2d Session. Executive. MEXICO AND TEXAS. MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING The information required by a resolution of the House of Representatives, upon the subject of the condition of the political relations between the United States and Mexico; also, on the condition of Texas. JANUARY 26, 1837. Read, and ordered to be printed. To the House of Representatives of the United States : In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th instant, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, together with the documents by which it was accompanied. WASHINGTON, January 25, 1837. ANDREW JACKSON. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 25, 1837. The Secretary of State, to whom has been referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 17th instant, requesting the President to lay before that House, if not incompatible with the public interests, any information in his possession, showing the condition of the political relations between the United States and Mexico; and, also, any further information that he may have received on the condition of Texas, has the honor herewith to communicate copies of, and extracts from, such papers in this department as are deemed necessary to show the present state of the political relations between the United States and the Mexican republic. Since the ret of the agent who was sent to inquire into the condition of Texas, no additional information has been received on that subject. All which is respectfully submitted. To the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Blar & Rives, printers. JOHN FORSYTH. 4 No. 1. 2. 3. 4. LIST. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, June 23, 1836.-Extract. 5. Mr. Monasterio to Mr. Ellis, June 17, 1836. 6. Translation of the same. 7. Mr. Tornel to Mr. Monasterio, June 15, 1836. 9. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, July 12, 1836.-Extract. Translation of the same. 14. Mr. Robertson to General Gomez, May 4, 1836. 16. Lieutenant Osborn to Mr. Robertson, May 5, 1836. 18. 19. 20. Mr. Robertson to General Gomez, May 5, 1836. 23. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Monasterio, June 16, 1836. 26. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Monasterio, June 25, 1836. 27. The same to Mr. Robertson, June 29, 1836. 28. The same to Mr. Forsyth, July 16, 1836. 32. Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Ellis, July 20, 1836. Mr. Coleman to Mr. Forsyth, May 18, 1836. 36. The same to Mr. Monasterio, September 26, 1836. 39. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, October 4, 1836. 40. The same to Mr. Monasterio, September 9, 1836. 43. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, October 5, 1836. 44. The same to Mr. Monasterio, September 15, 1836. 45. Mr. Monasterio to Mr. Ellis, September 21, 1836. 46. Translation of the same. 47. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Monasterio, September 20, 1836. No. 48. Mr. Monasterio to Mr. Ellis, September 27, 1836. 49. Translation of the same. 50. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, October 11, 1836.-Extract. 51. The same to the same, October 25, 1836. 52. The same to Mr. Monasterio, October 20, 1836. 53. Mr. Monasterio to Mr. Ellis, October 21, 1836. 54. Translation of the same. 55. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, November 10, 1836. 56. The same to Mr. Monasterio, November 4, 1836. 57. The same to Mr. Forsyth, November 3, 1836.-Extract. 58. The same to the same, December 9, 1836.-Extract. 59. Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Ellis, December 10, 1836. 60. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, December 14, 1836. 61. The same to the same, December 21, 1836.--Extract. 62. Mr. Perrine to Mr. Ellis, September 4, 1836. 63. Mr. Burrough to Mr. Forsyth, November 22, 1836. 64. The same to the same, December 1, 1836.-Extract. 65. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, September 7, 1836. 66. Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Ellis, December 20, 1836. 67. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, October 15, 1836. 68. Mr. Burrough to Mr. Ellis, October 8, 1836. 69. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Monasterio, October 14, 1836. 70. Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Ellis, December 9, 1836.-Extract. 71. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth, January 12, 1837. No. 1. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Forsyth.-Extract. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, From the enclosed papers, (B,) you will see the evasive and unsatisfactory answer given to my note of the 30th ultimo, demanding satisfaction of this Government for the outrage committed on the American flag in the capture of the Hannah Elizabeth by the General Bravo, and the imprisonment of the captain, crew, and passengers. These acts of injustice and oppression are daily perpetrated on citizens of the United States, and every succeeding application for redress is met with cold neglect, and, no doubt, with a secret determination to commit similar offences, seeing that they have heretofore done so with entire impunity. If a satisfactory explanation is not given of this affair in a short time, I shall feel it to be my duty to communicate in the most dcisive manner to the Mexican Government the unalterable purpose of the United States not to submit to these reiterated aggressions upon the persons and property of American citizens. No. 2. Mr. Ellis to Mr. Monasterio. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Mexico, May 30, 1836. The undersigned, chargé d'affaires of the United States of America, has the honor to present his compliments to the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, and begs leave to call his attention to the capture of an American vessel by the Mexican armed vessel General Bravo, in the port of Matagorda, in the month of November last. The Hannah Elizabeth, of New Orleans, sailed from that port on the 13th of November, 1835, bound to Matagorda, Texas; and, on the 18th of the same month, she stranded on the bar, in attempting to enter the bay of Matagorda. While in this unfortunate condition, she was fired into by the Mexican armed vessel of war. General Bravo, boarded by twenty armed soldiers, under the command f two officers, who forciby took the captain, crew, and passengers from the wreck on board the Bravo, when they were chained in the hold of that vessel until their arrival in Matagorda on the 2d of December, 1835. They were then landed in a naked, feeble condition, and placed under a guard of soldiers at the Bravo de Santiago, pillaged of their clothes, after having been on short allowance during their imprisonment on board the General Bravo. In a time of profound peace, the Hannah Elizabeth was sailing in the pursuit of a lawful trade, under the protection of the flag of a neutral and friendly power, and she had every reason to calculate on the hospitality of the Mexican Government and people, and more especially when it was known she was in distress. The violence offered to her, under such circumstances, I am well persuaded, is an act of injustice coinmitted without the knowledge of this Government; and I have too high a respect for its character to suppose, for a single moment, it will sanction an outrage directly in opposition to the treaty of amity, cominerce, and navigation, subsisting between the two republics. I have been informed the crew and passengers have been set at liberty; but I have not been advised of the release of the captain of the Hannah Elizabeth. I then, in compliance with instructions from my Government, demand the immediate release of this individual, ample damages for the illegal detention of himself, crew, and passengers, and an apology for the insult to the flag of the United States, by the firing of the General Bravo upon the Hannah Elizabeth. The undersigned embraces the present occasion to offer to his excellency the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs the assurance of his distinguished consideration. POWHATAN ELLIS. To His Excellency the ACTING MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. No. 3. Mr. Monasterio to Mr. Ellis. PALACIO DEL GOBIERNO NACIONAL, El infrascrito, oficial mayor, encargado del despacho de la Secretaría de Relaciones, tiene el honor de comunicar al Señor Powhatan Ellis, que hoy há trasladado al Ministerio de la Guerra, para que acuerde lo conveniente, su nota de 30 de Mayo ultimo, relativa al apresamiento del buque Americano Hannah Elizabeth, por el Mexicano llamado Gral. Bravo; y luego que el que suscribe reciba contestacion, la pondrá en conocimiento del Sr. Ellis, á quien, entre tanto, reproduce las seguridades de su muy distinguida consideracion y aprecio. Al Sr. PowHATAN ELLIS, JOSE MARIA ORTIZ MONASTERIO. Encargado de Negocios de los E. U. de America. No. 4. Mr. Monasterio to Mr. Ellis. [TRANSLATION.] PALACE OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, Mexico, June 10, 1836. The undersigned, chief clerk charged with the despatch of the Department of Relations, has the honor to inform Mr. Powhatan Ellis that he has this day conveyed to the Secretary of War, with a view to his suitable ad |