activity of its founders, and that it may be followed by others where ever
local circumstances will admit. The obstacles presented by these are more or less to be
encountered, as places may be more or less thinly peopled ; and they must often be great
est where the benefit in view is most desirable. Much however may be hoped from the
light of judicious examples, and from the animated efforts they may inspire. It is a further
consolation, that the facilities resulting from a concentrated population must daily increase
with the growth and improvement of the country.
Messrs. Rober^^c! SSSU JAMS ^^

INTRODUCTION. 47
Richmond, January 26, 1823.
Gentlemen — I have received your circular address in behalf of the Juvenile Library
Company, ofthe city of Richmond, with a card annexed in which you do me the honour
to associate jne with gentlemen of the first literary character in our country, whose views
you solicit on the subject of education.
I am truly flattered by this distinction, and should feel great pleasure in complying wuh
your request, could I persuade myself that it is in my power to say any thing new or
valuable on this interesting topic. But I have been accustomed to take only general
views ofthe subject ; and it is too vast and complex to be properly treated by one whoso
attention has not, heretofore, been particularly directed towards it, and who is now too
much occupied by arduous public duties, as well as private business, to give it the con
sideration it deserves.
Your fellow-citizens are greatly indebted to you for the enlightened zeal with which
you have engaged in an undertaking of the deepest interest to the community. To estab
lish a good system for the education of youth, is certainly among the most meritorious
efforts of patriotism ; but it is an object which, I fear and believe, the legislative power
alone can accomplish. Our eastern brethren have engrafted the principle of general
instruction on their original establishments. It has grown with their growth, and is
incorporated with the very essence of their political existence. Public opinion co-operates
with law to cherish their institutions. I would hope that the experiment might be equally
successful in Virginia were similar means employed. Should your commencement seem
to give this direction to public sentiment, you will receive a rich reward in the conscious
ness of having rendered much real good to your country.
With great respect, I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, J. Marshall-
Messrs. Robert Mato, &c. Richmond. Richmond, May 26, 1823.
Gentlemen — I received your address on the subject of Juvenile Library Associations,
*and seize the first leisure moment to thank you for it. I beg leave to present through you
to the Juvenile Library Society of Richmond, the books which accompany this note, and
regret that it is not in my power at present to make a donation of more value.
The plan which you propose, is admirably calculated to attain the great objects you
have in view, and to enlist in its support every friend to social and political happiness.
Of the advantages of knowledge and education it is unnecessary to speak. They are now
justly regarded as the great securities of individual happiness and national prosperity,
and their importance seems to be impressed on every mind. In arbitrary governments,
where the people neither make the law nor choose those who legislate, the more
ignorance the more peace ; but in a country like ours, where political morality is as
essential to the character of a citizen as private morality is to that of an individual, and
where the people fill all the branches of sovereignty, knowledge is the life of liberty and
free government. I hope, gentlemen, you will persevere in the laudable effort you are
making to instruct the youth of the country, in an easy and cheap manner, by means of
Juvenile Library Companies ; it is among the most important and interesting employments
of philanthropy, and you should feel yourselves urged to go on, by every motive connected
with the moral, literary, and political advancement of your country. You have my best
wishes for success, and it will give me pleasure to aid you in any manner I am able.
Most respectfully, your obedient servant,
Messrs. R. Mato &. W. A. Bartow, Richmond. And. Stevenson.
Riclvmond, July 6, 1827.
Dear Sir — Doctor Robert Mayo, of this city, proposes to take an excursion, to the
north this summer, and may possibly extend it westwardly. He will pass through Wash
ington. I beg leave to introduce- him lo you, as my friend and kinsman, and to request
your kind attention to him while in your city. The Doctor received his medical education
at the University of Philadelphia, where he graduated. He is the author of several
literary works of esteemed merit, and has practised medicine with reputation, for several
years in this city. I am, dear Sir, yours very truly, Wm. H. Cabell.
Mr. Wirt, Mt. Gen'l U. States, Washington City- Richmond, June 29, 1827.
Dear Sir — The bearer hereof, Doctor Robert Mayo, now of this place, will shortly
visit the University, and will proceed thence to a more distant part of our country on a
journey of observation. He wishes to have the advantage and satisfaction of your acquain
tance, and will probably have it in his power to call on you in the course of his tour. I
beg leave to present him to you as a gentleman of talents and information, and am sure
that I could not recommend him more favourably to you than as the author of several
treatises on elementary education, well received and extensively used by the people of the
United States. I am, dear Sir, ever most respectfully and truly yours,
Mr. Madison, MontpeUier. Joseph C Cabell.

48 INTRODUCTION. Richmond, June 28, 1827.
Dear Sir— I beg leave to introduce to you Doctor Robert Mayo, of this city, who will
hand you this letter. He was the able Editor of the Jackson Republican, and I presume
known to you in that character. He is on his way to the north, and will pass through
Washington. You will find him an amiable and gentlemanly man of talents and acquire
ments. Very respectfully your obedient servant,
Gen. D. Green, Washington. A. Stevenson.
Richmond, March 31, 1829.
Dear Sir— I beg leave to introduce to you Dr. Robert Mayo, of this city, who is now
in Washington. He is a man of letters, and connected with one of the oldest and most
respectable families of our State. Respectfully your obedient servant.
Hon. M. Van Buren, Washington. A. Stevenson.
Richmond, March 31, 1829.
Dear Sir — Several common friends in this place have made me the compliment to
Suppose that a letter from me might be of some small service to you at Washington.
Without yielding to that belief, I shall with great pleasure comply with their wishes.
If your object be to obtain the place of surgeon in either branch of the public service, I
can truly say that I have always heard you represented by others (and I believe as much
myself,) as an able physician and surgeon, and know you to be a man of general literature
and science. To this it maybe sufficient to add that your standing is that of a gentleman.
But it has been intimated to me that you might perhaps become an applicant for the
office of Librarian to Congress. Now, if I could suppose myself to have weight, it
would be my duty to recommend that the present incumbent should be continued, for I ,
know him to be a most respectable man and an able public officer. Indeed, I know not a
third individual in the United States, who would accept the place, so peculiarly qualified to
discharge its duties as Mr. Watterston and yourself. If therefore he cannot be retained, I
hope you may succeed him ; but I should certainly regret to hear that he had been turned
out, even to make room for you.
Wishing that you may obtain some other place, worthy of your standing as a gentleman,
a man of science and letters, I remain, my dear Sir, with great esteem, yours,
Dr. Robert Mato. Winfield Scott.
Washington, May 17, 1829.
Dear Sir — I submitted your letter to Major Donelson, who promised me to write to
you on the subject. I am induced to hope that you could obtain the situation of Librarian
to Congress, if you were here. I may be more influenced by my hopes than I should be
in this matter, but all that I can do has been done to remove obstacles.
Present me kindly to Mr Giles, and assure him that I appreciated the confidence which
induces him to communicate his views relative to the proper course to defeat * * *.
Your friend, D. Green.
Dr. R. Mato, Richmond. Washington, March 30, 1829.
Dear General — I recommend to you with great confidence and concern, as Librarian
to Congress, (should a vacancy in that office occur) Dr. Mayo, of Richmond, who will
have the honour of handing you this letter. He has peculiar qualifications for the duties
of that place, being a linguist, conversant with books, an author, and habitually studious
of that sort of information which a bibliographer should possess.
By habits, learning, and long familiarity with books, he is qualified to arrange and take
care of libraries. I sincerely believe his exertions and sacrifices as the editor of the
Jackson Republican, in Richmond, entitle him also to the favourable notice of the govern
ment. I have already recommended him to the State Department, but so firm is my
persuasion of his suitableness and merit, that I give this additional testimonial in hia
favour with cheerfulness. With much respect, I remain, dear Sir, your faithful servant,
The President qf the U. States. H. Lee.
JVcie York, July 2, 1830.
Dear Sir— I have pondered with care and delight on the synopsis of the work you
have projected, to be entitled— The Structure and Genius ofthe English Language, in
four parts. The Analysis itself evinces much research, and a habit of philological investi
gation. When a great subject is once happily conceived, broken into general heads, and
these again subdivided into minute jarts, according to philosophical analysis, genius has
performed her part, and time, and books, and manual labour only are wanted to complete
the work. Now, of your capacity for continuous labour I do not doubt ; but have you the
leisure, and the books which are needed ? What a pity you did not obtain the place of

INTRODUCTION. 49
Librarian to Congress, which, it is understood, your political friends solicited for you !
In that situation, with the works of all preceding philologers before you, you might, in
eight or ten years, have completed a design worthy of your country and worthy of
posterity. But what can you hope to accomplish in that way where you are, without a
library, and in the midst of professional avocations ? I can only offer you my sympathies,
and remain truly yours,
Dr. Robert Mato, Richmond. . Winfield Scott.
Washington, March 5th, '33.
Sir — Dr. Robert Mayo, of Virginia, has conceived, and has for some time past been
maturing a literary work of great interest, for which his friends, and particularly General
Scott, whose letter on the subject I have seen, consider him very highly qualified. To
the accomplishment of this undertaking, the facilities to be desired from a suitable public
office here, I understand from the Doctor, alone is wanting. I take the liberty, therefore, of
expressing to you my good wishes for the success of the application he is about to present
to you. With sentiments of great respect, your obedient servant,
To the President ofthe United States. W. C. Rives.
Washington, May 2, 1833.
Mt Dear Sir — Dr. Mayo will hand you this letter. Permit me to introduce him to you.
You will find him a gentleman of scientific attainments, and of a very respectable charac
ter and standing. From the fact of an important business having been recently entrusted
to him, I have been brought considerably into contact with him, and I have found him
attentive, well informed, and capable. I am, dear sir, truly yours,
Hon. Louis McLane. Lew. Cass.

N. B. The reader is now enabled, in some degree, to appre
ciate the sacrifice I have made of the most precious period of my
life, in pursuing the phantom of 'Jacksonian-democracy,' in the
hope of rendering a public benefit, and advancing more endeared
objects of literature, while the humiliating result has been to
defeat both.
R. M.
Washington, November, 1838.

PART THE FIRST.

SKETCHES OF THE DUPLICITY

JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY.

ADVERTISEMENT TO PART THE FIRST,

It is awful to contemplate the infinite variety of gradations that the sinful
deeds of qaan exhibit! It would consume a life time to estimate the degrees
of atrocity or leniency ihey assume, from the grossest premeditated malevo
lence that perpetrates a 'flagrant crime,' to the slightest reprehensible means-
adopted, to insure the achievement of a 'good intention!' Without con
cerning myself with the minute differences in the shades of culpability that
lower upon the scale of human wickedness and diversify the intensity of
its- gloom, it will be sufficient here to recognize the two general classes, viz.
that of unqualified, premeditated, malevolent crime, and the more numerous
class of less atrocious sins that are qualified with the weak apology of good
intentions. The latter, though greatly extenuated by the good intentions
they have in view, are incomparably the more mischievous than the former,
because, from their plausible exterior, they are difficult to be recognized, and
therefore multiply anon, unobserved, and become but too prevalent in every
man's heart. Hence have the most learned and accomplished divines been
prompted to admonish their sinful audjtory, that 'the infernal regions are
paved with good intentions.'
The object of these remarks will be fully understood when the reader is
informed, that one of the principal bearings of the following pages go to
demonstrate the sins that flow from the good intentions of some of our highest
public functionaries, under the instigations of the premeditated sinfulness qf
their official advisers and other interested counsellors : in which I may include,
the collateral sins of their numerous subordinates, acting on their own respon
sibility, or in defiance of all responsibility, but in unison with or in com
promise of the two classes of their superiors — while their Great Chief
is professing to benefitthe nation he specifically represents, under the sinister
counsels of those advisers who care less for the prosperity of the nation than
for a revolution of all her institutions, at the hazard of being convicted of
treason, of high crimes, or of misdemeanours.
It is hard to deny the good intentions of Andrew Jackson. Whoever
takes a superficial survey of his private or public life, will probably be of
that opinion, however a minute inspection of either might qualify or cast
dubiousness upon it. That General Jackson was a patriot — viewing patriotism
apart from injustice to other nations, to corporate institutions, or to indivi
duals—no one can or will lightly dispute. That he appears to have enter-

54 ADVERTISEMENT.
tained kind wishes or good, intentions to advance the prosperity and honour
of his country, all will agree; but at the imminent hazard and cost of every
other obligation, is most manifest to every eye. This principle has often
carried him such lengths in yielding to bad counsels or to capricious impulses,
as in many instances actually to incur ihe total defeat of the patriotic and
primary objects of his heart, if they really existed, by the wickedness of the
ill advised means he would lend himself to adopt, under the expectation to
prosper those good intentions.
Of these views, and the facts upon which they are founded, I know many
men who have had as good opportunilies to judge as myself, and perhaps ia
some respects better. But there are few men who fully avail themselves of
their opportunities for any thing; or, in these respects their notions of
prudence may have taught them to keep the results of their observations and
reflections to themselves. I, however, do not hold such sentiments of
prudence to be compatible with the public duty of any citizen : and I have
seen enough to satisfy my mind ofthe correctness of my observation beyond
the possible admission of a doubt, more than might be wilfully entertained
in the face of a mathematical demonstration; and I need not say that wji.atl
hold to be my duty to my country, in this or any other emergency, I shall
not hesitate to perform, let the consequences come that may.
This will therefore serve to apprise the reader that the insincerity
characteristic of General Jackson's foreign diplomacy, and particularly that
laid to his charge by the Honourable John Q,uincy Adams in the last para
graph of his Texas speech, delivered at the close of the late sessions of
congress, when commenting upon documentary 'pro'ofs of the existence ef
both duplicity and hostility on the part of the Executive toward Mexico, from
the commencement of the late administration to the present day,' as herein
after fully substantiated, is not a unique case. This trait of insincerity or
duplicity, though so strongly marked in General Jackson's conduct towards
the Mexican Republic, might be doubted however, as a general feature, if not
sustained by other facts; and even in this case it might by some, in charity
to that ivell-meaning patriot, be set down, to the account of forgetfulness,
oversight, ignorance, or to his first love to that country as manifested in his
connection with the copspiracy of Burr — any thing — rather than attribute it to
a wilful, deliberate, and systematic revisal of Burr's conspiracy, or even to a
connivance, prevarication, duplicity, not to say direct pervertion ofthe truth,
in denying the possession of sufficient evidence of its existence, 'to ground
official action upon.' But when it is clearly shown that this i3 the domi
nant trait that is interwoven in all his prominent transactions, there will be
less scruple in allowing to it full credit in this case. Nay, more;
upon a fair canvass of his public life, the stronger conclusion will be, that
he has not merely lent himself to bad counsels, but that he has made a
systematic business of devising fraudulent and specious pretences to gloss
over any original scheme of his own, or of his flatterers, to promote the
supposed advantage of his country, his own glorification, his huzza-for-
Jackson partisans, his family connections, or a scrub acquaintance upon
occasion— establishing by his singular and wonderful success therein, one of
the most extraordinary solecisms in human nature, viz. that of a man of but
middling attainments, acquiring a universal reputation for unequalled
sincerity, candour, frankness, justice, uncompromising courage, and single
ness of patriotic purpose— while in fact he possesses neither one, except

ADVERTISEMENT. 55
so far as their antitheses" or counter qualities are not deemed requisite to
carry his objects through — but so soon as the agency of these appear neces
sary they are put in requisition with the same facility as though they were
among the most legitimate means to accomplish the supposed 'good intentions.'
It is by a long and careful observation of a great variety of facts and
circumstanceSj with a minute retrospection and comparison of whatever has
come to my knowledge, that I feel warranted and justified in these views,
and therefore dare to declare them in the very face of a contrary public
impression, (which certainly exists to a great extent,) knowing that I have
the facts in abundance to sustain me at every point in the course of their
development. And when these positions shall be made fully to appear, it
will not be difficult to decide whether such a man could possibly become a
public benefactor, whatever were hi3 good intentions — except by an interpo
sition of Providence — while surrounded by venal advisers instigated by a
deliberate wickedness of purpose ; to whose counsels too, he unfortunately
rather inclined a cheerful ear, than to those actuated by more patriotic
purposes — ever retaining the services of the former, to the expulsion of the
latter, when collisions of counsels should arise between ¦ them, having a
greater taste for the vile appetencies, the gross sinister flattery, the personal
glorification, and the revolutionizing spirit of the retained, than for the high
minded sincerity, plainness, and patriotic devotion for our public institutions,
which swayed the breasts of the rejected. But such specious and plausible
traits of character as were continually attributed to him by interested or
mistaken flatterers, calculated as they were to deceive all superficial observers
who are ever prone to be carried away by first impressions — also by the
consummate skill he possessed at levying contributions on the intellectual
resources of other men's minds in making his worst appear his better
qualities, he had the wonderful good fortune to win an unbounded popularity,
which, unfortunately for his country, the most disastrous results of his ill-
advised measures could never shake.
I would here recount a few evidences to illustrate the positions above
glanced at, but that would at once be too burthensome for a fleeting notice
like this, as well as too great an entrenchment upon the proper subjects of
the future expose. Let a general reference to the signal instance of his
duplicity, more than four times told, in his policy towards the banking insti
tutions of the country, both state and federal, not only serve for the present
as an illustration of this ruling passion in his diplomacy, but as a fair sample
of the same characteristic which stamps all his other public acts, or is every
where interwoven with them.

SKETCHES

DUPLICITY OF THE JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY.

CHAPTER I.
0/ the Characteristic Insincerity of the Jacksonian Dynasty, both in its
internal relations with the co-ordinate branches qf the government,
and in its diplomacy towards foreign nations.
Andrew Jackson, the thrice' fortunate Andrew Jackson
ascended to the Chair of the Presidency of the United States, on
the FrJoRTH of March, 1»29, under the most propitious auspices
that ever graced the inauguration of an American President!
Reviewing the whole political horizon that encompassed him,
embracing, in his rear, a retrospection of the scenes through
which the American Confederacy had fought, and struggled,
and elaborated its difficult career from the darksome period of its
national birth to the proud eminence it then occupied in vigorous
manhood, by the blessings of a beneficent Providence — and in
front of him, unfolding to the enraptured vision the bright antici
pations that beamed with the tints of every heavenly gift far and
wide over the immense expanse that might well dazzle the most
enthusiastic imagination to survey, promising still greater pros
perity, honours, and glory, for the attainment of the future —
nothing in the history of the world, ever presented a more impo
sing spectacle to one man to inspire him with a patriotic j
ardour, and to impress him with the necessity for profound j
deliberation and prudence in the projection and prosecution of all'
his measures, in order to insure their harmony and good keeping
with the blessings already attained, and with the further consum
mations, held out in flattering promise to 'his probable achieve
ment in connection with his incipient administration.
But what a sad reverse have we had, of all that was reason
ably to have been expected by his confiding countrymen ! In
deed, the elevation to which he had so suddenly risen, was of too

58 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part 1.
giddy a height for his unprepared, undisciplined intellect to look
upon with a steady eye. However consequentially or not to
his instrumentality therein, we have had 'War, pestilence, and
famine,' to afflict the land! not in the most aggravated forms,
indeed, thanks to an all-merciful God, but suffipiently so, for the
literal verification of the sagacious prediction of an eminent
Statesman, who better knew how to estimate the defective quali
fications of that fortunate military chieftain for the complicated.
and responsible civil duties he was about to assume. Nay, we
have had a much wider range of calamities than were foretold
by the distinguished statesman of Kentucky. We have, had a
national bankruptcy, official frauds, and peculation even unto
deliberate and wilful plunder on the largest scale, with all man
ner of corruptions thickening upon us, until immorality and bad
faith have almost become the order of the day, not only in the
public offices, but in private life, in all grades of society — ¦with
the honourable exceptions truly, of those whose better education
and firmness of character have enabled them to resist the prevail
ing epidemic ofthe Jacksonian polity and the party plunder of a
spoils dynasty. I do not pretend to attribute these consequences
to the -deliberate purposes with which General Jacksori com
menced his official career : that would be to disrobe him, entirely
of the extenuating grace of 'good intentions,' which I would
gladly award him on all ocpasions, were it possible.
But whoever, will make a dispassionate survey of General
Jackson's administration, in contrast with others, will be con
vinced with irresistible force, that he set out with the invidious,
not to say malignant ambition to cast all his predecessors into
the shades of dark obscurity, by the dazzling effulgence of his
own meteoric projections. The inflated air and confidence of
his first inaugural address, and of all his annual messages, his
vetoes, and his protests, fully attest this. Their enormous length,.
without a single exception, is another proof of this engrossing
emulation. Take his first or his second annual, and either of
them will be found to be more wordy than all the eight annuals'
of General Washington, and within a fraction of the eight annuals
of Mr. Jefferson, or of Mr. Madison. And his farewell address,
patterning after that of General Washington only in name, is
more than double its volume. But the vast range of measures
he urged upon Congress, with the circumstantiality, almost, of
bills reported for law, is still more striking than the unmerciful"
length of all his state papers. It is obvious, therein, that he has
not foregone an iota of the power vested in him, of recommend
ing measures, if indeed he has not greatly exceeded it, if we
would judge from the example of his predecessors, particularly of
General Washington, who never permitted himself to go further
than the suggestion of measures, by name * leaving the details
"The suggestion of measures by name.— Let me here invite the special
attention of the reader to the sentiments of General Washington on this subject, as

Chap. I.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 59
for Congress, under the impression, doubtless, that the obtrusion
of such, by the president, would be an infringement ofthe proper
legislative function of that co-ordinate branch of the government.
Of the prominent advantages of his fortunate -position, which
he prodigally or ill advisedly sacrificed to the fell delusion of a
vain-glorious fancy for a splendid administration in contradistinc
tion to all his predecessors, I will here notice two or three only.
Through the unavoidable course of events, resulting from the
previous good financial policy of the country, with the original
conception of which he had no participation, the public debt would
necessarily be paid off during his presidential term, and by con
sequence, would greatly redound to' his praise, however little
credit he could justly appropriate to himself for so unavoidable a
consummation. Yet, to expedite this object, and to have the
factitious air of agency therein, he was instigated by the vanity
for extraordinary distinction, to stimulate the sales of the public
lands, and to enhance the revenue of the customs, to such a
degree as to produce a calamity worse than the temporary evil of
a national debt — in a glutted treasury, with the concomitant
evils of abstracting the precious medium of value in the same
proportion from the circulation, and incurring, in part, the com
plicated plague of his other measures.
In the course of his administration, the charter ofthe Bank of
the United States would expire by limitation of law, and afford
him the enviable alternative of recommending its recharter, upon
the two-fold principle of its indispensable utility, and the settled
question of constitutionality by reiterated precedent and popular
approbation — or to suggest, if practicable, a substitute that would
sustain the exigencies of an auxiliary circulating medium, and
perform the financial agency of the government, each of which
the bank had so perfectly fulfilled. Yet, by his sanguinary
ambition to inflict upon the bank a premature death, and thereby
to pave the way for some glorification scheme of his own, (not
entirely understood or certainly known to this day on account of
the numerous contradictory suggestions and abortions,) he was
emboldened to withdraw the deposites and the financial agency
expressed in his first inaugural, the becoming modesty of which may be contrasted
with General Jackson's arrogance on the similar 'occasion of his first inaugural-
'By the article establishing the executive department,' said Washington, 'it is made
the duty of the President 'to recommend to your consideration such measures as he
shall judge necessary and expedient.' 'The circumstances under which I now meet
you will acquit me from entering into that subject farther than to refer to the great
constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your
powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more
consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with ihe feelings which
actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures,
the tkibute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn
the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honourable qualifi
cations I behold the surest pledges, &c. &c.' * * * 'Instead of undertaking particu
lar recommendations on this subject, in which I co'dd be guided by no lights derived
from' official opportunities, I shalfagain give way to mt entibe confidence in
TOUR DISCERNMENT AND PURSUIT OF THE PUBLIC GOOD.'

60 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
of the government from the bank, in violation of the obligation
of contracts, of law, and ofthe constitution, and incur the inevi
table embarrassment of our commerce, a general bankruptcy, and
a suspension of specie payments, with the uncountable train of
calamities that followed in quick succession.
In addition to these, I will barely allude here, to the favoura
ble posture of our many very important negotiations with foreign
powers, for the just claims of our citizens for spoilations com
mitted on our neutral commerce, which had made such prepara
tory progress towards adjustment uijder former administrations,
as perfectly to justify the almost certain prospect of their being
completed in the course of the Jacksonian administration, with
out his ceasing 'to confide in that spirit of justice, candour, and
friendship on their part, which would eventually insure success.'
Yet, by his uncalled for and arrogant pressure, in contradictory
ways,' in these matters, he, on the one hand, prostrated the dig
nity and honour of the country at the feet of our former enemy,
by his instructions to his minister at the court of St. James : and
on the other hand, by his uncalled for harshness and coarse
imputations towards the court of St. Cloud, would inevitably
have involved us in a war with our ancient ally, but for the
interposition of the senate ; while he totally neglected, for th&
time being, the claims of our citizens on the republic of Mexico,
probably for the still more sinister reasons, that all might remain
quiet in her breast, pending the organization of the foster con^
spiracy of General Houston to dismember her dominions.
But my business at present, is with the insincerity dis
played in his messages, both in his internal relations with the
co-ordinate branches of the government, and in his diplomacy
towards foreign powers. In drawing the attention of the reader
to this subject, I shall content myself with giving a general out
line of his first inaugural, and his first annual, as fair exemplars
of the rest. The method that I shall pursue will be perfectly
consistent with justice, according to the old proverb, which
teaches us to 'judge the tree by its fruits;' and there can be- no
test more true, than to estimate a man's professions by his per
formances. It will ever be a good rule, and will find its daily
application to the economy and government of practical life
while the world lasts.
1st. — The incumbent commences his inaugural in the follow
ing confident strain: — 'About to undertake the arduous duties I
have been appointed to perform,* by the choice of a free people
* I have been appointed to peeform:. — Contrast this opening remark with
the corresponding one of Mr. Jefferson's inaugural ; 'Called upon to undertake the
duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of
that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful
thanks for the favour with which they have been pleased to look towardsme, to
declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach
it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge; and
the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. A rising nation', spread over a wide and

Chap. I.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 61
I avail myself of this customary and solemn occasion to express'
— what? not his diffidence! oh no, but — 'the gratitude which their
confidence inspires, and to acknowledge the accountability which
his situation enjoins.' A very great condescension this, surely,
and about as sincerely .professed as he performed the pledge,
when he afterwards so frequently assumed, the responsibility,
that is to say, the defiance of it.
2d. He then goes on to tell the assembled multitude of the
sovereign people what he will do, saying, that — 'As the instru
ment of the federal constitution, it will devolve upon him,
for a stated period, to execute the laws of the United States ; to
superintend their foreign and confederate relations ; to manage
their revenue; to command their forces; and, by communications
to the legislature, to watch over and to promote their inte
rests generally.'' Thus assuming the exclusive trust to watch
over and promote the interests of the United States, without
recognizing any joint or co-ordinate duty of congress, in those
paramount functions, except only in receiving his communica
tions thereon — a knowledge of one at least, of the most important
subjects of which, (the conspiracy against Mexico) he sedulously
withheld from congress through the whole of his administration.
3d. Next he very methodically proceeds to detail 'the princi
ples of action by which he shall endeavour to accomplish this
circle of duties,' and says, that, 'In administering the laws of
congress, I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as
the extent of the executive power, trusting thereby to discharge!
the functions of my office, without transcending its authority.!
Now, it is natural to ask, why this special allusion to the limita*
tions and the extent of his powers, with a solemn pledge not to
fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry,
engaged in commerce with nations who feel power and forget right, advancing
rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye; when I contemplate these
transcendant objects, and see the honour, the happiness, and the hopes of this be
loved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the
contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utter
ly, indeed, should I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here see remind
me, that, in the other high authorities provided by our constitution, 1 shall find resources
of wisdom, of virtue, arid of zeal, on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then,
gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those
associated with you, I look with encouragement for that guidance and support which
may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all embarked, amid
the conflicting elements of a troubled world.' * * * * 'I repair then, fellow-citizens,
to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate offices
to have seen the difficulties of this, the greatest of all, I have learned to expect that
it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the
reputation and the favour that brings him into it.'
Equally might I contrast the modesty and deference of all General Jackson's pre
decessors with the tone of lofty arrogance, with which he stepped into the presiden
tial chair. I will add to the above, a few words only, from the first inaugural of
Mr. Madison. In concluding, he said : 'It is my good fortune, moreover, to have
the path in which I am to tread, lighted by examples of illustrious services success
fully rendered in the most trying difficulties, by those who have marched before me. Of
those of my immediate predecessor it might least become me here to speak.' Can Mr.
Van Buren conceive why ? Mr. Madison himself, had taken part in them : verbum sat.
9

62 eight years in Washington. [Part I.
transcend them? It is, to say the least of it, but a gratuitous
excess of fair professions which were already embraced in his
oath of office ; whilst, in every view, it becomes the more re
markable for the glaring insincerity with which he would cap
tivate the public confidence in his after deeds, whereby he has
so frequently set those limitations at defiance, by their invasion
with his usurpations and extra assumptions of responsibility.
Ath. He says, that : ' With foreign nations, it will be my study to
preserve peace, and to cultivate friendship on fair and honourable
terms; and in the adjustment of any differences that may exist
or arise, to exhibit the forbearance becoming a powerful nation,
rather than the sensibility belonging to a gallant people.' Will
any one in his sober senses say, that forbearance is less belong
ing to a gallant people, than it is becoming to a powerful nation,
or that sensibility is less becoming to a powerful nation, than it
is belonging to a gallant people? Is not this specious nonsense
of forced antithesis, rather a demagogue's attempt to flatter the
vanity of the assembled multitude, and to whet the appetites of
the whole nation with an ardour for those encounters, which
were in the same breath more than half insinuated to 'exist,' or
likely to 'ame,' "and which he afterwards so feverishly challenged,
in utter violation of this pledge of forbearance, equally with a
compromitment of the honour and dignity of the nation, the
deep stain of which can never be expunged?
5th. Again, he says — 'In such measures as I may be called
on to pursue, in regard to the rights of the separate states, I hope
to be animated by a proper respect for those sovereign members
of our union ; taking care not to confound the powers they have
reserved to themselves, with those they have granted to the con
federacy.' It would actually appear, from the few foregoing
specimens of this notable inaugural, that General Jackson had
taken up the notion that all the operations of the government had
got wrong, and that the great redeeming crisis had arrived, for
him to restore them in all respects to their proper track. And to
this point particularly, of a proper respect for the sovereign mem
bers of the Union, in regard to their reserved rights, et cetera,
who will say, that he conformed to this 'proper respect' in his
memorable proclamation, and force bill ?
6th. In the next place, he says — 'The management of the
public revenue,' and so on, 'will demand no inconsiderable share
of his official solicitude. Under every aspect in which it can be
considered, it would appear that advantage must result from the
observance of a strict and faithful economy. This 1 shall aim at
the more anxiously, both, because it will facilitate the extin
guishment of the national debt ; and because it will counteract
that tendency to public and private profligacy, which a profuse
expenditure of money by the government is but too apt to engen
der. Powerful auxiliaries to the attainment of this desirable
end, are to be found in the regulations provided by the wisdom

Chap. I.] jacksonian diplomacy. 63
of congress, for the specific appropriation of public money, and
the prompt accountability of public .officers.' Now what can any
one make of all this flummery, who is at all conversant with
what has been passing for the last eight or ten years, touching
the 'profligacy' herein denounced, which has increased under his
administration, from $13,000,000 to nearly $40,000,000 a year !
and 'that prompt accountability of public officers,' which has
proved to be any thing else than true, during the same period, by
the uncountable and enormous defalcations in various amounts,
from 1,000 to 100,000, and even beyond 1,000,000 of dollars •
by individual officers in the different branches of the public
service. . 7th. In the next passage, the new incumbent is equally plau
sible in his professions, as in those that precede it. He says —
'With regard to a proper selection ofthe subjects of import, with
a view to revenue, it would seem to me that the spirit of equity,
caution, and compromise, in which the constitution was formed,
requires that the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and
manufactures, should be equally favoured, and that perhaps the
only exception to this rule should consist in the peculiar encour
agement of any products of either of them that may be found ,
essential to our national independence.' It would be a curious
as well as a perplexing inquiry, which I shall leave to the lovers
of vexed questions, to ascertain how far these great interests have
been advanced by the general policy of Jackson's administration;
and which of the products of either have received peculiar
encouragement, as essential to our national independence, from
his felicitous actions on the currency? or rather have they not
all received a shock that will affect them injuriously for twenty
years to come.
8th. Again he says — 'Considering standing armies dangerous
to free governments, in time of peace, I shall not seek to enlarge
our present establishment, nor to disregard that salutary lesson
of political experience which teaches that the military should
be held subordinate to the civil power.' It was quite appropriate
for General Jackson to acknowledge his experience in this line,
when he locked up the legislative hall, suspended civil govern
ment, and proclaimed martial law in New Orleans; if we may be
permitted so to construe the latter part of this passage. But
that I doubt. He only meant there to recite a mere common
place in relation to the military, that tickles the ear of a republi
can people. It certainly does not comport any more with his
former practice than the former part of the same passage corres
ponds with his subsequent performances, or those of his political
pet, Mr. Van Buren, in so greatly increasing the then military
establishment as to amount at this moment to nearly double what
* Orte million and a quarter, is the reported defalcation of the late collector of
the port of New York, Samuel Swartwout. This list will be given in its proper
place hereafter.

64 eight years in Washington. [Parti.
it was, and, by the increase of pay, is fully double its former
cost to the government— leaving entirely out of consideration
the three millions of dollars he requested of congress further to
enlarge our military preparations when he was indulging in his
bravado towards France. I will leave it to the reader to judge
how far these several enlargements of our military establishment
under the circumstances of the case, go to infringe this aphorism
expressed by Mr. Jefferson in his sixth annual message, that
'were armies to be raised whenever a speck of war is visible in
our horizon, we never should have been without them' — or of
the following, expressed in his first annual, and frequently
repeated, in effect, afterwards, viz.— that 'for defence against .
invasion [an army on our establishment] is nothing; nor is it
conceived needful or safe that a standing army should be kept
up in time of peace for that purpose: uncertain as we must
ever be of the particular point in our circumference where an
enemy may choose to invade us, the only force which can be
ready at every point, and competent to oppose them, is the body
of neighbouring citizens, as formed into a militia.'' In this
latter sentiment of Mr. Jefferson, in favour of an organization of
the militia, first recommended by General Washington, and
repeated in almost every presidential message since his time,
General Jackson puts on the air of concurrence, thus : — 'But the
bulwark of our defence is, the national militia, which, in the
present state of our intelligence and population must render us
invincible.' Yet this recommendation seems to have become a
mere by-word, as no system has been devised or put in practice
to this day. Is this deficiency to be attributed to a want of that
zeal lo effect this object which has been so pertinaciously pressed
in other respects by this dynasty, or is it owing to a countervail
ing influence ofthe army officers* over the actions of the presi
dent, and tbe legislation of congress, lest their profession should
be substituted and superseded by a well-organized militia.
9th. This proposition of organizing the militia, is indeed well
sustained by the problem thus immediately after expressed— 'As
* Influence or the army officers. — I know it is the opinion of the major
general commanding in chief, that the preservation of ihe Union by an adequate
centripetal force to counteract the centrifugal tendencies of the states, mainly
depends on a foreign war to be waged within the period of every twenty years.
Though no satisfactory argument presents itself to my mind to sustain this military
conception as a guarantee of the integrity of the Union, I think it but fair to promote
all the advantage to our country, or even conjointly to the army, which that
distinguished officer could desire in these respects, by affording my aid in promul
gating the sentiment. But it rather appears to me in the light of a recommendation
or its equivalent, to consolidate and merge the sub-sovereignties of the states, in
order to preserve the Union. I shall be excused for expressing at the same time,
my ardent wish that we shall never be reduced to such straights as to find it
politic to abandon the benefits and checks of the municipal sub-sovereignties by
consolidation, in order to preserve the paramount national sovereignly, in its
wholesome and qualified sway.
Was General Jackson also inspired with this precious conception, this deliberate
¦super-patriotic sentiment, when, just twenty years after the late war with England,
pe was so sedulously provoking a war with France >

Chap. I.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 65
long as our government is administered for the good of the people,
and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the
rights of person and property, liberty of conscience, and of the
press, it will be worth defending; and so long as it is worth
defending, a patriotic militia will cover it with an impenetrable
cegis.' Is it then because we despair of having the government
administered upon these sterling principles, that nothing has
been done for the militia ; and that to sustain the government in
peculations upon the people, it has been thought best to keep up
and continually augment a standing army, as the symbol of
executive strength, to substitute their want of strength in the
affections ofthe people on any special occasion? Yet, that this
problem of administration for the good of the people upon the
precious principles thus arrayed in wordy professions, has been
utterly falsified by the subsequent practice of the professing
dynasty, in every particular,, is undeniable, as shall in its proper
place hereafter be made fully to appear.
10th. I am glad to perceive that these captivating professions of
the inaugural begin to draw to a close, not because they are disa
greeable to the ear, while the lamp of promise 'held out to burn.'
But to recount them one by one, to show in bold contrast what
their fruition has been, is the most disheartening tour of duty I
ever undertook. The extreme contrast of the following, with
the practice, is the more remarkable on account of the emphatic
manner with which General Jackson declared, — 'It will be my
sincere and constant desire to observe towards the Indian tribes
within our limits, a just and liberal policy ;m and to give that
humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants,
* A just and liberal policy.-— -And what was that policy ? Take it here, from
the last annual message of Mr. Jefferson, the like of which is to be found in almost
every presidential message, before and since, till the'time of Jacksonism. 'With
our Indian neighbours the public peace has been steadily maintained. Some
instances of individual wrong have, as at other times taken place, but in no wise
implicating the will of the nation. Beyond the Mississippi, the loways, the Sacs,
and the Alabamas, have delivered up for trial and punishment individuals from
among themselves, accused of murdering citizens of the United States. On this side
of the Mississippi, the Creeks, are exerting themselves to arrest offenders of the
same kind ; and the Choctaws have manifested their readiness and desire for amica
ble and just arrangements respecting depredations committed by disorderly persons
of .their tribe. And, generally, from a conviction that we consider them a part of our
selves, and cherish with sincerity their rights and interests, the attachment ofthe Indian
tribes is gaining strength daily, is extending from the nearer to the more remote, and
will amply requite us for the justice and friendship practised towards them. Hus
bandry and household manufacture are advancing among them, (more rapidly with
the southern than northern tribes, from circumstances of soil and climate ; and one
ofthe two great divisions ofthe Cherokee nation have now under consideration, to
solicit the citizenship ofthe United States, and to be identified with us in laws and gov
ernment, in such progressive manner as we shall think besti
That this policy was not persevered in and matured, is greatly to be regretted in
my poor judgment. The early adoption of it, among the South American and tbe
Mexican States, has been productive of the happiest consequences to the aborigines
as well as to the transplanted population from Europe. Their Indian descendants
constitute a full moiety of their present population, and in some instances greatly
exceed that proportion ; and they participate equally with the European descendants,
in the benefits of civilization and in the functions of government.

66 eight years in Washington. [Parti.
which are consistent with the habits of our government and the
feelings of our people.' Whether General Jackson meant any
inuendo in this captivating profession, and would extenuate its
failure in the conspicuous instances that are now notorious, by
alleging the unjust and cruel practices of many of the officers of
government and predatory citizens towards those unfortunate
beings, is surely not probable. But that every cruelty and in
justice practised towards them heretofore by the more unworthy
portion of our officers and citizens having transactions with them
or intruding upon them, which has been so justly and frequent
ly complained of by former administrations in connection with
efforts to correct the same, has been greatly aggravated in every
sense of the term under this dynasty, is so notoriously true, as
hardly to need the details that will be hereafter given, to estab
lish it. Though rather out of place here, I will barely advert to
the part that General Jackson took, in the earliest opportunity of
his first annual message, to abandon that very policy of our go
vernment towards the tribes within our borders, here so much
praised by him. In that message he recommended their trans
portation beyond the Mississippi, and out of the control of the
United States; and has taken the most precipitous measures to
effect that object, per fas aut nefas, before his administration
should expire — which the fraudulent treaties, and unjust exac:
tions, under the dictatorial force of arms, to the exclusion of the
conciliatory and pacific means becoming a great and magnani
mous nation, have baffled beyond his most sanguine calculations,
and have cost the country more, in money, besides the choicest
blood of ber citizens, in the single peninsula of East Florida^
than the original purchase of the whole of that extensive territory,
from the Spanish government.* It is but too obvious to all re
flecting minds, that this policy of throwing these tribes into the
great forests and prairies of the south-west, will be attended with
uncountable future evils both to them and to the United States ;
among which I can safely set down the total loss, to them, of all
the advances they have made in the arts of civilization, conse
quent to their restoration to the hunter and savage state, involv
ing their ultimate and complete extinction. Or, should that not
occur in its full extent, but civilization should still partially
advance among them, we shall plant a formidable enemy or our
western borders, who will ever be more difficult to be reconciled
to us than while they were within our limits, and will conse
quently render a large standing force always necessary to garrison ;'
and promenade that quarter, f It surely would have' comported j
* The original purchase of Florida cost $5,000,000: The war waged on the Indians
of that territory has already exceeded four-fold that sum, being over $20,000,000 ; .
and average $40,000,000, before the savage enterprise is at an end.
f A large standing force always necessary to garrison and prome
nade that quarter. — Among the undesirable contingencies that have already
arisen out of this new policy of Indian removals and independent establishment on
our western frontier, are, the increase of the army before alluded to, and the enor-

Chap. I.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 67
better with our previous policy 'of considering them as a part of
ourselves,' as well as with the dictates of humanity, to have given
them the money, and have instructed them in the civil applications
of it, than to have instituted and provoked a systematic and
reciprocal slaughter of men, women, and children, with the
devastations of fire and plunderl
11th. But as these pledges approach to a close, they involve
subjects of greater moment, and consequently the defection of
their performance is the more striking and disastrous. The
following passage in fact reiterates indirectly the assurance of
doing correctly all that was previously promised by its pledge to
reform all that has been wrongfully done, — viz: 'The recent
demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the list of execu
tive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked, the task of
reform ; which will require, particularly the correction of those
abuses that have brought the patronage of the federal govern
ment into conflict with the freedom of elections, and the counter
action of those causes which have disturbed the rightful course
of appointment, and have placed, or continued power, in unfaith
ful or incompetent hands.' Here we have an insiduous side
glance at the ground that had been so artfully, so disingenuously
I might say of those who knew better, and but too successfully
taken, by his electioneering partisans against his immediate pre
decessor, upon the score of alleged extravagant expenditures,
abuses of executive patronage by its interference in elections,
abuses of the appointing power, and so on — all of which, however
true they may have been to a certain degree in that adminis
tration, have, most unquestionably, been aggravated to a most
mous enhancement of expense to the country — in relation to which, it will be
appropriate here, by way of special note, to state, that of the two regiments of
dragoons created in quick succession by General Jackson's administration, chiefly
for the protection of the western borders, the organization and equipment of the 2d
regiment, for the first year, so far only as the supplies of the commissary-general of
purchases go, exceeded the sum of 110,000 dollars ; while that of the 1st regiment,
for the like use and period of time, was but a fraction over 30,000 dollars, being
nearly the ratio of four to one. It is also a peculiar circumstance connected with
this identical branch of expense, that the Colonel and new appointee of General
Jackson to the command of this extravagant 2d regiment, during its organization
made a serious or jocular inquiry of an officer connected with the department of
the commissary-general of purchases, whether it afforded any good opportunities of
thievage ? The answer was, with all the airs of inuendo, neither in the negative,
nor yet emphatically in the affirmative. This circumstance is the more worthy of
remark, however, as it indicates somewhat the sang froid with which some men can
permit themselves to speak, hypothetically perhaps, of criminal acts connected even
with their own responsibilities. Why 110,000 dollars in one branch of supplies
should be required for that regiment, while 30,000 were sufficient for a like regiment
under the same circumstances, the parties concerned can probably better answer
than myself. But I must say here, not merely in justice to the commissary-general
of purchases, whose integrity would seem to be implicated by the propounder ofthe
above question, but also to his great credit, that he made very urgent complaints to
the war department, of the excessive demands of the Colonel of the 2d regiment,
while they were thus swelling in enormity. I know, too, that such ideas of
thievage are comparatively trifling, and dwindle into nothing, when contrasted
with the late demonstrations of the same kind in the French army. But it is
generally considered to be our duty to profit in a different way, by such examples.

68 eight years in Washington. [Parti.
frightful extent, and in some of them more than a hundred fold,
flagrant and daring, by his all-promising, non-performing, admi
nistration. But suffice it here, thus briefly to speak of those
enormities in the gross.
12th. And as to the quo modo, he tells his duped fellow-citizens
in multitudes then assembled to gulp down these mellifluent
words, that — 'In the performance of* a task thus generally
delineated, I shall endeavour to select men whose diligence and
talents will insure in their respective ' stations, able and faithful
co-operation — depending, for the advancement of the public ser
vice, more on the integrity and zeal of the public officers than
on their numbers.' Now where is the man who does not remem
ber how the whole nation was mortified and disappointed at two
or more of his selections for his cabinet ministers, as falling far
short of this rule for talents in the outset, and fbr other proper
qualifications, as the sequel proved ? Where is the man who
does not now know, that the insinuation here hinted, at a propo
sed diminution of the numbers, has eventuated in a wasteful
increase of public officers ; who, in a vast multitude of instances
have been entirely deficient in integrity, or zeal, except for their
own emolument by practising the most shocking frauds upon the
treasury? Where is the honest citizen who does not know, and
grieve at the humiliating truth, that the integrity of the public
service has been substituted and superseded by defalcations, so
unblushing as to be considered rather a mark of merit for the
continuance or renewal of executive appointment, (of which
latter many instances have occurred,) than even a sufficient
cause for public odium — such being to a great degree the prostra
tion of the moral sense of the community before the accredited
and countenanced public defaulter in the eye of the present
dynasty. And yet the equally well known apology, in part, is to
keep peace with men of influence in certain sections, in order 'to
perpetuate poioer' in both 'unfaithful and incompetent hands'
just before denounced as abhorrent to his deep convictions of
public duty. The profligate gambling in the vast number of
appointments conferred on the state of Pennsylvania, out of all
proportion to her equitable claims, can only be accounted for on
the principle of her position, as the great keystone of our magni
ficent federal arch, whose pillars, viewed in their function of
giving political support to the Executive, must tumble into ruin
as to them, so soon as that keystone should become loosened
from its adhesions.
IWi. And now, in conclusion, even Andrew Jackson conde
scends to wind up his captivating and very promising inaugural,
by the use of a forced expression of diffidence, which all the
while, had been more wanting in observance than its adverse
quality of confident boldness, and says — 'A diffidence, perhaps
too just [and that's no diffidence at all] in his own qualifications,
will teach him to look with reverence to the examples of public

CJiap. I.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 69
virtue left by my illustrious predecessors, and with veneration to
the lights that flow from the mind that founded, and the mind
that reformed our system. That same diffidence induces me to
hope for instruction and aid from the co-ordinate branches of the
government, and for the indulgence and support of my fellow-
citizens generally.' Ifit were possible, General Jackson's subse
quent course has demonstrated more insincerity in the profes
sions just recited, than he has in the rest. In the first place he
showed reverence for the examples of his illustrious predecessors
in nothing that he did, except in the reiteration of the same pro
fessions which he as constantly violated.* His profession of
* Professions which he as constantly violated. — I cannot forego, though
not strictly in place here, to give in the form of note, one signal instance of that
profound contempt for the precedents of his predecessors, of judicial decisions, or of
the opinions of his coeval co-ordinate authorities and constitutional advisers,' which
so eminently distinguished all the official actions of General Jackson, whenever
they stood in the way of his own preconceived malign wilfulness. In his veto of
the' bill to renew the charter of the United States Bank, dated July the 10th, 1832,
in the course of a long and vapid argument, which characterizes all his state papers,
he says — 'If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole ground of this act,
it ought not tp control the co-ordinate authorities of this government. The Con
gress, the Executive, and the Court, must each for itself be guided by its own
opinion of the constitution. Each public officer, who takes an oath to support the
constitution, swears that he will support it as he understands it, and not as ,it is
understood by others. It is as much the duty of the House of Representatives, of
the Senate, and of the President to decide upon the constitutionality of any bill or
resolution which may be presented to them for passage or approval, as it is of the
Supreme Judges, when it may be brought before them for judicial decision. The
opinion of the judges has no more authority over Congress, than the opinionof Congress
has over the judges ; and on that point, the President is independent of both.
The authority of the Supreme court must not, therefore, be permitted to control
the Congress or the Executive, when acting in their legislative capacities, but
to have only such influence as the force of their reasoning may , deserve.' Wow even
this last, this small admission would be of some account, if this immaculate did
not assume the force of his own powerful reasoning to be above all appeal. Such
doctrines would keep the government always on the new start with every new
president, nay, with every day in every new year, particularly when a Phaeton mounts
the chariot of Phoebus. But only contrast it for a moment, with the previous exam
ple and, declarations of Mr. Madison, before him, on the same subject. He(says — :
'The case in question has its true analogy in the obligation arising from judicial
expositions of the law on succeeding judges ; the constitution being a law of the
legislator, as the law is a rule of decision lo the judge. And why are judicial
precedents . when formed on due discussion and consideration, and deliberately
sanctioned by reviews and repetitions, regarded as of bindings influence, or rather of
authoritative force, in settling the meaning of a law .' It must be .answered : 1st.
Because it is a reasonable and established axiom, that the good of society' requires thai
the rules of conduct of its members should be certain and known, which would not be
the case, if any judge, disregarding the decisions of his predecessors, shbuld^vary the law
according to his individual interpretation of it. - Misera est servitus'ubi jus est aut
vagum aut incognitum. 2<Z. Because an exposition of the law publicly made', 'and
repeatedly confirmed by the constituted authority, carries with it by fair inference,1 the
sanction of those, who, having made the law, through the legislative organ, appear un
der such circumstances to have determined its meaning through their judiciary organ.
'Can it be of less consequence that the meaning ofthe constitution should be fixed
and known, than that the meaning of a law should be so > Can, indeed, .a law be
fixed in its meaning and its operation, unless the constitution be so ? On the cp,n^
trary, if a particular legislature, differing in the construction of the constitution, from
a series of preceding constructions, proceed to act on that difference, they not only
introduce uncertainty and instability in the constitution, but in the laws, themselves :
inasmuch as all laws preceding the new construction and inconsistent with, it, are
10

70 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
veneration for the lights that flow from Mr. Jefferson's mind, is
particularly unhappy, in regard to the Indian policy ; the foster
ing of official interferences in the elective franchise ; in the daring
infractions of the constitution and laws; and the prostitution of
official patronage generally. And as to his expression of hope
for instruction and aid from the co-ordinate branches of the
government, every body knows that he commenced a direct and
violent quarrel with the senate, in quality of his constitutional
advisers too, at the outset of his administration, which he con
tinued with more or less fury throughout his term ; except
towards the latter part of it when he had subdued it to his views
by gambling in appointments opportunely conferred on citizens
of certain states to gain their senatorial adhesion ; and then he
turned his fury upon the reform committees of investigation in
the other co-ordinate branch of Congress, holding himself and
his officers to be above the inquiry of Congress. Also, his pro
found contempt for that other co-ordinate branch of Judiciary,
has been demonstrated by himself and his successor in a variety
of ways, both before and after they attained to the high honours
ofthe presidency ofthe United States.
It will not be out of place here to make asingle remark on the
parity of feature that stamps Mr. Yan Buren's inaugural. Be
sides being inflated to three times the volume of most of those
that preceded it, we have every trait of insincerity just passed
not only annulled for the future, but are virtually pronounced nullities from the
beginning. But it is said, that a legislator having sworn to support the constitution,
must support it in his own construction of it, however different from that put on it by
his predecessors, or whatever be the consequence of the construction. And is not the
judge under the same oath to support the law ? Yet has it ever been supposed that
he was required, or at liberty to disregard all precedents, however solemnly repeated
and regularly observed; and by giving effect to his own abstract and individual
opinions, to disturb the established course of practice in the business of the commu
nity ? Has the wisest and most conscientious judge ever scrupled to acquiesce in
decisions in which he has been overruled by the matured opinions of the majority of
his colleagues ; and subsequently to conform himself thereto, as to the authoritative
expositions of the law ? And is it not reasonable that the same view of the official
oath should be taken by a legislator acting under the constitution which is his guide,
as is taken by a judge acting under the law, which is his [guide] ? There is in fact
and in common understanding, a necessity of regarding a course of practice aa above
characterised, in the light of a legal rule of interpreting a law ; and there is a like
necessity of considering it a constitutional rule of interpreting a constitution.
'It was in conformity with the view here taken, of the respect due to deliberate and
reiterated precedents, that the Rank of the United States, though on the original ques
tion held to be unconstitutional, received the executive signature [his o\vn] in ihe year
1817. The act of originally establishing a bank, had undergone ample discussion in
its passage through the several branches of the government. It had been carried
into execution throughout a period of twenty years, with annual legislative recogni
tions ; in one instance, indeed, with a positive ramification of it into a new state
and with the entire acquiescence of all tbe local authorities, as well as ofthe nation'
at large ; to" all of which may be added, a decreasing prospect of any change in the
public opinion, adverse to the constitutionality of such an institution. A veto from
the Executive under these circumstances, with an admission of the expediency
and almost necessity ofthe measure, would have been a defiance of all the
obligations derived from a course of precedents amounting to the
REQUISITE EVIDENCE OF THE NATIONAL JUDGMENT AND INTENTION '—See
Wiles' National Register, vol. 43. page 136.

Chap. I.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 71
under review, flickering in gaudy colours through every line of
it. Take these few words as a sample of the rest, and contrast
them with the facts then existing, and the calamities that have
rapidly sprung up since, with his contemptuous disregard of the
popular sentiment expressed by their immediate representatives
in a co-ordinate branch of the government, in five times rejecting
a proposition, which he nevertheless as pertinaciously pressed
upon them, to enhance the executive patronage and power, with
its obvious tendency to subvert the government of the people.
In his commencement, he says, 'I should not dare to enter upon
my path of duty, did I not look for the generous aid of those
who will be associated with me in the various co-ordinate
branches of the government; did I not repose with unwavering
reliance on the patriotism, the intelligence, and the kindness of
the people, who never yet deserted a public servant, honestly
labouring in their cause :' and so on. Again — 'Abroad we enjoy
the respect, and with scarcely an exception, the friendship of
every nation ; at home, while our government quietly, but effi
ciently, performs the sole legitimate end of political institutions,
in doing the greatest good to the greatest number, we present an
aggregate of human prosperity surely not elsewhere to be found.'
This sentiment so far from being legitimate, is factious, anarchi
cal, agrarian, revolutionizing in its conception, in its spirit, and
in its consequent hasty tendency — a sentiment, expressed too in
this place, by way of impugnment, defiance, and reproach, of
the very contrary sentiments of Mr. Jefferson, in like manner
declared and inculcated in the beginning of his first inaugural,
viz : 'All will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the
will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be
rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal
rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be
oppression.'' * * * 'We are all federalists : we are all republicans.'
And shall presidents' inaugural addresses, after the examples
of Jackson and Van Buren, consist, hereafter, of a mass of plau
sible abstractions and captivating professions, not imposing any
obligation on the future performances of the incumbent, except
when he may dare to interpolate the most insidious revolu
tionizing doctrines, to extenuate and prepossess the deliberate
malign purposes nearest his heart!

72 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
CHAPTER II.
The same subject continued.
In passing now to a review of General Jackson's first
annual Message, I shall take great pleasure in relieving myself
and the reader of any notice of many of its details — which are
but repetitions of the like suggestions in his inaugural, with
protracted declamation and quasi arguments, urging their adop
tion by Congress. I shall therefore only notice in as brief a
manner as possible, those further evidences of his disingenous-
ness towards his predecessors and his co-ordinate authorities,
which belie his concluding inaugural professions of 'reverence'
and 'veneration' for the 'lights and examples' of the one, and the
'aid and instruction' of the other. I shall then take up a like
brief sketch of the duplicity of his foreign diplomacy, preparatory
to entering upon the more detailed demonstrations of the same
trait, in his diplomacy towards Mexico, connected with the
original Burr conspiracy, revived in that of his pupil and protege
Samuel Houston.
1st, In declaring it to be one ofthe most urgent of his duties,
to bring to the attention of Congress the propriety of amending
that part of the constitution which relates to the election of
President and Vice President, he embraces this early occasion to
reiterate the insinuations against the election of his predecessor
by the House of Representatives, and to fulfil the pledge given
at the same time, in concluding his inaugural, to counteract
those, causes which have disturbed the rightful course of appoint^
,ment, and have placed power in unfaithful or incompetent hands.
Among other arguments by which he advocates the amendment
he proposes, he states, 'That the number of aspirants to the
presidency, and the diversity of interests which may influence
their claims, leave little reason to expect a choice in the first
instance [by the people] : and in that event the election must
devolve on the House of Represents ives, where, it is obvious,
the will of the people may not be always ascertained : or if
ascertained, may not be regarded.' — 'Honours and offices are at
the disposal of the successful candidate. Repeated ballotting
may make it apparent that a single individual holds the cast in
his hands. May he not be tempted to name his reward!' Will
any magnanimous or liberal mind, say, that such insinuations
are not unworthy of the dignified station from whence they are
hurled, implicating the integrity of members of the body to
whom they were addressed, and the purity of the motives of his
predecessor in making his appointments. Such I well remember,
was the tone of the party newspapers of the day ; but however
exceptionable the appearances connected with that election may

Chap. II.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 73
have been, no one will say that it was becoming a president of
the United States to incorporate such insinuations in such a state
paper as an annual message, without proof. The amendment he
proposed, to remove all intermediate agency in the election of
President and Vice President by the people, though a good one
has never been adopted: and whether he esteems that as a justi
fication of his own practice thereafter, I will not here enter into
the evidences of his familiarity with the distribution of similar
political rewards on subsequent occasions.
- 2c?. He adds, — 'In connection with such an amendment, it
would seem advisable to limit the service of the chief magistrate
to a single term, of either four or six years. If, however, it
should not be adopted, it is worthy of consideration whether a
provision disqualifying for office the representatives in Congress
on whom such an election may have devolved, would not be
proper. While members of Congress can be constitutionally
appointed to offices of trust and profit, it will be the practice, even
under the most conscientious adherence to duty to select them
for such stations, &c. But the purity of our government would
doubtless be promoted by their exclusion from all appointments
in the gift of the President,' <fcc. If General Jackson had been
sincere in proposing these amendments, he had ample opportu
nity to advocate their adoption in the most efficient manner by
his own practice, to show that they would work well. Such a
course would have been fully as commendable in him, as many
other instances in which he practised upon his own peculiar
views of grave constitutional questions, in which all legal learn
ing was arrayed against him. Yet he not only stood candidate
for a second term against his own recommendation, but at the
two successive conventions of his partisans at Baltimore, he
procured the nomination of Mr. Van Buren as the associate Vice-
President of his second term, and the nomination of Mr. Van
Buren as his successor, with that of Richard M. Johnson as Vice-
President. There is ample evidence of these facts strong enough
to establish them in a court of impeachment, were it questioned;
and I should cite the honourable AbijahK. Mann, of New York,
as one of the witnesses. The public acquiescence in these
nominations was the more extraordinary as I am confident neither
of those men would ever have been thought of, from any other
source through the whole Union, as fit incumbents for those
offices. He has also appointed to various executive, judicial and
ministerial or diplomatic offices more members of Congress than
nearly all the other Presidents put together. Was it because he
found this gambling in the executive stock of appointments'* great-
* Gambling in the executive stock of appointments. — To this effect I
could cite the testimony of an honourable member of Congress, who, in debate,
during the last session, while the two houses were devising proper provisions to
suppress duelling among the members, made a grave confession to the following
purport, — 'That we (members of Congress) are all candidates for office, and expect

74 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
ly conducive to carry out his executive views generally, and to
make the constituents of the appointed, as well as those of other
candidates for appointments, look to himself for a second term,
and his favourite as his successor, with heart-felt gratitude in
disposing of their votes at the polls?
3d. The newly installed also availed himself of this early
occasion to bring before Congress his project of reform, in
which he expressed a great variety of plausible views, in order
to justify the rotation he contemplated to introduce, and to obtain
their co-operation therein. As a sample of these I select the
following — he says, — 'There are perhaps few men who can for
any great length of time enjoy office and power, without being
more or less under the influence of feelings unfavourable to the
faithful discharge of their public duties. Their integrity may be
proof against improper considerations immediately addressed to
themselves; but they are apt to acquire a habit of looking with
indifference upon the public interest, and of tolerating conduct
from which an unpractised man would revolt. Office is consider-
sooner or later, to receive some appointment — the advocates of the administration
from the prevailing dynasty, and those of the opposition from that which is sought
to be built up upon its ruins — and, therefore, he recommended that members enga
ging in duels be disqualified for appointments.' If Juc.h avowals do not open the
eyes of the people, they would not fail to be considered as available overtures by
the Executive, were he not already a 'practised man' in such matters. It is clear
that this canvassing between the President and the members of Congress, for offices
and for the adoption of Executive recommendations, viewed in connection with the
incipient and the final legislation of the President, and the eligibility of the members
ofthe two houses to executive appointments, (of which these circumstances are in
fact reciprocating counterparts) demonstrate irrefragably and incontestibly that the
entire legislation, equally with appointments, is in the breast of the President, in
defiance ofthe supposed corrective of congressional action, which, under these bear
ings of executive power, of recent discovery, have become merely nominal — save
only when a remnant of public virtue in that body may teach them to forego the
proffers of personal advancement.
By the delegated powers of the constitution, the President may, if he list, recom
mend the most ultra experiment upon tbe body politic, that the radical anarchist
Fanny Wright, or her namesake of the Senate could devise, and then insure its
passing into a law, in defiance of the ruin and devastation it might threaten, or the
wailings of the people, in their remonstrances against it. Aye, insure its passage,
by holding in one hand the threat of a veto against any substitute that the wisdom of
Congress could propose instead of it, and offering with the other hand, the reward
of appointment to those who will stand by his project; thus winning 'golden opi
nions' from far too great a number of competitors for the prizes, though he may
have but few, at the time, to distribute among them — for those who are disappointed
to day, only become 'the sharper set for to-morrow,' and the more clamorous in
behalf of the next experiment. By this process, bill after bill will pass both bouses
of Congress, regardless of the wishes or the interests of the country, until the
Executive patronage becomes so enormous by the multiplication of revenue and
expenditure, with officers to administer in the receipts, safe keeping, and disburse
ments ; whose licentious interference in elections, sustained by the connivance or
direct encouragement of the Executive, will at length render him a self-elected
monarch, as inevitably as any other great revolution in the physical world, is effected
by the insensible progression of natural and inevitable causes. For the impeaching
power itself, is rendered a dead letter, and incompetent to restrain him, while his
patronage can and does restrain the impeaching power. By how much more would
it advance the interest of the nation, had that distinguished aHd honourable member
procured this ineligibility to office, to be applied to all the members indiscriminately
and without qualification as to any particular offence ?

Chap. II.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 75
ed as a species of property ; and government rather as a means
of promoting individual interest, than as an instrument created
solely for the service of the people. Corruption in some, and in
others a perversion of correct feelings and principles, divert gov
ernment from its legitimate ends, and make it an engine for the
support of the few at the expense of the many.' — 'In' a country
where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no
one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than
another.' — 'No individual wrong is therefore done by removal,
since neither appointment to nor continuance in office is a
matter of right. ' Would not most persons, upon perusing these
passages, without adverting to their source, be inclined to regard
them as a commentary of some patriotic whig, upon the late and
present administration, urging their removal, on account of the
corruption not of some, but of a great many, and the perversion
of correct feelings and principles of a still greater number, in
diverting the government from its legitimate ends, instead of the
faithful discharge of their public duties ? Yes surely ; but it is
out of their own mouths that they shall be condemned.
4th. Still harping upon reform, he says, — 'Since the last ses
sion of Congress, numerous frauds on the Treasury have been
discovered, which I thought it my duty to bring under the cog
nizance of the United' States Court, for this district, by a criminal
prosecution. — In connection with this subject, I invite the atten
tion of Congress to a general and minute inquiry into the condi
tion of the government; with a view to ascertain what offices
can be dispensed with, what expenses retrenched, and what
improvements made in the organization of its various parts to
insure a proper responsibility of public agents, and promote
efficiency and justice in all its operations.' The commentary
upon these two passages is in every man's mouth. All the defal
cations found by General Jackson's agents, after a most diligent
search, for that express object, were not equal to the one hun
dredth part ofthe amount ofthe defalcation of a single one of his
hundreds of defaulters.* Nor does the readiness with which his
* A single one of his hundreds of defaulters. — -The following abstract
from the Clerk's office of the district Court above alluded to by General Jackson,
shows the paltry list of defalcations, of which he thought proper for political effect,
to make formal mention to Congress, and for which judgments were rendered by
jury chiefly in favour of the defendants accused — those rendered for the United
States amounting to a little short of $11,000, being about one hundredth part of the
single defalcation of Samuel Swartwout, late collector of New York, and former
colleague of Aaron Burr in the conspiracy against Mexico, and this union.
'Statement of Suits instituted by the United States against the following named
persons for the sums opposite their names :
Thomas Fillebrown, for $2,063 30. Verdict of jury for defendant, with a certifi
cate that the sum of $430 was due to him by the United States.
George McDaniel, for $988 94. Verdict of jury for defendant.
Thomas Thorpe. Judgment for $44 13.
George S. Watkins. Judgment for $186 07.
Charles Hay. Judgment for $225 78.
Edward Fitzgerald, for $5,035 06. Verdict for defendant.
Benjamin Homans. Judgment for $72 87.

76 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
predecessor and cabinet ministers gave every facility to the com
mittees of investigation, bear any thing like those marks of con
scious and hardened guilt which stamp the refusal and vitupera
tive defiance with which the very author of the above passages
threw back the investigating authority of similar committees of
Congress into their very teeth, to which the majority of the
House of Representatives, of his own partisans, recreantly sub
mitted, without daring to arraign him before the tribunal of
impeachment. 5th. General Jackson's disingenuousness towards the co-ordi
nate authority of Congress on the subject of the United States
Bank, is not less pointed and contradictory. In his first message
he told Congress, that — 'The payment on account of the public
debt, made on the first of July last, [1829,] was eight millions
seven hundred and fifteen thousand four hundred and sixty-two
dollars and eighty-seven cents. It was apprehended that the
sudden withdrawal of so large a sum from the bank in which it
was deposited, at a time of unusual pressure in the money market,
might cause much injury to the interests dependant on bank
accommodations. But this evil was wholly averted by an early
anticipation of it at' the Treasury, aided by the judicious
ARRANGEMENTS OF THE OFFICERS OF THE BANK OF THE
United States.' It has been well said, that it requires a good
memory for a man of oblique purposes, to avoid committing him
self with inconsistencies. How far this saying has been made
applicable to General Jackson, by his course of policy towards
this and the other banking institutions of the country, it will be
more appropriate to another part of this work to show. But the
following direct contradiction of a statement of Mr. Madison, on
constitutionality, and expediency, and peremptory denial of what
is the universal conviction regarding its efficiency in establishing
an uniform and sound currency, is too gross to" be passed over
here. His words are — 'Both the constitutionality and expe
diency of the law enacting this bank are well questioned by a
large portion of our fellow-citizens ; and it must be admitted by
all, that it has failed in the great end of establishing a uniform
and sound currency.' It would be like probing anew, the
wounds that are healing, here to dwell upon the disasters with
which General Jackson has afflicted the country, by his efforts to
establish a 'better currency.'
Such are the evidences with which a brief glance at the
agency of General Jackson, in some of our prominent internal
relations characterizes the disingenuousness of a vain man,
seeking extraordinary, unnatural, and impracticable, not to say
vicious means of glorifying his own name pre-eminently above
Tench Ringgold, for $345 54. Judgment for defendant.
Joseph Nourse, for $11,769. Judgment for defendant.
Joseph L. Kuhn. Judgment for $10,373 30, claim $18,563 75.

