As Mr. King, under the discretion given to him, did not think it best at

that moment to make a formal complaint of the conduct of the French

government, it became necessary for Mr. Buchanan to encounter the

intrigues of the British and French diplomatic agents in Texas to

prevent the government of that country from acceding to the proposal of

annexation. Satisfied that the people of Texas, with a very near

approach to unanimity, desired the annexation, Mr. Buchanan, with the

approbation of the President, instructed the representative of the

United States in Texas, Major Donaldson, to assure the government and

people of that republic that if they accepted the terms of annexation

offered by the joint resolutions of the American Congress, they might

rely on the United States to make fair and equitable arrangements with

them on all points not covered by those resolutions. He also despatched

to Texas other trustworthy persons, on whom he could rely, in an

unofficial character, to watch the movements of the British and French

agents, and to aid Major Donaldson in counteracting them. The Texan

Congress was not in session when the resolutions of our Congress were

received there. Whether action would be taken upon them with sufficient

promptness to prevent foreign interference from encouraging Mexico to

invade Texas, depended upon the willingness of the executive of Texas to

call that body together before its usual time of assembling. That

interference would be attempted by the English and French agents, the

American Government was well assured. That England would take the lead

in efforts to make the government and people of Texas prefer

independence to annexation to the United States, and that France would

second these efforts, there could be no doubt. There could be as little

doubt that, whatever might be the motive of either power, there could be

no solid justification for their interference between the United States

and a country which had been practically independent of Mexico for nine

years. There was no just ground on which any European power could assume

that the United States was dealing unfairly with Mexico; and it should

have been remembered that there were then pending questions between the

United States and Mexico, quite independent of this matter of Texas,

with which no foreign power could have the least right to interfere, and

which the Government of the United States might find it necessary to

settle along with the questions of Texas. Nevertheless, an intrigue was

now set on foot in Texas, by the British agent, Captain Elliott,

seconded by the French agent, M. Saligny, to induce the executive

government of Texas to accept the guarantee of England and France that

Mexico should be made to acknowledge the independence of Texas, provided

that her annexation to the United States should be refused. An offer to

make Texas independent was actually obtained from the power then ruling

in Mexico. That this was done with the knowledge and consent of the

President of Texas is true. He was, as he afterwards said, willing to

have such an offer drawn from Mexico, because he believed that it would

strengthen the cause of annexation and place it on higher grounds with

the world. The truth is that the executive government of Texas and

leading persons in that country hesitated for some time in regard to the

best course to be pursued. They listened to the representations of

Captain Elliott and postponed the call for the meeting of their Congress

at his instigation. Elliott believed that if the Texan authorities

should delay action, or even if the terms of annexation offered by the

United States should now be accepted, the consummation would be defeated

in the next session of the American Congress, and that in the meantime

England and France would come forward and guarantee the independence of

Texas. He made these representations to the President of Texas early in

May, and he and M. Saligny then left the country, without making known

whither they were going; and at about the same time it became known that

the Texan secretary of state had suddenly departed for Europe. It was

believed in Texas that Elliott had gone to the United States to confer

with some of the prominent opponents of annexation, and to bring back

proofs that the whole measure would be finally rejected by the Congress

and people of the United States. These occurrences aroused the people of

Texas to such a degree of earnestness and determination, that their

executive was compelled to call the Congress together, for the purpose

of summoning a convention to ratify the annexation and to form a State

constitution. The meeting of the Congress was fixed for the 16th of

June. When this was announced, the people of Texas in general regarded

the annexation as settled, and they turned their attention to the

subject of their new constitution.[99]

The Texan Congress, when assembled, adopted the basis of annexation

proposed by the United States, and made provision for a convention to be

held at Austin on the 4th of July. Captain Elliott was then convinced

that further opposition would be useless. He was reported to have said:

“The hunt is up. I retire and await orders from Her Majesty.” The

annexation was ratified by the convention in the month of July.

There were of course no United States troops in Texas at the time of

this action of its convention; but after this event it was thought best

to place a small force there, and this force was to arrive in the early

part of July. But before the convention had assembled, namely, in the

last week in June, Mexican troops were put in motion towards the Rio Del

Norte. A new election of a President was to take place in Mexico before

the close of the year. Whoever might aspire to that position would find

his chief means of success in stimulating the war feeling of the nation.

In the latter part of July, Mr. Buchanan had left Washington for a short

absence in Pennsylvania. He was recalled by the following letter from

the President, inclosing one from Mr. Bancroft, the Secretary of the

Navy:

[PRESIDENT POLK TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

WASHINGTON CITY, August 7, 1845.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I enclose to you a letter from Mr. Bancroft, and will add to what he has

said, that the information from Mexico comes in so authentic a shape as

to entitle it to entire credit. The strong probability is that a Mexican

army of eight or ten thousand men are now on the western borders of

Texas. Should they cross the Del Norte, as no doubt they will, our

forces at present in the country will be inadequate to resist them in

their march upon Texas. Orders will be issued to-day to increase our

forces as far as our disposable troops will enable us to do so. The

necessary despatches from your department to Major Donaldson, or (in the

event that he has left the country), to the United States Consul at

Galveston, will of course be prepared by Mr. Mason. I wish it were so,

that while these important steps were being taken, we could have the

benefit of your advice.

