USA > Texas > The history of the republic of Texas, from the discovery of the country to the present time; and the cause of her separation from the republic of Mexico > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
Those, however, who know any thing of the state of parties in America know full well how to appreciate the recognition of Texas by England ; they will and may, with truth, say that England, by recognizing Texas, has participated in the de- struction of the union of the states, and the total dismemberment of Mexico. But, in order to stifle any opposition that may be raised against Texas on this view of the subject, Mr. Kennedy enters into a long discussion on the probability of the remotest whisper from the abolitionists of England leading
T 2
276
AN ORACLE FOR MODERN BRAVADOS ..
to a war between England and America, whereby we are to lose one of our best customers. But is Mr. Kennedy ignorant of the fact, that if the port of Liverpool alone were closed against the Americans, that that would be the greatest national calamity that could befall the United States, and more parti- cularly the agricultural states of the south ? Yet, notwithstanding this fact, Mr. Kennedy leads his readers to suppose that the Americans are about to invade England " right slick away."* But " the stunted, depressed, and hopeless Briton," can refer the Anti-Anglo writers and " sleepers awakened" to the tomb of Napoleon, where lies an oracle that may be consulted by our modern bravados, and future ages on that subject. Napoleon was not a poor African, who differed in his physical charac- ters " about the lumbary regions." He was not a " priest-ridden and cowardly Mexican ;" nor was he a " stunted, depressed, and hopeless Briton," who is invited to the swamps of Texas, where he is to " assume" a new " mould of strength and symmetry of beauty." No, he was the leader of a great and a warlike nation, who, it is to be hoped, will speedily unite her moral and political influence with that of the stunted and king-ridden Britain, for the total abolition of " the accursed system of slavery," and the slave-trade throughout the world.
The whole of the arguments contained in Mr. 3
* Kennedy.
277
BRITISH MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONERS.
Kennedy's Anti-Anglo work on Texas, as regard slavery and the treatment of the Aborigines by the Texans, will is to be hoped, enable Parliament to form a r rect estimate of the value of his practical knowledge and experience in municipal philosophy, which was employed under the anti-slavery govern- ment of Great Britain, to inquire into and report on the municipal institutes of Canada, where there exists a large Aboriginal population, intermixed with several thousands of negroes, who are labour- ing under the prejudice of caste, in order, forsooth, that the British government might legislate so that all her Majesty's subjects might be governed alike. However, it is to be hoped, that when a similar inquiry is instituted, that men of Christian feeling, without prejudice, and alive to the rights and claims of their fellow-creatures, of every colour, caste and shape, may be chosen to discharge the duties of assistant municipal commissioners of Eng- land to her colonies.
If Lord Palmerston was led by the culpable misrepresentations to overlook what is due to the African colonial subjects of Great Britain, (which he most unquestionably has done in negotiating with the Texans,) in order to secure to his country some great moral, political, and commercial advan- tages, surely he ought not to have forgotten the following remarks, which occur in Lord Durham's Report on Canada, and which must at once have
278
LORD DURHAM'S COGENT REMARKS.
opened his lordship's eyes as to the danger of even tolerating the idea of Texan independence :-
" Whatever aid the insurgents have recently re- ceived from citizens of the United States, may either be attributed to those national animosities which are the too sure result of past wars, or to those undisguised projects of conquest and rapine, which, since the invasion of Texas, find but too much favour among the daring population of the frontiers. The danger, however, which may be apprehended from the mere desire to repeat the scenes of Texas in the Canadas, is a danger from which we cannot be secure, while the disaffection of any considerable portion of the population con- tinues to give an appearance of weakness to our government."-Extract from Lord Durham's Re- port, January 31, 1839.
On the 9th of November, 1839, a deputation from the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society waited, by appointment, on Lord Palmerston, to convey to his lordship the sentiments of that body respecting the recognition of Texas, and the treat- ment of the Africans captured in the Amistad. His lordship professed his unwillingness to do any thing by which the influence of Great Britain could become accessory to the extension or perpetuation of slavery, and his desire to give to the moral as- pect of the recognition of Texas, which it was the
279
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
special object of this deputation to press on his attention, the fullest consideration :
"To the Right Honourable Lord Palmerston, her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, &c.