Chap, II.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 77
his predecessors, in achieving the good intentions of his office,
connected therewith; which would, however, have been more
effectually accomplished in the plain old way, as laid down
by the exemplary Washington, and followed by most of his
successors. But by how much is it the more incumbent on the President
of the United States, 'who is the sole organ of the nation in
all her external relations, her sole representative with foreign
nations,'* to observe the dictates of sincerity, honour, and
good faith in his intercourse with those powers; and above
all, not to impugn the previous policy of his own country, and
discredit a predecessor, for the sake of any proposed eclat to him
self, or expected advantage to the nation, in a specific unfinished
negociation ? f
* See Fifth Wheaton, Appendix, page 26.
|And discredit a predecessor, &c, in a specific unfinished negocia
tion. — I will subjoin a few extracts from the late President's instructions of July
20th, 1829, to Mr. McLane, through his secretary of state, Mr. Van Buren, to show
how wantonly his predecessor, Mr. Adams, was traduced at a foreign court, for a
mere casus omissus, a mere oversight in a former negociation. It was a neglect to
regain our participation in the British colonial trade upon the terms offered by
England, and which constituted a part of the very laudable ambition of General
Jackson's administration to effect — but surely not by dishonourable means, viz : —
'On the 5th of July, 1825, an act of Parliament was passed, allowing the trade
with the British ^colonies in North America and the West Indies, to all foreign
nations, upon the condition — that one year from the time of passing the said act of
1825, should be the period in which an acceptance of its provisions by foreign
nations should be valid.' — 'Mr. King was sent to England in the summer of 1825,
but without instructions upon this point. His continued indisposition induced him to
return in the summer of 1826, and during that period no step was taken, by either
government.' — 'In the winter of 1825-'6, an attempt was made in Congress to meet
the act of Parliament of July, 1825, by correspondent legislation, but it failed ; ' and
although the trade might, and most probably would have been saved, if the act then
introduced had become a law ; it is nevertheless true, as has been stated, that it would
not have been a strict compliance with the British act, if it had passed.'— 'In the
summer of 1826, Mr. Gallatin was sent to England with instructions, which autho
rized him to conclude an arrangement of the colonial question, upon terms substan
tially the same with those which were offered by the British plenipotentiaries to Mr.
Rush in 1824, but his authority was confined to an adjustment by treaty stipula
tions ' — 'On the 27th of July, 1826, the king, by order in council, founded upon the
act of Parliament of July, 1825, declared that the United States had not complied
with the conditions of the act, aud therefore directed that the trade and intercourse
between the United States and the greater part of the British colonial ports should
cease from and after the first of December then following.' — 'Mr. Gallatin arrived in
England a few days after the publication of those orders in council. The determi
nation ofthe British government to decline all further negociation upon the subject was
promptly and definitely announced to him.' — 'No answer wa3 made by the British
government to Mr. Gallatin's note ofthe 4th of June, 1827, announcing the willing
ness of this government to arrange the trade by separate legislation.' — 'Lord Dudley,
in reply to Mr. Gallatin's letters ofthe 4th of June and 17th of August, after review
ing tne grounds urged by the United States, to justify themselves in omitting to
accept the terms ofthe act of Parliament of July, 1825, declined committing the
British government, as to their course in the event of the United States adopting the
measures proposed, on the following grounds, viz : 1st. That much must of necessity
depend upon the details of the act which Congress might pass. 2d. More on the
condition of the country at the time of the passage, and the views which the British
government might then have of their interest in the matter. And, 3d. That any
stipulations on the subject, would be a virtual departure from the ground taken by
his government to regulate the trade by law, and to decline all further negociation con-
11

78 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. tPart I.
So far from observing the dignity and decorum of his prede
cessors in his foreign diplomacy, he has done still greater violence
to their example in this regard, if it were possible, than he did in
cerning it,' — 'In reviewing the events which have preceded, and more or less con-
tributed to a result so much to be regretted, there will be found three grounds upon
which we are most assailable : 1st. In our too long and too tenaciously resisting the
right of Great Britain to impose protecting duties upon her colonies. 2d. In not
relieving her vessels from the restriction of returning direct from the United States
to the colonies, after permission had been given by Great Britain to our vessels to-
clear out from the colonies to any other than a British port. And, 3d. In omitting
to accept the terms offered by the act of Parliament of July, 1825, after the subject
had been brought before Congress, and deliberately acted upon by our government.
It is without doubt, to the combined operations of these causes, that we are to attri
bute the British interdict. You will therefore see the propriety of possessing
yourself fully of all the explanatory and mitigating circumstances connected with
them, that you may be enabled to obviate, as far as practicable, the unfavourable im
pressions which they have produced." — 'It is the anxious wish of the President to put an
end to a state of things so injurious to all parties. He is willing to regulate the trade
in question, upon terms of reciprocal advantage, and to adopt for that purpose, those
which Great Britain has herself elected, and which are prescribed by the act of Par
liament, of the 5th of July, 1825, as it is understood by us.' — 'You are authorized to-
say to the British government, on the part of the United States, that they will open.
their ports to British vessels coming from the British colonies, laden with such colo
nial productions as can be imported in American vessels, and upon terms in all
respects equally favourable ; and that they will also abolish the restriction contained'
in our act of 1823, confining the trade to a direct intercourse ; upon condition that
Great Britain will allow American vessels the privileges of trade and intercourse which
were offered by the act of the 5th of July, 1825. The president indulges a confident
expectation that the British government will assent to an adjustment upon these
terms.' So far, so good, and I will dare to say, that these were concessions, advances, and
solicitations, quite enough. Zeal is a great virtue within proper bounds : but the
most commendable zeal in a good cause, may overreach itself, by tbe vicious mean*
it may adopt to gain its good ends ; and then it is no longer a virtue, but as much a
vice as the means with which it familiarizes ; I therefore, and for various other rea
sons, decidedly reprobate what follows, viz : —
'If the omission of this government to accept the terms proposed, when heretofore
offered, be urged as an objection to their adoption now, it will be your duty to make
the British government sensible ofthe injustice and inexpediency of such a course.'
[And how ? Why, as per example] — 'The opportunities which you have derived from
a participation in our public councils, as well as other sources of information, will
enable you to speak with confidence, (as far as you may deem it proper and useful
so to do, ) of the respective parts taken by those to whom the administration of the govern
ment is now committed, in relation to the course heretofore pursued upon the subject of
the colonial trade. Their views upon that point have been submitted to the people of
the United States : and the counsels by which your conduct is now directed, are the result
of the judgment expressed by the only earthly tribunal to which the late adminis
tration was amenable FOR its acts.'— 'To set up the acts of the late adminis
tration as the cause of forfeiture of privileges which would otherwise be extended to
the people of the United States, would, under existing circumstances, be unjust in
itself, and could not fail to excite their deepest sensibility.'— 'The tone of feeling
which a course so unwise and untenable is calculated to produce, would doubtless
be greatly aggravated by the consciousness that Great Britain has, by orders in
council, opened her colonial ports to Russia and France, notwithstanding a similar
omission on their part to accept the terms offered by the act of July, 1825.'
Now in the name of all that is just and honourable let me ask, was not the last
recited fact sufficient to satisfy Mr. Van Buren's mind that the same privileges and
participations in the colonial trade which were extended to Russia and France under
the similar circumstances, would also, upon the customary honourable course of
negociations, be restored to the United States, without disgracing the precedin"
administration, and humiliating the country at the footstool of our ancient enemy ' r
But it was not consistent with General Jackson's windy state papers, to be content
With the pith of the subjects that came under his supervision. Accordingly in this

Chap. II.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 79
the domestic relations just, passed under cursory review. The
bold outlines of his diplomacy therein, display an interference in
the internal affairs and institutions of other nations, which is not
only incompatible with all the rules of courtesy and respect for '
their equal rights of sovereignty and free choice in such matters,
but a most flagrant infraction of them. Nor indeed is he consis
tent with himself even in that — far from it; for while at one time
he puts on the air of supervisor-general of the affairs of all nations,
at another time he elaborates a most artful address both to the
vanity and the fears of foreign powers at once as injurious to
them as discreditable to himself — which, it is to be hoped, as a
pernicious example set for the first time by a vapouring bravado,
will hereafter be more honoured in the breach than the obser
vance, by any future President. In effect, and in fact, he inter
changeably puts on the air of wheedling, coaxing, and entreaty,
followed by an hypocritical and humiliating genuflexion; and
then again he alternates this wish a bravado in the bombasto
furioso style, better calculated to excite commiseration or con
tempt, than resentment — except at the first blush of the outrage.
Indeed he seems to have luxuriated his all-engrossing propensities
in this as in other instances by taking into his own hands, through
case, besides the probx views from which I have just culled the substance, he still
' goes on with harangue upon harangue, and argument upon argument, alternated with
persuasions and quasi threats, until he must have inflicted a vertigo upon the minis
ter — having too, in all probability, superinduced a morbid hallucination upon his own
mind, which is obscurely adverted to in a subsequent letter from Mr. Van Buren to
Mr. McLane, ofthe 26th of December, 1829. Indeed, so intent was General Jack
son in his instructions above quoted, to accomplish the political immolation of Mr.
Adams, in connection with the objects of the British negociation, that, in conclusion,
he cast back a final look at the cruelly mangled body of his predecessor, and to make
assurances doubly sure that he was dead, dead, dead, he returns to him in the identi
cal manner of a true game-cock, fixes his beak into his gills and gives him another
flutter — thus wise, — 'I will add nothing to the impropriety of suffering any feelings
that find their origin in the past pretensions of this government to have an adverse .
influence upon the present conduct of Great Britain !'
I have already said that General Jackson seems to have delighted in the vanity of
taking into his own hands through his messages to Congress, the negociations proper
to his accredited ministers at foreign courts. Since advancing that conjecture, I
have noted a confirmation of it by the testimony of his own secretary of state, Mr.
Van Buren, in his letter to Mr. McLane ofthe 26th of December, 1829, just referred
to ; with the further confirmation of the delirium of General Jackson's intent upon
the achievement of certain foreign missions, by all the available devices he could
imagine, creditable or disreputable to himself, or humiliating and compromitting to
the honour of his country. Here is the faint signal that indicates what were the
deeper purposes of the heart, viz : —
'It is hoped that the President's message will aid the liberal views which the
principal members of the British cabinet are understood to entertain upon this point,
by disabusing the minds of the English public in regard to the views and wishes of this
country, and by impressing it with just notions ofthe sentiments ofthe President. There
certainly never was a time better calculated for the improvement of the relations
between the two countries than tbe present. The solicitude sincerely felt by the Presi
dent upon this head is greater than the occasion referred to would allow him to express ;
and I am persuaded that there has been nd event in his public life that has caused him
as much regret as he would experience in failing to be instrumental in the establish
ment of the very best understanding between the United States and Great Britain.
I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant. M. Van Buren.'
[See Niles' National Register, vol. 39, from page 364 to 370, interruptedly.

80 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part F.
his communications to Congress, the negotiations proper to his
accredited ministers on the other side of the Atlantic and else
where. I will now give a few examples in illustration of these
positions : —
1st. The first subject to which General Jackson called the
attention of Congress in his first message, being that of our
foreign relations, he permitted himself in the first paragraph to
indulge in such a reproachful interference with the internal
affairs of all the nations of the earth as defies a parallel in any
other presidential message, and which might well justify its being
considered a ground of umbrage to any or all of those whose
attention might light upon it. He says,— 'In communicating
with you for the first time, it is to me a source of unfeigned
satisfaction, calling for mutual gratulation and devout thanks to
a benign Providence, that we are at peace with all mankind; and
that our country exhibits the most cheering evidence of general
welfare and progressive improvement. Turning our eyes to
other nations, our great desire is to see our brethren of the
human race secured in blessings enjoyed by ourselves,
and advancing in knowledge, in freedom, and in social
happiness.'* Such a disparaging contrast can only be justly
* Advancing in knowledge, in freedom, and in social happiness. — I will
here add to the above, his specific interference in the affairs of Spain in this same
message ; and the like interference with France, and through her, again with all the
world, in his second annual, whereby he seems to have been in some degree awa
kened up to a sense of its gross infraction of the golden rule of the immortal Wash
ington, which however, he bluntly denies for the sake of self-justification. He
says,— 'The Southern Republics of our own hemisphere have not yet realized all
the advantages for which they have been so long struggling. We trust, however,
that the day is not distant when the restoration of peace and internal quiet, under
permanent systems of government, securing the liberty and promoting the happiness
of the citizens, will crown, with complete success their long and arduous efforts in
the cause of self-government ; and enable us to salute them as friendly rivals in all
that is truly great and glorious. The recent invasion of Mexico, and the effect
thereby produced upon her domestic policy must have a controlling influence upon
the great question of South American emancipation. We have seen the fell spirit of
civil dissension rebuked, and, perhaps, forever stifled in that republic by the love of
independence. Ifit be true, as appearances strongly indicate, that the spirit of inde
pendence is the master-spirit ; and if a corresponding sentiment prevails in the other
states,, this devotion to liberty cannot be without a proper effect upon the councils
of the mother country.' He now takes his supervision of the French affairs after
thanking the Author of all good for our prosperous condition, in his second annual.
He says, 'In the midst of these blessings, we have recently witnessed changes in the
condition of other nations, which may, in their consequences, call for the utmost
vigilance, wisdom and unanimity in our councils, and the exercise of all the mode
ration of our people. The important modification of their government effected with
so much courage and wisdom by the people of France, afford a happy presage of their
future course, and naturally elicited from the kindred feelings of this nation that
spontaneous and universal burst of applause in which you have participated. In
congratulating you my fellow-citizens, upon an event so auspicious to the dearest
interests of mankind, I do no more than respond to the voice of my country, without
transcending in the slightest degree that salutary maxim of the illustrious Washing
ton, which enjoins an abstinence from all interference with ihe internal affairs of other
nations.' I will pause here, and ask if such pragmatical stimulation 'of the multi
tude in foreign countries against their governments, be not as good cause for a
universal declaration of war against this Republic, as most of the causes that have
hertofore instigated nations to the ultima ratio regum ? • Will any one pretend that

Chap. II.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 81
appreciated, by supposing the like sentiments to the prejudice of
our institutions and internal condition, were to find a place in a
communication from the crown of England or France, or from
any other monarch to their legislative chambers. Would not
such a procedure be felt as an indignity, by a sensitive nation
like ours, that might rankle in all our subsequent intercourse and
diplomacy until time should atone for, or efface it?
2d. Next to the above follows a bird's-eye view of the whole
subject of our diplomatic concerns, and a survey of our own
strength to render palatable ^universal threat, viz, — 'Our foreign
relations, although in their general character pacific and friendly,
presents subjects of difference between us and other powers of
deep interest as well to the country at large as to many of our
. citizens. To effect an adjustment of these shall continue to be
the object of my earnest endeavours ; and notwithstanding the
difficulties of the task, I do not allow myself to apprehend unfa
vourable results. Blessed as our country is with every thing
which constitutes national strength, .she is fully adequate to
the maintenance of all her interests. In discharging the responsi
ble trust confided to the Executive in this respect, it is my settled
purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right and to
submit to nothing that is wrong ; and I fatter myself, that,
supported by the other branches of the government, and by the
intelligence and patriotism of the people, we shall be able, under
the protection of Providence, to cause all our just rights to be re
spected.' It is obvious to my mind, that upon every courteous,
pacific, and equitable principle, such language as this would be
better suited to stimulate an insulted and injured people to the
onset of war, upon a formal declaration thereof after the custo
mary measures of friendly negotiation had been exhausted.
fee constitutional duty ofthe President to inform Congress of the state of this Union,
can be pleaded to justify him in thrusting himself iiito the very heart's recesses of
other nations, in order to comment upon them in the most incendiary manner
possible in a formal official message ? But mark me — if the people of France with
out the requisite organization, without the naval or military power, without the
munitions of war, without any thing but the mere force of general consent and dis
content, could effect so tremendous a revolution in three days almost without
bloodshed — what, let me ask, might not a hand of treacherous incumbents of high
official trust in a government like ours, effect in the same brief space, having in
their hands all the organization, civil, military, naval, with munitions of every
kind, and the Sub-treasury into the bargain, only waiting the word of command?
Why, it might be 'done in a twinkling — any thing they list — even a revolution of
the most diabolical cast, if it be not already accomplished, stealthily and unobserved
by the very author of tbe .above high-toned ejaculations for liberty, in the very act,
with its concomitants, by which he appointed his successor to the Presidency. The
great hope of redemption however, from this false step, is, that this ill-starred incum
bent begins already to totter in his footsteps, and to awaken up from his somnam
bulism or insane reveries, to something Jike lucid intervals, at the near approach
of his probable fate — as recently evinced in the issue of his late proclamation'
against the frontier interference of our citizens in the Canada troubles, which his
predecessor obdurately declined to do in the similar case of Texas — and in the dis
missal of certain officers of the customs of New York for their interference in the
elections and instigations of the Canada excitement, after the example set them in
other instances by the highest authorities of the ruling dynasty. Verily, verily, out
of their own mouths are they condemned.

82 eight years in Washington. [Part I.
3d. But let him proceed. 'Of the unsettled matters between
the United States and other powers, the most prominent are those
which have for years been the subject of negociation with Eng
land, France, and Spain. The late periods at which our minis
ters to those governments left the United States, render it
impossible, at this early day, to inform you of what has been
done on the subjects with which they have been respectively
charged.' How happened it that our claims on Mexico, against
whom so much fretfulnsss has been manifested by the Executive
since the battle of Jacinto, were not included in the above list?
The delay of instructions for nearly eight months to our minister
resident there, who being suitable to the President's taste was
not recalled till his characteristic interference in the internal
affairs of Mexico coerced it, afforded no such excuse as that
alleged in the other cases? There is a lowering mystery in this
matter of Mexican negociations that time must dispel, and I hope
to do much towards it, when it becomes the subject proper of a
future chapter.
4th. Now for an unction of mixed threat, flattery, and cajole
ment towards England, to give pliancy and balminess to her sup
posed irritations. 'With Great Britain, alike distinguished in
peace and war, we may look forward to years of peaceful, honour
able, and elevated competition. Every thing in the condition and
history of the two nations is calculated to inspire sentiments of
mutual respect, and to carry cqnviction to the minds of both, that
it is their policy to preserve the most cordial relations. Such are
my own views; and it is not to be doubted that such are also
the prevailing sentiments of our constituents. Although neither
time nor opportunity has been afforded for a full development
of the policy which the present cabinet of Great Britain designs
to pursue towards this country, I indulge the hope that it will
be of a just and pacific character.' A most diplomatic tub to the
whale !
5th. In this first annual General Jackson's course of remark
was equally temporizing towards France, viz: 'From France,
our ancient ally, we have a right to expect that justice which
becomes the sovereign of a powerful, intelligent, and magnanimous^
people. The beneficial effects produced by the commercial con
vention of 1822, limited as are its provisions, are too obvious not
to make a salutary impression upon the minds of those who are
charged with the administration of her government. Should
this result induce a disposition to embrace to their full extent,
the wholesome principles which constitute our commercial poli
cy, our minister to that Court will be found instructed to
cherish such a disposition, and to aid in conducting it to useful
practical conclusions. The claims of our citizens for depreda
tions upon their property, long since committed under the autho
rity, and in many instances, by the express direction of the then
existing government of France, remained unsatisfied; and must

Chap, tt.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 83
therefore continue to furnish a subject of unpleasant discussion,
and possible collision between the two governments. I che
rish, however, a lively hope, founded as well on the validity of
those claims, and the established policy of all enlightened govern
ments, as on the known integrity of the French monarch, that
the injurious delays of the past will find redress in the equity of
the future. Our minister has been instructed to press these
demands on the French government with all the earnestness
which is called for by their importance and irrefutable justice ;
and in a spirit that will evince the respect tvhich is due to the
FEELINGS OF THOSE FROM WHOM THE SATISFACTION IS REQUI
RED!' It is but too plain that this is the style of an old duellist
and bully. Or, ifit were not so obvious to all, at first, it became
as glaring as the beams of an ardent furnace, in his subsequent
threatening deportment towards that same ancient ally, after he
had successfully 'circumvented her' in these negociations — for
such was the boastful slang of the 'dirty official sheet' here, and
the rest "of the party newspapers of the day, in glorifying the
success of Mr. Rives' mission, giving him the injurious credit by-
the-by, of this 'feat of circumvention,' which he disdained, and
which actually belonged to the wire-workers of his mission,
resident, and advising at the White House in Washington.
By way of showing in more perfect relief, the insincerity of
General Jackson in the foregoing profession, (equivocal as they
are,) of his confidence in the magnanimity and justice of our
ancient ally, I will pass over to a short extract fiom his sixth
annual message, which will exhibit in striking colours the rage
he could permit himself to fall into, upon a mere delay of com
pliance with the terms of payment of her acknowledged dues to
lis — a transport of passion and impatience not even befitting a
Shylock upon the absolute certainty of a great pecuniary loss,
which, in this case was not in the remotest degree probable.
But take first, the confident manner in which he anticipated a
favourable result of the negociation, with the reiterated expression
of liberal sentiments towards France, in his second message, viz:
'The negociation with France has been conducted by our minis
ter with zeal and ability, and in all respects to my entire satis
faction. Although prospects of a favourable termination was
occasionally dimmed by counter pretensions to which the United
States could not assent, he yet had strong hopes of being able to
arrive at a satisfactory settlement, with the late government.
The negociation has been renewed with the present authorities;
and, sensible of the general and lively confidence of our citizens
in the justice and magnanimity of regenerated France, I
regret the more not to have it in my power yet to anounce the
result so confidently anticipated.' Accordingly in the third
annual message, he thus announced the success of the negocia
tion, — 'In my message at the opening of the last session of Con
gress, I expressed a confident hope that the justice of our claims

84 eight years in Washington. [Parti.
upon France, urged as they were with perseverance and signal
ability by our minister there, would finally be acknowledged.
This' hope has been realized. A treaty has been signed which
will immediately belaid before the Senate for its approbation;
and which, containing stipulations that require legislative action,
must have the concurrence of both houses before it
can be carried into effect.' After the ratification of the
Senate, then, it appears General Jackson knew that the legislative
action of both houses of Congress might delay its fulfilment —
and so might the same ceremony in the French chambers of
legislation, subsequently have that effect there. Had such been
the result here, would 'regenerated France' have desired to take
General Jackson by the throat ? How far the following super
fluous self-gratulation and bombast, in the next passage of the
same message contributed, with the official paper's boast of 'cir
cumvention,' tended to produce the subsequent delay of the
French legislation upon the subject of fulfilling the stipulations
of the treaty I shall not stop to calculate, or to conjecture; but
shall proceed now to show how egregiously General Jackson
laughed on the other side of his mouth, when adverting to this*
subject in his sixth annual message. He says —
'The history of the accumulated and unprovoked aggressions
upon our commerce,* committed by authority of the existing
* The history of the accumulated and unprovoked wrongs upon our
commerce. — It will probably be gratifying to those readers who are not already,,;
conversant with the subject, to have here subjoined, a concise view ofthe very im-!''
portant theme of neutral rights, in regard to international commerce between
neutrals on the one hand, and belligerents on the other, the infringements of which
by the latter, are the fruitful sources of vexatious complaints, and negociations, suc
cessful or abortive. — oftener resulting in collisions, a partial state of war, or formal
declarations thereof, waged with the vengeful purpose even of mutual extermination,
for unlawful seizures, captures, sequestrations, confiscations, or destruction of the
vessels, cargoes, or other property ofthe former, or reciprocally, of both the parties
belligerent and neutral ; and which calls so eloquently and emphatically on aU
nations to establish an intermediate or common tribunal of arbitrationf to adjust them,
without having recourse to dilatory negociation or to the ultima ratio regum. Such
a summary, I flatter myself will be the more appropriate here, by way of giving the
general reader an insight into the chief causes of disturbance between the United.
States and the various powers of England, France, Spain, and most other Europeans/
nations, as well as our sister American Republics, viz :
'The fundamental principle of neutral rights is, that 'free ships make free goods''
But it is proper always to bear in mind, that the correlative' inference is not true,
that 'enemy ships make enemy goods ;' for example : 'The stipulation in a treaty
that free [or neutral] ships make free goods, does not imply the converse proposi
tion, that enemy ships make enemy goods.'— [9 Cranch, 388, Supreme Court, U. S.
1815.] 'To constitute a blockade so as to affect a policy of insurance, by a violation of it,
there must be an actual existing force before the port at the time it is entered. The
t Which calls so eloquently and emphatically on all nations to
establish a tribunal of arbitration, &c. — Great Britain has already done
much by her individual proffers of arbitration, to prepare all nations for such a tri
bunal, which a French monarch had the credit of first suggesting, and which has
been renewed by tbe committee of foreign relations at the last session of Congress.
Such a tribunal might be entitled the court of admiralty of commercial
nations? — See Appendix (E.)

Chap. II.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 85
government of France, between the years 1800 and 1S17, has
been rendered too painfully familiar to Americans to make its
repetition either necessary or desirable. It will be sufficient here
to remark that there has, for many years, been scarcely a single
animus r'evertendi of an obsidiary fleet does not continue the blockade ; nor is the
entry of a neutral, after being warned, a breach of his neutrality, if blockading force
be not before the port.' — [Vol. 2, Caines' New York Sep. page 1, Sup. Court of N.
Y. 1804.
'Ships of war sailing under the authority of their government, in time of peace,
have a right to approach other vessels at sea, for the purpose of ascertaining their
real character, so far as the same can be done witiiout the exercise of the right of
visitation and search, which does not exist in time of peace.' — [Vol. II, Wheaton,
page 43.
'A trade exclusively confined to the subjects of one country is purely national,
and must follow the situation of that country as to peace or war, and be deemed
hostile or neutral accordingly ; and it is immaterial whether the shipment be made in
time of peace or war.' — Un time of war property cannot change its character in
transitu.' — [1 Gallison, 563, Circuit Court, U. S. 1813.
'A special order of the sovereign, though contrary to tbe law of nations, justifies
he captors in all tribunals of prize.' — [2 Gallison, 334, Circuit Court, U. S. 1815.
'Provisions become contraband, when destined to a port of naval equipment of an
enemy, or for the supply of his army.'— [Ib. 335.
'A commission to capture the enemy's property, extends to all neutral property
seized in violating neutral duties ; for in such case the property is deemed quasi
enemy's property.7— [2, Ib. 339, Ct. Ct. U. S. 1815.
'The courts of this country have no jurisdiction to redress any supposed torts
committed on the high seas, upon the property of its citizens by a cruiser regularly
commissioned by a foreign and friendly power, except where such cruiser has been
fitted out in violation of our neutrality.' — [1 Wheaton, 238, Sup. Court, U. States,
1816. 'The exclusive cognizance of prize questions belongs to the capturing power.
This is a consequence ofthe equality and absolute independence of sovereign states,
on the one hand, and of the duty to observe uniform, impartial, neutrality, on the
other. Under the former, every sovereign becomes the acknowledged arbiter of his
own justice, and cannot consistently with his dignity stoop to appear at the bar of other
nations to defend the acts of his commissioned agents, much less the injustice and
legality of those rules of conduct which he prescribes to them. Under the latter,
neutrals are bound to withhold their interference between the captor and the cap
tured; to consider the fact of possession as conclusive evidence of the right. Under
this, if is, also, that it becomes unlawful to divest a captor of possession, even of the
ships of a citizen, when seized under a charge of having trespassed upon belligerent
rights.'— [1 Wheaton, 254, 255.
[But] 'that the mere fact of seizure as a prize does not, of itself, oust the neutral
admiralty court of its jurisdiction, is evident from this fact, that there are acknow
ledged cases in which the courts of a neutral may interfere to divest possession, to
wit : those in which her own right to stand neutral, is invaded. And Jhere is no
case in which the court of a neutral may not claim the right of determining whether
the capturing vessel be, in fact, the commissioned cruiser of the belligerent power.
Without the exercise of jurisdiction thus far, in all cases, the power of tbe admiralty
would be inadequate to afford protection from piratical capture.' — [1 Wheaton, page
258. 'The president ofthe United States, is the sole organ ofthe nation, in its external
relations, and its sole representative with foreign nations. 'Of consequence the
demand of a foreign nation can only be made on him. He possesses the whole
executive power. He holds and directs the force ofthe nation: of consequence any
act to be performed by the force of the nation is to be performed through him. — He
is charged to execute the laws. A treaty is declared to be a law. He must then
executea treaty, where he, and he alone, possesses the means of executing it.' [That
is, supposing the treaty has been rendered comjplete by the proper legislative acts
that may be necessary "to its execution.] — [5 Wheaton. Appendix, page 26.
'The British Orders in Council, and the French Decrees, which affected our
neutral rights [as above laid down] and preceded the war of 1812 between Great
Britain and the United States, were as follows, to wit :
12

86 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. tPart '•
administration" of the French government by whom the justice
and legality of the1 claims of our citizens to indemnity were not,
to a very considerable extent, admitted, and yet near a quarter of
a century has been wasted in ineffectual negociations to secure
it.' — 'After the most deliberate and thorough examination of the
whole subject, a treaty between the two governments was con
cluded and signed at Paris on the 4th of July, 1831, by which it
was stipulated that 'the French government, in order to liberate
itself from all the reclamations preferred against it by citizens of
the United States for unlawful seizures, captures, sequestrations,
confiscations, or destruction of their vessels, cargoes, or other
property, engages to pay a sum of 25,000,000 millions of francs
to the United States, who shall distribute it among those entitled,
in the manner and according to the rules it shall determine;''
'On the 16th of May, 1806, the British government issued an Order in
Council, declaring the coast included between the Elbe and Brest in a state of
blockade :
'On the 21st of November, 1806, the French emperor issued bis Bebliw
Decree, declaring Great Britain and her dependencies in a state of 'blockade : '»
'On the 7th of January, 1807, the British government issued an Order in
Council, prohibiting neutral ships from carrying on trade from one enemy's port to
another, including France and her allies :
'On the 11th of November, 1807, the British Orders in Council were issued,
which declared the continental ports from which British ships were excluded, in a.
state of blockade, (except in cases of ships cleared out from Great Britain, whose
cargoes had paid a transit duty,) and rendered liable to condemnation all neutral
ships, with their cargoes, trading from the ports of France or her allies, and their
dependencies, or having on board certificates of origin :
•On the 7th of December, 181)7, the French emperor issued his Milan
Decree, declaring that any neutral ships which should have touched at a British
port, or paid a transit duty to the British government, or submitted to be searched by
British cruisers, should be liable to confiscation :
'On the 22d of December, 1807, the American embargo was laid :
'On the 1st of March, 1809, the embargo was removed, and a non-inter
course substituted with both France and England:
'On the 19th of April, 1809, a negociation was concluded by Mr. Erskine,
in consequence of which the trade with Great Britain was renewed on the 10th of
June :
'On the 26th of April, 1809, a British Order in Council was issued, modi
fying the former blockade, which was henceforth to be confined to ports under the
governments of Holland (as far north as the river Ems) and France, together with
the colonies of both, and all ports of Italy included between Orbitello and Pesara;,
'On the 10th of August, 1809, the non-intercourse with Great Britain
again took place, in consequence of Mr. Erskine's arrangement not being ratified:
'On the 1st of May, 1810, the trade with both Great Britain and France was
opened, under a law of Congress, that whenever either power should rescind its
Orders or Decrees the President should issue a proclamation to that effect; and in
case the other party should not within three months equally withdraw its orders or
decrees, that the non-importation act should go into effect with respect to that power:
, 'On the 2d of November, 1810, the President issued his proclamation,
declaring the Berlin and Milan Decrees to be so far withdrawn as no longer to
affect the neutral rights of America :
'And the Orders in Council not being rescinded: —
•On the 2d of February, 1811, the importation of British goods and the
admission of British ships into America were prohibited :
'On the 4th of April, 1812, an embargo was laid in the United States : and—
'On the 18th of June following, [1812,] the United States declared war
against Great Britain.'— [1 Wheaton, page 278, 279, and Elliot's American
Diplomatic Code, vol. 2, page 271, 272; published, Washington, 1831

Chap, II.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 87
and it was also stipulated on the part ofthe French government,
that this 25,000,000 millions of francs should 'be paid at Paris
in six annual instalments of four millions one hundred and sixty-
six thousand six hundred and sixty-six francs and sixty-six
centimes each, into the hands of such person or persons as shall
be authorized by the government of the United States to receive
it.' The first instalment to be paid 'at the expiration of one year
next following the exchange of the ratifications of this conven
tion, and the others at successive intervals of a year, one after
another, till the whole shall be paid.' — 'This treaty was duly
ratified in the manner prescribed by the constitution of both
countries, and the ratification was exchanged at the city of
Washington on the 2d of February, 1832.'— 'The faith of the
French nation having been thus solemnly pledged, through its
constitutional organ, for the liquidation and ultimate payment of
the long deferred claims of our citizens, as also for the adjustment
of other points of great and reciprocal benefits to both countries,
and the United States having, with a fidelity and promptitude
by which their conduct will, I trust, be always characterized,
done every thing that was necessary to carry the treaty into full
and fair effect on their part, counted with the most perfect confi
dence, on equal fidelity and promptitude on the part of the
French government.' — 'Not only has the French government
been thus wanting in the performance of the stipulations it has
so solemnly entered into with the United States, but its omissions
have been marked by circumstances which would seem to leave
us without satisfactory evidences that such performance will
certainly take place at a future period. Advice of the exchange
of ratification reached Paris prior to the 8th of April, 1832. The
French Chambers were then sitting, and continued in session
until the 21st of that month; and although one instalment of the
indemnity was [would be] payable on the 2d of February, 1833,
one year after the exchange of ratification no application was
made to the Chambers for the required appropriation.* — The
next session of the'Chambers commenced on the 19th of Novem
ber, 1832, and continued until the 25th of April, 1833. Notwith
standing the omission to pay the first instalment had been made
the subject of earnest remonstrance on our part, the treaty with
the United States, and a bill making the necessary appropriations
to execute it, were not laid before the Chambers until the 6th of
April, nearly five months after its meeting, and only nineteen
days before the close of the session. 'f — 'I regret to say that the
pledges made through the minister of France have not been
redeemed. The new Chambers met on the 31st of July last,
and although the subject of fulfilling the treaties was alluded to
* No reasonable man could complain of this as a delay or neglect, for such an
appropriation would have been nearly one year in advance.
¦)¦ But General Jackson does not tell us that even at that time, only two months
had elapsed since the first instalment was due. What haste !

88 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
in the speech from the throne, no attempt was made by the king
or his cabinet to procure an appropriation to carry it into execu
tion. The reasons given for this omission, although they
might be considered sufpicient in an ordinary case, are not
consistent with the expectations founded upon the assurances
given here, for there is no constitutional obstacle to entering
into legislative business at the first meeting of the Chambers.'
Now I would ask if there ever were more frivolous grounds
taken, for harsh complaints made in the most vituperative lan
guage that our government could use towards another and pre
serve peace. Efforts by the king to procure an appropriation are
certainly recounted in one passage, and denied in another — a
bill is admitted to have been reported very shortly after the first
instalment became due, notwithstanding the precipitate, indeco
rous, and urgent pressure of our government for immediate
payment, in effect sufficient to give umbrage instead of gaining
'its point. Nay, conciliatory 'reasons' were even tendered as an
excuse for this small delay — but nothing ,would pacify Generajj
Jackson and appease his itching to clutch the French king b$
the throat. He therefore urged Congress to the harsh measure
of reprisals, which would doubtless have eventuated in a French
war to gratify a President's pique, or a Shylock's demand of a
pound of flesh. His words are — 'It is my conviction that the
United States ought to insist on a prompt execution of the treaty j
and in case it be refused or longer delayed, take redress into
their own hands.' — 'I recommend that a law be passed autho
rizing reprisals upon French property, in case provisions shall'
not be made for the payment of the debt at the approaching
session ofthe Chambers.' And suppose Congress had concurred
in that folly, would it have procured the appropriation for the
debt, or an appropriation for a war ?
I shall now return to General Jackson's first message, in order
to resume the text, for a moment, preparatory to concluding
what I have further to say in this chapter respecting it.
Having stated, that of the unsettled matters between the United
States and other powers, the most prominent are those which
have for years been the subject of negociation with England, ;
France, and Spain, — and having been somewhat particular in his
views respecting the two former, as I have noticed, the ex-president
next gave but a cursoiy statement of his instructions to his then
recently appointed minister to the court of Spain, in which I see
nothing that calls for special remark. He then says — 'With
other European powers our intercourse is on the most friendly
footing.' That might be a justifiable expression, in the view of
the Jacksonian diplomacy, notwithstanding his subsequent policy
of pinching the toes of the king of the two Sicilies, and the like
of Naples, for claims that were then subsisting; for, he subse
quently, in his third annual, characterized those and other claims
in the following manner, viz : 'The conclusion of a treatv for

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 89
indemnity with France, seemed to present a favourable oppor
tunity to renew our claims of a similar nature on other powers;
and particularly in the case of those upon Naples, more especially
as in the course of former negociations with that power, our
failure to induce France to render us justice, was used as an
argument against us.' So that there was, in fact, as much occa
sion to make harsh report of the case of Naples from the first, as
of the rest. Again, in the third annual, he says, — 'Our demands
upon the government ofthe two Sicilies, are of a peculiar nature.
The injuries on which they are founded are not denied, nor
are the atrocity and perfidy under which those injuries were
perpetrated, attempted to be extenuated.' How, then, General
Jackson could, with sincerity, in his first message, have consi
dered our intercourse with those powers as being 'on the most
friendly footing,' would be superfluous for me to express an
opinion. Presently after concluding his survey of our European
relations, in his first message, he says, — 'The claims of our.
citizens upon the South American governments are in a train of
^settlement.' And then, passing on to our Mexican relations, he
disguises their true character in so artful a manner, as to make
a complete diversion from their real condition, by raising an issue
-upon the situation of oui minister near that Republic, and even
distorting or dissembling its real import — the momentous
nature- of which, together with the other complicated wrongs
between the two countries with which it had an ominous .con
nection, must be deferred for the hext chapter.

CHAPTER III.
The duplicity of the Jacksonian diplomacy continued, as to our relations
with the Mexican Republic*
Of the multifarious and complicated evidences of the disinge-
nousness and insincerity of Andrew Jackson, which have been
cursorily sketched, in the two preceding chapters, there is not
an instance which approaches even to a faint comparrison with
*It will doubtless be desirable to the reader to have a statement of the negocia
tions that had taken place, and were still pending between Mexico and Hie, United
States, at the commencement of General Jackson's administration. This I cannot
do in a more satisfactory manner, than by an extract from Mr. Adam's speech,
generally called his Texas speech, delivered about the close of the last session of
Congress : I therefore make the following extract from that speech; viz. page 106 :
'He [Mr. Adams] had stated, the day before, that before the United States acknow
ledged the independence of the Mexican Republic, a proposal was made by them to
the government of the United States through the agency of Mr. Torrens, then Charge
d' Affaires from the Republic of Colombia, the independence of which had been pre
viously recognized by Mr. Monroe, that 'the limits between the two countries be

90 eight years in Washington. [Parti,
that master-piece of duplicity which the ex-president and his
then secretary of state, now president by the dictation ofthe
ex-president, practised towards our immediate neighbour and
sister confederacy of Mexico. When it is known that at and
fixed according to the third article of the treaty of Washington, of the 22d of Feb
ruary, 1819, between the United States and Spain, drawing the line and establishing
the landmarks, by commissioners appointed by both, governments, in the same man
ner as was provided by the fourth article of the said treaty.' The note of Mr. Tor
rens containing this proposal, dated the 15th of February, 1824, is among the papers
communicated to this House at the special session of Congress, last October, in the
document No. 42. Whether any immediate answer was given to the note of Mr.
Torrens does not appear in the document, and is not within my recollection. The
answer to the note, if any was given, may be among the voluminous mass of papers
just now communicated, and lying on the table, or it may be among the archives of
the Department of State.
'It would be recollected by members of that House, that, on account of impending
difficulties, there had not been an American Minister to Mexico for two or three
years after the acknowledgment of the independence of that Republic. Two attempts
were made to make such an appointment ; neither of which was successful. The
first selected to fill that station was General Andrew Jackson, who did not accepte
the appointment. The second was Ninian Edwards, who accepted it, but was prtfSs
vented, by circumstances within the memory of us all, from entering upon the dis
charge of its duties. A year or more elapsed, after the note of Mr. Torrens, and
there was yet no Minister to Mexico. At length Mr. Poinsett was sent thither.
Among the documents laid upon the tables of members of that House, there was a
letter of instructions from the Secretary of State, dated March 26, 1825, to Mr. Poin
sett, containing a reference to this question of the boundary line between the United
States and Mexico. It begins with a copy ofthe treaty defining that line, and says,
that that part ofthe treaty remained to be executed, after the recognition of Mexican
independence. And in the same letter there was the following paragraph :
'Some difficulties may possibly hereafter arise between the two countries from the line
thus agreed upon, against which it would be desirable now to guard, if practicable; and as
the Government of Mexico may be supposed not to have any disinclination to the fixation
of a new line, which would prevent those difficulties, the President wishes you to sound it
on that subject, and to avail yourself of a favourable disposition, if you should find it, to
effect that object. The line ofthe Sabine approaches our great Western mart nearer than
could be wished. Perhaps the Mexican Government may not be unwilling to establish
that of the Rio Brassos de Dios, or the Rio Colorado, or the Snow mountain, or the Rio
del Norte, in lieu of it. By the agreed line, portions of both the Red river and branches
of the Arkansas are thrown on the Mexican side, and the navigation of both those rivers,
as well as that of the Sabine, is made common to the respective inhabitants of the two
countries. When the countries adjacent to those waters shall come to be thickly inhabited,
collisions and misunderstandings may arise from the community thus established, in the
use of their navigation, which it would be well now to prevent. If the line were so altered
as to throw altogether on one side Red river and Arkansas, and Iheir respective tributary
streams, and the line on the Sabine were removed further west, all causes of future colli
sion would be prevented. The Government of Mexico may have a motive for such an
alteration ofthe line as is here proposed, in the fact that it would have the effect of placing
the city of Mexico nearer the centre of its territories. If the line were so changed, lha
greater part, if not the whole of the powerful, warlike, and turbulent Indian nation of the
Camanches would be thrown on the side of the United States ; and as an equivalent for
the proposed cession of territory, they would stipulate to restraints far as practicable, the
Camanches from committing hostilities and depredations upon the territories and people, •
whether Indians or otherwise, of Mexico.3
Then followed an argument to show the expediency and propriety of this line,
and the passage thus concludes :
'But if you shall find that the Mexican Government is unwilling to alter the agreed lino
in the manner proposed, and that it insists upon the execution of the third and fourth
articles of the treaty before mentioned, you are authorized to agree to the recognition and

Chap, ill.] jacksonian diplomacy. 91
anterior to the date of General Jackson's first message of Decem
ber 8th, 1829, he was in possession of the fact of a conspiracy
being on foot among our own citizens for the purpose of dismem
bering the Mexican dominions, both from the representations of
establishment of the line ad described in the third article, and to the demarcation of it
forthwith; as is stipulated in the fourth.'
Of course the Minister was instructed upon the supposition that the Government
of Mexico would be willing to alter the line, to propose a new one, varying two
degrees from that of the Sabine, established by the treaty with Spain. But, if she
were not willing to accede to this, he was instructed to propose commissioners to
make a survey, with a view to establishing a line. This proposition, as had been
stated the day before, was found to be exceedingly disagreeable to the Mexican
Government. Yet, at a still later period, (1821',) a new proposition, still more spe
cific and particular, to the same effect, was made by this Government to Mexico.
In the instructions from the Department of State it was said -:
'The great extent and the facility which appears to have attended the procurement of
grants from the Government of the United Mexican States, for large tracts of country to
citizens ofthe United States, in the province of Texas, authorize the belief that but little
value is placed upon the possession of the province by that Government., These grants
seem to have been made without any sort of equivalent, judging according to our opinions
ofthe value ofland. They have been made to, and apparently in contemplation of being
settled by citizens from the United States. These emigrants will carry with them our
principles of law, liberty, and religion; and however much it may be hoped they might be
disposed to amalgamate with the ancient inhabitants of Mexico, so far as political freedom
is concerned, it would te almost too much to expect that all collisions wuuld be avoided
on other subjects. Already some of these collisions have manifested themselves, and
others in the progress of time, may be anticipated with confidence. These collisions may
insensibly enlist the sympathies and feelings of the two Republics, and lead to misunder
standings.' Then there was a further argument proposing an alteration of the line :
'The boundary which, we prefer is that, which beginning at the mouth of the Rio del
Norte in the sea, shall ascend that river to the mouth ofthe Rio Puerco; thence, ascending
this river to its source, and from its source, by a line due north, to strike the Arkansas;
thence, follow ing the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas, to its source, in latitude
42 degrees north; and thence, by that parallel of latitude to the South Sea. The boun
dary thus described, would, according to the United States Tanner's map, published in
the United States, leave Santa Fe within the limits of Mexico, and the whole of Red
river, or Rio Roxo and Ihe Arkansas, as far up as it is probably navigable within the limits
assigned to the United States. If that boundary be unattainable, we would, as the next
most desirable, agree to that of the Colorado, beginning at its mouth, in the bay of Ber
nardo, and ascending the river to its source; and thence, by a line due north, to the Arkan
sas; and thence, as above traced, to the South Sea. This latter boundary would probably
also give us the whole ofthe Red river, would throw us somewhat further from Santa Fe,
. but it would strike Arkansas, possibly, at a navigable point. To obtain the first described
boundary, the President authorizes you to offer to the Government of Mexico a sum not
exceeding one million of dollars. If you find it impracticable to procure that line you, are
then authorized to offer, for the above line of the Colorado, the sum of five hundred thou
sand dollars.'
Now, these two propositions were made when Texas was free, slavery having
been abolished by law in that province ; and Mr. A. said, that he referred to them at
this time, because there had then already been grants of land made to citizens of
the United States in that province, laying the foundation of that spirit lately and at
present so manifest inthis country, of grasping at that territory. He had said, that
this proposition of altering the boundary between this country and Mexico was
highly disgreeable to the latter. The Minister from this Government had been
authorized to make a treaty of commerce as well as of limits. He says :
'I waited on the Secretary of Stateby appointment on the morning of the 12th instant,
in order to discuss the manner of conducting the negociations for the treaties of commerce
and of limits between the two nations. It was agreed to treat the two subjects separately.'
— 'With respect to the treaty of limits, I suggested that, although the Government of the
United States held itself bound to carry into effect the treaty of limits with the king of

92 eight years in Washington. [Part I.
that government, and from communications of American citizens
to the same effect — and when it is also known that our minister
there, had for a 'long time' rendered himself odious to that
government by his interference in its internal concerns,, together
Spain, 22 of February, 1S19, still it would appear more becoming the independent charac
ter of this [Mexican] Government to lay aside that treaty altogether, and to endeavour to
establish a boundary which would be more easily defined, and which might be mutually
more advantageous. The Secretary expressed himself much gratified by such a suggestion,
and proposed that the two Governments should forthwith appoint commissioners to make
a reconnoissance of the country bordering on the line formerly settled with Spain; so as
to obtain such information in regard to that portion of our respective territories as would
enable us to act understandingly on the subject-'
There was the proposition. The Minister proposed that the commissioners
should be appointed to trace the line, under the treaty of 1795, 'so as to enable us
to act understandingly,' &c. He continues :
'I objected to this proposal, the limited powers of the President of the United States,
and that such an appointment could not well be made'until the next meeting of Congress.
He replied that his Government would be very averse permanently to fix the limits'
between the two nations on the very slender information they at present possessed of that
frontier country.' ^;
There is the first answer to the first proposition ; and it required no great depth to
understand the feelings with which that proposition was regarded by Mexico. Th«»
letter proceeds :
'After some further conversation on the subject, it was agreed that he should address
me a note, stating the views of this [Mexican] Government in relation to the proposed
convention of limits. This has not yet been received.' if
Well (continued Mr. A.,) then follows the note of the 20th of July, 1825, in
which the Mexican Secretary of State distinctly proposes that the two subjects of
negociation be treated separately, ahd without reference to one another.
'We might then, if your excellency thought proper, and this is the opinion ofthe Presi
dent, proceed immediately to negociate the treaty of commerce, leaving on one side the
point of limits ; that we might negociate on this subject, the two Governments might
name their commissioners, who, on examining together the country within a given latitude,
from one eea, to another, might present exact information, upon which the limits might be
established, as is desired.'
To this Mr. Poinsett objects, as he had done before. Then follows a letter dated
in March, 1826, and written by Mr. Poinsett to Mr. Clay, nine months afterwards :
'By the colonization law passed in August, 1824, the General Government reserved
twenty leagues of land from the frontiers of neighbouring nations, and ten leagues from
the sea shore, which cannot be granted by the States except with the previous consent of
the Executive. Having learnt that the President had given his consent to a grant of land
made by the State of Coahuila and Texas, of a tract situated within that limit, on the
Red river, I called this morning at the office of the Secretary of State, and told Espinosa
that I should not consider any grant as valid that was made while the negociations
were pending, in the event of that portion of country being included by the treaty within
the limits ofthe United States. He admitted that the objection was proper, and engaged
to write to the State of Texas on the subject '
Here Mr. Poinsett undertakes to protest against grants of land on the ground that
the territory in question may be annexed to the United States. On the I8th of
March, a few months after this, he says :
'This Government has appointed General Teran to examine the country near onr
respective frontiers, and to obtain such information as will enable them to treat upon that
subject understandingly.'
The Government of Mexico at this time felt so deep an interest in this matter of
the boundary, that, without waiting for the treaty, they undertook, by their own
authority, to trace the line. This was analogous to a proceeding at home, to a ques
tion now pending, and which Mr. A. wished were settled, as indeed it must be, one
way or another, before long : and it was now a question whether Maine should not
do as Mexico had in this instance done, and run her own boundary line, without
reference to the wishes or action of Great Britain.

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 93
with his zealous efforts to promote the acquisition of Texas — it
will strike all honest and sincere men with amazement, that
General Jackson, as president of a moral, just, and magnanimous
people, could have reconciled it to himself to pursue the course
At a later period, (continued Mr. Adams,) Mr. Poinsett says, under date ofthe
6th of October, 1827 :
'The only act passed by the Congress, since the commencement of their session, of any
importance, is the appropriation of fifteen thousand dollars towards defraying the expenses
of the commissioner, General Teran, appointed by this Government to examine and
report upon the country which lies near and upon the boundary between the United States
and Mexico, agreeably to the views of this government, as expressed in their communica
tion of the  • of August, 1825. The commission has not set out on this expedition for want
of funds, Congress having appropriated what the Treasury does not at this moment con
tain. In private conversations with the President and Secretaries, I have sought to con
vince them of the uselessness of this expedition, until the treaty of limits is definitively
settled. They say, in reply, that the public is so anxious to have that question settled,
that they think it politic so to act at present, and assure me of their earnest desire to
adjust that delicate point as soon as possible.'
There is a subsequent document in which there is a formal acknowledgment that
the Republic of Mexico possessed the right separately todraw this line.
On the 19th of March, 1828, Mr. Obregon, Minister Plenipotentiary from Mexico
to the United States, informed their Secretary of State, Mr. Clay, that the Mexican
jGovernment had appointed General Teran to perform (separately) the scientific
operations and surveys necessary to proceed in the execution ofthe treaty of limits.
To this notification Mr. Clay answered on the 24th of March ; and in that answer says :
'The treaty to which you are understood lo refer, lately concluded at Mexico, has not
yet been received, and consequently is not yet ratified by this Government. Any joint
measures, therefore, in relation to its execution, would be premature until that ceremony
is performed. But as the operations and surveys contemplated by General Teran's
appointment are presumed to be intended for the satisfaction of the Government of the
United States of Mexico, the President has no objection to them. I have therefore the
pleasure of transmitting the passport requested from this office, which, although it may
not ba necessary to the security of .General Teran and his suite, may conduce to the
removal of any obstructions which, without it, he might possibly encounter.'
In order to show the interest which the Government of Mexico attached to this
subject at the time, Mr. A. referred to another letter of Mr. Poinsett to Mr. Clay,
in which the former said :
'The Mexican Chamber of Deputies passed a resolution, when the treaty was formally
before them, on which, I understand they will insist. It is in these words, viz. 'This
Chamber will not take into consideration the treaty which the Government has concluded
with that ofthe United States of America, until an article shall be inserted in it recogni
zing the validity of that which was celebrated by the cabinet of Madrid, in the year 1819,
with the Government of Washington, respecting , the limits of the territories of the two
contracting parties.'
i 'The Plenipotentiaries, in reply to all my observations on the subject, and to my propo-
¦ sals to alter the limits, insisted that Mexico had a right to consider lhat treaty binding
upon the United States, as being invested with all the rights of Spain, and bound by all
the obligations of the mother country. They instanced the cession made by Spain to
Great Britain of certain rights- in the Bay of Honduras, which, however inconvenient to
the Mexican Government, it had nevertheless felt itself bound to ratify ; and, in short,
declared that if I did not consent to comply with the resolution ofthe Chamber of Depu
ties, it would be useless to discuss tiie other articles of the treaty, as it was certain that
Congress would not ratify any treaty which did not contain such a provision.'
The treaty of commerce laid before the Legislature of Mexico for their assent
was not taken into consideration, on the ground that the question of limits was not
yet settled. A protocol of conference to conclude a treaty of limits was then issued,
in which allusion was made to the resolution of the Chamber of Deputies on the
subject, and which resolution was as follows :
'The Plenipotentiaries of Mexico read the resolution of the Chamber of Deputies, which
is in the following words, viz :
'This House will not take into consideration the treaty which the Government has con
cluded with the United States of America, so long as it does not contain an article which
shall renew the existence of tbe treaty celebrated by the cabinet of Madrid in the year
13

94 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part t.
he did, with the consummate arts of complicated dissimulation
never before practised, as shall, in the sequel be made perfectly
manifest. It will best conform to the order in which I propose
to treat this subject, first to attract the attention of the reader to
1819, with that of Washington, respecting the territorial limits of the two contracting
parties.' 'This resolution was passed on the 2d of April, 1S27, and the treaty was accordingly
sent back to the President of the United Mexican States.
'The Plenipotentiaries observed that this resolution rendered it imperative upon the
Executive first to settle this important question; and, from the tenor of the note addressed
to them by the Plenipotentiary of the United States, they presumed he could have no
objection to regard the above mentioned treaty as in full force and binding upon the
United States.'
And the protocol proceeds to say :
'The Plenipotentiary of the United States replied, that, although the limits, as settled
by the treaty of Washington, were liable to some objections, and might be altered advan
tageously for both the contracting parties, as he had before frequently explained, still, if
the Government of Mexico insisted upon the execution of the third and fourth articles of
that treaty, he could not object to it.
'The Mexican Plenipotentiaries said that their Government had invariably acted upon
the principle that Mexico was bound to respect the treaties ofthe Spanish monarchy, prior
to the declaration of her independence: as, for instance, Great Britain had acquired rights
from Spain within the territory of Mexico, (in the Bay of Honduras,) which, however
inconvenient to this Government, it was proposed not to disturb, and had acknowledged
the existence of those rights in the recent treaty with that power.
'The Plenipotentiary ofthe United States replied, that he did not intend to dispute the
validity of a treaty concluded between the United States and Spam at a period when
Mexico formed a component part of the Spanish monarchy; and that it was evident from
former conferences, and from his note on that subject, that he had never controverted1
this principle. Any alteration of the treaty of Washington must depend upon the mutual
consent of the present contracting parties; but as the Executive and the Chamber of
Deputies of Mexico appeared determined to insist upon carrying the third and fourth
articles of that treaty into effect; he should no longer object to it.'
The protocol of the next conference contained an article to that effect.
Mr. A. said he had referred to all these documents to show the extreme interest
felt by the Government of Mexico in this question of boundary.
He now eame to a very important and particular instruction from Mr. Van Buren,.
as Secretary of State, to Mr. Poinsett, in the year 1829, [August 25th.] This
was a very long letter, and began thus :
'It is tbe wish of the President that you should, without delay, open a negociation with
the Mexican Government for the purchase of so much of the province of Texas as is
hereinafter described, or for such a part thereof as they can be induced to cede to us, if
the same be conformable to either ofthe locations with which you are herewith furnished.
The President is aware of the difficulties which may be interposed to the accomplishment
of the object in view; but he confidently believes that the views of the matter which it
will be in your power to submit, and the pecuniary consideration which you will be autho
rized to propose, will enable you to effect it. He is induced, by a deep conviction of the
real necessity of the proposed acquisition, not only as a guard for our western frontier,
and the protection of New Orleans, but also to secure forever to the inhabitants of the
valley of the Mississippi the undisputed and undisturbed possession of the navigation of
that river, together with the belief that the present moment is particularly favourable for
the purpose, to request your early and unremitting attention to the subject.
'The territory of which a cession is desired by the United States is all that part of the
province of Texas which lies east of a line beginning at the Gulf of Mexico, in the centre
of the desert or Grand Prairie, which lies west of the Rio Nueces, and is represented to be
nearly two hundred miles in width, and to extend north to the mountains. The proposed
line following the course of the centre of that desert or prairie, north, to the mountains,
dividing the waters of the Rio Grande del Norte from those that run eastward tothe
Gulf, and until it strikes our present boundary at the 42d degree of north latitude. It is
known that the line above described includes the Spanish settlements of La Bahia and
San Antonia de Bexar, comprising all the Mexicnrn inhabitants of the province, and this
may furnish an objection to so extensive a cession. If, from this circumstance, the
objection should be made, and you find the Mexican Government disposed to cede any
portion of the territory in question you are authorized to agree to any of the following
lines, regarding those furthest west as preferable. The second proposed line commences

Chap, III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 95
the veil which General Jackson artfully threw over the whole of
this matter, in his first message to Congress, to cover or keep
out of view the m6re important information that was then in his
possession. To do this the more effectually I shall make a
copious extract from that message, viz :
•on the western bank ofthe Rio de la Baca, where it discharges itself into Matagorda Bay,
and continuing up that river on the western bank thereof, to the head of its most westerly
branch; thence, due north, until the line shall strike the Rio Colorado; and thence, up
the Colorado river, on the western bank thereof, to the head of its principal stream ; thence,
by the most direct course that will intersect our line at the 42d degree of north latitude,
and include the head waters of the Arkansas and Red rivers.
'The third proposal may be a line to commence at the mouth of the Rio Colorado
where that river empties itself into Matagorda Bay, and on the west bank thereof, to con
tinue up that river to the head of its principal stream; and thence, by a line drawn from
the head of its principal stream so as to intersect our present boundary line at the forty-
second degree of north latitude, including also the head waters last mentioned.
'The last proposition may be a line to commence on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of
the Rio Brassos de Dios, and on the westerly bank of that river, to pursue the course of
that river up to the head of its most westerly branch by the west bank thereof; and from
the head of that branch of the river by such a course as will enable us to intersect our
present line at the point already indicated.'
There was, in this letter, a very long argument in favour of the propositions
which Mr. Poinsett was instructed to make to the Mexican Government ; andisome
portions of that argument were worthy the attention of the House. The writrfsays :
'We are not left altogether to conjecture and speculation as to the results which are to
be expected from a contiguity of settlements under such unfavourable circumstances. The
experience of the past affords the means of a safe estimate of the future. 'A spirit of
enterprise and not unfrequently of encroachment, has been exhibited by our citizens who
inhabit that frontier, w-hieh has been productive of much uneasiness to the Mexican
Government, and not without solicitude to this. Most ofthe grants that have'vbeen made
in Texas are already in the hands of Americans and Europeans. Notwithstanding the
cautious policy evinced by the Mexican Government in the designation of ala extensive
border ^territory, within which no grants should be made or settlements permitted, the
improvements of the Americans on the Texas side commence from what is regarded as
the boundary line, and are scattered over the prohibited territory. Not only has the
interdict been thus disregarded by the adventurous spirits who have been attracted
thither by the unsettled state qf the Mexican Government, but that Government itself
has (it is understood) been induced, by a conviction of the impossibility of causing it to
be respectee), to make grants within its limits. The want of confidence and reciprocal
attachment between the Government and the present inhabitants of Texas, (not Spanish,)
from whatever cause arising, is too notorious to require elucidation. It has, in the short.
.space of Jive years, displayed itself in not less than four revolts, one of them having
for its avowed object the independence ofthe country. This Government embraced
the earliest opportunity to satisfy that of Mexico that the resistance to her lawful autho
rity thus made was without aid or countenance, direct or indirect from us. The
ancient and well-settled policy of the United States in this respect is so well Known,
and has been so scrupulously adhered to, as to leave no room for apprehension that it
can be ever or long misunderstood by other powers. But still, the recurrence of scenes
like these, whilst they furnish the causes of onerous expenses and perpetual inquietude
on the part of Mexico, must in the nature qf things, have a tendency to excite at
least temporary suspicions qf our motives, and produce consequent heart-burnings,
hostile to those cordial and friendly relations which should ever be preserved between
neighbouring States.
Here, by the authority of the head of the very party now proposing to annex this
territory, it is admitted that the want of confidence and reciprocal attachment between
the Government and inhabitants of Texas, has, in the short space of five years dis
played itself in not less than four revolts, one of them having for its avowed object
the independence of the country.
Iri another part of these instructions (continued Mr. Adams) occur the following

'The President does not desire the proposed cession without rendering a just and fair
equivalent for it. He therefore authorizes you to offer to the Mexican Government, for a
cession according to the first mentioned boundary, a sum nofexceeding four millions of
dollars; and so strong are his convictions of its great value to the United States, that he

96 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
'Deeply interested as we are in the prosperity of our sister republics ; and
more particularly in that of our immediate neighbour, it would be most
gratifying to me were 1 permitted to say, that the treatment which we have
received at her hands has been as universally friendly, as the early and con-
slant 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 trie envoy extra
ordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States, have had an.
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 negociated and concluded in its own
capital, and under its own eye. Under these circumstances it appeared
expedient to give Mr. Poinsett the option either to return or not, as in his
judgment the interest of his country might require ; and instructions to that
effect were prepared, but before they could be despatched, a communication
was received from the government of Mexico, through its Charge d'AfFaires
here, requesting the recall of our minister. This was promptly complied
with ; and a representative of a rank corresponding wilh that ofthe Mexican
will not object, if you should find it indispensably necessary, to go as high as five millions.
You will, of course, consult the interests ofthe United States, by obtaining the cession (if
it can be obtained at all) upon terms as favourable, and for a price as low as practicable,
regarding the sum above stated only as the maximum amount to which you are authorized
to go. Should you find the Government of Mexico unwilling to part with as large a por
tion of their territory as would be included in the first mentioned bounds, but disposed to
cede a less quantity, you will, in such case, endeavour lo obtain a cession agreeably to'
some one ofthe boundaries above described, urging them in the order of preference before'
stated, and stipulate to pay therefor a sum, which, estimating five millions as a fair com
pensation for the largest extent proposed, would be a proportionate equivalent for that
which is ceded.' ******
'I have already stated, that the present moment is regarded by us as an auspicious one
to secure the cession; and will now add, that Ihere does not appear to be any reasonable
objection to its being embraced, on the score of delicacy, or from an apprehension that, in
doing so, we would give offence to the Government of Mexico. Nothing would be more
adverse to the feelings of the President than to give that Government reason to believe,
that he is capable of taking advantage of their necessities to obtain from them any portion
of the Mexican territory, the cession of which would impair the true interests or commit
the honour of that country.
'The comparatively small value of the territory in question to Mexico; its remote and
disconnected situation; the unsettled condition of her affairs; the depressed and languish
ing state of her finances; and the still, and at this moment particularly, threatening atti
tude of Spain, all combine to point out and recommend to Mexico, the policy of parting '
with a portion of her territory, of very limited and contingent benefit, to supply herself
with the means of defending the residue, with ihe better prospect of success, and with less
onerous burdens to her citizens.'
In these paragraphs (continued Mr. Adams) are proofs abundant of both parts of
that duplicity which I have charged against the late Administration in regard to its
Mexican policy. This letter of instructions artfully touches upon a series of argu
ments for the accomplishment ofthe designs of this Government, while it contains a
denial of all intention to take advantage of those arguments for that purpose. In the
first place, there is the admission explicitly made, that this Government might take
advantage of tbe circumstances alluded to, to wrest Texas from Mexico, and then a
disavowal of all such intention. Taken together, do they not clearly make out a
case of double-dealing on the part of this Government with that of Mexico' This
letter was dated August, 1829. It so happened, that before it could reach oui
Minister in Mexico, that Minister had become so obnoxious to the Government of that
Republic, chiefly on account of the earnestness with which he pressed this odious
subject of the boundary, that that Government had sent to ours a demand for his
immediate recall. The letter of Mr. Van Buren was dated August, [25th,] 1829, and
was despatched by a person by the name of Butler, who, on arriving in Mexico
found that that Government had peremptorily demanded the recall of Mr Poinsett '

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 97
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.'' — 'In justice
to Mr. Poinsett, it is proper to say, that my immediate compliance with the
application for his recall, and the appointment of a successor, are not to be
ascribed to any evidence that the imputation of an improper interference by
him, in the lojcal politics of Mexico, was well founded ; nor to a want of con
fidence in his talents or integrity ; and to add, that the truth of that charge
has never been affirmed by the federal government of Mexico, in its commu
nications with this.'
I have distinguished some of the passages above quoted with
italics, for the more particular notice of the reader ; and I will
only remark, that in relation to the last, if the Mexican govern
ment did not fully affirm the truth of the charges it preferred
against Mr. Poinsett, in demanding his recall, as I should say it
most unequivocally did — then, still the affirmation is not wanting
in the "allegations reiterated in Mr. Van Buren's letter of recall to
Mr. Poinsett, of the 16th of October, of the same year, (1829,)
not of interference in the 'local politics' of Mexico, but a wider
range of 'intermeddling in the domestic affairs of that republic'
And I have also heard it frequently rumoured, that freemasonry
on the one hand, and the catholic religion on the other, came
under Mr. Poinsett's officious patronage and denunciations.
But to what extent these alleged interferences be true or other
wise, is not material, when the grosser general charges recited
by Mr. Van Buren, with their avowed universality in the states
of Mexico, are nevertheless affected to be disbelieved by Mr. Van
Buren and the President, who, as a further proof of the sincerity
of their expressions of friendly solicitude for Mexican prosperity,
have advanced the very man whom that government viewed as
its most deadly enemy, to the head ofthe War Department here,
whereby he has it in his power to locate hostile forces under
hostile commanders on her borders, to deal out to her all manner
of annoyance, and to make pretences for invasion, or other mili
tary co-operations with her border malcontents. Mr. Van Buren's
letter to Mr. Poinsett, of the 16th of October, 1829, as published
in the Congress Documents, No. 351, of the last session, says:
'Department op State, Washington, October 16, 1829.
'Sin. : Your despatches from 175 to No. 180, both inclusive, have been
received by the hands of Commodore iPorter, and submitted to the President.
He has also availed himself of your reference to that gentleman for a more
•minute account of the state of public affairs in Mexico, as they presented
themselves to his observation.
It has been a source of sincere regret to the President to find, in the infor
mation thus received, a confirmation of what was before apprehended, that
the minds of large and active portions of the inhabitants of Mexico, as well
as some of the local authorities and subordinate functionaries of the Federal
Government, are influenced by personal prejudices against you, of the strong
est, and, as there is every reason to fear, most incurable character.
The only ground upon which this state of feeling appears to be justified, is
the allegation on the part of those who entertain it, that you have availed

98 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part 1,
yourself of your situation to intermeddle in the domestic affairs of that Repub
lic. The suspicions entertained upon this subject — the existence of which
he sincerely deprecates — -the President feels himself justified, by all the infor
mation of which he is possessed, in considering as without just cause. The
fact that no complaint has at any time been made by the authority to which
you are accredited, which would be the most likely to be informed of such
interference ifit did exist, and the first to feel aggrieved thereby.
'But, howsoever produced, the fact is indubitable, that there exist, towards
you, in Mexico, feelings ofthe most hostile and injurious character; and the
President regrets to find in the acts and omissions of the Federal Government
the most convincing evidence that those prejudices, professedly personal to
yourself, have exerted a sinister influence upon its conduct towards the coun
try which you represent.
'The President has conferred the appointment on Colonel Anthony Butler,
of the state of Mississippi, who possesses qualifications peculiarly adapted to
the station, and who will probably have arrived at Mexico before this despatch
comes to your hands.
'Colonel Butler's commission, instructions, and other papers, are herewith
sent. You will, iu the event of its becoming necessary by your determina
tion to return, embrace the earliest opportunity to present this gentleman to
the Government of Mexico in his official character, and to instruct him fully
in the unfinished business of the legation.
'On taking leave of the President Guerrero, the President directs you to say
that the United States are now, as ihey always have been, sincerely anxious
to cultivate and maintain the most friendly relations with the Republic of
Mexico; that, the misrepresentations of the enemies of both to the contrary
notwithstanding, it is nevertheless undeniably true that, from the foundation
of that Republic to the present day, every act of this Government towards
her has been in strict accordance with the dictates of sincere and disinterested
friendship; and that he considers himself as affording renewed evidence of
the continuance of this friendly concern for her success and welfare in the
promptness with which he renews the diplomatic relations between the two
countries, interrupted by your retirement under circumstances, the nature and
tendency of which no one more fully understands or can better appreciate
than President Guerrero ; that it gives him pain to be compelled to view the
course of the Mexican Government towards this country as altogether the
reverse of what it would have been if the friendly and just sentiments of the
United States had been as cordially reciprocated as they were sincerely enter
tained ; that your successor has been fully instructed to represent, respectfully,
but freely and firmly, the particular facts and circumstances which have forced
this conclusion upon the mind of the President, and is authorized and directed
to contribute all in his power to subdue unjust prejudices, and work out a
more auspicious state of things. He desires you, also, to express his appre
hension that, unless a marked change is effected in the relations between the
two countries, and that speedily, it will not, wilh the best intentions on his
part, be in his power to prevent irritalions and possible collisions, which
could not fail to prove injurious to the best interests of both Republics, and to
bring discredit on the cause of free government.'
In a postscript to the above, dated the 17th October, Mr. Van
Buren, adds:
" 'It is proper that I should say that the communication made to this govern
ment by that of Mexico has evidently not originated in feelings of unkindness
towards you personally. It alleges that public opinion has pronounced against
you, in the most general, decided, and conclusive manner, in nearly all the
states ef the confederacy. It does not, however, affirm the truth of the
charges which have been made against you otherwise or farther than might
le inferred from its statements that the public clamour against you has
extended itself to the public autliorities, to men of education, and to many who
have been heretofore regarded as your friends.

