19
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1832-1853
to the left bank of the Rio del Norte, for the purpose of defend- ing our territory; and that the moment ~hat General Arista landed his troops on the soil of Texas, it became the duty of General Taylor, in defence of our country, to repel him. 2. Resolved, That the almost unanimous declaration of war by the United States Congress which immediately followed the news of the opening of hostilities by Mexico, was but the echo of public sentiment throughout the nation. 2. 2 Resolved. That the "doctrine of no territory is the doctrine of no indemnity;" and if sanctioned, would be a public acknowl- edgement that our country was wrong, and that the war declared by Congress was unjust and should be abandoned, an admission unfounded in fact, and degrading to our national character. 5. 2 Resolved, That we are not in the least alarmed at any pur- pose of annexing Mexico to the United States, as it has not at any time formed one of the objects and cannot in any possible· course of events form one of the results of the war. 6. Resolved, That this meeting has the utmost confidence that the President of the United States will guard the integrity of the territory of our State; that the Rio Grande from its mouth to its source, is our western boundary; and the Nueces was not mentioned in Mexico, as such, until the point was raised and urged by opposition here. 7. Resolved, That it is the solemn and deliberate opinion of this meeting, that if the Whig party in Congress would unite in the prosecution of the war, a happy and honorable peace would follow in less than thirty days after that fact should be known. 8. Resolved, That the thanks of our country are due to the . administration for the successful conduct of the war·, and we pledge our individual support to its successful termination. 9. Resolved, That the officers and soldiers of our army, by their heroic achievements, unparallelled gallantry in the present war, have covered themselves with glory, and won the lasting. gTatitude of their country. 10. Resolved, That on the question of domestic slavery we abide by the compromise of the federal constitution; that no State has any right to interfere with the domestic institutions of a sister State; and that all interference on this subject by Congress or individuals, is unfortunate for the peace of the Union, and still more unfortunate for the happiness of the slave. l The No1·the1-n Standard ( Clarksville, Texas), February 6, 1848. Rather intensive search has been made for a complete text of Houston's speech at Huntsville, on Decembn 25, 1847, but nothing has been found except an
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