" MY LORD,-
"The Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society beg permission to express their sentiments to your lord- ship on a subject deeply interesting to all the friends of liberty and justice, and which they feel to be of paramount importance at the present time, as affecting the dearest interests and future happiness of a large portion of the human race, and one to which it is understood the attention of your lordship and her Majesty's government has already been officially directed.
" It is currently reported, that from the revolted province of the Mexican empire, Texan envoys have been sent to this coun- try to solicit its recognition by the British government as an independent state.
" With such a negociation, considered as relating to political " interests alone, although they conceive these to be of the gravest importance as it respects the interests of British subjects, and even the integrity of the British empire in the Gulf of Mexico and Carribean sea, it would be quite out of the province of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society to interfere : but there is a peculiar feature in the present case, which renders it not only proper for them, but imperative on them, to express to your lordship their sentiments on the subject, and to entreat for them a serious consideration at the hands of the government.
" The Committee will not trouble your lordship with a detail of the unjust and atrocious manner in which the Mexican pro- vince of Texas has been wrested from the parent state by the unprincipled adventurers, land-jobbers, and slave-holders from the United States, whose conduct merits the most indignant rebuke, and must attach lasting dishonour to all who may become implicated in it; but would press on the consideration of your
280
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
lordship and the government the well-known fact, that the legis- lature of Texas has abolished the universal freedom which, with such admirable justice and propriety, had been decreed by the Mexican government, and have re-established slavery in its worst form. The Committee would also call your lordship's attention to the fact, that the Texan laws also provide for the expulsion from its territory of all Africans, and the descendants of Africans, whether in whole or in part born free, as well as of the native Indian tribes, an iniquity not less cruel than it is infamous, and unparalleled in the history of any civilized people.
" It will be no more than consistent, the Committee conceive, with the noble attitude which Great Britain has taken before the world on the great subject of Slavery, to refuse, in the most positive terms, the recognition of any new state in which the unrighteous system of slavery is recognized, and measures so repugnant to every principle of equity and religion as those re- ferred to are established by constitutional law ; nor can it, the Committee would respectfully observe, be otherwise than a mat- ter of plain and imperative obligation that the British government should avail itself of so just and striking an opportunity of using its mighty moral influence, for diffusing through other countries the same freedom which at so much cost has been happily, and the Committee trust permanently established in the dependencies of our own.
" The whole of the case before the Committee, however, is not yet stated. The establishment of slavery in Texas will open an immense market for the slave-breeders of the United States, and will inevitably enlarge to an unprecedented extent, and raise to a pitch of unprecedented horrors, a traffic so infamous and deplorable. Nor can it be doubted but, in spite of the law which prohibits it, the slave trade with Africa, against which the whole power of the British empire is arrayed, will be extensively carried on, as there is too great reason to believe it has already begun.
"Under these circumstances, the Committee trust that her Majesty's government will regard the proposed recognition of Texas with the greatest abhorrence ; and they cherish an earnest
281
ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
hope that in their decisions, considerations of humanity, justice, and liberty will be firmly held paramount to every other.
" On behalf of the Committee, " G. W. ALEXANDE DER, Chairman."
$
The hopes cherished by the Committee that Texas would not be recognized by Great Britain as an independent power, were, unhappily, not realized. In the latter part of November, the public press announced that Lord Palmerston, and General Hamilton, the Texan envoy, had concluded a treaty, on the part of their respective governments, in which the independence of Texas was duly recog- nized. All that remained for the Committee then to do, was publicly to express their decided repro- bation of the act. The terms in which this was done, will be found in the following correspondence with Lord Palmerston, and the resolutions which accompanied it :
" To the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Palmerston, &c. &c. " 27, New Broad Street, London, 7th December, 1840.