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 99
'The President can well conceive that, in a slate of things like that which
exists in Mexico, [what state of things?] there may be found sufficient motives
for men of intelligence, including even those who, under other circumstances,
would wish to be regarded as your friends, to yield themselves to the prevail
ing current, without being convinced of its justice. In the absence of a con
trary allegation on the part of the Mexican government, and confiding in
your assurances, he still allows himself to believe that the prejudices which
exist against you are loithout just cause. He therefore directs me lo say that
your recall is not to be regarded as founded on the assumption of ascertained
misconduct, but on grounds reconcilable with your innocence of the impu
tations which have been cast upon vou.'
Was there ever an instance of more inveterate and far-fetched
special pleading than this — to get rid of ascertained misconduct
on the universal testimony of a whole nation, by declaring it to
be not ascertained, on the interested denial of an individual, and
he the party accused, who is an incompetent 'witness? It has
been truly ^aid that there are none so deaf as those who will not
hear — that there are none so blind as those who will not see; and
it is equally true that those who will not believe, are the greatest
infidels in the world!
But if further evidence be wanted, of the grossly exceptionable
conduct of Mr. Poinsett, in the matter of interference in the
internal concerns of Mexico, we have it in the note of the present
Secretary of State, accompanying the Congress documents, No.
351, from which the foregoing is extracted; and I here subjoin
an extract from that note :
'No papers requested by the resolution [of Congress calling for those
documents, No. 351,] have been withheld excepts, communication from Mr.
Butler, the late charge d'affaires of the United States to the Mexican Repub
lic, made to this department during his visit to this city in the summer of
1835 — and all those parts of his despatches, and those of Mr. Poinsett and
Mr. Ellis, which contain narratives qf political events in Mexico; specula
tions upon them, and speculations and opinions concerning public
characters in that country, none of which can now be made compatibly
with the puelic interest.'
If the courtesy of Congress towards the Executive, in qualify
ing their calls for copies of public documents with the words 'so
far as is compatible with the public interest,' is to be thus abused,
at the discretion of every head of department, as has been the
general practice of the present dynasty, in withholding docu
ments, even those in some instances that are specifically called
for, it is obvious that it will thereby be in the power of the depart
ments at all times to screen themselves from the salutary investi
gations of the immediate representatives of the people, who are
no longer the great inquest, or the grand jurors, of the nation.
Such a course of assumed responsibility may shelter the delin
quents for a while, but woe be unto them when the renewed
determination of the people, thereby excited and awakened, to
hold them to a rigid accountability, shall lay their dark deeds
naked before the public gaze ! And may God speed that crisis !
is the ardent wish of one who knows enough to shake his faith
in all public men who are not themselves restrained by bolts and

100 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. fP^1 *•
bars and iron casings!! with the fear of the penitentiary before
their eyes ! ! !
Those narratives of political events in Mexico, and specula
tions upon them, with speculations and opinions upon the public
characters of that country, coming officially from every minister
and charge we have had there, the first of whom, Mr. Poinsett,
had set the example that provoked the peremptory demand of
that government for his recall, and nevertheless pertinaciously
followed up by his successors, taken, all together, demonstrated a
settled purpose in our diplomacy towards that country, to treat
her as an inferior, contemptible, imbecile community, unworthy
of the respectful consideration due to, and resulting from, the
equality and absolute independence of a sovereign state. When
ever those documents shall be laid before the public, I doubt not
they will be found fully to justify the accusations, which it has
pleased our secretary of state and president to mitigate with the
softened appellative of prejudices. This feeling towards Mexico
becoming manifest to her public authorities, as well as to her
people at large, from whom, on account of the immediate scene
of its operations, it could not be so easily concealed, as here, was
sufficiently calculated to produce all those difficulties, and yet
more, in our negociations so unjustly complained of, and disin
genuously represented by our ministers, secretaries of state, and
presidents. Nay, to show that the Jacksonian sentiment to
wards Mexico, as late as 1837, was in fact no better that that en
tertained towards our neighbouring savage Indian tribes, I will
here anticipate a brief extract from an 'Examination and review
of the pamphlet of M. E. Gorostiza,' by an officer in the depart
ment of state, under the authority and patronage ofthe secretary
of state, Mr. Forsyth, published in this city in 1837. In the first
page of that 'review' this officer or attache of the State Depart
ment, a Mr. Weaver, uses this insulting expression towards our
immediate neighbour and sister of Republic of Mexico, for whom -
the same authorities affect to speak through other channels with
such exuberant and overflowing affection: 'Without the boldness
of Genet, or the diplomatic skill of Don Louis, Don Manuel
Eduardo de Gorostiza, the extraordinary representative of a
de facto government, having failed in his ostensible object, of
diverting the American executive from the plain path prescribed
by humanity, and the defence of the frontier, has now made his
appeal to the world ! !' That protege and organ of the state
department makes a note upon the stigmatizing terms 'de facto
government,' &i\A says — 'In speaking of the government of Mexico
as a government de facto only, the observation is not made rela
tively to the acknowledgment of the independence of that country
by Spain, to whom they still stand, notwithstanding the acknow
ledgment by other countries, in the light of Rebels, but of the
ACTUAL POSITION OF THE EXISTING GOVERNMENT. To explain
the idea of the writer more fully,' &c. — 'Such is the government

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 101
de facto of Mexico, whose representative ventures to reflect in
no measured terms upon the majority of the electors of the people
of the United States. If the government of the United States did
not act upon this view of the case, it is apparent Mr. Gorostiza is
more indebted to the forbearance op the President than
his own proper conduct.' I shall make no comment upon this
anonymous yet authoritative spurning of the government of
Mexico. It is sufficient to say that she has borne with insult
upon injury, heaped upon her in measured quantity, because she
would not voluntarily dismember and sell her territory for a mess
of potage, for which she has been since threatened with reprisals,
invasion, and exterminating war, upon other issues then existing
but not made while there was a hope of inveigling her into the
self-humiliation of selling her domains, the more zealously and
indelicately pressed while she was in tribulation, and to which
proposition, nevertheless, she had always manifested the most
abhorrent aversion.*
*To which proposition nevertheless she (Mexico) had always mani
fested the most abhorrent aversion. — Presuming the reader has informed
himself of the facts contained in the foregoing copious note from Mr. Adams' speech,
I will here add another extract from the same speech, which will, in conjunction
with the first, fully possess him of the state of matters as they subsisted between
the two governments in relation particularly to Texas, at arid about the time of
General Jackson's commencing his memorable diplomacy towards our ill used
neighbour, viz.'
Saturday, July 7th, 1838 ; Mr. Adams said, — 'When the hour expired yester
day, I was adducing evidence to show that the conduct of the executive adminis
tration of this government towards 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. * * * * 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 Uke such a design. I entreated members ofthe House to read that document,
as containing demonstrative proof of the duplicity which I have charged upon that
administration. * * In that letter, among other arguments in favour of the cession
of Texas, is stated the fact that large numbers of 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 favour ofthe cession.
Now, it is a matter of notoriety that at that time there were large numbers of Ameri
can citizens, particularly from the Western States, engaged in that laudable occupa
tion. I believe that you sir, [Mr. Speaker Polk,] 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 specula
tors ; and, further, that they had great influence with the then head ofthe 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.
14

102 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
Viewing the foregoing facts in connection with the statements
of the honourable John Q,. Adams, which I have given ia
copious notes from his speech delivered at the close of the last
session of Congress, it only remains now to call the attention oi
1 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 negociations, 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. Theae
extravagant opinions are for the first time presented to the world by unknown writers;
and the labour 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 atten
tion of their fellow-citizens, not upon the justice of the proposition, but upon the advan
tages 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 tbe administration
and of the exercise of authority. When things have come to this pass, which is pre
cisely the present state qf things in Texas, the diplomatic management commences.
The inquietude they have excited in the territory in dispute, the interests of the colo*
nists 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 qf expression qf 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 as 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, qf some critical conjuncture to which
they suppose that the attention qf 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 con
vince 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 en
gaged in repelling the Spanish invasion, believing that our attention would, for a long
time, be thereby withdrawn from other things.'
To the above I will add a short extract of a letter from the honourable James K.
Pelk, then a member of Congress and now speaker ofthe House of Representatives,
addressed, by the request of one of his constituents, to "the then secretary of state,
Mr. Clay. That extract is here given merely to show some of the other uses for
which a resort to Texas was familiarly known in the west, at that early day,
and particularly in Tennessee, whose governor, (Samuel Houston,) had about the
same time abdicated the chief magistracy of the state, and abandoned his family, to
domiciliate himself among the Indians on the Texian borders, preparatory to an
invasion of that province hereafter to be developed. This and an abundance of other
evidence in the Congress document No. 351, go to confirm the statement of the
Mexican Secretary of State, above quoted from Mr. Adams' speech : —

Chap. HI.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 103
the reader to Mr. Van Buren's -further instructions, addressed to
Mr. Butler, of the 16th of October, 1829, in order to complete the
picture of duplicity practised towards Mexico by the executive
branch of our government, under the full knowledge and by the
commands of General Jackson, anterior to the date of his first
annual message of the 8th of December, 1829, quoted at the
beginning of this chapter. From this letter of the 16th of Octo
ber, written after the recall of Mr. Poinsett, and after the aban
donment of all hope of accomplishing the purchase of Texas, it
will be perceived how completely the tone, character and subject,
of the Jackson-Van Buren instructions were changed, theretofore,
chiefly confined to their fruitful arts of inveigling Mexico into the
degradation and disgrace of self-dismemberment, as the most
prominent object of negociation, but now clamorous with com
plaints, mixed up with alternate appeals to gratitude, and fulmi
nating threats of vengeance, about commercial injuries and
wrongs anteriorly existing, but which, as a great feat of double
diplomacy, had, pro tern, been laid on the shelf, or thrown into
the back ground as of minor consideration. It might be consi
dered as doing the parties injustice were I not to give the letter
entire. It is also in perfect accordance with my own ideas of
giving a full expose of the unbounded resources of a mind highly
gifted with cunning, and prone to a tortuous policy, to give that
letter at full length. A brother yankee might truly remark, upon
the tout ensemble of these specimens of diplomacy, that the cha
racteristic compound of Jackson- Van Buren ambition, avarice, and
cunning, was clearly determined to circumvent and cheat the
'unpractised' Mexicans out of the fairest portion of their paternal
domains, or in the event of failure in that object, to demand 'the
pound of flesh,' at the point of the bayonet ! ! I will now barely
point the attention of the reader to a fact, shown in the first
sentence, that there are 'personal instructions' in the matter, of
Accompaniment to ihe Instruction of Mb. Clay to Me. Poinsett, 21st April, 1828.
Washington Citv, April 1, 1828.
Sir: — I have the honour to present through you, to the President of the United
States, the accompanying documents, forwarded to me for that purpose, by Joseph B.
Porter, Esq. a respectable citizen of the state of Tennessee. He solicits the government
of the United States to aid him in having surrendered to justice the murderers named in
the enclosed judicial record, who have fled from the United States, and taken refuge in.
the province of Texas, within the Mexican dominions. The names of the murderers, as
will be seen by an inspection of the record^ are, Benjamin F. Harden, Benjamin W.
Harden, William Harden, and Augustine B. Harden. Swan Harden has been
taken, and is now in confinement in Tennessee.
'Mr. Porter, whose son was one ofthe unfortunate persons slain, and at whose instance
I make this application, employed an agent, during the last year, to go to the province of
Texas for the purpose of taking the offenders into custody, to the end that they might be
delivered over to the judicial tribunals of the state of Tennessee for trial. That agent
ascertained in what part of the province they had taken refuge, but was unable to take
them into custody, for the reasons assigned in the enclosed correspondence between him,
and the commandant ofthe military division in that part of the Mexican dominions.' * * *
I have the honour to be, very respectfully, your obedient and humble servant,
Hon. Henry Clay, JAMES K. POLK.
Secretary of State, Washington City.

104 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.'
which we know neither the purport, nor the contrary. It will
also be perceived, that though Mr. Van Buren and his dictator
had the one-sided advantage, in his 'recapitulation ofthe leading
circumstances in our intercourse with that nation,' of selecting
those that were most suitable to his own cause, and of imparting
a partisan colouring to them, which, with the exclusion of the
grievances of Mexico, to offset them, might place her in a bad
plight before a tribunal of arbitration; yet, he has sufficiently
involved himself in certain statements here, contradictory- to
those of his instructions and arguments of the 25th of August
preceding, for compassing the purchase of Texas, to make full
demonstration of the cloven foot. And in relation to his profes
sions of observing a strict neutrality and non-interference in the
affairs of other nations, so strenuously declared, it will be per
ceived, in a subsequent letter to Mr. Butler, of the 30th of the
November following, (and also here subjoined,) how entirely he
has himself required Mr. Butler to violate those sacred rules of
international conduct, by 'keeping a watchful eye over all the
movements of Mexico, regarding her projects towards another
power with which she was in a state of political and national hos
tility.' Grant that the projects alleged of Mexico against Cuba were
true, (which I doubt, though officiously so stated by Mr. Poin
sett, some time before, as another evidence of his decorous obser
vance of the rules of neutrality and non- interference,) and grant
also, that they were highly reprehensible in every moral point of
view — yet, in my humble apprehension, neither their truth, nor
their enormity would justify the American representative at the
Mexican court, to practise the espionage he was commanded to
do. (Unless, indeed, the United States might be considered by
Mr. Van Buren to have derived from the inflated hauteur of Gene
ral Jackson's mightiness, a constructive guardianship over Mexi
co, or an equally legitimate protection of Cuba !) I say, however
reprehensible was the project alleged, would not such instruc
tions be considexd just cause for a declaration of war, by England
or France? In fact, was it not a palpable departure from our
boasted policy of strict neutrality? — was it not at once putting
this magnanimous republic, whose policy is peace, in a state of
quasi war with Mexico, if indeed we have not actually been in
that equivocal relation towards that republic ever since our less
magnanimous or peaceful agents commenced the illiberal, the
hard-hearted policy of claiming too great favours from her in the
self-dismemberment of her territory to pay a debt of gratitude, so
niggardly claimed of her, for our early acknowledgment of her
independence ! — an independence at that rate, which our agents
were assuming to hold in duress, by the unnatural lien of menace
and threat!!! Well might Mexico consider such a debt of
gratitude more onerous than our favours were beneficial to her.

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 105
'Department op State, Washington, October 16, 1829.
Sir : — The President has conferred upon you the appointment of charge
d'affaires to represent the United States near the government of Mexico ; and
you will receive herewith your commission, full power, credentials, and per
sonal instructions.
This appointment has been made in the expectation of Mr. Poinsett's
return to the United States, and is altogether dependent upon his determina
tion on that point, according to which your commission will be delivered to
you or withheld by him.
The instructions given, from time to time, by the late administration of
this government to Mr. Poinsett, with such explanations as he will furnish,
together with the instructions recently sent from this Department, and with
which you have been made fully acquainted, will place you in possession of
all the information necessary to a prompt and faithful discharge of your
official duties.
From a full and deliberate review of the course which Mexico has allowed
herself to pursue towards us, the President is well satisfied that but little of
real advantage to the country can be expected from your labours until an
entire change be effected in the disposition of that Republic towards the
United States. He hopes that, by a plain and candid exposition of the
exceptionable character of their past conduct, the different departments of that
government may be led to wiser and better views as to the dispositions and
objects of this. It is, therefore, his wish that you should, in the first instance,
bring to their serious consideration the various acts and omissions by which the
United States have been aggrieved, and against which they have just cause
for remonstrance and complaint. Whilst it is his desire that, in the perfor
mance of that duty, you should avoid any thing like menace or defiance,
he nevertheless wishes to have nothing withheld which is necessary to a faith
ful presentation of the whole matter. He is deeply and painfully impressed
with the unfriendly and undeserved conduct of Mexico towards us, her neigh
bour and sister Republic ; and his only hopes for an improvement of our
present relations with her are founded on her being made duly and deeply
sensible of the injustice which, under the influence of bad counsel, she has
been induced to do her earliest and best friend.
The views and wishes of the President, both personal and official, are
directed to the success and permanent prosperity of the Republic of Mexico.
He asks at her hands nothing but justice, and would not accept from her any
advantage for the United States which would not be reciprocal ; entirely
satisfied, as he is, that in the prosperity and glory of the Republic of Mexico
the true interests of his own country would be better promoted than by her
depression and disgrace. He sees with regret the attempt of Spain to re
establish her dominion over her, and sincerely wishes Mexico a safe delive
rance from the attacks which are made and threatened upon her liberties.
This is not, therefore, the moment which he would have selected for remon
strance against the policy of Mexico towards this country, if the imperious
obligations of duty would allow of its postponement; but notorious facts, the
nature of which is too well understood to require explanation, leave him no
choice in the matter. Longer silence on his part might work injustice to the
United States, and prove injurious to Mexico.
A brief recapitulation of the leading circumstances in our intercourse with
that nation is sufficient to show that her conduct has not been of that open
and friendly character which it was our hope to find, as it had been our
endeavour to inspire, in the people of that country, by the liberal and mag
nanimous bearing ofthe government and people ofthe JJnUed States towards
them. From the earliest dawn of the Mexican revolution, the friendly disposition
of this whole nation began to manifest itself in a manner which could not
have escaped the notice of the Mexican people, which drew from the mother
country frequent animadversions upon our partiality towards her revolted

106 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
colonies, and was in no small degree productive of a coolness in our inter
course with her, highly prejudicial to the interests of our citizens. Yet the
United States, drawn by a community of views and feelings towards a young
nation, engaged as they once had been in a struggle of life and death for
independence and freedom, continued to sympathize wHth Mexico ; and
nothing but their immutable principles of non-interference in the domestic
concerns of other nations, and of inviolable neutrality towards belligerents,
prevented them from extending a helping hand to the young Republics of
America. So long as these principles required it, the United States remajned
inactive, though not unconcerned, spectators of the contest ; while many of
their citizens, voluntary exiles in the cause of American liberty, fought by
the side of their Mexican friends to expel from this continent the last rem
nants of colonial oppression. But, from the moment that, consistently with
their rule of conduct and the established principles of public law, they could
consider Mexico and Spain as two distinct nations, which fate had forever
separated, the United States pronounced the freedom of America ; and their
Congress, with a unanimity of which the history of legislation affords no
example, invited Mexico and her sister Republics to take their rank among
the independent nations of the earth. The influence whieh this important
event had upon the conduct of the European powers is too well known to
require elucidation. The example ofthe United States was followed almost
immediately ; and Mexico, a little more than one year after she had pro
claimed her independence, was represented at Washington by a minister
invested with all the prerogatives of the ambassador of a free state, and diplo
matic and commercial arrangements were soon after established between her
and the most influential powers of the old world. The time has been when
Mexico was not disposed to deny in how great a degree those proud and
auspicious results were justly attributable to the prudent yet bold and friendly.
policy of this government towards the new states of America. The people
of this country had a right to expect, in return for their magnanimous and
disinterested conduct, the manifestation, at least, of such a sentiment on the
part of the people of Mexico, which neighbouring states should cherish, as it
is their interest to cultivate and improve them.
Every step which has since that period been taken by the United States in
their advance to meet Mexico upon terms of mutual good will, has been
marked by a character of benevolence and disinterestedness whose object
could not be mistaken. A minister of the highest rank, and invested with
the most unlimited powers, was despatched to the metropolis of the Mexican
confederacy, provided with instructions whose every word breathes a spirit
of philanthropy and disinterested concern for the welfare, of Mexico, which
ought to have disarmed every feeling of jealousy and enmity, if, indeed, after
what had passed, it could have been imagined that any such were entertained
by the government or people of that country.
The United States, enlightened by their own experience, and actuated by
a sincere solicitude for the destinies of a new state, whose interests were in
so great a degree identified with their own, were anxious that Mexico should
follow their footsteps in the career of industry and commerce which has
brought them to their present high state. Their minister was, accordingly,
instructed forthwith to open a negociation for the conclusion of treaties and
conventions, intended to cement the bonds of peace and friendship which
were to unite the two Republics, and to establish the basis of their future
relations upon the most liberal principles of public law, and their commercial
intercourse upon those of the most perfect equality and reciprocity. The
ports of the United States were to be opened to the free access of the vessels
and productions of Mexico, and concessions, prompted by a desire to foster
and encourage her young marine, were to be liberally made. Every means
was tendered which would secure to Mexico, as far as her geographical
position would permit, an equal share in the advantages to be derived by an
intelligent and industrious people from an extensive maritime commerce*.

• Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 107
Not content with holding out to her a helping hand upon the ocean, the
United States had instructed their minister to enter into an arrangement with
the Mexican government to open a mutually advantageous inland commerce
between the conterminous states of the two confederacies — a measure whose
results, had not the benign views of this country been blighted by the perni
cious influence of narrow and ungenerous suspicions, would, besides, bringing
to light the immense sources of wealth now hidden in the boundless wilder
ness of the North American continent, and enriching the citizens who inhabit
the border settlements of the two nations, have been to repress the cruelties
and depredations upon the frontier settlers of the savage aborigines, whose
powerful hordes cannot now be reached by the comparatively weak arm of
Mexico, who ravage the establishments forming in her new territories, pre
vent the increase of her population, and check the spirit of enterprise, which,
if protected and fostered, would soon convert those immense deserts into
smiling and populous agricultural settlements. It is most obvious that this
measure, had it been promptly and efficiently prosecuted, would have been
of greater advantage to the citizens of Mexico, shut out as they are from
almost all communication with the sea-board, than to those of the United States,
who need no such expedients to find a market for the produce of their agricul
ture ot, industry.
While this government was thus endeavouring at home to promote the
true interests of the two countries, and to show by acts of the most unequi
vocal character its desire to lay the foundation of a close and lasting union
between them, the same friendly spirit was displaying itself abroad in their
diplomatic intercourse with the most powerful and influential among the
European nations.
Early in 1825, the minister of the United States at the court of the empe
ror of Russia, then standing at the head of a European alliance which
seemed to hold the scale that weighed the destinies of empires and states in
the old world, and exercised a powerful influence over those of America^
was instructed to use every effort to induce that monarch to take into his
serious consideration the then relative condition of Spain and her ancient
colonies, and to prevail upon the former to terminate a contest as unavailing
for her as it had proved wasteful of, blood and treasure to both parties.
Similar instructions were, at the same time, given to the diplomatic repre
sentatives of the United States,, at Paris and London ; and thus a simulta
neous effort was made, at the courts of the three greatest potentates of the
world, to bring the united weight of their influence to bear upon the councils
of the king of Spain, and to infuse into them a spirit more favourable to
the cause of exhausted America. This friendly interference on the part of
the United States was received in a spirit corresponding with that by which
the measure had been dictated; and this government has every reason to
believe that the three sovereigns to whom it was addressed were well
inclined to the great object in view, and in which this government was the
first to act* *******
*Here is an omission in the official document communicated to congress. I
know not the length or the purport of it. ITut it is obviously of such a character
as to bring it within the exemption, that 'it cannot be made known compatibly with
the public interest,' or, most probably, with the interest of the individuals impli
cated. The president is required by the constitution, 'to give to congress informa
tion, from time to time, of the state of the Union.' If at any time he does not in
fact give all the information that congress may suppose to be' in his possession, and
desire to know, shall his omission to give it in the first instance exonerate him from
complying with a call for that information ? Rather, does not this duty prescribed
to him by the constitution, imply the correlative right in congress to make a
peremptory call for any information not communicated ? And should they, as a
matter of courtesy, qualify their call for information 'not incompatible with the
public interest to be made known,' should he not communicate such information in
the form of secret message, that congress might dispose of it as they should think
proper ? A proper understanding is certainly desirable on this subject.

108 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
Far from our being discouraged by the failure of this expedient, and still
animated by a desire for the restoration of peace in America, it has, down to
the present period, been made a standing instruction to the ministers of the
United Stales at the court of his Catholic Majesty, to avail themselves of
every fit occasion to induce his government to give permanent tranquillity to
Spanish America by the recognition of its independence., and thereby to
confer a signal blessing on the civilized world, and on no part of it more than
Spain herself. -
The same just and liberal views have, throughout, been manifested by the
United States in their abortive* attempts to negociate wilh Mexico, and in the
alacrity and promptitude wilh which they have acted upon the different
treaties which have, from time to time, been negociated with the executive
branch of that government — treaties which have never come to their matu
rity, in consequence of the political perverseness and inattention of the
Mexican government.
Had these frank and friendly views and proceedings been met by a cor
responding disposition on the part of ihe people and government of Mexico,
the success of their revolutionary struggle would have been productive ofthe
happiest results, and the relations between the two countries would have been
free from that coldness, distrust, and reserve which have been witnessed, and
from that irritation which must necessarily grow out of existing circum
stances, unless obviated by a speedy and radical change.
But far otherwise has been the case. The government of Mexico received
first and open advances of the United States towards the establishment of a
commercial intercourse, mutually advantageous to both countries, with a
degree of indifference and suspicion as extraordinary as it was to be regret
ted. It had been expected that Mexico, whose political institutions had been
modelled upon those of the United States, would gladly embrace the first
opportunity of also co-operating with them in the establishment of the prin
ciples which form the basis of our cpmmercial code, to the superior excel
lence of which the principal commercial nations of the world had given
their unequivocal assent, lt therefore furnished mailer of surprise and regret
to find the first attempts of our adventurous citizens burdened by the impo
sition of exorbitant duties upon their importations into the Mexican ports.
This surprise was changed into mortification, when our proposals to enter
into negociation for the conclusion of a treaty of commerce were met, at the
threshold, by manifestations of indifference, indicative of any thing but a
reciprocation of the spirit in which they were made; and when our offers of
the liberal principles of perfect reciprocity and mutual abolition of all dis
criminating duties were answered by propositions of countervailing restric
tions, and of exclusive privileges to other American states, whose sole title
to them was a community of language. To these propositions it was impos
sible for the United States to agree : they were at war with the principles
which, from the first year of their existence a3 a nation, it had been their
•Abortive attempts to negociate. — Rendered abortive by being conn'nu-
ally connected, from the beginning, with the most strenuous efforts to persuade her,
to menace her, to hector her, into the measure of alienating the very domain, with
out which, it is stated in the foregoing paragraph but one, that Mexico 'is shut out
as it were, from almost all communication with the sea-board,' and to put an end to
all future pretensions of the United States to acquire that territory by purchase, made
ita sine quanon, to a commercial treaty, to incorporate in it a recognition of her
original territorial limits in that quarter. And it is obvious to any discerning and
candid mind, that notwithstanding all the outward air of promptness, sincere, no
doubt, in congress, with which this government seemed to act in the formalities of
ratifying a treaty, yet did the executive never relieve Mexico of her just apprehen
sions of being despoiled of this precious portion of her domains, except by denying
with the most unparalleled effrontery, the existence of what was fully known to all
the parties, and thereby conniving at its prosecution by our citizens, in violation ot
every principle of national honour and right of property in a sovereign state. .

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 109
unceasing endeavour to make the fundamental rule of their international
relations. Such conduct on the part of Mexico, from whatever cause origi
nating, whether dictated by a mistaken policy, an unfriendly spirit towards
the people of this Union, or an undue influence exercised over the councils
of the Mexican confederation by foreign nations unfriendly to the commer
cial prosperity of the United States, was calculated deeply to wound the
sensibility of our citizens, who felt that their liberal deportment towards their
neighbours gave them a claim, if not to their gratitude, at least to an equal
participation in the advantages to be derived from a mutual commerce. The
delays which attended this negociation were, also, a subject of regret and
mortification. From the first conferences to ihe 10th of July, 1826, a period
of twelve months was suffered to elapse before the Mexican plenipotentiaries
could be brought to agree to the conclusion of any arrangement; and when,
on that day, a treaty of commerce was sighed, it was found stinted in its
provisions by rules of a narrow policy, and so fraught with illiberal condi
tions, as to cause the rejection, by the senate ofthe United States, of several
of its articles. Still that body, unwilling longer to submit to a delay in tbe
conclusion of the negociation which had already been highly prejudicial to
the commerce of both countries, on the 25th of February, less than two
weeks after the treaty had been laid before them, gave their advice and con
sent to its ratification, under certain modifications ; which, as appeared from
subsequent events, they had reason to believe would have been agreed to by
the Mexican government. But this promptness and the rectitude of their
intentions were rendered unavailing by a spirit of procrastination, which,
with the best inclination to view it in a favourable light, cannot be ascribed
to any motives consistent with a friendly disposition towards the United
States. On reference to dates, it will be found that near two months were
suffered by the executive to elapse before the treaty was submitted to the
Mexican Chamber of Deputies, convened in extraordinary session, on the
15lh September, 1826, partly for the very purpose of deliberating upon the
ratification of treaties with foreign powers. We then find that, after lying
before that body until April following, the committee of foreign affairs made
an elaborate report upon it, objecting to some of its most liberal and just
stipulations, and recommending its ratification, clogged with conditions appa
rently inserted for no other purpose than that of retarding, or rather entirely
defeating, the final conclusion of the negotiation ; since, by the terms of the
treaty, the exchange ofthe ratifications was to take place within the space of
ten months from its date, of which only four weeks remained, at the date of
the report above referred to, for its final passage through both houses of the
Mexican congress, and for its transmission to Washington, where the
exchange was to be effected.
At the expiration of this term, tbe treaty still lay before the chamber of
deputies, where it had remained for nearly six months ; and these tedious and
unaccountable delays having caused a complete abortion of this first attempt
at negociation with the Mexican republic, it became necessary to consider the
whole' subject as at an end, and to begin anew upon the principles laid down
in the modification of the senate of the United States, which, at about that
time, were received at Mexico. These extraordinary proceedings would
have constituted just grounds of complaint against the Mexican government ;
but, after the friendly advances which had been made by the United States,
and the unaccommodating spirit in which they were received, it became the
dignity of our minister, and of the country he represented, silently to await
the indication of a return, on the part of Mexico, to sounder vieios of courtesy
and expediency, and for the advances which were then to be expected from
her government.
Unfavourable as were the impressions created by this unfriendly course,
the government of the United States was disposed to make some allowance
for the embarrassed situation in which that of Mexico had, at times, been
placed, in consequence of the unsettled state of affairs in that country, had
15

110 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part L
subsequent events been of a nature calculated to efface these impressions; but
on reviewing these events, it is gainful still to find them marked with the
same temporizing spirit, accompanied with unmeaning attempts at finding ,
excuses for delays, wliich, from whatever cause they proceeded, were highly
injurious to the interests of both countries, and to our view, can find no
ground of justification. It is true that some desire was manifested, on the
part of the executive of Mexico, that the negociations should be renewed;
but it was only alter a period, which, under various pretences, was extended
to eight months, that, on the 8lh January, 1828, the plenipotentiaries could
be brought together to confer anew upon that important subject; when their
further progress was arrested by a determination of the Mexican negotiators
not io advance a step before the conclusion of a treaty to define the boun
daries between the two countries. The minister of the United States,
unwilling to throw in the way ofthe negociations any difficulty which could
be avoided, acceded to the proposition of the Mexican plenipotentiaries ; and
the question of limits having been disposed of by the conclusion of a treaty .
signed for that purpose, on the 12th of January, the negotiations were conti
nued, and resulted in their finally agreeing on the 14th of February follow
ing, to a treaty of commerce and navigation, the exchange of whose ratifica
tions was to have been effected at Washington, within the term of six
months from its date.
This treaty was immediately transmitted to Washington, where it was
received on the 16th of April following, and forthwith submitted by the
president, to the consideration ofthe senate, who, on the 1st of May, advised
and consented to its ratification ; thereby authorizing the chief magistrate to
proclaim it as the supreme law ofthe land, as soon as it would have pleased
ihe government of Mexico, to complete this national compact by the final ;
exchange of the acts of ratification. The promptness with which the legis
lative and executive branches of the government of the United States acted
on this occasion, is painfully contrasted with the unaccountable tardiness of
Mexico, which, for the second'time, suffered the term to elapse within which
their ratification should have arrived at Washington, for the purpose of
being exchanged for that of the United States. It is yet, for aught we know,
before the Mexican congress ; but the expiration of the term stipulated for
its exchange has taken it out of the power of the executive of this govern
ment to effect it, without again submitting the treaty to the senate ; and the
United States are absolved from all engagements contracted in their name by
their plenipotentiary. The solemn compact has again been cancelled ; and
if, by the law of nations, blame is incurred by a state which refuses to sanc
tion the obligation which its authorized agent has contracted in its name,
that blame rests upon Mexico, by whose act this obligation has twice been
disregarded. With regard to the treaty of limits, which was intended to have defined
and settled the boundary line between the two republics, and which also
became the subject of negociation at IVJexico, the same contrast is exhibited
by the promptitude and alacrity with which the government of the United
States performed its part in the process of completing that instrument, and
the tardiness which characterized the proceedings of the Mexican govern
ment, and in consequeuce of which this treaty also was suffered to fall to
the ground.
Immediately upon the signature of that instrument, it was transmitted to
Washington, and received at the department of state, on the 16th of April,
following. It was forthwith submitted to the senate, who, by their resolution
of the 28th of the same month, advised and consented to its ratification
Mr. Obregon was on the 30th, informed of the fact, and of the readiness of
the secretary of state to proceed to its exchange ; but, in a note dated the 1st of
May, he stated, in reply, that he was without instructions on the subject.
The 12th of May, the day on which the term expired within which the rati
fications should have been exchanged, was suffered to pass ; and it was not

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. Ill
until the 2d of August following, that Mr. Obregon declared himself ready to
proceed to that exchange. It was then too late — the senate had adjourned;
and the president, not feeling at liberty to give his sanction to that instrument
without again submitting it to the senate, was obliged to suspend all further
proceeding until the ensuing session of congress, when it was anticipated
that the ratification by the Mexican congress of the treaty of commerce and
navigation, then lying before it, would allow of both being placed together
before the senate of the United States for their consideration.
It does not appear what were the motives which induced the then execu
tive to suffer the last session of Congress to pass without asking, for a second
lime, the approval by the Senate of the treaty of limits; but it is presumed
that abundant cause for this omission was found in the failure of the Mexi
can government to transmit to Washington the ratified copy ofthe commer
cial convention in time to be exchanged within the stipulated period ; and
this new instance of neglect is deemed a sufficient reason for this govern
ment to' hold itself absolved from all obligations founded upon past proceed
ings ; for considering as null and void all that may have been said or done
in the negociations referred to ; and for adopting such course, in future, as
may be deemed most compatible with the views and interests of the United
States. Suck is believed to be a true statement of the course pursued by the
government of Mexico towards the United States, from the first establishment
of the diplomatic relations between the two countries to the present period.
It would give the President sincere pleasure if he could call to mind a single
act of the Mexican government which would serve to relieve the unfriendly
aspect of its whole conduct. He deeply regrets that it is not in his power to
do so ; and yet does this statement furnish but an imperfect sketch of the
grounds of complaint on the part of the United States.
In the foregoing recapitulation of the circumstances which have attended
and thrown a very unfavourable light upon the character of our relations
with Mexico, my attention has been confined to the public acts of its fede
ral government. To that public organ alone are we lo look for explanation
and redress ofthe grievances complained of, as to the only authority that can
be held responsible to foreign nations for injuries arising from the acts ofthe
local authorities of Mexico. This government is not unaware of the disunion
which has prevailed in the councils of the Mexican confederation, nor of the
unsettled state of the country, which may be assigned as one of its causes ;
and would be disposed, in their spirit of partiality towards a neighbouring
state, to make proper allowances for these circumstances, if they could have
seen a suitable degree of sensibility upon ihe subject on the part of the
federal executive, and a reasonable exertion to relieve us from the burden
ef the odious prejudices which have fomented against this country.
Tbe feelings of the people of these slates have been deeply wounded by
the acts of several qf the state legislatures, directed against the person of our
minister, in open violation of the sacred rights of ambassadors, and of the
law of nations. The manifesto ofthe legislature ofthe state of Vera Cruz,
which, with that of the state of Puebla, was foremost in denouncing the
public accredited agent of a friendly power, is a document without example
in the history of legislation, or in the annals of diplomacy. It breathes a
spirit of enmity towards the United States, which, if it had proceeded from
some misguided faction, would have excited but little sensibility on their
part; but which, coming as it does, from the legal representative of a sove
reign state, and invested with the solemn sanction which the deliberations
of legislative bodies always impart to their public acts, bears on the face of
it, a character of nationality which only wants the seal of the federal sanc
tion, to be resented by this- government, as an insult to its honour and to the
majesty of a sovereign people, represented in ihe person of its accredited
public minister.
By recent intelligence from Mexico, this government is informed that

112 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Parti.
similar scenes have been enacted by other legislative bodies in the Mexican
confederation, which have attempted to dictate to the supreme executive
power, the expulsion of the minister of the United Stales; and one of which,
the legislature of Tlalpam, representing the people of the state of Mexico,
has thought fit to justify its conduct, by publishing to the world, a violent
attack upon the national character ofthe United -'States, and upon that (pub
lic and private) of their accredited agent. Apart from the attempt of ils
authors to encroach upon the province of the federal executive power, on a
subject which the fundamental law of Mexico, as of every other well regu
lated slate, has, with a sedulous care, committed to the exclusive charge of
the constitutional organ of diplomatic intercourse, the proceeding referred to,
is viewed by this government as a signal expression of the unprovoked
enmity of the legislature of that state. If it were possible lo suppose, that
it is the result of ignorance alone, compassion is the only feeling which it
could excite among the people of the United States ; but, even if other means
of information have been withheld from the legislators of Tlalpam, the past
friendly conduct of the United States, and their liberal and generous policy,
now known and admired by the whole world, are notorious facts, whose
existence cannot have escaped the notice of a body of men invested with the
character of lawgivers of a sovereign state, and should have protected us
against a misrepresentation of our acts and motives of so gross a character.
This government, therefore, unable to discover any ground on which this
hostile proceeding could found a shadow of justification, is, driven to the
unpleasant conclusion that it is the result of sinister intrigues, having for
their object to mislead the Mexican people, and to force the national govern
ment to acts of hostility against a neighbouring nation, friendly, but jealous
of its rights ; and which, strong as is its desire for peace, cannot allow itself
to be injured wilh impunitv
The government ofthe United States is fully aware that these are not the
acts of the federal government of Mexico, otherwise, it would long since,
have demanded and obtained satisfaction for these unprovoked wrongs. It
knows too well, the relations which exist between the people and their
state governments, and between these and the federal authority, to hold the
latter responsible for the acts of ihe former; but it thinks it incumbent on
that authority, whenever a false impression has gone abroad respecting the
dispositions of a nation with which it can have no other than friendly rela
tions, to do all in its power to check the evil by the communication of more
correct information as to the real intention and wishes of the nation thus
unjustifiably assailed.
The president has no disposition to question the sincerity of the friendly
sentiments which the present executive of the United Mexican States, pro
fesses to entertain for this nation. The greatest confidence is placed in tbe
purity of his principles, and in his desire to promote the prosperity of his
own country by a friendly intercourse with this. He cannot, however, re
frain from saying that there has been, even on his part, a failure in what
was due to the United States ; and his confidence in the principles of Presi
dent Guerrero induces him to bplieve, that upon a dispassionate review of
the whole subject, President Guerrero will himself be constrained to allow,
that such has been tbe case.
The avowed ground of all this impeachment of tbe view^ of the United
States, and of the prejudices against their representative at Mexico, is his
alleged interference with the domestic concerns qf thai country. This charge.
is either (rue or false. If the former, it is impossible that the federal govern
ment of Mexico could have been ignorant of the fact; and, bping informed,
it was a duty which it owed, as well to itself, as to tbe United States, to
have apprised this government of the conduct of an agent, who would, in
that event, have violated the known policy of the nation he represented, and
put its interests in jeopardy. Had that course been adopted, the United
States would have b^en in a situation to redress themselves, and preclude

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 113
further evils by their own act. But the fact of such an interference is most
solemnly and unequivocally denied by Mr. Poinsett ; and there is no evi
dence in the possession of this government to establish it. That of Mexico'
has given the most emphatic testimony of its total disbelief of the imputa
tion, by its silence upon the subject. Assuming the innocence of our minis
ter of the charge made against him in a manner so acrimonious, and in form
so imposing, the president submits it to the justice and mananiniity of Presi
dent Guerrero, whether he ought not to have shielded Mr. Poinsett in a more
effectual manner from.what, in that case, must be regarded as the most cruel
persecution; and whether a due regard to the friendly relations that existed
between the. two countries, did not make it his duty to arrest the current of
prejudice which was setting in against the United States on the part of large
portions of the people and state authorities of Mexico. The president cannot
hesitate as to the course which, under similar circumstances, would have
been suggested to him, as well by his personal feelings, as by his views of
official duty. A simple denial, by President Guerrero, of the truth of the
charges against Mr. Poinsett, in his official communications to the state
legislatures, would, it is believed, have been sufficient to effect every de
sirable object. Even this was not done. On the contrary — and it gives
the President pain to be obliged to say so — the records of the official cor
respondence between the federal government of Mexico and tbe American
minister, afford the lamentable and humiliating evidence that that govern
ment itself was not exempt from the influence of the general prejudice.
An invariable and strict neutrality between belligerents, and an entire absti
nence from all interference in the concerns of other nations, are cardinal
traits in the foreign policy of this government. The obligatory character of
this policy is regarded by its constituents with a degree of reverence and
submission, but little, if any thing, short of that which is entertained fot the
constitution itself. To enable it to preserve the one, we have penal laws,
which subject to the severest punishment, all attempts within the scope of
their authority, to aid or abet either party in a war prosecuted between
foreign nations with which the United States are at peace ; and it is made
a standing instruction to our ministers abroad, to observe the other with
scrupulous fidelity, lt is not within the knowledge of this government that
any attempts to enlist troops within the United States for the Spanish ser
vice, in the prosecution of its war with Mexico, have been made, or any
other act done, which would afford facilities to Spain, inconsistent with the
obligations' of friendly and neutral relations. Had any such attempts been
made, they would have been promptly and efficaciously suppressed. The
government of Spain knows too well, the disposition and policy of that of
the United States, in that respect, to authorize any such efforts. The whole
course and conduct of this country, have, without exception, consisted in
good wishes for Mexico, under the control of a strict and persevering neu
trality. The idea qf military invasion of the Mexican territory, has never
entered into the imagination of the United States, nor, il is believed, qf any
one of their citizens.* The territory of Mexico cannot be safer from
*The idea of an invasion of the Mexican Territory has never en
tered into the imagination of, &c. — For a flat contradiction of this state
ment, I refer the reader to an extract from a belligerent letter of General Gaines,
dated as lately as May 22d, 1837, addressed to the WarjDepartment, through the
Adjutant-general, which, taken in connection with the actual and authorized occu
pation of a military post within the Mexican territory some time past, and innume
rable other evidences to the same effect, all fully known to the Executive Depart- ,
ment of this government, sufficiently establish the recklessness of the above denial,
and amply justify Mexico, not in suspicions and jealousies merely, but even in that
extremity of resentment which 'ascertained' facts of such a character would inevi
tably sustain before the tribunal of the world. This pugnacious General concludes
his seven propositions of warlike preparation, thus :
7. 'If I am permitted to make an arrangement in accordance with the foregoing

114 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
invasion, except in case of open public war, forced upon the United Stales
by her persevering injustice, than, it is under the influence of those principles
of action which have invariably controlled this government in its intercourse
with foreign nations. Not a movement has been made qf the military forces
ofthe United States, looking to a possible necessity for the occupation of any
portion of the Mexican territory, or which was qf a character to impress that
belief upon any one. The republic of Mexico is represented near this govern
ment by its accredited agent, and possesses, therefore, the means of obtain
ing full and accurate information upon all these matters. It is difficult to
suppose, that it can have omitted to avail itself of that advantage ; and if it
has not, the representations of its charge d'affaires must have confirmed the
views I have taken.
It is, therefore, with surprise and mortification, that the president has seen
that the government of Mexico has suffered its confidence to be abused by
accounts ofthe enlistment of troops in New Orleans for the Spanish service;
ofthe movements and disciplining of the military forces of the United States,
with the design of invading Mexico ; and of other acts and things inconsis
tent with the relations between the two countries, and with the duties of the
United States as a neutral nation; that, under the influence of impressions
thus produced, the representative of the United States at Mexico, has been
called upon for explanations on topics so false and so absurd, and that, to fill
the measure of humiliation, growing out of his peculiar situation, his frank,
full, and true accounts have been doubted, and renewed calls made upon
him by the official organ of the Mexican government, as if the American
minister were cap/ible of evasion or misrepresentation upon the subject.
The president feels that the government of the United States has been
greatly scandalized by these imputations : and he deplores that in a matter
of so much delicacy and importance, and in which, the honour of this go
vernment is so deeply concerned, any portion of the Mexican government
could condescend to lend its ear to the calumnies of officious intermeddlers
and interested adventurers.
It has, in his judgment, become vitally important to the interests of. both
countries, that the government of Mexico should give to its course, in regard
to the United States, a character which will be calculated to correct the
unfounded impressions now prevalent among the Mexican people — a course
which would give some unequivocal evidence of the confidence which it
places in the rectitude of our intentions, in the integrity of our national
councils, Ihe liberality of our policy, and the friendly relations whieh animate
this people and the slates of this confederacy towards their neighbours.
It is with thai view, and the hope of promoting better feelings and securing
more amicable relations between the two countries, that he has directed me
to prepare this exposition of the past. It is neither his province, nor would
it be his wish, to point out the manner in which the accomplishment of a
result so desirable should be attempted. Whenever Mexico adopts a line of
conduct in her intercourse with the United States which will promote her own
interests, it will equally advance theirs. He neither asks, nor would
he receive, any thing from her of a different character. The commercial
treaty, as adopted by the senate of the United States, although not the best,
would, nevertheless, operate most favourably upon all the interests embraced
by its provisions. The government of Mexico would do much to redress
the past, and to remove well-founded discontents in this country, by its
suggestions, I feel confident that I can thereby obtain, and call to the frontier, ready
for an active campaign to the city of Mexico, from fifty to one hundred
thousand first-rate men, for the most part mounted, before the first day of October
next, the time they should march westward from the Sabine.' — [Con
gress documents, No. 351, page 821.]
This is not the first time that General Gaines has proposed to take the war-making
power out of the hands of Congress .

Chap. III.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 115
speedy ratification of that treaty, as it was agreed upon by its plenipoten
tiaries. The treaty of limits now rests with the president. In consequence
of the remissness on the part of Mexico in the transmission of its ratifi
cation to Washington, it has lost its obligatory character. The President
intends, nevertheless, to submit it to the senate, whenever he is enabled
to accompany it with the treaty of commerce and navigation, now remain
ing before the Congress of Mexico, and which they have so long and so
injuriously refused to act upon. But when he speaks of that treaty, and of
his intention to submit it to the senate with the treaty of limits, he refers
to it as containing the material provisions which were originally agreed to
by the executive authority of Mexico. He is unwilling to believe that the
government of that country, after what has passed, can be induced to think
it either just towards the United States, or respectful to itself, to send for
consideration a mere skeleton of that convention, with its most valuable stipu
lations expunged. It is not for him to say what the decision of the senate
of the United States, now free to act upon the whole subject, as shall best
comport with its views of the present interests of the country, would be, if
both treaties were presented in their original form. What the character of
this decision may be in the event of a refusal by the government of Mexico
to act upon the commercial treaty, or of a retrenchment of its most valuable
provisions, there cannot be much room for doubt or conjecture.
With respect to your future official correspondence with the government
of Mexico, and your intercourse, public and private, with the people and
their functionaries, the past strongly admonishes you to avoid giving any
pretext for a repetition against yourself of the imputations which have been
cast upon Mr. Poinsett, of having interfered in the domestic concerns or
politics, of the country; or even showing any partiality towards either of the
parties which now appear to divide the Mexican people. The manifestation
of such a preference, or of any connection, remote as it might be, with their
political associations, might again be construed into a wish to influence or
foment their party divisions. The President, therefore, expects you to
exercise the most sedulous care in guarding against similar imputations, and
wishes you to use your utmost endeavours in allaying the irritation which
seems to pervade a large portion of the people, and to do away the ground
less and unjust prejudices which have been excited against the government
of the United States. A social, open, and frank deportment towards men of
all classes and all parties; a proper degree of respect for their opinions,
whatever they may be ; a ready frankness in explaining the true policy of
your government, without attempting to obtrude your views where they are
not desired: and the most guarded care in condemning or censuring theirs,
are among the means which the President would suggest as most likely to
command the confidence of the people, and to secure for yourself a proper
standing in the opinion of their public functionaries.
Among the standing and most important duties of your mission, will be
that of protecting, by all the means which your official station may afford,
the interests of our citizens, trading, or in any way resoning, to the Mexican
States, and to secure their persons and property against all undue exactions,
or illegal exercise of power, on the part of the local authorities of Mexico.
During the continuance of the present contest between the Mexicans and
their invaders, it is not improbable that you may have frequent occasions to
interpose your influence through the regular channel of diplomatic corres
pondence between the defenceless citizen ofthe United States and the unjust
exercise of authority too often growing out of a state of war. If such cases
should present themselves for your official interference, you will forthwith
make the proper representations to the Mexican government, and demand
instant reparation of every act of injustice, or the proper measure of indem
nity wherever loss of property shall have been actually incurred.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
Anthony Butler, Esq. M. VAN BUREN.'
Charge d'affaires of the United States lo Mexico.'

116 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
'Department of State, Washington, November 30, 1829.
Sir:— This government has been informed, in a manner to leave little
or no doubt of the fact, that the government of the United Mexican States
had resolved to send a secret mission to Hayti, in order to concert measures
with Boyer, to excite the slaves in the island of Cuba to revolt.
It is difficult to conceive a project that is fraught with so much mischief
and wickedness, as one to excite a servile war in any community whatever;
but, in the present case; the proposed plan on the part of the Mexican govern
ment to excite a war 'of that description in the island of Cuba, camiot but be
viewed by all the civilized world, with peculiar execration and horror.
Although the people of that island, and those qf the Mexican States, are
placed by circumstances, at the present time, in a state of political and na
tional hostility against each other, yet the recollection of former associations
of friendship or interest, which must have existed between many of them,
the common origin of all, and the particular ties of consanguinity which still
more closely unite individuals of the two communities together, would be
cruelly and wantonly outraged by this unnatural measure on the part of
Mexico, and could not fail, on that account, to aggravate the individual and
extensive evils involved in it. Against these last, it becomes the duty of
this government to take all necessary precautions, not only to guard the
peaceful and prosperous settlements of the United States upon their southern
and south-western borders, but, in several of the old states of this Union,
against the introduction into them, of the baneful spirit designed to be intro
duced and propagated in the island of Cuba ; but, from a principle, likewise,
of international humanity and polity, to oppose the first attempt to excite it
in that island itself; and there can be but little doubt, that all the nations of
Europe, holding colonies in ihis hemisphere, would make it a common cause
to counteract the plan in all its parts.
It is the wish of the President, therefore, that you should keep a watchful
eye over all the movements of the Mexican government regarding the project
referred to; that, to this end, and for the information of your own govern
ment, you should collect all the details in your power upon the subject, and
oppose the strongest remonstrances that you can against it, in your official
intercourse with the agents of that government, if you should find that they
persist in it. If these should not be effectual, and you discover that that
government is not to be turned from its purpose, it is the wish of the presi
dent that, in that case, you should furnish this department with the earliest
information of that fact, that the government of the United Stales may haye
it in its power to adopt such measures as it may deem proper and neces
sary to avert ihe apprehended evils.
I send you a copy of Mr. Poinsett's letter upon which our information'
is founded. Perhaps other and belter counsels may have prevailed with the
Mexican government since that letter was written, which is supposed to
have been at a moment of great excitement at Mexico, produced by the late
Spanish invasion. You will, of course, be able to ascertain this, and take
your measures accordingly.
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
Anthony Butler, Esq. M. VAN BUREN.'
Charge d'affaires of ihe U. S. to Mexico.'
Certainly more need not be added here, however abundant the
corroborating facts, to demonstrate the deficit of sincerity mani
fest in the extract from General Jackson's first message to Con
gress, introduced at the beginning of this chapter, in which he
declares the conduct of Mr. Poinsett to have been the only obsta
cle to harmonious intercourse with Mexico; whose recall, at the
peremptory demand of that government, General Jackson affected

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. H7
to consider as presaging the most perfect reconcilement of her
grievances, in these words — 'And having thus removed the only
alleged obstacle to harmonious intercourse, I cannot but hope
that an advantageous change will occur in our affairs,'— unless,
indeed, the obscuration of the artful, sinister, and unobserved
import of the words 'only alleged obstacle,' be meant to cover the
other (unto the initiated,) well-known grievances then existing,
and abundantly shown in this chapter. Yet did General Jack
son follow up this disingenuousness, with a still more hardened
and flagrant face of dissimulation in his second annual message,
at the next session of our national legislature !!

CHAPTER IV.
Of the conspiracy of General Houston to dismember the Mexican dominions,
and the connivance of President Jackson to give it effect.
Having given a sufficient sketch in the foregoing chapter, of
the state of our intercourse with Mexico, both at the commence
ment of General Jackson's administration, and during the first
year of his diplomacy — I propose here to resume the subject from
that period, according to the report he made of it to Congress in
his second annual message, of the 7th of December, 1830. For
that purpose, I" will now extract from that message, by way of
refreshing the memory of some, and of affording information to
those who have never seen it, all that it contains upon our Mexi
can relations. These are his concise and flattering passages,
viz: —
'I am particularly gratified in being able to state that a decidedly favoura
ble, and as I hope, lasting change has been effected in our relations with the
neighbouring republic of Mexico. The unfortunate and unfounded suspicions
in regard to our disposition, which it became my painful duty to advert lo
on a former occasion, have been, I believe, entirely removed; and the
government of Mexico has been made lo understand the real character of the
wishes and views of this in regard to that countiy. The consequence is, the
establishment of friendship and mutual confidence.' Such are the assurances
I have received, and I see no cause to doubt their sincerity.
'I had reason to expect the conclusion of a commercial treaty with Mexico
in season for communication on the present occasion. Circumstances which
are not explained, but which I am persuaded are, not the result of an indis
position, on her part to enter into it, have produced the delay.
There was reason to fear,dn the course of last summer, that the harmony
of our relations might be disturbed by the acts of certain claimants, under
Mexican grants of territory which had hitherto been under our jurisdiction.
The co-operation of the representative of Mexico near this government, was
asked on ihe occasion, and was readily afforded. Instruction and advice
have been given to the governor of Arkansas, and the officers in command in
the adjoining Mexican state, by which it is hoped the quiet of that frontier
16

118 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part L
will be preserved, until a final settlement of the dividing line shall have
removed all grounds of controversy.'
I would now ask, if there be an 'unpractised man' in this
whole union or in the world, who would suppose it possible that
at the very moment and for some days before the date of this
message, General Jackson, had in his possession the information
contained in the following letter, first verbally given in the
latter part of the month of November, and a few days after by
his particular desire, stated in writing ? Would any one believe
that General Houston had been on a visit at Washington during
the greater part of the previous session of Congress, to which
General Jackson's first annual message was addressed? Would
it be supposed that General Houston was in continual, close,
friendly, confidential intercourse with General Jackson during
that visit? That General Houston was General Jackson's boasted
military pupil ; had formerly been elected governor of Tennessee
mainly by General Jackson's influence ; that he had subsequently,
in 1827 or '28, abdicated the government of Tennessee, and
abandoned his family, to domiciliate himself among the Indians
on the borders of Texas and Arkansas ; and that in the winter of
1829 — '30, during the first session of Congress, under General
Jackson's administration, he repaired hither, as above mentioned;
in Indian costume, and hence to New York, to mature plans of
a conspiracy against this same 'neighbouring republic,' to make
his arrangements to that effect, and negociate for funds on
Texian land securities or scrip, for the purpose of making con
quest of that province? Yet these things were true, and were
known to General Jackson/ anterior to the date of the message
above quoted. But this is not all. What is still more shocking
to every principle that should govern the heart of a sincere, just,
and upright man, it is highly probable judging as I feel warrant
ed to do, from the declarations of many of the same choice spirits
who participated in, or were advocates and apologists of that con
spiracy, that the whole Mexican confederacy was already regard
ed as the victim in prospective of this piratic enterprise. Yes; I
freely say, that the documentary and oral testimony that has
come to my knowledge has firmly impressed my mind with the
conviction that all Mexico has been long since compassed, in
imagination and ardent desire, by the grasping enterprise of
certain piratic American citizens ; and that too under the conni
vance of Andrew Jackson, while he was professing equivocal
good will towards that infant republic ; and in all probability as
a continuance of the original conspiracy of Aaron Burr, in the
plans of which it will hereafter appear he was an effective par
ticipant. For the present, take the following letter:

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 119
[Original letter addressed to the President, in 1830, and returned in 1836.]

ai'

c A

ef

4F*

I J

k i

m ri

op

qt

'To General Andrew Jackson,
''President of the United States :
•The. enclosed is the scheme of a Secret Alphabet in the hand-writing of a
Mr. Hunter, which came into my possession in the manner hereinafter
mentioned, and which I confide to your excellency, together with the fol
lowing statement of facts, to be used in any way your excellency may deem
proper. Written out, the Alphabet stands thus :
abode f g h i j k I m n o p q r
jjuuLLD^DQCizmnnrr

It V ID X

VV»<</\/\

'In making the following statement, it seems to me desirable, with a view
to brevity, without impairing or obscuring the facts, to avoid that circumlo
cution which a minute detail of contingent and immaterial circumstances
would involve.
'Some time in the month of February last, as nearly as I can recollect,
certainly very shortly after General Samuel Houston arrived in this city, I
was introduced to him at Brown's hotel, where both of us had taken lodg
ings. Our rooms were on the same floor and convenient for social, inter
course; 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 aban
doning his family and abdicating the government of Tennessee, readily be
came 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 depre
cated the injurious impression it had made upon a considerable portion of the
public mind, disparaging the sanity of his intellect, or rectitude of his moral
character. Judging favourably, no doubt, of the progress of our acquain
tance, and the prepossessing impression it had made on me in relation to the
salubrity and general competency of his intelligence, with rectitude of im
pulses, he complained of the inadequate defence volunteered in his behalf
by the editor of the Richmond Enquirer,* and solicited me to write commu
nications for the columns of that papery and use my friendly interest with
the editor for their publication. I promised to make a sketch of something
anonymous respecting my favourable impressions, and show it to him.
But before I had time or full pliancy of mind to digest any thoughts upon
thf subject, our frequent interviews, and his confidence in my serving his
ends, doubtless, induced him to avow to me more particularly, the ground
"Editor of the Richmond Enquirer. — By what means, and how early, Mr.
Ritchie afterwards became interested in the invasion of Texas, I am not minutely
informed; but it is now notorious, that a member of his immediate family has, for
several years, been interested in Texas land scrip, exceeding one hundred thou
sand dollars, enough in some cases, to bias the influence of the press.

120 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
of his solicitude to have his character and mental competency elevated, be
fore the public. He descanted on the immense fields 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 enthusi
asm were at least entertaining. Accordingly, he went on to develope 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 dis
closures. 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 set
tling among them, in the neighbourhood 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 inde
pendent 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 facilitate 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 expe
dition, and recommended me in the meantime, to remove along with him'
and practise physic among the Indians in the Territory.
'As the matter began to assume the shape of a close and substantial pror.
position, I felt myself under the necessity to be decisive, which put an end
to the further detail of his plans. I declined the overtures for my participa
tion ; and farther told him, by way of exonerating myself from the promise
to make communications to the Enquirer, without exciting his apprehen
sions of my active hostility to his views, that it would be very impolitic to
attract the public attention toward himself in that general and indiscrimi
nate manner, that it would surely invite inquiry from some quarter, about
the motives of such communications ; which would probably issue in fer
reting out his whole scheme. After this, our interviews fell into neglect —
our intercourse consisted only of salutations of civility — he sought not my
company, and as a matter of prudence I rather avoided his.
'In the early part of our intercourse, Gen'l Houston informed me that he
had volunteered to assure the president, that he had no desire for an appoint
ment of any sort under his administration — that he believed the president
would give him almost any thing he would request — but that he took into
consideration, the prejudice with which an appointment conferred on him
might be regarded by the public subsisting the circumstances and causes of
his exile. Yet I have understood from indisputable authority, that Gen'l
Houston did apply for and solicit the appointment to furnish provisions, &c.
for the Indians, &c. at the charge ofthe United Slates in that quarter, which
was denied him — but whether' that wish has not been, as to his views, suf
ficiently substituted by the successful application of a most intimate friend
of his, Gen'l Van Forsen, lately of New York, is a problem perhaps not
unworthy of inquiry. In the month of March, Gen'l Houston visited Balti
more, Philadelphia and New York, and did intend io have gone as far as
Boston, as he informed me, under such circumstances as made the inference
of his business a matter hardly to be doubted.
'Some time in the month of June, shortly after the adjournment of Con
gress (or possibly in May, a short time before adjournment) having returned

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 121
to Richmond, I met with a young gentleman in that place by the name of
Murray, from Tennessee, on his return home through the southern states. I
had become acquainted with him, in this city, early, in the. winter. He had
also told me thai he wanted no employment from the government, but was
travelling rather for his personal gratification. A considerable portion ofthe
winter he had passed in a town to the north. When I called on him in
Richmond, I made an oblique turn of conversation, upon the mysterious
conduct of General Houston ; and expressed a surmise, that he must have
some very deep views in exiling himself from the civilized world, to settle
among the Indians. This, Mr. Murray readily confirmed, apparently, as if
he thought it a perfectly innocent and legitimate matter, or, as a thing of
common rumour, and of no concern to him — by remarking, that the general
was organizing an expedition to take possession of Texas. Upon my asking
him how he knew that, he replied, 'that it was a good deal spoken of at
Washington.' I did not press the subject sufficiently to satisfy my mind
' whether it was by common rumour, or among recruits only, that Mr. Murray
meant it was spoken -of, as Mr. M's movements indicated to me, some agency
in the business ; and too much curiosity on my part, after having declined
cti-operation, with which he might already be, or might become acquainted,
would possibly excite alarm, and induce the parties to re-model their plan
with greater secrecy and security.
'Shortly after my return to this city, a few weeks ago, a Mr. Hunter, lately
dismissed from West Point, came to take lodgings in the house where I
boarded. He presently discovered himself to be very indiscreet, and boastful
of himself, whether in relation to advantages real or imaginary. On a visit
to my apartment, being in pecuniary embarrassments, and unable to redeem
his baggage from the house he last boarded, at, he fell to boasting of the funds
he was daily expecting by ihe mail, of his father's present riches, and still
greater wealth before his misfortunes, and of his own possessions, indepen
dent of his father, whereof he had already spent five thousand dollars in
enjoying life. But, says he, all that is nothing to the unbounded prbspects I
have of wealth.in the future. Indeed ! said I, how is it that you can engender
wealth to repair your extravagance, with such factlity 1 Ah, says he, that is
a secret. I will lay my life said I, it is a scheme upon Texas. He, hesita
tingly, said yes, something like it. And said I, General Houston is the pro
jector and, conductor of the enterprise ? At this, he was so impressed with
the conviction that I knew all about the plan, and was one of the recruits,
that he declared it to be his belief, and asked me some questions to that
effect. I declined answering, remarking that I did not believe he knew any
thing about it, and should tell him nothing. Upon this issue, to vindicate his
knowledge and alleged fraternity, he set in to tell me every thing.
'Says he, there is your name, writing my name on the table in cipher,
where it yet stands unobliterated. I was still incredulous. He asked for
pen, ink, and paper, and wrote the scheme here enclosed, and then wrote my
name at the bottom.
'That he was a bona fide agent of the recruiting service for this district;
and that there were agencies established in all the principal towns, and
various parts of the United States; and that this conventional alphabet was
the channel of correspondence. That several thousands had already enlisted,
along the sea-board, from New England to Georgia, inclusive. That each
man paid thirty dollars to the common fund, and took an oath of secrecy and
good faith to the cause, on joining the party. That they were to repair, in
their individual capacities, as travellers, to different points on the banks of the
Mississippi, where they had already chartered steamboats, on which to
embark, and thence ply to their rendezvous, somewhere in the territory of
Arkansas, or Texas, convenient for action, (the plan not specified to me).
That it was contemplated to supersede General Houston in the civil govern
ment, when the military operations were over, and that they meant to estab
lish an independent government, and resist any attempt of the United States
to wrest so valuable a prize from them.

