194 BRITISH AGGRANDIZ EMENT. [CHAP. XIV. 



are three years in arrear. He praises others for their cheerful 

 promptness in bearing their fair share of the public liabilities, 

 and exhorts the rest to follow their good example, for the honoj* 

 arid credit of the Commonwealth. The necessity of compulsory 

 measures is gently hinted at as a possible contingency, should 

 they continue to be defaulters. As a proof, however, that more 

 cogent methods of persuasion are sometimes resorted to, I see 

 advertisements of the sale of city property for the discharge of 

 taxes ; and it is fair to presume, that patriotic exhortations have 

 not always been without effect, or they would be thought too 

 ridiculous to be employed. 



I observed to a friend, that when I left the New Englanders, 

 they were decidedly averse to war about Oregon. &quot; Yes,&quot; he 

 rejoined, but they are equally against free trade ; whereas, the 

 people in the West, who are talking so big about fighting for 

 Oregon, are in favor of a low tariff and more trade with En- 



O 



gland, which would make war impossible. Which of these two, 

 think you, is practically the peace party ?&quot; 



In the leading articles of several of the papers, I read some 

 spirited recriminations in answer to English censures on the 

 annexation of Texas. Its independence, they say, had been 

 acknowledged by Great Britain, and its inhabitants had volun 

 tarily joined the Union. Some journals talk of following &quot; the 

 classical example of the mother-country,&quot; and allude to the con 

 quest of Sinde, and the intended &quot; annexation of Borneo.&quot; A 

 passage is also cited from a recent article in one of the leading 

 London journals, to the following effect : &quot; That as the Punjab 

 must eventually be ours, the sooner we take possession of it the 

 better, and the less blood and treasure will be spent in saving 

 from anarchy the richest part of India.&quot; But it is easier thus to 

 recriminate than to reply to the admirable protest published in 

 the beginning of the present year (January, 1845), by a con 

 vention of delegates from various and opposite political parties in 

 Massachusetts, which set forth, in strong terms, the unjustifiable 

 manner in which Texas was originally filched from Mexico, and 

 the tendency of such annexation to extend and uphold slavery, 

 and &quot; probably to lead to a Mexican war.&quot; 