Before you left you requested me to inform you, if anything should occur

which in my judgment would make it necessary for you to return earlier

than you intended. We are in daily expectation of receiving further

information from Mexico, which may, and probably will, confirm the

statement given you by Mr. Bancroft. The news of the action of the

convention of Texas was despatched from New Orleans to Vera Cruz by the

Mexican Consul on the 15th ult., and would probably be conveyed to the

city of Mexico by the 21st or 22d. Upon receiving this information, some

decisive action no doubt took place.

In addition to these reasons, which make it very desirable to have the

benefit of your counsel, I must confess that the developments which are

taking place, as well as my daily reflections, make it, in my opinion,

more and more important that we should progress without delay in the

Oregon negotiation. You may consider me impatient on this subject. I do

not consider that I am so, but still I have a great desire, that what is

contemplated should be done as soon as it may suit your convenience. I

have felt great reluctance in saying this much, because I desired not to

interfere with your arrangements during the short recreation which you

have taken from your arduous labors.

I am, very faithfully and truly, your friend,

JAMES K. POLK.

P. S.—If you determine to anticipate the period of your return to

Washington, you will see the propriety of leaving Bedford in a way to

produce no public sensation as to the cause of your departure. That it

may not be known that you leave on receiving a letter from me, I will

not place my frank on this letter.

Yours, &c.,

J. K. P.

[MR. BANCROFT TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

WASHINGTON, August 7, 1845.

MY DEAR MR. BUCHANAN:—

You remember I told you, before you left, that Baron Gerolt[100]

predicted war on the part of Mexico. Yesterday morning, at the

President’s request, I went to see him, and found him very ready to

communicate all his intelligence, concealing only the name of his

informant, and desiring that his own name may not be used.

His letters came by way of Havana, and Charleston, S. C., and are from

Mexico city, of the date of June 28th. He vouches for the entire

authenticity and good opportunities of information on the part of his

correspondent.

General Arista, with three thousand men, chiefly cavalry, himself the

best cavalry officer in Mexico, had been directed to move forward

towards the Del Norte; but whether he had orders to cross the Del Norte

was not said.

At San Louis Potosi, General Paredes, the commander-in-chief, had his

general quarters, with an army of seven thousand men. These also were

directed to move forward, in small divisions, towards the Del Norte.

From Mexico City, General Felisola, the old woman who was with Santa

Anna in Texas, was soon to leave with three thousand men to join the

army of Paredes.

Thus far positive information. It was stated by the baron as _his

opinion_ that Mexico would certainly consider the armistice with Texas

broken by the action of the Texas convention; that she would shun

battles and carry on an annoying guerilla warfare; that she would

protract the war into a very expensive length; that she would agree to

no settlement of boundary with us, but under the guarantee of European

powers.

On these opinions I make no comment. The seemingly authentic news of

hostile intentions has led Governor Marcy,[101] under proper sanctions,

to increase his little army in Texas, and Mr. Mason has written all the

necessary letters. I do not see but that the sun rises this morning much

as usual. The President, too, is in excellent spirits, and will grow fat

in your absence, he sleeps so well _now_, and sees nothing before him

but the plain, though steep and arduous path of duty.

So wishing you well,

Your faithful friend,

GEORGE BANCROFT.

Mr. Buchanan had already determined what course to advise the President

to pursue in regard to Mexico. This was to re-establish diplomatic

relations with her, by sending a minister with special instructions and

authority to negotiate a settlement of all questions between the two

countries, including the western boundary of Texas. To select a suitable

person for this mission and send him into Mexico with an uncertainty of

his being received, or of his being received and treated with, was a

delicate matter. The appointment had to be made, and to be kept a

profound secret, until it could be known what reception the minister

would meet with. It was settled early in the autumn that this

appointment should be offered to Mr. John Slidell of Louisiana. His

acceptance of the position was made known to the President in September.

The following private letter to Mr. Buchanan is somewhat amusing in its

earnestness respecting the secrecy which had been enjoined upon the

writer:[102]

[MR. SLIDELL TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 25, 1845.

MY DEAR SIR:—

You can scarcely imagine how much I was surprised to-day by receiving

your most kind and friendly letter of the 17th inst.

