Columbia and the Territories, and to prohibit the internal traffic in slaves. They were not permitted to be read, but, with singular and absurd inconsistency, they were printed on the Journal, and there declared to be laid on the table under the resolution of the preceding 21st of December, which expressly prescribed that no such paper should be printed.

On the 5th of March two sets of resolutions were presented: one from the Legislature of Alabama, in favor of the annexation, and the other from that of Ohio, protesting against it. One of the resolutions of the Legislature of Ohio directed that the Governor of the State, in transmitting copies of the resolutions, should be requested to accompany it with a statement of the votes by which it was passed in each branch of the Legislature. The Governor's letter, accordingly, stated that the vote was without opposition in one branch, and unanimous in the other. To such straits were the party of suppression reduced to sustain their system, that they refused permission to the member from Ohio, who presented the resolutions, to read to the House this letter from the Governor. On the 26th of March Mr. NOYES, of Maine, presented a remonstrance of thirty-one citizens of Lubec, in that State, against the annexation of Texas to the Union, and moved its reference to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. For once, the vigilance of the dark spirit of slavery was at fault-the motion to lay on the table was forgotten, and the remonstrance was referred. The committee never looked into it.

On the 16th of April Mr. SHIELDS, of Tennessee, presented resolutions of the Legislature of Tennessee, urging with great earnestness the annexation of Texas to the Union, and requesting the Senators and Representatives of the State, in Congress, to introduce them to the consideration of both Houses of Congress.

Mr. SHIELDS moved that these resolutions, together with all other resolutions from State Legislatures upon the same subject, and the memorials and petitions presented to this House at the present Congress in relation to the admission of Texas into the Union of these States, be referred to a select committee.

Mr. BRONSON, an administration member from the State of New York, moved to lay the motion of Mr. SHIELDS, and the resolutions of the Legislature of Tennessee, on the table; which was carried by a vote of 122 to 74-as nearly as possible the same as that upon the gag of 21st December, but not by the same votes. In this case, the members from Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina, generally, and several members from Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina, voted against laying on the table, who had voted for the gag; while, on the other hand, a considerable number of members (nineteen) from the free States, who had

voted against the gag, now voted to lay the motion of Mr. SHIELDS and the Tennessee resolutions on the table. Their motive, doubtless, was a distrust of the committee which would be appointed by the Speaker upon resolutions urging the annexation, and coming from the Legislature of his own State. But here was the dawn of a new day. It was evident that henceforth the members from the States whose Legislatures have adopted resolutions favoring the annexation would vote for opening the discussion, and it was equally clear that the Texas question once opened, the gag upon the slavery topics could no longer be effectively maintained. On the 21st of May the resolutions of the Legislature of Massachusetts, solemnly protesting against the annexation of Texas, were presented to the House by Mr. BRIGGS; and, after some discussion, referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, who never looked into them.

On the 25th of the same month all the other resolutions of State Legislatures, and all the petitions, memorials, and remonstrances, relating to the same subject, which had been received by the House and laid upon the table, were referred to the same committee.

And on the 13th of June, Mr. DROMGOOLE, of Virginia, a member of the committee, presented the report of the majority of the committee upon these resolutions of seven State Legislatures, and those petitions, memo›rials, and remonstrances, of more than one hundred thousand petitioners:

"ANNEXATION OF TEXAS.

"Mr. DROMGOOLE, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, upon the subject of the annexation of Texas to the United States, reported, that there is now no proposition pending in this House either for the admission of the Republic of Texas as a State into the Union, or for its territorial annexation to the United States.

"The committee do not deem it advisable to recommend any action on the part of the House of Representatives calculated to prejudge any such proposition, should it hereafter be formally submitted for decision, or to forestall public sentiment in relation thereto. In consideration whereof, the following resolution is reported:

66 Resolved, That the Committee on Foreign Affairs be discharged from the further consideration of the whole subject, and that all the papers relating thereto, and to them referred, be laid on the table.

