Excerpt from Speech of Mr. T. J. Rusk, of Texas, on the Mexican War: Delivered in the Senate of the United States, February 17, 1848 Mr President: When this bill was infrodticed, I had no disposition to trouble the Senate with any rennrks;but the discussion has taken a much wider range iljan 1 anticipated, havincr gone imo ihe causes and consequences of the existing war with Mexico. It has been a?sunifd. on one side, tiiat tlie war was not begun by Mexico, but tliat ii was commenced by the unauihorized and unconstinnional act of the President of the United Stales. With a view to m;iiniain this posiiioti, a new boundary line has been assianed to I exas, the Siate which I hrive the honor in pait to lepresent, which is said not to extend to the Rio Grande, its true boundary, as I am prepared to prove, but only to the river Nueces. The assumption, sir, of this position, renders it due to myself, due to the Slate of Texas, and due to the widows and orphans of some of the brave men who fell in omstrno-. gle with Mexico for our independence, that I should address the Senate particularly on this branch of the subject. Now, sii, I venture to assert that, when all the fa-is shall have been UTde known to the coun ry, no clcaicr (jucslinn ever existed, than that iho Kio CJiande is the title boundary of jexas. Before, however, I commence (he discussion of (he question of boundtiry, it may not, perhaps, be improper for me (oallude, briefly, (othe causes which led to the Texan revolution, and the subsecjuent struggle between that country and Mexico. I am aware, sir, that the people of Texas have been calmnniated, as a band of(. ssfffssint, land jobbers and a set of Godforsaken reckless desperadoes and it seemeil, tlie oilier day, to afford (he honorable Senator from Vermont no small degree ol pleasure to rake up old newspaper articles, published ten or twelve years ago, rivalling, if they do not surpass, the plentiful abuse heaped upon us by the Mexicans theragelves duiing our contest. Mr. Upha.i. I certainly did not read those papers for the purpose of reflecting upon the character of the Texans. It was for the purpose of showing the views of the Democracy of the North at the time when annexation was first announced to the comitry. Mr. Rusk. I did not miderstand the Senator as endorsing (he statements, but siill, ihey prove the fact that such abuse has been lavished upon Texas, and is perhaps at present circulated. Now, sir, it is not necessary that I should rise in my place, for the purpose of defending (he character of the people of Texas from newspaper slanders.1 lieir conducr, sir, is a suOicient vindication of them against such assaults, and ibe more their true character is known, the more will it be seea ihai they are entitled to respect and confidence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.