I have never at any time believed that we should have war with Mexico. I

have looked upon the rhodomontades of the press and the manifestoes of

secretaries, as alike having but one object in view, the presidential

contest; and in this point of view I consider it of little consequence

who shall be elected. He who had been most strenuous in proclaiming war

as indispensable to the vindication of Mexican honor, would, when

installed in the presidential chair, “roar you an ’twere any

nightingale.” The truth is that although I have no very exalted idea of

...... yet I cannot imagine that any one who could possibly be elected

president, could have so small a modicum of sense as to think seriously

of going to war with the United States. But strong as I have been in

this belief, I had not thought that the government would have been

prepared so soon to receive from us an accredited agent. I think with

you that they desire to settle amicably all the questions in dispute

between us. But will they dare in the present distracted state of the

country, to give so great a shock to what is their settled public

opinion. They have stimulated popular prejudice to a degree that it may,

under any appearance of disposition to treat with us, be fatal to the

new administration. But of this you have infinitely the best means of

judging, and I shall hold myself in readiness to receive your

instructions. I feel most deeply the importance of the mission, and I

confess, now that it is probable I shall soon enter upon it, I have some

misgivings about it. I hope that you will not consider this as an

affectation of modesty and humility. I assure you I am perfectly

sincere, but will probably grow in better favor with myself when the

work is fairly commenced. I am truly grateful to you for the proof of

your friendship and esteem, and am flattered by the confidence reposed

in me by the President. I shall endeavor to justify them. The President

has enjoined on me the strictest secrecy; he even goes so far as to say

that I should not communicate what he had said to me to a single human

being. I have told him that I was obliged to make an exception in favor

of Mrs. S., but as I could not well enter into particulars with him on

this subject, pray let me explain it to you. If I had made an unreserved

pledge to the President, I could not have felt myself at liberty to hint

it even to my wife. I could have made no preparations for my voyage

without her knowing it. We were making our arrangements to proceed

shortly to Washington. If I were mysterious with her, she would be

shrewd enough to guess what was in the wind. She would have some theory

to guide her, because you may recollect that when you first broached

this subject with me, I told you that I had no secrets for her. Now I am

not one of those who believe that a woman cannot keep a secret. I know

_she_ can, for I am sure that she has never breathed a word, respecting

it, to any one, not even to her mother. Besides she is living in the

country, where we seldom see any one, and where there is little

gossiping. Pray, explain this to the President, who might perhaps

consider my disobedience of his injunction as an inauspicious omen in

the opening of my diplomatic career. It is a matter of great regret to

me not to have the opportunity of full personal communication with you

before going to Mexico. I feel that it will be a great disadvantage, but

I must rely upon your alleviating it as far as possible by your

communications and instructions.... I will not fail to convey your very

flattering message to Mrs. S. I think I must get her to write to you to

remove an impression which I fear you have taken up. She will tell you

that I am one of the best tempered men living. I have written in great

haste, having barely had time to save the mail.

Believe me, my dear sir, most truly and respectfully,

Your friend and servant,

JOHN SLIDELL.

Mr. Slidell was at Pensacola in the middle of November (1845), prepared

to embark for Vera Cruz, on his way to the City of Mexico. He was

somewhat disturbed by a rumor that Mr. Buchanan was about to retire from

the State Department, but this proved to be unfounded. His instructions

came from Mr. Buchanan, and were received before he reached the capital

of Mexico, where he arrived in the early part of December. At this time

there were two unpaid instalments of money which became due from Mexico

to the United States in April and September, 1844, under a convention of

April 11th, 1839, and a large amount of claims of citizens of the United

States against Mexico which had arisen subsequent to that convention.

Mr. Slidell was now authorized to make an offer that the Government of

the United States would assume the payment of all just claims of

citizens of the United States against Mexico down to that time, which

could be established by proofs according to the principles of right and

justice, the law of nations, and the existing treaties between the two

countries. He was further authorized to include in the new treaty which

he was to negotiate an adjustment of the western boundary of Texas; to

stipulate for the payment by the United States, in cash, of an ample

equivalent for such a settlement of the boundary as the United States

desired, and to agree to make the payment on the exchange of

ratifications. By such a settlement, while the United States would

secure incalculable advantages, Mr. Buchanan believed that Mexico would

be more than indemnified for the surrender of her doubtful right to

reconquer Texas, and for the establishment of the boundary which the

Government of the United States intended to claim.

In the latter part of the year (1845), General Paredes procured himself

to be declared President of Mexico, by a process which is described in

the following private letter to Mr. Buchanan, written by Mr. Slidell

from the City of Mexico:

[SLIDELL TO BUCHANAN.]

MEXICO, January 10, 1846.

MR DEAR SIR:—

I am sending to Vera Cruz, to be forwarded by the first merchant vessel

my despatch respecting the instalments of April and September, 1844.

The facts are not as completely developed as I could have wished, but it

is impossible to obtain any further information at present......

Paredes, notwithstanding his solemn protestation that he would accept no

place in the government, has been elected president by a junta of

notables of his own choice, and, as you may readily imagine,

unanimously. The government is now really, although not in form, a

military despotism. Many of the states have already given in their

adhesion, and from present appearances, Paredes is likely to establish

his authority throughout the republic. He seems to possess considerable

energy, and he is believed to have pecuniary honesty. He will probably

maintain himself for some time, if he can arrange the difficulties with

the United States. Unless he does this, he will soon find himself

without means to pay his troops, for the capitalists will not advance

him a dollar in the present state of our relations. So soon as he was

elected, I applied wholly through the consul, to the military

commandant, for an escort—the cabinet was not appointed for some days

after his election. The commandant replied that while Paredes was in

opposition to the government, he could not furnish the escort. On the

7th inst. the Minister of Foreign Relations was appointed, when Mr.

