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THE WAR —LETTERS OP JOHN P.
' KENNEDY.
Letter IV.
t have laid before you the evidence derived
entirely from the public records and from the
declarations of leaders of the Democratic party,
which demonstrates the fact that in the annexa
tion of Texas, our Government restricted the
annexation to the old Texas of the Mexican
Confederation, with the Nuecesfor its bounda
ry, and pledged itself to Mexico and to the
world, not to assert the claim to the Rio Grande
or to occupy to that limit without the couscnt
of Mexico. I think all this is clearly inferred
in the history which I have laid before you.
I come now to consider what followed the
passage of the joint resolutions for annexation.
The Government changed hands immediate
ly upon the adjournment of Congress. Mr.
Polk was inaugurated on the 4th ofMarch.
1845. You will now perceive that the moment
thisaffair of the annexationcame into his hands,
he gave it an essentially new direction. He de
termined to pay no regard to the considera
tions upon which Texas was admitted into the
Union, and to recognize no pledge which the
proceedings of the last administration and of
Congress had given to Mexico upon the subject
of the boundary.
Before the annexation was agreed upon, it is
true, Mexico had said she would consider it as
an act of war upon her; and Mr. Polk, I freely
admit, was bound to be prepared for such an
event. 1 think it was, in the highest sense,
his duty to be well prepared for a war, if Mex
ico should act upon her threat.
A Convention was to meet in Texas on the
4th of July, 1845, to consider our propositions
for annexation. That Convention did meet
and ratified the proceeding. Previous, how
ever, to the meeting of this Convention, that is
to say, on the 28th of May, the President or
dered Gen. Taylor to move with his little army
towards Texas.
There seems now to have been some private
understanding between Mr. Polk and the Go
vernment of Texas, that without regarding
what had passed in our Government in refe
rence to the boundary, and its refusal to assert
a claim to the Rio Grande—Mr. Polk and his
Cabinet, should nevertheless, assert that claim
and thenceforth act upon it as a matter of es
tablished right. This will be seen in what fol
lows ;
On the 15th of June, Mr. Bancroft, acting as
Secretary of War, informs Gen. Taylor:—“ the
point ofyour ultimate destination is the wes
tern frontier of Texas, where you will select and
occupy on or near the Rio Grande del Norte,
such a site as will be best adapted to repel in
vasion, and to protect what. in the event of an
nexation, will be our Western border /”
Here is the first bold and open avowal, of
a purpose, on the part of the new administra
tion, to disregard what may be considered as
the plighted faith of the nation on the question
of the boundary.
The private understanding to which I have
alluded, I think will be given in the correspon
dence between Mr. Allen, the Secretary of
State of Texas, and Mr. Donelson, our agent
there. Mr. Allen, in a letter of the 26th of
June, eleven days later than Mr, Bancroft’s
order, suggests to Mr. Donelson “the proprie
ty and necessity of an immediate march of the
troops, and that they proceed at once to occupy
positions on the Rio Grande /”
Mr. Donelson gives no countenance to this
proposition, and apprises Mr. Allen what in
structions he had been hitherto directed to com
municate to Gen. Taylor. Amongst these in
structions are the following:
“The occupation ofthe country between the
Nuecesand the Rio Grande, you are aware, is a
disputed question. Texas holds Corpus Christi,
Mexico holds the Brazos de St. Jago, near the
mouth of the Rio Grande.” “You can safely
hold possession of Corpus Christi, and all other
points up the Nueces, and if Mexico attempts
to dislodge you, drive her beyond the Rio
Grande.”
Notwithstanding this, that Mr. Donelson was
directed to say to Gen. Taylor, in an early
stage of this movement—that the boundary to
the Rio Grande was “a disputed question”
Mr. Bancroft’s instructions to the General, vou
perceive, are to take possession to the Rio
Grande, as that, “ in the event of annexation,
will be our Western border.”
This is clearly a very summary prejudgment
of the “ disputed question !” At this point the
violation of the terms of annexation seems to
have become the settled purpose of the Cabi
net. We were henceforth to effect our claim
to the border ofthe Rio Grande, and maintain
it by force.
The subsequent orders which Gen. Taylor
received, establish that determination. Let us
look to a few of them, and the events with
which they were connected.
The Government was conscious that the
only ground upon which there could be made
the slightestjustification of this attempt to seize
the disputed territory—as they chose to call it,
although it had not the benefit of even a plausi
ble dispute— was that the territory beyond the
Nueces was in the actual occupation ofthe
people of Texas. So far as regarded a few
settlements on the west bank of the Nueces this
was true, and those settlers might be said to be
| under the protection of Texas. This was the
■ case at Corpus Christi, immediately at the
r mouth of the Nueces and on its western mar
gin. But beyond the actual borders of the
river, there were no settlers. Whilst over to
wards the Rio Grande audits banks there dwelt
a considerable] number of Mexican citizens,
who had long resided in this section of Tamauli
pas. The country between the two rivers, em
bracing a width of about one hundred and thir
ty miles, was chiefly a desert. Brazos Santiago
and Point Isabel were Mexican settlements, and
no Americans dwelt in that region.
