577
P,\PERS OF l\l!R.\BEAlJ BUONAPARTE, L.\'.\I.\R
The Foreigners (& English more than others) were the principal sufferers. The i\Iexican Commission merchants & agents had the Engli h' goods in ebarge. The property plundered wa p[la]ced in a common site and old at auction. a fe\V dollars would buy many hundred dollars worth. When foreigners bought any of the articles, even the ame of which they had been robbed the same would be immediately snatched from them again. The Nation voted 7 million to pay' the poliation , but whether it was ever paid is doubtful. During my tay in r.lexico in frequent Cqnver ation with l\Ir. Steph- en l\L Staples & I {he]ard hlm say that l\Ir. Poinsett was engaged in Land speculation with and Engli h Company and that he staples re- ceived his instruction from him when he was employed in surveying the Land for them. P. T. Belt. i • acogdochetos
[Appended note of Lamai-]
I e~quired of Legrand at Nacogdoche concerning the fact stated with- in by :Mr. Belt; he said be did not know whether it was o or not but that he thought it probable, a he wa applied to by mo t all foreigners who had any busine they wish attended to in l\Ie.xico & especially r by] the English who seemed to have but little con [ fi] clence in the influence & busines powers of their own :i\finister :i\lr. Ward. Le- grand say that Poinsetts attention to such private transactions les- sened !!'reatly the di!mity of hi office, and the promptness with his at- tention to the calls of the Engli h was be towed, sometimes to the ne"'lect of the demands of hi own countrymen was a cause of jeal- 01.1sy & complaint among some of the most respectable Americans in _the city. The Legislature of Veracruz discussed a :Resolution at length, to have Mr. Poinsett sent home for hi interference in the local politics of the co.untry-he made a lengthy vindication of himself in a docu- ment addressed to, either that body, or directly to the people them- selves-I forget which. [Endorsed] l\1emorandum from l\fr Belt about l\fr. Poinsett 1 •o. 611 i837 N()v. 1, E. W. COLLE TO I. B.- LAMAR San Augustine (Texas) 1st of ovr. 1837 Dear Sir, Since you left here, nothing of any importance has occured. I notice in the last "·Texas Chronicle" over the signature of "Junius" -an.article urging Genl. Rusk' claims upon the public, for the next 57-Llbrary,
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