122 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Parti.
'He finally appealed to me again, with some concern, to say if I were not
one of the party. I observed, that I should tell him nothing about it, and
changed the subject to some levity, and afterwards avoided his further
importunities, &c. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
'Washington City, D. C. Dec. 2, 1830. R. Mato.'
This letter shows the pure casualty by which I have been
made the humble instrument of exposing this whole series of
tortuous diplomacy, double dealing, and piratical depravity*
which, but for that casualty, would never have been fully under
stood except by the principal confederates, plotters, and conduc
tors of the wicked and inhuman enterprise, involving the lives
of thousands of our deluded fellow-citizens, and setting a malig
nant example to our citizens on the opposite frontier of our
northern neighbour.
What disposition General Jackson made of that letter, I knew
not, for nearly six years after its date. It was written, as I have
said, by General Jackson's particular request, a few weeks after
my arrival in Washington, in the fall of 1830. Having, in the
latter part of November, stated verbally to him, the matters
therein mentioned, he did not appear to me to take that interest
in the subject which I supposed he would, or which I judged it
to merit. However, in a day or two thereafter, he sent his mes
senger to me at my lodgings, to request my presence as soon as
* Piratical Depravity. — It will be proper here, in order to throw some addi- :
tional light upon this case, to make a few extracts, that go to expound the right of
expatriation; the relinquishing one's domicil in one country and acquiring domicil in
another, with hostile or peaceable intent ; and what constitutes piracy. It has been
questioned by learned jurists — ¦
'Whether a citizen of the United States can divest himself absolutely of that charac
ter, otherwise than in such a manner as may be prescribed by law ? And, whether
by becoming the subject of a foreign power, he is rescued from punishment for a
crime against the United States ? and is disabled to hold lands ? — [See the right and
mode of— discussed— 3 Dallas, p. 133-169, Sup. Court, 1795 : and 7 Wheaton, 347.
'Supposing such a right [of expatriation] to exist, it cannot be exercised without
a bona fide change of domicil, and can never be asserted as a cover for fraud, or to
justify a crime against the country, or any violation of its laws. — [7 Wheaton, 378.
'An American citizen residing in a foreign country may acquire the commercial '
privileges attached to his domicil — and by making himself the subject of a foreign
power, he places himself out ofthe protection ofthe United States, while within the '
territory of a sovereign to whom he has sworn allegiance. — [2 Cranch, 64, Sup.
Court, 1804.
General Piracy, and Piracy by statute. — 'The right of every nation to
punish, is, in its nature, limited to offences against the nation inflicting the punishment. ...
It comprehends every possible violation of its laws on its own territory, and extends
to violations committed elsewhere by persons it has a right to bind. It extends
aho to general piracy. A pirate under the laws of nations, is an enemy of the
human race. Being the enemy of all, he is liable to be punished by all; any act
which denotes this universal hostility is an act of piracy. Not only actual robbery,
therefore, but cruising the high seas without commission, and with intent to rob, is
piracy. This is an offence against all and every nation, and is, therefore, alike
punishable by all. But an offence, which, in its nature affects only a particular nation,
-is only punishable by that nation. It is by confounding general piracy, with piracy by
statute, that indistinct ideas have been produced respecting the power to punish
offences on the high seas. A statute may make any offence piracy committed within
the jurisdiction ofthe nation passing the statute, and such offence will be pnnishable
by that nation. — [5 Wlieaton, appendix, page 7.

Ehap. IV.l JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 123
'possible. I attended without delay, and was somewhat sur
prised, as well as gratified, to receive a special request, that I
would state to him in writing, (as I understood for the use or
information of the secretary of state) the facts and circumstances
I had verbally communicated to him. This, by comparing
dates, it will be perceived, was several days before that of his
message above quoted. I certainly did expect, from the new or
increased interest he seemed to take in the subject, to hear some
thing of it either in his message, by a proclamation, or other
wise — possibly, that further efforts would be made to ascertain
by more extended testimony, whether by examination of the
witnesses I had spoken of. or the adoption of other suitable
measures, which I supposed could not fail to be made public, if
the enterprise should be ascertained to be in progress. But
hearing nothing whatever from the executive on the subject, I
hardly spent another thought in relation to it, until three or four
years thereafter, when open disturbances in Texas and notes of
military preparation in several of the western states looking in
that direction began to attract public notice, I again thought it
probable we should hear from the paternal authority of the presi
dent in strains of salutary admonition against the threatened
violation of our neutral and amicable relations with Mexico by
citizens of the United States. But my unfeigned astonishment
at his continued silence was afterwards still increased by per
ceiving in the correspondence between the Mexican minister and
our government upon those disturbances and the simultaneous
hostile movements of our citizens, that the secretary of state dis
claimed all knowledge of any designs of citizens of the United
States inimical or unfriendly to Mexico. And yet, late in the
fall of 1836, it was providentially decreed that this whole subject
should wear a new aspect in my view, whatever others might
think of it ; aye, and a thousand degrees worse heinous than
the culpable omission to notice it in the official manner impe
riously called for by the nature of the case in the first instance,
or afterwards. General Jackson's administration being then
approximating to a close, he had commenced disposing of his
immense mass of papers (perhaps not those embraced in his
technicality of 'executive archives') when several packages of
my communications were at different times returned to me by the
hands of his messenger, who informed me that the President
had ordered most of his papers to be burnt. Many others that I
had communicated to the President were yet retained, much to
my regret. The last package that I received, contained my ori
ginal letter of December 2, 1830, as inserted above, in the same
envelope in which I had addressed it to him, with his endorse
ment upon it, accompanied with a copy or the original of his
letter to Mr. Fulton, in his own hand- writing, which is here
subjoined, also endorsed by him, as they appear in the herewith
accompanying fac-simile. At the sight of that letter, and still

124 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part L
more at the perusal of it, was I struck with petrifying amaze
ment. I was for some time confounded at the inconsistencies,
the contradictions, and the falsifications which the concatenated
circumstances now involved, though, in their detached view
before, they had made no very deep impression on me. I have
said upon another occasion, that 'isolated facts lead to no impor
tant results, either in the speculative or philosophical sciences;
that they rarely awaken the mind to trains of elaborate thought
and research, tending to useful discoveries : How obvious,
then, is it that to begin to entertain the first surmise of a doubt
upon any subject to which we have already given our preposses
sions, requires something mote than the casual observation of
isolated facts or occurrences ? Upon the subjects I have pro
posed to treat, above all others, it is incumbent on the true
statesman to take up his political telescope, and draw all the
lights of pertinent facts from the boundless expanse of time and ,
space, into one concentrated focus, in order to see and note their
bearings, and to profit by the wholesome inductions they would
teach.' Yes, my confidence in General Jackson, at the time the
foregoing letter was written, and for years after, was too strong
for me to begin to doubt his near approximation to infallibility,
even from the repeated circumstances that had already transpired,
calculated to shake the faith of most men. I found myselfj
however, at last unable longer to resist the torrent of their- accu
mulated force, when that same letter, and the one to Mr. Pulton,
based upon it, and written but a few days after it, came together
into my hands in the same envelope, by General Jackson's messen
ger, six years after their date ; and when the repeated official pro
testations of executive ignorance on the subject of hostile inter
ference of citizens ofthe United States, in the affairs of Mexico,
after such interference had nevertheless become notorious to the
world through various other channels ; impressed a total revolu
tion in my mind upon the whole career of General Jackson's
tortuous life, and not only resolved nie never to see him more,
but, as soon as the two branches of the national legislature
should be disenthralled from his complete control, that I would
lay the entire affair before the public, together with my other
observations during eight years residence in Washington. It is
much to be regretted that I should have found myself under the
necessity of doling out tliese statements in piece-meal, as I have
for the last twelve months. But if their due estimate has suffered
by these detached expositions, it is to be hoped they will regain
their united strength yet, in time to serve as a useful lesson to
posterity. Here is the original letter addressed by the President, to Mr.
Fulton, based upon the foregoing, filed away with it in the same
envelope, (after sending a copy 1 suppose,) and, six years after
wards, handed to me by the President's messenger, in the same
envelope with the preceding letter. I have distinguished seve-

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 125
rai of its statements by italics, for comment. A faithful fac
simile of that letter, is also here given, with General Jackson's
endorsements upon it, and upon the envelope.
('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 communicated 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 move
ments have been made, nor have any facts been established, which would
require or would justify ihe adoption of official proceedings against indi
viduals 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 honour of the country might be compromised by it, as to make me
anxious to do every thing shbrt 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 lo repair, as travellers, to diffe
rent 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 things, and keep me truly and constantly advised of any move
ments which may serve to justify the suspicions which are entertained, than
yourself, and I know I can rely with confidence on your fidelity and activity.
To secure your exertions in that regard, is the object of this letter, and it is
because I wish it to be considered rather as a private than an1 official act,
that it is addressed to you instead of the governor, (who is understood to be
now in Kentucky.)
'The course to be pursued to effect the object in view must of necessity be
left to your discretion, enjoining only that the utmost secrecy be observed on
your part. If, in the performance ofthe duty required of you, any expenses
are necessarily incurred by you, I will see they are refunded.
'I am, respectfully, yours, ANDREW JACKSON.
'Wm. Pulton, Esq.'
The first circumstance which strikes me as worthy of note in
the above letter, is, that it was written but three days after the
date ofthe president's message, the statements of which contrast
so glaringly with each other. The next is, an avowal, that
besides the circumstances communicated to him, others had fallen
under his own observation. And yet, after denouncing in the
strongest terms his detestation of the criminal steps alluded to,
and his apprehension of the extent to which the peace and
honour of the country might be compromitted by it, he so com
pletely puts aside and sets the whole at naught, as to disclaim
the existence of the necessary facts to lay the foundation of fur
ther measures; alleging too, his anxiety to do every thing to
elicit the truth, but did nothing more than write a confidential
17

126 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
letter to one who was not even one of the proper organs in such
cases, and yet tied him up in such restrictions and positive in
junctions of secrecy, that it would have been impossible for him to-
make satisfactory explorations, even were he a proper officer for
the occasion, and his sphere of action correspondent with the
scenes of preparation, alleged to exist through the whole west.
But General Jackson was not insensible of the flagrant impro
priety of calling on a secretary of a territory, instead of the-
governors, the district attorneys, marshals, and principal officers
at the military posts throughout the west. He let slip a slight
evidence of his consciousness of its impropriety, by pleading in
excuse, that the governor of Arkansas was 'understood to be then
in Kentucky,' when in fact he was then at his post in Arkansas,
as I have been since informed by the very best authority. The
trepidation of General Jackson's mind on this occasion, was
indicated in a manner, however, very unusual to him, by the-
erasures and blunders in his endorsements, in which he styles
Mr. Fulton, the Secretary of Florida,* and orders that another
letter be written to the Secretary of Arkansas — all of which
struck my mind as indicative of something deeper than igno
rance or defect of judgment.
But the editor of the official newspaper^(officiously so called
without the authority of law or the constitution) has pretended* ,
that this 'strictly confidential letter' to Mr. Fulton was all that'
was called for by the testimony before the president at the time.f .
* He styles Mr. Fulton the Secretary of Florida.— A query has just
occurred to my mind, which may possibly be esteemed worthy of an answer else*
where — whether the governor of Florida Was also in Kentucky as an excuse why
the president should write to the secretary of that territory likewise instead of the
governor? or was such a letter actually sent to the secretary of Florida? in fine, was^
that also directed contrary-wise, and with the same confusion as was the endorsement
of that purporting to have been intended for Mr. Fulton ?
| The testimony before the President at the time.— No man will under
take to reconcile the pretence that the letter in question, disregarding all other cor
roborating evidence, was insufficient to justify further measures, with the energetic'
action of the president several years afterwards upon a vague rumour that the Indians
of JRed river were likely to be excited by Mexicans to attack the Te'xians. Upon so
slight a testimony as this, General Jackson caused the most vigorous measures to be
taken, though the statement was false : and if it had been true, he had no right to
interfere. The Indian tribes have always been treated with the outward forms at
least, that apply to the rights of sovereignty. We send embassies or commissioners
to them, enter into treaties with them, negociate for, and exchange territory with
them. They may carry on war with one another, or with other powers, without
involving our neutrality : and for us officiously to step in, or interpose on the one
side or the other, is a violation of the rights of belligerents. Yet, Geneial Jacksbn„
who is a privileged man when ever he chooses to take the responsibility, did inter
fere. The following are the documents in that case, viz: —
'Wear Crow's Ferry, Lou. March 11, 1836.
'Dear Sir : The undersigned being personally knownto you, takes this hurried
opportunity, while upon our way to Texas, to write you, that you, at the head ofthe
army ofthe United States, may have such information therein, as we have come this
moment in possession of: it is this :
'A Mr. Wm. Palmer, a gentleman who we learn to be of truth, living in the vicinity
of Fort Jesiip, informed us that a blank commission came on a few days since from.
General Santa Anna, to a citizen of the United State's of that neighbourhood, autho-

Chap. IV.] jacksonian diplomacy. 127
, The absurdity of that pretence is too obvious to require a formal
.refutation. The admission that any action was called for, proves
that more was necessary than that letter, inasmuch as the' rigid
injunction of secrecy and (he limited sphere defined, rendered
it perfectly null and of no effect, as subsequent developments
have shown. But if the president could yield himself up to
the gross inconsistency after giving ear to my verbal statement
in the first instance, and upon reflection attaching the sufficiently
further importance to it, to require of me to state it in writing,
and then drop the subject without instituting official inquiry, or
taking other measures than to write the above letter, which was
equivalent to nothing, it argues very little either for his good
sense or rectitude of purpose — else, the attempt to excuse himself
in such a dilemma, by alleging with his former organ, the Globe
newspaper, that he had acquitted himself of his duty, declaring
the same sincerely and without mental reservation, then I could
only say such imbecility surpasseth my comprehension. But
this he could npt allege, or alleging it, could not do so sincerely.
For, if I am correctly informed, and of its truth I entertain no
doubt, volumes of testimony corroborating mine of similar and
subsequent dates, may now be found on the files of the War
Department; more, however, in the nature of asking the cp-ope-
ration or connivance of the government, than the salutary exer
cise of its corrective authority. Moreover, it will be sufficient to
rizing him to proceed to the Indians up Eed river, and stir them up to attack the
upper settlements of Texas ; that soon after that a Spaniard arrived at the house of
this individual from the interior; and they went off, it is supposed, to effect General
Santa Anna's views.
'Such as it may become your duty to act in thia matter is best known to yourself.i
'Permit us to subscribe ourselves, most respectfully, your obedient humble
servants, Tho. Jef. Green.
' To the PREsrDENT of the United States.
[ Copy of endorsement by the President on the foregoing letter.-]
'Referred to the Secretary of War, that he cause orders to be forthwith given to
the commanding officer at Fort Jesup, to arrest all individuals who, under the orders
of General Santa Anna, are engaged in exciting the Indians to war, and to notify all
¦ concerned, that all his military force will be employed to put it down or support
our neutrality. A.J.
'Adjutant General's Office, Washington, April 11, 1836.
'Sir:— I enclose herewith, by direction ofthe Secretary of War, a copy of a letter
addressed to the president, by Thomas J. Green, Esq. dated Crow's Ferry, Louisiana,
March 11, communicating certain intelligence touching the alleged interference of
the Mexican government with the Indians of Red river, to which your attention is
specially directed. The president desires that you take all lawful measures to arrest
any person who, under the orders of the Mexican authority, may be engaged in
' exciting the Indians to war ; and that every proper effort be used to discover and
detect such unjustifiable project, if any be attempted, and that, in maintaining our
neutrality on the south-western frontier of Louisiana, in the quarter you have already
been assigned to duty, under the instructions of the Secretary of War, heretofore
communicated to you. that you employ, if necessary, the force which has been placed
at your command. The letter from Mr. Green to tbe president, was forwarded by
Col Many, under cover to the adjutant-general. I am, sir, with great respect, your
obedient servant, K. J°NES> Mf* Gen'I-
'Major Gen'l Gaines, or Com. Officer of ihe troops . ¦
on the western frontier of Louisiana, I ort Jesup. ,

128 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
satisfy every intelligent and candid man, who reflects for a
moment on the familiarity of General Jackson, with all that had
transpired years before in the case of Aaron Burr, that the slight
est intimation, much less detailed and circumstantial proof,
should have put him immediately upon a course of efficient
investigation through the whole west: and if nothing satisfactory
should be detected at the first effort, to resume it upon the next
symptoms of those movements being in operation. Did he do
this, or any thing like it ? Did he not on the contrary, entertain
General Houston, on his second tour, two years after, while he
sojourned at Washington, maturing his schemes and fomenting
an affray with a member of Congress for words spoken in de
bate, having a bearing upon these operations, while he, Houston,
was still pretending to be an 'Indian alien?' Did the president
take any steps to make inquiry into this matter, while Houston
was present, and could have answered to the testimony that had
been rendered? No, but he prompted Houston in all his disor
derly conduct, and with his customary readiness to abuse his
executive privileges or powers granted by the constitution and
Jaws for salutary purposes — demonstrating here, for the thou
sandth time his personal and partisan feelings, he immediately
remitted the fines and penalties* adjudged by the District Court
* He immediately remitted the fines and penalties. — Shortly after my
communication of the conspiracy of General Houston, to the president, say in less
than twelve months, Houston took measures to relinquish his domicil among the
Indians on the Red river, or that neighbourhood, and made a recognizance in Texas
in 1831, preparatory to locating himself in that Province with manifest hostile intent,
previously to his second visit here in the winter of '31-'32, during which he made
his deadly assault upon a member of Congress. Was he then an 'Indian alien,' a
Texian, or a re-dintegrated American citizen? Did his arraignment at the bar ofthe
House of Representatives for his assault upon Mr. Stansbury, his exercise of the
privilege of pleading in his own defence, or the glorifying sentiments expressed in
his speech about the indignity offered to Americans by a violation of their rights in his
person, disturb the question of domicil? or did the proceedings ofthe District Court
in the ease, and the remission of the fine by the President disturb the question of his
expatriation ? In his speech he certainly claimed to be an 'American citizen,' though
he had emigrated among tbe Indians, probably with this motive, among others, to
shake off and evade the liability to punishment by the United States, for the conspi
racy against the peace and integrity of the dominions of a friendly power. However
these points of international law may stand, it is proper to state here, that upon
inquiry at the Clerk's office of the District Court, I find that the President's pardon
in the case of assault, was dated about two years after the judgment, as will be seen:.
by the subjoined copy of that document. This, however, does not impugn the above
statement that it was done immediately : for, it was universally understood that the
pardon would screen Houston from punishment: and as an evidence that it was so
understood by the Marshal ofthe District and the individual who undertook to bail
him, that individual, a Mr. Baker, was only a nominal bail; for he was an insolvent
clerk in the office of the Clerk of the Court, who would neither have consented to
become bail, or have been accepted as bail by the Marshal, had it not been under
stood that it was merely nominal ; and to this effect did Mr. Baker express himself
when jeered for assuming the risk of so large a bail bond to permit Houston to return
io the Mexican frontier. But this is not all; on General Houston's return here for
the third time in 1833-'34, when the pardon was recorded in due form, he told a
particular friend that his bail had been very importunate in urging him to exonerate
his bail bond by payment, which he accordingly had paid— perhaps he meant only
constructively paid it, to use the language of diplomacy, in which he had become a

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 129
against Houston, for his assault upon Mr. Stansbury, to the
imminent danger of his life in the dead of the night. But what
appears to me to be still more atrocious, is, that he continually
denied, through the secretary of state, that the Executive had any
knowledge, or could detect any violation of our neutral relations
with Mexico, though numerous such instances had already been
well known to the public, through the space of four or five
years, and were the continual subjects of remonstrance by the
Mexican minister.
I will here append copious extracts from the correspondence
between the Mexican legation and the Department of State, with
this single remark, that all such complaints as were brbught to
the notice of our Executive, however clearly substantiated, were
evasingly responded to, in general, and when hard pressed, our
secretary and his district attorneys understanding their cue, had
the effrontery to characterize those warlike preparations as
-'merely emigrating parties.' It will be perceived that Mr. For
syth's continual reiterations of his veneration for the sacred
rights and obligations of neutrality, rendered his profanement of
them the more notable and reprehensible, by his insidious con
nivance at their infractions, viz :
L— CORRKSPONDENCE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
No. 1.— Mr. Butler to Mr. Forsyth. (Extract.) Mexico, March 31, 1835.
Sir : — I have great pleasure in being able to tell you, for the information of the
S resident, that the renewal of the treaty of limits will be completed within a few
ays, and I shall bring it with me on my return to the United States. The Mexican
Congress is now in session, and the ratification on the part of Mexico will be
obtained at once, and the treaty be delivered to you in conformity with instructions
sent me in January, 1834. The mere renewal of the treaty is in itself a matter of
importance tous, because I am convinced that we shall gain by it jurisdiction over a
very valuable tract of country, now either in an unsettled state or under the dominion
of the Mexican government. * * * A few weeks since there was no prospect of my
being able to conclude this affair previous to my departure from Mexico, for reasons
'practised man.' The 'good and sufficient reasons' moving General Jackson to this
pardon were not so particularly stated, as in another case, where he unnecessarily
- and wantonly specified 'because he is insolvent and unable to pay !'
'I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of America, to the Marshal ofthe
District of Columbia, greeting :
'Whereas, at a session of the Circuit Court ofthe United States, held in and for the
county of Washington and District of Columbia, in the year 1832, a certain Samuel
Houston was convicted of an assault and battery, and sentenced to pay a fine of five
hundred dollars and costs of prosecution :
'Now' be it known, that I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of
America, in consideration ofthe premises, divers good and sufficient reasons me there
unto moving, have remitted, and do hereby remit unto him, the said Samuel Houston,
the fine aforesaid, and order that he be discharged from imprisonment.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name, and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, Done at the
[seal.] City of Washington, this third day of July, A. D. 1834 arid of the Inde
pendence ofthe United States the 58th.
By the President, ANDREW JACKSON.'
John Forsyth, Secretary of State. True Copy, Test, W. Brent, Clerk.'

130 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
which were communicated to the President of the United States in my last private
letter. * * *

No. 2.— Mr. Butler to Mr. Forsyth. Washington City, June 9, 1835.
Sir : — In pursuance of a leave of absence granted me several months since, by
the President of the United States, I have the honour of reporting myself to you as
just arrived in this city.
In despatch by which my leave of absence was communicated, I was directed,
previous to my departure from Mexico, to conclude with that government a treaty,
stipulating the revival of the third article of a treaty previously negociated between
the two governments for adjusting limits and boundary, and which had been suffered
to expire. N
My instructions have been complied with, the duty is performed, and I have now
the honour of presenting herewith the treaty, and have the honour to be, * * *
No. 3.— Mr. Castillo to Mr. Dickins. Philadelphia, October 14, 1835.
The undersigned, charge d'affaires of the United Mexican States, has the honour
to acknowledge the receipt of a note from Mr. Dickins, dated the 12th instant, with
the copy enclosed, and the official letter from the Political Chief of the Department
of Nacogdoches ; for the transmission of which documents he expresses the most
sincere thanks to Mr. Dickins.
The said Political Chief, in his letter communicates, that the tribe of Creeks from
Alabama, is now emigrating and establishing itself in lands belonging to Mexico,
without any license or authority to that effect ; he therefore requests me to state the
fact to the Executive of the United States of America, in order that measures. may
be taken to restrain that tribe within its proper limits. As the representation made
by the Political Chief of the Department of Nacogdoches, is founded on the thirty-
third article of the existing treaty of friendship between the two Republics, the
undersigned hopes that Mr. Dickins will submit the import of this note to the Presi
dent of the United States, and his excellency will cause the requisite executive
measures to be taken, if the fact should be as stated by the Political Chief, in order
to repress any incursions into the Mexican territory on the part of the Indians who
inhabit that of the United States.

No. 4. — Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Castillo. Washington, October 22, 1835. '
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honour to
acknowledge the receipt of the note of Mr. Castillo, charge d'affaires of the United
Mexican States, dated the 14th instant, relative to alleged encroachments of Creek
Indians from the United States upon the Mexican territories. A copy of Mr. Cas
tillo's note having been referred to the secretery of war, who is charged with the
superintendence of Indian affairs, that officer has stated that no information has been
received by the war department, showing that the Creek Indians from Alabama, are
removing into the Mexican possessions ; that there has not been, during this season,
any emigration of Creek Indians from Alabama, and that the war department has,
* At the date of the above instructions, January, 1834. — General Houston was on his'
third visit at Washington, since General Jackson's inauguration. What effect his presence
had on the counsels ofthe President in bringing forth those instructions I will not conjec
ture. But whoever will peruse the following correspondence between the Mexican lega
tion and the Secretary of State, wiil make his own inferences, seeing that the proposition,
now revived after sn long an interval, to renew the treaty of limits with Mexico, at a
time when the province of- Texas, on whose borders the limits ]ay,icas in a state qf
revolt; chiefly under the instigation of General Houston who headed the revolt, and was i
President of the convention thaj proclaimed their independence, he having changed his
domicil from among the Indian tribes to take his domicil in Texas, with the hostile intent
of severing that province from Mexico, only in this slight degree varying the original plan
of his conspiracy. Mr. Forsyth's memorandum for Mr. Gorostiza, No. 14, of the above
correspondences shows thar the military protection of the commissioners called for by ,
the treaty to run the line, affording a pretext for an armament on the Texian frontier, '
was in all probability a principal incentive to the President's urging the revival of that
treaty now. The promptness too, with which orders were given to General Gaines to :
occupy a -position within the Texian or Mexican territory to suppress fictitious alarms of :
Indian disturbances, invented for the purpose, when nothing could move the President to
take efficient measures to put a stop to the hostile movements of our own citizens against
Mexico is notable ! The most consummate artifice of double dealing and trickish diplomacy ;
in agitating anew at this time the treaty of limits, with a view to raise a dispute about the J
true boundary, is manifested even by the uncalled for speculation expressed in Mr.
Butler's note, as marked with italics.

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 131
on all proper occasions, by direction of the president, discountenanced the project of
those Indians for removing into the province of Texas.
From this it would appear that the Political Chief of Nacogdoches has been mis
informed. But should it be otherwise, it may he doubtful whether, under the thirty-
third article of the treaty, the intervention of the United States could be claimed or
afforded, unless the Indians manifested some hostile intent. If Indians going from the
United States, or elsewhere, should migrate to the Mexican territories with peacea
ble intentions, it will be for the Mexican government alone to decide upon their
admission or exclusion.
Though the general terms used in the representation of the political chief of Na
cogdoches, would justify the president in expecting a more explicit statement, show
ing at what times and places, and under what circumstances, the Indians are alleged
to have entered the Mexican territories, he has preferred directing this explanation
to be made, without delay, in order that there may be no room for doubt as to hisv
.views on the subject.

No. 5.— Mr. Castillo to Mr. Forsyth. Philadelphia, October 29, 1835.
The undersigned Charge d' Affaires of the United Mexican States, has been in
formed that 'at New York several vessels were in preparation, which were to join
others at the Balize of New Orleans, not less than twelve in number, and to sail
together for the coast of Texas. The object of the expedition,' continues the
notice, 'is to introduce into that colony arms and munitions of war, for the assis
tance of the colonists in their insurrection (pronunciamento ) against the supreme
government of the Republic. Of these vessels, some, it appears, are armed for the
defence of the expedition against the national cruisers now upon those coasts, and,
if possible, for the destruction of those cruisers. I have been assured,' concludes
the writer, 'that two or three vessels have lately sailed from New York with arma
and amunition for Texas.'
The undersigned has the honour to submit this information, which he has receiv-
i ed through various channels, to the notice of the Secretary of State of the United
States, in order that he may communicate it to his Excellency, the President, from
whose inflexible rectitude he hopes, that for the sake of peace and harmony subsist
ing between the two nations, he will order such measures as the case may require
for putting an end to these proceedings, and absolutely preventing others ofthe same
class from being carried into execution, or projected. Such an order is most neces
sary in the opinion ofthe undersigned, under the present circumstances, as the con
tempt of obligations arising from the treaty of friendship between the United Mexi
can States and those of America, has reached such a point, that according to an
official notice received from the Mexican Consul at New Orleans, it is' certain that
between the 10th and 11th of this month, the American armed schooner San Felipe,
sailed from that port' for Brazoria, with the same captain, N. E. Hurd, and 'having
her defences much strengthened, under the protection of which she goes laden with
warlike stores and ammunition,' and without a single paper which she should carry,
from the Mexican Consul. The undersigned sincerely believes that this conduct
will be viewed with disapprobation by the President of the United States.

No. 6. — Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Castillo. Washington, November 10, 1835.
The undersigned Secretary of State of the United States, has the honour to ac
knowledge the receipt ofthe nole of Mr. Castillo, Charge d'Affaires of the United
Mexican States, dated the 29th of October, and to- acquaint him, that in conformity
with the President's views relating to the existing state of affairs in Texas, which
the undersigned had the honour to impart at large to Mr. Castillo, in an interview
at this office, on the 4th instant, the district attorney of the United States at New
York, as well as the district attorney at New Orleans, has been instructed to prose
cute any persons within the jurisdiction of his district, who have attempted or who
may attempt to compromit the neutrality of this government, by proceedings in vio
lation of those laws ofthe United States, which have been enacted for the purpose
•of preserving peace, and fulfilling- the obligations of treaties with foreign powers.
Mr. Forsyth to Benjamin F. Linton, Esq. United States Attorney, St. Martins-
, ville, Louisiana. Same to District Attorneys at Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and Mobile. Washington, November 4, 1835.
Sir : — It has become necessary for me to call your attention to the probable
event of a contest between the different portions ofthe Mexican empire, in the vici
nity sf the United States. Some of our citizens may, from their connection with

132 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. tPart I-
the settlers there, and from their enterprise and love of change, be induced to forget
their duty to their own government, and its obligations to foreign powers ; but it is
the fixed determination ofthe Executive, faithfully to discharge, so far as its power
extends, all the obligations of the government, and more especially that which re
quires that we shall abstain, under every temptation, from intermeddling with the
domestic disputes of other nations.
You are, therefore, earnestly enjoined, should the contest begin, to be attentive to
all movements of a hostile character, which may be contemplated or attempted with
in your district, and to prosecute, without discrimination, all violations of those laws
of the United States, which have been enacted for the purpose of preserving peace,
and of fulfilling the obligations of treaties with foreign powers.

No. 7. — Mr. Castillo to Mr. Forsyth. Philadelphia, December 11, 1835.
Most esteemed Sir : — In the late message of the President of the United States,
the paragraph relative to my country, concludes thus : 'It has been thought necessary
to apprise the government of Mexico, that we should require the integrity of our terri
tory to be scrupulously respected by both parties.' Now, I recollect well what was
said on this subject in our conference at the beginning of the last month, and I
admit, that the desire of this government is mo3t just; it cannot be other tban the
desire of the Mexican government. The only point on which I should be happy if
you would inform me, in order that all proceedings in this affair should be conducted
with clearness and perfect understanding on both sides, is this : In making use of the
expression quoted above, does the Executive of tbese United States perchance
intend to convey the idea, that he recognizes limits which are not those expressly
determined in the second article of the treaty between the two countries ?
I think, sir, you will see, that I am induced to put this question by the interest
which I take in preventing any equivocal or false interpretation which might lead to
a disturbance of the friendly relations between the two governments.

No, 8. — Mr. Forsyth lo Mr. Castillo. Washington, December 16, 1835.
Sir : — In answer to your letter of the 11th instant, I have the honour to inform
you, that remarks made by the President in a message to Congress, are not deemed
a proper subject upon which to enter into explanation with the representative of a
foreign government. I take occasion to add, however, that if there be any matter
connected with the relations between our two countries, on which it may be inte
resting to you to receive further information than that conveyed in our conversa
tion to which you refer, I shall be happy to afford it whenever your convenience
permits you to visit me at this Department.

No. 9. — Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Castillo. Washington, January 14,* 1836.
The undersigned, secretary of state of the United States, has the honour to inform
Mr. Castillo, charge d'affaires ofthe Mexican Republic, in answer to his note ofthe
13th instant, that this department will avail itself of the occasion ofthe departure of
Mr. Ellis for Mexico, which will take place immediately, to answer through him thj
communication of the acting minister of foreign affairs of the Mexican Republic*
dated the 19th of November last, and referred to in Mr. Castillo's note. , -

No. 10.— Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Castillo. Washington, February 13, 1836.
The undersigned, secretary of state of the United States, has had the honour fo
receive the note of Mr. J. M. de Castillo y Lansas, charge d'affaires of the Mexican
Republic, dated the 4th instant. The acting minister of foreign affairs ofthe Mexi
can Republic, having by his communication of the 19th of November last, thought
proper to address himself directly to the undersigned concerning the differences
with Texas, the undersigned deems it unnecessary, at present, to continue a corres-
* January 14.— If the reader will turn forward to documents emanating from the War
Department, (Nos. 22, 23, 24,) he will be amazed as well as mortified to see the warlike
orders that were issued to General Gaines and others at this very time, in direct contra
vention of the amicable or neutral relations professed towards Mexico, concocted and exe
cuted by the executive in pursuance ofthe insidious hostility ahd trickish diplomacy towards
that government If further evidence could be necessary to render the secret hostile
intent more glaring, it Would be sufficient to know that these and similar measures were
uniformly taken without apprising the Mexican Minister, resident here, ofthe proceedings,
or the necessity of them, which would surely have been done in order to obtain his peace
ful co-operation, had that been the true spirit of action.

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 133
pondence with Mr. Castillo on those subjects. In pursuance of the intention
expressed in his note to Mr. Castillo, of the 14h ult. the undersigned has made Mr.
Ellis, who will soon be in Mexico, the bearer of the answer of this department to
the communication of the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Ellis has, also,
been instructed to acquaint the Mexican government, that he is ready to pursue the
further discussion of the business at the Mexican capital, if it should be thought
necessary. The undersigned will, however, be happy to renew the discussion with
Mr. Castillo, if, in the opinion of the Mexi- an government, there should be any suf
ficient reason for such a course, and if Mr. Castillo should be specially instructed to
that effect.
Extract of a letter from the Acting Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Mexican
Republic, io the Secretary of State ofthe United States, dated Palace ofthe National
Government, Mexico, November 19, 1835.
The undersigned, chief officer, charged with the direction of the department of
relations of the Mexican Republic, has received orders from his excellency the Presi
dent, to address the government of the United States, through its secretary of state,
on two subjects of the utmost importance to both nations ; as, should they not be
presented in a clear light, and treated with that good faith which characterizes the
intercourse between those nations, the bonds of friendship and reciprocal confidence
which have hitherto united them, may, in a certain contingency, be considered as
broken, in defiance of justice, reason, and mutual interests. The undersigned, while
addressing this communication to the secretary of state ofthe United, States, in per
formance of his duty, has the satisfaction to be able at once to state with confidence,
that his government conceives itself to be too well acquainted with the equitable
vprinciples which have ever directed the cabinet of Washington, and remembers too,
distinctly the proofs of affection and sympathy at all times displayed by that cabinet
in favour of the prosperity of the Mexican Republic, to have the slightest doubt that
its complaints will be attended to as soon as they are found to be established on just
grounds ; and that they will be treated with the consideration shown towards those
of the most friendly governments.
The first subject to which the undersigned thinks proper to call the attention of
the secretary of state of the United States, is the notorious co-operation of a great
number of the inhabitants of Louisiana, in aiding and advancing the cause of the
insurgent colonists of Texas. These Mexicans, for they neither are, nor can be
viewed otherwise than as Mexicans, having voluntarily ceased to be what they pre
viously were, would never have ventured in so open and shameless a manner, to
abandon their duty to their adoptive country, had they not expected lo receive ready and
effective support from American speculators established near their frontiers, with views
purely interested.
Unfortunately for themselves, the colonists of Texas were not mistaken in their
calculations, and before raising the standard of rebellion they had received from their
friends in, New Orleans the combustibles required for kindling and spreading the confla
gration ; this conflagration must certainly destroy their infant establishments, unless
they quickly open their eyes to the impending danger, and again submit to the
authority of the government which they have outraged; and which, although it
neither desires nor intends, to take vengeance, is nevertheless firmly resolved to
enforce respect to itself in every part of our immense territory. The colonists' of
Texas have since obtained, and continued to obtain, daily from New Orleans, suc
cours of every kind, in provisions, arms, ammunition, money, and even in soldiers, who
are openly enlisted in that city, who sail from ii armed for war against a friendly
nation; and by their mere presence render more difficult the pacific solution of a
question purely domestic. Societies have moreover been formed in New Orleans,
which publicly direct or interfere with affairs foreign to their country, either through
the instrumentality ofthe press, or by meetings called ostensibly for the determined
object of rendering general throughout the United States, the views of a few indivi
duals with regard to Texas. In Other words, attempts are made to give a colour of
nationality, to that which is a mere speculation on the part of some adventurers of
various sorts.
• The undersigned is well aware that many of these acts might have been, and still
may be, effected at New Orleans, under cover of the very liberality of the American
institutions, and the authorities of the union may have been unable legally to pre
vent them, especially such as involve questions connected with the freedom of the
press, individual liberty, or the privileges allowed to American commerce. For
this reason, the government ofthe undersigned neither should nor does solicit any
tiling in this case from the government of the United States, except that it should
18

134 EIGHT TEAKS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
employ every measure permitted by its own laws, for preventing, as far as possible, the
injury which a friendly nation, connected with the United States by bonds of every kind,.
may sustain from the interference even of private individuals, in a question entirely-

Extract of a letter from the Hon. John Forsyth, lo his ExceUency, the acting minister
of Foreign Affairs ofthe Mexican Republic, dated Department of State, Washington,
29th January, 1836.
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has had the honour to
receive the note ofthe 19th November, 1835, addressed to him by the acting minister
of Foreign Affairs ofthe Mexican Republic, and avails himself of the departure of
Mr. Ellis, recently appointed Charge d'Afiaires for Mexico, to transmit the answer
to which the undersigned has been directed by the President ofthe United States to
give. Both the subjects of that letter had been already acted upon when the note of the
acting minister of Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Republic was received, and the
President instructs the undersigned to express his conviction that the course which
has been adopted, while it has been dictated by a just regard to the interests of the
United States, and his obligations under their laws, is entirely consistent with that
sympathy for the Mexican Republic, and that anxiety for its prosperity, which the
United States has ever professed and felt, and by which their intercourse with it
has been uniformly regulated. As to the first subject of complaint, the principles--
which have governed the United States in the contest between Spain and the Span
ish American States, and in the numerous internal contests in Spanish America, are
too well known to require explanation. So soon as it was apparent that the dispute
between Texas and the dominant party in the other Mexican States would be carried
to extremities, and indications were observed of a desire in some ofthe citizens ofthe U.
States to take part in the struggle, all the measures in his power were adopted by the'
President to prevent any interference that could by possibility involve the United States
in the dispute, or give just occasion for suspicions of an unfriendly design on the
part of this government to intermeddle in a domestic quarrel of a neighbouring state.
Notice was given to the Mexican Charge d'Affaires, of the measures adopted, and
the principles and course of the United States distinctly and fully, and the under
signed trusts satisfactorily, explained to him. This has certainly been duly com
municated to his government, and has, with equal certainty, satisfied the acting
minister of Foreign Affairs ofthe Mexican Republic, that it is the determination of
the executive of the United States, to employ every measure permitted by our own laws,
for preventing, as far as possible, the injury a friendly nation might sustain from
interference in a question entirely domestic, For the conduct of individuals, which
the government of the United States cannot control, it is not in any respect respon
sible ; and the Mexican government well understands how far ihe funds, and the
exertions and the combined efforts of individuals may be made to contribute to the aid of
parties in a foreign contest, without, in the slightest degree, implicating the govern
ment of this country. The acting minister of Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Re
public, must be aware that all this preceded any official communication of the cha
racter ofthe contest going on, or ofthe precautions and regulation adopted by either
party to it, in the assertion of their respective pretensions, and that, as yet, the
United States have not been distinctly informed of those adopted by the government
of Mexico.

No. 11.— John Forsyth io William T. Brown, United States Attorney, Nash
ville, Tennessee. Washington, February 24, 1836.
Sir : — I enclose an extract of a letter addressed to the President ofthe United
States, and referred by him to this Department, relative to the enlistment of men at
Nashville, for the Texas service, by a certain Major Miller. You are requested io
satisfy yourself by proper inquiries, and should you find that either he, or any other
person, has, in regard to the transactions therein referred to, violated the laws, you
will, without loss of time, institute such proceedings as may be necessary to brin"-
the offender to punishment. °
It is to be presumed, however, that you will have done what your duty required *
without waiting for instructions from this Department. '
Extract of a letter from W. H. Hunt, dated Nashville, February 10, 1836.
'A certain Major Miller, of the Texas service, has recently been in 'this place
obtaining recruits, and has enticed away young men, even when in debt to their
employers, who would otherwise have complied with their engagements

Chap. IV] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 135
In an instance of that kind, I have applied to tbe United States Attorney for this
district, who says he has received no instructions from you on the subject. I beg
that you will immediately issue those instructions, as this course of the Texas
•recruiting officers is highly injurious to the citizens of the United States.'*

No. 12.— Mr. Gorostiza lo Mr. Forsyth. Washington, April A, 1836.
The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Mexi
can republic, has read with pain in some of the newspapers published in Tennessee
and Kentucky, that Felix Huston, Esq. of Natchez, is actually engaged in the former
of those states, in enlisting, clothing, and arming, at his own expense, a corps of
volunteers, the number of which is expected to be no less than five hundred, with
whom he proposes to march to Texas, in the beginning of the ensuing month ef
May, in order to increase the forces of the rebercolonists. Such at least is the
deduction to be drawn from a letter of his, published in several of the newspapers,
of which the undersigned has the honour to send one to the honourable John For
syth, secretary of state of these United States, in order that, having seen it, the
federal government may take such measures as in its conception may appear suffi
cient to arrest the plan which Huston proposes to carry into execution, in contempt
of the laws of the country itself, as well as of the most obvious and aclcnowledged prin
ciples of international law.
The undersigned might also denounce to Mr. Forsyth, other acts ofthe same nature
which are now in progress in. the said states of Tennessee and Kentucky, in conse
quence no doubt of the sort of crusade which has been preached there, by persons '
calling themselves commissioners from Texas ; among others the project of raising a
company at Nashville, at the expense of the ladies of that city ; but as the under
signed has had the satisfaction of knowing that some of these acts have already
attracted the notice of the American government, and have merited its disapproba
tion, he does not consider it necessary to spend more time at present in enumerating
and complaining of evils which may perhaps' have been already in a great measure
remedied, thanks to the equity and foresight of the Department of State.
[Printed enclosures in Mr. Gorosiiza's note of April 4, 1836.]
.'The following is an extract of a letter from Felix Huston, Esq. of Natchez, who,
itappears, is raising troops for the Texian service. Mr. Huston, who has been for
some years an eminent and successful lawyer of Mississippi, was born and educated
in this state, where he was distinguished for his talents, his lofty sense of honour and
his bold and chivalrous daring. If any of our friends are desirous of going to Texas,
to aid in the struggle for independence, they cannot go under a braver or more
accomplished leader. We particularly invite the attention of emigrants to an article
tinder the head of 'Texas,' in our paper of to-day. It comes from a source of unques
tionable authenticity, and the information contained in it may be of service.'
'Natchez, March 4, 1836.
'Dear Sir : — You will be surprised, probably, to hear that I am going to Texas,
tat such is the case. I contemplate starting about the first of May, and expect to
take with me about five hundred emigrants^ I am making preparation for arms,
ammunition, uniforms, &c. &c. at an expense, of $40,000, and shall have a rendez
vous, and begin to send on supplies by the first of May.
I wish to get some men from Kentucky. I should find no difficulty in getting as
many as I want here, but there will be more difficulty in rejecting those I do not
want, and who will not suit me, than in obtaining offers.
I intend to arm and uniform the men well, and provide supplies for twelve months,
**IT IS TO BE PRESUMED, HOWEVER, THAT YOU WILL HAVE DONE WHAT YOUR DUTY
required.  It will be perceived by the reader, that the phlegmatic terms in which all
such admonitions to the district attorneys wore couched, contrast in the most striking
degree with the fulminations sent forth against the comparatively trivial movements of
our deluded citizens on the Canada frontier, for following the example that had been set
¦ them on this southern frontier, under the patronage nf the same men who now dictate
the counsels of the nation. The fiash-in-tho pan character of these admonitions, the
attorneys could not fail to understand, if there was not already a previous understanding
to that effect ; for their answers were always ofthe same evasive tenour. As specimens
of the reciprocating evasiveness of the answers, I refer the reader to those made by the
district attorneys, L. Sanders and A. E Addison, subjoined to No. 13, sequel.

136 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
and I wish not to risk my fortune, my life, and my honour, with men on whom I
cannot rely. Such as go with me must be willing cheerfully to undergo the hard
ships and privations incidental to such enterprises, and preserve strict discipline.
I wish to get hardy, active, and enterprising men, who have made up their minds
and will abide by their resolution. I am making arrangements to obtain advantageous
terms for those who emigrate to Texas with me, ancf shall in a few days, have an
agent at the convention which is now sitting.
I will communicate to the public the terms on which men can join me, when my
agent returns. But this much is now certain, they will be favourable. Those w'hp
go to Texas this year, will readily find employment on gbod terms.
Your friend, FELIX HUSTON.
(From the Kentucky Gazette.)
'The following is an extract of a letter from Col. Austin, dated Nashville, and
which has been politely handed us for publication : 'The greatest enthusiasm per
vades all ranks and sexes here in favour of the cause of Texas. The ladies of Nash
ville have offered to furnish the means of.arming and transporting a company of
volunteers to Texas; it is now raising and will soon be ready. This generous and
disinterested act of patriotism, is worthy of imitation, and will fill a bright page in
the brilliant record of female magnanimity and devotion to the cause of liberty, of
philanthropy and religion. Such is the cause of Texas. We are contending for the
right of self-government, and of worshipping God according to the dictates of our
conscience. Our object is independence. I hope that the great and patriotic state
of Kentucky, will soon join her sister states of the south in aiding us ; a fine field is
presented for the enterprising. This contest once over, (and it will soon be over,)
and Texas will rise and prosper very rapidly.'

No. 13. — Mr. Forsyth io M. Gorostiza. Washington, April 9, 1836.
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has received the note
which Mr. Gorostiza, envoy extraordinary and minister pleninotentiary of the Mexi
can Republic, did him the honour to address him on the 4th instant, accompanied by
extracts from newspapers, showing that, in despite ofthe laws of their country, Felix
Huston, Esq. of Natchez, contemplated raising and equipping troops, and that a
company was to be raised at the expense ofthe ladies of Nashville, to aid the Texians.
Mr. Gorostiza also intimates that other projects, of a like character, are on foot in
Tennessee and Kentucky, and requests that such measures as may be necessary to
arrest them may be taken by this government.
Mr. Gorostiza is aware that the attorney of tbe United States for the eastern district
of Tennessee has already been instructed to prosecute any persons in his district who
have offended, or who may offend, in the manner complained of. He will likewise
be directed to do whatever may be necessary and proper to frustrate the schemes of
Mr. Huston and the ladies of Nashville ; and the attorneys of the United States for
Mississippi and Kentucky will be enjoined to enforce the law against similar wrong
doers within the jurisdiction of their districts.
Mr. Forsyth to Lewis Sanders, Esq. United States Attorney, Frankfort, Ky.
The same to United States Attorneys at Natchez, Miss, and Nashville, Tenn. .
Department of State, April 9, 1836.
Sir: — It appears from an article ofthe western journals, containing what purports
to be an extract of a letter of Felix Huston, Esq. of Natchez, that he is in the act of
raising and equipping a volunteer company for military service in Texas.
You are requested to satisfy yourself by proper inquiries, and should you find that'
fie, or any other person has, in regard to the transaction alluded lo, violated the laws
within the Kentucky district, you will institute such proceedings as may be necessary
to bring the offender to punishment. You will, also, see the laws enforced with
respect to any other similar violation of the neutral relations ofthe United States.
From L. Sanders, Jr. U. S. Attorney for the District of Kentucky, to Asbury
Dickins, Esq. Acting Secretary ofthe United Siatcs,Washinglon. Frankfort, Ken.
Aug. 5, 1836. J
Sir:— I have received your communication of the 27th ultimo, informing me
'that the Mexican minister had addressed a complaint to the department, founded
upon a publication made in the New York Courier and Enquirer, ofthe 20th ultimo,
copied from the Grand Gulf (Mississippi) Advertiser, announcing the passage by
that place of two hundred men, under tiie command of Col. Wilson, on their way,

Wp. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 137
to Texas, on board a steamboat, 'with drums beating and fifes playing,' and suggest
ing that they will be followed by three hundred more, all from old Kentucky ;' sug
gesting therefrom grounds for the belief that the laws for the preservation of the
neutrality of the United States have been violated ; directing me to inquire into this
case, and report to the department the result ; and commanding vigilance on my part
to endeavour to prevent similar causes of complaint.
In answer thereto, allow me to inform you that I was personally acquainted with
Col. Wilson, and some of his fellow emigrants, and, in conversations with him and
some of them, they assured me that their object in Texas was emigration only ; that
it was a new country, unimproved, lands cheap, and that greater inducements were
held out to the emigrant in that, than any other country.
There was no apparent movement by Col. Wilson, or his associates, within my
knowledge, exhibiting them as an armed force, or in a position to authorize the in
ference of their certain intent to violate the neutral relations of the United States
with any foreign power. Nor did I perceive, or did any information come to my
knowledge, upon which I could justly institute any legal proceedings against them.
They organized themselves, and left the country, as emigrants ; and I know of no
authority under the laws of the United States, which can prevent any man, or body
of men, from emigrating whither they may choose. At this time I have no know
ledge or information of any persons embodying themselves for Texas, in any Charac
ter whatever.
It may be remarked, that much excitement has prevailed with our population in
consequence of the massacre of some Kentuckians in the late conflicts in Texas ;
and publications have been made of a nature designed to cheer the Texians in their
conflict for independence. Beyond this, I know of no movement of men calculated
to disturb our neutral relations with Mexico.
Should any thing tangible present itself on this subject, I will report the facts, and
take all legal steps to arrest it.
From A. E. Addison, for R. M. Gaines, U. S. District Attorney, to the Honourable
John Forsyth, Secretary of State of the United Slates. Natchez, Aug. 20, 1836.
Sir : — By the last mail I received a communication addressed by Asbury Dickins,
Esq. Acting Secretary, to R. M. Gaines, Esq. United States District Attorney, for
this district, informing him that the Mexican minister had made a complaint to the
Department of State, on the subject of an armament equipped for Texas, as reported
in the Grand Gulf Advertiser. Being connected in the practice ofthe law with Mr.
Gaines, and requested by him to attend to all communications directed to him in his
absence, it becomes my duty to inform you that Mr. Gaines, on account of ill health
was compelled to leave home about the 20th of June last, having committed the
duties of his office to my care in his absence. In reply to the communication of Mr.
Dickins, I have to state, that no information of such an armament, as described, has
been received by me, either before or since the departure of Mr. Gaines ; and fur-
' ther, that no information of any other armament fitted out for Texas, of a character
to justify proceedings under the laws for the preservation of the neutrality of the
United States, has been received, except, perhaps, in case of Felix Huston, Esq. in
which Mr. Gaines, after using great exertions to procure a warrant, failed to do so.
If any evidence can be procured on either of these cases, it will be presented to the
grand jury at the next sitting of the United States District Court. Vigilance also
will be used to prevent any future infraction of our neutrality in this district.

No.' 14. — Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Gorostiza. Memorandum, for Mr. Gorostiza, of
what was said to him by Mr. Forsyth, in their conference on the 20th April, 1836.
Mr. Forsyth stated to Mr. Gorostiza that, in consequence of the contest im Texas,
the movements of some citizens of the United States on the Red river, and appre
hended hostile intentions ofthe Indians in Mexico against the United States, and of
the Indians within the United States against Mexico, orders would be given to General
Gaines to take such a position with the troops ofthe United States as would enable him
to preserve the territory of the United States and of Mexico irom Indian outrage, and
the territory of the United from any violation by the Mexicans, Texians, or Indians,
during the disturbances unfortunately existing in that quarter; and that the troops of
(he United States^would be ordered to protect the commissioners and surveyors ofthe two
governments whenever they should meet to execute the instructions to be prepared
under the treaty of limits betyveen the United States and the United Mexican States.

138 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
Should the troops, in the performance of their duty, be advanced beyond* the point
Mexico might suppose was within the territory of the United States, the occupation of
the position was not to be taken as an indication of any hostile feeling, or of a desire
to 'establish a possession or claim not justified by the treaty of limits. The occupa
tion would be precautionary and provisional, and would be abandoned whenever (the
line being run and the true limits marked) the disturbances in that region should
cease, they being the only motive for it. April 21st.
No. 15.— Mr. Gorostiza to Mr. Forsyth. Reply of the undersigned, Manuel
Eduardo de Gorostiza, to the communication made to him, verbally, by Mr. Forsyth, .
in the conference between them, held on the 20th April, 1836, at the Department of
State : of which conference he received a memorandum from the said Department on
the 21st of the same month.
In the conference of the 20th of April, Mr. Forsyth thought proper to communi
cate to the undersigned, a certain measure which the American government proposed
to take respecting the affairs of Texas ; and the undersigned, immediately consider
ing that communication of great importance, frankly acknowledged his imperfect
acquaintance with the English language, and requested Mr. Forsyth, with a view to
prevent any misunderstanding on the part of the undersigned, to do him the honour
to repeat to him in writing, and in form of a simple memorandum, what he had just
communicated. Mr. Forsyth acceded to this request, with his accustomed politeness,
and on the ensuing day sent to the undersigned the memorandum requested..
From this memorandum, it appears, that Mr. Forsyth stated to the undersigned at
the said conference —
'That, in consequence ofthe contest in Texas, the movements of some citizens of
the United States on the Red river, and apprehended hostile intentions of the
Indians in Mexico against the United States, and of the Indians within the United
States against Mexico, orders would be given to General Gaines to take such a
position with the troops of the United States, as would enable him to preserve the
territory ofthe United States and of Mexico from Indian outrage, and the territory
ofthe United States from any violation by the Mexicans, Texians, or Indians, during
the disturbances unfortunately existing in that quarter.
'That the troops of the United States would be ordered to protect the commis
sioners and surveyors of the two governments whenever they should meet to exe
cute the instructions to be prepared under the treaty of limits between the United
States and the United Mexican States.
'That, should the troops, in the performance of their duty, be advanced beyond the
point Mexico might suppose was within the territory ofthe United States, the occu
pation ofthe position was not to be taken as an indication of any hostile feeling, or
of a desire to establish a possession or claim not justified by the treaty of limits ;
the occupation would be precautionary and provisional ; and that the position would
be abandoned whenever (the line being run, and the true limits marked,) the dis--
turbances in that region should cease — they being the only motive for it.' ,
With regard to the first point, the undersigned acknowledges the justice ofthe views
ofthe government ofthe U. States in desiring to preserve its territory from any species
of violation, and no observation can be made on the subject, as long as General Gaines
remains within the known limits ofthe U. States. He however, thinks it his duty to
observe to Mr. Forsyth, availing himself with pleasure of this opportunity, that the
Mexican government recognizes the sacredness of the territory of every neighbouring
nation too much, riot to have given the most particular orders to the commanders of
the national troops in Texas, to respect and cause to be respected, the frontiers ofthe
territory of the United States. He also avails himself of this opportunity, to express
thanks in the name of his government, for the instruction given to General Gaines
to preserve the Mexican territory from the outrages ofthe Indians of the United-
States ; and he flatters himself, that in like manner, and in accordance with this
principle of equity and good feeling towards Mexico, orders will be given at the
same time, to that General, to oppose the entrance into Texas of any American citizen,
?Should the troops be advanced beyond.— Four days after this memorandum, the
Department of War actually issued orders to this effect to General Gaines, of which the
Mexican minister was kept ignorant, and only to infer that it was, on sftme contingency,
in contemplation. The hardihood ofthe secretary, in maintaining a false position, is iden
tical with that of the Spartan thief who preferred the fox under his cloak, should eat out
his bowels rather than avow the theft. See document, 22 and 24.

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 139
who may attempt to pass the frontiers armed, or as a colonist, for the purpose of join
ing the ranks of the rebels.
The undersigned considers it also very proper, (conveniente) that General Gaines'
troops should protect, in case of need, the operations ofthe commissioners and sur
veyors, who are to settle and mark the dividing line between the two countries, and
to meet for that purpose at Natchitoches, within one year from the 20th of April,
1836, the date of the signature of the convention imposing the obligation ; and the
undersigned can moreover immediately give assurance, that the Mexican troops will
also contribute to the same object, whenever it may be deemed necessary, as the
interest of the two governments is the same, and as they are consequently equally
called on to do whatever may be requisite for carrying it into effect well and
speedily. But with regard to the supposition contained in the third point of the communi
cation, the undersigned cannot conceive that it could be realized, being, as he is,
persuaded that the government of the United States cannot desire to insist upon an
act, which if done, would be clearly injurious to the rights and interests of an inde
pendent and friendly nation. The undersigned conceives that any position which
General Gaines maj^ake beyond the known limits of the United States, cannot be
upon ground other than that belonging to the Mexican territory, and which should
belong to it, until the commissioners and surveyors (the sole judges in the affair by
the treaty of 1828,) should decide against Mexico, and adjudge a portion of that
territory to the United States, on the grounds that it is comprehended within the
line agreed upon. In the meantime, Mexico has in its favour, the right of a con
stant possession, during which it has exercised there, all the acts of sovereignity,
has legislated, has appointed the authorities, has kept garrisons, has disposed of
lands, &.c.
And if it be said that the United States have, at periods since the cession of Loui
siana, claimed such or such parts of Texas, or that there are still doubts as to the
nature or denomination of such or such locality, the third article of the treaty of
1828, 'puts an end to all pretensions of the contracting parties, by fixing a dividing
line, and confiding to arbiters, by giving them the power to lay down that line, the
faculty of resolving all doubts, and removing all difficulties. With them, therefore,
rests the decision ; and it is only after such decision, that the present in statu qua
can justly terminate. This was doubtless, the understanding of Mr. Butler, the
Charge d'Affaires ofthe United States, when urging the Minister of Relations of
Mexico, on the 21st of December, 1834, respecting the necessity of speedily carry
ing into effect the said third article of the treaty of limits, he added, 'he would only
observe, that Mexico was actually occupying a large territory wbich the govern
ment ofthe undersigned, considered as justly belonging to the citizens ofthe United?
States, according to the rational construction of all the treaties concluded on the
- subject ; and as'it was well known, that not only the government of Mexico, but
that of the United States, had already granted a large part of this territory to various
natives and foreigners, the prompt conclusion of this affair, became every day more-
urgent.' Can there be a more explicit confession than this of Mr. Butler's respecting the
possession by Mexico, ofthe part which he considered to belong to the citizens of
the United States, and of his conviction that the only means of legally terminating
the state of things of whieh he complained, was by carrying the treaty into full
effect? That the measure in question would not only affect the rights ef Mexico as ar*
independent nation, but also injure its interests, it is most easy to prove. The pre
sence of a body op neutral troops in ihe very theatre ofthe war, cannot fail to
embarrass the operations ofthe Mexican army, to favour the Texians indirectly, and
create a constant risk of collision. The further General Gaines advances, the more
restricted will be the circle within which the belligerents can move, and the greater
will be the necessity for approaching the cordon formed by the troopsof the United
States. And in a country so, vast and unpeopled as Texas, how impossible will it
be to determine well the line of such a cordon by a chain of military posts linked
together. Who can then prevent the Texians, if they find themselves pursued at
' any time by Mexican detachments, from taking refuge behind the troops of the
United States, by passing a line which is unguarded ? How can the Mexicans
know where they are to stop, so as not to violate the said line ? And what will the
troops of the, United States do with the Texians, who thus, in a manner, place them
selves under their protection, or with the Mexicans, who, impelled by the ardour of
the fight, should pursue in order to take them ? The undersigned shudders at the.

140 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
idea ofthe evils which the slightest incident may occasion in cither of these cases,
to two countries which have so many motives for esteeming each other, and whose
relations are now so frank and so amicable !
If the undersigned cannot now admit (as he has shown, and for reasons which he
has given,) the supposition, that General Gaines may take a position on a territory
possessed by Mexico, until the dividing line between the two countries be marked
out according to the terms of the third article of the treaty of limits, how can he
admit the supposition with which Mr. Forsyth's communication ends ?
That General Gaines should not abandon the position taken, even though it be
included within the assigned limits of Mexico, until the disturbances of -Texas should
cease, would be equal io a real military occupation of apart of the territory of Mexico,
and to an indirect intervention in its domestic affairs ,- and the United States can by no
means desire this, nor view it with satisfaction, considering the state of their
existing relations with Mexico.
The undersigned concludes by hoping that the American government will take
these remarks into consideration, and that no case will occur which might authorize
General Gaines to assume the advanced position to which this reply alludes.
No. 16. — Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Gorostiza. — Reply io Mr. Gorostiza's answer to the
memorandum of the conference between them on the 20th instant.
Washington, April 26, 1836.
Mr. Gorostiza has obviously not comprehended clearly the observations made to
him by Mr. Forsyth on the 20th instant, or he would not have thought it necessary
to make the extended reply which has been informally submitted. Mr. Gorostiza
seems to take it for granted that General Gaines will be ordered to take a position
in Texas on territory known to be beyond the limits of the United States. By
referring to the paper given to him at his request, Mr. Gorostiza will see that the
expression is, 'Should the troops of the United States, in the performance of this
duty, be advanced beyond the point Mexico might suppose was within the territory of
the United States, the occupation of the position,' &.c. &.c.
This notice to Mr. Gorostiza was not intended to express the intention to occupy
a post within the acknowledged known limits of Mexico, but to apprise Mexico
that if General Gaines should occupy a position supposed by each government to be
within its limits, that occupation would not be used either as the foundation of a
claim or to strengthen a claim — the sole purpose being to enable this government to
do its duty to itself and to Mexico ; and the concluding paragraph, with respect to
the abandonment of any post thus occupied which might be found within the terri
tory of Mexico, was intended to convey the information that that abandonment
would take place as soon as that fact was ascertained, unless the disturbed condition
of the country at that time should render its continued possession indispensable to
the safety of the United States, and under circumstances which would justify the
occupation, if riot in the judgment of the Mexican government itself, at least in
that of every impartial power. Mr. Gorostiza must not understand that the govern
ment of the United States intends to interfere in any manner in the disturbances of
its neighbours. The troops of General Gaines will be employed only in protecting
the interests of the United' States and those of the Mexican territory according to
the obligations of the treaty between the two powers. Whether the territory
beyond the United States belongs to the Mexican government, or the newly de
clared Texian state, is a question into which the United States does not propose to
enter. It is a territory protected by the treaty of limits between Spain and the
United States, subsequently recognized by the treaty between Mexico and the
United States. In this view it will be considered; and while this government sees
with great regret the sanguinary struggle which is carried on there, it does not
permit itself to look to the result, being prepared, whatever that may be, rigidly to
perform its own engagements.

No. 17.— Mr. Gorostiza to Mr. Forsyth. Washington, April 28, 1836.
The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Mexi
can Republic, having received the, reply addressed to him informally on the 26th
instant, by the honourable John Forsyth, secretary of state of the United States, to
his answer to the memorandum of the conference held on the 20th instant, has the
honour now to assure the secretary of state, with the utmost sincerity, that he has
never for a moment entertained the idea, that the United States could seek to inter
fere in any way in the disturbances of their neighbours ; and that on the contrary, he
had been induced, by his conviction of the rectitude of the principles \vhich have at

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 141
all times guided the policy of this government, to extend his reply somewhat beyond
the bounds assigned by custom to that class of documents ; being assured that all
other considerations would be unnecessary, as soon as the undersigned should suc
ceed in demonstrating to Mr. Forsyth, how just it was to Mexico, and how mutually
convenient for both countries, that in the present state of things in Texas, former
possession should be the only rule for the mutual determination of the respective
limits, until the commissioners and surveyors shall have marked out the true dividing
line. Fortunately, if the undersigned has rightly comprehended Mr. Forsyth's reply, the
opinion of the secretary of state coincides essentially on this capital point, with that
of the undersigned, so far as regards the assurance that General Gaines' troops will
not take a position on any ground known to be beyond the limits of the United
States ; and as a natural consequence from this principle, that such position can in
no case be on ground previously possessed by Mexico, and of course, within its
known limits. The undersigned would thank Mr. Forsyth to have the kindness to
let him know whether he has been mistaken on this point, in order that, if not, he
may immediately inform his government accordingly, and communicate to it this-
new proof of the justice and good faith which characterize the American govern
ment in all its relations with Mexico.
The undersigned, as little as Mr. Forsyth, desires to enter into the question, appa
rently so obvious, whether the territory of Texas, which lies adjacent to the United
States, belongs to Mexico, and to the Mexicans born in Texas, or to the foreigners
who have risen in insurrection there. Nor does he consider it proper at present, tc
insist upon discussing hypolhetically, what might be suitable for both countries, after
the line shall have been marked, wi*h respect to the position which the troops of the
United Spates may then occupy ; as the undersigned has some reason to hope, that
the necessity for the said occupation will ere that time have disappeared, and as even
though thi3 should unfortunately not be the case, it is by no means probable, that the
Mexican government will consider the question, then occurring, in a light different
from that in which it would be viewed by any impartial power.

No. 18. — Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Gorostiza. Washington, May 3, 1S36.
In reply to Mr. Gorostiza's informal note of the 28th ultimo, Mr. Forsyth has the
honour to state, that except in case of necessity, General Gaines will not occupy
ground not indisputably within the limits ofthe United States. In case of necessity,
whether the possession of the ground he may occupy is now or has heretofore been
claimed by Mexico, cannot be made a question by that officer ; he will take it to per
form his duties to the United States, and to fulfil the obligations of the United States
to Mexico. The just and friendly purpose for which he does occupy it, (if he should
do so,) being beforehand explained to Mexico, it is expected will prevent either
belief or suspicion of any hostile or equivocal design on his part. It is not intended
to be the assertion of a right of property or possession. Whether the post occupied
shall prove to be in Mexico or the United States, it will be abandoned whenever the
necessity ceases by the" restoration of tranquillity to that distracted neighbourhood.
No. 19. — Mr. Gorostiza to .Mr. Forsyth. Washington, May 4, 1836.
The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Mexi
can Republic, has learned with sincere regret, from the informal note which the
honourable John Forsyth, secretary of state of these United States, did him the
honour to address to him on the" 3d instant, that the American government has not
thought proper to take into consideration "the observations which the undersigned
believed it his duty to direct to the Department of State on the 23d and 28th of
April last, respecting the position which the troops of General Gaines might assume
in a certain case therein stated ; and that, consequently, the question, as regards the
United States, still remains the same as Mr. Forsyth considered it to be, in the con
ference of the 20th of April. The undersigned, therefore, conceives that nothing is
left for him to do, except to inform his government ofthe determination of the Ame
rican government, and to await its orders. This he will do by the first opportunity,
transmitting to the Minister of Relations of the Republic of Mexico, literal copies
of the correspondence which has passed on the subject, between the Department ot
State, and this Legation Extraordinary. , . , , . , ,, ,
The undersigned will only add, that it would be very desirable in any event, that
the general-in-chief of the national army in Texas, might receive in proper time from
his government; the necessary instructions with regard to the possible advance ol
General Gaines beyond the known limits of these United States, as the former
19

142 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
would thus know the real object of such an advance, in case it did take place, and
would then adopt, without doubt, such measures as might be within his attributes
and faculties for avoiding, on his part, any cause of discontent or quarrel (com-
promiso) between the two nations so intimately friendly as the two Republics.
No. 20.— Mr. Gorostiza to Mr. Forsyth. Washington, May 9, 1836.
The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Mexi
can Republic, has seen in the Globe of yesterday, with a degree of regret, equal to
his surprise, that in the instructions addressed by the Secretary of War to General
Gaines, on the 25th of April last, that General has been authorized, in case of neces
sity, to advance with his troops to Nacogdoches, 'which old fort,' says the Secretary
of War, 'is within the limits ofthe United States as claimed by this government.'
The undersigned cannot form any conjecture with certainty as to the grounds on
which the American government believes that Nacogdoches would be within the
limits of the United States, when the dividing line between the two countries,
determined by the third article ofthe existing treaty, shall have been run and marked
down, because, although the undersigned has consulted Mellish's map, published in
Philadelphia, and improved in 1818, the only authority on the matter which the
Mexican government will recognize, agreeable to the treaty, he has not been able to
find any other thing, than that Nacogdoches is situated several miles beyond the
Sabine river, and consequently far within the indisputable territory of Mexico.
The undersigned is, moreover, not aware that any claim of this nature has ever
been advanced on the part of the American government ; and this appears so much
the more strange to him, as the undersigned, before leaving Mexico, was enabled to
examine all the correspondence which had for many years been carried on between
the two governments, on the subject of limits, and does not recollect to have found
any thing there contradicting his assertion, unless it be the solitary and vague indi
cation contained in Mr. Butler's note ofthe 21st December, 1834, already mentioned
by the undersigned in one of his late communications. The undersigned, in conse
quence, finds himself now under the sad necessity of addressing the honourable John
Forsyth, Secretary of State ofthe United States, for the purpose of protesting against
the authorization given to General Gaines, to go with his troops to Nacogdoches,
because he considers it essentially, and with regard to its possible effects, as a posi
tive violation of the territory which is known to be Mexican.
The undersigned had the honour already, on the 23d and 28th of April last, to
inform Mr. Forsyth, under what point of view he considered the communication
made to him by the Secretary of State, in the conference held on the 20th of that
month, and if he, in a manner, engaged to await the orders of his government on the
subject, it was assuredly not because he yielded his right, but because neither from
the memorandum of the conference, nor from the written communications of Mr.
Forsyth, could the undersigned have gathered that General Gaines had already been
instructed as to the ground which he might overrun with his troops, and the point
where he was to stop.