With these facts before him, Mr. Marcy
writes to Gen. Taylor on the 30lh July—“ You
are expected to occupy, protect and defend the
territory of Texas to the extent that it has been
occupied by the people of Texas”—which, in
point of fact, as Mr. Donelson has written to
the Department, was no where further west
than Corpus Christi, and the west bank of the
Nueces. But Mr. Marcy’s letter goes on to say;
“The Rio Grande is claimed to be the boundary
between the two countries, and up to this bound
ary you are to extend your protection, only
excepting any posts on the eastern side thereof
which are in the actual occupancy of Mexican
forces, or Mexican settlements over which the
Republic of Texas did not exercise jurisdiction
at the period of annexation, or shortly before
that event.”
It would appear that General Taylor, acting
in pursuance of this order, chose Corpus
Christi and the immediate bank of the Nueces
as the only country coming within the descrip
tion of tue Secretary’s direction—because that
was the whole extent occupied by the people
of Texas, and all the rest was in the actual oc- i
cupancy, as italways had been, ofthe Mexicans. ,
Mr. Donelson had, in fact, written to the Gene
ral, as we have noticed before, on the 28th of '
June, telling him that “ Corpus Christi was the i
most western point then occupied % by Texas ”
And we may presume the General knew this as
well os Mr. Donelson. The General reached 1
Corpus Christi some time in August. On the
30th of October he writes: “ Before tne Presi
dent’s instructions ofthe 30th July reached me
I would have preferred a position on the left
bank ofthe river” (the Nueces.)
He adds however that his position on the
ri»ht bank (Corpus Christi) had more advanta
ges than the other. His meaning evidently
was that if he had not been directed to go into
“ the disputed territory,” he would have taken
his position upon the left bank as being within
the actual and true boundary ofTexas. He
then says—“ One or two suitable points on or
near the Rio Grande” should be taken posses
sion of, i/ the line of the Rio Grande is determined
upon as “ the ultimatum ” by our Government. —
He leaves thai question for the President to
settle ; and gives his advice as a military man as
to what should be done if the President’s deter
mination should be to occupy the country in
dispute.
The letter of Mr. Marcy—3oth July, 1845
above referred to, is important in this narrative
as establishing one fact—namely, that the Go
vernment knew, at the time they were issuing
these orders, that the country on the Rio
Grande, and between that and the Nueces, was
—as far as it was capable of occupation —in the
actual occupancy of Mexican forces, and Mexi
can inhabitants or settlers, and that it was not
pretended that these settlers were nnder the
jurisdiction ofTexas, or ever had been under it.
They were inhabitants who belonged to the
State of Tamaulipas. and exclusively under the
jurisdiction of Mexico. This was known to
our Government.
Gen. Taylor remained at Corpus Christi all
through the autumn of 1845, and the winter of
1846. There was no invasion attempted by
Mexico, and a general belief prevailed that we
should soon have a settlement ot all difficulties
between the two countries. Our government
had made application to Mexico to know if she
would open negotiations for the settlement of
the disputed questions. She answered favora
bly to thisproposition.
Mr. Slidell was appointed minister plenipo
tentiary to go to Mexico. Mexico objected to
receiving a minister, on the ground that the
question of Texas and the boundary must be
settled before she could acknowledge the exis
tence of full relations of amity with us : she of
fered therefore to receive a commissioner, to
treat specially on those questions and no others.
Our Government would not consent to indulge
her in this demand, although it has since that
time sent a commissioner for pretty much the
same purpose, in the person of Mr. Trist. I
do not excuse Mexico for this refusal to receive
our minister. It was a very frivolous piece of
false pride, but very much in character with all
her other follies connected with this quarrel.
But certainly this refusal to receive a minister
was not war.
On the 13th of January, 1846, whilst this
question of the reception of the Minister was
yet pending, and before it was known whether
Mexico would receive him or not, and at a time
when there was no expectation of an invasion
from Mexico—and more to be noted than any
thing else— at a time when the Congress of the
United States was in session, the President, pri
vately, without communicating one syllable to
Congress, or giving any hint of the event to
either branch of the national legislature, to whom
alone the Constitution has confided the great
and momentous power of making war—in these
circumstances and on this day, Mr. Polk au
thorized Mr. Marcy to write to Geu. Taylor—
“l am directed by the President to instruct you
to advance and occupy, with the troops under
your command, positions on or near the east
bank of the Rio del Norte, as soon as it can
conveniently be done, with reference to the
season and routes by which your movements
must be made. From the views heretofore pre
sented to this department, it is presumed Point
Isabel will be considered by you an eligible po
sition; thispoint, orsomeone near it, and points
opposite Matamoros and Mier, and in the vicini
ty of Laredo, are suggested to your considera
tion.”