Black applied in writing for an escort, and received yesterday a reply

“that public order not having been yet completely restored, the

president could not spare the force necessary for an escort.” Now Puebla

has submitted to the government, and nearly the whole of the army is in

the capital and on the road to Vera Cruz, this answer looks very much as

if the government did not wish him to leave the city, and I should not

be at all surprised to receive very soon an intimation of a disposition

to receive me.

General Almonte is Secretary of War, and understood to be the soul of

the cabinet. The Secretary of State is Mr. Castillo y Zurgas, who was

for some years chargé des affaires at Washington. I met with him at

Jalapa, where I saw him much, and conversed freely with him during my

stay of ten days. He is an intelligent and well educated man, and seemed

to have the most friendly feelings towards the United States, and spoke

without reserve of the absolute necessity of a friendly settlement of

our difficulties. I have not seen him since his appointment, and avoid,

indeed, all intercourse with people in any way connected with public

affairs, because I am well satisfied that any manifestation of a

disposition to approach the new government would only tend to

procrastination, if not defeat my object. I think that I shall have a

better chance of succeeding than with the former government, for Paredes

has the nerve to carry through any arrangement that he may consider

expedient, and calculated to promote his continuance in power.

Believe me, my dear sir, faithfully,

Your obedient servant,

JOHN SLIDELL.

Although at the date of this letter it appeared probable that Paredes

would receive the general submission of the people of Mexico, and that

he must be regarded as at least the _de facto_ President, it could not

be considered that a counter-revolution of some kind was not likely to

take place. The Mexican Congress was to assemble on the 1st of January

(1846). Before Mr. Buchanan had received Mr. Slidell’s private letter of

January 10th, he sent to Mr. Slidell the following official despatch:

[MR. BUCHANAN TO MR. SLIDELL.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

(No. 5.) WASHINGTON, January 20, 1846.

SIR:—

I have the honor to transmit herewith your commission as Envoy

Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of

America to the Mexican Republic, under the appointment made by the

President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Your despatches, Nos. 2 and 3, under date respectively, the 30th

November and 17th December, have been received; and I shall await the

arrival of others by the Porpoise with much solicitude. Should the

Mexican government, by finally refusing to receive you, consummate the

act of folly and bad faith of which they have afforded such strong

indications, nothing will then remain for this Government but to take

the redress of the wrongs of its citizens into its own hands.

In the event of such a refusal, the course which you have determined to

pursue is the proper one. You ought, in your own language, so to conduct

yourself as to throw the whole odium of the failure of the negotiation

upon the Mexican government; point out in the most temperate manner the

inevitable consequences of so unheard of a violation of all the usages

which govern the intercourse between civilized nations, and declare your

intention to remain in Mexico until you can receive instructions adapted

to the exigencies of the case. This sojourn will afford you an honorable

opportunity to watch the course of events, and avail yourself of any

favorable circumstances which, in the mean time, may occur. Should a

revolution have taken place before the first of January, the day

appointed for the meeting of Congress, an event which you deemed

probable; or should a change of ministry have been effected, which you

considered almost certain; this delay will enable you to ascertain the

views and wishes of the new government or administration. The desire of

the President is that you should conduct yourself with such wisdom and

firmness in the crisis, that the voice of the American people shall be

unanimous in favor of redressing the wrongs of our much injured and long

suffering claimants.

It would seem to be the desire of the Mexican government to evade the

redress of the real injuries of our citizens, by confining the

negotiation to the adjustment of a pecuniary indemnity for its imaginary

rights over Texas. This cannot be tolerated. The two subjects must

proceed hand in hand. They can never be separated. It is evidently with

the view of thus limiting the negotiation, that the Mexican authorities

have been quibbling about the mere form of your credentials; without

even asking whether you had instructions and full powers to adjust the

Texan boundary. The advice of the Council of Government seems to have

been dictated by the same spirit. They do not advise the Mexican

government to refuse to receive you; but, assuming the fact that the

government had agreed to receive a plenipotentiary to treat upon the

subject of Texas alone, they infer that it is not bound to receive an

envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary without this

limitation.

In the mean time, the President, in anticipation of the final refusal of

the Mexican government to receive you, has ordered the army of Texas to

advance and take a position on the left bank of the Rio Grande, and has

directed that a strong fleet shall be immediately assembled in the Gulf

of Mexico. He will thus be prepared to act with vigor and promptitude

the moment that Congress shall give him the authority.

This despatch will not be transmitted to you by the Mississippi. That

vessel will be detained at Pensacola for the purpose of conveying to you

instructions with the least possible delay, after we shall have heard

from you by the Porpoise; and of bringing you home in case this shall

become necessary.

