the republic, even as existing? In what case has he seen his own Government applying to them the names by which he calls them? And even though all this may have been, how is the collector assured that the commission is a true one? How c.loes he know that it is sufficient to establish the national character of the vessel'? Has he learnt whether other conditions may not be necessary, from any navigation act made by the Texans, if any such act have bee,i made in Texas? Has he ascertained the origin of the crew and the number of Texans in it? Has he inquired where the vessel was built, and whether, in case it should have been built in the United States, it be or be not entitled to enter a port in these States as a belligerant? If none of these conditions should, in the opinion of the collector of the New York custom-house, be required, in order that a vessel which is not recognized may enter armed into that port, it is difficult to see why all the pirates in the world do not take refuge there. None of them could certainly be without a sheet of paper to write a commission on, or a strip of bunting for a flag. The collector next tells the consul that, having received no orders from his Government to interdict the entrance of the vessels of the republic of Texas into that district, he did not feel himself authorized to prevent the Brutus from entering, or to molest her afterwards, so long as she did not violate the laws of the country. Now, as he had received no orders to admit Texas vessels, why did he not wail for such orders? Does not silence on such a subject say enough? Could he have supposed that his Government would have tacitly delegated to a subaltern authority the important faculty of determining at what period a flag, not hitherto recognised by any nation, might be displayed in a port of the United States without inconvenience to them, or offence to some other Power? How, repeats the undersigned, could the collector ofthe custom-house of New York have imagined that, if the independence of Texas were to be recognised, the first step towards it recognition would be left entirely at his discretion, and to be made whenever he pleased? The collector then states that it has been the practice in the port of New York to treat with respect and courtesy the flags of those nations which have declared themselves independent, and maintained their independence against the authority of the country from which they have seceded. This is all well, provided it has Leen so previously determined by the Executive, and not
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