392
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1844
my personal acquaintances and friends, among whom, I trust, it will not be presumptious or inappropriate in me, on this occasion, to claim your Excellency as one. "I look back, Sir, with delight to the early honors you received from my native State, when you were there, as you are here, identified with the cause of the people; and I rejoice that in the severe tests to which you have been since subjected in the fields of war and peace, that you have proved yourself equal to every crisis, and are now about to retire from the service of your countrymen, blessed with proofs of their love and gratitude, and distinguished by the common consent of the world, for the heroic manner in which you have conducted them throughout an eventful revolution, to a respected rank in the family of nations. "Among such a people I cannot feel as a stranger. I cannot but look upon them as brothers, who in their struggle for liberty and independence, have proved that they are worthy descendants of the heroes of Bunker Hill and Yorktown. I must salute the "Lone Star" which they have set up in this hallowed sky of their victories, as a light which is to blend its rays with those which hang over my own loved Union, and which are, I trust, never to be extinguished." Donelson's address was published in The Morning Sta1·, December 14, 1844.
To THE TEXAS CONGRESS 1
Executive Department, Washington, December 4th 1844. Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: In meeting again, and for the last time during my official term now about to close, the assembled representatives of the people of Texas, in their annual session, I avail myself of the occasion to congratulate them upon the condition of the country, in its foreign and domestic relations, and to join with them in un- affected thanks to a propitious Providence for the numerous favors which have been vouchsafed to us as a people. We have many reasons to feel grateful to that omnipotent arm, which has been so constantly stretched out to supply our wants and to sustain us in every trial, alike in peace and war. As my services as Chief magistrate must now so soon come to an end, it will only be necessary for me to lay before the Honorable Congress a succinct view of the principal transactions of the Government within the last year, and to make such sug- gestions as may naturally arise out of the facts submitted- leaving to my successor the further duty of proposing for legis- lative consideration, such subjects as may seem to him proper for the security and welfare of the nation. Since your last adjournment, our relations have been extended upon the continent of Europe, by the negotiation of treaties of
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