By your despatch No. 2, written at Vera Cruz, you ask for an explanation

of my instructions relative to the claim of Texas on that portion of New

Mexico east of the Del Norte; and you state the manner in which you

propose to treat the subject in the absence of any such explanation. I

need say nothing in relation to your inquiry; but merely to state that

you have taken the proper view of the question, and that the course

which you intend to pursue meets the approbation of the President.

I am, &c.,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

It is now necessary to recur to the military movement referred to in

this despatch. In August, 1845, General Zachary Taylor was encamped at

Corpus Christi, in Texas, in command of a small American force of

fifteen hundred troops. In the following November, his force was

recruited to about four thousand men. On the 8th of March, 1846, acting

under the President’s orders, given in anticipation of a refusal of the

Mexican authorities to receive or to treat with Mr. Slidell, Taylor

moved towards the Rio Grande, and on the 28th his little army reached

the banks of that river, opposite the town of Matamoras. In a despatch

written on the 12th of March to Mr. Slidell, Mr. Buchanan said:

It is not deemed necessary to modify the instructions which you have

already received, except in a single particular; and this arises from

the late revolution effected in the government of the Mexican Republic

by General Paredes. I am directed by the President to instruct you not

to leave that republic, until you shall have made a formal demand to be

received by the new government. The government of Paredes came into

existence not by a regular constitutional succession, but in consequence

of a military revolution by which the subsisting constitutional

authorities were subverted. It cannot be considered as a mere

continuation of the government of Herrera. On the contrary, the form of

government has been entirely changed, as well as all the high

functionaries at the head of the administration. The two governments are

certainly not so identical that the refusal of the one to receive you

ought to be considered conclusive evidence that such would be the

determination of the other. It would be difficult, on such a

presumption, in regard to so feeble and distracted a country as Mexico,

to satisfy the American people that all had been done which ought to

have been done to avoid the necessity of resorting to hostilities.

On your return to the United States, energetic measures against Mexico

would at once be recommended by the President; and these might fail to

obtain the support of Congress, if it could be asserted that the

existing government had not refused to receive our minister. It would

not be a sufficient answer to such an allegation that the government of

Herrera had refused to receive you, and that you were therefore

justified in leaving the country after a short delay, because, in the

meantime, the government of Paredes had not voluntarily offered to

reverse the decision of his predecessor.

The President believes that, for the purpose of making this demand, you

ought to return to the City of Mexico, if this be practicable,

consistently with the national honor. It was prudent for you to leave it

during the pendency of the late revolution, but this reason no longer

continues. Under existing circumstances your presence there ought to be

productive of the most beneficial consequences......

The time when you shall ask to be received by the government of Paredes

is left to your own discretion. The President thinks this ought to be

done speedily, unless good reasons exist to the contrary. Your demand

ought to be couched in strong but respectful language. It can no longer

be resisted on the ridiculous pretence that your appointment has not

been confirmed by the Senate......

In regard to the time of your departure from the Mexican Republic, the

President is willing to extend your discretion. In the present

distracted condition of that republic, it is impossible for those at a

distance to decide as correctly what ought to be your course, in this

particular, as you can for yourself upon the spot. The intelligence

which you have communicated, “that the department of Sinaloa has

declared its independence;” “that the garrison of Mazatlan has

pronounced against Paredes;” and “that the authorities of the

departments of Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Michoacan, and

Queretero have protested in strong terms against the usurpation of

Paredes; and refusing to continue in the exercise of their functions,

have dissolved,” may well exercise an influence on your decision.

Indeed, you suppose “that appearances justify the belief that Paredes

will not be able to sustain himself until the meeting of the constituent

congress; that his government will perish from inanition, if from no

other cause. In this critical posture of Mexican affairs, it will be for

yourself to decide the question of the time of your departure according

to events as they may occur. If, after you shall have fulfilled your

instructions, you should indulge a reasonable hope, that by continuing

in Mexico, you could thus best subserve the interests of your country,

then you ought to remain, provided this can be done with honor. The

President reposes entire confidence in your patriotism and discretion,

and knows that no temporary inconvenience to yourself will prevent you

from performing your duty. It may be that when prepared to take your

departure another revolution might be impending, the result of which

would enable you, by a timely interposition, to accomplish the great

objects of your mission. Besides, in the present distracted condition of

Mexico, it is of importance that we should have an able and discreet

agent in that country to watch the progress of events, and to

communicate information on which this department could rely. Jalapa is

probably not so favorable a position for observation as the City of

Mexico.

We have received information from different quarters, in corroboration

of your statement, that there may be a design on the part of several

European powers to establish a monarchy in Mexico. It is supposed that

the clergy would generally favor such a project, and that a considerable

party already exists among the people, which would give it their

countenance and support. It is believed by many that this party will

continue to increase in consequence of the successive revolutions which

may afflict that country, until at length a majority of the people will

be willing to throw themselves into the arms of a monarch for security

and protection. Indeed, rumor has already indicated the king, in the

person of the Spanish Prince Henry, the son of Francisco de Paula, the

rejected suitor of Queen Isabella.

