the most odious vices of despotism. I think there is one of the provisions in the Albany scheme, superior to that in our Constitu- tion; 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 appointments were to be made by him, with the consent and approbation of that body. Our Senate instead of having a real part in the appointment to office, as was intended, has now become the mere office of registry to the President; and we have seen that a President, sustained by a blind popularity, has been very near accomplishing the subversion of the Constitution by means of his patronage, combined with his Veto. Thanks to the last Congress, we have for the present escaped a danger, of which there are too many of our fellow-citizens who do not know the extent. The passage of the Surplus Revenue law has given us a breathing place,.and the election of the honest farmer, statesman, 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 cause of the Texians in a very different light from many of those with whom it has been a pleasure to agree on other subjects. Having had no communication, directly or indirectly, with those engaged in the contest, I am not sensible of any improper bias. 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 me with their journals and letters, in order that I might draw up some account of the affair; and since then, my attention being turned to the subject, I possess some advantages in point of information, while I have the same feelings which animate the greater part of my fellow-citizens. These, I confess, prompt me to desire the success of my countrymen against all the world, in all lawful and honorable competition. The cause of Texas in my opinion is just and honorable. At the breaking out of the Mexican revolution, this extensive country contained only a few small Spanish American settlements, utterly incapable of accomplishing any thing of themselves, and a few hundred American volunteers from Tennes- see, Kentucky and Louisiana, succeeded in defeating three Spanish armies, and completely expelling the Spanish forever from the country, which is now the theatre of war. The effect of this, on all the other provinces of New Spain, was great, perhaps the remote cause of their ultimate success. After the Spanish cause had succeeded in Texas, and all over .Mexico, Iturbide betrayed the King, and set up the standard of independence in Mexico; Americans again poured into Texas, -
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