" MY LORD, ---
I beg to transmit to your lordship a copy of Resolutions of the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society of the 2nd instant, and deeply regret the occasion which has called these resolutions forth, and permit me to solicit your lordship's attention to them as the unanimous and deliberate expression of their sentiments.
" Whilst Great Britain sanctioned by her laws, or by a guilty connivance, the system of slavery and the African slave-trade which formerly prevailed in her colonies, it was impossible, con- sistently with her own evil practice, to have on this ground
282
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
avoided the recognition of other states, who, having followed her wicked example in this matter, had sought commercial and political relations with her. But I humbly conceive that, having abandoned both slavery and the slave-trade, and fixed publicly and for ever the brand of moral reprobation on these enormous crimes, it became her duty thenceforward to act in conformity with her noble decision, and to maintain the honourable position to which she had been exalted among the nations of the earth. It follows, therefore, in my apprehension, that she was brought under solemn obligations to discountenance slavery and the slave- trade, wherever they might exist ; to foster the spirit of humanity and justice among the nations with which she might be connected ; to encourage free and liberal institutions in new and rising states ; and to refuse friendly relations with any people who might seek to establish slavery in countries where it had hitherto been un- known, or to re-establish it where it had been previously abolished. In this way she might have become the guardian of the liberties of mankind ; and her mighty influence have been exerted for good, and not for evil, in time to come.
" I need hardly state that few indeed were the native Mexicans or Texans engaged in the revolt which led to the formation of the Texan republic, and which has terminated most unhappily in the establishment of a wicked and crnel despotism, by the over- throw of a generous system of government, which had secured liberty to the slave, the suppression of the slave-trade, and the protection of the aboriginal tribes. The Americans invaded the territory, and by brute force have wrenched Texas from the parent state, reversed the Mexican laws, established slavery in perpetuity, and have already issued a proclamation commanding all free persons of African descent, whether born in the land or not, whether possessed of property or not, to quit the republic within a given period of time ; and an army of twelve hundred men has been levied for the extermination of the Indian tribes. Humanity cannot but shudder at the sufferings which must ensue from the working out of this iniquitous policy ; and religion must again weep over scenes of devastation and blood, which have too
283
ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
often and too long covered the name of nominal Christians with ignominy.
" In concluding these remarks, I cannot but contrast the pain- ful fact of the recognition of Texas with the non-recognition of Hayti. In the one case, I perceive a band of marauders and slave-holders, after having deprived a friendly power of part of its dominions, and " framed iniquity by a law," admitted to the highest distinctions and privileges this country can confer upon them ; whilst, in the other case, I behold a people, who for centu- ries had been enslaved and oppressed, after having achieved their liberty, and established free institutions on a firm founda- tion, treated with scorn and indignity.
" I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient humble servant, .
" J. H. TREDGOLD, Secretary.
" At an adjourned meeting of the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, held at 27, New Broad Street, London, on Wednesday, the 2nd day of December, 1840 ;
"JACOB POST, EsQ., in the Chair,
" It was unanimously resolved,
"I .-- That inasmuch as the system of slavery forms an integral part of the constitutional law of the new republic of Texas, this Committee have heard with feelings of the deepest sorrow and humiliation, that her Majesty's government have been induced to enter into a commercial treaty with its representative, by which act that republic has been introduced to the high distinction of a place amongst the great family of civilized nations; and that thus the moral dignity and national honour of this great country have been outraged, the dearest interests of multitudes of human beings, their liberty and happiness, trampled under foot, a fearful impulse given to slavery and the slave-trade, and the sacred cause of Christianity, civilization, and freedom immeasurably retarded.