These may be, and probably are, idle speculations; but they come to us

in such a shape that they ought not to be wholly disregarded. It will be

your duty to exercise your utmost vigilance in detecting this plot and

its ramifications, if any such exists......

This despatch will be transmitted to you by the Mississippi (which is

placed at your disposal), and will be delivered to you by an officer of

that vessel. There will always be a vessel of war at Vera Cruz, ready to

bear your despatches or yourself to the United States.

In conclusion I would remark that it is impossible, at this distance

from the scene of action, to anticipate all the contingencies which may

occur in a country in a state of revolution, as Mexico is at present,

and to provide for cases of sudden emergency. Much must necessarily be

left to the discretion of the envoy, who, on the spot, can take

advantage of circumstances as they may arise: and the President is happy

in believing that you possess all the qualifications necessary for the

crisis.

P. S.—To provide for possible contingencies, two letters of credence are

transmitted to you: the one directed to General Paredes by name, and the

other to the President of the Mexican Republic.

The government of Paredes refused to receive Mr. Slidell, and he

consequently retired from Mexico to New Orleans, and on the 9th of April

he wrote thence to Mr. Buchanan the following private letter:

[SLIDELL TO BUCHANAN.]

NEW ORLEANS, April 9, 1846.

MY DEAR SIR:—

When I left here a few months since I little thought, or rather I never

dreamed, that I should so soon return. Had I found a fair field in

Mexico, I believe that I would have justified your good opinion and the

confidence which the President, through your recommendation, reposed in

me. But the fates have willed it differently, and I return an

unsuccessful, and of course in the estimation of the public generally,

an inefficient diplomatist. I flatter myself that such will not be your

opinion and that of the discreet few, and I must console myself with

that reflection. Be that as it may, I shall never cease to entertain the

warmest recollections of your kindness and friendship.

I hope to hear from you in a few days; if you express any desire to see

me in Washington, I shall leave immediately. I shall probably defer my

departure until the end of the month. I most sincerely hope that your

anticipations of embarrassment to the Oregon question from my return

will not be realized, but if such be the case, the publication by the

Mexican government of my correspondence rendered the mischief

irreparable.

Mrs. Slidell begs me to present her to your recollection. She will soon

have an opportunity of thanking you in person for your many kind

remembrances.

Believe me, my dear sir, most faithfully, your friend and servant,

JOHN SLIDELL.

Within a little more than a month after the date of this letter a state

of war was declared by an act of Congress to exist between the United

States and Mexico. This peculiar declaration came about in consequence

of events which had occurred after Taylor had taken up a position on the

Rio Grande opposite to Matamoras. The Mexican General Arista, commanding

a large force at Matamoras, menaced Taylor with hostilities, if he did

not retire to a position beyond the river Neuces. The threat was

disregarded, and, in a short time, a small reconnoitering party of

Taylor’s troops were attacked by the Mexicans and captured. This

occurrence, and the refusal of the Paredes government to receive Mr.

Slidell, were regarded by President Polk as tantamount to actual war. By

a special message sent to Congress on the 11th of May, 1846, Mr. Polk

officially informed Congress of all the facts which he regarded as

establishing a state of war, and asked for its recognition. On the 12th

of May the act recognizing the war was passed, and provision was made

for its vigorous prosecution. The main justification relied upon by the

administration for the presence of an American army on the Rio Grande

was, that it was encamped upon territory which had already become part

of the United States, and that it was the duty of the United States

Government to defend this territory from invasion, especially as the

only existing executive government of Mexico had refused to receive an

American envoy, through whom an adjustment of all questions of boundary

and all other pending difficulties could have been negotiated.

[SLIDELL TO BUCHANAN.]

NEW YORK, July 1, 1846.

MY DEAR SIR:—

As I have not heard from you, and have seen no notice in the newspapers

of the matter which was the subject of our last conversation, I feel

happy in the belief that your application to Mr. A. has resulted in a

satisfactory explanation. By this time you must have decided the

question so important for the country, as well as decisive of your

future political fortunes, whether you will remain in your present post

or accept the vacant judgeship. You might not think me altogether a

disinterested adviser were I to urge you not to leave the Department of

State; and indeed I myself feel that a certain degree of selfishness may

render me a somewhat unsafe counsellor; but of one thing I am sure,

unless some absolute necessity exist for an immediate decision, you

should not take a step which cannot be recalled, and which you may

hereafter regret, until the tariff question has been definitively acted

on. That stumbling block out of your way, I should most deeply regret to

see you shelved upon the Supreme Bench.

There may be here and there in this part of the world, some extreme

54–40 men who disapprove of the settlement of the Oregon question, but I

have not as yet met with one of them; and if we acquire California, the

specimens will be equally rare in the Western States; it will soon be

indeed an extinct race, and two years hence it will be as difficult to

make an issue on that question as on the Mexican boundary.