Can any friend of Mr. Polk’s answer the
question, why Congress was not consulted
when the decisive step was taken? Here was
a clear, unequivocal repudiation of all our pre
vious pledges in regard to the question
of the boundary to the Rio del Norte.—
Here was an order to occupy a country which
it was admitted was under the jurisdiction of
Mexico, and in which a Mexican town, on the
left or eastern bank of the Rio del Norte—the
town of Loredo, containing fifteen hundred in
habitants —was specially designated as one of
the positions for the army : here was, in short,
an invasion of Mexico—just such an invasion as
every civilized nation would regard as an act of
war. Suppose the case reversed, and Mexico
had directed her troops to advance to the Nue
ces, and to occupy a position which should
command one of the villages of Texas—what
would this country have thought of it ? Need
I ask T The declaration would have been uni
versal, that Mexico had began the war, by an
act of flagrant aggression. And yet certainly
Mexico had quite as much right to seize upon
the disputed territory as we had—if Mr. Ben
ton’s opinion is worth anything—a much better
i ight.
On the 10th ofMarch, 1846, Gen. Taylor, in
obedience to these orders, commenced his
march from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande.
He arrived at that river on the 28th, and en
camped opposite Matamoros. What he did
when he arrived there, you will read in his offi
cial despatches. On the 6th of April the Gen.
writes—“On our side a battery for four eigh
teen pounders will be completed, and the guns
placed in battery to-day. These guns bear di
rectly upon the public square of Matamoros, and
within good range for demolishing the town. —
Their object cannot be mistaken by the enemy /”
Remember that when that letter was written
there had been ne collision—not a shot had been
fired, not a man made prisoner.
And yet we are told that this act was not an
act of war !—that this marching of an army into
what we are pleased to call * disputed territory,’
but which confessedly, was, and always had
been in the actual occupation of the people of
Mexico and under the jurisdiction of that coun
try ; —this marching of an army there; — this
pointing of cannon into the homesteads ofthe in
habitants of Matamoros, the capital of Tamauli
pas ; —was not an act of war! ! Collisions en
sued. How could it be otherwise, with these
guns pointing into the windows of Matamoros ?
Armies were in motion, and it was not long un
til blood was spilt. What a pitiful and unman
ly equivocation was it, for the President to say,
after this aggression on his part, that war exists
by the act of Mexico ! He had failed in his du
ty when he failed to submit the question of in
vasion, which was a question of war, to Congress.
And when he found that he had brought our lit
tle army into peril by it, it was a mere trick to
rid himself of the responsibility he had so rashly
assumed, to throw the blame of the war upon
Mexico.
These letters have grown too long to allow
me much space for comment on these transac
tions, and as I prefer democratic authority in
this matter to any other, I shall close the narra
tive ofthe events which belong to the origin of
the war, by a few extracts from a distinguished
writer on the democratic side, who was once
the editor of a democratic magazine, and who
as these extracts will snow, was a friend and
supporter of Mr. Polk’s election.
I quote some passages from an article, in
Brow nson’s Quarterly Review, en the Mexican
war, published in July last and written by Mr.
Brownson himself:
“ For ourselves”—he says—“we have re
garded tiie Mexican war as uncalled for, im
politic and unjust. We have examined the doc
uments published by order of the Government.
We have read the official defence of the war in
the last annual message ofthe President to Con
gress, and with every disposition to find onr Go
vernment in the right : but we are bound to say
that our original impressions have been
strengthened, rather than weakened.”
* * * * # #'*#
“The act of Mexico in crossing the Rio
Grande, and engaging our troops on territory
which she had possessed and still claimed as
hers, but which we asserted had, by a recent
act againstwhich she had protested, become
ours, —the act which the President chose to in
form Congress and the world was war—may
or may not have been a just cause for declar
ing war against her, but it assuredly was not
war itself.”
And again :
“No sophistry can make her act war—cer
tainly not without conceding thatour act in tak
ing military possession of that territory was also
war; and if that was war, if it existed at all, ex
isted by our act and not by hers, for her act was
consequent upon ours. The most that the Pre
sident was at liberty to say, without condemn
ing his own government, was, that there had
been a collision of the forces of the two repub
lics on a territory claimed by each ; but this col
lision he had no right to term war, for every
body knows that it takes something more than
a collision of the respective forces onadisputed
territory to constitute a war between two civili
zed nations. In no possible point of view was
the announcement of the President, that war
existed between the two republics, and exist
ed by the act of Mexico, correct. It did not
exist at all; or if it did, it existed by our act. In
either case the official announcement was false,
and cannot be defended.
“ The course the President should have pur
sued is plain and obvious. On learning the
state of things on the frontier, the critical con
dition of our army of occupation, he should
have demanded of Congress the reinforcements
and supplies necessary to relieve it and secure
the purpose for which it was avowedly sent to
the Rio Grande ; and, if he believed it proper
or necessary, to have in addition laid before
Congress a full and truthful statement of our
relations with Mexico, including all the unad
justed complaints, past and present, we had
against her, accompanied by the recommenda
tion of a declaration of war. He would then
have kept within the limits of his duty, proved
himselfaplain constitutional President, and left
the responsibility of war or no war to Congress,
the only war making power known to the laws.
Congress, after mature deliberation, might or
might not have declared war—most likely
would not; but whether so or not, the respon
sibility would have result 1 with it, and no
blame would have attached to the President.