"Mr. CUSHING called for a division of the question, so that it might be first taken upon that part of the report which proposed to discharge the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr. C. dissented from the report entirely, and should, before he sat down, move a recommitment, for the purpose of having the subject more deliberately and argumentatively presented to the House. It was due to the country and the subject. The preamble says there is no proposition before the House for the annexation of Texas to the United States. This might be technically, in strict parliamentary language, correct; since there was not any motion or resolution pending in the House for the annexation of Texas. But Mr. C. denied that this was in substance correct. Three States of this Union (Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi) have passed resolutions for the admission of Texas into the Union; and of two at least of these States, the resolutions have been presented here, and are in the possession of the House. In addition to which, Texas herself had applied to the United States for admission. This proposition was pending now, and in force; and not, as the late report of the Secretary of State would seem to intimate, withdrawn from the cognizance of the Government. By the very latest intelligence from Texas, the Senate of that Republic had distinctly refused to withdraw the application. Now, some gentlemen might think that this ap

plication was within the cognizance of the Executive only, as in the first instance. Mr. C. maintained the contrary most positively. Congress, the House, the People of the United States, were under no obligation to wait in such a matter for the initiative of the President in regard to it. We, the Representatives of the People, have the same power and right as the President to act upon it in the initiative. He might not be disposed to do right. It was the duty of the House to see to the interests and the rights of the People upon this vital question. The Constitution does not give to the Executive any power to admit new States. It is for Congress to do it, so far as the power resides any where. Let Congress, let the House, speak, and speak out, in the face of the country and world.

"Furthermore. Three of the States (Ohio, Michigan, and Massachusetts) have sent here resolutions solemnly remonstrating against the annexation of Texas. It is due to those three States, also, to express our opinions frankly on the subject. It was due to the thousands upon thousands of petitioners, whose petitions on this subject load the table, to express our opinions. They ask it, they demand it, they have a right to it. How long is this House to fold itself in the mantle of its dignity, covering itself up in darkness, refusing to utter its opinions, suppressing opinions and debate, disdaining, as it were, to meet the People fairly in the light of day, manfully and honestly, as becomes their Representatives? Mr. C. insisted upon the duty of the committee to make a full, argumentative report. He would not undertake to discuss the merits of the question. He was conscious it would be out of order, and he had no disposition, on this or any other question, to debate out of order. But he desired to see a full report, and therefore he submitted the following motion:

"That the report be recommitted to the same committee, with instructions to make report thereon in full, as to the merits of the questions presented by the resolutions of the Legislatures of the several States of Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio, and Massachusetts, and of the various petitions before the House on the subject of Texas. "Mr. CARTER, of Tennessee, said he differed entirely from the gentleman from Massachusetts, as to this subject. Although his (Mr. CARTER'S) own State Legislature had memorialized Congress on this question, yet his own course thereupon in this House had gone to show that his opinions did not correspond precisely with those of his Legislature upon this point. He doubted the expediency of annexing Texas to the Union.

"The CHAIR reminded the gentleman from Tennessee that this question was not now before the House.

"Mr. CARTER said he had only intended to express his own opinion, and to show that he was acting disinterestedly. No question was then before the House for the annexation of Texas, except as incidentally raised by the presentation of memorials, legislative resolutions, &c. Nor could it be fairly a question for the House to consider till a report from a committee had been made thereon.

"Mr. C. would say to the gentleman from Massachusetts, why not bring forward a counter report on this subject, if dissatisfied with the report of the committee? He would warn that gentleman that this was a question that would agitate the country from Maine to Georgia, and that the result of that agitation might not be such as that honorable member might perhaps prefer. Therefore he thought that the committee, in offering the resolutions they had done, had acted a prudent and proper part. Were the gentleman to have brought forward a counter report, the question would then be fairly raised for the House and the country to decide; but at present no such question was before the House."