"II .- That, in view of the great fact that the legislature of this country, stimulated by the Christian zeal of its people, has abo-
-
284
LORD PALMERSTON'S REPLY.
lished for ever the guilty traffic in human beings, and terminated the atrocious system of bondage which formerly existed in the British colonies ; and that the government has perseveringly, if not hitherto successfully, sought the entire suppression of the foreign slave-trade, at an enormous cost of the national treasure and of human life; the Committee cannot but express their great astonishment, as well as their profound regret, that her Majesty's ministers should have entered into friendly relations with a people whose first act, after a successful but wholly unjustifiable revolt, was to engraft on their constitution the system of slavery, to create a slave trade between the United States and themselves, as well as for the utter expulsion of all free persons of African descent, and the final extirpation of the aboriginal tribes from the soil ; and thus to violate every principle of humanity and justice, and to consolidate, extend, and perpetuate slavery and the slave trade in a country, which, as part of the Mexican empire, had been previously devoted to freedom.
"J.II .- That, therefore, this Committee, as the organ of the Anti-slavery principles and feelings of the country, feel bound to enter their solemn protest against the recognition of the inde- pendence of Texas as a most immoral and impolitic act, alike un- called for by the justice or the exigency of the case, as fraught with the most injurious consequences to mankind, and as consequently deserving the unqualified reprobation of all good men."
Lord Palmerston's reply to these resolutions will startle the lovers of truth and consistency. It is as follows :---
" Foreign Office, December 14th, 1810.
"SIR, -- I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th instant, addressed to his lordship, transmitting a copy of Resolutions which the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society passed on the 2nd instant, expressing their concern that her Majesty's govern- went should have entered into a commercial treaty with Texas,
285
LORD PALMERSTON'S REPLY.
and protesting against the recognition of the independence of that republic by Great Britain.
" I am, in reply, directed to state to you, that Lord Palmerston very much regrets that the Committee should take this view of the measure which has been adopted by her Majesty's government in regard to Texas ; but that it does not appear to Lord Palmer- ston, on the one hand, that the refusal of Great Britain to conclude a commercial treaty with Texas would have had any effect in inducing the Texans to abolish slavery within their territory ; nor, on the other hand, that the conclusion of such a treaty can have the effect of affording the Texans any encouragement to continue the condition of slavery as part of their law.
" It may indeed be hoped, that the greater intercourse between Great Britain and Texas, which will probably result from the treaty, may have the effect of mitigating, rather than aggravating, the evils arising out of the legal existence of slavery in that republic. **
" Lord Palmerston desires me to mention, that you appear to be under a misapprehension as to the state of the relation be- tween Great Britain and Hayti; inasmuch as Great Britain has actually concluded a treaty with Hayti, as an independent state ; and I have the satisfaction to acquaint you, that the specific object and purpose of that treaty is the suppression of the slave- trade.
"I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant, (Signed) " LEVESON. "J. II. Tredgold, Esq., &c."
My Lord Palmerston's right and left arguments will, I doubt not, puzzle some of the ablest political fuglemen even on his lordship's own side of the House. Mark the absurdity of his telling the people of this country, " that the conclusion of a treaty of commerce," which would give a moral impetus to the rise, and a great and continuous
hỗics tu
-
286
CAUTION TO TEXAN EMIGRANTS.
moral influence to Texas, would not "have the effect of affording the Texans any encouragement to continue the condition of slavery as part of their law."
In the third paragraph, fallacy, if possible, is still more glaring. " The greater intercourse," says his lordship, " between Great Britain and Texas may have the effect of mitigating the evils arising out of the legal existence of slavery in that republic." The legal existence of slavery in a country where it had been totally abolished! Monstrous asser- tions ! Anti-national partisanship and idle nonsense could scarcely be carried further. Has the constant and " greater intercourse" between Great Britain and the United States had " the effect of mitigating rather than aggravating the legal existence of slavery in that republic ?" Certainly not; but on the contrary, according to Mr. Kennedy, it has had precisely the opposite effect.
The Anti-Slavery Society, ever faithful to the cause in which they have embarked, put forth the following caution to emigrants :-
"EMIGRATION TO TEXAS.
" All persons inclined to emigrate to Texas, are carnestly recommended, well and seriously to consider the provisions of the Texan law in relation to emigrants.