“ Unhappily, this course did not occurto the
President, or was too plain and simple to meet
his approbation. As if fearful, if Congress de
liberated, it might refuse to declare war, and as
if determined to have war at any rate, he pre
sented to Congress, not the true issue, wheth
er war should or should not be declared—but
the false issue, whether Congress w ould grant
him the means of prosecuting a war waged
against us by a foreign power. In the true
issue. Congress might have hesitated -in the
one actually presented there was no room to
hesitate, if the official announcement of the Pre
sident was to be credited, and hesitation would
have been criminal.
“ By declaring that the war already existed,
and by the act of Mexico herself, the President
relieved Congress of the responsibility of the
war, by throwing it on Mexico. But since he
cannot fasten it on Mexico, —for war did not
already exist, or if so, by our act, and not hers,
—it necessarily recoils upon himself, and he
must bear the responsibility of doing what the
constitution forbids him to do, —of making war
without the intervention of Congress. In ef
fect, therefore, he has trampled the constitution
under his feet, a dangerous precedent, and by the
official publication of a palpable falsehood, sullied
the national honor.
“It is with no pleasure that we speak thus
of the chief magistrate of the Union, for whose
elevation to his high and responsible office we our
selves voted. But whatever may be our attach
ment to party, or the respect we hold to be due
from all good citizens to the civil magistrate,
we cannot see the Constitution violated, and
the national honor sacrificed, whether by friend
or foe, from good motives or bad, without en
tering, feeble though it be, our stern and indig
nant protest.”
This writer goes on further to say:—“We
are far from regarding Congress in echoing the
false statement of the President, as free from
blame. It ought to have seen and corrected the
Executive mistake. Yet it is not surprising
that it took the President at his word. The
late Congress had some able members, and it
adopted some judicious measures; but we ex
press only the common sentiment of all parties
when we say it was fur from covering itself with
glory, and that it is to be hoped another Con
gress will not meet again very soon.”
Here I drop the subject of the origin of the
war. I shall have a few words to say upon the
resolutions of the House of Delegates in my
next. J. P. Kennedy.
The Columbus Railroad.
Our fellow-citizens appear to be in earnest
about occomplishing the work of Internal Im
provement which is to connect us with the At
lantic and the Cherokee country. On Satur
day evening, at the call of the Mayor, a large
public meeting assembled at the Court House,
and having called Dr. Robert A. Ware to the
Chair, proceeded to the business of the eve
ning. The meeting was addressed by Col. John
Banks, Mayor Williams, M. Torrance, Gen.
McDongald and L. B. Moody, and Resolutions
adopted requesting the City Council to sub
scribe for Fifteen Hundred Shares in the Stock
of Muscogee Railroad Company, payable in
bonds of the city, redeemable after 1852, at an
annual interest of 7 per cent per annum. At a
meeting of Council on yesterday, a resolution
was passed, in compliance with the request of
the public meeting, instructing a committee
consisting of the Mayor, and five Aldermen, to
report to Council on to-day an ordinance, de
signating the ways and means most appropriate
to raise the funds and redeem the issues.
Whilst on this subject, we will take the liber
ty of suggesting that our Inferior Court might
probably at this time, subscribe for twenty or
thirty thousand dollars’ worth of the stock. The
county, by the prudent management of its fi
nances, is clear of debt; and it strikes us that
as the whole people of the country are imme
diately interested m the project, there could be
no reasonable objection thus to appropriate a
portion of the common fund. This may be a
new idea to some of our citizens, but it is one
which we trust will be duly considered by the
guardians of the interests of the county. If
the stock should prove valuable— and every
thinking man so regards the prospect —such an
investment will in future relieve the people of
a portion of the burden of their taxes. The
prospect has never been so fair that the Road
would be built as at this time. If it is to be done,
let it now be done.— Columbus Enquirer, 2nd
ult.
Official.
Treasury Department, Oct. 20, 1847.
The receipts into the Treasury during the quarter
ending the 30th ofSeptember, 1847, were, as nearlv
as can now be ascertained :
Prom Customs SI 1,070,000
do lands 832,760
do miscellaneous 15 g7O
do loan of 1846 _ 111090
do loan of 1847 5,144,700
$17,174,130
The expenditures during the same period were —
Civil, miscellaneous and foreign inter
course $1,120,453 64
On account of the army,
&c. $9,186,406 27
“ “ Indian De
partment 691,795 05
“ “ fortifications 109, 108 00
“ “ pensions 583,332 36
“ navy 2,384,805 45
“ interest on public debt 11,687 49
“ “ redemption of and interest
on treasury notes, 612,501 63
$14,700,139 89
R. 3. WALKER,
Secretary of the Treasury.
Chronicle and Sentinel.
AUGUSTA, Gr A ;
FRIDAY MORNING, NOV. 5, rg4y.
The Western Mail failed yesterday beyond
Mobile.
Milledgevlllc Correspondence.
The letter of our correspondent due yester
day morning did not come to hand, while that
due the day previous reached us by yesterday’s
mail. We are therefore without any accounts
of the action of the Legislature of Tuesday.—
This delay we suppose, is caused by their being
deposited in the office in Milledgeville after the
mail has closed for this city.
Teeming Industry.
