. 461
WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1846
"It is said that the spirit of aggression is encouraged by Polk, in order to secure his election a second time, and possibly that this may be the chief cause; but that only renders the position of affairs more dangerous, and shows that the aggressive system is not the effect of State policy, the crochet of a particular minister or president; but the choice of the restless and encroaching mul- titude. So palpable is the fact, that no government, under pres- ent circumstances, could maintain itself in security for a twelve-month, on the principles professed by Webster and Calhoun." From this, sir, it would appear that, in their opinion, the President is quite excusable for his present system of policy-not that he is himself to derive advantage from it, as suggested by the writer, but that he is acting in accordance with "the choice of the restless and encroaching multitude." In this country the President is considered as the representa- tive of "the multitude." He is the organ of the nation. The measures recommended by him are supposed to derive their character from public opinion and from the peculiar relations which we bear to the nations of the world. If the Executive rightly apprehends public sentiment, it will be found that the energies of this nation, if once combined and not distracted by opposition, will sustain him in carrying out his policy to its full consummation. I quote further: "Polk is carried with the stream; and all that England has to do is to look to her own interests, and take care that her rights and possessions are not destroyed by the inundation. Hitherto she has displayed the utmost moderation and forbearance, whether we look to the government, the legislature, or the press." That England will look to her own interests we should en- tertain no doubt. She never ceases to regard her rights. s·he does not permit them to be destroyed by inundation; and it is our duty to see that inundation on her part should not deluge our rights. That she "has displayed the utmost moderation and for- bearance," I have no doubt her advocates suppose, and also that it would be no assumption for her to claim whatever she desires. Her moderation and forbearance have already, I trust, secured her a sufficiency. In the conclusion of this article, the writer says: "With the exception of a very few hasty articles in the English newspapers, provoked possibly by that tone of defiance so loudly
Powered by FlippingBook