Our people are essentially practical; they look ahead only; no party can

be organized on matters that are past. The President has made most

judicious promotions in the army and selections for the volunteers, and

now that he has got rid of this source of uneasiness, he must feel

himself in very smooth water. We have most shocking weather. So soon as

it becomes a little more summer like, we shall go to Saratoga. Mrs.

Slidell begs me to present her regards.

Believe me, very faithfully yours,

JOHN SLIDELL.

War having been declared General Scott demanded of the Government, as

his “right,” to be appointed to lead our armies into Mexico. Whether it

was because his “right” was recognized, or because he was regarded as

the fittest general for the chief command, his appointment to that

position was made, notwithstanding the brilliant victories gained by

General Taylor as soon as the war opened.[103] The military history of

the war does not come within the scope of this work. During its

progress, the American Government kept a diplomatic agent in Mexico, Mr.

N. P. Trist, ready to agree on terms of peace. The treaty of Guadalupe

Hidalgo, negotiated between him and three plenipotentiaries on the part

of the Mexican Republic was signed on the 2d of February, 1848, and was

ratified by the Senate of the United States on the 16th of March. It

ceded to the United States New Mexico and California, and settled the

western boundary of Texas. The private letters given below are of the

years 1845 and 1846, and with them the present chapter must close.

[SLIDELL TO BUCHANAN.]

NEW ORLEANS, November 5, 1846.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I reached home about a fortnight since, and was met by the unpleasant

intelligence of our overwhelming defeat in Pennsylvania. I have

persuaded myself that this can only be a temporary reverse, and that

Pennsylvania must very soon retake her position in the Democratic ranks.

I should feel much better satisfied, however, to have this opinion

confirmed by you. I do not know what to think of Santa Anna’s movements,

letters, etc. It may be that he is only mystifying his countrymen, but

the more reasonable solution seems to me to be that he has not found

himself as strong as he expected, and has not thought it prudent to

declare his real sentiments. I believe that he is fully impressed with

the necessity of making peace, but whether he will be able to carry out

his views is another question. When I last saw you, the course to be

pursued, if Mexico refused to treat, had not been decided upon. It is

time that this question should be decided. The present system of

operation involves the most enormous expense. That would be a minor

consideration were adequate results produced. I believe that if the

Mexican Congress refuse to treat, the war may be ended in the course of

the next year by the capture of the capital. This, if pursued with vigor

and under a competent commander-in-chief, would be the better course. I

doubt if General Taylor possesses the capacity for operations on so

extended a scale; and yet, until he has committed some grave and

palpable error, it would be a very unsafe step to supersede him. I have

seen many persons from the army; they all think Worth the most competent

man. Kearney, perhaps, is equal to Worth. I do not know enough of Butler

to have any fixed opinion as to his capacity. The fate of the

administration depends on the successful conduct of the war.

There are but two modes of carrying it on—to march upon the capital with

such a force as will ensure success, or to hold the northeastern

provinces and California, with the ports of Vera Cruz and Tampico,

keeping up a rigid blockade of both coasts, and requiring the enemy to

supply all the provisions we may require. For this purpose we should not

require more than fifteen thousand effective men. If we do not march

upon Mexico, it is every way essential to take San Juan de Ulloa. The

navy should have an opportunity to distinguish itself, and the people

_must_ have something to huzza about.

There is a Doctor Mesa here, just arrived from Victoria, the capital of

Tamaulipas. He brings letters, stating him to be a man of character and

influence, and that he is authorized to speak the sentiments of the

leading men of Tamaulipas. He says that the people of that department

are willing to separate from Mexico, if they can have assurances of

protection from us, and that they would be joined in the movement by the

neighboring departments. I of course did not pretend to say what would

be done by the administration, but suggested that at present it would be

indiscreet to guarantee a northern confederation, but that we would be

under the strongest obligations of honor, in making a treaty of peace,

to stipulate for full protection in person and property to all those who

might take part in the movement. He will proceed to Washington, and I

have taken the liberty of giving him a letter of introduction to you. I

shall patiently await the expiration of the month of December; if by

that time Mexico has not signified her wish to treat, I shall no longer

continue to look forward to a renewal of my mission. I have written to

the President, and I have felt it my duty to say what I have heard from

almost every quarter, that General —— (of whose qualifications I

personally have no knowledge whatever), does not command the confidence

of the army. Do you know General Pillow? Has not the President

exaggerated views of his military talents?

Believe me, my dear sir, very faithfully and respectfully,

Your friend, etc.,

JOHN SLIDELL.

[MR. SLIDELL TO PRESIDENT POLK.]

NEW ORLEANS, January 6, 1847.

