Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/211

Rh mapped the coast nearly up to 55° north latitude; that the cession by Spain of the Louisiana Territory to France, and in 1803 the cession of that Territory to the United States gave all Spanish right on the Pacific coast north of 42°; a cession in words repeated when, in 1819, Florida was ceded by Spain to the United States. Passing from the first claim, that of prior discovery, to those of military and civil occupation, the United States Government in 1804-5 had made, through Lewis and Clarke, a complete survey of the Columbia River; in 1810 Captain Winship, of New England, had erected a house on the river; in 1811 Astoria, made famous by Irving, was planted as a military and trading post by the eminent New York family; these had been captured by the Hudson Bay Company during the war with Great Britain in 1813; a treaty of joint occupancy had been concluded in the interest of that company simply as a hunting ground in 1818; a permanent band of settlers from the United States began to plant and build in 1832, against which the Hudson Bay Company set up a claim because of slight culture by hunters, not by families; and in consideration of all these facts the three rights of possession seemed clear to the American people. Hence the popular demand, based on the Spanish discovery transferred by treaty to the United States, found expression in the rally-cry, "Fifty-four-forty, or fight"; whose ingenious alliteration added to the ingenuous fervor of the American claim. It was in view of these established principles of international law, as they bore on Great Britain's claim, as well as in view of all the home questions brought into the debate, that on the 13th April, 1846, only two weeks after he had taken his seat in the Senate, Houston arose and gave notice, as was necessary in order to secure the floor, of his purpose to discuss the questions at issue in the debate to which he had listened. On the 15th April, two days later, his speech was delivered, of which the following is an outline.

'It had been said that if notice were given it might lead to war; since England had given no evidence that she wished to negotiate. As to war, it is a state of things to which every nation is subjected that has advanced as rapidly as we to the highest rank. It is our duty to follow the maxim of the Father of his Country: In time of peace prepare for war. As to compromise, the suggestion would make Great Britain more aggressive. He quoted from the London Times to show that English sentiment was but apathy. He did not agree with the suggestion that public sentiment would settle on 49°. He denied that the annexation of Texas was aggression on Mexico, as the English press intimated. The English press paid little respect to the English public; which is without power. The