Apr 21 1836 to June 3 1836 - PTR, Vol. 6

terrilory would Le violated as soon as lhe troops of General Gaines should pass the Sabine; Lccause he has considered and does consider as Mexican lerrilory all that was de facto possessed by Spain at the time of the signature of the treaty of limits of 1819, between Spain and the United States, until Lhe provisions of its third article were carried into effect and because he therefore relied and still relies upon the obligation under which both parties are to mai11Lain the statu quo until that lime. J n lhe opinion of the undersigned, it is of no importance that those who call themselves Texans (although not one of them was born in Texas) should momentarily occupy a part of the territory bordering on the United Stales. This is an accidental occurrence, arisi11g merely from the circumstance that there were no Mexican troops on Lhe frontier when the insurrection took place, and that those which have been since sent by the Government have not yet had time to arrive there. As he relied upon this principle, the undersigned could not but be surprised that the Secretary of Slate, alluding no doubt lo those persons who direct the operations of Lhe foreigners in insurrection in Texas, should have designated them in his note by the collective title of Texan Governmc11l, as the undersigned did not at first comprehend that Mr. Forsyth had used this designation with any other object than to express in plainer language another accidental circumstance arising from the former. On this point, Lhe undersigned conceived il his duly lo declare that his Government neither knows of any such Government in Texas, nor is aware that the American Government knows of any such. All that the l\iiexican Government knows of Texas is, that in that Mexican province there are some foreign colonists who have promised lo live under the laws of the country, and that those persons, aided by other foreigners, have raised there the standard of rebellion. Whether Mexico can or cannot repress this rebellion, experience will very soon show, especially if those who are neither Mexicans or Texans cease from interfering illegally and unjustly in a contest entirely domestic. The undersigned, from proper respect to the declared wishes of the American Government, will also abstain from provoking a premature discussion as lo the fu lure boundaries of the two nations, leaving the solution of the difference with respect to the extreme limits of each lo the period and the arbiters

269

Powered by