The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906 Page: 32
ix, 294 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
England and France had instructed their ministers at Washington
to protest against it. This action was not to be taken, however,
until the annexation treaty should be ratified, and hence the protest
was apparently never made. The new agitation of annexation
seems to have taken England by surprise, for it had been thought
that the known anti-annexationist views of President Houston
were a sufficient guaranty that no proposals for annexation would
be considered. England and France were acting in concert on
the Texas question, as Aberdeen told Smith at the time. Aber-
deen, when he first heard of the annexation treaty, seems to have
felt that he had been tricked, but Smith was able to set the matter
before him an a light more favorable to Texas. Smith expressed
to Aberdeen his personal opinion that if England and France
would compel Mexico to make peace with Texas Texas would be
willing to reject annexation. Mexico was now on less cordial
terms with England than formerly on account of commercial re-
strictions laid on foreign commerce by the former. There was
talk of Mexico's being compelled by England and France to re-
move the restrictions, and for a time diplomatic relations between
England and Mexico were broken off. On June 24 Aberdeen in-
formed Smith that if the annexation treaty failed of ratification
by the United States Senate (which had actually happened on
June 8) England and France would be willing to enter into a
"diplomatic act" with Texas, the United States, and Mexico, set-
tling the boundaries of Texas and guaranteeing its independence,
and he added that if Mexico refused to accede to the act they would
force her to acquiesce in it. The result of such an act would have
been to guarantee Texas against molestation from Mexico on condi-
tion of her giving England and France a negative on the annexa-
tion of Texas to the United States. Smith advised against the ar-
rangement, thinking that Texas would lose more than she would
gain by it. The Texas government was willing to negotiate with
England on the subject, but insisted on negotiating in Texas. This
last point was still unsettled when Smith was granted leave of
absence and George W. Terrell appointed to occupy temporarily
his position. Terrell in January, 1845, brought the matter fairly
before Lord Aberdeen, who expressed his willingness to carry on
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 9, July 1905 - April, 1906, periodical, 1906; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101036/m1/36/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.