On the line of the Providence and Worcester rail
road there are twenty stopping places or way stations ;
94 cotton mills, 307,006 spindles, 7,092 looms, making
about I,l97,Booyards of cotton cloth per week; 22
wollen mills; 81 sets of woollen machinery, 4 scythe
works, and 30 machine shops. The road is a fraction
over 43 miles long, and will be in operation by the
last of this month.
Factories which turn out 1,197,800 yards of
cotton cloth per week, will send to market over
sixty-one millions of yards in a year. Here
is an example which Georgians will do well to
imitate. Capital and labor employed in fabricat
ing cotton, woollen, iron and leather goods,
are vastly more productive than when devoted
exclusively to agriculture. Labor-saving ma
chinery, which consumes little or nothing, lite
rally coins money in manufacturing operations.
We are happy to learn that efforts are making
at Marietta, on the line of our own railroad, by
a company, to erect a large Merchant Mill.
Northern Georgia is admirably adapted to the
growing of wheat. Its culture and manufac
ture can be made exceedingly profitable. Mon
roe, in the State of New York, which has Ro
chester for its shire town, produces annually
but a fraction less than 1,500,000 bushels of
wheat. It would be difficult to find a more
wealthy and prosperous rural population than
the farmers of that region. The manufactures
of Rochester have given to the agriculturists of
the valley of the Genesee the benefit of a home
market, equal to the consumption of 30,000
people in one city. There are numerous vil
lages in Western New York that have been
called into existence within the last twenty
years, which contain from 1,000 to 10,000
inhabitants. Buffalo has a population of 40,000.
It is difficult to see how a State can prosper
without people; or how it can have a large
population without manufactures. Double
the population of Georgia, and you will add at
once one hundred per cent, to the value of all
of its real estate. Yon will double the number
of its railroads, and reduce the cost of travel
on them one half. Why can one go from
Troy to New York, 156 miles, in a steamer,
for fifty cents ? A dense population can do
any thing.
The Shipping of Specie to England.
The free-traders are making a lame effort to
parry the force of the (to them) quite unex
pected fact that the tariff of 1846 is causing the
shipment of gold and silver to England to bal
ance accounts between the two countries. So
long as short crops in Western Europe called for
l he large importation of American breadstuff's,
the evil influences of this system were effectual
ly concealed. They are now beginning to be
felt in the low price of cotton, and the exces
sive importation of foreign goods, calling for
American gold instead of its great agricultural
staples* Facts are truly stubborn things, and
often make sad work with the most beautiful
theories.
Deserved Compliment.
The editor of the Macon Journal 8f Messen
ger, in a letter from Milledgeville, announcing
the result of the organization of the two houses,
pays the following well-merited compliment to
Messrs. Miller and Jenkins, which will be
highly gratifying to the Whigs of Richmond
and Columbia;
“ Your readers will be struck with the fact that
both of the presiding officers are from the same coun
ty. lam pleased to state that neither of the gentle
men was a candidate for the station, and that the
compliment was one paid alike to their ability, im
partiality and conceded integrity as gentlemen and
Whigs. They are both men of ability, and receiv
ed their full party vote.”
Wool-Growing in Texas. —A late number of
the Houston Telegraph states that several thousand
head of sheep have lately been driven from the Rio
Grande to the Texan settlements on the San Antonio
and Guadalupe. These sheep are purchased on the
Rio Grande for three or four bits a head, and the ex
pense of driving them to the western frontier is com
paratively trifling.
Mexican settlements on the Rio Grande are
not so far beyond the western bounds of Texas
that the sheep spoken of bv the Telegraph have
to be driven over 300 miles. We wonder why
Mr. Polk does not set up a claim to all the
sheep and cattle belonging to the citizens of
Mexico, on the east side of the Rio Grande,
with his assumed right to govern the people
against their will. Surely, the one claim is
quite as honest as the other.
The Legislature of the Territory of Wiscon
sin met on the 18th ult. for the purpose of pro
viding for a Convention to form a Constitution
for the State of Wisconsin.
Peach Trees. —It is not generally known, we
believe, that lamp oil, or fish oil, of any kind (that
which is inferior is equally as good for this purpose as
that of a better quality,) poured at the root of the
peach tree will effectually prevent the ravages of the
worm that has heretofore proved so destructive to that
valuable fruit tree. It should be observed, however,
that the oil will not compel the worm to quit the body
of the tree, if there when it is applied, but will prevent
its getting into it after the application. We are as
sured the same process is in use on Long Island, and
is found to be the only means which will secure the
preservation of the tree. —Columbian Republican.
We have found much benefit from the ap
plication of powdered charcoal, leached ashes
and lime, in equal parts, around the roots and
trunks of peach trees, aft.er the surface soil was
removed. This not only keeps off insects, but
improves the fruit and the growth of the trees.
Try it.
The great work of supplying the city of Bos
ton with an abundance of good water, is rapid
ly advancing towards completion. An official
examination of the entire line on Wednesday,
by the Mayor and Council of Boston, showed
that the contractors have been very active.