"The subject was a perplexing one. It was already agitating the country, and the more it was discussed the more it would agitate the land. It had been with difficulty that the whole mass of the Southern community have been restrained from petitioning Congress in favor of the annexation. Mr. C. again repeated what were his individual opinions on this question; and said that, if instructed by his constituents to vote contrary to those opinions, it being a matter of expediency, he should do so. In the absence of instructions, he held it to be equally his duty to vote according to the best of his judgment. But he did beg the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. CUSHING] not to embarrass this motion of the committee. Let him bring in, if he thought proper, a counter report.

"Mr. CUSHING here remarked that, under the circumstances attending the intro-duction of the report of the majority, it had been impossible for him to prepare a counter report.

"Mr. DROMGOOLE said that no proposition for a minority report, or any thing of the kind, had ever been made in committee.

"Mr. ADAMS asked if the numerous legislative resolutions, and the memorials of thousands and tens of thousands of the citizens of this country, in relation to this subject, had ever received five minutes' consideration in the Committee on Foreign Affairs. "Mr. DROMGOOLE said he had but one answer to make to this question; which was, to deny explicitly any right of that member, or any other member, to catechise the committee as to its action.

"Mr. ADAMS immediately rose, (amidst varied cries of "order!" "go on!" &c.,) and said: That is enough, sir! That, sir, is enough for this House, and for the country. The committee refuse to answer. [Much confusion.]

"Mr. CARTER proceeded, and urged the adoption of the resolution reported by the committee.

"Mr. PICKENS said he concurred in the motion of the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. CUSHING,] to recommit, with instructions to report some proposition for the action of the House. He was for meeting this question boldly, frankly, firmly. He could not agree with the honorable gentleman from Tennessee, [Mr. CARTER,] as to the effect of agitating this question. He did not dread such agitation. He was for letting it go on. It would not be the first question that had agitated the American People. He desired to meet it, and at once. He was for letting the country see who was for and who was against his People. The Legislature of his own State, as well as that of his friend's State, (Tennessee,) and those of several other States, had sent up hither their resolutions upon the question. It was agitated on the other side, all over the non-slaveholding part of the country, and by their Representatives upon that floor, for months past. It was time to meet it; it was time to take a decided and bold stand upon it. As a distinguished member [Mr. ADAMS] of the Massachusetts delegation had said on a former occasion, it was a question of union or disunion.

“The SPEAKER reminded the gentleman from South Carolina that he was straying from the question before the House.

"Mr. PICKENS repeated that he desired to meet this great question at once; and that, therefore, he was in favor of Mr. CUSHING's motion to recommit, with instructions. He desired that the country should know the true position of the question. One thing was very certain; if this Government did not exercise a control over Texas, Great Britain would.

"The SPEAKER again called to order.

"Mr. PICKENS Concluded by urging the adoption of Mr. CUSHING's proposition. "Mr. CUSHMAN said that a proposition to annex an independent Republic to this Union should properly come from that Republic. No such proposition had been made to that House. For the purpose of arresting what he thought was a debate altogether irregular, he would move the previous question. [Laughter.]

"Much confusion then ensued; and Mr. PICKENs remarked, that is a test question and Mr. ADAMS asked the mover to withdraw the motion, to allow him to reply to the argument with which the motion had been prefaced by himself, [Mr. CUSHMAN.]

"Mr. MERCER asked what would be the main question; to which the SPEAKER replied, on the adoption of the resolution offered by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, to discharge that committee from the further consideration of the subject.

"The vote on seconding the motion for the previous question stood, ayes 74, noes 81; so there was no second: and the question recurred upon the resolution offered by Mr. CUSHING, to recommit, with instructions. (See above.)

"Mr. HOWARD then took the floor; but the hour appropriated to morning business having elapsed, the House, on motion, took up the order of the day, and went into Committee of the Whole (Mr. CRAIG in the chair) upon the pre-emption bill."

