inquire into them, to granl satisfaction for Lhem, or lo take proper steps to prevent their recurrence, can by no means tend to strengthen that spirit of forbearance with which Lhe Pn:sident of the United States has hitherto acted towards Mexico; entertaining, as he does, a sincere sympathy for her domestic troubles, and an anxious desire to cultivate the relations of peace, friendship, and good neighborhood wilh her Government and people. To satisfy your excellency that the above statement is based upon facts, the undersigned will refer to the following cases, a majority of which have heretofore been brought lo Lhe notice of this Government, and all of which have occurred since the conclusion of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between the two countries. On the 31st of December, 1831, an alcalde of Menotillan, on the Guazcualco river, instituted what is said to have been an illegal, arbitrary, and oppressive proceeding against Doctor John Baldwin, a citizen of the United States, under color of a suit at law preferred and carried on against him by a creature of the alcalcle himself. Baldwin appeared before the alcalde to answer the charge: an altercation ensued, and the alcalde ordered him to the stocks; which Baldwin refusing lo submit to, he attempted to escape, and was pursued by a party of armed soldiers who attended the court. In the race, Baldwin fell, received an injury in one of his legs, was captured, carried back into the presence of the court, placed in the stocks, and afterwards imprisoned. In February, 1832, the schooner Topaz, of Bangor, Maine, was employed by the Mexican Government to carry troops from Matamoras to Galveston bay. The master and mate were murdered by the soldiers on the passage, the crew imprisoned, and the vessel seized and converted to the Mexican service. On the 21st June, 1832, the American schooner Brazoria was seized in the port of Brazoria, by John Austin, the Mexican military commandant in that quarter, and employed to make an attack upon Anahuac, then in the possession of insurgents. During the attack, she was so injured as to be rendered unseaworthy, and was subsequently abandoned as a total loss; for which the underwriters have received no compensation. In the summer of 1832, the steamboat Hidalgo, and schooner Consolation, belonging to Mr. Leggett, were forcibly taken possession of by Mexican officers in Tabasco, and used by
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