About six and a quarter miles of the aqueduct
are ready for the water to pass through, and
the tunnel through the rock at Newton—2,3oo
feet in length— been drilled out a distance
of 800 feet. Twenty-five miles of pipe have
been laid down in the. streets of Boston, and
the whole wsprkyfill be completed, it is thought,
in fourteen oFfifthen months from the present
time.
American Tea.— We learn by a communi
cation in the Union, that the Hon. James j
Buchanan, Secretary of State, has recently
received a package of tea grown in Brazil,
from our Consul at St. Catharines. The leaf is
something larger and darker than the Chinese
lea ; its flavor is strong and aromatic, and re
sembles the best specimens from China. When
prepared, it strongly assimilates the mixture
of black and green tea, so much—indeed, al-
O r '
most exclusively—drank in England, after
China, the greatest tea-drinking country in the
world. The tea plant was first introduced in- i
to Brazil by King John, of Portugal. The |
writer of the communication states that the
successful cultivation of this plant in the United
States, maybe looked upon as a mater of cer
tainty; as a climate exists in the States of North
and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Flo- j
rida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tex- |
as, extending one degree south of the Rio j
Grande, precisely similar to the climate of the
tea-growing districts of China.
There seems little room for doubt in regard
to the practicability of growing the Tea plant
in the Southern States. It has been cultivated
as far North as Southern Pennsylvania. We
trust measures will be taken to give it a fair
trial. The addition of another staple to the
agricultural productions of the South is a desi
deratum of immense moment.
Edward Sharp, a Teller of the Massachu
setts Bank, has retired from that institution af
ter a faithful service of thirty-nine years. Du
ring that period eighteen hundred millions of
dollars have passed through his hands.
The New York Herald, urging an enlarge
ment of the U. S. Navy, publishes the follow
ing as a comparative view of the navies of
England and the United States:
U. S. G. B.
Sailing vessels carrying from 70 to 120 guns, 10 100
“ “ “ ' 26 to 70 “ 14 114
“ “ “ 16 to 26 “ 22 73
“ “ “ Ito 16 “ 14 62
Steamers of all classes, say 6 102
66 453
Difference in favor of Great Britain, 387
Tribute to Capt. O M. Clay*
Every just thinking man will agree with us
that is far more honorable to deserve such a tri
bute as the following, than to hold any station,
even the highest, in the gift of Presidents or
Kings;
Prom the Lexington ( Ky.) Observer.
Capt. C. M. Clay as Open-hearted as brave ! —
The undersigned, a portion of the prisoners of Encar
nacion, for ourselves —and we doubt not all would
unite were they here—take this method of expressing,
as well as we are capable of doing in words ,
our deep and heartfelt gratitude to Capt. C. M. Clay
for his attention and kindness whilst we were prison
ers with the enemy.
When Capt. Henri made his escape, and the Mex
ican commander, excited by that event, gave orders
for the massacre of the Americans, Capt. Clay ex
claimed : “Kill the officers—spare the soldiers !” A
Mexican Major ran to him, presenting a cocked pistol
to his breast. He still exclaimed : “ Kill me—kill
the officers, but spare the men—they are innocent!”
Who but C. M. Clay, with a loaded pistol to his heart,
and in the hand of an enraged enemy, would have
shown suqh magnanimous self-devotion? If any man
ever was entitled to be called the “soldier’s friend,”
he is. He was ever watchful and kind towards us,
allowing every privilege that would be granted by
our enemies—turned all orders and commands into
advice and consolement; and upon our march to the
city would take turn by turn, allowing us to ride his
mule, that we might stand the march of forty miles a
day ; divided the last cent of money he had with us,
and resorted to every sacrifice to make us happy and
comfortable. He disposed of his mule, when he
found it necessary, the only animal he had, his buffa
lo rug, his watch, and all his clothes but one suit,
and supplied our wants. He not only acted in this
manner towards those who were under his immedi
ate command, but to all; and expressed his regret
that he was unable to do more.
We make no comments upon the character and con
duct of Capt. Clay. We state facts , —we feel , but
have no language to express our feelings.
Lieut. Davidson is also a full-hearted man. He di
vided with us to the last cent. Clay and David
son ! true and noble hearts! May Heaven restore
them to their country and friends, amongst whom we,
in our own names, and for the prisoners of Encarna
cion, subscribe ourselves the most grateful and de
voted. A. C. BRYAN,
W. D RATCLIFPE,
CHARLES E. MOONEY,
JOHN. J. FINCH,
ALFRED ARGABRIGHT.
Lexington, Ky., Oct. 20, 1847.
Correspondence of the North American.
Valparaiso, Aug. 27, 1847.
A rumor has come about some difficulty at
Mazatlan between an English and the Ameri
can ships of war, in regard to the blockade.—
Perhaps the English captain has demanded that
the blockade, if kept up, should be actual and
vigorous, in which he would be right enough,
it seems to us. Certain it is that vessels go
hence to those ports, and it is as certain that ar
rivals thence are not unfrequent—four since last
month.
The Preble, commander Shields, was at Cal
lao during July, and sailed about the middle of
this month for the squadron, having on board
$220,000, of which $70,000 had been paid by
the Peruvian government on American claims.
She had a very protracted voyage from Monte
rey to Callao ; seventy-two days we hear.