No. 21. — Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Gorostiza. Washington, May 10, 1836.
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, having submitted the
note of M. Gorostiza, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary ofthe Mexi
can Republic, ofthe 9th instant, to the President, has now the honour by his instruc
tions, to reply.
The President did not expect that any orders given by his authority would have
produced either surprise or regret in the mind of a representative of a friendly
power. He observes, however, that Mr. Gorostiza has not perceived the peculiar
force of the terms used by the authority of the Executive. General Gaines is not
authorized to advance to Nacogdoches, but he is ordered not to go beyond that point.*
To Mr. Gorostiza the distinction may not seem to be so, but in the view of the
President it is important; the terms used limit the authority given, and were chosen
with the express intention to avoid misconstruction of tbe motive of the advance.
To effect one of the great objects for which General Gaines is sent to the frontier,
i. e. to fulfil our treaty with Mexico by protecting its territory against the Indians
within the United States, the troops of the United States might justly be sent into
the heart of Mexico, and their presence, instead of being complained of, would be
* Authorized to advance to Nacogdoches, but he is ordered not to go beyond
that point.— -The instructions and authority given to General Gaines by the Department
of War, do not correspond with this statement. The authority is not restrictive, but
indefinitively latitudinous, see document (No. 24,) and several others that follow it.

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 143
the strongest evidence of fidelity to engagements and friendship to Mexico. Nor
could the good faith and friendship of the act be doubted if troops of the United
States were sent into the Mexican territory to prevent embodied Mexican Indians,
justly suspected of such design, from assailing the frontier Settlements of the United
States. With the full explanation of the design of the movement as far as Nacog
doches, if it should be made, which it is hoped will not be necessary, the President
did not apprehend that any room was left for dissatisfaction or complaint ; and he
thinks that the course Mr. Gorostiza has thought it his duty to pursue, is the result
of an apprehension of consequences that cannot ensue, if all the parties are just to
the designs and pretensions of each other. Mr. Gorostiza's protest obviously springs
from the idea that the advance of General Gaines is to be founded on a claim of terri
tory by the United States, and hence his anxiety to argue the question of right to
the possession of Nacogdoches and the territory in its vicinage. Contrary to his
wish, the President finds himself compelled to require the undersigned to remind
Mr. Gorostiza that Mexico is not in possession of the territory bordering on the
United States, wherever the true line may be. Whether the government ofMexico
will obtain and can maintain possession of it, are questions now at issue by the most
sanguinary arbitrament ; until they are decided, the undersigned understands Mr.
Gorostiza to maintain that the possession of Texas is the possession of Mexico, and
that any advance upon the territory claimed as a part of Texas by its self-constituted
authorities, is considered essentially, and in its effects, a positive violation of the
known territory ofMexico. The Mexican government must be aware, that portions
of the territory ever admitted to belong, as well as that claimed to belong to the
United States, is represented in the Texian government. The known territory of
the United States is then, now violated by Mexico, since the government of Mexico
is, upon the principle involved, responsible for this usurpation of a right over the
jurisdiction of the United States, and this attempt to limit the extent of their territo
rial possession. This fact, of itself, would justify an advance of General Gaines to
any point necessary to the vindication of the rights of the United States, or to retort
an injury upon Mexico (or Texas, which ever is responsible) "for the original wrong.
But the President has not designed to vindicate a right or retort a wrong in the orders
that have been given. He looks forward patiently to the period, which cannot be
far distant, when the territorial rights of the United States will, according to long
existing stipulations, be authoritatively designated and marked by competent and
trustworthy agents, so as to leave no room for further cavil and dispute ; and in the
meanwhile he desires to occupy no position by military force, which the circum
stances by which the General commanding the troops of the United States is sur
rounded, do not justify.
The undersigned is instructed further to reply to Mr. Gorostiza, that the claims
ofthe United States are founded upon the treaty of limits, and are to be maintained
by the treaty of limits. If the true demarcation according to that treaty has not
, been fully made known to Mexico, it is because there has been on the part of that
government a delay to proceed to the execution of that instrument. Questions
belonging to the duties of the commissioners and surveyors, could not be properly
presented or considered until they met to enter upon those duties. A correspondence
between the United states and Mexico, for the adoption of the treaty of limits made
between Spain and the United States, was no place to look for traces of the preten
sions of the two governments, founded on a construction of that instrument ; nOr
were they likely to be found in the correspondence for the additional article to pro
vide for earrying that treaty into effect. It could only be when in the course of
execution that tie rival pretensions of the parties and the conflicting constructions
could arise. To discuss them in advance, would have been useless, if not suspi
cious. It is not therefore surprising that Mr. Gorostiza should have risen from the
perusal of the correspondence to which he refers, without accurate knowledge of
the claims of the United States. The undersigned is constrained however, to
express his surprise at the apparent want of information on this subject, derivable
from other sources, in the Mexican Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo
tentiary. The indication in Mr. Butler's note of the 2Jst December, 1834, was of
itself sufficiently distinct to have elicited inquiry. If not made, it is presumed it was
because the allusion was understood. Whatever may have been done or omitted
prior to that time, it is certain that want of information on this point since Novem
ber last, cannot be complained of by the Mexican government. The undersigned
had the honour to give to the Mexican charge d'affaires, Mr. Castilloj in a conference
in that month, the most distinct intimation of the claims and expectations of the
government of the United States under the treaty of limits and the additional article,
a conference which the undersigned has supposed was the chief cause of the subse
quent extraordinary mission of Mr. Gorostiza to the United States. ¦

144 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I,
The undersigned is instructed by the president to decline any discussion at present
ofthe claims or pretensions of the United States to the territory in question. The
appropriate occasion for advancing them is approaching. The United States are pre
paring and will hasten to be ready to executes, perfect good faith the treaty according
to the second additional article lately agreed-upon, and they expect that Mexico will
be equally prompt. Whatever the United States cannot maintain by reason and facts,
according to a just construction of the treaty of limits will not be insisted upon. In
the meantime the undersigned is instructed to repeat in the most explicit terms, for the
satisfaction of the Mexican government, that the orders given to General Gaines,
were not given because the United States believed they had claims to the territory .
beyond Nacogdoches, nor with a view to assert, strengthen or maintain those claims,
but simply and exclusively to prevent consequences likely to grow out of the bloody
contest begun in that quarter, the end of which it is difficult to foresee. -
II— CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
No. 22.— Lewis Cass to Major- General E. P. Gaines, Memphis, Tennessee.
War Department, January 23, 1836.
Sir:— I am instructed by the President, to request that you would repair to some
proper position near the western frontier ofthe state of Louisiana, and there assume
the personal command of all the troops of the United States, who are or may be
employed in any part of the region adjoining the Mexican boundary. It is not the
object of this order to change at all the relations between yourself and the military
departments under your command, but to require your personal presence at a point
where public considerations demand the exercise of great discretion and experience.
An order will be issued, without delay, to the sixth regiment to proceed to Fort
Jesup, and this force, together with all the troops in the western part of Louisiana,
and in the country west of the Mississippi, and south ofthe Missouri rivers, will be
employed, as occasion may require, in carrying into effect the instructions herein
communicated to you.
The state of affairs in Texas calls for immediate measures on the part of the
government. It is the duty ofthe United States to remain entirely neutral, and to
cause their neutrality to be respected. It is possible that the course of operations
may induce one or the other ofthe contending parties to approach the boundary line,
with a view to cross it in arms. Should you find that the case, you will give notice
to the persons having tbe direction, that they will not be permitted to cross into
the territory of the United States: and if they attempt to do so by force, you will
resist them with the means at your disposal.
The thirty-third article of the treaty with Mexico, requires both the contracting
parties to prevent 'by. force, all hostilities and incursions on the part of the Indian
nations living within their respective boundaries, so that the United States of Ame
rica will not suffer their Indians to attack the citizens of the Mexican States,' &c.
The provisions of this article you will cause to be faithfully enforced, and the
various Indian agents, and officers of the Indian department in that region, will be
required to furnish you any information in their power in relation to this matter,
and to carry into effect any instructions you may give. You will make known to
the various Indian tribes inhabiting that part of the United States, the determination
ofthe government to prevent any hostile incursions into Texas, and you will call
upon the chiefs to inculcate upon all their people the necessity of carefully abstaining
from any violation ofthe above mentioned engagement, and you will not hesitate
to use the force at your disposal, for the purpose of preventing any such designs.
Should you be called upon by the civil authority, for any aid towards enforcing
the laws having relation to the neutral duties of the United States, you will render
such assistance as the laws prescribe.
You are requested to communicate freely with the district attorneys of both the
districts of Louisiana, on all points of law connected with the execution of the
instructions, and those officers will be desired to give you their opinion.
I will thank you to keep me advised of any occurrences in that quarter, which
it may be important for the government to know.

No. 23.— From Edmund P. Gaines, Major- General Commanding, to the Hon.
Lewis Cass, Secretary of War.
Head Quarters, Western Department, Baton Rouge, March 29, 1836.
Sir :— I have received, not until yesterday, an official copy of your letter of the
23d January last, by which I have the satisfaction to be informed that the President

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 145
of the United States has been pleased to direct my immediate attention to the west
ern frontier of the state of Louisiana, in order to preserve, if necessary, by force,
the neutrality of the United States.
In obedience to this order, I have availed myself of the very first steamboat con
veyance that offered, after the receipt of the order, to proceed to Baton Rouge, to
enable me to ascertain to what extent the arsenal there will furnish ordnance and
ordnance stores, for the prompt and efficient discharge of the duties assigned to me ;
duties which derive great importance from the recent accounts of the sanguinary
manner in which the Mexican forces seemed disposed to carry on the war against
our Texian neighbours. (See the accompanying newspapers.) Upon this point
I take leave to suggest whether it may not become necessary, in our own defence, to
speak to the contending belligerents in a language not to be misunderstood — a lan
guage requiring force and military supplies that shall be sufficient, if necessary, for
the protection of our western frontier, to check the savage operations of each of the
contending parties, who may forget to respect the laws of war and our neutral
rights, until Mexico and the United States shall, by an adjustment of existing diffi
culties, put an end to the scenes of barbarism which cannot but endanger the peace
and other vital interests of all the parties concerned ; scenes of barbarism disgraceful
to all who enact or tolerate them.
Should I find any disposition on the part of the Mexicans, or their red allies, to
menace our frontier, I cannot but deem it to be my duty, not only to hold the troops
of my command in readiness for action in defence of our own slender frontier, but to
anticipate their lawless movements, by crossing our supposed or imaginary national
boundary, and meeting the savage rharauders wherever to be found in, their approach
towards our frontier. Should I err in this view of the subject, in which, however,
I am convinced the laws of war and nations will bear me out, I shall be gratified to
receive the views ofthe President, to which I shall scrupulously adhere. But if it
be otherwise, if my own views are approved, I shall, in that event, have occasion
for some mounted volunteers, with other forces sufficient to make my nume
rical strength equal to the estimated strength of the contending parties, which is
now estimated at eight thousand to twelve thousand men, (8,000 to 12,000 men).
With a view to this possible contingency, I have already desired the fine legionary
brigade, commanded by General Planche of the city of New Orleans, to calculate on
the possibility of my having occasion to invite the legion to join me. To this sugges
tion, the officers of the legion, with the gallant General at their head, cordially
responded, that they would, whenever it might be deemed necessary, promptly
repair to the frontier, delighted with the opportunity of carrying into effect, the
wishes of the President, under whose immediate command, many of these officers
had distinguished themselves in the defence of their city and state, in the memorable
triumphs of December .18 14, and January, 1815.
All which is submitted for the information of the President of the United States.

No. 24. — From Lewis Cass to Major-Gen'l E. P. Gaines, Fort Jesup, Louisiana.
War Department, April 25, 1836.
Sir : — Your letter of the 29th ultimo was received at the Department a few days
since, but I have been prevented by indisposition from giving it an earlier answer.
I enclose for your information a copy of the memorandum dfan official conference,
between the Secretary of State and the Mexican minister, respecting the present
state of affairs upon tbe south-western borders of tbe United States. You will con
sider, as a part of your instructions, the declaration made by the Secretary of State,
and govern yourself accordingly.
It is not the wish ofthe President to take advantage of present circumstances, and
thereby obtain possession of any portion of the Mexican territory. Still, however,
the neutral duties, as well as the neutral rights, ofthe United States, will justify the
government in taking all necessary measures to prevent a violation of their territory.
Recent events induce the belief that the Mexican forces, as well as the inhabitants
of Texas, must be in a high state of excitement. In tbat portion of the country,
there are many Indian tribes whose habitual predisposition to engage in war, is well
known, as is, also, their reckless disregard of any ofthe claims of humanity . And from
information which has reached the government, there is too much reason to believe,
that efforts have been made to induce these Indians to join the Mexican troops. It
may, therefore, well be, as you anticipate, that these various contending parties may
approach our frontiers, and that the lives and property of our citizens may be placed
in jeopardy. Should this be the case, the president approves the suggestion you make.
and you are authorized to take such position on either side of the imaginary boundary

146 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. Part I.
line, as may be best for your defensive operations. You will, however, under no ,
circumstances, advance farther than old Fort Nacogdoches, which is within the limits
of the United States, as claimed by this government. But you will please to observe,
that this permission will not be exercised, unless you should find such an advanced
position necessary, to afford due security to the frontier, in consequence of the
unsettled state of things beyond you.
You will please to explain, fully, your views and instructions to any armed parties
who may be marching towards you, and should they continue to threaten your posi
tion, or to manifest a design of crossing into the United States, you are authorized to
attack and repel them.
I have this day, by direction of the president, requested the governors of Louisiana
and Mississippi, to call into service any militia force you may find necessary for the
protection ofthe frontiers. This force must be called out for a term of not less than
six months from the day they reach their rendezvous, to be discharged at any time
by the United States. The necessary means will be furnished to the officers of the
proper staff departments, for such supplies as may be required.
I need hardly say, that the duty committed to you is one of great importance, as
well as of great delicacy : and I do not doubt that it will be so executed as to pre
serve, on the one hand, the proper safety of the frontier, while, on the other hand, as
little cause of offence as possible will be given to any foreign authority. I have to
request that you would keep me regularly advised of your proceedings.

No. 25. — From Edmund P. Gaines, Major- General Commanding, to the Hon. Lewis
Cass, Secretary of War, Washington City.
Head Quarters, Western Department, Natchitoches, Louisiana, April 8, 1836.
Sir : — I arrived at this place on the fourth instant, since which time I have received
information from various sources, which leaves no doubt in my mind that a conside
rable portion of several tribes of Indians residing within our territorial limits have
gone over to the Texas side of the boundary line between the United States and
Mexico .
When to this fact is added the reports daily received at this place, that the army
of Mexico, commanded by the president, St. Anna, in person, is rapidly approaching
in this direction, through the centre of Texas ; that his plan is to put to death all he
finds in arms, and all who do not yield to his dictation ; that as soon as he comes to .
that section of country occupied by the Indians in question, on the waters of the
Trinidad, or Trinity river, they will unite with him in his war of extermination ;
and that no boundary line, save such as that they find properly guarded with an
efficient force, will be sufficient to arrest the sanguinary career of these savages, I
cannot but deem it my duty to prepare for action.
For this purpose I have requested of the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi
and Tennessee, each a- brigade, and of the state of Alabama, a battalion, making
altogether three brigades and one battalion ; the whole, or as many of them as prac
ticable, to be mounted ; to repair to this place as soon as may be convenient, by
battalions or companies.
This force, though not equal in numbers to that which it may be my duty to meet
in battle, will enable me at least to secure the confidence ofthe frontier settlements,
and keep them at home to plant their crops ; and, moreover, to enable me to inflict
summary punishment on such of the enemy by whom we are now menaced, as may
teach them to respect us, and in future to pay more regard than they seem now dis
posed to pay to our rights and treaties.
I shall, in the course of a few days, address to each one of the commanders of the "
armies in Texas, a note, calling their attention to their duties, and apprising them of
the course which I shall pursue towards them, in obedience to the orders of the
President of the United States, should they approach our boundary, or suffer the
Indians near them to commence hostilities. I have notified the governors of the
states, to whom I have applied for force, that, 'should the war in Texas be brought
to a close without the apprehended Indian hostilities,' the volunteers will, in that
case, 'be discharged forthwith.'

No. 26.— From Edmund P. Gaines, Major- General Commanding, to the Governors
of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.
Head Quarters, Western Department, Natchitoches, Louisiana, Apiil 8, 1836.
Sir :— The war in Texas, which has of late assumed a sanguinary and savage
»"*•, has induced the President of the United States to require a considerable aug-
ion of the regular force to be concentrated upon this section of the national

aspect
mentation

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 147"
frontier, to which my attention has been particularly directed. He deems it to be
the duty ofthe United States to remain entirely neutral, and to cause their neutrality
to be respected, peaceably if practicable ; forcibly if necesssary.
, The thirty-third article ot the treaty with Mexico requires both the contracting
parties to prevent, 'by force, all hostilities and incursions on the part of the Indian
nations living within their respective boundaries, so that the United States of Ame
rica will not suffer their Indians to attack the citizens of the Mexican States,' &c.
The provision of this article I am particularly instructed to cause to be enforced ;
and I have, pursuant to instructions, taken measures to make known to the various
Indian tribes inhabiting that part of the United States bordering on the Mexican
territory, on the waters of the Red and Arkansas rivers, the determination of the
government to prevent any hostile incursions into Texas ; and have directed that the
chiefs be called upon to inculcate upon their people the necessity of carefully ab
staining from any violation ofthe above mentioned engagements ; and I have, more
over informed them, pursuant to the orders of the President, that I will not hesitate
to use the force at my disposal for the purpose of preventing such designs.
I have learned from several of our citizens entitled to credit, that one Manuel
flores, a Mexican Spaniard, but for some years past a citizen of 'Spanish town,' in
this state, near the Sabine ridge, has been lately commissioned by persons professing
to act by the authority of the Mexican government, for the purpose of enticing the
Indians in the western prairies, on our side of the boundary line, to join them in the
war of extermination now raging in Texas ; and that, with this view, the agent
Manuel Flores, accompanied by a stranger, has lately passed up the valley ofthe
Red river, and has already produced excitement among the Caddo Indians ; and I
have very recently learned from several intelligent persons in Texas, and others who
have lately beenjthere, that many of our Indians have lately gone over to the Texas
side of the line.
These facts and circumstances present to me the important question, whether I
am to sit still and suffer these movements to be so far matured as to place the white
settlements on both sides of the line wholly within the power of these savages ; or
whether I ought not instantly to prepare the means for protecting the frontier settle
ments, and, if necessary, compelling the Indians to return to their own homes and
hunting grounds. I cannot but, decide in favour of the last alternative which
the question presents ; for nothing can be more evident, than that an Indian war
commencing on either side of the line will as surely extend to both sides, as that a
lighted quick match thrust into one side of a powder magazine will extend the
explosion to both sides.
But I am without mounted men, the only description of force which will enable
me to interpose an effectual check to the daily increasing danger which every intelli-
fent citizen with whom I have conversed upon the subject apprehends ; and appre-
endine as I do, that the loss of a month which it would require to submit the case
to the decision of the President of the United States, might prove fatal to a large
portion of the frontier inhabitants, I have determined to solicit of your excellency a
brigade, to consist of two or three battalions of volunteers, as many to be mounted
as practicable, to repair to this place as soon as may be convenient, by companies or
battalions; to receive their arms and camp equipage at New Orleans and Baton
Rouge. There may be eight or ten companies to a battalion.
Should the war in Texas be brought to a close without the apprehended Indian
hostilities, the volunteers will, in that case, be discharged forthwith.

, No. 27. — From Lewis Cass to Major- General Gaines, Fort Jessup, Louisiana.
War Department, May 4, 1836.
Sir : — I have received your letter ofthe 8th ultimo, and in answer, have to inform
you that the President will sanction the employment -of whatever force may be
necessary to protect the western frontier ofthe United States from hostile incursions..
This department has addressed the governors of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi,
Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama, requesting them to call into service such militia
force as you may find necessary in carrying into effect the instructions heretofore
. given to you. The theatre of operations is so distant from the seat of government,
that much must be entrusted to your discretion. The two great objects you have to
attain are, first, the protection of the frontiers ; and secondly, as strict a performance
of the neutral duties of the United States, as the great object of self defence will
permit. You will take care and do no act which can give just cause of offence to
any other government ; and on the other hand, you will not permit the frontiers to be
invaded by any forces whatever. I have to request that the militia you may call out,

148 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Parti.
may not be more numerous than the exigencies shall seem to require. They ought
to be called into service for six months, if practicable, to be disbanded whenever not
wanted. And you will take care that all due economy is preserved, as well in your
disbursements, as in the preservation and accountability of the public property. It
is very necessary that you should communicate freely to the commanding officers of
any military parties who may approach the frontiers, and inform them of the nature
of your orders. You will state to them, that while you have been ordered to th-t
quarter with a view to the execution of the neutral obligations of the United States,
you have also been instructed to defend their territory from any invasion whatever ;
and that this duty will be executed under any circumstances that may happen. You
will also remonstrate against the employment of any of the Indians. Although the
dictates of humanity forbid the use of this species of force, which cannot be restrained,
yet the right of the United States to remonstrate against its service, rests upon other
grounds. From the habits and dispositions of the Indians, it is well known that the
fower employing them cannot restrain them within the legitimate rules of warfare.
f they approach the frontiers, they will pay no regard to a mere imaginary line, but
will carry on their depredations and massacres wnerever inhabitants can be found,
and where there is no force to oppose them. It is altogether idle to expect, that in
such a state of things, the frontier settlements of the United States, would not be
exposed to these calamities. Whoever calls the Indians into service, and induces
them to approach our border, cannot but be aware of the consequences that must
ensue. All this you will represent to the proper officers, and you will use your best
exertions to keep such a force from marching towards your position, and if they do
so, to repel and disperse it.
No. 28. — From Lewis Cass to His Excellency, N. Cannon, Governor of Tennessee,
Nashville, Tennessee. War Department, May 4, 1836.
Sir : — Major- General Gaines, to whom the command of the western border of
Louisiana has been assigned, has notified this Department that he has called upon
your Excellency for a brigade of militia, the whole, or as many of them as practi
cable to be mounted.
I am instructed by the President to request your Excellency, to call into the ser
vice of the United States, the number of militia which have been or may be required
by General Gaines, to serve not less than three months after their arrival at their
place of rendezvous, unless sooner discharged.

No. 29. — From N. Cannon, to the Honourable Lewis Cass, Secretary of War.
Executive Office, Nashville, April 28, 1836.*
Sir : — The enclosed is a copy of a communication which I have just received
from General Edmund P. Gaines, who holds the command of the western division
of the United States. And I have felt it my duty to take measures forthwith, to
raise and forward the brigade of volunteers he requires, as speedily as possible, and
feel very little doubt, that however inauspicious the season of the year_ may be,
when our young men are generally closely engaged in their crops, as well as the
horses, but in the course of a few days, or two weeks at furthest, there will be
assembled here, or at such point as may be designated, a respectable mounted force,
if not the whole brigade required, as the feelings of the people seem to be alive
•Nashville, April 28, 1836. — The reader will make hia own contrast of these
views of Governor Cannon, of Tennessee, with those of Governor White, of Louisiana,
as given in the following letter, of General Macomb, (No. 30.) Governor W. deserves
great credit for the independent spirit with which he dares to express the truth, though
contrary to the forced hypothesis and interested views of most of the public authorities
in the entire region of the West and South-west. This rational, just, and energetic
stand taken by the Governor of the state bordering upon Texas, viewed in connection
with the recently changed condition of affairs in Texas— the probability of another attack
from the Mexican army having vanished since the battle of San Jacinto, and General
Jackson having just received a communication from their captive president, General
Santa Anna, with proposals of pacification for Texas— all, together will sufficiently account
for the readiness with which the whole of this formidable military movement came to
the right-about, as shown by the communication (No. 31,) from the Secretary of State,
to the Mexican Minister, with General Jackson's letter enclosed. But even this was
another exploit of diplomacy, as to the avowed actions of the government ; for the recruit
ing, and other military preparations, still progressed among our citizens.

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 149 '
to their duty of entering the service of the United States, as required by this com
munication, which I have hastened to lay befoie you, as well as to inform you of
the course I am pursuing, in order'that it may be submitted to the President of the
United States, and his- views ascertained as speedily as may be convenient in rela
tion thereto. Despatch seems to be important, and the mode and means of trans
porting these volunteers to Natchitoches, the head quarters of General Gaines, is a
matter, it seems to me, worthy of some consideration. By water, with the aid of
steamboats, to a certain number of flat boats, necessary to carry the horses, I have
thought would be most expeditious. In the event the Cumberland should be too
low, they should embark at Randolph or Memphis, and go as far up Red river as to
enable them to obtain a land passage to their destination. At this time the Missis
sippi is unusually high so as to inundate a large portion of the country on the west
side, which circumstance, renders a passage by land very difficult. Hence, at pre
sent, I am inclined to the opinion that their transportation by water should be pre
ferred. I have required the volunteers to engage in the service for the period of
six months, unless sooner discharged. To furnish themselves with horses and
clothing ; each company to elect their own officers ; each regiment its colonels and
majors, and the brigade, in the event a whole brigade should assemble, to elect their
brigadier -general. It is expected that these volunteers will offer themselves, and be
received from every section of the state, from eastto west. Hence, some expenses
must be incurred in embodying them before they leave the state, as well as trans
porting them to the head quarters of General Gaines; in relation to which, as well
as other matters touching the requisition made by the commanding-general on me,
and the course which I am now earnestly pursuing, for the purpose of promoting the
service of our country, I shall feel much anxiety to learn, as fully as practicable, the
views of your Department of the General Government ; also the course required of
me, in furnishing the transportation and subsistence to said volunteers that will
be necessary, to any given point, or to their destination, as you may deem expedient.
No. 30. — From Alex. Macomb, Major-General Commander-in-chief, to Hon. Lewis
Cass, Secretary of War. New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25, 1836.
Sir :— I arrived here the day before yesterday. It was not long after my arrival
that I had the honour of seeing his excellency, the governor of the state, and learned
from him that General Gaines had made a requisition On him for a brigade of volun
teers, partly to be mounted and partly on foot. This force the General deemed
necessary to be employed in checking the Caddo Indians, whom, he had been
informed, were about entering Texas, to act against the citizens of that state under
the auspices of the Mexican authorities. The governor, examining the laws in
reference to this call of General Gaines, conceived that he was not authorized by the
laws of Louisiana, or those of the United States, to furnish the force called for; nor
did he, from the information he had obtained, believe it necessary to send to the
frontiers of the state any troops, as the country was not invaded, nor likely, in his
opinion, to be invaded ; and further, was impressed with a belief that it was a scheme
of those interested in the Texian speculations, who had been instrumental in making
General Gaines believe that the Mexican authorities were tampering with the Indians
within our boundaries, and at the same time exciting, by false representations here,
the sympathies of the people in favour of the Texians, with a view of inducing the
authorities ofthe United States to lend their aid in raising in this city a force com
posed of interested persons, which force should move to the Texian frontiers, under
the call of General Gaines, and afterwards, under false pretensions, actually march
into Texas and take part in the war now raging between the Texians and the
government of Mexico ; and all this at the expense of the United States, and conse
quently with the implied sanction ofthe government. Thus giving to the people of
Texas the hope of relying on the government ofthe United States for their protection
and support, and to the government of Mexico a positive evidence that the United
States were actually engaged, contrary to the treaty stipulations, in a war against
that government. . -
If I understand the instructions of General Gaines, as communicated to him before
I left Washington, it was his duty to see that the treaty stipulations with Mexico were
fulfilled ; and further,, that, as it regarded the contending parties, to preserve a perfect
I met here Colonel Darlington, who was formerly in the army, and who gave me
the information which you will' find in the enclosed printed paper, marked A. ; He
is of the opinion that the Caddo Indians cannot be concerned in attacking the Texians,
and that they are but few in number and quite insignificant.
20

150 EIGHT, YEARS IN WASHINGTON. , [Parti.
General Gaines has at his disposal the 3d, 6th, and 7th regiments of infantry, and
the whole of the regiment of dragoons, which I should think sufficient, if he will
properly dispose of them, to enable him to fulfil bis instructions without calling for
the brigade of volunteers from Louisiana.
From what I can discover, it appears to me that it would be better to extend our
military establishment at once to 20,000 men instead of 10,000, as it has been proposed.
The conduct of the Seminoles will have its influence with the other nations and
tribes, and knowing the restlessness of the Indians, and their proneness to war, I am
persuaded it will be most prudent as well as most economical to raise and keep up
at once a force capable of effecting promptly any course proper to be pursued towards
the Indians or blacks, in case of insurrection, and at the same time to defend the
maritime frontier against foreign attack.
No. 31— Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Gorostiza. Washington, August 31, 1836.
The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, referring to the notes
addressed to the department by Mr. Gorostiza, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary of the Mexican Republic, on the 28th ult. and 4th inst. relative to
the instructions given to General Gaines for the defence of the frontier between the
United States and Texas, has now the honour to transmit a copy of a letter from
the President of the United States to the Governor of Tennessee, dated on the 6th
inst. disapproving the requisition of General Gaines for a militia force. It is not
doubted that it will be satisfactory to Mr. Gorostiza and to the Mexican government
The undersigned requests that Mr. Gorostiza will transmit to his government a
copy of the President's letter, which it is hoped will render unnecessary any other
answer to Mr. Gorostiza's two notes above mentioned.
[Enclosure.] The President of the United States to the Governor of Tennessee. .
Hermitage, August 6, 1836.
Sir : — I have received your letters of the 29th ult. and the 4th instant, accom
panied by the copies of communications which were addressed to yoa on the 4th ef
May and 25th of July by the secretary of war, and also accompanied by your pro
clamation of the 20th, founded on the requisition made by General Gaines, bearing
date the 28th of June last. The documents referred to in the communication to
you of the 25th ult. from the War Department, have not yet been received.
The obligations of our treaty with Mexico, as well as the general principles which
govern our intercourse with foreign powers, require us to maintain a strict nentrality
in the contest which now agitates a part of that republic. So long as Mexico fulfils
her 'duties to us as they are defined by the treaty, and violates none of the rights
which are secured by it to our citizens, any act on the part of the government of
the United States which would tend to foster a spirit of resistance to her govern
ment and laws, whatever may be their character or form, when administered
within her own limits and jurisdiction, would be unauthorized and highly improper.
A scrupulous sense of these obligations has prevented me thus far from noing any
thing which can authorize the suspicion that our government is unmindful of them,
and I hope to be equally cautious and circumspect in all my future conduct. It is
in reference to these obligations that the requisition of General Gaines in the present
instance must be considered ; and unless there is a stronger necessity for it, should
not be sanctioned. Should this necessity not be manifest, when it is well known
that the disposition to befriend the Texians is a common feeling with the citizens of
the United States, it is obvious that that requisition may furnish a reason to Mexico
for supposing that the government of the United States may be induced by inade
quate causes to overstep the lines of the neutrality which it professes lo maintain.
Before I left Washington General Gaines intimated to the Department of War
that some indications of hostilities from the Indians on our western frontier had been
made, and that ifit became necessary he should make a call for the militia. He had
also informed the department of his ill health, and asked for a furlough to enable
him to visit the White Sulphur Springs. I directed the secretary of war to grant
him the furlough, and to inform him of the apportionment which had been made of
the 10,000 militia under the volunteer act, and if the emergency should arise which
would make it necessary to increase the force under his command, that a thousand
volunteers in Arkansas, and another in Missouri, raised agreeably to this act, would
be enrolled and held ready for the service.
This force, aided by the portions of the dragoon regiments that would be stationed
in that quarter, and those of the regular army already there, was deemed amply
sufficient for the protection of the frontier near the Indians referred to. There are

Chap. IV.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 151
no reasons set forth in the requisition which the General has since made upon you,
tb justify the belief that the force above enumerated will be insufficient, and I cannot
therefore sanction it at the present time. To sanction that requisition for fhe
reasons which accompany it, would warrant the belief that it was done to aid Texas,
and not from a desire to prevent an infringement of our territorial or national rights.
,1 deeply regret that .the Tennessee volunteers, whose prowess and patriotism are
displayed so promptly on all occasions that threaten the peace or safety of their
beloved country, have been called out on this occasion without proper consideration.
_They can for the present only be mustered into the service and discharged. If
there are funds appropriated out of which they can be paid, an order to this effect
will be given.
The ten thousand volunteers authorized under the late act of Congress are intended
for one year's service, and must be employed to meet all necessary calls for the
defence of our frontier borders. Should the occasion arise for a greater number on
the western frontier, the call will be made on Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.
There is, however, no information to justify the apprehension of hostilities to any
serious extent from the western Indians. Should a necessity arise, the brigade from
East Tennessee will be ordered to the western frontier as soon as their services can
be dispensed with where they are now employed.
I would barely add further, that the authority given you by the order of the 4th
of May, having been satisfied, by yielding to the requisition of General Gaines, a
new authority from the Department of War was necessary to authorize you to
comply with that of the 28th of June.
The government of the United States having adopted, in regard to Mexico and
Texas, the same rule of neutrality which had been observed in all similar cases
before, it was not to have been expected that General Gaines should have based his
'requisition for additional military force on reasons plainly inconsistent with the
obligations of that rule. Should Mexico insult our national' flag, invade our territory,
or interrupt our citizens in the lawful pursuits which are guaranteed to them by the
treaty, then the government will promptly repel the insult, and take speedy repara
tion for the injury. But it does not seem that offences of this character have been
committed by Mexico, or were believed to have been by General Gaines.
lam, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ANDREW JACKSON.
His Excellency, N. Cannon, Governor of Tennessee.

No. 32. — Mr. Gorostiza to Mr. Forsyth. Philadelphia, September 3, 1836.
The undersigned was so immediately convinced of the importance of the docu
ment to which the Secretary of State refers in his note of the 31st of August, that
he had already, on the 19th of that month, transmitted a copy of it to his govern
ment. By this means, its contents will soon be known in Mexico, and the govern
ment of the undersigned may then be enabled' to estimate fully the purity of the
inteniational doctrine there laid down by the President ofthe United States, and the
justice with which he applies this doctrine in the present emergency. Even with
out this [exposition of international doctrine,] the mere fact of the President having
disapproved the requisition of General Gaines, would, of itself suffice, in the opinion
ofthe undersigned, to cause its announcement to be received with peculiar satisfac
tion in Mexico, as the assembling of so many American troops on the very frontier
of Texas, although it would be perfectly legal so long as confined to the known
limits of the United States, could not, but in time, occasion displeasure and alarm
with regard to the possible consequences. Ofthe latter, none would have been more
probable than the organization of a system of progressive desertion, in favour of the
Texians, and by means of their agents. Who can deny the possibility of such a
case if he for a moment consider the excitement of the period, and the opportunity
afforded by localities ? But, although the spirit and the words of the President's
letter to the governor of Tennessee be praiseworthy, and may be attended with
beneficial effects with regard to the future maintenance of a position and strict neu
trality on the part of the United States, during the disturbances in Texas, yet the
undersigned regrets exceedingly that he must dissent from the opinion expressed by
Mr. Forsyth at the end of his said note of the 31st ultimo. For, in order that the
Department of State should not consider it necessary to answer the notes of the under
signed dated the 28th of July, and the 4th of August, there must be some paragraph
in the said letter of the President's which would serve as a reply to the question
urged in those notes ; and the undersigned, though he was anxious to find such a
paragraph, has been unable to do so. It is true that the President there disapproves
the requisition made by General Gaines on the 28th of June, and of the reasons on

152 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I-
which it was based ; and, that he likewise disapproves the conduct of the Governor
of Tennessee, in considering the order of the War Department ofthe 4th of May still
in force. But is it also to be understood that the President withdraws, or will with
draw, from General Gaines, the authorization which he had given him on the 25th
of April, and had confirmed on the 11th of July, to advance with his troops as far as
Nacogdoches ? If Mr. Forsyth can answer the undersigned in the affirmative, he
will be fully satisfied, and will, in fact, acknowledge that there is no need of Mr.
Forsyth's again occupying himself witb those notes.
The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to renew to the honourable Mr.
John Forsyth, secretary of state of these United States, the assurances of his distin
guished consideration.
No. 33.— Mr. Gorostiza to Mr. Forsyth. Philadelphia, September 9, 1836.
The undersigned, from what he reads in various newspapers, has cause to fear that
General Dunlap is engaged in enlisting a considerable number of volunteers in Ten
nessee, who are to march to Texas under his orders. The Vicksburg Register goes
so far as to state, that their number already amounts to three thousand, and that they
are all armed, having been previously intended for the war in Florida. It is like
wise added, that they are on the eve of departure for that destination. Although the
undersigned believes that this scandrJous proceeding, if certain, will have attracted
the attention of the district attorney of that district, he nevertheless thinks proper to
denounce it to the honourable John Forsyth, secretary of state .of these United
States, in order that it may be verified, opposed, and chastised according to the laws.
The undersigned has no doubt that Mr. Forsyth will act with the utmost prompti--
tude in an affair which is of such magnitude, and which, if prosecuted to tbe end
proposed, will be so entirely at variance with the principles of neutrality adopted by
the government of these United States.
The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to the honourable John
Forsyth, the secretary of state of these United States, the assurances of his most
distinguished consideration.
The reader will he astonished to learn that the foregoing
extracts constitute only a small part of this class of documents.
But the whole of them being of the same tenour and import,
though in their winding up perhaps more aggravated than those
here detailed, I will not draw further upon them, as the above
will suffice to establish the character of 'duplicity and hostility'
charged in another quarter upon the Jacksonian diplomacy to
wards Mexico. Indeed these specimens exhibit the most signal
evidences of the over-reaching skill of an unrivalled master in the
duplicity of Porsyth-Jackson-Van-Btjren diplomacy which
even puts machiavelism itself to the blush. So perfect was its
success for the time upon the sagacious and erudite mind of the
Mexican Minister, that he was induced by a sensitive heart over
flowing with the illusory gleam of better neighbourship, to ex
press in his last quoted letter to Mr. Forsyth referring to that of
Gen'l Jackson to the governor of Tennessee, his self-gratulations
that his government would now be 'enabled to estimate fully the
purity of the international doctrine there laid down by the Presi
dent of the United States, and the justice with which he applies
this doctrine to the present emergency.' 'Even without this,' he
adds, 'the mere fact of the president's having disapproved the
requisition of General Gaines, would of itself suffice, in the
opinion of the undersigned,' &c. This was only a fell delusion
practised upon the '¦unpractised' mind of the minister. But the
gratification of Mr. Gorostiza was so great at this seeming disap
probation of General Gaines' requisition and the prospect of its

Chap. V.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 153
being receded from in good faith, that he seemed even inclined
to over-look the fact that these requisitions on the neighbouring
states, with the authority to advance into the Mexican territory,
had been conveyed to General Gaines by the letter of the Secre
tary of War ofthe 25th of April, 1836, under the special order of
the president. The entire circumvention of the highly talented
but 'unpractised' Mexican Minister, by the combined arts and
cunning of General Jackson and his ministers of State and War,
reminds me of nothing half so forcibly, as ofthe case of a young
collegiate, who, on his graduation in the sciences, and attaining
to years of reputed maturity, just commencing the world with
a large patrimony, falls into the hands of an association of gentle
men-sharpers and black-legs, who fleece him out of his posses
sions with such elegant and practised adroitness as to impress
him with the deepest sense of their gentlemanly conduct in the
whole affair ; for which, he, in the courtly characteristic good
breeding of his ingenuous Ufe, tenders them his most gracious
acknowledgments, with a perfect resignation to the loss of his
money, while he felt that his honour was safe; and was doubly
cheated into the same belief of his circumventors ! !

CHAPTER V.
Of the analogy between the several conspiracies of citizens of the
United States, to make conquests of friendly neighbouring powers,
and particularly of the two conspiracies against Mexico.
From the reflections and the documentary evidences exhibited
in the foregoing chapter, the obvious conclusion is, that General
Jackson must have been actuated by some extraordinary secret
impulses connected with the inception and prosecution of; the
nefarious, wicked, and piratical enterprise of General Houston
against the integrity of the Mexican dominions. A more search
ing analysis of the past, going back as far as Burr's conspiracy,
will probably throw some further light upon this aspect of the
matter in hand. There is one prominent transaction, or rather
a series of connected passages in General Jackson's prime of life,
associated with that conspiracy, which upon proper scrutiny
may reveal as clearly and conclusively as circumstantial and
constructive evidence can do, the real cause of his mysterious
forbearance, pertinacious ignorance, and double diplomacy, to
stave off any recognition of the truth in relation to this latter
conspiracy, until its ends should be accomplished, let come
whatever revelations time might bring to light concerning it,
afterwards.

154 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
I have already adverted to the fact of General Jackson's fami
liarity with all the plans of Burr's conspiracy, and at the proba
bility of his connivance at the Houston enterprise as an emana
tion of that conspiracy. But the more I turn over and re-exa
mine this subject in all its parts, the more firmly am I convinced
not only that it constitutes part and parcel of the original con
spiracy of Burr, but that General Jackson was both a prominent
participator in the first, and the principal reviver of it in that of
Houston, who was only the keen and welf-tempered instrument
to execute the design.
I am sensible that the bare superficial contemplation of this
aspect of the subject is sufficient to fill the mind of every lover
of his country and his country's honour, with the mortifying
reflection, that this infant and promising republic, ere she has
well numbered three score and two years of her national exis
tence, has already seen four attempts of the restless portion of
her citizens to despoil the territorial dominions, or revolutionize
and subvert the governments of her immediate neighbours, sub
sisting treaties of peace and amity between them ; and each
instance more or less implicating the government of the United
States, in some shape or other, through her officers of every
grade, up to the supreme Executive himself*
But few of the present generation have any knowledge of the
scheme of Miranda and his confederates, fitted out in New York
in the fall of 1805, against certain Spanish provinces of South
America, to be fitted out in ports of the U. States, and to rendez
vous at Caraccas. Not many more have a correct knowledge of
the double conspiracy of Aaron Burr and his confederates against
Mexico and the integrity of this Union, to rendezvous on the
Mississippi, which, in all probability derived the nucleus or germ
of its conception from that of Miranda. Still, more marvellous to
tell, there are hardly a dozen persons, who, though living in the
same era, and eye-witnesses of many of the facts in the case,
will acknowledge any acquaintance with the origin and mode of
conducting the more recent and successful enterprise of General
Houston and his confederates, to rendezvous on the same waters
clearly formed on the model of that of Aaron Burr, embracing
the same objects, and with but little variation from it, except
what was dictated by his adverse experience : While that of Bill
Johnson and others, exciting the Canadians to rebellion, has
been favoured with the extraordinary consternation of the exe
cutive, and has stimulated the most active military movements
* More or less implicating the government and its officers up to the supreme Executive
himself— These imputations, though falsely alleged at first, in order to favour the
designs of the conspirators, were verified at last, in the person of one of the original
confederates, who, having learnt by the experience of former adventures, the great
accession of strength such an impression imparts to such enterprises, and having
reached the platform of Archimedes, in this regard, resolved to give the newly
modelled scheme of Houston, all the play that Executive connivance could afford it,
and if that should not suffice, to add force to fraud !

Chap. V.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 155
on that frontier, with a prodigal increase of the army, for an
emergency that could not endure a month— all of which farcical
displays, attracting general public notoriety, have not, indeed,
been perpetrated so much in honour of the contemptible charac
ter of this mad project, as to propitiate the amicable relations and
conciliate the possible umbrage of the formidable power against
which a handful of our ambitious malcontents were tilting.
The consolation which we have, as a nation, under the unjust
tendency of these grimaces for a time to inflict a stain on our
national honour, is, that history will show they are not a fair
expression of the spirit of the nation in the aggregate republican
character of our people, since they have heretofore, and are ever
destined continually to receive the decisive rebuke of public sen
timent, even when abetted by the connivance of the most exalt
ed organ of their government. Or, may a future administration
make shorter work of its expurgation, by the application of Mr.
Yan Buren's own rule, that each succeeding administration may
denounce and repudiate the national disgrace incurred by its
predecessor. Of these conspiracies projected or patronized by the unworthy
or the misguided and deluded portion of our citizens, I shall
necessarily confine myself to a brief notice of that of Aaron
Burr,* as the prototype of the Houston conspiracy; which I
,r *I SHALL NECESSARILY CONFINE MYSELF TO A BRIEF NOTICE OF THAT OF AARON
Burr. — It will nevertheless be satisfactory to most readers, to see subjoined here, in the
form of a note, the rapid sketch and just commentary, equally applicable to all those
marauding schemes, as is given in the first of a series of letters, being 'the history of
General Miranda's expedition, by a gentlemen, who was an officer under that General,
to his friend in the United States.' — Boston, 1809, 1 vol. 12mo. viz •.
Letter I. — 'Commencement qf the Expedition — Ship and Commander — Author's1
views and expectations in joining JVIiranda — Supposed destination — Reasons for
believing the enterprise sanctioned by the government of the United States.'
'Ship Leander, at sea, February 5, 1806.
'Dear Friend : — Public rumour has probably given you some information of a mys
terious expedition, said to be fitting out in New, York under the auspices of a celebrated
character. I have been persuaded by my friend. Mr. *#***, to commit myself to the
chances of an enterprise, at once extraordinary and dangerous 3 and to leave my own
country once more, in hope of honour and its rewards. You may, perhaps, fear that I
have been seduced by the glitter of fair promises, or the allurements of novelty ; or prompt
ed by a spirit of adventure, to speculate too largely on the favours of fortune. It may
be so ; but I have deliberated much on the subject, and think I am justified in the reso
lution I have taken. I confess, however, that in forming it, the opinion of men whose
fortunes and characters are staked on the issue, had great authority.' — 'We have been out
three days, the wind blowing hard all the time, till within two hours.
'! begin my epistolary journal by informing you, that the Leander is a ship of about
two hundred tons burthen, commanded by Captain Thomas Lewis, who is reputed to be
* man of intrepidity, and a thorough master of his profession.' — 'There are nearly two
hundred souls on board.' — 'You naturally inquire what is the destination of this ship ?
What do we propose, and whither are we going ? I am unable to give a positive answer
to either of these questions ; for only a few confidential persons concerned are let into
the secret ; nor do I know the extent of that knowledge relating to it, that possibly
might be obtained, were I to make it my business to importune for particular informa
tion. I deem it proper at this moment to suffer my curiosity to remain unsatisfied till
the period arrives, when inquiry will not be considered impertinent, or an exposure of our
plans and intentions impolitic. This, I apprehend, will shortly be the case. I, for one,
and most others, have embarked upon general information that more shall be disclosed
tt a suitable season. We rely much on our leader and on those who have recommended

156 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Parti.
shall show by a parallel of the prominent incidents of each, and
the identity of individuals connected with both, that they have
the same affinity to each other as cause and effect, if they are
not in reality as identical as one and the same plot postponed
ahd revived.
The following abstract of the case of Aaron Burr, condensed
from Hening and Munford's report of his trial, will prepare the
public mind to lay a proper estimate on the parallel I shall give
of that which was afterwards formed upon its model-— whereof
the diplomacy, too, was carried on in nearly the self-same de
ciphered cryptography, sealed with the sacred obligation of oaths
of secrecy, sacrilegiously perverted to the concealment of vile
purposes, in lieu of their ordinary legitimate charge 'to tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth' — and, more
over, 'to be faithful to the laws and the constitution,' viz :
him to our confidence. We know enough not to be angry with ourselves for joining the
undertaking. We imagine and conjecture more. Generally, I can say we are engaged
in an expedition to some part of the Spanish dominions, probably, in South America,
with a view to assist the inhabitants in throwing off the oppressive yoke of the parent
country, and establish a government for themselves, upon which we are told by our
General, they have resolved ; and for which, he says, they are entirely disposed and
prepared. For this purpose, the Leander was engaged and fitted out, as we understand,
by the credit and funds of Don Francisco de Miranda, the commander-in-chief of the
expedition. The vessel is laden with arms of various descriptions, ammunition, clothing|r'r
and every kind of military equipage necessary for a campaign. A number of Americans, '
some of them gentlemen and persons of good standing in society, though, mostly I believe,
of crooked fortunes, have embarked. Few of us before entering the ship, saw our leader,
but had our communication with those who were his acknowledged agents and ad
vocates.' — 'Do you ask, whether our taking a part in this enterprise consists with our
relation to our country, or with moral right, to say nothing of common discretion ? t
hope it is inconsistent with neither. I will not say that there are not some of our com
panions desperate or base enough to disregard these weighty considerations. Perhaps
it is matter of indifference to many of the volunteers in what cause they act, if it do
but proipise them an opportunity of distinguishing themselves by martial achievements,
and afford a chance qf acquiring some portion qf the riches supposed to be in the hands
qf unworthy possessors in the south. By the issue of this undertaking they can
hardly lose, and may gain. But tbe greater number of those who can look for high
places, or large emoluments, are not desperadoes, though they are adventurers! and
although they are willing from situation or temper, to try a bold and hazardous scheme,
it would be illiberal as well as unjust,-to infer that they would act an unprincipled or
dishonourable part ! !
'We are encouraged in the belief that our government [the United States] has given
its implied sanction to this expedition, and this circumstance, taken in connection 'With
the official language of the President, and the known sentiments of some of the political
party that now prevails, leads us to suppose that our government expects or intends, very
soon, explicitly to authorize the use of force against Spain. Under such impressions, we
think we shall not be called to account as violating the pacific relations qf the United
States. The project of appearing for the relief of the oppressed, under the banner of a
celebrated chief, who is said to be their greatest friend and favourite ; of lending- our assis
tance to found an independent state, in extensive, fertile, and populous regions, where the
spirit of the people is crushed, and the resources of nature are kept down by a vile color
nial policy, presents itself to our imaginations and hearts in the most attractive light, and
makes us rejoice that it has fallen to our lot, to attempt the deliverance of a large portion
of our fellow men. We flatter ourselves it is honourable and humane to be thus engaged :
still I am sensible that nothing short qf complete success will insure such a design the
approbation of the mass qf mankind. If we succeed, our fame will take care
of itself. To quiet the revoltings of our humanity, and satisfy us that we are not
going upon cruel work, we are told that a revolution can take place in the country pro
posed, with little violence, and perhaps, without the loss of much blood !' — 'It is also
intimated, that we shall receive, as far as occasion shall require, the countenance and
co-operation of the British ! After all, it must be confessed, we may be 'plucking a
thousand dangers on our heads ;' but we presume our conductor knows what he is doing,
and will lead us to great exploits and splendid fortunes '. !'

Ghap. V.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 157
•At a Circuit Court Of the United States, held at Richmond, Virginia, May term,
(cpmmencing the 22d, May,) 1807, John Marshall, Chief Justice, and Cyrus Griffin,
District Judge, on the bench.'*
[After tedious proceedings according to form, and adjournments from day to day.]
'On Wednesday, June 24th, 1807, the grand jury (of which John Randolph was
foreman) appeared in court, and presented —
'An indictment against Aaron Burr for treason, a true bill.' Also,
'An indictment against Aaron Burr for a misdemeanour, a true bill.'
Here is a brief abstract of the testimony of General Eaton and of Commodore
Truxton, with a few extracts of documents connected with the subject.
[General Eaton, a witness against the accused, saidt] —
'Concerning certain transactions said to have happened at Blannerhasset's Islabd,
[alleged in the indictment,] I know nothing. Concerning Col. Burr's expressions,
and his treasonable intentions, I know much; and it is to these, my evidence relates.'
'Mr. Martin interrupted the witness, and asked the court whether the witness
could go into evidence of any transactions distinct from that stated [in the indict
ment] to have taken place at Blanrierhassett's Island ?'
'The Chief Justice said, 'that any proof of intention formed before the act
itself, irrelevant to that act, rnay be admitted. One Witness may prove the intention
at one time, and another witness may prove it at another time, so as to prove the
Ikimtinuance of the intention throughout the whole transaction; and therefore, proof
of very remote intentions may be relevant to this particular act.'
'General Eaton continued.— 'During the winter of 1805-6, at the city of Wash
ington, Colonel Burr signified to me, that he was organizing a secret expedition, to
be°moved against the Spanish provinces on the south-west frontier of the United
States. I understood, under the authority of the general government. * *
I Under impressions like these, [that war with Spam was inevitable,] I did engage
to embark in the enterprise, and did pledge my faith to Colonel Burr. * . . *
At length, from certain indistinct impressions and inuendoes, I admitted a suspicion
that Colonel Burr had other projects. He used strong expressions of reproach against
the administration of the general government ; accused them of want of character,
want of energy, and want of gratitude. He seemed desirous of irritating my resent
ment by reiterating certain injurious stricture's cast upon me on the floor of Congress
on account of certain transactions on the coast of Africa, and by dilating on the inju
ries which I had sustained from the delays [of the government] in adjusting my
account for moneys advanced for the United States, (for maintaining the war with
Tripoli, while I was consul at Tunis ; ) and talked of pointing out to me modes of
honourable indemnity. % * * I listened to Colonel Burr's mode of indemnity, (the
permanent rank and emolument to be assigned to me, in the full confidence that he,
should erect a government, of which he was to be the chief : which was so' often and
so strongly repeated, that I could not misunderstand him;§) and, as I had by this
time begun to suspect that the military expedition he had on foot was unlawful, I
permitted him to believe myself resigned to his influence, that I might understand the
extent and motive of his arrangements. Colonel Burr now laid open his project of
revolutionizing the territory west of the Alleghany, establishing an independent
empire there, New Orleans to be the capital, and he himself to be chief; organizing
a military force on the waters of the Mississippi, and carrying conquest to
' Mexico. || * * I was thoroughly convinced that such a project was already so
far organized as to be dangerous, and that it would require an effort to suppress it.
For, in addition to positive assurances that Colonel Burr had, of assistance and co
operation, he said that the vast extent of territory of the United States beyond the
mountains, which offered to adventurers, together with a view of the mines of Mexi
co, Would bring adherents to him from all quarters of the Union. The situation
'which these communications and the impressions they made upon me, placed me in,
was peculiarly delicate. I had no overt act to produce against Colonel Burr. He
had given me nothing on paper; nor did I know of any person in the vicinity who
had received similar communications, and whose testimony might support mine.
He had mentioned to me none' as principally and directly engaged with him, but
' (Jeneral Wilkinson, Mr. Alston, (his son-in-law,) andEphraim Kibby.1T MT.
» Hening and Munford's report of the trial, page G. || Ibid, page 29.
' • t Ibid, page 26. % Ibid, page 28. § Ibid, page 34 If Ibid, page, 30.
21

158 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
Burr talked of this revolution as a matter of right inherent in the people, and consti
tutional — a revolution which would rather be advantageous than detrimental to the
Atlantic states — a revolution which must, eventually take place ; and for the ope
ration of which the present crisis was peculiarly favourable ; that there was no energy
to be dreaded in the general government; and his conversations denoted a confidence
that he should meet with no opposition at New Orleans, for the army and the chief
citizens of that place were ready to receive him. On the solitary ground upon
which I stood, I was at a loss how to conduct myself, but at no loss as respected mi/
duty. I durst not place my lonely testimony in the balance against the weight of Col.
Burr's character, for, by turning the tables upon me, which I thought any man capa
ble of such a project was capable of doing, I should sink under that weight. 1 resolv
ed, therefore, to obtain the removal of Colonel Burr from this country. * * Ac
cordingly, I waited on the President ofthe United States. * * The President
asked where he should send him. I said to England or Madrid. The President,
without any positive expression, seemed to think the trust too important, and to have
a doubt about the integrity of Col. Burr. * * I said to him, if Col. Burr was not
disposed of, we should in eighteen months, have an insurrection, if not a revolution
on the waters of the Mississippi. * * It was through no attachment to him (Col.
B.) that I made that suggestion, (of a foreign mission,) but to avert a great national
calamity, which I saw approaching — to arrest a tempest which seemed lowering in
the west. * * As to letters, I have had no correspondence with Colonel Burr. I
made a communication to the President of the United States, through the hands of
the Postmaster-General, stating the views of Col. Burr.*
[On cross-examination. Query by] —
•Mr. Martin. f Do you recollect when you arrived at Washington ? Answer.'l
said, that I did not recollect particularly. But the principal part of these conversa
tions must have been between the middle of February and the middle of March. Q.
Was there any particular conduct calculated to put an end to Col. Burr's importuni
ties ? A. Yes. At some of our last interviews, I laid on his table a paper contain
ing this toast, which I had given to the public : 'The United States— Palsy to
the brain that would plot to dismember, and leprosy io the hand that will not draw to
defend our Union !' I laid this paper on his table that he might see it; and I have
reason to believe that he did ; * * he made no longer such communications to me as
heretofore.' * *
'Query by Mr. Burr. J You mentioned Miranda ; where did you understand fie
was gone ? A. On the benevolent project of revolutionizing the Spanish provinces,
[in South America.] Q. What part of them ? A. Caraccas. I had some reason,
too, to know something of that project ; because I, too, was invited to join in that.
He too, was fo have been an Emperor of Mexico : he might have been troublesome
to us ; and, of course, when I asked you what was to be done with him, you ob
served, 'hang him.' Q. Did you understand I was to do all at once ; to execute
the central project, too as well as those in the West ? A. When you were speaking
of a central revolution, not much was said about a revolution in the West. * *
Q. You spoke§ of my revolutionizing the Western States. What were the bounda
ries of the new empire ? A. Your line was to be the Alleghany mountain. You
were certain about Kentucky and Tennessee ; but expressed some doubts about
Ohio : I well recollect that, on account of the reasons that you gave— that' they
were too much of a plodding, industrious people to engage in your plans. Q. How
was this business to be effected ? A. I understood that your agents were in the
western country; that the commander-in-chief (General Wilkinson) was ready to
co-operate with his army ; and that these with the adventurers that would join you,
would compel the states to a separation. Indeed, you considered New Orleans as
already yours, and that from this point you would make conquests, and consolidate
your empire. Q Was it afterall this, that you recommended me to an embassy? A.
Yes ; because I thought it the only way to avert a civil war.' [General Eaton sub-
. sequently stated, in answer to a question from Mr. Burr :] 'After you had developed
yourself, I determined to use you until I got every thing out of you, on the principle
that, when innocence is in danger, to break faith with a bad man, is not fraud, bat
VIRTUE. J 3
The reader will now accompany me through a brief extract from the testimony of
Commodore Troxton.

» Hening and Munford's report of the trial, page 33.
t Ibid, page 34. j Ibid, page 36.

5 Ibid, page 37.

Chap. V.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 159
'Tuesday, August 18, 1807.— Mr. Hay, adressing Commodore Truxton— Had
you not several conversations with the accused upon the subject of the Mexican
expedition ?
¦af 'Commodore Truxton.* — About the beginning ofthe winter, 1805-'6, Col. Burr
returned from the western country, and came to Philadelphia. He frequently, in
conversation, mentioned to me certain speculations in western lands. * * These
Conversations were frequently repeated; and some time in the month of July, 1806,
"Col. Burr observed that he wished to see me unwedded [the favourite phrase now is
•divorced /'] from the navy of the United States, and not to think any mdre of those
men at Washington. He observed tliat he wished to see or to make me. admiral;
for he contemplated an expedition into Mexico, in the event of a war with Spain,
which he thought inevitable. He asked meif the Havana would hot be easily taken,
in the event of a war. I told him it would require the co-operation of a naval force.
Mr. Burr observed that might be obtained. He pursued the inquiry as to Carthagena
and Vera Cruz. What personal knowledge I had of those places, and what would
be the best mode of attacking them by sea and land. I gave my opinion very freely.
Mr. Burr then asked me if I would take command of a naval expedition ? I asked
him if the Executive of the United States were privy to, or concurred in the project.
He answered me emphatically that they were not. I asked him that question
because the executive had been charged with a knowledge of Miranda's expedition.
I told Mr. Burr that I would have nothing to do with it; that Miranda's project had
been intimated to me, and that I had declined any agency in those affairs. Mr. Burr
observed that, in the event of a war,' he intended to establish an independent
government in Mexico ; that Wilkinson, of the army, and many officers ofthe navy,
would join. I replied that I could not see how any of the officers of the United
, States could join. He said that General Wilkinson had projected that expedition,
and that he himself had matured it ; that many greater men than Wilkinson
were concerned in it, (or would join,) and thousands to the West.
'Mr. Hay. — Do you recollect whether he said that General Wilkinson had seriously
joined it ? A. I asked him if General Wilkinson had seriously engaged in such a
scheme. He said that he had, and many greater men than Wilkinson. Q. I
will ask you whether at that time you were in the service of the United States i
A. I was declared not to be. Q. It is necessary to account to the jury for the appli
cation which was thus made to you by the accused. Did you not express some dis
satisfaction at the treatment of the government ? A. I certainly was hurt at it. * *
He showed me the draught of a periogue, such as plies between Powles' Hook and
New york ; asked my opinion as to the construction of boats, and whether those
were adapted to the Mississippi river, and the waters emptying into it. I gave my
opinion that they were. He asked me whether I could get a naved constructor to
make several copies of the draught,' &c. &.c.t '">
The following, from Carpenter's report of Burr's trial, (vol. 2, p. 149,) shows how
freely Burr disclosed his views'to those who gave him hospitable entertainment :
'Gen. John Morgan examined : Some time in' August last, (1806,) my father put
into my hands a letter sent by Aaron Burr, in which he mentioned that himself and his
friend Col. Dupiestre, intended to dine with him the next day. My father requested
me Jo go, with my brother, to meet Col. Burr on the road, and conduct him there. We
met them about seven miles distance. After a few words of genera^ conversation,
Col. Burr observed to me that the union of the states could not last long; that a sepa-
tion of the states must take place, and that in the course of four or five years, as a
natural consequence. He made many inquiries of me, relative to the county of
Washington, (Pennsylvania) generally, and respecting the state of the militia, point
edly. He asked me respecting their discipline, arms, accoutrements, disposition,
character of their officers, and a number of other things which I do not at this dis
tant time recollect ; but, after riding ^some distance, we met with one of my work
men, a good-looking young fellow. Col. Burr mentioned to me that he wished he
had ten thousand such fellows. At my father's table, during dinner, Col. Burr,
observed again that a disseverment of the Union must inevitably take place in less
than five years,' &c. Sec. [to which the company dissented.]
From 'documents referred to in Gen. Wilkinson's evidence,' I now submit the
following extract :
'Copy of a letter! from Gen. Dayton to Gen. Wilkinson, written in cipher, except
those parts printed in italics. This cipher was designed by Gen. Dayton, and found
ed on the hieroglyphics known to Gen. Wilkinson and Col. Burr :
"Hening and Munford'B report ofthe trial, page 39. t Ibld. page 41. J Ibid. p. 235.

160 EIGHT YEAHS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
July 24, 1806.
'It is now well ascertained that you are to be displaced in next session. Jefferson
will affect to yield reluctantly, but yield he will. Prepare yourself; therefore for it ;
you know the rest.
'You are not a man to despair, or even despond, especially when such prospects
offer in another quarter. Are you ready? Are your numerous associates ready?
Wealth and glory — Louisiana and Mexico.
'/ shall have time to receive a letter from you before I set out for Ohio. Address
one to me here, and another to me in Cincinnati. Receive and treat my nephew
affectionately, as you would receive your friend. DAYTON.'
The following is taken from Wilkinson's Memoirs of 'My own Times,' vol. 2, p.
309: 'I proceeded for Natchitoches, and arrived there the 22d September (1806,) where
whilst actively engaged, I was visited by Mr. Samuel Swartwout, a young gentle
man whom Col. Burr had seduced into his service.' &c. &c. [The bearer of the
cipher enclosed in Bollman's letter, copied below.]
From documents published in the appendix to Carpenler'3 report of Burr's trial,
(vol. 3, page 12,) I extract the following letter and its enclosure, (in cipher,) both
addressed to Gen. Wilkinson, and referred to by him in his evidence :
'New Orleans, September 27, 1806.
'Sir. — I have the honour to forward to your excellency the enclosed letters, which
I was charged to deliver to you by our mutual friend. I shall remain for some time
at this place, and should be glad to learn where and when I may have the pleasure
of an interview with you. Have the goodness to inform me of it, and please direct
your letter to me, care of  ; or enclose it under cover to them.
'I have the honour to be, with great respect, sir, your excellency's most obedient
servant, ERICK BOLLMAN.
'General Wilkinson.'
' Covering a communication in cipher from Col. Burr, of which the following is sub
stantially as fair an interpretation as I have heretofore been able to make ; the original
cf which I hold in my possession : — [Note by Carpenter.]
'I (Aaron Burr) have obtained funds, and have actually commenced the enterprise^
Detachments from different points, and under different pretences, will rendezvous on
the Ohio, 1st of November. Every thing internal and external favours views. Pro
tection of England is secured. T-  ¦ is gone to Jamaica to arrange with the admiral
on that station, and will meet at the Mississippi. England : Navy of the United
States are ready to join ; and final orders are given to my friends and followers — it
will be a host of choice spirits. Wilkinson shall be second to Burr only." Wilkinson
shall dictate the rank and promotion of his officers ; Burr will proceed westward 1st
of August, never to return. With him goes his daughter ; the husband will follow
in October, with a corps of worthies. Send forthwith an intelligent and confidential
friend with whom Burr may confer. He shall return immediately, with further
interesting details. This is essential to concert harmony of movement. Send a list
of all persons known to Wilkinson west of the mountains who could be useful, with
a noto delineating the characters. By your messenger send me four or five of the
commissions of your officers ; which you can borrow under any pretence you please,
They shall be returned faithfully. Already are orders to the contractor given to
forward six months' provisions to points Wilkinson may name. This shall not be
used until the last moment, and then under proper injunctions. The project is
brought to the point so long desired. Burr guaranties the result with his life and
honour— the lives, the honour, and fortunes, of hundreds, the best bloods in the coun
try. Burr's plan of operations is, to move down rapidly from the falls on the 15th
of November, with the first five hundred or one thousand men, in light boats, now
constructing for that purpose. To be at Natchez between the 5th and 15th of
December; there to meet Wilkinson,' fee. 'The gods invite to glory and fortune;
it remains to be seen whether we deserve the boon. The bearer of this goes express
to you — he will hand a formal letter of introduction to you from Burr, a copy of
which is hereunto subjoined. He is a man of inviolable honour and perfect discre- -
tion— formed to execute rather than project— capable of relating facts with fidelity,
and incapable of relating them otherwise. He is thoroughly informed ofthe plans
and intentions of  , and will disclose to you as far as you inquire and no
further— he has imbibed a reverence for your character and may be embarrassed in
your presence— put him at'ease and he will satisfy you. Doctor Bollman, equally
confidential, better informed on the subject and more intelligent, will hand vou this
duplicate,— 29th July.' J

Chap. V.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 161
The following extract (Carpenter, vol. 3, page 406,) in relation to the foregoing
package confirms the obligations of secrecy that stamp the character of the whole
proceeding. 'Samuel Swartwout, examined. — Query by Mr. Hay : Did you deliver a packet
to Gen. Wilkinson? A. I did. * *. Q. Had you any conversation with Gen.
Wilkinson? A. I had. Q. Was any one present? A. No; it seemed to be the
General's wish to have no one near us. Q. How did you receive .this packet? A.
from Mr. Ogden. Q. Did you receive no letter from Col. Burr at that time ? A.
Yes ; but I do not think he made any reference to the ciphered letter. I suppose,
however, that this ciphered letter came from Col. Burr. Mr. McRae : Would you
not have objected to a public disclosure of your communications with Gen. Wilkin
son ? A. I would have spoken in presence of confidential persons. Q. Would you
have done it except in the most confidential manner ? A. I would not.' [except
under oath of secrecy, of course, which is the most confidential manner.] *
Extract from Hening and Mumford's report of Burr's trial, pages 133 and 134 :
'Thursday, September 24, 1807, Mr. J. Graham, (as witness) said: In the latter
end of October last, I received a letter from Mr. Madison, [Secretary of State,]
requesting that I would pass through the western country, on my return to New
Orleans. * * Mr. Madison stated to me as a reason for this request, that govern
ment had received information from various quarters, that a project was on foot to .
sever the union, or to invadet the territory of Spain. * * When I arrived at Mari
etta, about the middle of November, I made inquiries and heard what it may perhaps
be proper to state. Mr. Duval called on me, and informed me that Mr. Blannerhas
sett had just arrived with him, and would wait upon me. After passing the usual
compliments, and expressing his pleasure at seeing me, he begged leave to read me
certain letters which he had received by Capt. Elliot, of the western country, who
had just returned from Pittsburg. Mr. Blannerhssett made many inquiries relative
to Comfort Tyler, Bean, and Butler, and the preparations which they were making
for their expedition down the river ; what number of men and settlers they had
obtained. When Blannerhassett received this information, he observed, that they
could descend in his boats, as he had more boats than mere. Before Mr. Elliot
quitted the room, Mr. Blannerhassett handed me a letter, which he said he had
received a few days before, from Col. Burr, in Kentucky. * * I believe it was
Col. Burr's writing. * * I merely mention this letter to show that it gave rise to
a conversation between Mr. Blannerhassett and myself, relative to the contents of
this letter. * * From what I had heard after my arrival at Marietta, and from the
manner in which Mr. Blannerhassett entered my room, and made tbese communi
cations, I was rather induced to believed that he conceived me to be one of the party.
My acquaintance with him before, was slight, and yet he was extremely polite to
me, and expressed how happy he would be at seeing me in his own house. I was
anxious to undeceive Mr. Blannerhassett. I asked him if he had stated that I was one
of the party. He said he had, and that he had understood so from Col. Burr.
When I assured him I was not, he expressed considerable surprise, not by verbal
declarations, but by the marked air of his countenance. He observed to me that I did
not know Col. Burr, and passed some eulogiums upon him ; and asked me, in a
very impressive manner, whether I had not heard of an association in New Orleans
for the invasion of Mexico. I told him that I had not. * * Considering Mr. Blan
nerhassett at that time as a deluded man, I endeavoured to draw him off from the
undertaking in which he had engaged; and considering it was more the policy of
the government to prevent than to punish such enterprises, I informed him that
so far from being concerned in the plan, I was an agent of the government, author-
* The following communication, made by Major James Bruff to Gen. Samuel Smith and
Colonel Read of the Senate, will show that oaths of secrecy were administered to the
person seduced into this conspiracy : Washington, March 1, 1807.
'Major Bruff communicated to S. S. and Col. Read, that Judge Eaton (immediately
after the 'Western World' appeared,) told him (Bruff) that it wa9 in his power to ruin
Col. Burr ; that he had told him his plans ; that they were such as had made his hair stand
on end, but he had gone so far that he could not recede. Bruff told him that he owed it
to himself as an honest man, to inform government. 'That I cannot do,' said Eaton,
'for I am under an oath of secrecy.' 'But you had previously taken an oath paramount
to any other, to your country.' 'I cannot tell,' said Eaton, 'but will communicate the
whole to you if you will come under an oath qf secrecy," &c. &.c.

