who dissent from the cause of independence, shall be divested of their offices, and shall quit the territory of the empire, taking with them their families and their effects.

"ART. 22. The military commandants shall regulate according to the general instructions in conformity with this Plan, which shall be transmitted to them.

"ART. 23. No accused person shall be condemned capitally by the military commandants. Those accused of treason against the nation, which is the next greatest crime after that of treason to the divine Ruler, shall be conveyed to the fortress of Barrabas, where they shall remain until the Congress shall resolve on the punishment which ought to be inflicted on them.

"ART. 24. It being indispensable to the country that this Plan should be carried into effect, inasmuch as the welfare of that country is its object, every individual of the army shall maintain it to the shedding, if it be necessary, of the last drop of his blood.

"TOWN OF IGUALA,

24th February, 1821."

}

F.

MEXICAN AGGRESSIONS.

We think it may not prove uninteresting to the reader to know the nature of the claims of our citizens upon Mexico. We give a list of a portion of them, compiled by the Hon. Edmund Burke, in 1846, remarking merely, by way of introduction, that they are all taken from documents now on file in the department of state in Washington. Most of those occurring prior to Dec. 2, 1837, will be found in a letter of the Hon. John Forsyth, secretary of state, to the president, and published with the annual message of that year, in House Doc. 3, 2d Sess. 25th Congress.

Abstract of a Statement marked A, accompanying Mr. Forsyth's Report upon Mexican Relations, dated Dec. 2, 1837, and addressed to the President.

66 CLAIMS ON MEXICO.

"No. 1. A. P. Cheuteau and J. DeMun.-These persons, who were chiefs of a hunting expedition, were, with their companions,

arrested by authorities of Mexico in 1817, carried to Sante Fe, where they were imprisoned and otherwise maltreated. The value of the property lost by them was represented to be $30,380 74).

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"No. 2. Brig Cossack.· This vessel and her cargo were seized by the authorities of Mazatlan, in Mexico, in January, 1818, and condemned by a decree (of what authority is not stated) dated 21st July, 1819. Upon a reconsideration or appeal of the case, it was decreed, on the 27th of July, 1821, that the master and crew should be liberated, and that the money deposited in the national treasury on account of her sale and that of her cargo, should be paid over to the master. This decree was never executed.

The cargo of

"No. 3. Cargo of the Ship Louisa, of Providence. this ship, consisting of arms, cordage, and flour, with other provisions, was seized at the port of Acapulco, in 1821, by orders of Don Augustin de Iturbide, and appropriated to the use of the Mexican government. Feb. 1, that government decreed payment of damages to the owners, in the sum of $48,363. Only $14,418 has been paid.

"Nos. 4, 5, 6.-These claims are for the unlawful seizure and detention of specie belonging to American citizens, amounting in all to over $25,000. It was taken by officers of the Mexican government, under orders of the emperor Iturbide, while on its way to Vera Cruz, in the year 1822.

"No. 7. John K. West and others. -The claim in this case is for a bill of exchange drawn by Don Jos. M. de Herrera, as agent of the Mexican government, and for supplies sent by his direction.

"No. 8. Brig Liberty, Myric, Master. This vessel was seized by the Mexican government schooner Iguala, off Alvarado, on the 4th of May, 1824. The captain and crew were ill treated, and sent up to town. The claim in the case is for vessel and freight; the Atlantic Insurance Company, in New York, having insured the former at $3500, and the latter at $4000. The vessel sailed from Havana in March, 1824, and arrived at Pensacola on the 14th of April, where she paid about $12,000 duties on her cargo. She sailed thence with a regular clearance for Alvarado. After her seizure there, a judicial tribunal directed the brig to be restored, but no freight was

paid. The vessel, however, had been so long detained, and so badly taken care of, that but sixty-four dollars were realized after paying expenses of sale. To the claim preferred by Mr. Poinsett for indemnification, the Mexican secretary of state replied, that officers who make captures are liable to be sued in Mexican courts of justice, in case they proceed illegally.

"No. 9. Brig Cato. - This vessel was boarded at Alvarado, on the 25th of August, 1824, by some twenty men, who rifled her of $2701 in specie, and of numerous other articles. After threatening the life of the captain, and wounding two of the crew, they set the vessel adrift by cutting her chain cable, which, with the anchor, were lost. The claim in this case is for $5544.

"No. 10. Schooner Leda. In this case $988 are claimed for the detention of this vessel some two and a half months at Tobasco, in 1824, and for the unlawful exaction of tonnage duties in August of that year.

"No. 11. Borie & Laguerenne and others. — This claim on the Mexican government is for a return of an overcharge of duties levied and collected contrary to prior usage, if not to law, on the importation of several parcels of American cotton, imported into Alvarado in November and December, 1824, and January, 1825, by merchants of Philadelphia and New York. The amount claimed is $32,721, with interest from February, 1825.