" The grants of land to emigrants are only made on condition of permanent residence, -the performance of all duties required of other citizens, for the term of three years, to the satisfaction of those in power ! !- they must be ready to bear arms against the
--
287
ALLEGED ANTI-SLAVERY SPIRIT IN TEXAS.
parent state of Mexico, and the native Indians, for the purpose of subjugation and expulsion, and to sustain the twin abomina- tions of Slavery and the Slave-trade, which the Mexican empire, to its great honour, had totally and for ever abolished. Will any Englishman, Irishman, or Scotchman, subject himself and his family to degrading contact with the atrocious system of slavery ? Will he take arms in its support, and to sustain the domination of men, alike destitute of conscience, and of honour ? Can any man, voluntarily placing himself in such circumstances, expect the blessing of God on his undertaking ?
"For further information, see a pamphlet entitled 'Texas,' by John Scoble, published by Harvey and Darton, 55, Gracechurch- street, London, price 6d.
"On behalf of the Committee, "J. H. TREDGOLD, Secretary."
It is said that an anti-slavery spirit lies dormant in Texas at this moment, and Mr. Kennedy, to sub- stantiate this idle assertion, puts forth the following extract from a speech of the ex-president of Texas, Samuel Houston :---
" Not unconnected with the naval force of the country is the subject of the African slave-trade. It cannot be disbelieved that thousands of Africans have lately been imported to the island of Cuba, with a design to transfer a large portion of them into this republic. This unholy and cruel traffic has called down the re- probation of the humane and just of all civilized nations. Our abhorrence to it is clearly expressed in our constitution and laws. Nor has it rested alone upon the declaration of our policy, but has long since been a subject of representation to the government of the United States, our ministers apprising it of every fact which would enable it to devise such means as would prevent either the landing or introduction of Africans into our country.
" The naval force of Texas not being in a situation to be diverted from our immediate defence, will be a sufficient reason why the governments of the United States and England should
288
HOUSTON'S SLAVERY PRINCIPLES DEMONSTRATED.
employ such a portion of their force in the Gulf as will at once arrest the accursed trade and redeem this republic from the sus- picion of connivance, which would be as detrimental to its character as the practice is repugnant to the feelings of its citizens. Should the traffic continue, the odium cannot rest upon us, but will remain a blot upon the escutcheon of nations who have power, and withhold their hand from the work of humanity."
It would be well if these fine sentiments were carried into execution by Samuel Houston, or any other members of the Texan community who have it in their power to rid themselves of the " accursed" trade in human blood " and the suspicion of con- nivance," which is certainly as detrimental to the character of a republican people as it is said "to be repugnant to their feelings."
I agree with Mr. Kennedy, " that there would be no more occasion for " cheap little books with illus- trative cuts" that are "sent across the Atlantic, where they receive fresh circulation and call forth the indignant denunciation of the excellent persons who essay to regulate the world by periodical reso- lutions at Exeter-hall ;" but will it be believed that the very man from whose lips this eloquent speech in question fell, is the slave-master of his own son by a native American of African origin! This young man --- a slave-the offspring of the ex-presi- dent of the republic of Texas-pays to his father, Samuel Houston, a monthly pittance for the privi- lege of practising his profession as a hair-dresser, &c., in " the flourishing city of Galveston." This young man's house is nearly opposite to the Tre-
MR. KENNEDY'S SLAVERY IN ITS MILDEST FORM. 289
mont House, where he may be seen, the bondage vic- tim of his own parent ! by all future travellers. Mr. Kennedy, instead of recording such facts as these, defends slavery in Texas, by informing us that "negro slavery never existed in a milder form than it does in the United States." Slavery in the mildest form ! What does the appointee of her Majesty's govern- ment mean ? The then trustee for the liberty of the slave, here plainly says that there are gradations in slavery, and such as ought not to be tolerated by the British people, who paid twenty millions for the total abolition of it. At that period we were igno- rant that slavery had its philanthropic gradations, until illuminated by the labours and anxious obser- vations of Mr. Kennedy. Perhaps that gentleman would furnish us with the name of the planter or planters who preserve slavery " in its mildest form." Acts however oppressive, however cruel, according to this logic, must not be complained of, if done in the mildest form.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.