162 EIGltT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Parti.
ized to inquire into the facts relative to this enterprise in'the western country, and
to take such steps as might be necessary for suppressing it. I then stated to him,
from reasons drawn from'Col. Burr's visit to New Orleans in the preceding summer,
from the information which government had received, and from the nature of the
preparations which Mr. Blannerhassett was then making, why I believed that the
object of Col. Burr was either to attack the territories of the United States or those
of Spain. I assured him 'at the same time, that any collection or' combination of
armed men on the Ohio, would, under these circumstances, be considered as a viola
tion of the laws and repressed accordingly.' fyc.
Upon much of the foregoing, and such like testimony, the President issued his
proclamation, on the 27th of November, 1806, of which the following is a copy.
'By the President of the United States of America.
•A PROCLAMATION.
'Whereas information has been received that sundry persons, citizens of the
United States, or residents within the same, are conspiring and confederating together
to begin and set on foot, provide and prepare the means for a military expedition or
enterprise against the dominions of Spain ; that for this purpose, they are fitting- out
and arming vessels in the western waters of the United States ; collecting- provi
sions, arms, military stores, and other means ; are deceiving and seducing honest
and well meaning citizens, under various pretences, to engage in their criminal
enterprises ; are organizing officers, and arming themselves for the same, contrary^
to the laws in such cases made and provided: I have therefore, thought fit to issue'
this my proclamation, warning and enjoining all faithful citizens who have been.
led, without due knowledge or consideration, to participate in the said unlawful
enterprises, to withdraw from the same without delay ; and commanding all persons
whatsoever, engaged or concerned in the same, to cease all further proceedingSt
therein, as they will answer the contrary at their peril, and incur prosecution with5
all the rigours of the law. And I hereby enjoin and require all officers,
civil and military, ofthe United States, or of any of the States or Territories, and
especially all Governors and other Executive authorities, all judges, justices, and other
officers ofthe peace, all military officers ofthe army and navy of the United States,
and officers ofthe militia, to be vigilant, each within his respective department, and
according to his functions, in searching out, and bringing to condign punishment, all
persons engaged, or concerned in such enterprises, in seizing and retaining, subject
to the dispositions of the law, all vessels, arms, military stores, or other means pro
vided or providing for the same, and, in general, in preventing the carrying on such
expedition or enterprise, by all the lawful means within their power ; and I require
all good and faithful citizens, and others within the United States, to be aiding and
assisting herein, and especially in the discovery, apprehension, and bringing to jus
tice of all such offenders, in preventing the execution of their unlawful designs, and
giving information against them to the proper authorities.
In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal ofthe United States to be affixed to
these presents, and have signed the same with my hand. Given at the city ot
,'. Washington, on the 27th day of November, 1806, and in the year ofthe sovereignty
and independence of the United States the thirty -first. TH. JEFFERSON.'
'By the President : James Madison, Secretary of State.'
On the 23d December, 1806, Cowles Meade, acting governor of the Mississippi
territory, issued a proclamation ofthe same purport as that of the president a month
before, but alleging the designs against the integrity of the Union, in lieu of the
dismemberment of the dominions of Spain. I subjoin a short extract from it :
'By Cowles Meade, §c. fyc.
'A PROCLAMATION.
'Whereas information from various sources, as well by affidavits as otherwise, haa
been communicated to me ofthe designs Of an association, whose object is the dis
membering of this and the neighbouring countries from the government of the United
States : and whereas every attempt of this kind must be ruinous and destructive of
the numerous blessings which we now enjoy, under the auspices of a government
founded on the grand pnnciples of political equality and indiscriminate
JUSTICE, &.C. &C
Upon the. occasion of the above mentioned proclamation, Col. Burr addressed a
letter to the acting governor of the Mississippi territory. I subjoin a short extract
from that also : '

dap. V.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 163
'Bayou Pierre, January 12, 1807.
'Sir :— Being on my way down the river with a number of my friends, who are
disposed to emigrate with me, I am greatly surprised to hear that my views have
been grossly misrepresented, and that my approach has been made the subject of
alarm to the country.
'The reports which charge me with designs unfriendly to the peace and welfare of
this and the adjacent territory are utterly false, and are in themselves absurd, and
are the inventions of wicked men for evil purposes,' 8tc.
The following testimony of Governor Poindexter, is from Hening and Munford's
report of Burr's trial, page 269.
•George Poindexter, Esq. certified— Question by Mr. Hay.— Is this the original
agreement entered into between Cowles Meade, acting governor of the Mississippi
territory, and Aaron Burr ? Answer .—Yes : Ifit be proper, sir, I will state the circum
stances which led to the agreement, and Col. Burr's surender to the civil authority
ofthe Miss, territory. Ch. Justice.— Proceed, sir. Witness.— On the day preceding
the date [5th January] of this agreement, I was appointed by the Honorable Cowles
Meade, an honorary aid-de-camp, for the express purpose of visiting Col. Burr at
the boats near the mouth of Bayou Pierre, on the western margin of the river Missis
sippi, which I did in company with Major William B. Shields. The object of this
visit was»to gain correct information as to the situation of Burr, to ascertain his
views so far as he would communicate them, and to procure his pacific surrender
to the civil authority. We were accompanied by a Mr. Ralston, one of Burr's party,
who had called on Judge Rodney to give his deposition. We arrived that night at
Judge Bruin's, who resides near the mouth of Bayou Pierre. The next morning, we
proceeded down the river, till we came opposite to Col. Burr's boats, and Ralston
gave a signal for a boat, which was immediately sent over for us. Before we em
barked, we were joined by Col. Thomas Fitzpatrick. Several persons then unknown
to me, came on horseback to the bank ofthe river, and crossed with us.' — 'When we
reached the western bank of the river, we were met by Col. Burr, to whom Major
Shields handed a letter, of which he was the bearer, from Mr. Meade, acquainting
Col. Burr with the object of our visit. In the letter there was a sentence relating to
the restoration of tranquillity in the territory, which sentence Burr repeated once or
twice with a sneer, adding that 'he had no intention to injure the citizens of the United
States.' Col. Burr, then expressed himself to this effect : 'As to any projects ov plans
which may have been formed between Gfeneral Wilkinson and myself heretofore, they
are now completely frustrated by the perfidious conduct °f Wilkinson, and the world-
must pronounce him as a perfidious villain.' Burr also in speaking of Wilkinson,
said — 'If I am sacrificed, my port folio will prove him to be a villain.' He further
stated, that so far from having any designs hostile to the citizens ofthe United States,
he had intended to have met Mr. Meade at Gibson Port, on the day of a general mus
ter, which happened at that place about the time of his arrival at Bayou Pierre, but
wa3 deterred from doing so, by a belief that he would be assassinated, were he seen
passing through the territory. He then pointed to his boats and asked, if there was
anything military in their appearance? I told him, it was true his men did not appear '
to be armed, but they were just such persons as 1 should expect to see about a camp ;
THEY DID NOT SEEM TO BE IN A SITUATION TO SETTLE THEMSELVES ON FARMS'.
I also remarked to Col. Burr, that I had no hesitation in giving him the most perfect
assurance of personal safety while in the territory, until he should be disposed of
according to the laws of his country; that the object of Mr. Meade in calling out
the militia was to preserve inviolate, the laws and constitution of the United States ;
that if that object could be secured without the employment of force, it would be
preferable, but assured him that force would be used if necessary, for which purpose
1 the militia were then on their march to arrest his progress. Col. Burr declared bis.
willingness to submit to the civil authority,' &c. &c.
Mr. Jefferson's views may be derived from the following extracts. The first is in
one respect pregnant with more meaning than clearly meets the eye. It is taken
from one of Mr. Jefferson's letters to the district attorney while prosecuting the trial
of Burr, at Richmond. — [Sec Jefferson's works, vol. 4, page 86.
•To George Hay, Esq. Washington, June 19th, 1807,
•Dear Sir : — Yours of the 17th was received last night. * * You ask what
is to be done if Bollman finally rejects his pardon, and the jud^e decides it to have
no effect ? Move to commit him immediately for treason or misdemeanour, as you
think the evidence will support — let the court decide where he shall be sent for
trial — and on application, I will have the marshall aided in his transportation, with
the executive means. And we think it proper, further, when Burr shall have been.

164 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
convicted of either treason or misdemeanour, you should immediately have committed
all those persons against whom you should find evidence sufficient, whose agency
has been so prominent as to mark them as proper objects of punishment, and espe
cially where their boldness has betrayed an inveteracy of criminal disposition. As
to obscure offenders and repenting ones let them lie for consideration. I enclose you
the copy of a letter received last night, and giving singular information. I have
inquired into the character of Graybell. He was an old revolutionary Captain, is
now a flour merchant in Baltimore, of the most respectable character, and whose
word would be taken as implicitly as any man's, for whatever he affirms. The.
letter-writer, also, is a man of entire respectability. I am well informed that for
more than a twelvemonth it has been believed in Baltimore generally, that Burr
was engaged in some criminal enterprise, and that Luther Martin knew all about it.
We think you should immediately despatch a subpoena for Graybell; and while that
is on the road, you will have time to consider in what form you will use his testi
mony; that is, shall Luther Martin be summoned as a witness against Burr, and
Graybell held ready to confront him? It may be doubted whether we could
examine a witness to discredit our own witness. The lawyers say that they are privi
leged from being forced to breaches of confidence, and that no others are. Shall
we move to commit Luther Martin, as particeps crimini with Burr ? Graybell will
fix upon him misprison of treason at least. At any rate, his evidence will put down
this unprincipled and impudent federal bull-dog, and add another proof that the most
clamorous defenders of Burr are all his accomplices. It will explain why Luther
Martin flew so hastily to the aid of 'his honourable friend,' abandoning his clients
and their property during a session of a principal court in Maryland, now filled as I
am told, with the clamours and ruin of his clients. I believe we shall send on
Latrobe as a witness. He will prove that Aauon Burr endeavoured to get him to
engage several thousand men, chiefly Irish emigrants whom he had been in the
habit of employing in the works he directs, under pretence of a cana'l opposite
Louisville, or of the Washita, in which, if he had succeeded, he could with that
force have carried every thing before him, and would not have been where he now is,
He knows, too, of certain meetings of Burr, Bollman, Yrugo, and one other whom
we have never named yet, but have him not less in our view. I salute you with
friendship and respect. THOMAS JEFFERSON.'
Again, page 102, speaking of the probability of Burr's acquittal, Mr. Jefferson
says : —
'This criminal is preserved to become the rallying point of all the disaffected
and worthless ofthe Uniied States, and to be the pivot on which all the intrigues -and
the conspiracies which foreign governments may wish to disturb us with, are to
turn,' &c. &c.
In Tucker's life of Jefferson, (Carey, Lea, and Blanchard, Philadelphia, 1837,
vol. 2, page 23 1-,) professor Tucker, speaking of the duel between Col. Burr and
Mr. Hamilton, which proved fatal to the latter says :
'This event ruined Burr's prospects forever in New York, where Hamilton was,
beyond any other individual, the object of pride, affection, and gratitude. It was
then that he (Burr) conceived the project of trying to advance his desperate fortunes
in the western country, first by endeavouring to effect a separation of that portion
ofthe Union from the rest: if that proved impracticable, to tempt the ardent and
enterprising spirits of the west to an invasion of Mexico ; and possibly if he failed
in that, to some humbler scheme of self-aggrandizement. He set out on a tour to '
the west, and his projects were soon communicated both by those who favoured his
scheme, and those who discouraged them. Finding that the attachment of the
western people to the Union was not to be shaken, he limited his views then to an
invasion of Mexico, which received more support from the belief that it was favour
ed by the government. As soon as the administration (Mr. Jefferson's) was ap
prized ofthe illegal nature of his scheme they senta confidential agent, Mr. Graham,
to the west, fbr the purpose of obtaining early and authentic information, and of
conferring with the governors and other state authorities on the means of discover
ing the conspirators, arresting their schemes, and bringing them to punishment.
General Wilkinson was ordered\/rom the Sabine to New Orleans, and every precaution
was taken to defeat this lawless enterprise. Information being then obtained from
General Wilkinson of the criminal designs of Burr, which were limited to the plun
dering the bank at New Orleans, and then the invasion of Mexico, the president
issued a proclamation on the 27th of November,' &c.
'He [Mr. Jefferson] felt the course now pursued by his opponents the more sensi
bly from the reproaches cast upon the administration for its want of energy in sup-

Chap. VI.]

JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY.

165

-pressing so dangerous a conspiracy while its measures were unknown: for, as he
remarks in a letter to Mr. Giles, on the 20th of April, 1807, 'the first ground of
complaint was the supine inattention ofthe administration to a treason stalking through
the land in open day,' 'the present one, that they have crushed it before it was ripe
for execution ; so that no overt act can be produced.' But most of them went yet
further and asserted that Burr had no hostile intention whatever against his own
country, and had not meditated an invasion of Mexico, unless the United States had
gone to war w^h Spain. It appears by Mr. Jefferson's letters to Mr. Hay, Mr.
Giles, and others, that he had the most thorough conviction of Burr's guilt ; and
though be was afterwards acquitted by the verdict of a jury, the universal sentiment
ofthe nation has confirmed the opinion of Mr. Jefferson.

CHAPTER VI.
The two conspiracies of Burr and Houston against Mexico, contrasted,
identified, and finally accomplished, through the reciprocal agency
and connivance of Andrew Jackson, as President ofthe United Stales.
For the satisfaction of the reader, and to assist him in attain
ing a correct decision upon the subject of these chapters, I wiU
premise this with a general outline of the two prominent conspi
racies against Mexico, which have blurred the fair page of our
history. The minuter details of the parallel he can fill up for
himself at his leisure, in which he will be aided by refreshing
his memory with the extracts of my last chapter, in connection
with the further extracts which I shall subjoin to this, accompa
nied with a few remarks of my own. And if these be not fully
Satisfactory, I must refer him to the authorities at large, which I
have quoted.

burr's conspiracy.
1. Proof of intention. —
In the opening of General
Eaton's evidence, he said,
'concerning Colonel Burr's
expressions, and his trea
sonable intentions, I know
much.' Chief Justice Mar
shall observed, that 'any
proof of intention formed
before the act itself, if rele
vant to the act, may be ad
mitted ; and proof of very
remote intentions may be
relevant to the act.' — [/See
extract from Hening and
Munford' s report of Burr's
trial, page 6, as I have
given it in the foregoing
chapter. 22

Houston's conspiracy.
1. The whole of my letter of Dec.
2, 1830, gave the strongest proofs of
deliberate and systematic intentions
of General Houston to renew and
put in execution all the plans and
circumstances of Burr's conspiracy,
so far as they applied to Mexico,
leaving that part which threatened
the integrity of the Union for an
after consideration, not doubting it
would drive away many adventurers,
as it did in the case of Burr ; but
the scheme against Mexico being
accomplished, the other would fol
low as a natural consequence, (ac
cording to the prediction of Burr,)
under the co-operation of the slave-
holding states, and the especial pa
tronage of nullifiers, disguised as
State-rights men.

166

EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON.

[Part I.

2. Burr's expedition was
to be effected by procuring
loans of money, seducing
and enticing into it the
adventurous spirit of our
countrymen under the pre
tence of emigration, prin
cipal officers of the militia,
the army, and the navy, to
rendezvous on the Missis
sippi, and a combination
with the Indians on the
frontier of Mexico ; prepa
ratory to which, to settle
preliminaries, he made a
tour of observation from
Philadelphia, in 1805,
through the western coun
try to New Orleans and
back, along the valley of
the Mississippi and Ohio,
sojourning at Gen. Jack
son's, and communing
with him, both going and
returning. 3. Burr, having laid his
train much to his satisfac
tion, by interviews with
certain distinguished men
ofthe West, (making Gen.
Jackson's house his special
rendezvous,) commenced
at Washington, about the
middle of February, 1806,
to make his disclosures and
efforts to gain proselytes to
his grand scheme, and
hazarded exposure by the
patriotic Gen. Wm. Eaton,
and afterwards, at Phila
delphia, by the naval hero,
Com. Truxton, which was
shortly after, communica
ted to Mr. Jefferson, then
President of the United
States, who immediately
despatched an efficient and
bona fide agent to make
observations and collect in-

2. Houston's expedition was to be
effected in the same manner, hardly
varying in the most trivial circum
stance ; preparatory to which, he
abdicated the government of Ten
nessee, on the eve of Gen. Jackson's
election, (no doubt with his know
ledge of purpose, whose fondly-che
rished and avowed military pupil he
was,) to / expatriate himself among
the Indians of that same, frontier,
and put on the Indian costume, that
he might shelter himself in this en
terprise under the plea of being a
foreigner, and not amenable to Ihe
laws of the United States. It was
under this assumed character that
he made his first tour through the
United States, in 1829-30; (touching
at Washington, on his way to the
North) to disseminate his plans, enlist
followers under oaths of secrecy, and
to obtain funds. — Query — did he ob
tain any ofMr. Swartwout, the defaul-,
ter, then, or at subsequent visits?
3. Houston also made his disclo
sures to me, at Washington, about
the middle of February, 1830, and
doubtless to a great many others
more faithful or suitable to his pur
poses than myself. But not wish
ing to hazard 'my solitary testimony
at the time' against the boasted pupil
of Gen. Jackson, by arraigning him
before this very adopted father -and
patron of his destinies, I said nothing
of it until the subsequent autumn,
when I had casually fallen upon the
most unquestionable confirmation,
and corroborating evidence from
others, of what had been inconti
nently disclosed to me by General
Houston himself. I then imme
diately sought a conversation with
Gen. Jackson on the subject, who, a
day or two after, sent for me at my
lodgings, and desired me to make a
written statement of what I knew,
as I understood him for the use of

Chap. VI.]

JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY.

167

formation, issued his pro- the Secretary of State, who was Mr.
clamation the 27th Novem- Van Buren. The letter of Decem
ber following, and laid the ber 2d, given in the preceding chap-
case before Congress at the ter, was written in compliance with
next session. [See extract that desire; and handed to the Pre-
from Hefting and Mun- sident in person. What disposition
ford's report, *page 133, was made of it, I never heard, or
given in the last chapter, derived any knowledge whatever for
six years after.
: 4. Shortly after the above 4. The same fate Would proba-
proceedings, Burr was bly have fallen to the lot of Houston,
arrested, and brought to but for the protection he enjoyed
trial; but was acquitted under the dynasty of his patron.
by party influence, ac- For no proclamation was issued by
cording to the statements General Jackson, though fond of
of Mr. Jefferson, notwith- proclamations and protests without
standing the clearest evi- occasion ; no agent was despatched,
dence of guilt in the opi- except a private and confidential one,
nion of the President, aud to give the subject the go-by, and it
confirmed by the universal died away accordingly, as to all offi-
sentiment of the American cial cognizance ; no communication
people. — [See extract from was made to Congress, nor any
Jefferson's works, vol. 4, thing but denials of all knowledge
in the matter to the Mexican minis
ter, even after the facts were made
notorious to the whole world, by the
bold manner in which this conspi
racy 'stalked over the land in open
day.'
By a perusal of the letter I addressed to Gen. Jackson, in
December, 1830, in connection with the extracts given in the
foregoing chapter, both of which are alluded to in making the
above parallel, any one having no previous acquaintance with
either, would be induced to suppose, without adverting to the
difference of names and dates, that they were one and the same
story served up in a somewhat different version only. Yet, when
I made that statement of the Houston project to the President in
1830, I had never read the history of Burr's conspiracy or his
trial; having no other than an indistinct recollection of its prin
cipal incidents, while it was progressing at Richmond in 1807.
-• But all surprise at the marked coincidence and identity be
tween the two cases will cease when it is taken into considera
tion that General Jackson, the patron of General Houston, was
one of the most active confederates of Aaron Burr, and was so
deeply interested in Burr's trial as to devote himself to a per
sonal attendance during the whole or great part of its tedious
progress of three or four months, though seemingly mysterious
as it is to account for, he was not called, upon as a witness to
testify in the case, pro or con. By uniting several circumstances,

page 86, given in the fore
going chapter.

168 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
however, it is not so difficult to explain his exemption. His
early and continued communications with Burr," as a guest at
his own house, and otherwise, viewed in connection with Burr's
sanguine communicativeness to all prominent men who gave
him hospitable entertainment,* sufficiently declare that he was
perfectly conversant with all the complicated detaijs of Burr's
Schemes; and the very circumstance of his being at the time
not only a general of militia, but the commander-in-chief of all
the military of the state of Tennessee, was alone, independent of
his marked hospitality, a sufficient temptation to Burr to make
the strongest overtures to him. And if his engagement to fur
nish Burr with light-boats for the transportation of his equip
ments be not proof strong as holy writ of his familiarity with
their objects,f his letter to Gov. Claiborne, of Louisiana, is a most
positive avowal of his conversance with them — for, this letter was
written only just after it was discovered, by the appearance of
the President's agent of observation in the west, that the scheme
was blown — that 'the cat was out of the bag' — and that the time
had arrived when it was necessary for every one to adopt the
policy of sauve qui peut — save himself who can. No doubt he
wrote to Mr. Jefferson also, and engaged him to pledge his.
exoneration from being called on as a witness in this case. One
of Mr. Jefferson's letters to Mrl Hay, the district attorney, also
justifies this palpable inference, when he says 'there is one or
two individuals whom I cannot name.' It has been seen that
Burr was not convicted by default of a party jury, or as Mr.
Jefferson would have it, by default of a party bench, though the
testimony went to every man's private conviction of his guilt.
If there be those, who, from party feeling or otherwise, still
contend for the insufficiency of testimony as early as December
2, 1830, to put General Jackson on a more active course of pub
lic measures in this case, I would still refer him to the internal
evidence of identity that pervades the two counterparts and amal
gamates them as one ; and to the interest that the residuary col-
leages of Burr felt and manifested in all the subsequent develop
ments ofthe latter case : let him also review and re-peruse again
and again all the fads and authorities in each — for it is a subject
of deep and abiding interest to the whole country, transcendental
to all party considerations, and ought to remount infinitely above
their sordid sphere. Those details were not, indeed, familiar to
me at the time of Gen. Houston's communications ; but the more
I have contemplated them in their aggregate bearings since, the
more deeply am I impressed with their awful bodings of immi
nent danger to our institutions, through the great facilities which
'Hospitable Entertainment. — See the testimony of General Morgan, and
others, in the foregoing chapter. ' -
f Proof strong as Holy Writ of his familiarity with their objects-
See the Annotations to Part the First, (No. 1.)

Chap. VI.} JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 169
their defective provisions of responsibility have obviously placed
at the command of treacherous public servants and leading ambi
tious partisans.
It has been wisely said that <a citizen's life belongs to his
country.' The American people expect every citizen to do his
duty. For my part, I shall discharge mine to the best of my
ability, under all circumstances. I have no fears; I owe no
deference, and I ask no difference, in or out of office ! When I
made bath 'faithfully to discharge the duties of my office to the
best of my ability, and to support the constitution of the United
States,' I considered it as binding on me to give information of
treason or misdemeanours, as to execute the details of official
duty assigned me, even though the delinquent in treasonable
designs or misdemeanours should be the head of the office,
the department, or the President himself. Let every man adopt
the same rule of uncompromising duty to the country of his
allegiance, and she must be safe under all reverses.
That the foregoing parallel may be the more clearly perceived
to run upon all-fours — nay, that the identity ofthe one case with
the other may be recognized in the most palpable manner, I sub
join here a few more extracts from incontrovertible authorities.
I repeat, their identity is the same; for it will be seen that many
of the surviving confederates of Burr* were the aiders and abet
tors of the conspiracy of Houston, and have been rewarded by
General Jackson ; that Burr had predicted that this thing and
the dismemberment of the Union must take place at some future
time, if not effected by him ; that he urged the nomination of
General Jackson for the presidency in opposition to Mr. Monroe,
and that General Jackson's zeal in the matter, finally succeeded
in his nomination, at his own commands by the legislature of
Tennessee, it having been previously moved in the Grand
Lodge of Tennessee, in consonance with a previous effort by
another Masonic Lodge in Massachusetts, to nominate him for
the Vice-Presidency, by the Rev. Joseph Richardson, a high
priest in masonry. And it is worthy of note here, that with this
secret association, Mr. Burr seems to have enjoyed a special
favour, if the Ursuline Jesuits of New Orleans may be consi
dered as having co-sympathies with the paternal stock of secret
associations, and I believe history sufficiently establishes that
fact, the evidence of which I shall endeavour to give some
-,.* Nay, more, one of the most active confederates of Aaron Burr was the first to
recognize and proclaim, in his official capacity as collector of the port of New York,
the independence of Texas, more than twelve months in advance of the government,
by his protection of the Texian sloop of war Brutus, when anchored within his
jurisdiction. In his answer of September 8, 1836, to the complaints ofthe Mexican
consul, calling on him to say, 'upon what grounds his office acknowledged a flag that
is not acknowledged by the United States,' he asserts, that 'it has been the practice
of this port to treat with respect and courtesy the flags of such nations as have
declared themselves independent, and maintained their independence against the autho
rity of the country from which they have seceded,' &c. See Annotations, No. 2.

170 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
rehearsal of in the Appendix to this work, where I shall have a
wider scope at this and other subjects.
In the second volume of the Memoirs of Aaron Burr, published
in New York, in the course of the last year, the editor observes:
Page 368. 'On the 30th April, 1805, Col. Burr and Gabriel Shaw, who had accom
panied him from Philadelphia, left Pittsburg in their boat. At this period Col. Burr
commences, for the amusement of his daughter, a journal of his adventures, which
contains some interesting details explanatory of the then Situation of the western
country.' The editor makes copious extracts from that journal, of a few of which I shall
avail myself here, viz :
Page 369. 'Arrived at Cincinnati on the 11th of May, by the course of the river
estimated to be 310 miles from Marietta. Meeting here with General Dayton and
several old army acquaintances, remained the whole day. In the evening, started
for Louisville. There it is proposed to take land to ride through part of Kentucky.
* * * .* * * * * * *,
'Arrived at Nashville on the 29th of May. One is astonished at the number of
sensible, well-informed, and well-behaved, which is found here. I have been received
with much hpspitality and kindness, and could stay a month with pleasure ; but Gen.
J ackson having provided us a boat, we shall set off on Sunday, the 2d June, to navi
gate down the Cumberland. We intend to make a rapid voyage down the Missis
sippi to Natchez and New Orleans.
'Left Nashville on the 3d of June in aii, open boat. Came down the Cumberland
to its mouth about 220 miles, where our ark was in waiting. Reached Massac, on
the Ohio, sixteen miles below, on the 6th. Here found General Wilkinson on his
way to St. Louis. The General and his officers fitted me out with an elegant barge,
sails, colours, and ten oars, with a sergeant and ten able, faithful hands. Thus equip
ped, I left Massac on the 10th of June, Shaw in company. * * *
'On the twenty- fifth of June reached New Orleans. * * The inhabitants ofthe
United States are here called Americans. I have been received wilh distinction. The
mark of attention with which I have been most flattered is a letter from the holy
sisters, the Ursuline nuns, congratulating me on my arrival. Having returned a polite
answer to this letter, it was intimated to me that the saints had a desire to see me.
The bishop conducted me to the cloister. We conversed at first through the grates;
but presently I was admitted within, and I passed an hour with them greatly to my
satisfaction. * * This city is larger than I expected. I have promised to return
here next fall.- I go on the 10th instant, (July,) by land, to Kentucky, and thence,
probably, to St. Louis. 'A la Sante Madame Alston,' is generally the first toast at
every table I have been. * * * * * * * *
'Arrived at.Nashville on the 6th of August. * * The hospitality of these people
will keep me here till the 12th inst. when I shall partake of a public dinner given,
not to the Vice-President, but to A. B. * * I am still at Nashville, -(August 13th.)
For a week I have been lounging at the house of General Jackson, once a lawyer, after
a judge, now a planter ; a man of intelligence, and one of those prompt, frank, ardent
souls whom I love to meet. * * To-morrow I move on towards Lexington '
&c. &c— (Page 372.) &
Page 392. 'During the years 1806 and 1807, Herman Blannerhasset kept a private
journal, in which are recorded the principal incidents arising out of his connections
with Colonel Burr. * * It appears that in December, 1805, Blannerhasset address
ed a letter to, Col. Burr, expressing a wish to participate in any speculation in the
western country that might present itself to Burr. * * In August, 1806, in con
sequence of this overture, Burr visited Blannerhasset at his house on the Ohio.
* * Blannerhasset tendered his services to Burr, generally.
Page 398. 'October 8, 1807. I* called on Burr this morning, when he at last
mentioned to me, during a short tete-a-tete, that he was preparing to go to England;
that the time was now auspicious for him, and he wished to know whether I could
give him letters. * * 'After Col. Burr's return to the United States from Europe,
he received several letters from Blannerhasset-; in two of them he refers to a suit
which he had commenced against General Andrew Jackson, in Adams couTity Mis
sissippi territory, for a balance due Burr. In reply to an inquiry made on the subject,
under date of the 4th of October, 1812, he says, 'I allude to an account between
yourself and Andrew Jackson, in his own hand-writing, on which appears a balance in
your favour of $1,726 62,' &c. •Blannerhasset.

Chap. VI.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 17J
The following extracts throw some light upon the artifices early brought into
requisition to procure the nomination of Gen'l Jackson to the presidency, probably
to insure the accomplishment of Burr's abortive schemes.
Memoirs of Aaron Burr, vol. 2, page 433. Extract from Burr's letter to Joseph
Alston, governor of South Carolina : 'New York, November 20, 1815.
'A congressional caucus will, in the course ofthe ensuing month, nominate James
Monroe for President of the United States, and will call on all good republicans to
support the nomination. Whether we consider the measure itself; the character and
talents of the man, or the state whence he comes, this nomination is equally exceptiona
ble and odious. I have often heard your opinion of these congressional nominations.
They are hostile to all freedom and independence of suffrage. A certain junto of
actual and factitious Virginians, having had possession of the government for twenty-
four years, consider the United States as their property, and,T>y bawling 'support the
Administration,' have too long succeeded in duping the Republican Public * *
The moment is extremely auspicious for breaking down this degrading system-
The best citizens of our country acknowledge the feebleness of our Administration.
They acknowledge that offices are bestowed merely to preserve power and without the
smallest regard to fitness. If, then, there be a man in the United States of firmness
ahd decision, and having standing enough to afford even a hope of success, it is your
duty to hold him up to the public view: that man is Andrew Jackson. Nothing
is wanting bat a respectable nomination, made before the proclamation of the Virgina
caucus, and Jackson's success is inevitable. If this project should accord with your
views, I could wish to see you prominent in the execution of it. It must be known
to be your work. Whether a formal and open nomination -should now be made, or
whether you should, for the present, content yourself with barely denouncing, by a
joint resolution of both houses of your legislature, congressional caucuses and nomina
tions, you only can judge. One consideration inclines me to hesitate about the policy
of a present nomination — it is this : that Jackson ought first to be admonished to be
passive ; for, the moment he shall be announced as a candidate, he will be assailed by
the Virginia junto, with menaces and with insidious promises of boons and favours-
There is danger that Jackson might be wrought upon by such prac
tises. If an open nomination be made, an express should be instantly sent to him,' &c.
: The following is taken from the Richmond Enquirer of March 15, 1825 r
'General Jackson. — In publishing the following'extraordinary article from the
Nashville Whig, (a paper not friendly to General Jackson,) we have to state that
we have not the most distant suspicion of the name or character of the author. If
the letter be not an absolute forgery, we have then to ask, who is this officer lately
in the southern army, wbose name begins with H, who had business with the War
Department last fall, and who met General Jackson at Washington, state of Pennsyl
vania, in November last?' &c.
'General Jackson's private opinions — The following extract from a letter
from an officer formerly in the Southern army, to a gentleman in this town, will, no>
doubt, interest our readers :
* * * 'For the last fifteen years I had been on terms of intimacy, and
in the closest friendship with General Jackson. In November last, as I was retunt-
ing west from the seat of government, to which I had been called by private busi
ness with one of the Departments, I met the General and his lady at a public house
in Washington, Pennsylvania, where he had put up for the night, as he was jour
neying to tiie capital to take his seat in the Senate. * * * I never had seen
him so cheerful and happy. Various political subjects were introduced and discussed.
I spoke of the presidential election, &c. * * 'I'll tell you how it is, my friend
H  ,' he said. 'I now find myself urged on by a popular current ; where it will
leave me when the tide shall subside, I cannot tell, nor do I much care.' * * >*
I asked him if it was finally with his consent that the legislature of Tennessee
nominated him as a fit person for the office, (the Presidency.) 'It was by my
direction,' said he. 'A few days before the meeting of that body, I received a letter
from a great leading character in New York, a personal friend, urging me in the most
forcible and persuasive terms to make an immediate effort to arouse the west in my
behalf, before another aspirant in that quarter, an implacable personal enemy,
should, by uniting artifice with popularity, secure it to himself. * * Upon which,
I directed my adherents in the Tennessee legislature, to pass the resolutions they
did on that subject.' ' &c. &c.
In conclusion, I must be permitted to reiterate my firm belief,
rendered still more fixed and immoveable by this collation of the

172 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Parti.
diversified and irrefragable testimony which heretofore floated
but loosely or less cohesively in my mind, that General Jackson
was perfectly apprised of the conspiracy of General Houston,
before the date of my communication of it to him ; and that his
strictly confidential letter to Mr. Fulton, affecting to institute an
inquiry which its own injunctions rendered inoperative, denounc
ing to him withal, that his information was not sufficient to jus
tify official proceedings — deserves to be regarded in no other
light than as an illustrious example of that duplicity which has
so eminently characterized the 'Jacksonian diplomacy' through
out his eight years' administration of the federal government,
both in its foreign and internal relations. At least, I have
demonstrated that his information was unquestionably sufficient
afterwards to have demanded of him the removal of the secrecy -
with which he had enveloped the whole plot; that upon every
principle of public justice and executive duty, long before I knew
a breath of his letter to Mr. Fulton, General Jackson himself
ought to have been the agent to hand the documents over to the
archives of the nation, and to have rendered them a subject of
public action by all the various modes of proclamation, congres
sional communication, and general orders to the proper officers of
the government, after the example of one of his illustrious prede
cessors in the like case, or even without example, had it indeed
been the first instance of such an outrage upon international law,
common justice, or good neighbourship. But, in truth, he
intended no avowal in the case whatever. He meant to give
it the go-by — he meant to overlay it — and this was the inge
nious, the disingenuous artifice by which it was to be consigned
to its everlasting sleep, under a veil, which, if ever it should come
to be lifted up, might be pleaded in extenuation, as disclosing
honourable feelings and sentiments, however mistaken was his
judgment in undervaluing the testimony of what was obviously
in progress, and daily becoming more and more manifest till its
consummation ; while, on the contrary, he persisted in a disin
genuous silence towards Congress, and in denying any know
ledge of it in his communications with the Mexican minister
through the secretary of state.
And I now appeal to public opinion, whether, under the cir
cumstances of executive delinquency in the above course, when
this letter to Mr. Fulton came into my hands, six years after its
date, based upon my own statement of facts, denounced in it as
not established, and as insufficient for official action, did this cir
cumstance not only give me the most indubitable claims upon it
personally to vindicate my statement thus impugned, but also
impose on me a superadded obligation to lay it before the world,
constituting as it unquestionably does, an important link in the
history of those unique times, which could not be but half under
stood without it? Indeed, to my mind it obviously 'belonged to

Chap. VI.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 173
history,'* and whatever may be the decision of the present high
ly distorted party judgment upon the case, I feel sufficiently san
guine of the exculpatory decision of all impartial minds, and of
the universal decree of posterity.
•To my mind it obviously belonged To history. — Without comment, I
subjoin the following endorsements of the opinion above expressed, taken from the
National Intelligencer, Of the 12th and 15th of October last.
'TO THE EDITORS OF THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER. '
'Mount Carmel, Wabash Co. 111. Sept. 17, 1838.
^Gentlemen : — On reading your editorial remarks in your paper of the 5th inst.
respecting Dr. Mayo's communications, I do most heartily concur with you in your
sentiments. I rejoice that the era of investigation has now commenced. I hope
you will admit of other communications ofthe same tenour ; therefore, I enclose you
the within documents. Your editorial remarks called them forth from a dusty shelf.
As soon as I read your remarks, I sat down and copied them ; the originals may be
had if called for. I had no idea of ever calling up Mr. Madison's letter, but circum
stances now justify its coming forth. The papers referred to were sent to him at
Richmond, while in the Virginia convention, and acknowledged by forwarding to me
in return, under his own frank, a copy ofthe first impression of the new constitution
of Virginia.
If, gentlemen, John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart, could detect
an Arnold's treason, let not the attempts of as many almost beardless boys of the
west, who overturned the great western conspiracy, be buried in oblivion ! The
illustrious Madison very justly remarked, that they 'must merit preservation,' and
the result is an -auspicious pledge given by the genius of republican institutions and
the spirit of a free people for future triumphs over dangers of every sort that may be
encountered in our national career.'
As to myself, as I have stated before, I seek nothing. I act on this occasion, for
posterity! Let our youths unite and save their country. TH. S. HINDE.

'Urbana, Champaign Co. Ohio, July 23, 1829.
'Dear Sir : — These lines are dictated under a strong, and, I may add, a powerful
conviction of the critical stale of our national affairs. It is neither vanity nor flat
tery that influences my mind on the present occasion. I am but an humble indivi
dual — a pioneer of the west from a lad, a personal friend of your relations in Ken
tucky, having a son in my family bearing the name of one, and, as fbr myseltj an
uniform supporter of your 'trying' yet 'triumphant' administration.
'I am pleased to find that you, sir, are about preparing to write a political history
of our country. [The public journals had so asserted.] This history could not
have fallen into better hands to perform the work: and, since 1 sat down hastily to
address you this note, subjects in relation to this matter other than those I had in
view when I began to write, have rushed upon the mind.
'Your administration was one blended with so many eventful occurrences, that for
a season the mind was led to view the whole history of that memorable period as a
recurrence to a second revolution ; and one would be often at a loss to knovv which
should be most admired, the firmness of the people who supported you, or the untir
ing patience and fortitude with which the affairs of the nation were administered.
To remark, too, the powerful opposition, and this opposition overpowered and over
turned by moderation and forbearance ! ...... . , «
'But I fear that the day of our splendour and glory is like to be overcast by the
cloud or vapour of a far different character. There is a want of forbearance that I
fear will convulse the whole body politic, and in the end will settle down in party
strife and animosity ; therefore, if the information be correct that the contemplated
political history may not see light till you are no more, it may be that this procras
tination may prove' injurious to your country.
At the close of your administration there was evidently, to superficial observers a
kind of mist that rested upon many occurrences that bewildered the mind ; but the
rays of truth as time advanced, have dissipated them all ; and the faithful historian
in after ages will place your administration on higher grounds than that of any other
from the days of Washington. The great and good Jefferson had left you as a kind
of executor to settle our affairs with foreign nations. Affairs m Europe necessanly
23

174 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I,
Let it not be inferred, from the tenour of these chapters and
their quotations, that I have been hostile to the proceedings of
the bona fide citizens of Texas to redress any real grievances
they had suffered from the Mexican government anterior to the
rendered it so. I therefore hesitate not in declaring that the sentiments now express
ed are cool and dispassionate convictions of my own judgment.
I have'thus far expressed my mind freely, and as fully as I intended to do, without
any design to solicit an answer. But the circumstance before hinted at was, that it
either fortunately or unfortunately fell to my lot, when a youth, to become the organ
of the first disclosure in the west of the plot for dismemberment of the Union, under
Mr. Jefferson's administration.' If, therefore, any facts in relation to that singular
transaction be important, if requested, at a leisure time I will commit them to paper,
and forward them to you.
I shall not be at all surprised if it again falls to the lot of the Old Dominion,
(Virginia) to call back our national councils to the very serious consideration of first
principles. I hope, sir, that you Will pardon the liberty I have taken, and accept the assu
rances of my sincere respect and esteem, as a citizen of this republic ; and remain,
Your obedient servant, TH. S. HINDE.
,_ James Madisoiv, Esq.
, [reply.] 'Montpelier, August 17, 1829.
' Dear Sir : — Your letter of July 23d, was duly received, but at the time when I
was under an indisposition, remains of which are still upon me. I know not
whence the error originated, that I was engaged in writing a history of our country.
It is true, that some of my correspondences during a prolonged public life, with
other manuscripts connected with important public transactions, are on my files, and
may contribute materials for a historic pen. But a regular history of our country,
even during its revolutionary and independent character, would be a task forbidden
by the age alone at which I returned to private life, as requiring lights on various
subjects which are gradually to be drawn from sources not yet opened for public
use. The friendly tone of your letter has induced me to make these explanatory
remarks, which being meant for yourself only, I must request, may be so con
sidered. 'The authentic facts which it appears you happen to possess, relating lo the crimi
nal enterprise in the west, during the administration of Mr. Jefferson, must merit
preservation as belonging to A history of that period; and if no re
pository more eligible occurs to you, a statement of them may find a place among my
political papers. The result of that enterprise is among the auspicious
PLEDGES GIVEN BY THE GENIUS OF REPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS AND THE SPIRIT
of A free people for future triumphs over dangers of every sort that may be
encountered in our national career.
'I cannot be insensible to the motives which prompted the too partial views you
have taken of my public services, and which claim from me my good wishes, which
I tender you. JAMES MADISON.
Thomas S. Hinde, Esq. Urbana, Champaign county, Ohio.

Washington, October 12, 1838.
Gentlemen .-—No words are adequate to express to you the thrilling satisfaction
with which I read in the Intelligencer of this morning the communication of Mr.
Hinde, of Illinois.
When it fell to my lot to fire a. cannon over our political waters, (denounced a
temerity by some, indiscretion by others, and ill faitii by the interested,) little did
I anticipate that a living witness would hear the sound, repair to my support, and
recount historical facts of point blank identity in justification of my course, though
I did suppose that perchance some of the stifled testimonials might rise up to the
surface, and confirm the suspicions so justly entertained of the agents concerned in
their desecration. This hope, has in part, been realized by Mr. Hinde 's communi
cation, which will probably lead to further developments, both of the old conspi
racy of Burr, and the new one of Houston, to demonstrate, beyond the cavil of
interested partisans, that they were cast in the same matrix by the re-union of iden
tical and kindred spirits.

Chap. VI.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 175
interference of General Houston; or to his subsequent course
and that of the host of American citizens whose adventurous
spirit he had seduced to follow him, though with hostile pur
poses — all of whose latter proceedings would seem to me to be
commendable, in their private capacity, to afford succour to their
deluded brethren in that region, after the indiscriminate slaughter
of their advanced corps at the Brassos, 8fc. At least, I consider
the achievements of San Jacinto have redeemed every previous law
less or imprudent step of our misguided citizens, and of General
Houston himself; yet, it is his sheer good fortune and the
success, op the enterprise, that can plead any extenuation of
General Jackson's connivance at it, in utter derogation of high
official duties; for, only suppose an incident that was far the most
likely to occur, that the whole of the forlorn band at San Jacinto
had fallen victims to the same indiscriminate massacre of their
advanced corps! how would General Jackson have ever answered
the overwhelming grief and lamentations of their bereaved friends
or the twinges of his own conscience for so much choice blood
of his countrymen flowing in torrents under the special 'patron
age of his derelict official duties — if, indeed, the success of the
more fortunate can appease the just complaints of all other suf
ferers from this piratical enterprise, commenced and accomplished
under his abused official patronage ! ! I have given the most
unquestionable demonstration of my friendliness to the Texians,
and even the conspirators, since the changed position of this whole
question after my countrymen had been deluded, and deluded
themselves into a situation from which they could not recede, but
must go through or perish ! I have been one of the most effi
cient advocates of their recognition by this government, by various
personal exertions, calling meetings, preparing memorials, and
obtaining signatures, presented to both Houses of Congress,
WHEREUPON THE RECOGNITION WAS ACTUALLY
MADE.* The changed posture of affairs called for a new
The anticipation of such a course of further developments is justified by the
solicitation of Mr. Hinde that you will continue to give place in your columns to
similar communications. At any rate, the endorsation in advance, by Mr. Madison,
on the course I have felt myself bound in duty to my country and posterity to pur
sue, in relation to similar documents in a similar ca3e, 'as belonging to a history of
that period,' will stand me as a distinguished and irrefragible offset against the
denunciations of an interested and sinister administration, who, falsely professing to
pattern after those of Jefferson and Madison, have, under that cloak, perpetrated
most of the political abominations which were discountenanced, interdicted, and
prosecuted by those patriotic statesmen ; and, among the rest, they have committed
some of the very acts, with clamorous self-gratulation, which were considered and
treated as treason in the purer times of their predecessors. But an enlightened
public will- yet convince these false patriots, that what was treason then is treason
now. With my sincere thanks to Mr. Hinde, and gratitude to the shade of the immortal
Madison, I remain very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Messrs. Gales & Seaton. ROBERT MAYO.
* Preparing memorials, obtaining signatures, &c. whereupon the recognition was
actually made. See Annotations, (No. 3.)

176 eight years in Washington. [Part I.
course of policy in these respects. Our seduced and misguided
fellow-citizens in Texas, were all destined to be slaughtered if
not sustained. In that view I would go the lengths to waive
and compromise the wrong they had committed against Mexico,
in order to prevent the further effusion of blood, by the recogni
tion of Texian independence, thereby placing her in a position of
strength and national credit, which would elevate her above the
casualties that might otherwise subject her lo the reclamation of
Mexico by exterminating war; and at the same time make head
against another threatened mischief to the istegrity of this
Union, by placing her out ofthe pale of a possible constitutional
annexation to the United States,* which would inevitably have
laid the foundation of a new empire of states south of the Poto
mac, by way of avenging certain southern feelings against our
eastern brethren, and compassing various other odds and ends of
speculation, political, agrarian, commercial, &c. &c. The recog
nition, did, accordingly pass the senate, but with totally differentf
* Out" OF the pale of a possible constitutional annexation to the
United States.— Mr. Jefferson addressed a letter dated the 12th of August, 1803,
to Mr. Breckenridge, then a member of the senate, and afterwards attorney-gene
ral of the United States, on the acquisition of Louisiana by treaty just then nego
tiated with France, and to be submitted to congress at a called session to convene on
the 17th of October. He frankly avowed to Mr. B. his opinion, that the purchase
was an infringement of the constitution, and suggested an amendment of it, to sanc
tion the acquisition. That opinion, however, was set at ease by the ratification of
the treaty, and has been since set aside as erroneous, by a subsequent judicial expo
sition of the constitutional sovereignty of the federal government in regard to the
treaty making power. I subjoin the opinion of Mr. Jefferson, and the judicial
exposition, viz :
'This treaty, must, of course be laid before both houses, because both have impor
tant functions to exercise respecting it. They, I presume, will see their duty to
their country in ratifying and paying for it, so as to secure a good which would other
wise probably be never again in their power. But I suppose they must then appeal
to ihe nation for an additional article to the constitution, approving and confirming
an act which the nation had not previously authorized. The constitution has made
no provision for our holding foreign territory, still less for incorporating foreign
nations into our Union. The Executive, in seizing the fugitive occurrence which so
much advances the good of their country, have done an act beyond the constitution.
The legislature, in casting behind them metaphysical subtleties, and risking them
selves like faithful servants, must ratify and pay for it, and throw themselves on their
country for doing for them unauthorized what we know they would have done for
themselves had they been in a situation to do it. It is the case of a guardian, invest
ing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory ; and say
ing to him, when of age, I did this for your good ; I pretend to no right to bind you ;
you may disavow me, and I must get out of the scrape as I can ; I thought it my
duty to risk myself for you. But we shall not be disavowed by the nation, and their
act of indemnity will confirm and not weaken the constitution, by more strongly
marking out its lines.' — Jefferson's Writings, vol. m,p. 512.
'The constitution of the United States confers, absolutely, on the government of
the Union, the power of making war and of making treaties. 'Consequently that
government possesses the power of acquiring territory, either by conquest or by
treaty, [which power and right of acquisition are inseparably incident to the sove
reignty thereby conferred.] 1 Peters, 542, Sup. Court, U. S. 1828.
f But with totally different views. — It would be difficult to estimate the
diversity of their views, either as to their degrees of reprehensibility or their praise-
worthiness. It is, however, hardly questionable, that the interest of one of the sena
tors from Mississippi, Mr. Walker, to the amount of about $40,000 in Texian lands,
would vitiate his vote and zeal in the matter, particularly too, when he took advan-

Chap. VI.] JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY. 177
views of many of its advocates from the south, who considered
it one step gained towards her annexation, and the consequent
severment of the Union, by the accession of strength to the
slave-holding interest. Deplorable indeed is that infatuation of
the north,* which compels the south to resort to unconstitutional
tage ofthe absence of several senators, to bring the question up unexpectedly. These
are some of the ambushes of legislation, behind which a trickish speculator frequently
lays-wait to entrap an unguarded majority.
•Deplorable indeed is that infatuation of the North. — It is well
known that the interference with the institutions of the south above alluded to, is
not confined to our own brethren of the north. And I believe that the folly of their
r conduct towards the slave-holding portions of this Union cannot be more forcibly
brought home to their understandings, than by a perusal ofthe following just rebuke
given, to their infamous colleague on the other side of the Atlantic, by Wm. H.
Chase, Esq. while on a tour through England. The pragmatical abolitionists will
be enabled to infer from the parity of reasoning it contains, that their white paupers
are fast approximating to the condition of the paupers of England and Ireland:
which will never be the case with the white population of the slave-holding states,
nor with the slaves themselves. I rather incline to "the opinion that it is invidious-
ness alone that actuates most of the abolitionists of the north, because many of them
are not in as comfortable a condition as the slaves of the south, and therefore it is
that they resort to this underhanded annoyance of their masters. •
An unfortunate instance of the versatility of the human mind, may here be cited,
in the case of the honourable member of the House of Representatives, from Massa
chusetts, who in one breath rightfully exposes the 'duplicity and hostility' of the
federal executive, in its diplomacy towards a foreign power, and in its unwarrantable
interference with her domestic concerns ; while in another breath, nay in almost
every speech he utters, he stimulates our brethren of the north, to the most outra
geous interference with the state institutions and reserved constitutional rights ofthe
slave-holding states ; which has a more inevitable tendency to a dissolution of the
Union, than any act of foreign injustice, received or inflicted, can possibly have.
The right of petition applies only to the grievances of the petitioners, but cannot
extend to an interference with the rights or grievances of their neighbours.
[From the JVational Intelligencer of Dec. 28, 1S38.J
'Pensacola, Dec. 10, 1838.
'Messrs. Gales &. Seaton : — In your paper of the 17th October, I observe an extract
from a letter of mine addressed to Daniel O'Connell, Esq. member of Parliament, kc.
signed 'An American.'
.»' 'I wrote the letter from Liverpool, after a tour through England, and on the point of
embarking for beautiful, but suffering Ireland. Whilst on the quay, I witnessed the land
ing, from a Dublin steamer, of a number of Irish labourers come over to the English harvest,
and was induced by their wretched appearance, as well as by the recollection of the abuse
heaped on my country by the unprincipled 'agitator,' to address him the letter alluded to,
and which I offer lo you entire.
Your correspondent from London most feelingly describes the condition ofthe miserable,
deceived, but noble Irish people. The utter desolation of the poor is heart-rending. It is
enough, indeed, to 'chill the very blood in your veins,' to behold thousands of wretches,
from helpless infancy to imbecHe age, wandering through the public streets and highroads,
seeking for food without finding it : whilst thousands besides are living from day to day
on the minimum of subsistence, without any thing to fall back upon, and where the inter
mission of a day's, aye, an hour's, labour brings with it hunger and despair !
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, WM. H. CHASE, ¦
Major of Engineers.
'Liverpool, July 4, 1833.
'To Daniel O'Connell, Esq. M. P. London :
'Sir : — America has come in for a share of the abuse which you are in the habit of heap
ing on every body and every thing not appertaining to yourself. As an American I prefer
your enmity to your friendship. You have been pleased to denounce America as a nation
of liars, since, with the Declaration of Independence in their mouths, they hold their fellow-
creatures in bondage. Is there, then, no bondage in England, in Ireland, in your colonies ?
Where are chains more firmly rivetted than in the dark dens and lanes of London, Leeds,
Liverpool ; of Manchester, Sheffield, Dublin ? In the bogs and morasses of your own

178 EIGHT YEARS IN WASHINGTON. [Part I.
remedies to counteract unconstitutional and superadded cruel
interferences in their domestic institutions and reserved rights as
demi-sovereign states — sovereign in this particular, and in the
other particulars not delegated to the federal government.
The reader who cannot discriminate between this course, and
that which I took upon the revival of Burr's conspiracy and
the prosecution of it in its early stages, under the connivance
and patronage of the official representative of this Union whose
duty it is to maintain good faith in her foreign relations, is not an
object of envy for his sagacity, but of pity for his utter obluse-
ness of discrimination.
country, and over the smiling fields of England ? Read the Poor Laws Reports; an account
of the Great Metropolis; England and the English, all written by your own people : and
not only read, but seek out the dens of misery and crime in your large cities and rural
districts, and then boast, without lying, if you can, of the liberties of the British people.
Boast, I say, of your magna charta ! Boast of the results of your own disinterested exer
tions for Ireland I
'Sir, I have seen with my own eyes, the distress, degradation, and despair of the
British people, and I perceive the cause. It is this : that they are constantly deceived by
those calling themselves their friends, and who promise reform, equal rights, &c. which
serve, after all, only as watchwords in mounting to power. When an O'Connell arrives
at power, spare me from its exercise; the tyranny of the Turk would be more bearable.
'We own to slavery in America; it is a flourishing tree, planted by our humane
ancestors, the English. I will, in this place, neither attack nor defend the system as
it exists in the United States, but content myself with asserting that the physical and
moral condition of the three millions of slaves in the United States, is, at this moment
infinitely superior, in every respect, to the labouring classes in the British dominions.
I will challenge you, or any other philanthropist of your stamp, to witness a hundredth
part of the want of food and clothing in any section of the slave-holding states, which
was exhibited this morning amongst one hundred and fifty of the 'finest peasantry in
the world,' just landed from Dublin. The suffering of poor Ireland is great, but it- is
not confined to that beautiful country; the English labourer, in the hot and unhealth-
ful dens of the manufactories, and in the smiling fields, is, at this time, in a state of
suffering that an American would not believe on relation; he must see it with his own
eyes. I have passed through twenty counties of England, and I have scarcely met a
smiling face among the poorer classes; every one appeared dejected, with care-worn
and haggard countenances. If I have seen such in England, what awaits my sight in
Ireland, where white slavery exists in all its atrocity? Where the [finest peasantry-in
the worltp are removed but a degree from the brute race ? You have been pleased to
call the Americans liars because they preach what they do not practise. If such be
liars, what lerm of mendacity sufficiently strong ought to be applied to yourself?
AN AMERICAN.'

ANNOTATIONS
TO PART THE FIRST.

NOTE I.— Referred to at Page 168.
•proofs strong as holy writ of his familiarity with their objects.'
I know that the views I have expressed in relation to this letter, and other equivo
cations practised by General Jackson, to evade' the disclosure ofthe true position
he occupied in his connection with Burr, do necessarily and deeply involve the
, question of veracity — a question, which, for the sake of truth, of humanity,
and the honour of my country, I wish I were not from facts and documentary evi
dence, so fully prepared to meet and settle. Yes, these views and developments do
involve a question of veracity — but no more than does every mysterious equivocation
to screen a cherished device from detection ; nay, no more than every disingenuous
presentation of irrelevant matters to divert attention from the truth withheld" or sup
pressed. They all involve the question of veracity, touching the inward bias of the
mind, whether in the varying degrees denominated indirect, imperfect; constructive
br implied, and untangible of law as matter of perjury, or not so perfectly defined and
punishable ; yet, to the spirit and the very letter of that universal oath administered
in our courts, 'to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,' they are
palpable infringements ; aye, and even to the solemn interdiction of that holy law,
which says, 'thou shalt not lie,' they are all obnoxious to the charge of a
virtual violation.
Now, I will meet and settle this question. And to do this most effectually, I
shall resort to a few olden documents, which may possibly, be erroneously deemed
rather dry subjects, having already been examined or used for a contrary purpose,
and long since buried. But, though they seem to have satisfied that object, at the
time, having undergone the biased inspection of a packed jury, whose drift was to
slur over and conceal what was most palpable to detection, I shall avail myself of
their exhumation even at this late period, and show to the world the virtues of
post mortem dissections, in bringing to light mysteries that could not otherwise be
cleared up ; and thereby, relieve the mueh abused public credulity, from the errors
that have been so artfully imposed upon them.
It will be perceived by these extracts, that General Jackson was a general agent
of Burr, in making preparations for the execution of his mysterious schemes ; that
he received large sums of money from Burr at an early date, to enable. him to con
duct that agency, consisting principally in constructing light boats on the Cumber
land river, near the Clover bottom, in the vicinity of General Jackson's residence,
where Burr was entertained during his frequent visits to Tennessee ; also in pro--
curing provisions and stores for Burr's expedition— having, with two or three others,
virtually acted the part of principal recruiting agents for that 'expedition ; that this
agency commenced in 1805, and continued about eighteen months, down to the
period of Burr's last visit to Nashville, and his departure with his recruits and boats
from the mouth of the Cumberland — having been formally introduced by General
Jackson during that visit, at a ball in Nashville, contrary to the wishes of many of
the company ; and that Burr, on his departure, took with him as an adopted son, by
the approbation and advice of General Jackson, a youth, Stokely Hays, the nephew
of General Jackson. It will also be perceived, that during this agency, suspicions
of the mysterious preparations of Burr and his agents were entertained by many
respectable citizens, and that General Jackson was referred to for information to

ISO ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
satisfy the inquiries of those desiring to join it ; that upon one occasion, General
Jackson probably suspecting a trap was laid to commit him, promptly replied that
he knew nothing about Burr's intentions, and advised the gentleman, Rutherford
Rutland, to stay at home ; after which, nevertheless, he entrusted his nephew to the
charge of Burr, and paid him the customary friendly attentions. It will be further
perceived, that although General Jackson had attained the age and experience of 'a
practised man,' suspicions of Burr's wicked designs seem to have been strangely
excluded from his mind, while the minds of less practised men, were greatly agitated
about their mysterious character; and that General Jackson, finally, about two
months after Mr. Jefferson's attention had been drawn to Burr's movements, by
communications from individuals, and expositions made in a newspaper called the
'Western World,' and about one month after Mr. Jefferson had despatched a special
agent, Mr. Graham, to make inquiry in relation thereto, through the west, also after
General Jackson had been personally apprised by a gentleman, on the 10th of No
vember, 1806, of dark suspicions being abroad, that 'it flashed into his mind like
lightning that Burr was the object of them ;' and that he thereupon immediately open
ed a correspondence for the first time, with the government, yet however, with
holding his suspicions of Burr, but directing them towards General Wilkinson,
whom Burr also, (as if by concert,) upon his arrest a short time after, attempted to
implicate the first man: that General Jackson continued this system of writing let
ters to high functionaries, as safety valves or break waters thrown around himself to
guard himself from attack or suspicion, and wherewith to defend himself in either
event, as the result has proved — inquiring of Mr. Jefferson whether Burr 'had the
authority or approbation of the government :' which would have been more in season
to have been made before he undertook his agency, or at any time pending the
eighteen months of its operations, while others were doubting; and surely ought to
have been made before he was under the necessity to take that course as a device
of safety, when he saw that the cat was out ofthe bag. But what is more in unison
with the wonted double diplomacy of a master, is, that General Jackson still con
tinued to maintain the good graces of Burr, being easily satisfied with his denials
and disclaimers, even after the whole country had been called upon by the president's
proclamation to be guarded against him ; and actually paid all imaginable court
to him at a public ball in Nashville, after he had tendered his services to the presi
dent to arrest him ; and entrusted his nephew to his charge but a few days before
he was arrested by Mr. Poindexter in Mississippi. And, yet more, as a final super
added proof of the good will and good understanding he had the adroitness to main
tain, under all these trying circumstances, with that dear friend and associate in
mystery, Burr — yes Aaron Burr, did ardently, and effectually in the end, urge
General Jackson's nomination for the presidency a few years afterwards.
The documents to which I have alluded were published at Nashville in 1828, by
one of General Jackson's whitewashing committees, of which, a great number were
organized in the campaign of his first election, averaging one for each ofthe princi
pal cities in the union ; whereby General Jackson incurred an immense political
debt, which either gave rise to, or originated from, the introduction of a principle of
savage warfare, 'that the spoils belong to the victors.' Thus were the members of
those Jackson whitewashing committees, who claimed pay for their services,
regarded by him as creditors of the first dignity — not excepting the partisan edi
tors, whose daily columns burned with ardent praises even of his grossest misdeeds —
nor yet excepting the Jackson presidential electors, many of whom also claimed
their reward on no other ground whatever, than that of having balloted for him, in
obedience to and in fulfilment of the trust agency of their special delegation by their
constituents. Whether this latter gave origin to, or took its origin from a practice,
since become very prevalent of making illegal extra charges for official services
regularly remunerated by law, would be out of place here to inquire.
It will be observed, however, that the address to the public by the Nashville
committee, from which, I take the following extracts, pretends only to exculpate
General Jackson from a charge of having been 'connected with Aaron Burr, in a
conspiracy to sever the union of these states.' It does not touch the other question
of his co-operation with Burr in military preparations for a hostile invasion of
Mexico. Whether this omission is meant by them to be considered as a denial of
the fact, or as irrelevant to the subject they took in hand, is immaterial to the pre
sent state ofthe case, because, as the fact is both relevant and true, their admission
or denial-of it would avail them nothing here. The verdict of that committee con
sists of several items, of which I shall quote the second only, as a specimen by which
the reader may judge ofthe rest when he has perused the extracts I make from the
documents on which that verdict is rendered. They remark— 'In conclusion we

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 181
will briefly recapitulate the most material facts and circumstances proved by the
foregoing testimony.' — '2d. That General Jackson communicated to ihe government
and its officers fully and explicitly, so soon as he had information of any kind!!'
If the reader will say that this assertion is justified by the documents by wliich it is
pretended to be proved, I will agree that he has a discernment that would probably
be better appreciated by the committee than by myself. I might have been so per
suaded at that time, by a superficial glance at those documents artificially arraigned,
without regard to dates, or by the naked say-so of those gentlemen ; but the manner'
in which such testimony is gotten up and displayed for a particular effect, is better
understood by every body at this day, after having been so long schooled in Jack
sonian diplomacy. The directly contrary of this item of" the verdict, is established
by nearly all of the documents, though the committee may have been deceived by
looking only to the intent of their organization.
The items of that verdict, as erroneous in most of their deductions and evasive in
others, as I consider them, are subscribed by the following names, viz :
John Overton, Chairman, R. C. Foster, R. Whyte, John Catron, G. W. Camp
bell, Th. Claiborne, F'x Robertson, Joseph Philips, John Shelby, Daniel Graham,
Jesse Wharton, Josiah Nichol, Edward Ward, Wm. B. Lewis, Wm.L. Brown, Wm.
White, Alfred Balch ; Daniel Graham, Secretary.
They say —
• * * * 'He (General Jackson) is charged with the foul crime of treason; of having
been connected with Aaron Burr in a conspiracy to sever the union of these states.
'Before we proceed with the evidence in refutation Of this unprincipled calumny, we
will premise, that Genera! Jackson, while in the senate of the United States, became
well acquainted with Col. Burr ; that then, and long afier, Col. Burr stood high in the
favour and estimation of the republican party in the United States; that he had acquired
the good feelings of the west, by his great attention to its interests, and particularly
of Tennessee, by his activity in producing her admission into the Union; and that up to
the month of NOVEMBER, 1806, nothing like suspicion of treason, or of any project
unfriendly to the peace and integrity of the United States, had any existence in this
country; though Mr. Jefferson, in his message of January 22, 1S07, 6ays —
'Some time in the latter part of SEPTEMBER, (1806,) I received intimation that
.designs were in agitation in the western country, unlawful and unfriendly to the peace
-of the Union, and that the prime mover in these was Aaron Burr; heretofore designated
by the favour of his country.
'And again he says —
'The general's [Wilkinson's] letter which came to hand the 25th of November, as has
been mentioned, and some other information received a few days earlier, when brought
togetiier, developed Burr's general designs, different parts of which only had been revealed
to different informants. It appeared that he contemplated two distinct objects, which
might be carried on, either jointly or separately, and either the one or the other, first
as circumstances should direct. One of these was the severance of the union of these
states by the Allegany mountains; the other an attack on Mexico. A third object was
provided, merely ostensible, to wit, the settlement of a pretended purchase of a tract of
country on the Washita, claimed by a Baron Bastrop. This was to serve as the pretext
for all his preparations, an allurement for such followers as really wished to acquire settle
ments in that country, and a cover under which to retreat in the event of a final discomfi
ture of both branches of his real design.'
The following extracts from the documents published by the Nashville com
mittee, give the recollections of the most important occurrences of that period, by
gentlemen conversant with them. The first is extracted from General Coffee's letter
to the committee — viz : [ 1 .] 'Nashville , August 28, 182S.
'By request of the Nashville committee, I do hereby state, that Col. Burr, when in
Tennessee, in 1805 and 1806, represented his views to be, the settlement of lands to the
south, on the Washita river. He spoke of the probability of a rupture between the
United States and Spain, in which event the impression was that he (Col. Burr) would
have command of an expedition against Mexico, under and by the authority of the United
States. Sometime after he had been in Tennessee in 1805, and left this impression, let
ters were received from him, as my impressions now are, by Generals Jackson and
Robertson, requesting them to make out and forward to him a list of such enterprising
young men, as it was believed would serve their country well in the impending antici
pated contest with Spain. Generals Robertson and Jackson, with sundry others of the
old respectable citizens, did, for that purpose, meet in Nashviile, and made out such lists
and as I suppose sent it on to him. Col. Burr's then standing in the western country,
(having lately filled the second office in the government,) forbade the idea that his contem-
24

182 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
plated measures were apart from the knowledge and approbation of the government. On
his arrival here, and for some time after, marked attentions were by all extended to himj-
and no suspicions were entertained, that his plans and views were at all different from
•what they were represented by himself. With a view, to the building of some boats and'
procuring some provisions, there had been remitted to General Jackson the sum of
three thousand and Jive dollars, which was placed in my hands, with a desire expressed
that I would attend to the request made by Col. Burr.
'This agency I accepted and performed, and made arrangements for purchasing some-
provisions, and tbe building by different persons of five flat boats, and the purchase of
one keel boat. Subsequently, a further sum of five hundred dollars was put into my
hands. 'Part of the funds, to wit, seven hundred dollars, as appears by reference to the memo
randum of the expenditure, was paid over to Col. William P. Anderson; wherefore, and
for what account, this advance to Col. Anderson was made, I have not now a sufficient
recollection to speak with certainty. Suspicions having subsequently arisen, relative to
the real objects and views of Col. Burr, my agency in his affairs ceased, except to dis
charge the contracts that had previously been entered into. The balance of the remain
ing funds in my hands was paid over to Col. Burr on his arrival in Tennessee, on the
last visit he made here, in the month of December, 1806. On his first arrival in Ten
nessee, on his last visit in December, General Jackson was absent from home; having
returned within a few days afterwards, the General came in company with General Over
ton, to the Clover Bottom, where Col. Burr resided. An interview took place between
them and Col. Burr, at which they informed him qf' the suspicions and distrust, that
were entertained against him. Burr repelled them, and expressed deep regret that
there should be any such, and remarked that he could, and wouldbe able to satisfy every
dispassionate mind, that his views and objects were friendly to the government; and1
such as he had represented them to be. In a fevy days after, he left the country.
'A son of Colonel Hays, about seventeen years of age, as has been represented, nephew
to Mrs. Jackson, went along. His father had become reduced in his circumstances; had
been personally known to Col. Burr, during the revolution, and his son a young man of
promise, it had been proposed to the old gentleman, that he should take him and aid him
in his education, which was consented to by his father. General Jackson gave him let
ters to Governor Claiborne, and instructed young Mr. Hays, as I understood at the time
that should he discover Col. Burr's views to be at all inimical to the United States, or
adverse to the designs of government, to leave him and place himself under the pro^
tection and care of Governor Claiborne.' * * * JOHN COFFEE.