The English squadron are gathering here
now. The Admiral’s flag ship is expected soon.
The steamer Cormorantgoes home to England
on Friday, carrying $1,500,000. A new English
admiral is expected before long on the stafion.
The French admiral is now here in his 64
gun frigate. Tahiti is submissive, and a trans
port of soldiers sailed hence for France two
days ago.
Several of the California regiment ran away
and remained there; some have been in vice,
others in prison, others sick, supported by
charity, and one at least is in his grave.
Tennessee. —Gov. Aaron V. Brown march
ed out of office on the 6th ult., and Gov. Neil S.
Brown marched in. The valedictory of Aaron
was brimfull, heaped up, shaken down and run-
I ning over with the Mexican war. The inau
gural of Neil urges strongly the importance of
Popular Education, Internal Improvement, and
the scrupulous preservation of Public faith.—
Between the two, they did the thing up tolera
bly brown.—Columbus Enquirer.
Recipes.
To Make Yeast. —This is an indispensable
commodity, and families often find no small dif
ficulty in supplying themselves with even a
tolerable article. We therefore republish the
following recipe for its manufacture, hoping
that by so doing, we may oblige our readers. —
“ To two middling-sized potatoes, add a pint of
boiling water, and two table spoonfuls of brown
sugar. One pint of hot watershould be applied
to every half pint of the compound. Hot wa
ter is better in warm weather. The yeast be
ing made without flour, will keep longer in hot
weather, and is said to be much better than any
in previous use.” Try it. —Maine Farmer.
Rich Sausages. —Take 20 pounds of chopped
meat, 8 ounces of fine salt, 24 ounces of pep
per, 2 tea-cups of sage, and 1£ cups of sweet
marjoram, passed through a fine sieve. For
the latter, thyme and summer savory may be
substituted, if preferred.
To Remove Grease, Sfc.,from Cloth. —Fuller’s
earth, 30 parts; French chalk, 1 part; yellow
soap2o parts; pearl ash, 15 parts. Make into
a paste with spirits of turpentine, and give it a
slight color with a little yellow ochre, then cut
it into cakes. This form, omitting the French
chalk, is that which is sold about the streets.
From the N. O. Picayune, 29 th ult.
Important Mexican Documents.
We find upon the Spanish side of the Genius
of Liberty of the 19th inst., two important cir
culars—the first, from Senor Pena y Pena the
Acting President of Mexico, and the second
from Senor Rosa, his Secretary of State. As
the first open expositions of the views and poli
cy ol the New Mexican Administration, they
are entitled to our consideration ; but they will
repay a perusal by their intrinsic interest, and
they give clear indications of the ability which
marks most of the public documents of the
Mexicans, and cannot be entirely obscured by
the imperfection of the translations which w e
make of them with a haste inseparable from the
demand of a daily press. Some passages in
the circular of the Secretary of State are°pecu
liarly significant as to the views of the new Ad
ministration in regard to the war, and its de
sires for peace. Both documents breathe the
spirit of an intelligent civilian, which is very
welcome in place of the egotistical and frothy
declamation of Santa Anna, distinguished as
his declamation is by occasional force and bril
liancy.
Even should the rumor prove true, which
reached us yesterday, that Santa Anna has been
recalled to power—to which we attach bat lit
tle faith—the documents which we annex will
possess importance as unfolding the views of
two eminent citizens of Mexico, whose views
proved too moderate to satisfy the expectations
of their countrymen. But we do not yet be
lieve that the overthrow of the Government of
Senor Pena y Pena has been so speedily effect
ed.
Circular of President Pena y Pena.
Provincial Presidency of Mexico, \
Toluca, Sept. 27, 1847. S
Excellent Sii —In the discharge of an inseparable
duty imposed upon me by the constitution, for the
faithful discharge of which I am responsible to God
and my country, I have resolved to commence from
this moment the exercise of the Supreme Executive
pow T er of the Republic, and to organize a government
which may become the centre of the National Union,
and may save Mexico from the anarchy and dissolu
tion which threaten it under its present circumstances
—circumstances by which the invader himself doubt
less sees with surprise how mucu his designs of occu
pation or conquest are promoted, the slate being wilh
j out a head, and public affairs involved in utter confu
| sion. May it never be said of me by rny countrymen
or by foreigners friendly to Mexico, that through mv
irresolution or cowardice the nation was abandoned to
her sad fate, and that I alone am responsible for the
awful destiny that awaits her, unless some constitu
tional authority gathers up and unites again the ties,
now broken, which should bind the States of the repub
lie together, and which may yet make of them a re
spectable and powerful nation. lam fully of opinion
that without being wanting in any of the qualifications
prescribed by the constitution, 1 can at this moment,
and alone, assume executive power ; but even were
there some constitutional requirements with which I
could not rigorously comply, the same being by the
force of circumstances rendered impossible, even then ,
I say, I should feel bound to place myself at the head
of the Administration of the Republic, as being called
to power by the constitution, and in order to prerenta
contes. for this power which would inevitably ensue,
by force of arms, bringing on civil war by which the
Republic would be destroyed in the very presence of
an army of invaders. When the public power of a
nation cannot be embodied in a form strictly constitu
tional, the way to avoid anarchy cannot be to establish
an Administration absolutely unconstitutional and
revolutionary, but to organize a government as nearly
in conformity with the constitution as is possible.—
These are my views and I flatter myself that they are
likewise entertained by your Excellency; but 1 re
peat to you that my conscience is tranquil, when I as
sure your Excellency that I have not the slightest
doubt of the constitutionality of the power and duty
incumbent upon me of discharging the executive
functions of the nation by myself alone, and without
waiting for the assembling of Congress or the Council
of Government, or the nomination of associates.