The following are the proceedings of the House on the 14th of June, as reported in the National Intelligencer of the 15th:

"TEXAS.

"The House then resumed the unfinished business of yesterday morning. "And the question being on the following resolution, reported yesterday by. Mr. DROMGOOLE, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs:

"Resolved, That the Committee on Foreign Affairs be discharged from the furt her consideration of the whole subject, and that all the papers relating thereto, and to them referred, be laid on the table'

"And on the amendment thereto by Mr. CUSHING.

"Mr. HOWARD rose, but yielded the floor at the request of

"Mr. W. THOMPSON, who moved to amend the amendment as follows: "Strike out all after instructions,' and insert; To report a joint resolution, directing the President to take the proper steps for the annexation of Texas to the United States, as soon as it can be done consistently with the treaty stipulations of this Government.'

"Mr. HOWARD said that he regretted that the proposition of the gentleman from New Hampshire [Mr. CUSHMAN] for the previous question had not been sustained yesterday by the House. He could not anticipate a single good result from the prolongation of a general debate upon the subject of Texas, but, on the contrary, many evils, even greater than the useless consumption of valuable time. As the vote of the House, however, had been against the previous question, he had risen yesterday to vindicate, as far as he could, the Committee on Foreign Affairs from the implied charge of failure to perform a duty intrusted to them by the House. The amendment now offered by the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. THOMPSON] gives to the question an entirely new aspect, and he would be compelled to digress from what had been his sole, and still was his main purpose, in order to make some remarks upon the new state of the case. The House was master of its own actions, and could, no doubt, originate a proposal for the annexation of Texas to the United States; but a committee could only act upon the matters referred to them, and he intended to show that no proposition had been heretofore before the House, and, consequently, the committee could have made no other report, with propriety, than the one which they had made. A reference to the Journal would show that, at an early period of the session, the House had, by the decisive vote of 127 to 68, (five more than a majority of the entire House,) determined to lay upon the table all memorials upon the subject of Texas. All committees ought to regulate their action by the expressed will of the House. He thought this position would not be disputed. The subject would, therefore, have slept upon the Clerk's table, if a petition, presented afterwards by one of the delegation from Maine, [Mr. NOYES,] had not been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, when the attention of the House was not called to it. Jurisdiction having been thus given to the committee by the reference of this straggling petition, there ceased to be any objection to the adoption of a resolution offered by the gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. ADAMS,] sending to them the entire mass of petitions from individuals, the magnitude of which might be measured by cubic feet, and, also, the resolutions of several Legislatures, which had expressed their opinions upon the subject. But he did not consider these papers as raising a question. They were only intended, he thought, to bear upon the question after it was raised in some other way. At the extra session we had printed and circulated a large edition of the correspondence between Mr. Forsyth and General Hunt, and, although the proposition for annexation was not entertained by the President, yet there was a reasonable ground for supposing that the subject might be renewed, and all these evidences of public opinion were probably prepared to meet the contingency when it should happen. But it had not happened. The documents before us show that it had not. On the 4th of August, 1837, General Hunt addressed a letter to the Secretary of State, proposing the annexation of Texas to the United States; and in his reply of the 25th of August, Mr. Forsyth not only declines the proposition, but even declines to reserve it for future consideration. No language could be more explicit than this. It was impossible to mistake it. The Minister Plenipotentiary of Texas, in his answer of September 12, showed that he did not mistake it, as will be evident from the following paragraph:

"The undersigned most respectfully assures the honorable Mr. Forsyth, and, through him, his Excellency the President of the United States, that the prompt and decisive rejection of the proposition for the annexation of Texas to the United States will not be imputed to an unfriendly spirit towards the Government and People of Texas.'

"The prompt and decisive rejection of the proposition. It was, indeed, so. There was no proposition, therefore, pending before the Executive branch of the Government,