WR1T1Ncs oF SAl\I HousToN, rn,is
427·
weeks thereafter, this government became satisfied that it would advance the policy of annexation, and produce some sensation, with that government, by making a partial withdrawal of the proposition for annexation. According[ly] our Charge d'Affaires was instructed to say to that government in " an informal con- versation," in substance, that the subiect of annexation was no longer open to discussion. It had the desired effect, and soon after, propositions were made to Texas, and so soon as the proper guarantees were made as were required for our security pending negotiations, an Envoy Extraordinary was sent to co- operate with our resident Charge d'Affaires, in consummating a measure which I had never lost hopes of, discouraging as the prospects were at times. Deplorable as our condition was at the commencement of my second term of office, I would have been justifiable in resorting to any expedient, or proposing pledges of a character which would have been deemed impolitic under other circumstances than those then existing. But I am grateful to assure you that no pledge was ever given by, or required of the government which would compromit its honor or its char- acter. Had I not been the friend of annexation, when the treaty was rejected in 1841, I had then an opportunity of interposing my objections with a probable success. When the Resolutions of the Congress of the United States were presented to this government, I had been absent from the seat of government, and did not see them for some time after they arrived in the country. So soon as I had learned the facts of the case, I gave my hearty co-operation in carrying out the policy which I hoped soon to see consummated in a union which will add other bright stars to the constellation of American Freedom. A free and full expression has been given to the rights of the people of Texas, and they have, with unparallelled unanimity decided in favor of the policy of annexation. Texas has done her work well, and I am satisfied as well, from observation during my recent visit to the United States-as from other sources of information, that corresponding feelings to those evinced by her, are entertained by a large majority of the people of the United States. Nor can I allow myself to doubt for a moment that when the Constitution of Texas is presented to the Congress of the United States, that any object can thwart its immediate sanction.
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