This, my resolution of instituting from this moment
the National Government, may perhaps attract upon
me the hatred of some faction, which from the bloody
ruins of the Republic may raise its head fierce to dis
pute for the possession of power for a few days, which
will be to me but a martyrdom ; such a faction may
perhaps prevail against the efforts which the nation will
doubtless make for its own salvation. But ifthis pre
sentiment should be realized, I shall have discharged
my duty, and should I survive the last convulsions of
the Republic, I shall retire to lament the fate of my
country with no other solace than the tranquillity ot
my conscience. Your Excellency will acknowledge
that this is perhaps the last attempt at the formation of
a government which may be made in our unhappy
country, and it a wakens rny deepest sensibilities to
think that in this great work of political reorganization
Providence has furnished my country with so weak
an instrument as I. Only one consideration supports
me, and it is this : that rny Administration will last
only a few days if, as I hope, I can obtain a prompt
reunion of the National Congress in the city of Quere
taro. Actively employing all the means in my power
to effect this reunion, and to remove as far as possible
the obstacles in the way of it, I shall afford rny coun
trymen the most incontestable evidence of my disin
terestedness and of the desire which animates me to
exercise no authority not absolutely indispensable to
avoid civil war or anarchy.
To give an impulse to my Administration in the out
set, I have appointed the Deputy I). Luis de la Rosa
Minister of Foreign and Internal Relations, authori
zing him at the same time to discharge the most press
ing duties of the other departments, until in Queretaro
I can make the necessary nominations for each of
them. When the Cabinet shall thus be formed I shall
direct to the Republic a manifesto, which will contain
a programme of my transient Administration. The
signature of Senor Rosa has bean before recognised,
he having at other times filled the Departments of the
Treasury and of Justice.
In communicating the above to your Excellency, 1
have the honor of assuring you of my distinguished
consideration. God and Liberty.
To the Governors of the States.
Circular of the Secretary of State.
Ministry of Foreign and Internal Relations, f
September 27, 1847. j>
Excellent Sir —His Excellency the President of
the Supreme Court of Justice, in exercise of the Su
preme Executive power, has seen fit to appoint me
Minister of Foreign and Internal Relations: also au
thorizing me to discharge the most urgent duties of the
other departments, as you will perceive by the note
addressed to you by the President, which is subjoined
to this communication.
By the same note your Excellency will perceive that
the Provisional President proposes to issue in Quereta
ro, when his Cabinet shall have been completed, a man
ifesto containing a programme of his Administration.
In the mean time his Excellency deems it fitting to
submit briefly to the Governors of the States, and
through them to the honorable Legislatures, some ot
the principles by which his policy will be directed in
the provisional exercise of Supreme Executive power.
The rein*ions of the General Government of the
Union with bo Governments of the States will be
conducted with the utmost frankness and good faith.
Nothing will be more grateful to his Excellency the
President than to preserve harmony and good under
standing between the Supreme National Government
and the Supreme authorities of each State—harmony
without which all would be discord and confusion in
the federal system. His Excellency the President,
without encroaching upon the constitutional powers ot
the States, will only require of them, in support ol
the constitution, that submission and respect which is
the basis of the federal pact, and without which the
Supreme Government of the Union would be impo
tent to maintain the National Union at home, and yet
more impotent to make the nationality of Mexico re
spected abroad. The President will not content hint'
self with merely respecting, as it is his duty to do,
the independence conceded by the constitution toeach
State relative to its internal administration ; but it will
be gratifying for him to learn the opinion of the su
preme authorities of the States upon grave politica
questions at the present epoch, and to govern his action
by such opinions legally expressed in the difficult
measures which his Administration will be called up
on to take. Carrying out these principles, his Ex
cellency the Provisional President confidently relies
upon the mp»t efficient co-operation of your Excellency,
and aff-effe States, to sustain the independence and na
tiojrffity of Mexico, to preserve from every assault the
federal institutions, whatever may be the danger an
tie gravity of circumstances, since recent events ha' e
lid to the occupation of the capital of the Republic >}
tie army of the invaders. All the measures ot t ,e
\Tar Department will be directed mainly to the a
tamment of the important ends above indicated.
Jis Excellency the President regards it as one
his chief duties to facilitate by all possible means
assembling of the National Congress, and he trua
yo tr Excellency will dictate every measure m
power to bring about such reunion; that > ou wi
again invite the Deputies from your State to repßll
- city of Queretaro; and that you will provide
thAr expenses on the journey thither and during
residence in that city, charging these expenses o