[2.]— Extract of a letter from Gen, James Robertson to the Hon. Daniel Smith,
dated Nashville, December 23d, 1806.
Sir;— Great anxiety appears to prevail in this place to see the President's message, as
it will give some information how our relations are with the European powers. Col. Burr
left this yesterday, with two large boats, in order to descend the Mississippi river. Many
conjectures are formed respecting his designs. I cannot harbour an opinion that he has
any views inimical to the United States. I did not see him, though he was three or four
days in this place; but last fall he dined with me, and I was several times in his com
pany. He then told me, he expected to make settlements with his son-in-law on the west
ern waters. I endeavoured to find how the Executive of our government was held
with; but he was so guarded, I gained but little satisfaction, but I thought he spoke
rather in favour— this might have been his knowing my opinion. I, from that time, have
had some doubts of his friendship .

[3.]— Extract of a letter from Thomas Stuart, Esq. at that time Attorney for the
United States, to Gen. Daniel Smith, Senator in Congress: dated Nashville, Jan.
3d, 1807-
Sir:— I received your letter of Dec. 15th, 1806. Colonel Burr's transactions have
made much noise here also. You request me to inform you what is known on that subject
in Tennessee. On this point, I am able to give you very little satisfaction. He has visited
Nashville and its vicinity twice in the course of.this winter; he has been treated with
respectful attention by many ofthe citizens— he had two or three boats built upon Stone's
river, and siarted in one of them from Nashville down Cumberland river, about a week
ago, with eight hands without arms, supplied with conveniences for descending the Missis
sippi. I understand his olher boats are' to take in pork at Stone's river, and that he pur
chased a considerable quantity of pork at Clarksville. The inclosed, taken from Estin's
paper, shows how he is viewed by some of the citizens of this place. [That extract alludes
to the burning of Burr's effigy, 30th December, 1806.]
'Stokely Hays and a son of Captain Harney's have gone down with him. His ostensible
object, I understand, was the colonization of a large tract of land on the Washita, but the

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 183
tircumstances did not appear loft that. A certain air of mystery in his conduct excited
Suspicion; this suspicion was confirmed by his having been suspected elsewhere. The
paper called 'The Western World' held him up to public view as a conspirator, con
nected with Wilkinson and Sebastian. When men attempted to view his objects, thoy
found themselves surrounded with darkness; their imaginations were let loose, and to
many he became an object of horror.
'I am confident that no scheme could be more universally execrated here, than the sepa
ration of the state of Tennessee from the Union: I believe the idea of the conquest of
Mexico, unconnected with the other, would have been very popular some time ago,' &c. &rc.
[4-]— Judge Williams' reply to Gen. Jackson. Sparta, Feb. 27, 1S28.
After copying from General Jackson's letter to me, the report as' stated in his letter, I
stated as follow. —
I can very frankly deny ever having written the letter spoken of by the gentleman who
-wrote you from Washington, but I did write a letter lo a relation of mine, at that time in
Richmond. * * *
'Some time after Burr had passed Nashville once or twice, to the lower country, before
Mr. Jefferson's proclamation, in riding from Gen. Jackson's house to Nashville, Gen. Jack
son, in reference to that conspiracy, or what was afterwards called by others a conspiracy,
said to me, 'that I could, if I would accept of it, obtain a commission of captain.'
Afterwards, during the sitting of the County court of Sumner, at a time when Patton
Anderson told me that either Burr or Adair, or both of them, were at General Jackson's
house, in a room of a tavern then kept by an Edmund Crutcher, General Jackson said to
me — I think Judge Stewart was then in the room — 'Take nutice, gentlemen, von will
FIND THAT A DIVISION OP THE UNITED STATES HAS TAKEN DEEP ROOT; you Will find
that a number qf the Senate, and a number qf the members qf the House of Repre
sentatives are deeply involved in the scheme.'
'I am not certain that the above was contained in my private letter to Mr, Nathaniel
Kerr; but as I have made these statements privately, it is but just that I should now avow
them. * * * NATH. W. WILLIAMS.
Gen. Andrew Jackson.

[5] — Further statement of Judge Williams, to the Committee. Extract.
'I think in the spring or fall of 1805, in riding from the General's house to Nashville,
jiear^the Clover Bottom, he spoke to me in relation to a commission in Burr's army.
And in the same year, at Gallatin, he made the declarations in relation to the division of
the Union, as stated in our correspondence. I not only then determined, that I would not
agree to what I believed to be Burr's schemes, but that I would oppose him as far as I
could. Either before or after Mr. Jefferson's proclamation, it was, as I thought, intended
to impress the public mind with the belief, that a ball, then on hand in Nashville, was
intended as a mark of respect to Col. Burr. A number of gentlemen in Nashville, to
destroy this impression and to show their disapprobation of Burr, determined that Colonel
Burr should not attend the ball, and so informed Colonel Burr through Judge John Over
ton, who returned with the information, as he told me, from Burr, that Colonel Burr had
declined coming to the ball. With this we were satisfied. About the time the ball was
half over, I was standing against the wall, opposite the door of entrance in the room, and
saw General Jackson lead Burr by the arm into the room, and introduce him with
¦considerable form, to the ladies and gentlemen then present. I do not recollect at this
time, that Mr. Jefferson's proclamation had any effect on the persons then about Nash
ville, who were, from their conduct, justly liable to our suspicions, and I think I took
some pains to inquire into that circumstance. Some time afterwards, our party, to show
their further detestation, burnt Burr publicly in effigy.
'When I recollect, that the destruction of the American institutions was the objec't'of the
Burr conspiracy, and that Gen. Jackson Was in the possession of facts and circumstances
which would have convicted the conspirators, and yet improperly withheld them, when
summoned to Richmond to give testimony, thereby enabling them to escape from punish
ment, I am filled with astonishment, that the American nation should think for a moment,
of supporting his pretensions to the highest office in the gift of the people. — In view of
.this state of things, I tremble for my country's honour and safety. * * *
'If Mr. Jefferson, invested as he was with such political power and authority, had been
as friendly to Burr's schemes, as Jackson is believed to have been, it is impossible for the
mind of man to conceive the disasters that would have threatened the safety of this Union.
NATH. W. WILLIAMS.

16.]— Col. Hays' Letter io the Chairman of the Jackson Committee at Nashville.
• '.Sir :— * * * In the winter of 1806-7, the Colonel came to Nashville, and sent for
me when at school near there, and on meeting him, he claimed the promise which had

184 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
been made to him on his first visit — but stated he was going by the way of the Mississippi,
and that I must accompany him, and that he had seen my father and obtained hia consent;
that he received me as a son, and I must consider him in the character of a father:
I observed to him, that I must see and consult my friends, before I gave my final
consent. On advising with them, some doubt of Mr. Burr's object was suggested, but ho
having pledged his word qf honour, that he had nothing in view hostile to the best inte
rests of the United States, I determined to go with him. Mr. C. C. Claiborne was at
lhat tune governor of Louisiana, and an old friend of my father's, and had requested him
to permit me to go to New Orleans as his private secretary. To him General Jackson
wrote a letter, and gave me to deliver, urging it on me, in the most earnest manner, to
leave Burr, if at any time I should discover he had any views err intentions inimical to
the interests or integrity of the government. I left my father's on horseback, about the
middle qf December, 1S06, and joined Mr. Burr at the mouth of Cumberland river,
and went with him down to the mouth of Bayou Pierre, where I left him, and saw him
no more, except at a ball in Washington, Mississippi', and on his trial there before the
court Respectfully, your obedient servant, S. D. HAYS.
John Overton, Chairman Nashville Committee.

[7.] — Letter of Mr. Graves to Capt. Andrew J. Donelson.
Sir: — In answer to your verbal inquiry through Col. Williamson, I can inform you
what I said to him, and will always say, when called on, lo wit : That at the time Col.
Burr was building a boat on Stone's river, or near the mouth of it, there was a rumour
among the people that he wanted forty or fifty, or more young men to go with him to
some place not known, and that he would give liberal wages. A young man, Mr. Ruther
ford Rutland, had some notion of going with Burr, but seemed unwilling to embark unlesa
he knew his intentions, and could receive some certain assurance of the amount of wages.
As I was going to Nashville, in company with the said Rutherford Rutland, we found
General Jackson at a store near the Clover Bottom, and / there remarked to Rutland
that he liad better ask General Jackson if he knew Burr's intentions, before he engaged
himself to descend the river with him. He did so, and the general answered in a very
prompt and decided manner, that Ae knew nothing of Burr's intentions, and advised
him to stay at home. JOHN G. GRAVES.

[8.] — Willis Alston's statement.
I hereby certify, that in a conversation with Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United
States, respecting the, movements of Col. Burr in the west, I observed that the rumour of
the day was, that Gen. Andrew Jackson had joined Burr. Not so, or not true, said
Mr. Jefferson, for I this day received a letter from him (Gen. Jackson,) informing me
that he had seen Burr, and lhat Burr said his enterprise was sanctioned by the govern
ment, and he, Jackson had been tendered a high command by Burr, and asked of Mr.
Jefferson the views of the government, tendering his services, if wanted, to make a
descent upon Mexico, as stated by Burr, but if Burr was not authorized by the govern
ment to carry on his enterprise as stated, then he, Jackson was ready to arrest him.,
WILLIS ALSTON.
Chamber qf the H. Representatives, Feb. 11, 1S28.

Now, though it is contrary to legal equity to admit the accused either to excul-
Eate himself, or compel him to commit himself, I shall let General Jackson exhibit
is resources of dissimulation in his own prompt way of writing letters in every
direction, after he had freely entered into, and continued more than twelve months
in Burr's agency, without evincing the least susceptibility to the suspicions felt by
less practised men than himself; "but became quite lively to them after the govern
ment had got wind of Burr's proceedings. It will thereby be perceived, as I have
before remarked, by what admirable tact General Jackson presented one face to the
government, and a different one to Aaron Burr — how artfully he deceived the Pre
sident, and yet maintained both the confidence and the good will of Burr, to the
last hour!
The following is an extract of General Jackson's letter to William C. C. Claiborne*
Esq. Governor of Louisiana, dated on the 12th of November, 1806, in which he
admonislies the governor, 'to put his citadel in u, state of defence.' [Hening and
Munford's report, page 252.
Sir: * * * Be on the alert — keep a watchful eye upon our General [Wilkin
son], and beware of an attack, as well from our own country as Spain.* • *
* Though we had commercial difficulties with Spain, there was no attack imminently
expected from that quarter.

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 185
There is something rotten in the state of Denmark. I fear there are plans on foot
inimical to the union. Whether they will be attempted to be carried into effect or
not, I cannot say; hut rest assured, fhey are in operation, or I calculate boldly.
Beware of the month of December. I love my country and government— I hate the
Bons. I would delight to see Mexico 'reduced— but I will die in the last
ditch, before I would yield afoot to the Dons, or see the union, disunited. This I write
for your own eye, and for your own safety ; profit by it, and the ides of March
remember ! With sincere respect, &c. ANDREW JACKSON.'
Copy of a letter from Andrew Jackson to G. W. Campeell, January 15, 1807.
'Sir:— The late denunciation of Aaron Burr, as a traitor, has excited great surprise and
general indignation. Still, from the opinion possessed ofthe accuser,* many there are who
wait for the proof, before they will pronounce him guilty of the charge. One thing is
generally believed, that if Burr is guilty, Wilkinson has participated in the treason. ' The
public mind has been much agitated from various reports of Burr having been met at the
mouth of the Cumberland river, with one hundred boats and one thousand armed men;
and it was stated as a fact, that the captain at Massac and al) the men were going with
him. Subsequent reports stated they had gone. An express which I started on the receipt
of the Secretary of War's letter of the — ult. has returned, and states that Burr left
Massac on the 3d inst. in company ten boats, six men on board each, without arms or any
thing that can afford suspicion, and that Capt. Bissell has been doing his duty as a vigilant
officer. I had ordered out twelve companies of volunteers on Ihe receipt ofthe Secretary
of War's letter, to check the adventurers, which on return of express I dismissed. 1 have
no doubt but from the pains that have been taken to circulate reports, it will be
rumoured that I am on full march to unite with Burr. This I know you never will
believe until you hear it from myself; or from such a source that you know cannot err.
Should you ever hear that I am embarked in a cause, inimical to my country, believe it
not. Should you hear that treasonable intentions have come to my knowledge, and that I
have been silent, believe them not; or that I would not put any man out of existence,
who would name such a thing lo me, without on the ground. of discovering it to the
proper authorities. If Burr has any treasonable intentions in view, he is the basest of
all human beings — I will tell you why. He always held out the idea of settling Washita,
unless a war with Spain, in that event, he held out the idea that from his intimacy with
the Secretary of War, he would obtain an appointment, and if he did, would revolu
tionize Mexico. About the 10th of November, Captain  , called at my house,
and after the stay of a night, and part of a day introduced the subject of the adventurers,
and in part stated, that their intention was to divide the Union. I sternly asked, how
Ihey would effect it, he replied by seizing New Orleans and the Bank, shutting the port,
conquering Mexico, and uniting the western parts of the Union, to the conquered- coun
try. I, perhaps with warmth asked him how this was to be effected; he replied, by the
aid of the federal troops, and the general at their head. I asked if he had this from the
genera], he said he had not. I asked him if Col. Burr was in the scheme; he answered
he did not know, nor was he informed that he was — that he barely knew Col. Burr, and
never had any conversation with him. I asked him how he knew this, and from whom
he got his information; he said from  in New York. Knowing that Col. Burr
was well acquainted with  it rushed into my mind like lightning, that he, (Burr,)
was at the head, and from the colourings he had held out lo me, Generals Robertson
and Overton, and the hospitality I had shown him, I viewed it as base conduct to us
all, and heightened the baseness of his intended crimes, if he really was about to
become a traitor. I sat down and wrote to General Smith and Doctor Dickson; I wrote
to Governor Claiborne to put his citadel in a state of defence, without naming any
person except Gen. Wilkinson. When this was done, I wrote to Col. Burr in strong
terms, my suspicions of him and until they were cleared from my mind, no further
intimacy was to exist between us. I made my suspicions known to Generals Robert
son and Tatum,with some others. Not long after, I received his answer, with the most
sacred pledges that he had not, nor he never had any views inimical or hostile to the
United States, and whenever he was charged with the intention of separating the
Union, the idea of insanity must be ascribed to him. After his acquittal in Kentucky, ha
returned to this country, and to all who named the subject, made the same pledge, and
said that he had no objects in view, but such as were sanctioned by legal authority; and
still said, that when necessary, he would produce the Secretary of War's orders— that he
wanted only yonng men of talents to go with him, with such he wished to make his set
tlement, as it would have a tendency to draw to it wealth and character. For these rea
sons — from the pledges made, if he is a traitor, he is tlm basest that ever did commit
treason, and being torn to pieces, and scattered to the four winds qf heaven, would be
* Wilkinson, is meant.

186 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
too good for him. But we will leave him for time and evidence to verify hie hue. I
have given you the outlines, and in a few weeks will give the proof.* A. JACKSON.
'It is hereby certified, that the original letter here referred to, was submitted to Mr.
Jefferson, then President of the United States, immediately after it was received, from
which, after perusing it, he'desired permission to copy such parts as related to the affair
of Burr, being the same contained in the foregoing extracts, which was freely given, and
when the letter was returned to the undersigned, he understood from Mr. Jefferson he
had taken a copy as he proposed doing ; and those parts, of which the foregoing is a copy,
being all that related to said affair, were underscored while in his possession.
G. W. CAMPBELL.' .
I might here go a how-shot further, and show that it was a rule of General Jack
son's public as well as private life, to hear down all before him. Several cases to
this effect, which properly belong to the subsequent parts of this work, will there
be introduced. They strongly illustrate a statement I have heard from a former
resident of Nashville, in relation to Jackson's method of clearing a race course : he
would mount his horse and put him in full speed up and down the course, through
the crowd, and 'those who should not get out of the track in time, must submit to
be run-down '.' Applying this practice to his opponents in his public career, he has
immolated with his political Juggernaut, more great men — all his superiors — than
Bonaparte did of princes and crowned heads of Europe.
Indeed, it is palpable to the most indifferent observer of the startling incidents of
several years past, that the infatuation impressed on a large portion of the public
mind by General Jackson's characteristic hardihood, with his daring and reckless
example in assuming responsibilities of all kinds, involving life and limb, law and
the constitution, have done more to establish the reign of bowie knives, pistols, and
other secret body arms, fatal emulations in all the walks of vicious enterprise, blood
shed at elections, mobs, and a general spirit of defiance to the laws — ending in a
wide spread dilapidation of public morals, and general defalcations of public and-
private agents, which, if not speedily arrested, must terminate in general bankruptcy/
anarchy, and irredeemable national disgrace. It has been truly said, that the example
of one profligate Prince does more to demoralize a people, than that of- the wholes'.
catalogue 0/ obscure vice, larceny, or flagrant crime. And by how much the more
may we not count upon the deleterious effects of the bad examples of a President,
endeared to the hearts of his countrymen (however justly or unjustly on different
scores), we have had sufficient proof, of late years, to put the whole nation on their
guard, in future, against those who profess to follow such footsteps and make .a merit
thereof. Nay, in taking a comprehensive retrospect of the past, in connection with
our present prospects, it will be manifest to the discerning mind, that General Jack
son came into the presidency like a wolf in sheep's clothing, and went out like an
ass in a lion's skin, leaving a jackal for his successor !
I am glad it happens to be in my power, just as this sheet was ready for the press,
to delay it a moment, to insert the following additional effort at exculpation in the
Houston conspiracy, for it squints more in that direction, than it speaks to the Swart
wout defalcation. I shall only request the reader to bear in mind, that General
Jackson assumes to be a 'practised man ;' and that practised men know how to draw
up a declaration, a resolution, or a quasi denial of a charge, in such equivocal phraseo
logy, as to render it difficult to decide what they mean ; and, as the Hon. Mr. Atherton
would say, 'that is just what they intend.' In endeavouring, therefore, to find out
what it is that is meant to be denied in the following specimen of the equivocal
art, I would suggest to the reader to consider well whether it is not probable that
the correspondence upon Texian affairs does not exclude the correspondence with
the Mexican Minister upon Mexican affairs ; and whether the intercourse with our
citizens do not exclude those who claim to be citizens of Texas, as well as intercourse
with public officers, who are not technically considered (private) citizens. But be
this singular document an equivocation or not, we all know that Gen'l Jackson has
assumed to treat that sacred instrument, the Constitution, as he understands it, in
defiance of all authority : and his ample liability to errors of judgment may have
misled him in the opinion below expressed.
*In A few weeks will give the proof —The reader will bear in mind that the
above letter was written to make fair weather with Mr. Jefferson, then president of the
United States, a few days after General Jackson's courteous reception of Burr at Nash
ville, and about the time of Burr's arrest in Mississippi; and that notwithstanding this
promise of proof, General Jackson did not even comply with public expectation in giving
iis evidence in the case, though in attendance on the trial shortly after, at Richmond.

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 187
[From the National Intelligencer of December 29.]
5A suspicion was hinted a few days ago, in a New Yprk paper, that the money of tbe
United States, for which Mr. Swartwout is a defaulter, had been advanced to Texas, with
the privity and consent of General Jackson. The article making this charge was enclosed
to Gen. J. by the editor ofthe Nashville Union, who received the following reply thereto :
'Hermitage, Dec. 8, 183S.
'Sir, — I thank you for calling my attention to tbe subjoined extract from the New York
Commercial Advertiser, a paper to which I am not a subscriber, and whose statements,
therefore, might not otherwise have met my observation.
¦ 'Supposing it possible that the extract in question may obtain some credence with those.
who may not have the means of knowing the injustice it has done me, I think it my duty
to give this public contradiction to the insinuation it contains of my being privy to any
advances, if there were any, made by Mr. Swartwout, the late collector ofthe port of New
York, to aid the Texians in their contest with Mexico. In all my correspondence on the
subject of Texian affairs, private or public, and in all my intercourse with our citizens
no human being can find any authority for the allegation that I ever countenanced any step
or proceeding inconsistent with our treaty relations to Mexico, or with the peaceful charac
ter of our Republic. Your obedient servant,
'ANDREW JACKSON.'

Note II. — Referred to at page 169. — Of Defalcations.
In the beginning of this note, I have said that the entire purview of the foregoing
chapters involves a question of veracity over the heads of high functionaries.
Maintaining a strict regard to the spirit of truth, or to the oath of office, I should
say, there is no commodity so cheap, nor So freely dealt in by public officers gene
rally, as lying. By this rule every public DEFAULTER is not only a liar, but is
punishable for perjury. Otherwise there is no obligation imposed by the oath
.required of all officers 'to discharge their duties with fidelity,' which would be nothing
more than a vacant and superfluous ceremony. But il is intended and understood by '
the law requiring the administration of this oath, that it shall have all the force and
obligation of the oath administered to a witness, that he shall 'tell the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth.' What then is a palpable and wilful
-defalcation, but to perjure the oath to discharge the duties of offices with fidelity.
The trust of public money for disbursement or for safe-keeping, rightfully enjoins
neither more nor less than the simple addition of sums received, and the subtraction
of sums paid over or disbursed. Any other subtraction, or any false estimate cannot
be rightly viewed in any other light than a default. A subtraction for any other
object whatever, than that of a legal payment or transfer on account of government,
regularly authorized, though it were only for a moment, and in the smallest possi
ble amount, is nevertheless a default. Though it be replaced in the minimum of
time thereafter, yet it is a default, inasmuch as it had gone out of the trust control,
and consequently might or might not be replaced. I know that to this extent it is
not the usage to estimate defaults. But there lies the root of most defalcations. The
officer who permits himself to divert the public money to private or any other use,
may1 calculate upon replacing it, and thereby avoid a defalcation. But that is the
unfortunate delusion : this first step constitutes the default, and the replacement of
the fund only prevents loss to the public, or to his sureties ; which indeed is rarely
done, after the first step is taken'. Defaulters therefore should be punished, both for
perjury and theft ; for, a breach of trust is worse than house-breaking, as the perpe
trator of the latter case incurs the risk of being summarily punished in the act,
while the personal security of the other, his deliberate breach of honourable obliga
tion, oath and confidence, aggravate his crime.
I have also adverted to the indifference with which defalcations in enormous
amounts are now regarded, comparatively with the commotion of the public mind at
the discovery of trivial defalcations in. a few hundred dollars at the beginning of the
Jacksonian dynasty. I am induced here to give a brief remark upon the nature of
this growing evil, in anticipation of the proper place for treating the subject more at
large in a future part of this work, because there are grave matters in transitu, relat
ing thereto, a notice of which cannot be deferred, without resulting to the advantage
of those peculators and thieves, whose depredations under all practicable efforts to
remedy them at this late day, will, notwithstanding, probably exceed fifty millions of
dollars before the trust can be taken out ofthe hands ofthe present rulers — unless the
secretary of the treasury, the first and second comptrollers, the auditors, the solicitor
of the treasury, and the district attorneys be immediately impeached and held to
their responsibility as accomplices in the premises,

188 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
This suggestion will no doubt startle the uninformed, who will probably be a little
puzzled at first, to comprehend the wherefore. But I will endeavour to make it
intelligible to them, by stating that it is the sworn duty of each of the three first
classes of officers to supervise the quarterly settlements ofthe accounts of disbursing
officers, as they appertain to their several divisions, so as to embrace all the disburse
ments of the government ; and that it is the like duty of the latter to look after the faith
ful collection and prompt prosecution of all dues to the United States, or, upon defalca
tion being discoyered, to issue the summary process of execution against the delinquent.
It will be cheerfully conceded by all honest men, that the beau ideal of equity
between men and communities of men, i3, or ought to be the ultimate object of all
law. In pursuing this great ultimatum of social institutions, one of the most effi
cient means of attaining it, is, a strict conformity to truth and the dictates of common
sense, divested of the obfuscations of overstrained technicalities and superfluous
forms. The blunt truth, divested of technical obscurations or embellishments which
I do not profess, is better calculated to bring the inquiring mind to clear and immo
vable conclusions upon the otherwise too much mystified subjects of accounts and
accountability. If the rule enjoined by law and equal justice, to make quarterly settlements of all
the collections of dues and disbursements of appropriations, be rigidly practised in
every case — a corollary necessarily accrues therefrom, that all defalcations must
consequently be made known quarterly.
And, if the remedy prescribed by the law be promptly resorted to, of serving out
an execution upon the ascertainment of a default, another corollary would result, that
every quarterly defalcation would have its separate and speedy remedy applied.
But, deplorable to relate, this is only the fair promise which is violated in every
day's performance — indeed the practice is so totally different, that the instances of
conformity to the rule are as few and far between a*the unavoidable infringements of
a good rule generally are.
The practice is neither prompt nor uniform, as to quarterly settlements — there being
accounts of simple addition and subtraction, (supposing they are not designedly
mystified,) that are not settled for years : Nor is the practice prompt or uniform, in
regard to the application of ihe remedy, when a defalcation is detected.
Here then, are the great sources of collateral temptation to officers, who have their
price, to commit defalcations that are not liable to be detected in their life-time, and
still less likely to be prosecuted : consequently the accounting and prosecuting
officers are participants in the crime before and after the fact — as well in tempting
the agents to commit default as lo make their escape.
Suppose the auditors and comptrollers in their respective departments, fail to exhi
bit to the secretary of the treasury, the quarterly defalcations (which their continual
failure to make quarterly settlements necessarily implies) then they are or should he
esteemed accomplices in the default. Suppose they make this exhibit in certain
cases, sooner or later, and the secretary indulges, (or rather encourages) the delin
quents, by continuing them in office quarter after quarter, and even renews their
appointments, with the defalcations yet standing against them, aye, and increased
every quarter (which has frequently occurred according to his own, congressional
reports) then, if not accountable in law, he is in equity an accomplice, and is amena
ble to impeachment. But suppose, again, that in some cases the accounts of the
defaulter are turned over lo the solicitor of the treasury or to the district attorney,
for prosecution, and the prosecuting officer at his own discretion declines, having
recourse promptly to the most efficient remedy in the case, by issuing execution, sub
stituting a dilatory process or none at all, by which the delinquent is permitted to
escape — or, that he institutes an ordinary action on the case, without even requiring
bail, thereby giving it the air of a friendly suit, a lenity unheard of between the
government and defaulter when the prosecutor is disposed to do his duty — in such
a case the district attorney palpably tempts the delinquent to make his escape, or,
what is yet worse, in effect, prejudges his acquittal, by this defective mode of prose
cution, equivalent to entering a noli prosequi, at once, in the Case. Who will say
that an attorney thus demeaning himself, is not amenable to impeachment, and enti
tled to be cashiered, with all the rigours of the law incurred by such dereliction of
duty. If we were permitted to suppose the prosecution and punishment of Tobias Wat
kins, by General Jackson, who is the pattern of the present executive, be the true
criterion of prompt and equal justice, it would be difficult to estimate the degree of
just reproach this administration and the latter part of General Jackson's have incur
red by the numberless instances to be found on the files of the departments, includ
ing those reported in public documents, implicating all the accounting and supervis-

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 189
,}nsr officers, from the secretary of the treasury down to the prosecuting attorneys, as
aiders and abettors in the losses incurred, and the escape of the defaulters unpunished.
To undertake such an estimate would be as unavailing and fruitless as to attempt to
count the grains of sand on the beach. I know that as a means resorted toby Dr.
, Watkins in accomplishing or concealing his offence, he committed forgery; which
means being only an evidence of intention to achieve a theft, is punished more
severely than the theft itself. Admit that this is law, but it certainly is not equity :
nor does it quadrate with the law, in relation to other heinous offences. The inten
tion to commit treason goes unpunished, and can only be stated in evidence to estab
lish the character of the overt act when perpetrated ; which alone is punishable : but
the intention to commit theft evinced by forgery, is more damnatory jn the eye ofthe
law, and punished accordingly, when the actual theft and purloining the public
money, with a hundred fold of repetition and enormity, instead of being punished,
receive the gracious countenance of the executive and the congratulations of large
portions of the community. ,
. .Passing over for the present, the recent cases of collector Swartwout, and his yoke
fellow, district attorney Prjce, of New York, the several cases of General Gratiot,
Cary A. Harris, and others, here under the very noses of all the accounting officers
at this great centre of responsibility, I will be a little more particular with the
case of Wm. Steuben Smith, formerly a lieutenant-colonel in Miranda's expedition,
and aid-de-camp to that adventurer, but recently a clerk in the general land office, at
the fixed salary of eleven or twelve hundred dollars a year, as compensation for his
services. Among the clerical duties that had been detailed to Mr. Smith, for many years,
was that of disbursing the salaries and contingent expenses of the Land Office. The
present commissioner, Mr. Whitcomb, reasonably continued to repose the confidence
in Mr. Smith, which he seems to have enjoyed under his predecessors, Judge Hay
ward, and Governor Brown. But in process of time, perceiving some obliquity in
his quarterly statements, which excited Mr. Whitcomb's suspicions, he entered into
a correspondence with Mr. Smith, upon the subject. Each successive explanation
Tendered by Mr. Smith, increased the dissatisfaction of the commissioner, instead of
removing it ; which eventuated in hastening the discovery of what was sedulously
concealed in the early part of the correspondence by his varying mode3 of expla
nation, and rendition of account. Mr. Smith either now for the first time resorted to
ihe alternative of setting up a claim against the government of a certain per centage
for disbursements, or now for the first time avowed the design to make such a charge —
which taken in either sense, was a clear and palpable fraud, for numerous reasons
known to Mr. Smith at the time, viz : that for many years he had neither charged
or received such additional compensation ; that all extra compensations of salaried
. officers are expressly forbidden by law, and required to be disallowed by the depart
ments ; and finally, when this charge was resorted to by Mr. Smith, knowing that it
would be disallowed, he had already drawn nearly all the funds deposited in bank to*
his credit for disbursement as agent for salaries. But having waived making this*
false claim, until, hastened by the necessity ofthe case, the aggregate disbursements
rendering it convenient to cover his abstractions of large sums, he resorts to it undei
the pretence of commissions for performing duties which other clerks in the several
departments and bureaus perform without extra compensation or charge ; — except in
the single instance of another defaulter, a Mr. Nourse, who had made a similar
charge eight years ago, but as an after thought to off-set his defalcation when detected ;
and which fraudulent example, Mr. Smith has cited, rather than make no plea, as a
shabby justification of his own, though that charge of Mr. Nourse still remains as it
ever will under public condemnation. The air of justification which Mr. Smith has
attempted by such feeble means (having none other) to give for his abstraction of
the'public money from its rightful deposite, is only equalled by the air of innocenee
he assumes in affecting to have resigned his office in disgust at the refusal of the
government to do him justice which compelled him to do justice to himself, when
ne in fact was dismissed by the commissioner for defalcation. The counterpart of
this bravado may be found in the complacency with which he now sets himself
up, with an office, to conduct a General agency with the departments.
It is, not unworthy of remark, as one ofthe wonted evidences of hardihood in such
cases, that Mr. Smith, after declining to deposite by command of the commissioner,
to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, the moneys he had abstracted,
and for which he was dismissed on the 25th May last, did attempt to draw the small
balance of $1,500 that remained in bank to his credit as agent— but his agency having.
ceased, the cashier refused his draft; for which, Mr. Smith instituted a suit against
tiie Metropolis Bank on the 1st day of June last.
2-5

190 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
But not the least reprehensible transaction connected with this case, remains to ber
recorded to the account of the United States Attorney for this district. On the 7th of
June last, Francis S. Key, Esq. instituted a suit in behalf of the government against
Mr. Smith, for eleven thousand nine hundred and nineteen dollars and twenty-onie
' ceWs, instead of issuing an execution, which equal justice would seem to require in
every case, as has been done in those of Swartwout, Price, Gratiot, and others. And,
what is still more deserving to be held up to public censure, he has admitted the
delinquent to the easy terms of a friendly suit, or that which is equivalent thereto, in
not liolding him to bail, which may be viewed even as the tantamount of a noli prosequi,
whereby the case will no doubt be considered prejudged by the prosecutor himself,
the governmeni non-suited, and the delinquent acquitted by virtue of his audacity
and the quo animo of the government attorney. I would not suggest the idea that
Mr. Key could let himself down to receive emolument on both sides of the case.
But, upon interrogating Mr. Key as to the right of government to pursue defaulters,
instanter, with the summary process of execution ?, he replied that it was so. Why
then, said I, did you not issue execution againt Mr. Smith, or hold him to bail? To-
which he answered, because Mr. Smith claims the money as his ! I need not ask the
intelligent reader whether Mr. Key is right in deriving the dignity of his clients' claim
from the representations of the defendant : or, whether the audacity of one defaulter
in claiming the abstracted money of the government as his should entitle him to go
scot-free, while the less audacious defaulter who avows his misconduct, is to be incar
cerated under execution, for want of bail. I know one instance in which Mr. Key
has displayed a love of money somewhat beyond the rates of a reasonable or customary
compensation. Forwhat maybe called a jaunt of pleasure to Alabama, during a few
weeks, some years ago, to assist Gov. Gayle in*;onciliating a few Indians, he charged
the government thirty-five hundred dollars, which was paid by order of General
Jackson ; being more than double the ratio of compensation allowed to foreign
ministers to the first powers of Europe ; he having engaged part of that short interval
of Indian diplomacy, in writing sormets for a poetic lady of Florida. I have been
more particular with this case because the prints have taken no notice of it ; and one
case will illustrate half a hundred.* Will Congress call for the correspondence in
this case ?
The most effectual preventive of defalcations in future, will be, to have no trea
sury ; but to substitute for it, the credit system, both in collecting and disbursing
the revenue, either on the plan I have suggested in a note, page 21, or upon any
modification of the credit system that may be more practicable. The banks might
receive merchants' bonds, &c. as_money, and pay the treasury drafts in making dis
bursements, without the government officers ever touching a dollar.
 #
Note III. — A Recapitulation op the Jacksonian Diplomacy towards
Mexico. — (substituted for the matter referred lo at page 115.)
The purest casualty having just brought to my notice a 'Letter from a mem
ber of Congress to a gentleman of Weathersfield, Vermont, published
in the National Intelligencer of the 2d of August last, in which the author gives a
masterly review of the policy of the late administration towards Mexico, I have
resolved without hesitation to take, the liberty of inserting it here, as a most appro
priate and methodical recapitulation of the subject I 'have been treating in a more
desultory way. In making this substitute for other matter I had proposed for this
place, the reader will perceive that I have consulted his gratification with a more
familiar acquaintance with the Jacksonian chicanery towards our ill-used sister
republic, destined, at no distant day, as 1 have good reason to believe, to be totally
dismembered, annihilated, and blotted out from the catalogue of nations ; unless a
just and magnanimous commiseration speedily move other nations not emulous of her
mines, her fertile lands, and her central commercial position on the globe, to espouse
her cause, and expedite the institution of a national tribunal of general arbitration,
for the protection of the comparatively weak, against the attacks of associated
hyenas in human shape.
[Letter from a member of Congress lo a gentleman of Weathersfield, Vermont.]
Washington, December, 1837.
_ Dear Sir: — Our Mexican and Texian relations are in a state of absolute obfusca-
tion ; that is to say, as palpably obscure as a treasury report. The great point to
which all this confusion tends is the annexation of Texas to the United States. Our
•Here is an abstract from the docket of the circuit court. {'United States tw.-Wm.
Steuben Smith, $11,919 21,7th June '38— without bail.J

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 191
JWexican diplomacy has been made subservient to that end, and to that end we are
now threatened with a Mexican war. A review of our commingled negociations
with those governments will illustrate these positions. It will present the shifting
scenes of the drama as well as its unity.
We acknowledged the independence of Mexico, while she was in the midst of a
revolution. Her independence in fact, dates from the elevation of Ituibide to the
throne in 1821. Since that time she has been either engaged in war with Spain, or
distracted with internal revolutions. Her executive power changing from faction to
faction — her pecuniary resources exhausted — her debt increasing— her credit depre
ciating, it has been with difficulty that she has been able to sustain her existence as
an independent nation.
During such a state of things, our citizens were exposed to injuries, and our com
merce to spoliation. In the messages of 1831-2-3, these distractions were duly
appreciated. In that of 1831, the delay of the ratification of the treaty is attributed
to 'the unhappy civil commotions' in Mexico ; in that of 1832, it is stated that 'in
Mexico a sanguinary struggle is now earned on, which has caused some embarrass
ment to our commerce, but both parties profess the most friendly feelings towards
us.' In the message of 1833, the neglect of Mexico in establishing our boundary is
justly attributed 'to the civil dissensions which have occupied the attention of the
Mexican government.'
Most of the injuries of which we complain have arisen from the acts of individuals
and of officers acting upon their own responsibility, and which their government,
from its unsettled state, had not the power, if it had the will, to prevent. The
express acts of the government, from which injuries have arisen, bear no analogy in
point of premeditated injustice to the Berlin and Milan decrees, or the British orders
in council, or to the aggressions against our commerce by several other European
powers during the late European war. And it is but justice to say, in general, that
when a cause of complaint has been fairly made out, Mexico has had more grace to
acknowledge its justice than gold to pay it. In some instances, she seems even to
have deferred to our superior power.
,,p The revolution in Texas, while it increased our exposure to injury, added to the
: 'existing embarrassments ofthe Mexican government, not only in satisfying, but even
in adjusting our claims. A province in insurrection ; the chief executive officer of
the government in captivity ; additional forces to raise ; an increased expenditure ;
^frequent changes of the ministry, an unsettled government almost on the point of
•dissolution ! Such has been the condition of Mexico.
-j Compare our course pursued and pursuing with that government, with the forbear
ing course pursued with the old and .settled governments of Europe.
The treaty with 1819, with Spain, had established the Sabine river, &c. as our
western boundary, which boundary was definitively settled by the treaty with Mexico,
in 1828. But it appears that General Jackson was not satisfied with the limits stipu
lated in this treaty ; for he was scarcely seated in the presidential' chair, when in
August, 1829, he gave instructions to offer to the government ofMexico, five millions
of dollars lor the province of Texas ; and again, in August, 1835, instructions were
given to repeat this offer.
What was first sought to be acquired by stipulating for a new boundary was then
attempted to be acquired by a direct purchase. Of the progress of the negociations
under these instructions we are not officially informed : an understanding, however,
is abroad that the last offer was indignantly rejected.
The hope of acquiring Texas, under the instructions given, may in part, in addi
tion to considerations derived from the embarrassed condition of Mexico, account for
the fact, that the subject of our claims against Mexico was never brought to the
notice of congress in any message prior to December, 1836.
The revolution in Texas seems first to have attracted the attention of Mexico, in
1835. Circumstances connected with it, arising out of the conduct of our citizens,
and the seeming neglect of our government to restrain them from aiding the Texians,
may have been causes of irritation, if not of just complaint, on the part of Mexico.
On entering Texas, she found that the patriots (by her called insurgents) were mostly
American citizens ; that numbers of our citizens, even in organized companies, with
arms and supplies, were coming to their support in the most open and public manner,
without other let or hindrance than private orders to district attorneys and marshals,
and those not executed. In a state of excited feelings she may have supposed that
her complaints on that subject were not duly appreciated, or, in all cases, respectfully
answered. Even our own citizens, who had not a view of the whole ground, were
surprised that an executive proclamation was not issued.
K Under feelings excited by such events^ it is not matter of astonishment that the

192 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
Mexican government should not have duly appreciated the march of Gen. Gaines
to the western frontier, and the call for large detachments of militia from the neigh
bouring states, in connection with the co-operating orders of General Houston ; but
that she should have vehemently suspected that these movements, instead of being
intended to repress unthreatened Indian hostilities, were designed to overawe the
Mexican army then about to enter Texas.
It was obviously the policy of our government, if the acquisition of Texas was not
abandoned, that all fair means should be used to prevent its being reconquered by
Mexico. When the instructions of 1835 were given, the treaty of the 2d April, 1835, con
firming the boundary of 1819, had not been ratified. It is probable that the decisive
and final answer to our proposition was given as early as January, 1836, as the ratifi
cation of the treaty was on the 20th April following. All hope from negociation
after that answer, was at an end in the then condition of affairs. Santa Anna was
marching on Texas. On the 23d January the order issued to General Gaines to take
a position on the western frontier of Louisiana; and on the 8th of April a call was
made for detachments of militia from the adjacent states.
The battle of San Jacinto on the 14th April, 1836, and the stipulations of Santa
Anna with General Houston, seemed, for the moment, to have removed all objections
on the part of Mexico to any future disposition of Texas ; and the only question was
whether we should acquire Texas by treaty with Mexico, or by compact with Texas.
It was obvious that we should resort to the first. For that, we had precedents — but
none for the latter.
The scene, however, was suddenly changed. On the 20th May the Mexican
government passed a decree, declaring null and void all stipulations made by Santa
Anna while a prisoner. A new alternative was now presented. The restoration of
Santa Anna to power, or a war with Mexico, and the subsequent proceedings, some
times looking to one, and sometimes to the other, seem calculated to meet contin
gencies. The decree of the 20th May was officially communicated to our government on
the 9th July. On the 11th, an additional order was issued to General Gaines to cross
the line, and take a position in Texas. The Mexicans were attempting to organize
a new expedition. In August or September the order to General Gaines was execu
ted ; and for some reason the Mexican expedition was abandoned.
In August, 1836, a letter was received by the president from Santa Anna, express
ing his willingness to fulfil his stipulations with General Houston, and requesting his
mediation. The only obstacle was the decree of the 20th of May, annulling the
power of Santa Anna while a prisoner, communicated 9th July. Nothing could be
hoped from the Mexican government until Santa Anna should be restored to power;
and even then the utter impossibility of regaining Texas would perhaps be the only
effective argument with the Mexican congress. And this view may present a clue
to the subsequent progress of events.
Our negociations at Washington and at Mexico, though apparently entirely discon
nected, have converged to the same point.
At Washington, the negociation turned on the complaint of the Mexican minister
of our not fulfilling the duties of neutrality, and of our having invaded the Mexican
territory. It resulted in this, that the Mexican minister, without' the order of his
government, on his own responsibility, demanded his passports on the 15th October,
1836. The negociations at Mexico related to our claims against that government, running
back to 1817. I will here remark that the subject of these claims was never brought
to the consideration of congress by any message until that of December, 1836, which
I shall have occasion particularly to notice. These claims had been the subject of
ordinary diplomatic correspondence from time to time, during all which due allow
ance had been made for the convulsed situation of Mexico on our part, and 'the most
friendly feeling manifested by her towards us.' But the tone of negociation suddenly
changed. On the 20th of July, eleven days after the official communication of the decree
annulling the power of Santa Anna, our minister was directed to present to the
Mexican government, fourteen specific claims, with divers indefinite complaints,
under instructions somewhat peremptory:
'If contrary to the president's hopes, no satisfactory answer shall be given to this
just and reasonable demand within three weeks, you will inform the Mexican govern
ment, that, unless redress is afforded without unnecessary delay, your further resi
dence in Mexico will be useless. If this state of things continue longer, you will give
formal notice to the Mexican government that unless a satisfactory answer shall be

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 193
given within a fortnight you are instructed to ask for your passports. And at the' end
of that time, if you do not receive such answer, it is the President's direction that you
demand your passports; and return to the United States, bringing with you the archives
af the legation.'
Why this sudden haste ? You will in vain search the preceding correspondence
for a reason for this unreasonable haste. But to proceed. On the 26th of Septem
ber, 1836, this list of claims was presented to the Mexican government in due form.
On the 3d of October, Mr. Monasterio, the acting Mexican secretary of state, replied :
'That it was necessary to examine the various documents touching the cases, some
of which were of old dates ; he has given instructions that they should be collected
in the department of state, so that an account of the whole may be presented to
the president, a<2 interim, the result of which will be communicated with all despatch
to the Hon. Mr. Ellis.' r
From the instructions of Mr. Forsyth, it appears that the department was not in
possession qf proof of all the cases.
On the 20th of October, Mr. Ellis informed Mr. Monasterio that unless redress
was afforded without unnecessary delay, his longer residence in Mexico would be
useless. On the 21st October, Mr. Monasterio expressed his surprise at the hasty
determination of Mr. Ellis, and closed by saying:
'That as soon as he collects the necessary data he will reply to the note in question,
(of 26th September.) He has already made requisitions to this effect for those that
are wanting. He will hasten their transmission to this office ; and he protests that he
will occupy himself exclusively with the affairs which the Hon. Mr. Ellis. has submitted
to the consideration of his government.'
Mr. Ellis, having no discretion, and the instructions as little, on the 4th of Novem
ber gave the final notice Verbatim, i. e. the fortnight notice, and on the 10th advised
Mr. Forsyth of the state of the negociation.
On the 15th November, Mr. Monasterio replied at length on the cases as prepared.
The reply occupies but a /ew pages. Mr. EHis took twenty-three days to reply in
answer to this defence. No one would have complained even if he had taken more
time. Every article of the defence is equally unsatisfactory, and he closes, in obe
dience to his instructions, in demanding his passports. Thus, on the 7th of Decem
ber, 1836, our diplomatic relations were brought to a close at Mexico. And I here
.ask, is it possible that our Executive expected any other result.' None other could
have been expected.
In the mean time the Executive had been taking measures to ascertain 'the political,
military, and civil conditionof Texas.' The report of its agent is dated in Texas,
on the 22d August, 1836, and, it is presumed, was received here before the 1st
December. One other fact : if, by any means, Mr. Ellis should not have closed his mission,
under his instructions ofthe 20th July, offence had been given by the Mexican
minister here, subsequent to his withdrawal, and prior to the message of December
Sth, which, in the opinion ofthe Executive, was sufficient cause, if not promptly dis
avowed, for closing our diplomatic relations at Mexico.
• This state of things was contemporaneous with the message of the 5th December,
1836. • In that message notice is taken of the withdrawal of the Mexican minister, but
none whatever of the state of our negociations at Mexico, or of the new offence of
Gorostiza. The following is all that relates to our complaints against Mexico :
i 'In the meantime the ancient complaints of injustice, made on behalf of our citi
zens, are disregarded, and new causes of complaint have arisen ; some of them of a
character, requiring prompt remonstrance, and ample and immediate redress. Itrust
however, by tempering firmness with courtesy, and acting with great forbearance upon
every incident that has occurred, or may happen, to do and obtain justice, and thus
avoid the necessity of again bringing the subject before congress.'
Did this message give to congress information of the true situation of our relations
with Mexico ? Who, on reading this message, would have expected that instructions
of the character of those of the 20th' of July had been given ? Or that those of the
10th December were then in preparation ? That there was, at the moment when this
message was delivered to congress, a moral certainty that our diplomatic relations
with Mexico were closed, or about being closed ? It may have been deemed of
importance, in viejv of the reported liberation and disposition of Santa Anna, that
tbis language, notwithstanding the course pursued by the Executive, should be held
to congress.
In this critical, if not equivocal, state of affairs, Santa Anna, on the 18th of
Peceraber, arrived at Washington. After leaving Texas, he travelled by slow stages,

194 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
so that the news of his approach preceded the message. Wherefore did he come tfi»
Washington ? Why not have proceeded directly to Metamoras by land or by water.
He held secret conferences with the executive, not communications, in the sense-
understood by the president in his answer to the resolution of tbe Senate of the 14th
January. From information, I am strongly inclined to believe that those verbal
conferences resulted in an understanding, or a well-grounded expectation, recipro
cally entertained, to the effect that Santa Anna, on regaining his power, should
cede Texas to the United States ; for which the United States should assume the
claims of her citizens against Mexico, and pay a sum agreed upon, or that should be
thereafter settled. There can be no doubt that a protocol of the conversations at
these conferences was made. At least, such i3 the usual course.
There are some facts in accordance with the supposition of such an arrangement
having been made, independent ofthe pre-existing circumstances.
On the 22d December, while the supposed negociations with Santa Anna were
in progress, the President communicated to Congress the report of his agent on the
condition of Texas. That report is dated in Texas on the 14th of September, and
must have been received before the message ofthe 6th of December. The president
recommended the postponement of the acknowledgment of the independence of
Texas ;
'If not until Mexico itself, or one ofthe great foreign powers, shall recognize the
independence of the new government, at least until the lapse of time or the course of
events shall have proved, beyond cavil or dispute, the ability of the people of that
country to maintain their separate sovereignty, and to uphold the government consti
tuted by them.'
The recognition of the independence of Texas, at that time, would have defeated
the negociation with Santa Anna. From that moment Texas would have ceased
to be a part of the domain of Mexico.
Santa Anna left Washington on the 26th of December. He was sent home id a
national vessel, despatched by the President for that purpose. • Unfortunately, or
fortunately, he failed to regain his power. And one, if not the principal, cause of
his failure was the report, credited in Mexico, notwithstanding his denial, of his
having agreed to cede Texas, as one of the conditions of his liberation.
The same reports were accredited here at the time, and probably induced the
resolution ofthe Senate of the 14th of January, calling for 'any communications
received, or correspondence had, between the executive of the United States and
Gen. Santa Anna, or by any other person claiming to act on behalf of Mexico,'
&c. respecting Texas.
The answer to that resolution, after transmitting a letter from Santa Anna of
the 4th of July, concludes : 'No other communication upon the subject of the reso
lution referred to ha3 been made to the executive,' 'by any person claiming to act on
behalf of Mexico.' This is or is not, a denial of the alleged understanding between
the Executive and Santa Anna, according to the meaning ofthe word communi
cation inended by the President, whether it includes or. excludes oral verbal com
munication, and also, to the extent of the words 'any person,' whether they include
or exclude Santa Anna. I wait to see the executive construction of this message
before I determine whether it is a denial or an equivocation.
It is now important to inquire whether any other events intervened between the
messages of December 5th and February 6th, that should have furnished just occa
sion or the latter, for again bringing the subject before Congress.
The documents accompanying that message result in one fact only, viz : that the
diplomatic relations between this government and Mexico had been closed at the
court of Mexico on the 7th of December, in accordance with the instructions of the
20th of July, and closed in a manner indicating a predetermined event. With what
decency, propriety, or justice, this Congress is called on to decide.
The message of 6th February is based on now 46 (formerly 14) specified claims
appended ; it is independent of the late personal offence of Gorostiza. The
answer to the demand ofthe 10th December, if that demand was made, had not been
received. The President declares that, in relation to these claims, the conduct of
Mexico 'would justify, in Vie eyes of all nations, immediate war;' but recommends,
'as an act of wisdom and moderation,' that we should give 'to Mexico one more
opportunity to atone for the past, before we take redress into our own hands. 'To
avoid all misconception on the part of Mexico, as well as to protect our own national
character from reproach, this opportunity should be given, with the avowed design
and full preparation to take immediate satisfaction if it should not be obtained on a
repetition of the demand for it.' And the President asked Congress to grant him
the war power of making reprisals in the events of a refusal, 'upon another demand

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 195
thereof, made from on board one of our vessels of war, on the coast of Mexico.'
JSuch was the message.
Had war been recommended and declared in December or in February, it would
have necessarily, foreclosed all negociation for Texas. Had Congress granted the
power asked, what argument would have operated more powerfully on the Mexican
Congress, in favour of acceding to the mid-way treaty of Santa Anna, ofrreconciling
.them to give up an insurgent province, than an American fleet on their coast, making
the demand at the cannon's mouth ? Look at the list of claims ; could any mortal
man expect that Mexico could adjust them on the moment?, or that she would allow
them without examination ? She could only estimate them in the mass, and value
them against Texas. This then, accounts for the message of the 6th February.
Such was its object and end.
The committees of both houses responded to the message as, to the wrongs of
Mexico, but not as to tiie remedy. A new and unexpected result had so far changed
the face of affairs, that they recommend measures suited to whatever contingency
might happen. The committee of the House reported on the 19th February, and
that of the Senate on the 18th February.
From advices received from Mexico it had become doubtful whether Santa Anna
would be reinstated in power ; if not, the threats of war would have been premature ;
and the recognition of the independence of Texas would be necessary as a prelimi
nary, that the consent of Texas to a compact might be substituted for a treaty with
Mexico. Resolutions, well calculated to meet future events, passed both Houses, (not
giving the war-threatening power to the president, but) authorizing a formal demand
on Mexico ; and an appropriation was made for a minister to be appointed for that
purpose. An appropriation was also made for a minister to Texas, whenever the
president should deem it proper to make the appointment — in effect, authorizing him
to acknowledge the independence of Texas. Armed with these powers, the execu
tive was prepared for events.
. From day to day, it became more and more evident, nay, almost certain, that
. Santa Anna had little or no hope of regaining his power. Soon after his return he
had denied having made the arrangements imputed to him. His denial may have
been regarded here as an act of had faith rather than of necessity. These facts, and
the importance of having the sanction of the name of Gen. Jackson to a measure of
so many consequences, probably indueed the step of appointing a minister to Texas
,,, pn the 3d of March ; thus closing the power of a treaty acquisition from Mexico, and
I -.taking a chance, of a compact with Texas. Compare this with the message of 22d
, December. Neither Mexico nor any foreign power had acknowledged the indepen
dence of Texas. The 'lapse of time' — forty-six days I 'the 'course of events' — I have
noted them. Yes, the course of events in forty-six days settled the question^ not the
question of that message, but of the determination ofthe executive.
That compact could not be made, so long as our treaty obligations remained,
without the assent of Mexico. What was now necessary, therefore, was to cancel
those obligations, or compel Mexico to be willing.
Prior to the Texian minister's heing accredited here, the Texian government had
authorized an application for the annexation of Texas to the United States. This
was the primary object of his mission.
These facts being known, instead of making the last solemn de»and by a minister
appointed for that purpose, as expected by Congress, or at the cannon's mouth, as
desired by Gen. Jackson, an extreme of an opposite character was adopted. This
last and solemn demand was copfided to 'a courier' — a clerk of the department : and
what was he to do !
On the 27th May, Mr. Robert Greenhow was sent with a sealed packet to Mejpico,
with instructions to deliver it at the department of state, and to inform the secre
tary that he was directed to wait one week for a reply ! I If the former demand of
an unqualified compliance with the claims which were exhibited, within a fortnight,
was unexampled in -diplomacy, .this was most peremptory.
He was directed to inform the Mexican secretary of state 'that he should remain
in the city ofMexico one week, and that, upon his return, at the end of that period,
he would take charge of any communication which he might have to send to this
government.' Mr. Greenhow delivered his despatches with his errand on- the 20th
July, which were to be examined by tbe new secretary of state, and a satisfactory
answer returned in one week. And what were they ? They consisted of fifty-seven
articles of claims, spread over seventy-three printed pages, some accompanied .with
voluminous vouchers and proofs, some with few, some with none ; some cases of
ancient date, some now for the first time presented— cases arising in different and

196 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
distant parts of the country, all in the English language, and to be translated inf.*
Spanish ; the whole, probably, to the amount of three or four octavo volumes in
print ; and all these were to be translated, read, examined, compared with their
Tecords and former evidence, and answered in one week — seven days, including
Sunday. On the 29th of July, Mr. Cuevas, holding up both hands in utter astonishment,
replied, in substance, that he could not do all this in a week ; it was utterly impossible,
but that he would use all haste in examining them, one by one, and send the results
as fast as the cases were determined ; that he had set the translator to work,' &c.
He adds something about not being in a passion, &c. '
While these things were going on at Mexico, on the 4th August, 1837, the Texian
minister submitted nis proposition for the annexation of Texas to the United States.
And on the 25th August, Mr. Forsyth replied that :
•So long as Texas shall remain at war, while the United States are at peace with
her adversary, the proposition' 'necessarily involves the question of war with that
adversary. The United States are bound to Mexico by a treaty of amity and com
merce, which will be scrupulously observed on our part, so long as it can be reason
ably hoped that Mexico will perform her duties and respect our rights under it !'
The obstacle, then, to entertaining the proposition was our treaty obligation ; and
this depended on the fact, whether Mexico respected our rights under it ; and this
was at that moment depending on the fact, whether Mexico had, within the one
week; given a satisfactory answer to the fifty-seven articles.
But to return to Mexico. The answer of the 29th was received. The receipt
of it, however, does not appear to have been acknowledged, or the government of
Mexico to have been advised whether it was satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Tet the
diplomatic relations between the two governments were formally renewed by the
accrediting of a Mexican minister. On the 16th October, Mr. Martinez was
accredited here. On the 18th November, he sent in ten reports, viz. on four of the
fifty-seven, and on six cases not included, and I suppose no longer insisted on.
Without (for any thing that appears) noticing the reception of these reports, Mr.
Forsyth, on the 24th of November, sent to Mr. Martinez sundry new claims to be
transmitted to the Mexican government.
The negociation thus going on, the next thing is the message of the President, of
December following, terminating, in effect, all pending negociations, devolving the
whole subject on Congress, and, in the very language of nullification, submitting it
to Congress 'to determine the time, the mode, ana ttie measure of redress.* Yet not
withstanding this, we find the current of negociation soon running smooth again.
On the 11th December, notwithstanding this message, Mr. Forsyth sent yet
another list of claims to be transmitted to the Mexican government : An anoma
lous state of things, truly.
In congress this message now stands committed to the committee on foreign rela
tions. A notice has been given in the senate of a proposition for the annexation of
Texas to the Union. This, also, will go to the same committee. The subjects wilt
then be in conjunction. The treaty obligations (the great obstacle iri the way) may
be removed by war, or by a direct nullification of the treaty, as indicated by the nul
lification language of the message. Which will the committee report ? The country
will sustain neither.
The committee ofthe house will probably outrun the views ofthe Executive ; will
make more haste than good speed. It will result in a suspended question, to be
available at a more convenient moment. The Executive, by this time, must be
aware, that on this question, the people of even the south, are divided, and of the
north unanimous. I speak of the people, not the members of congress. He knows
that neither the congress by compact, nor the senate by treaty, have power to annex
the United States to a foreign government, or a foreign government to us.
After all this diversified diplomacy, and expediency messages, we are informally
informed that the Mexican government are desirous of, and have authorized a propo
sition for, referring our disputes to a common arbiter.
Thus stands our Mexican and Texian relations. Yours, &c. E.

ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST. 197
Note IV.— A triple comparison between the cases of Mexico, Canada,
and Michigan.
Nothing that has fallen under my observation has delineated the meanderings of
the Jacksonian diplomacy in so lucid a perspective as the following triple compa
rison between the cases of Mexico, Canada, and Michigan— embracing also some
pertinent allusions to that lately pursued by the same 'practised man' towards
France and other European powers. I therefore commend it to an attentive
perusal; not doubting that it will produce the same effect upon the mind of the
reader, as the last touch of a master, given to any interesting historic
picture, produces on the enchained senses. of the beholder. Moreover, the per
sonal gratification it affords me to have my views sustained by casual authorities of
such pre-eminent ability, is too great to permit me to forego its insertion here, were
not the paramount consideration of public utility sufficiently imperative.
[From the National Intelligencer of the 13tk September, 1836.]
•Gentlemen : — You some time ago expressed your opinion that the public voice
would control the government in its relations with Mexico ; and, when the Presi
dent's letters to the governors of Tennessee and Kentucky appeared, you seemed to
consider them a verification of your prediction. I am sorry I am not able to view
the subject in the same light. The letters referred to have very much the appearance
of such paper machinery as is prepared at Washington for sinister effect elsewhere.
What is said, seems to have been intended to check the force of public opinion at
home, to allay complaint on the part of Mexico, and to remove the suspicions of
European powers. The first object may be unhappily gained; at home investigation
and reproof may be averted; hut the alarm ofMexico, and the suspicion of the
world, will be increased, not suppressed ; for, after all,, what has the President said
in his letters ? Does he abandon the design of occupying the Mexican territory ?
Does he withdraw our troops from the scene of hostility between our own citizens
ftnd the Mexicans? By no means; he barely says, that in calling out volunteers, Gen.
Gaines has been premature ; he does not revoke the discretion given to that officer
to call them out hereafter, or to occupy Mexican territory. Besides of what value
ate professions contradicted by opposite actions ? Not a solitary step has been taken
. to meet the just expectations of the Mexican minister. Men are openly recruited,
armed, and marched through our country,not (as in the case of the English aux
iliaries in Spain) to sustain the actual government of Mexico, but to aid a few
thousand American citizens and adventurers from Europe in making war against
that government! Professions, therefore, are a mockery of the common sense of
mankind. 'As I am of opinion that even the first act of the Texian drama is not over, I am
induced to ask you to publish the annexed part of a letter from one friend to another —
one more mite added to the heap of individual opinions on a most important subject.
X. Y. Z.'
'Philadelphia, July 29, 1836.
'My Dear Sir: — I am sorry that you and I, who usually agree in opinion on
political topics, should differ as widely on the Texian as we did on the French
indemnity question. In the present instance we are disinterested, as we were in
the former one ; so that explanation may end now, a3 it did before, in our coming to
the same conclusion. My letter of the 12th of March, 1835, satisfied you that
France had not been as wrong, and that our federal executive had not been as right,
as you had supposed. You perceive that as yet my prediction is uncontradicted,
that France would not send a minister to our present executive, and, indeed, you
must be convinced that the existing peace with France is not according to the will
(if those who in reality guide our councils. A consideration of all this may induce
you to weigh more seriously what I have now to say ; and I am very sure, if you
shall not now, you will hereafter, admit that our conduct towards Mexico is utterly
indefensible. Perhaps there is no better way of showing what that conduct has been than by
reversing the case, after the manner of the farmer, whose ox was gored by a certain
justice's bull.
On, the 11th of the present month the Legislature of Michigan assembled to receive
the decision of Congress upon the application of the new state to be admitted into
the Union. On that occasion the governor sent them a message, setting forth what
Congress had done, declaring his own sentiments upon the subject, and casting upon
• we people the grave responsibility* of decision. In this message the governor
26

193 ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST*
announced that Michigan had now to determine whether it would submit to an
absolute encroachment upon its rights as a,sovereign stale ; whether it would submit
to an arbitrary aggrandizement of Ohio at the expense of Michigan, or resist the
injustice at all hazards. He represented that his own feelings were excited and
indignant at 'the dismemberment of Michigan;' that 'Congress had violated every
principle of justice ; that it was a triumph of might over right; and that the sanction
of legitimacy was now to be wrung from the unwilling assent of a patriotic and
high-minded people.' , 'In fact,' continues governor Mason, 'the question of right
between the parties has been invariably disregarded by Congress; their action has
been placed exclusively on the ground of policy, thus establishing a precedent that
must work evil ofthe utmost magnitude to our civil institutions, and, if persisted in
whenever individual interests demand it, will convert a government of laws into the
worst and most oppressive of all despotisms — that of expediency.'
Governor Mason proceeds to describe Ihe legislation of Congress, pronouncing it
unconstitutional and despotic. He contrasts the wrongs of Michigan with the com
plaints of the thirteen colonies against Britain ; declares that Michigan is denied a
right guaranteed to the humblest individual— that of seeking judicial protection
against arbitrary and unconstitutional power, and announces that no alternative
remains between unqualified submission and open resistance. Finally, after weigh
ing the probable results of resistance, he recommends submission. So that the mes
sage places the parties somewhat in the position of the armed bandit and the unarmed
traveller — a position in which submission should not be considered dishonourable.
NoW, my good sir, let us suppose that some thousands of the Canadian, English-,-
and Irish settlers in Michigan, instead of submitting to the dismemberment of that
state, instead of passing under the yoke, the .galling yoke, described by Governor
Mason, should determine to resist, should raise the flag of independence, and should
address such an appeal as the following to mankind :
'The American government, having a boundless territory, and a small and scattered '
population, having an extensive frontier occupied by savages, from time to time
invited the oppressed people of other countries to settle within their borders. Not
only were lands at a low price offered to emigrants, but above all, they were promised
liberty, and the protection of equal laws. Thousands of us left the tombs of our
fathers, and the cradles of our childhood, seeking in a wilderness such blessings as
we could not enjoy at home. ,We naturally became attached to the soil of Michigan,
cultivated with our own free hands, and took a pride in the destiny ofthe state as a
member of the American confederacy. But, in its prosperity, that confederacy hath
forgotten the days of its adversity. Congress have treated Michigan as Britain
treated the infant colonies ; they have dismembered our territory, and denied to our
state, rights guaranteed to the most humble individual ; they have driven us from our
last peaceful refuge, the halls of justice, and left us no alternative between base sub
mission and manly resistance. In our choice we do not hesitate, but imitating the
glorious example of the heroes of 1776, declare Michigan an independent natioD,
and appeal to heaven and mankind in support of the justice of our cause.
'To our countrymen in Europe, as well as in America, we especially address our
selves. 'We are bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh.' We were once your
fellow-citizens, and are now struggling for 'truth, light, and liberty.' We stand in
need of money, arms and men. Be not uneasy as to security ; ask those capitalists
amongst you who have already made investments in our lands, and they will tell you
they are fertile and boundless ; they are a pledge for our debt of independence.
Remember the Saxon blood that flows in our common veins, unlike the blood of our
oppressors, who have no common ancestry, but constitute a compound of every
country and every colour of the habitable world.' *
Suppose, I say, some such manifesto as this should be promulgated. Suppose
companies should be formed in London and Liverpool for speculating in Michigan
lands and Michigan independence. Suppose some of the leading editors in England
should be made partners in the scheme. Suppose inducements should be held out to
all sorts of adventurers, 'men too lazy to work, and too proud to beg,' 'choice spirits,
above the dull pursuits of civil life.' Suppose companies, nay, regiments of volun
teers should be equipped in English and Canadian towns to enter Michigan, and
there murder native citizens, and plunder their property. Suppose, I say, all this to
be done, what would our people and our congress, and, above all, what would our
president say and do ? Would he consider the insurgents and their imported allies as
a legitimate foe ? Would he not denounce them as outlaws, and treat them as he did
Arbuthnot and Ambrister ?
Let us suppose, again, that those foreigners, arrogating to know better than the
natives of Michigan what liberty is, and what the true interest of Michigan is, should

Annotations to part the first. 199
lend commissioners to England, asking the ministry there to acknowledge Michigan
independence. Suppose the British parliament should unanimously encourage the
insurgents, by promising to acknowledge Michigan independence, if they would fight
hard and put down the American party. Suppose that one ofthe lords should openly
state in debate that the independence of Michigan was 'inevitable.' Suppose other
British lords should visit the chief towns of England, getting up festivals in honour
of Michigan independence. Suppose one of those lords, instead of merely giving
Michigan independence as a toast, should cbntemplate the revolution of our whole
Union, exclaiming, 'onward is the word: from the north liberty has always jour
neyed ; men with Saxon blood will not halt at the Ohio, but push on to the broad
Atlantic' Suppose, I say, all this done and said, what would we, and above all,
what would our president say and do ?
Suppose our president should direct our minister at London to protest against the
arming of British men and British vessels in British ports, for the avowed purpose of
aiding the Michigan insurgents. Suppose the British ministry should reply, that
they had' instructed the proper law officers to act, whenever they'should be satisfied
the neutrality of England was likely to be compromitted. And suppose none of the
law officers should take the least notice of the notorious equipment and march of
troops for the Michigan territory ; what would the American people, and congress,
and especially the president, say and do ?
"Suppose, again, the British ministry, under pretence of protecting the Canadian
frontier, against Indians inhabiting a part of Michigan, should direct the commander
of the forces in Canada to cross over into Michigan * 'not beyond' fifty-six miles
within the limits of that state. Suppose the American minister at London, should
protest against this movement, as obviously giving aid and countenance to the ihsur-
fents of British birth, engaged in a war against the American constituted authorities.
uppose the British ministry should reply, that the movement of troops into Michi
gan was not to be regarded as hostile, but, on the contrary, as a mark of the purest
friendship ! And suppose, in defiance of American protests, the British flag should
be hoisted in Michigan, and new bodies of troops should be called for to support the
military position taken there : what, I ask, would, the American people, and,' above
all, what would the president say and do ?
Would not the blast of indignation be blown from every hill and every valley of
our country? Would not old and young fly to their swords, to punish such unpro
voked, insidious, and cowardly aggression? Would not all consideration, as to
whether congress or tlje president had or had not treated Michigan well, be laid
aside, until the shameful interference of Britain should be punished ? Where would
our orators and editors find language strong enough to express their resentment at
this worse than Punic treachery ?
And if such would be the feelings of Americans, wherein does the supposed case
of Michigan differ from the actual case of Texas ? If Mexico, or Santa Anna,
treated Texas as despotically as Congress, according to Governor Mason, has treated
Michigan, had not the natives as good a right as those of Michigan now have to
decide whether submission was or was not most discreet ? And if the natives of
Texas to a man preferred submission, what right had foreigners to dictate to them an
opposite course > If Canadian or British settlers were to stimulate the people of
Michigan not to take Governor Mason's advice, but to try the event of war, would
not we Americans denounce those settlers as vipers stinging the hands that had
warmed them into life ? Would we be inclined to extend to such men the courtesies
due to legitimate warriors ? And if such would be our course, why may not Mexico
thus denounce men, who, in return for hospitality, have converted ploughshares'
into Bowie-knives, in order to maintain a supremacy ? »>'
Is not the parallel between the supposed case of Michigan and England, and the
actual case of Texas and the United States, perfect ? Has not our government done,
and allowed to be done, to Mexico, a weak neighbour, what it would not have done,
or allowed to be done, to any powerful nation ? If American settlers in Canada had
raised the flag of independence there, would our senate have encouraged them to
persevere by a promise to reward it ? Would our president have directed General
Gaines to eater Canada, and take a position in the very scene of hostilities between
American insurgents and the British authorities ? And if we would not dare thus to
trifle with a strong power, able to resent the outrage, what can be more shameful
than thus to treat a weak neighbour, because it is comparatively weaker than we are?
If we have cause of open war with Mexico, let it be declared. Why wage a war in
disguise, giving absolute, though covert aid to insurgents in Mexico, and yet depriv
ing Mexico of all the advantage of open hostility ? If openly at war with lis, Mexico
might gain private, if not public allies : she might appeal to Europe against the

200 annotations to part the first.
f rasping ambition of 'her sister Republic,' as Turkey appeals whenever threatened
y Russian ambition. But in her present position we deprive Mexico of all such
advantages ; we profit by an exceedingly valuable trade with her ; we talk loudly to
the world about our magnauimity, our prosperity, and our public virtue ; nay, we are
punctilious (as with France) about the solemn faith of treaties, and yet with Mexico
we violate the spirit, nay, the very letter, of existing conventions with her.
The principal observations which you make have not, in my opinion, any bearing
upon the questions under consideration. The main question is, whether our govern
ment is acting in an honourable or dishonourable manner towards Mexico ? You
do not say its course is honourable, and yet you desire to excuse the insurgents in
Texas, and our own goyernment. You think the foreigners, who went to Texas
Sought a federative republic ; that Texas was like one of the thirteen English colo
nies; and that settlers in Texas had a right to resist consolidation, just as the people
of Virginia would have a right to resist a consolidation of our Union. But in all this
are you not under a palpable mistake ? I know this is the story of the self-styled
Texians ; but is it not an imposture throughout ? In the first place, Texas never was
like one of the thirteen British colonies, in any respect independent ; it was a part of,
the unit, Mexico, and was called Texas, just as one of our counties is designated,
for the purposes of local administration. In the next place, many of the foreigners,
who settled in Texas, went there before Mexico ceased to be a province of Spain,
and others settled under the emperor Iturbide. But why need all this be said ; if the
settlers really loved liberty and a federative republic, why did they not stay at home?
No doubt some respectable men settled in Texas ; but of whom was the mass com
posed ? Is it not clear that lucre, not liberty, was the temptation ? Is not the bait
now held out to 'volunteers,' the certainty of acquiring a fortune ? Let me not,
however, follow the settlers further, but return to ourselves. What right, I repeat,
have we to interfere in the affairs ofMexico, any more than British subjects have ta
meddle with the concerns of Michigan ?
You refer to the course of Santa Anna, which I reprobate as much as you do ; but
his acts have not been sanctioned by the people or government of Mexico ; much
less do his acts warrant the conduct of our Congress and Executive. When Don
Miguel's scaffolds streamed with the best blood of Portugal, and when Nicholas was
depopulating entire districts of Poland, where was our humanity ? How many of
our 'volunteers' then imitated Kosciusko and Lafayette? Did Congress stimulate.
the Portuguese and Poles, by holding out hopes of future assistance or friendship?
Did the president consign Miguel or Nicholas to a gibbet? Far from it; not a
syllable was uttered in sympathy for the oppressed, or in reprobation of the oppres
sors. To monarchial governments (France and England) was left the glorious effort
to mitigate the fate of the Portuguese and Poles ! Towards Mexico, how opposite
has been our course ! Even the disciples of Washington, neutral Washington, have
been carried away by such excitements, as they refused to consider an apology fdr
executive trespasses ; they almost echo, as to Mexico, the propagandism of revolu
tionary France in 1793 : 'The convention promise support to all who desire to recover
their liberty ; and the president very congenially exclaims, 'a la lanterne — a la lan-
terne.' What a dignified position we thus hold ! How encouraging all this is to South
American states to respect our character or foster our trade ! What weapons are
we not putting into the hands of political and commercial rivals ! What inducements
to Mexico herself to value our friendship, and favour our vast trade with her !
Besides, it seems to be forgotten that we may have insurrections at home, and
that all men in authority may not be as discreet as Governor Mason. It seems to be
forgotten that Mexico may retaliate hereafter, if not now, and may promise to recog
nize the freedom of those who may fight bravely for it ! It appears to have escaped
the recollection ofthe orators in our Senate, that we have at home a mighty mass of
combustible matter, ready for the torch of any incendiary. If Mexico, or any other
state, should pass resolutions, such as our Congress passed, stimulating insurgents in
Texas, with what face could we complain? If Mexico should by such resolutions
stimulate capitalists, or men of wealth, to put firebrands into the hands of foreign or
domestic incendiares, what could we say ? If adventurers from all parts ofthe earth
should be invited to the standard of liberty, and encouraged to butcher our people
and deprive them of their property, could we justly complain ? According to the
doctrines set up, in defence of American citizens righting in Texas, we should be
compelled to treat Mexicans taken in arms, and aiding Insurgents among us, as legi- ¦
timate warriors; nay, we should be compelled to respect Thompson himself, and
other such enthusiasts, as patriots and heroes !

annotations to part the first. 201
. The times, my good sir, are out of joint. When men high in authority disregard
treaties, the supreme law of the land ; when we treat a weak neighbour as we would
not dare to treat a powerful one ;v when we authorize one of our generals ; at his
discretion, to take military possession of a part of Mexico ; when we do every thing
but actual" 'fighting against that neighbour; when we cover and countenance the
march of armed bodies of our own c'tizens, to aid in killing the natives of Mexico,
and stripping them of their property ; when we fail to make a solitary attempt to
check this war in disguise ; when, to use Gov. Mason's w o ds, we 'substitute might
for right;' when, I say, men high in authority do all this, why should we wonder that
uneducated men prefer the same code of Lynch law in their own concerns ? Why
should we be Surprised at mobs, or the intimidation of courts of law, when the
supreme law ofthe land is trampled under foot by the very men, educated men, who
are swornto respect it ? Insubordination is contagious. A man who hears a senator
(just after the ratification of a treaty with Mexico) urging his countrymen to march.
not merely to Texas, but to the 'Pacific ;' the man, I say, who hears this, must have
a higher sense or religion and honour than I fear, most men have, if he does not
conclude to regulate His own course by his passions or his interests.
'Read once more the early history of the Romans ; mark their origin, character,
and conduct; observe the gradual, sometimes bloody and sometimes deceptive^
means employed, to extend their population, territory, and power ; notice the masks
and pretences under which outrages were committed upon weaker states ; behold
the gigantic powers raised upon this basis of accumulated wrongs ; and then contem
plate the present degraded condition of 'the mistress of the world.' Who were
more arrogant and conceited than the Romans — who are now so abject or so scorned
as their descendants ? So consistent is it with divine law, that nothing can be truly
glorious or permanent that is not founded upon the basis of right and justice.'

We have a recent evidence that these acts of injustice are contagious among
nations, — France, seeing the patience of Mexico under the accumulated injuries
heaped upon her by General Jackson, determined to step in for her share of the
spoils, if Mexico must be dismembered. Fixing our eye upon the sudden burst of
troubles between the United States, . (or rather between General Jackson,) and
Mexico, their identity of date and purpose with those of the revolted Mexican
province of Texas, and the alacrity with which France took her resolution there
upon to blockade the Mexican ports, no one conversant with French policy will
venture to deny, that her determination to Jiave a share of the spoils, was the true
meaning and motive of that movement. The flimsy pretences set up that Mexico
has ill used some of her people, denizens in Mexico, and that Mexico is. in a demi-
savage state, from which France would humanely reclaim her by civilization,, are
not seriously expected by any Frenchman to be believed by the intelligent commu
nity. Nor does the factthat France did not recede from this course, upon the subse
quent probability of an adjustment between the United States and Mexico, impair
this view of her motives. For consistency, and to gratify the spirit that so promptly
brought her into the measure, she has pursued it, to an attack and reduction of
Vera Cruz !
How long will nations continue unjust to those less powerful than themselves ?
When will the advances of general civilization manifest itself in international justice
and humanity ? Will not the frequent occurrence of national'disputes and collisions
within a few years, in which England has taken such efficient and honourable part
to adjust, expedite the establishment of anational tribunal of arbitration ? Will not
our American Congress soon be moved to take up Mr. Legare's report upon that
subject, made at the last session, and which now lies on their table ? This, indeed,
is a subject of great, abiding, paramount interest; and the crisis which ha3 brought
forth the following eloquent proclamation of the President of Mexico might justly
eill up, and awaken anew the dominant interests, not to say sympathies, of every
... magnanimous power !
[.From the New Orleans Bee of the 21st of December.]
'The President of the Republic or Mexico to the Army.
'Companions in Arms ! Our country is in danger, and calls us to its defence.
1 The government of a powerful and distant nation, which perhaps only knows us from
the gold of our mines and the treasures which many of its subjects have acquired
among us, now insults us in every possible manner, and thinks it will civilize us,
though commencing by our degradation. It seeks our friendship, to impose upon us
disgraceful conditions, by which alone we may be admitted to its amity ; and because

202 annotations to part the first.
we have resisted nobly and justly, it has waged war upon our coasts. Our modera
tion and magnanimity, our desire to preserve peace, have been construed doubtless
into imbecility and incapacity for self-defence. In short, we have been mistaken for
dlgerines; let us prove to them that we are Mexicans.
'Valiant Troops ! Remember that you are the same who, without' foreign aid,
without military tactics, without chiefs, astonished the world by your heroic deeds,
by your constancy in the combat, by your fortitude in enduring toil and fatigue;
remember the resolution with which you plucked from the hands of your rulers the
laurels of triumph, and brilliant trophies of conquest.
'Soldiers ! The French have thrown down the gauntlet in Vera Cruz. It has
been raised by some of our comrades, and the strife has now begun. Let us hasten
to maintain it, and let us swear on the altars of bur injured country, taking heaven
and our posterity as our witnesses, never to lay down our arms until our rights are
respected. 'Comrades ! In this sacred struggle we will constitute the vanguard. Our corp*
de reserve will be the nation en masse, which admires our deeds, and will crown our
victory or revenge our glorious death. If the Mexicans in general, who cannot be
indifferent to this title or to the national glory and honour, will follow our footsteps ;
and if the struggle to which we have been so unjustly provoked should prove adverse
to our cause, the vast territory of this republic will be converted into a single sepul
chre; the conquerors and the conquered will be equally overwhelmed in it, and an
admiring world will say, 'the Mexicans no longer exist ; with them has disappeared
their name, but it has vanished without spot or blemish I Glory to so magnani
mous an example ! Shame to their unjust and haughty aggressors I'
'Friends ! Let us fly to merit such enviable distinctions. Let us struggle un
ceasingly, Justice and the good wishes of all who know and appreciate valour and
the independence of nations are in our favour. Your cause is not alone that of
Mexico, it is that ofthe whole continent, of every republican people, of all for whom
divine liberty is something more than a name. All look to you with anxiety ; all
are eager to learn whether they shall term you their deliverers, or shall load you with
execrations. Who will doubt your choice ?
'There yet exist among you illustrious examples of those who led you to the
combat during the glorious periods when you achieved your independence. A
thousand others Will rush to the fray, and all will emulate your indomitable valour.
'Mexicans, one and all ! Your general, the president, swears to you by his
honour that he will not be the last, and that, linked with you, he will either share
the triumph, or seek a glorious death. Anastasio Bustamente.'
'Mexico, Dec. I, 1838.

POSTSCRIPT.

¦Of Ihe conspiracy of the federal Executive, lo overturn the system of our free
_ institutions, both of the general government, and ofthe state governments,
as manifested in the recent rebellion at Harrisburg, with previous demonstra
tions in Maryland and elsewhere.
•Like master, like man" — is one of the approved truisms which the experience
pf ages in domestic relations has with few exceptions handed down and commended
to universal credence ; and in the brief period of our national existence the official
relations of superior and subordinate seem but too well disposed to follow the
same rule, with still fewer exceptions. The recent revolutionary movements in
Pennsylvania, instigated by officers of the federal Executive, and aided by candidates
for executive appointments, are sufficiently clear evidences, without the direct testi
mony of those very individuals under oath,.that they were but executing their master's
will. Though the audacity and hardy presumption of the executive agency in this par
ticular case, has excited great amazement and indignation through all parts of the
Union, yet, if is far from being a matter of surprise to those who have taken note of
the executive interference with the state institutions in various other respects,
touching the similar subjects of their local and general elections, their legislative
proceedings, their political and state conventions, their banking corporations, de
fiances of the federal judiciary, and of the committees of the two houses of congress,
&c. &c.
Passing over most of these, as belonging, to a general summary to be given in
another Part of this Work, I propose only to advert in this place to the like execu
tive interference with the legislature of Maryland, in 1836, which was simultaneous
ih many respects, and therefore serves as a more specific illustration of the-particular
case of Pennsylvania — each of which being embraced in the general view hereafter,
will render assurance doubly sure, that they are component parts of a general sys
tem of executive operations with the means in hand, to create and subsidize yet
other means, the congregated influences of which are intended to perpetuate power
for a second term ; and by continual accessions of the like influences, at last b>
establish the will of the President, permanently upon the nominal suffrages of the
people — or ultimately dispense with that superfluous ceremonial, a3 insinuating a
Soubt of his immaculacy, his patriotism, and his sincere love of his people. To this
end every executive measure of importance has been rapidly tending ever since the
lynx-eyed Amos Kendall discovered that universal suffrage nad placed all
elective power in the hands ofthe democracy of numbers (as he for his wicked ends
first'denominated the plurality of voters,) whom he hoped to control by his plausible
notions of loco-focoism; calculated as they are to deceive and seduce the unin
formed multitude, with the promise of hard-money which is captivating tp the ear, the
eye, the touch; the destruction of credit which they, in general, could neither see, nor
hear, nor touch, or comprehend ; ihe equal division of property per capitem, the most
captivating and intelligible argument of all, to the needy or the invidious, who aspire
to sudden wealth without labouring to acquire, it. For, such are a few ofthe
impracticable absurdities that have been sometime held out to the uninformed,
which would consign this country to anarchy and utter destruction before they could
be accomplished ; and of that truth tbe Executive cannot be ignorant : yet, trie cap
tivating project must be held up in gaudy promise to the democracy of numbers, as
a means of winning their votes, to perpetuate and aggrandize power in the hands of
the present incumbents or their chosen successors. And the sub-treasury scheme
was the principal and magnificent device to afford the Executive the means of pay
ing the expenses ofthe experiment till it consummated their object, and at the same
time flatter the multitude with the fallacious expectation of its ultimate success— perish
whatever' dear interests ofthe country in the mean time, if their effects could be pre
vented from reaching ahd destroying the very subsistence of that multitude and open

204 POSTSCRIPT.
their eyes before the conspirators should reach the goal of permanent power —
that elevated platform where they would no longer have need for the suffrages ofthe
democracy of numbers, and whom they would spurn and despise as heartily as
iEsop's wolf did the long horns of the goat, by which he had been enabled to reach
the top of the well, leaving the filthy brute to perish at the bottom, instead of him
self, while he enjoys and regales himself upon the good things of this world.
The conspiracy above sketched in its maturer stage, was for a long time in pro
gress in less systematic forms, before the public attention was drawn towards it.
The Jackson-Van Buren party officers having, by clandestine artifices, through thou
sands of post office agents, correspondence with favourite editors, and other leading
partizans throughout the country, succeeded in a wonderful degree to control public
opinion insensibly to their purposes, and to entwine themselves around the hearts of
the plurality of voters, at several successive elections — of which artifices they had
learnt the first rudiments from the Jackson white-washing committees in his first
canvass— at length, become emboldened about the termination of the United States
Bank charter, they resolved to systematize their operations, and convert the bank
into a monstrous bugbear to divert public attention from the true drift of their
ulterior views. From an estimate of these ample opportunities of the federal
Executive to 'know their men' all must cease to marvel at their success finally
in organizing their 'volunteer legions' in secret, as presently shown, having the
means in their hands of rewarding them with the spoils of victory, and of paying
their services in the mean time, With the collections, disbursements, and occasional
pillage, of forty millions of dollars annually, under the heads of official appointments,
salaries, fees, extra compensations, peculations, trading in land speculations, and in
the public funds on deposite.
Having attained to a great eminence in the public favour, by their financial war
fare and final success in putting down the bank as a United States institution, the
subsequent charter of the same by the Pennsylvania legislature, as the United States
Bank of Pennsylvania, gave a new and even a more congenial pretext to the execu
tive to carry on their conspiracy, by laying aside their masks, and making open war
upon state institutions, the authority of the federal judiciary, the committees of
Congress, and exciting a general disturbance of our foreign relations, and whatever
else came in their way. They had now almost reached the acme of power in their
imaginations, which they had so ardently panted for ; and about this period of time,
on account of the diversified lawless operations of the Executive, the
country was thrown into even a more serious state of alarm, than at the first strug
gle with the United States Bank.
' Shortly after the legislature of Pennsylvania had chartered the United States Bank,
the revolutionary spirit of Gen. Jackson, having manifested itself in undissembled
colours to his confiding partizans at least, that section of them most contiguous to
the centre of action in Pennsylvania, and most conversant with the Executive
views, headed by George M. Dallas.'in order to ingratiate themselves the more with
the President, whose implacable hostility to the Bank of the United States had been
transferred to the state corporation, resolved at the instance of the Executive, to
adopt a new device to abrogate the charter, by the call of a convention to amend the
state constitution ; and, under that cover, this convention was to annul the charter
of the bank. To prepare the public mind for this, all the customary party tactics
were resorted to, with a view of eliciting instructions to that effect, in the primary
assemblies of the people, to their representatives in the convention. And, among
the means resorted to, was, a very plausible address to the people, by Mr. Dallas,
disseminating the mischievous and worse than radical doctrine, that 'though no char
ter of a bank, being a contract between the state and the stockholders, can be
repealed without the consent of both parties, yet a convention may annul any and
a 1 laws, contracts, marriages, property titles, &c. and reduce society to its natural
elements, the express provisions of the constitution of the United States to the con
trary notwithstanding— which declares that 'no state shall pass any law impairine
the obligation of contracts,' &.c. eh
This .scheme failed, however, in the convention, almost without au effort, except
on the part of the executive organ of the press at Washington, and a few other
inflammatory parties to the revolutionary scheme. But that did not dishearten the
conspirators. The success of a particular project in a grand scheme of revolution,
is not so important to ultimate success as an abundance of inflammatory resources
to excite popular discontent and desire for change. Accordingly, Mr. Dallas havine
received for his unfinished work, a reward perhaps considered only commensurate
with so good a beginning, there was no wanting of another special pleader in the
field of wordy combat: and this desideratum was promptly met by another cham-

Postscript. '205
¦plon of the bar, ih the person of C. J. Ingersoll, Esq. tinder the influence of his
incitlng&nd inflammatory addresses to his 'democratic fellow-citizens,' aided
and prompted by federal officers and candidates for office, (after some interval of
Mr. Dallas' exit) the work of disorder took a new impetus in Pennsylvania,
But,, before Mr. Ingersoll had fairly made his appearance on the stage, circum
stances had been transpiring in election contests in Maryland, in which the federal
Executive took an active part through their agents and political organs of the press,
which throws considerable accessory light on their subsequent operations, in Penn-
'sylvania. • The Maryland elections in 1836, having resulted in giving nineteen Van Buren
minority electors of the state senate, ana twenty-one whig majority electors, to
•constitute the college of forty, for the purpose of electing the members of the senate.,
the nineteen Van Buren minority electors, under various party promptings, in which
the federal Executive, through their organs of the press took the lead, refused to
meet with the twenty-one majority whig electors, so as to form a quorum to elect a,
senate ; and thereby threatened the state with lapsing into a territorial government
or anarchy, for want of a legislature, a governor, sheriffs and other officers, essential to
constitute a government.
The following just and eloquent expose of the executive interfetence with the
states of Maryland and Pennsylvania, by the editors pf the National Intelligencer, of
the 24th of September, 1836, is worthy of all praise. I avail myself of the power
ful impression it is calculated to make on the mind of the reader at this day, whefi
its portentous shadowirigs-forth are nearing to the crisis that is destined again to try
men's souls, if not, yet, timely averted. The caption of the commentary is, indeed,
almost too modest for the vivid picture it presents, viz :
•The constitution and the laws defied and trampled under foot.'
•We had occasion, but a few days ago, to call the attention of our readers to tiie despe
rate proposition, to effect profligate party purposes, in the State of Pennsylvania, by
revolutionary means. Little did we then think that a more direct assault would so soon
be made nearer home wpon those fundamental institutions which are the only security
ef THE life, the liberty, and the property, of the peuple of every state in
this union.
'It is now ascertained that the nineteen minority Electors of the Senate of the State of
Maryland, having met together, and spent several days in Annapolis, have refused to
meet with the twenty-one majority Electors, so as to form the constitutional quorum. * * *
The laws, indeed, will remain as they are. But how shall they be enforced ? The
Judges, to be sure, hold their offices during good behaviour; but the offices of the sheriffs
expire at the end of three years from their respective appointments, and, although they are
chosen by the people, yet, before they can act, they must be commissioned by the
Governor, who is chosen annually by the Legislature. If no Legislature, no Governor. IC
no Governor, no Sheriffs, nor any other officer whose term of office is limited, and who
holds his appointment or commission from the Governor. How, then, are the lives, liberty*
and property of the citizens of Maryland to-be protected ? How are their contracts to be
enforced ?
'What is their remedy? Will they dissolve into their original elements, and go into
Convention ? Who shall call the Convention ? The Legislature will be extinct. It can
pass no law to call and "organize a Convention. If a Faction choose to raise themselves
into a Convention, can they bind others ? If they choose to usurp the government, can
they control tbe residue, unless by despotic, arbitrary force ? Suppose the parties nearly
balanced: can it end without blood? They who have noticed the temper of ttye times
know that it cannot; and, when once the blood begins to flow, it requires a strong and
tight ligature to stop it * * *
'What is the object of all this ruin and desolation? Is it State politics?— or politics of
a higher sphere? Has there not been a secret power at work behind the screen,
playing upon state passions and local jealousies, for higher objects 1 Is it not Jack
son-Van Burenism that is willing to sacrifice the State for the accomplish
ment of its ambitious views?
'The ostensible object of the conspiracy against the government of Maryland 13 to de
prive the smaller counties of their constitutional equality, not by the easy and regular
course of amendment provided by the Constitution of Maryland, but by the rash and reck
less course of revolution, through a state of anarchy and bloodshed.
'The real purpose ofthe disorganizers may be more truly stated in three words:
Rule or Ruin! _ „ „ , ...
'The Pennsylvanian of Thursday [the 22d of September, 1836, one of the administra
tion organs of the press in Philadelphia,] now lying before us, casts off the veil, when, in
narrating the results, it thus states the glorious consequences— 'The Van Buren ElectorsV-r
mark the phrase— 'the Van Buren Electors determined that, when the time for choosing
27

206 postscript.
the Senate came, they would not, unless eight of the fifteen Senators were gtem TO
them, enable the Whigs to form a quorum, and would thus defeat an election, which de
termines the state government for five years. No concessions were made, and their
determination was carried out. They refused lo elect a Senate, and the Whigs op
Maryland, a few days since so elate with joy, are completely prostrate.'
[It was also strongly contended by the Van Buren press' in Baltimore, that 'the Van Bu
ren Electors ought not to consent to meet in the Electoral College, so that there may not
be a sufficient number to elect the Senate,' &c. Nor did the official organ of the Execu
tive, at Washington, fail to figure in the front rank, as usual, to give efficacy to tho
plans of the conspirators.]
•The 'determination! of the 'Van Buren Electors' was to prostrate the Whigs!
That which they have not been able to accomplish through Ihe medium of the ballot-box,
and according to the forms of the Constitution, they have undertaken to do in defiance of
the ballot-box, and in the teeth of the Constitution. What could be expected of those
who are thus violating the most solemn duties of good citizens, but that they should en
deavour to cover such treachery to principle under other pretexts ? But even their pre
texts — what are they? Why, that representation in the Legislature is unequally distribut
ed among the counties and the cities of the State; that a reform is necessary in this parti
cular; that they are friends to popular rights, and therefore, to procure a reform of the
Constitution, they will lay violent hands upon it! On the question of reform we say
nothing, except that, if it be needed — and we dare say it is — the mode of amending tbe
Constitution is prescribed by that instrument itself, and that there is no State in the Union
whose Constitution is, if we may use the expression, so exposed to amendment as that of
Maryland. The passing of an act for the purpose by two successive Legislatures is the
simple process by which any amendment may be effected. And yet, with such ready
means at hand for redressing real grievances, these 'friends of the People,' with incon
ceivable wilfulness, seek to reform the Constitution by covering it with mortal wounds!
This is but a scene of the French Revolution acted over again. The Marat of that day,
who, it is worthy of remark, was editor of a public journal entitled the Friend ef the
People, in his Jacobin Club, found converts to his flagitious maxim, that the end
justifies the means.
'But, if the principle by which the Minority of the Electoral College are governed can
be supported, the ruin will not end with Maryland. If a revolution is to be thb
consequence of the constitutional defeat of the projects of every political
party that thinks itself supported by a majority of the people, we shall
BE IN A CONTINUAL STATE OF REVOLUTION, and our republican Govern
ments will be held up to the rest of the world as objects of utter abhorrence, or, what is
worse, of withering contempt. If the constitution and laws which protect liberty can
not be supported by public sentiment, but are to be destroyed by every breath of faction,
they will be worse than worthless — they will be restraints upon those only who need net
restraint, and the ready tools of faction when they suit its purpose. Revolution, instead
qf being the last resort qf oppression, will become an every-day affair of faction.
It should be only the ultima ratio rerum publicarum. Such was the sentiment of our
revolutionary fathers in 1776, when, in the Declaration of Independence, they said, 'Pru
dence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for
light and transient causes.' — 'But, when a long train of abuses and usurpationst pursu
ing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism,
it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide guards for
their future security.' . So, also, in their declaration of rights, in 1777, the People of Ma
ryland claimed the right of revolution only 'whenever the ends of Government are per
verted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are inef
fectual.' And in the 59th section of their Constitution it is declared, 'That this form of
Government, and the declaration of rights, and no part thereof, shall be altered, changed,
or abolished, unless a bill so to alter, change, or abolish the same shall pass the General
Assembly,' &c. as stated above.
'This Constitution is now in full force, and is the supreme law of Maryland; and it is as
much a crime wilfully to violate it, as it is to commit murder. Revolution is cousin-
german to treason. It wants nothing but the military array. After what has hap
pened, how soon that may be assumed, no one can tell! * * *
'There is, however, yet a very grave view to be taken of this revolutionary movement, .
following, as it does, so closely on the heels of the Dallas Manifesto in Pennsylvania.
Where had these nefarious schemes their origin? Are they the work of reckless fac
tions in each State, or, are they portents of greater dangers yet unrevealed? The
project to which Mr. Dallas has lent his name is a device emanating from the
palace at Washington. More than six months ago it was threatened by the President
in his conversations, and by the official paper in its reflection of them, that the Con
vention should annul the Pennsylvania law. A reference to the Globe of that day
will show, so plainly as to leave no room for doubt, to what source we are indebted for the

POSTSCRIPT. 307
disorganizing proposition in Pennsylvania, followed, as it has been, by the more than
equally Jacobinical proceeding in Maryland.
'Thus, on the 3d of March, we find the Globe using this language in regard to the new
charter of the United States Bank of Pennsylvania: 'The reflecting part of the community
know that the charier has been obtained against the will of a vast majority ofthe people
of the State of Pennsylvania.' — 'The Public has no confidence in the stability of the
charter.' — 'They know that the acts qf the minority can never bind the majority | lhat it
is legal, right, just, and proper, that the majority should undo what the minority has done.
They see that the days of the existence of this fraud upon the people of Pennsylvania are
few. They see, too, that the People of the State are resolved that the fraud, shall be
'expunged' from the statute-book of the State.' In these brief quotations the reader will
find the germ of the doctrine of 'Reform or Revolution,' proclaimed as a rule of action
for the defeated party in the late Maryland election. Again : on the 8th of March, the
same organ ofthe President's views says: 'Has it come to thisithat an independent
State is to be deterred from legislating to protect her own and her citizens' interests, by a
money corporation of domestic aristocrats, and foreign bankers, and noblemen? If so, it
is time to cease speaking, and to ACT.' That is to say, if the next- Legislature of the
State do not, in despite qf the Constitution of the United States, pass a law, (which
would be no law) to repeal the charter qf a particular Bank, it is time to substitute
revolution and violence for law and order.
'Again, on the 21st of March: 'Pennsylvania will assuredly resist the usurpers.' 'That
she will resist, we feel confident. She will resist indignantly, if for no other motive than
the hope of speedily expunging from her statute-book the disgrace of her children,' &c.
What and who is it that Pennsylvania is thus ordered by the President's organ to resist
as usurpation and usurpers? — The Constitution of the United States; and her own con
stitutionally elected and qualified Legislators. What is she thus directed to expunge from
her statute-book? Laws passed in conformity to the Constitution both of the State, and
of the United States. In fewer words, she is directed to nullify the Constitution of
the United States, on essentially the same grounds as the pretext now set up for
nullifying the Constitution of the State. of Maryland.
'fjpon the consequences of the application, by possibility, of these revolutionary
doctrines to the regular action of the General Government, we surely need not
dwell. But we Look forward to the future with a feelingthat is undefinable,
BUT NOT THE LESS PAINFUL; WITH A DEEAD WHICH WE ARE HALF ASHAMED TO CONFESS,
but which fastens itself upon our senses the more we endeavour to shake it off'.
WOULD THAT THE IDES OF MARCH WERE COME AND GONE !'
The foregoing is not unprophetic of what actually transpired a few months there
after, in Philadelphia, as the prelude of the more recent consummation at Harris
burg. I have said that Mr. Ingersoll, under the influence of his inciting addresses to
his 'democratic-republican fellow-citizens,' aided and prompted by federal officers,
and candidates for office, had given to the work of. disorder a new impetus in Penn
sylvania. The central executive, at Washington, were not at all disheartened, or
visited with remorse for the desolation they bad already inflicted on the business
operations and prosperity of the country, by the joint effects of many of their ill-
starred measures. At this crisis, shortly after the suspension of specie payments by
the banks, repeated conventions and adjourned meetings of their adherents in Phila
delphia, were held, in quick succession, from the middle to the end of the month of
' May, at which, inflammatory speeches, resolutions, and addresses were made, and
copies forwarded to the Executive at Washington, and to their partisans elsewhere
is presumable. On tie 23d of May, 1837, among other resolutions, and an accom
panying address from those meetings, forwarded to the President and each member
of his cabinet, was one making a tender of ten thousand minute men, armed, and
equipped to execute the orders of the Executive issued, or to be hereafter issued.
To which the official organ, here, lost no time in giving the implied Executive appro
val, in anticipation of the President's own sign-manual of grateful thanks for' the
services of 'the legion' offered. The editor of the Globe, moreover, fraudulently
attempted to give it all the air of a commendable measure of self-defence, by con
necting it with. a proposition offered at a meeting in Boston, to oppose the requisition
ofthe postmaster-general to collect postages in specie, after the banks had suspend
ed specie payments, but which proposition was refused to be acted upon, and
was withdrawn in obedience to the sense ofthe meeting.
, The following is the disingenuous manner in which the Globe of that day ushered
this portentous speck of civil war before the public :
'There is indeed a contrast between the feelings and expressions of the friends and op
ponents of the present administration of the Federal Government. At Boston a meeting
was held at which a resolution was proposed [but withdrawn by the mover* in obedience

POSTSCRIPT.
to the sense of the meeting] to resist the laws at all hazards. At Philadelphia, at a large
meeting held there recently, the following, among other resolutions, was unanimously
.adopted ;'
And then gives the resolution, which is in the following words :
'1. Resolved, That the more effectuaUy to uphold the constitutional Government of
our choice and of our love; to secure the rigid enforcing ofthe laws of Congress, and the
orbers of the Executive, either now issued, or which may hereafter be issued;
for the preservation and protection of the public lands from the grasp of speculators, and
securing the nation its constitutional specie currency; to protect United States officers
in the discharge of their public duties, and at the same time the public peace from out
rage: We, the sovereign people, do hold ourselves ready to organize in this city and
county qf Philadelphia, a first volunteer legion of ten thousand men, to be as
shortly as possible fully armed and equipped, the same to be called The Philadel
phia United States Minute Men.'
For this 'pledge of support' President Van Buren returned his 'sincere acknow
ledgments' in the following letter: 'Washington, May 29, 1837.
'Gentlemen :— I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter communicat
ing to me tbe proceedings of a large meeting of the citizens of the city and county of
Philadelphia, without distinction of party, held in Independence Square, on the 22d inst.
'It is gratifying to me to learn from those proceedings, that the course pursued by myself
and those associated with me in the Executive branch of tbe Government, upon the im
portant subjects ef the currency, foreign trade and the public lands, receives the cordial
approbation of so meritorious and respectable a portion of my fellow-citizens.
'For this expression pf their confidence and good will, and for the accompanying
fledge of support and co-operation in upholding the authority ofthe constitution and
laws, I beg you to make to those you represent, my sincere acknowledgments.
'Thanking you, gentlemen, for the flattering and friendly manner in which you have per
formed the duty assigned to you, I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant.
M. VAN BUREN.'
'To Messrs. F, S toe ver, Israel Young, and Joseph Dean.'
Upon this correspondence being brought to light, through different channels, after
an interval of more than a month, showing that it made its appearance with hesi
tancy and by indirection, the Editor of the Baltimore Merchant immediately
stamped it with its true character, as follows ;
. 'For ourselves, we can see nothing in them (the resolutions, and the president's letter of
thanks) but an open declaration of war against the principles of the Constitution and the
liberties of the people. The arming and equipping of a large military force, in a lime of
profound peace, to execute the 'ORDERS OF THE EXECUTIVE' with the bayo
net! And this is passing before our eyes, while we stand and look on like men who have
lost their understandings! Has the Autocrat or the Sultan higher prerogatives than to issue
orders at pleasure, and to have them executed by armed bands of mercenaries ? What more
is requisite to constitute a despotism? We protest we are unable to conceive of any
additional pretensions.
'It is needless to enlarge upon this subject. A people so humbled as to contemplate
these proceedings without feeling the spirit of their fathers burning in their bosoms, must
have reached a point of debasement where the very name of liberty ceases to be an in
telligible word. We perform our duty in placing the facts before the country, and solemnly
warning the people against the evils that are to come These extraordinary proceedings!
were not had without the counsel and advisement of the Executive. The simultaneous
display of the motto, ' the supremacy qf the laws,? was not a thing of chance. There
is every reason to believe that there are more than ten thousand men already, orga
nized, armed and equipped. An active correspondence is going on between this
city and various sections of the union. The Usurper himself is encouraging these
military organizations, as his letter shows. The whole country is distressed, agitated,
heaving with the elements of discord, insubordination, and anarchy. No man can an'
ticipate the result. But we remain firmly impressed with the belief that a subversion
of the government is in contemplation; and that, unless timely steps be taken to arrest
the Executive in its progress, the liberties qf the country will be lost. We may be too
suspicious of the character and interests of the individuals in power; but we had rather
err from too much jealousy than allow ourselves to be taken by surprise and Jittered
while sleeping. » *
< We are not^ surprised at this. When we look back upon the effort made by Colonel
Benton to increase the standing army, we are prepared to see the party calling for an
armed soldiery lo enforce the arbitrary edicts by which they govern the country.
'That the people may understand the complexion to which things are coming, we will

POSTSCRIPT. 209.
quote a short paragraph from the Metropolitan, the favored organ of the Federal Execu
tive. That piper, in an article which we. quote more at large, says :
' Society can never remain long in a state of transition. Anarchy is a greater evil than
any possible DESPOTISM. — Give us a strong government rather than none; the finan
cial government of a great and powerful bank rather than that of a number of State mo
nopolies, not less anti-republican and vicious in their organization, and more powerful and
irresponsible in their operation. The country has, therefore, now to choose between a
national bank and the termination of all connection between Bank and State — between the
credit money system and the real money system of currency.'
That there may be no misunderstanding the pretext under which these ten thousand
UNITED STATES MINUTE MEN are to be raised, fully armed and equipped, we
publish at length the address of Mr. Ingersoll, their candidate for Congress. He says;
'Let the people have hard money. Let them insist upon it. LeL them try it. Let
them compromise wilh nothing, short of it. Let hard money be the will of the people.
Let their representatives repeal the double and monstrous taxes which are now paid by
discounts; paid by the poor to the extravagant, by the industrious to tbe idle. Let this
be no party work, but the last achievement of American independence and of popular
sovereignty.' It is impossible for us to close our eyes upon events as they are passing before us.
Alarmed at the prospect of losing power, the Baltimore Republican, (a Vap Buren paper)
Calls upon the people to put dawn their opponents. The rank and file pledge themselves
to embody as minute-men, armed and equipped, to protect, the United States officers; and
the Globe, the Metropolitan, Mr. Ingersoll, and Col. Benton, give the signal— the watch-
ward of the party. ' We know (hat these effusions seldom come before our readers, and
that they are therefore incredulous; but we advise every thinking man to peruse the
extracts from the Metropolitan and Mr. Ingersoll's speech. *
To those who yet appreciate the value of civil and political liberty, we would ask the
question — Is it not high time that you should organize, arm and equip also? The example
is before you. It is impossible to ascertain, with any certainty, how far these movements
of the monarchists have progressed. Much is done in secret. The mine is prepared—
the train is laid — and it will be sprung upon you before you are aware. We tell you that
the men in power here are capable of attempting any thing that promises the slightest
hope of success in their conspiracy against the public liberty. Be therefore prepared.
You cannot be too cautious where there is any possibility of danger.'
Yet, notwithstanding the above spirited and just rebuke, the echo of which must
have resounded through the palace and the public departments, and from the patriotic
portion of the editorial corps in all quarters of the country, scarcely a twelvemonth
had elapsed, since those proceedings, when the same association of men in Philadel
phia, still further emboldened by the countenance and promptings of the Federal
Executive, proceeded to Harrisburg and there consummated a rebellion against the
constituted authorities, drove the, legislature of the State out of the doors and win
dows of their legislative hall, while threatened with the peril of their lives.
The description of those outrages, and the conduct of the President of the United
States in refusing the requisition of the Governor of Pennsylvania for aid to quell
the rebellion, are eloquently and sufficiently detailed in the following extract from
the statement made by the Honorable Mr. Naylor, in the House of Representatives,
upon the reading of tie documents communicated by the President, in answer to a
call of the house.
' Sir, (said Mr. Naylor,) are not those things evidence that the General Government, if
it did not originate these disturbances, at least lends them its fostering regard, and
bestows upon them ils blessing ?
'But let us advance one step further. In. his communication to the President of tbe
United States, the Governor of Pennsylvania states the fact, certified under his own hand,
and bearing, for any thing I know to the contrary, the seal of the State, that there is an
insurrection threatening the existence of the Government itself; that the Senate had been
driven out of doors; and that the popular branch ofthe Legislature could not assemble in
peace; and he calls upon the President, under the Constitution of the United States, to
use the power he possesses to protect Pennsylvania against insurrection and ' domestic
violence.' And what does the President do? He not only refuses to comply with the
Governor's request, but enters into an argument to prove that the Governor has falsified
the facts; that there was in reality no disturbance at all; that there was no domestic vio
lence; that the Senators were not driven from the Senate Chamber! In a word, sir, he
indirectly countenances the disorganizers, and plainly intimates that they have done right.
(We have fallen upon evil times: parly-political excitement has agitated every interest
and reached every class in society. Even the ministers of the law, regardless of their
solemn duties, use the powers within their grasp, as engines to subvert the law. The
march of literature arid science is arrested, the arts are thrown aside, even religion itself is.-

210 POSTSCRIPT.
pressed into the service of party, and its functionaries are in the field amid its angry storm,
contending for the pitiful rewards of party. This, I say, in a great measure results from
the interference of Government officers with the People, in order to perpetuate their
power in a dynasty of their own selection. Let those in power attend to their own bust1
ness, leave the People alone, free and unmolested, to conduct their own affairs, and there -
will be an end to this bitter, unrelenting, unsparing war! Let us now come to the com
munications upon the subject of the interference of the officers of the Philadelphia post
office in this disturbance at Harrisburg. Governor Ritner, in his letter lo the President,
names one. How many more there may have been, we are not told. The letter of the
postmaster of Philadelphia, upon the subject, is dated ' Harrisburg,' and from that letter
it is impossible lo say how many of his officers have abandoned the office, and gone to the
seat of disturbance, in some capacity or other. McCahen, a letter-carrier and clerk, is the
individual named in the Governor's letter to the Poesident. And we find, sir, by the news
papers, that he was the man who harangued the crowd in the Senate chamber, and stimu
lated them to acts of violence against the Senate. Yes, sir, if accounts be true, heit was
who, after the Senators had been expelled from their seats, and the Speaker of that body
forced to retreat through the window to save his life, inflamed the crowd there assembled,
and exhorted them to hold on and to persist !
'Again the scene shifts, and as soon as the Governor's proclamation appears, calling
upon the militia of the Commonwealth to assemble and protect the Legislature, we find
this post office clerk in Philadelphia ; there he puts on a military dress, assumes the garb
of a soldier, gathers together a company, marches them to Harrisburg — to do what ? To'
put down himself ! The next thing we hear of him, he is addressing and stimulating the
disturbers at Harrisburg — addressing them, with his uniform, his military garb upon him!
'Sir, what is the situation of the postmaster himself ? He addresses his letter from Har- '
risburg, where, he says, he is performing military duty in pursuance of the requisition of
the Governor!
'A few days before this, upon the arrival of the intelligence of these outrages at Harris
burg in Philadelphia, and of the demand of the Governor for militia, we find him address
ing a town meeting in Philadelphia, denouncing the proclamation of the Governor of
Pennsylvania, and stigmatizing 'as contemptible the order of General Patterson, the com
mander of this (the Philadelphia) military division.' Nor did he stop there; he recoirf-
mended the citizens of Philadelphia to prepare and hold themselves in readiness to act at
a moment's warning in defence of the disturbances at Harrisburg! I call on gentlemen to
look at the proceedings of this meeting, read their resolutions — resolutions and proceed
ings which this postmaster sanctioned by his name, and advocated by his speech! I think
they are published in the Globe ; and the Globe, you know, cannot lie!
'Sir, immediately after this, before his denunciations of the Governor, and his scorn for
the order of his General, have died from his lips, and whilst his appeal to the citizens of
Philadelphia to arm against them is still ringing in their ears , he writes to Amos Kendall
from Harrisburg, and assures him that neither he nor his officers are interfering in these
outrages ; that he is there in obedience to the proclamation of the Governor whom he has
denounced ; serving as a soldier under the order of a General for whom he has publicly,
by the resolutions of that meeting, expressed his contempt! How many of the officers of
that post office are engaged in that service, it is impossible for me to say. The postmaster
tells us that all his officers who are in Harrisburg have gone there in obedience to the
proclamation! 'I put it to the House, to the country, to say whether the extraordinary state of facts re
vealed by those communications, some of which I have hastily glanced at, does not require
this House to pursue the investigation which it has begun, and whether the reference I
have moved should not be sustained I
'Sir, I weep for my country! The reign of lawless unbridled disorder is sweeping over
it— and the selfish and unruly passions in which it originates are stimulated and excited by
those whose duty and pleasure it should be to repress, to moderate, to tranquilize them !
'Poor Pennsylvania ! she is to be trampled on by the pampered parasites of power! Her
Governor has the misfortune to differ in political views with the President of the United
States, who, therefore, esteems it perfectly legitimate to deliver her up a prey to intestine
ills, and to refuse her aid in her extremity.'
'The following is the article of the Constitution af the United States under which the
Governor made his call on the President :
'Art. 4. Sec. 4. 'The United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a repub
lican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion ; and, on appli
cation of the Legislature, or of the Executive, (when the Legislature cannot be con
vened,) against domestic violence'.'
The subjoined extract is taken from the National Intelligencer of the 17th
December :
'Scenes at Harrisburg.— We are sorry to see in the Richmond Enquirer, following'
the lead of the Government paper in this city, extenuating and vindicating the spirit of

POSTSCRIPT. 211
Outrage which has lately exhibited itself in this attempt to establish mob-law in tbe place
of regular government at Harrisburg. Foiled in the attempt by the energy of Governor
Ritner, and the prompt relief afforded by the presence of the body of militia called out
by him, the Enquirer joins the disorganizers in railing against the Governor of Penn
sylvania, for calling out the militia, after this fashion :
- 'The Republicans [meaning the Mobites] are justly indignant that the Governor haa
called armed troops to Harrisburg, without first invoking the aid of the civil authority.
The Sheriff of Dauphin county, on the spot, declares that he has seen no riot which
might not have been put down by the posse comitatus. Why, then, before resorting, to
arms, did not the Speaker of the Senate, or the Governor, call upon the civil authority to
aid them ?'
Lest the information subjoined should npt reach the Editor of the Enquirer through
other channels, we place it here, for his especial benefit, and for that of those other per
sons whose indignation against Governor Kitner has been solicited upon the representa
tions of 'the Sheriff of Dauphin county,' to show why he was not relied upon to preserve
the public peace. Sixty-one respectable citizens united in a reply to the published decla
ration of this personage, from which reply we extract tbe following:
•The undersigned citizens of Harrisburg and other parts of Pennsylvania have seen with
emotions of surprise and indignation a most extraordinary document, dated 'Sheriff's
Office, Borough of Harrisburg, December S, 1338,' and signed 'William Cochran,
High Sheriff of Dauphin county,' which, for barefaced misrepresentations and downright
perversion of the truth, is unrivalled in the annals of imposture and falsehood. They are,
however, not surprised at the declaration that the Sheriff 'had not seen or beard of any
infuriated mobs or riotous proceedings, which required [his] my interposition to preserve
the peace,' because the Sheriff himself, if not an active participator, was an aider and
abettor in the 'riotous proceedings' of the past week. Nor was any thing else than
gross misrepresentation to be expected from the man who publicly declared, on Thursday
evening last, that 'Thaddeus Stevens would be no more by the next morning,' and again,
subsequently, that 'Thaddeus Stevens ought to be hanged.' Sheriff Cochran, when he
adopted that part of his address (prepared for him for the express purpose of abusing the
public mind as to the true state of things which had transpired at Harrisburg) which states
that 'I have been at all times ready and anxious to preserve the peace and quiet of the
borough of Harrisburg,' must have forgotten that he was an eye-witness to an 'infuriated
mob,' hallooing and blaspheming along Locust street, in this borough, hurling brickbats
and other missiles, and actually knocking down with them, and wounding, one of the citi
zens of this Commonwealth, flying for shelter from the mob to the Shakspeare House, kept
by Mr. Gleim ; and also of being a willing spectator qfthe scenes there enacted, without
in any manner attempting or endeavouring to allay the excitement of the mob, or silencing :
the inflammatory speakers.'
The Philadelphia Inquirer of 20th December, has the following :
'The following individuals have been ordered by Judge Blythe to enter into recogniz
ance for their appearance at the next Court of Quarter Sessions of Dauphin county, on
charges of active participation in the recent outrages at Harrisburg: George W. Barton,
of Lancaster; Aaron F. Cox, of Cumberland ; Chas. F. Mucnch, of Harrisburg, (United
States Deputy Marshal ;) Charles Pray, John W. Ryan, John Savage, John J. MeCahen,
Joseph Hall, and others, of Philadelphia. Warrants are out for other individuals who
have not been arrested. Most of these individuals were represented by counsel, and had
the benefit of all the exculpatory testimony they could advance. Still they have been fully
bound over for trial. What a comment is this on the assertions of partisan leaders that
there was no disturbance. At the hearing before Judge Blythe, the Commonwealth was-
represented by the Attorney General, who went to the seat of Government at the request
of the Governor.'
The Baltimore Chronicle of 21st December, furnishes the following information :
'We have no later accounts than up to the adjournment of the Senate on Tuesday.
They had made no decision yet upon the question of recognizing one of the Houses of
Representatives, the committee on that subject not having reported. The Telegraph says
that the Cunningham House will certainly be recognized. This of course is only conjec
ture. The Telegraph further states that the committee appointed to inquire into the
elections of Philadelphia county, have, by putting on his oath, J. J. McCahen, the Clerk
in the post office, ascertained that the return signed by the locofoco judges was made up
by him, in the post office, in Philadelphia, on the Monday after the election, and not
on Friday and in the State House, as is required by law ; that it was signed by three qf
the Judges in the post office, and by the remainder in other places, as he could catch them.
These informalities, it is said, are fatal to the return, and by the law it is altogether invalid.
The Philadelphia National makes the following brief remark on this occasion :
'Two of the post office functionares of this city occupy at the present moment positions
So anomalous as to puzzle the wits of all who have not looked into the working Of the

$iJ2 postscript;
Jackson political machinery. One of the confidential clerks of the post office leads tiie tnoo
which prevents the constitutional assembling of the Legislature ; simultaneously with this
act of rebellion, the chief of the office harangues an assemblage of the people in justifica
tion of the outrage, and talks about 'legitimate resistance to the laws.' Scarcely has the
sound of his voice ceased tb ring in our ears, when we see him in all the pomp and pride
of warlike attire, marching to the capital to suppress the mob which his own 'hireling'* had
inflamed to the commission of acts of the rankest insurrection. Before, however, he could
have reached the scene of his subordinate's insurrectionary movements, this same person is
seen in his own proper county, placing himself at tbe head of a military corps to march to
(he same theatre of insurrection and treason ; whether to obey the constitutional mandate
of the Governor, for the protection pf the Legislature, or to vindicate 'the rights of the
majority' according to the constitution and laws 'as he understands them,' time will show.
All this is genuine, practical Jacksonism.
The Gettysburg Star contains an address from Mr. Stevens to his constituents,
from which the following is an extract :
'Unwilling to forego the advantages of local legislation, and despairing of obtaining
justice for their constituents without their personal attendance, many, perhaps most, of
my associates have determined to submit to the mortifying necessity, and enter the illegal
House (of Representatives.) With their course I find no fault. But I believe you will
prefer the permanent interest of our whole country to your own temporary local benefit.
That interest — the liberty of yourselves and of your posterity — I believe can be preserved
only by refusing to yield any thing to lawless rebellion. I find no difficulty in choosing my
own course — in selecting between an association with successful insurgents, or withdraw
ing from office. Such voluntary association would sanctify, or at least palliate, their trea
son. Preferring retirement to dishonor, I withdraw from the Legislature to mingle again
with you, and wait your decision on my conduct. I shall lake another occasion to give a
more extended account of the alarming acts which have disgraced tbe last month, and
wounded, I fear irrecoverably, the very heart of freedom.'
On the 27th of December, several Whig members having yielded to the views ' of
the mob, by seceding frpm their own, or the Cunningham division, and taking seats in
the Hopkins division of the Representatives, so as to make a quorum, the Legisla
ture was organized, and the Governor sent in his message, of which the following is
an extract :
' In this fearful state of affairs, I felt it my duty to issue a proclamation, Calling cm all
the civil authorities to exert themselves for the restoration of law and order, ahd on the
militia to keep themselves in instant readiness to march to the seat of Government to sup
press ihe violence. I also issued an order on the Major General of the first division of tho
State militia, to march his command. to Harrisburg forthwith, and made a requisition on
the commanding officer of the United States troops at Carlisle, to bring his force to the aid
of the constituted authorities. At the same time, the President of the United States was
informed pf the state of affairs, and required, to take such steps under the fourth section of
the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States as might seem proper. This,
last named measure was adopted, that, if matters proceeded to extremity, it might appear
that every proper and possible precaution had been resorted to by the State Executive.
The result of these several applications are known to you. With regard to that made
to the Federal Government, I will not now speak, further than to say, that having made it
in the regular and constitutional discharge of official duty, I felt bound, as Chief Magis
trate of Pennsylvania, to protest against the reception it met with, and the highly improper
reply made to it,
Fortunately, however, the appeal made to the citizen soldiers of the Commonwealth was
heard, without doubt of its necessity or delay in obedience.
The presence of Major General Patterson's, and, subsequently, of Major General Alex
ander's commands, completely accomplished the object in view. Their numbers were suf
ficient to frown down every thing like open violence, while their correct and soldierly de
portment obtained the confidence of the moderate of all parties. Under protection of their
presence, the members of the Legislature were free to settle their own differences in their
own manner. With regard to the result of their deliberations, of course I, as an execu
tive officer, can express no opinion. My only duty was to take measures to ensure its
accomplishment, by the free agency of the members themselves, and, when that was
effected, to dismiss the military force. This has accordingly been done, and the hope is
sincerely entertained that a resort to similar protection may never again be required.
' To the citizens of the State, generally, the events of the past three weeks are fraught
either with instruction or fearful omen, as they may be treated. If from them we learn'
the danger of departing from law and right, even in the slightest degree, or to accomplish
•'Hireling.'— This epithet is the coinage ofthe Post Master General, Ames Kendall,
applied by himself to his deputies.

POSTSCRIPT.

213

the most desirable object; and if all make up their minds, hereafter, to frown upon every
originator or advocate of such insurrectionary movements, the lesson will be invaluable,
and the present disgrace productive of lasting benefit. But if a repetition of the outrage
be countenanced, and mob threats become the rule of legislation, then it requires little
political sagacity to foretell the speedy downfall of our liberty, and the complete prostra
tion of all rights. The desperado who enters a legislative hall to-day, with his bullies, to
compel the admission of a particular member, will assuredly, and perhaps on the morrow,
demand the passage of a law to promote his private interest at the expense of others. Nor
will it be long before he uses the same means in a court of justice to escape punishment or
cheat his neighbor. Then the difference between guilt or innocence, the value of title
deeds, and the sacredness of all rights, will be only nominal. Might will be right, and the
minority and the timid, slaves.'
Finally, the National Gazette of Philadelphia endeavours to give this affair the
go-by with these remarks — but I apprehend the spirit of Jacksonism to which it
alludes, is too deeply rooted to be quieted for a century to come.
'The course taken by the Senate of Pennsylvania, in order, after many ineffectual
attempts, to bring together the discordant portions of the Legislature, is variously viewed
by the Whigs, and has created no little excitement among the more ardent members of the
party. For ourselves, considering the movement with reference to its results, the restora
tion of security to the capital, the union of conflicting elements in the legislative body, and
the consequent re-establishment of our State Government, which had become, with its own
dissensions and the rebellious interference af the Post Office mob, worse than nominal:
considering these vitally important results, we are by uo means disposed to repeat with
political friends the sweeping denunciation ofthe Senate. There are always higher obliga
tions upon the legislator or citizen than those due to mere party, howeyer assured he may
feel of its sound principles and generally patriotic intentions.'
Additional Remarks. — Who will now say, there was not strong reason to appre-
IfoeBd that this revolutionary spirit would be propagated with the usual rapidity of
inflammatory sparks communicated to combustible materials that bad been so lone
maturing by the most sedulous preparation ; seeing too, the zealous manner in which
T. Ritchie, Esq. the venerable editor ofthe Richmond Enquirer, threw himself into
ithe front rank to excite that rebellion to tbe extremities of bloodshed ! Upon this highly
a-eprehensible course (certainly nothing less, if not worse, than a participation in the
•treasonable agitation itself) the Boston Journal judiciously observes, that fa justifica-
'tion of such unparalleled scenes of disorder is far more alarming than the rebellion
Stself.' Yes, and more than twenty rebellions, divested of the active support nof the
train-bands of tbe federal Executive. Especially, -when the Richmond Enquirer
speaks, the movement is universal : though possessed of talents and information of
.an order very little above mediocrity, by ithe tact of long practice as a pairry^drilil-'
master, united to the advantages of a central position at the metropolis of a powerful
and most influential state, he is unjustly permitted to throw the influence of her
name into the scale of the federal Executive movements abroad, while he would
prove as light as a feather were he to attempt to enforce its rebellious or revolution
izing decrees upon the state of Virginia. In the present case, it is impossible to
misunderstand that officious editor, when he remarks that 'the republicans were
justly indignant, that the Governor has called armed troops to Harrisburg,,' — which
.-sapient remark he followed up with another, improved in rabid qualities, that 'the
moment military force is called in on one side, the other would retaliate.' And
though he finally affects to rejoice or rather to be 'happy to find the storm blown by,
which threatened the peace ofthe Keystone State,' it is palpable, from the following
massage, that his happiness arises less from kindness to that state which he would a
few days before have drenched in blood, than from the triumph obtained no doubt by
the official influence and patronage of the ringleaders of the measure behind the cur-
> tain, with whom he of the Enquirer has pledged himself to 'sink or swim;' that is,
to rule or ruin — the country ! He says — 'The designs of Stevens, Ritner, and their
Whig allies, have been defeated by the firmness of the republicans, and the justice of
their cause ! The Senate decided on the 25th December, by a vote of 17 to 16, to
recognize the Hopkins or Van Buren House of Representatives. Thanks also to
nine of the Whigs ; to Messrs. Butler, Sturdevant, and Montelius, of the House,
and Messrs. Sthrom, Fullerton, Miller, Michler, Conkey and Case, of the Senate, who
sacrificed their party feelings on the altar of their country. These six last aban
doned their political friends, and united with the Democratic members. The three
in italics belong to the city of Philadelphia. Since the recognition, all the members
of the Cunningham House have taken their seats in the Hopkins House, with the
exception of eighteen— among these, the great Whig belwether, is Stevens of Adams
28

214 POSTSCRIPT.
county, who had published an address to his Constituents, setting forth his determi
nation to resign his seat and return to them, rather than to recognize acts, in the
organization of the Hopkins House, which he deems illegal and dangerous as a prece
dent.'* Even these facts, over which Mr. Ritchie, from party infatuation, sees cause
to exult, tell more to the discredit, than to the honour of those two or three back
sliding Whigs, who, as General Jackson has said upon another occasion, 'may have
had their price.'
By means of the foregoing developments, somewhat suddenly brought upon us,
as to the consummation at Harrisburg, taken in connection with the predictions of the
failure of our system of government if not speedily amended, and the reasoning
upon which those predictions are founded in the introduction to this Work, the
reader will approximate pretty nearly to the conclusion that our system has already
failed in regard to its Executive branch ; and that a speedy amendment only can now
restore it to healthy action, or protect the other branches from being drawn into the
vortex of its ruin. The definitive resolution of the House of Representatives, at the
motion of Mr. Underwood, of Kentucky, ordering the documents in relation to these
troubles, embracing the President's correspondence with the Governor of Pennsyl
vania, to lie on the table, is a positive exponent of the equivocal position to which
that body feels itself reduced. That position is not an entirely hopeless one, however,
or probably the House would have gone into the consideration of the subject, and
have prostrated itself and the nation at the footstool of the Executive, by recording
its justification of Martin Van Buren, and his associates. But, not humbled to this
, degree, yet they dared not move his impeachment, as it was their obvious duty to
have done, knowing that under the present party organization of the Senate it would
have been fruitless for the advocates of good order under the authority of legislative
enactments instead of Executive dictation, to attempt to hold the President respon
sible for his delinquencies and perpetrations against the peace and harmony of the
country ; while he was also sustained in the exercise of his usurped powers by a
formidable, desperate, and pre-organized party 'legion, ready to execute his
decrees, issued or to be issued !'
Yes ; the Executive branch of the American system of government, has failed in
accomplishing the constitutional, pacific, beneficial objects of its institution, by the
wilful declination of the present and late incumbent to execute its duties in some
respects, and by the perpetration of assumed powers in many respects — multiplying
sins of omission and commission as it suited their conceptions of party interest,
regardless of the general welfare. On the appropriate occasion in the sequel of this
work, a summary of these specifications will be stated, when I hope there will be
no necessity to add to their number, already swelled in frequency and enormity
SUFFICIENT TO SICKEN THE INMOST FIBRES OF EVERY TRUE REPUBLICAN.
* See the Richmond Enquirer of the 8th of January, 1S39, an inappropriate day for
Jacksonism run mad !! ! ,
Washington City, D. C, January 10th, 1839.

CONTENTS
OF PART THE FIRST.

Page.
PREFACE. — General Subject — Political Panorama, ... iii
Executive Conspiracy in the Harrisburg Rebellion, . . . ib-
Error of Party Intolerance,  iv
Honesty identical with Republicanism,  ' v
Dishonesty the worst form of Toryism,  ib.
Glimpses of the latter character,  vi.
Jackson Executive Tactics transferred to Van Buren, . .vii
Secret Organization of 'armed legions' referred to Postcript, . ib.
Executive renewed embraces with the United States Bank, . viii
DEDICATION. — To the American People — commends to their arbi
trament the matter and specifications of the work, . . v
Distrusts the sincerity of Politicians, and the honesty of Public
Officers,  v— viii
Suggests the remedy of a National Convention, without Public
Officers,  ix
INTRODUCTION — Practical Revolution already effected by the con
flict of Executive Patronage with the freedom of Elections, 1 1
General Synopsis of the Work,  12 — 16
The Cycle of National Destiny — illustrated by the physical princi
ples of alternate destruction and reproduction, . . 17 — 22
Destruction, though inevitable, may be hastened or retarded by the -
neglect or timely application of remedies, . . . 23-=-29
The temptations to destruction inherent in our system not suffi
ciently counteracted by checks and balances, which have
proved too weak for the party conflicts and official peculation
that rend all its ligatures,  30 — 40
ADVERTISEMENT. — Sins of 'good intentions' — infernal regions
paved with them,  53
The 'good intentions' of General Jackson involved the hazard and
cost of every good to his country, ..... 54

216

CONTENTS OF PART THE FIRST.

SKETCHES OF JACKSONIAN DIPLOMACY.
CHAPTER I. — Insincerity of the Jacksonian Dynasty, both in its
internal relations with the States and co-ordinate departments,
and in its diplomacy with Foreign Nations, . . . 57 — 71
CHAPTER II.— The same subjects continued, .... 72—88:
CHAPTER III. — The duplicity of the Jacksonian Diplomacy con
tinued, as to our relations with the Mexican Republic, 89 — 116
CHAPTER IV. — Of the Conspiracy of Gen. Houston to dismember
the Mexican Dominions, and the connivance of President
Jackson, to give it effect,  117 — 152
CHAPTER V.- — Of the analogy between the several Conspiracies of
citizens of the United States to make conquests of friendly
neighbouring powers, and particularly of the two Conspiracies
against Mexico,  153 — 164!
CHAPTER VI. — The two Conspiracies of Burr and Houston con
trasted, identified, and finally accomplished, through the reci
procal agency in the one, and connivance at tbe other, by
Andrew Jackson, &c. &c  165 — 178
ANNOTATIONS TO PART THE FIRST.
Note I. — Proofs strong as holy writ of his (Jackson's) familiarity
with their (the conspirators') objects : (referred to at page
168,)  179—186
Note II. — Of the system of Defalcations : (referred to at page 169,) 187 — 190"
Note III. — A Recapitulation of the Jacksonian Diplomacy towards
Mexico : (referred to at page 175,) .... 190—196.
Note IV. — A triple comparison between the cases of Mexico, Canada,
and Michigan,  197—202
POSTSCRIPT.
Of the Conspiracy of the Federal Executive, to overturn the systems
of our free Institutions, both of the General Government and of
the State Governments, as manifested in the recent Rebellion at
Harrisburg, with previous demonstrations in Maryland and else-
where'  203—214

ERRATA.
The following inaccuracies, though trivial, are deemed worthy of correction.
Page 54, line 17 from the bottom, for revisal — read, revival.
66, 5 for and average — read, and will average.
70> 8 for of judiciary — read, the judiciary.
79, 5 /or this wish a— read, this with a.
100> 17 for sister of republic— read, sister republic.
127> 12 for else, the attempt— read, else, attempting.
187> 44 for this note— read, the foregoing note.
201> 10 for dominant—read, dormant.