Austin; yet he was able to keep Austin entirely in the dark with regard to his intentions.

There is a touch of irony in the fact that some of the data used by Austin for his map of Texas-complimentary copies of which, executed by his own hand, he sent to Terán and other Mexican officials in the fall of 1829-were furnished by explorations recently ordered by Terán in preparation for this very occupation of the province. In his letter acknowledging the receipt of the map, Terán informed Austin that he would probably see him ere long, as it was his intention to return to Texas for his health as soon as he could be relieved from his duties in Tamaulipas. As a matter of fact, his health was quite bad, as Austin was aware, so the reason seemed plausible enough. During the busy months that followed, Austin appears to have known nothing of Terán's plans for Texas.

1

The first definite information that Austin appears to have had of the projected expedition, division of the territory, and the Law of April 6 came in a letter written from New Orleans, April 5-7, by an American named Pettit, who was apparently in the Mexican naval service. On March 20, after Alaman had submitted his Iniciativa, and the passage of the law had become an assured fact, Bustamante himself had deemed it well to write Austin a personal letter, expressing his friendship and entire confidence in him, and asking him to inform the colonists of his great interest in their prosperity. But this letter was slow in reaching Austin, because it was sent first to Terán, who held it until April 24, when he forwarded it with a letter of his own, insinuating that his own. knowledge of the decree was as recent as that of Austin. Bustamante wrote:

Mexico, March 20, 1830.

Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen F. Austin. Esteemed Friend: Notwithstanding the fact that I have not received an answer to the late letters which I have sent you, and in spite of the press of my own affairs, I take this opportunity of writing you this letter, which I shall send to you through Señor Terán, to whom you will kindly send your answer in order that it may not go astray.

My object on this occasion is to assure you that during my

"Terán to Austin, September 28, 1829. Austin Papers.

E. L. Pettit to Austin, April 5, 1830. Ibid.

administration you and your estimable colonists shall continue to receive the same proofs of favor and consideration which, since the year 1822, my wishes for your happiness and prosperity have made clear to you, since I have used in your favor the influence derived from the public positions I have held since that date. Be so kind, then, as to inform the colonists of my goodwill, and for yourself accept at the same time my assurances of true friendship and appreciation, wherewith I sign myself, as formerly, your friend and affectionate fellow-citizen.

Anastasio Bustamante.1

Terán wrote:

My esteemed friend and Sir:

Matamoras, April 24, 1830.

I have the pleasure of sending you the inclosed letter of my friend and companion-in-arms, Vice-president Don Anastasio Bustamante. I suppose that you have received information of the draft of the law for the development of this country, which is now under consideration in the federal congress, and concerning which certain of my friends in Mexico have asked my opinion; as 1 have time to communicate this opinion after hearing from you, I beg you to write me your opinion with that frankness we have been accustomed to employ. My friends have particularly asked me about the matter of declaring Texas a territory, and on this point I am maintaining great circumspection, for indeed I have no settled conviction on the subject, having heard a diversity of opinions in Texas. If you will feel no hesitancy in honoring me with your reflections, I shall greatly appreciate the same.

I think that we shall have the pleasure of seeing each other within two months. In the meantime you know that your letters will be most welcome, and you may write at your leisure.

Present my regards to Señor Don Samuel, and do you command at pleasure your most affectionate friend and obedient servant.

Manuel de Mier y Terán.

It is hardly necessary to call attention to the craftiness with which Terán attempts in this letter to deny all responsibility for the decree whose provisions it had now become his duty to enforce. But while his attitude is wholly disingenuous, we must

1Austin Papers.

"The italics in this translation are mine.

Samuel Williams.

'Austin Papers.

remember that the most radical measures of the decree, those which he knew the colonists would most resent, were not his work.

VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The Decree of April 6, 1830, was an attempt of Mexico to save Texas to the Mexican nation by strengthening the ties of that state with Mexico and severing those which bound it to the United States. In 1824 the Mexican government passed a generous colonization law, throwing open the rich lands of Texas to foreign immigration. The vast majority of foreign colonists who came in were from the United States, and the numbers and character of these colonists so endangered Mexican authority in Texas that the federal government felt it necessary to save the province by passing this Decree of April 6, the most important provision of which was the prohibition of all further immigration of colonists from the United States. The causes of suspicion and distrust which led to the promulgation of this decree begin as far back as the Fredonian Rebellion at Nacogdoches in 1826, and were continued and augmented by the insistent efforts of the United States to purchase Texas, by the determination of the colonists to hold slaves, notwithstanding their adopted country's reiterated policy of abolition, and by the friction which was the inevitable result of racial difference and prejudice. In 1828 General Terán, as chief of the boundary commission which was sent to survey the eastern and northern boundary between Mexico and the United States, reported a serious condition of affairs for the political and military authority of Mexico in Texas. But the central government was either too indifferent or too occupied with internal troubles to take cognizance of the situation at that time. In 1829 Terán was made comandante general of the Eastern States and at once began preparations to occupy Texas with a sufficient number of troops to lend prestige to Mexican authority in the state. About the same time he began urging upon the central government the necessity of action from that source, if Texas were to be saved to the federation. This the Guerrero government failed to do, but after the accession of Bustamante, in December of 1829, Terán sent his lieutenant, Constantino Tarnava, to lay before the central authorities a full report of conditions in Texas,

his own plans to remedy them, and various recommendations for political measures which would make his military plans more effective. One month later Lucas Alaman, the new minister of relations, laid these recommendations, with certain additions of his own, before Congress, and two months later still that body complied with the requests by passing the Decree of April 6, 1830, which was to go into effect on the day of its passage. The responsibility for that section of the law which prohibits further immigration from the United States seems to rest upon Alaman, though practically all of the other provisions are directly traceable to suggestions made by Terán.

It is not the purpose of this paper to follow the attempts to enforce the decree. The radical measures comprised in Article 11 were bitterly resented by the Texans, and were probably the most potent factors in the later friction that resulted, as Terán had so clearly foreseen, in the loss of Texas to the Mexican nation. Had Terán lived and been retained in his position as special commissioner and military governor of the colonies, the story might be different, but, as Filisola says, the whole fruit of his labors was destroyed by Santa Anna's overthrow of the Bustamante government in 1832.

I have the honor to transmit enclosed the following documents relating to the trade and commerce and Maritime regulations of the Republic of Texas, and the Consulate of Galveston; namely:— The present Tariff of the Republic of Texas.2

Historical Abstract in reference to the Tariff.

Return of the British and Foreign Trade at Galveston for the year ending 31st December 1842.2

Return of British Trade at Galveston for the year ending 31st December 1842.2

Charges on Shipping in the ports of Texas-Pilotage Regulations at Galveston,3 description of the National Flag of Texas.* Regulations for the Coasting Trade and Protection of Texian Shipping

Warehousing of Goods and Drawbacks

I beg to observe that I have drawn up the "Historical Abstract" for the purpose of rendering the series of official documents more complete, and have furnished trade Returns for 1842-the year 'F. O., Texas, Vol. 7.

"Omitted.

"Omitted, since the matter submitted by Kennedy is a synopsis of "an act regulating the appointment and duties of pilots at the Port of Galveston," approved February 4, 1842 (Gammel, Laws of Texas, II, 773, 774).

"The description of the Texas flag is copied from the act approved January 25, 1839 (Ibid., II, 88).

"Under this title Kennedy submitted a synopsis of "an act for the regulation of the coasting trade and the protection of Texian shipping," approved January 4, 1841 (Ibid., II, 479-482).

"Under this title Kennedy submitted a synopsis of "an act to provide and establish the warehousing system in the ports of this Republic," approved February 5, 1840 (Ibid., II, 225-229).