426
TE:X.\S STATE LIBRARY
with a President and Legislative body at Albany, in your State, i\Ir. Jackson obsen·es, "that mall states always best pre erve their man- ners. "\v hether this happen from the greater room there is for attention in the Legislature, or from the less room there is for ambition and avarice, it is a trong argument among others, against incorporating w1ion of the colonies of America, or even a federal.one, that may tend to the future reducing them under one government." The plan of Dr. Franklin, wa probably the origin of our present federal compact, which has enabled us to avoid so many evils, and which has advanced the prosperity of our country with such rapidity; but it is also the cause of tho e stupendous corruptions, and usurpa- tions, which have brought upon us some of the most odious vices of despoti m. . I think there is one of the provision in the Albany scheme, superior to that in our Constitution; all appointments to civil offices, were to be made by the legislative body, leaving only the formality of the commission to the President; while military ap- pointments were to be made by him, with the consent and approbation of that body. Our Senate in tead of having a real part in the ap- pointment to office, as wa intended, bas now become the mere office of registry to the President; and y,e have seen that a President, u tained by a blind popularity, has been :very near accompli hing the ubversion of the Constitution by means of his patronage, combined ,Yith his Veto. Thanks to the last Congre s, we have for the pre ent escaped a danger, of which there are too many of our fellow-citizens who do not know the extent. The pas age of the Surplus Revenue law has given us a breathing place, and the election of the honest farmer, tate man, and soldier, of Ohio to the Presidency, will afford us a hope that the political fashions are about to change. I regret to find that I look upon the cau e of the Texians in a Yery different light from many of those with whom it has been a pleasure to agree on other ubject . Having had no communication, directly or indirectly, with tho e enga 0 ed in the contest, I am not ~ensible of any improper bia . It is true that I took an interest in the cause of Texas in 1813, which, at that time, was also the cause of Mexico, and the unfortunate leaders entrusted tne with their journals and letters, in order that I mi 0 ht draw up some account of the affair; and since then, my attention being turned to the subject, I possess ome ad,·an• tage in point of information, while I ba,·e the amc feelings which animate the greater part of my fellow-citizens. These, I confess, prompt me to desire the uccc of my countrymen against all the world, in all ]awful and honorable competition. The cnn e of Texa in m. · opinion is jus't and honorable. At the breaking ont of the ~Icxi- cnn revolution, this extensive country contained only a few smnll panish Am rienn ettlements, utterly incapable of accompli hi,-i any thing of them elves, and a few hundred .American volunteer from Tcnne.sec, Kentucky and Louisiana, uccccded in defeating three Spanish nrmie!!, and comnlctely expelling the pnnish fofc\'Cr from the country, whfoh is now the theatre of war. The effect of thi , on nll • the other provinces of New Spain, was great, perhaps the remote cnu e of their ultimate success. .After the Spanish cause had sncccedccl in Texas, and nll o,·cr Mexico,
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