"No. 12. Schooner Felix, and Cargo. This vessel sailed from New Orleans, in August, 1825, and on the 7th of September, anchored in the Soto la Marina roads or harbor, where she was taken possession of on the same day by the Mexican vessel Tampic. She was condemned on the ground that she had articles on board of Spanish origin. Her insurance was $30,000.

"No. 13. Brig Delight, of Philadelphia. A double Claim. - This vessel, in March, 1825, touched at San Blas, where the officers of the custom-house compelled the conveyance of her cargo over a mile to the custom-house stores, and its reshipment. The damage to the owners was estimated at $3716 48. The same vessel entered the port of Sisal in September of the same year, where she was seized

by the collector with an armed force, part of her cargo forced on shore, her hatches broken open, and the cargo taken to the customhouse. Estimate of damages arising from the condemnation and sale of the cargo, &c., $15,692 50. The Mexican secretary of the treasury had assured Mr. Poinsett that an order had been given to release the vessel and cargo. Mr. Poinsett pronounced this one of the most flagrant and unjustifiable violations of the property of American citizens on record.

"No. 14. Schooner Fair American, of Baltimore. This vessel arrived at Refugio, January 4, 1826, was admitted to entry, landed her cargo under permit, and in part removed it to town, when the whole was seized by the Mexican authorities, and confiscated and sold. The Mexican consul at Baltimore afterwards requested of his government that the property might be restored, and the owner indemnified. Mr. Wilson's claim for damages is $50,225 21, the justice of which was understood to be acknowledged by the Mexican government. To the demand of the American minister for damages in this case, the Mexican government made evasive replies, and made no answer to his last note on the subject.

"No. 15. Schooner Superior, of New York. This vessel was seized by a Mexican gun-boat in the port of Laguira, on the 23d of February, 1826, on a charge of smuggling. The American minister disproved this charge by the fact that the vessel, after trial, was not condemned. An authenticated account accompanies Mr. Poinsett's letter, setting forth the unjustifiable manner of the seizure, the absence of all proof, and the wanton and shameful violence exercised towards the crew. The delay caused by the seizure of the vessel, and her abandonment on account of her becoming wormeaten, are the grounds of this claim.

"No. 16. Andrews's Claim for Seizure of Wax at Alvarado. — This claim arises from the seizure by the Mexican government of $1631 25 worth of wax, on the pretence that it was of Spanish origin. This wax was originally shipped from St. Petersburgh to New York, and from thence to Vera Cruz, when, not finding a ready sale after entry, the owners determined to reship it, but were prevented by the authorities.

"No. 17. Ship Franklin and Brig Barrian, of Boston. — These vessels formed an expedition, owned and fitted out by sundry persons of Boston and Salem, at an expense of $90,175 02. In pursuance of their instructions, they traded at various places on the coast of California, paying the customary duties. On the 16th May, 1828, they were forbid further trading till the whole cargo was landed at St. Diego, and all duties paid to the commanding general of California. Declining to do this, they proceeded to the Island of St. Catalina, to land and cure hides. Concluding to return to St. Diego, they then, under a written agreement with the governor, landed all their cargo not left at the island, which was estimated at $47,292, the duties of which were $13,005 30. Eschandia, the governor, then gave them a written permission to continue their trade, and to remove the property left at St. Catalina. Subsequently, on asking for their ship's papers, they were refused, on the pretext that the vessels had been to St. Catalina, contrary to some regulation of which they knew nothing. Notwithstanding the charge of smuggling was proved false, the Mexicans put a guard on board the vessel, and commenced removing her cargo. The captain at length refusing to allow any more to go on shore, no condemnation of the vessel being shown, the Mexican officers and soldiers went ashore. The next day the vessels put to sea under a destructive fire from the fort. They left debts due from individuals and missions, to the amount of $38,919 04, besides goods deposited as security for duties, which, with the packages taken from the ship, run up the whole claim for damages to $53,657 54. The whole property was afterwards confiscated without judicial proceeding.

"No. 18. Eli E. & J. S. Hammond were jointly concerned in a trading expedition to Santa Fe in 1828. When within a few miles of that place, they hired a Mexican to carry a part of the goods with mules, on account of the roughness of the road. This man was arrested on a charge of smuggling, and the goods were confiscated, although the Mexican was liberated. He informed the authorities of the circumstances of the case, but the goods were not restored. Hammond claims $7000 for his loss. Hammond also claims $6000 damages for injuries to his business in 1830, by the conduct of Mexican authorities, whereby great expense was incurred, much time lost, and the sale of his goods to a profit destroyed.