[2179] [YATES to SMITH]
New York February 25, 1836.
To His Excellency Henry Smith Governor of Texas. Sir
Not ha\;ng heard from the Commissioners of Texas, :Messrs Austin, Archer and Wharton, since my departure from the City of New Orleans on the 22nd of January last, I am uncertain where to address them, and having received some information of impor- tance to the Government of Texas, I have felt it my duty to communicate the same directly to yourself, and avoid the delay which must necessarily take place, by waiting to learn where to address the Commissioners. I shall also address them at Washing- ton City by this mail, giving them the same information contained in this dispatch. The ship Splendid, Captain Clark, arrived here yesterday from Vera Cruz, from which port she sailed on the 1st instant, and through a private confidential source, on which the utmost reli- ance may be placed, I have ascertained that the packet Montezuma was about to sail from Vera Cruz on the 8th instant and that Senor Gorostiza Ex minister to the Court of St. James-was ap- pointed an Envoy Extraordinary to this Government, and that two persons, agents of the Government of Mexico were also appointed to come out and purchase two armed vessels for the .Mexican service, the size and weight of metal not known, and that all these persons were to sail in the Montezuma. I have also learned that the agents, have been supplied ,vith the sum of one hundred thousand dollars to make said purchase. On the arrival of the Montezuma which may now be daily expected, I shall obtain further and more particular information, and will communicate the same immedi- ately to the Government. In the present crisis and position of affairs, may I be per- mitted to suggest the propriety of appointing a Representative of Texas, to the United States, as one of the first and most important acts of the New Convention of March, after declaring our Indepen- dence-I have had some conversation with the President, the Vice President, & Mr. Forsyth at Washington as well as several members of Congress and some of the leading and influential men of the
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