MY DEAR SIR:—

The tenor of all the advices from Mexico is such as to satisfy me that

[the Mexican] Congress will not authorize the opening of negotiations,

and that we are not to have a peace until its terms are dictated by a

victorious army before the walls of the capital. The public interest

may, and probably will, require that you should make, under such

circumstances, other arrangements for future negotiations than those

which you had heretofore proposed, and my object in now addressing you

is to state, as I do with the most entire frankness, and without the

slightest reservation, that I do not expect or desire that my previous

mission, or any understanding that has existed in regard to its

resumption, should interfere in the remotest degree with any new

selection that you may consider it expedient to make. While I shall ever

entertain the warmest sense of the distinguished and unsolicited mark of

your good opinion in charging me with one of the most important trusts

which has ever been confided to a citizen of the United States, I feel

that I should be unworthy of its continuance if I permitted any claims

of mine, real or supposed, to embarrass you for a single moment.

General Scott, when he passed through this place, considered himself, in

consequence of my relation to Mexican affairs, at liberty to communicate

in confidence to me, as he did fully, his plan of the campaign, and I

was highly gratified to learn that Vera Cruz was to be attacked by a

force that will insure the possession of that most important position. I

am not so well satisfied, however, that the shortest road to Mexico is

the best, and while I take it for granted that the topography, resources

and climate of Mexico have been maturely studied, and due weight given

to all the considerations which should decide the choice of routes, yet

I can not but feel some misgiving as to the result. At all events, the

most abundant resources of men and materials should be placed at his

disposition. There is one subject connected with this, of which I have

long been thinking of writing to you, but have been restrained by

feelings which you can understand and appreciate. I fear that the

commander of our squadron has not the qualities of energy and decision

which are imperatively required for an emergency like the present.

Commodore Conner is a brave man, an accomplished officer, and a good

seaman, but his health is, and has been for some time past, so much

impaired as, in a great degree, to neutralize these qualities; the sound

mind, in military matters especially, is not sufficient without the

strong body; and frequent violent attacks of a most painful nervous

affliction, the tic-douloureux, cannot fail to affect the clearness of

his perception and the vigor of his action. To my mind this has been

abundantly demonstrated by his two abortive attempts at Alvarado. On

this point there is little difference of opinion among the officers

under his command. Alvarado might have been taken without difficulty on

either occasion. He does not command the confidence of those who serve

under him, and confidence is the vital principle of success. I make

these remarks with great diffidence and still greater reluctance, for I

have the highest regard for Commodore Conner, as an officer and a

gentleman, and were it not for his bodily ailments, there are few men in

the navy whom I consider better fitted for so important a command. I

trust that you will pardon me for suggestions which may perhaps be

considered misplaced, but I am sure that you will do justice to the

feeling that has dictated them. Your own fame, the success of your

administration, the great interests of the country are staked upon a

brilliant termination of the war, and the feelings of an individual are

but dust in the balance of such momentous issues. This is the scale in

which I wish my own to be weighed, and be assured, my dear sir, that so

far as I am concerned, I shall most cheerfully and cordially acquiesce

in any decision which you may think proper to make.

Yours ever,

JOHN SLIDELL.

[HON. RICHARD RUSH TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

SYDENHAM, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, October 7, 1846.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I am half ashamed to be again sending you little bits of my

correspondence from abroad; but you, who have so much to do with heads

of governments and nations, will know how to appreciate even general

expressions from those who live in daily intercourse with sovereigns,

and are constantly hearing them talk—yet whose discretion and training

guard them against mentioning names. The enclosed letter, received by

the last steamer, is from Lady Lyttleton, and I naturally am disposed to

infer that the words I have pencilled, mean Queen Victoria; or that they

_include her—at the least_. This Lady L. is the widow of the late Lord

Lyttleton, and daughter of Earl Spencer, and holds the post of chief

governess to the queen’s children; for which she was selected from among

England’s highest women for virtues and accomplishments, to aid in

forming their principles and conduct. Her home is chiefly Windsor

Castle, but she dates now from “Osborne House,” the queen’s marine

residence at the Isle of Wight, where she was at the time of writing,

with the queen and children. The queen is understood to hold her in the

greatest esteem and confidence: and the little pencilled words, dropping

from such a quarter in this private letter, do seem to me to import that

this little successor to Queen Elizabeth personally likes your treaty,

full as much as when Lord Aberdeen writes officially that it is

approved; and so may be taken as a veritable addition to all the other

evidences you have on that head; and this must be my excuse for sending

the letter to you—which can be returned at your perfect convenience. I

need not stop to explain the little allusions it has to my family or

self, as they are the mere common courtesies of an amiable lady. The

“niece” in question, is the wife of Colonel Bucknall Estcourt, known to

you as lately in our country under a commission from the British

government.

This good lady’s letter done with, I am tempted to go on and remark, as

somewhat growing out of it, that if those who could doubt the

President’s consistency in agreeing to the Oregon treaty, or yours in

supporting him in it, be not convinced by the articles now in course of

publication in the _Pennsylvanian_ (following up the powerful

discussions in the _Union_ on the same point), that there _was_ perfect

consistency, we may say of them what Hume says of the sturdy Scotch

Jacobites who declared for the innocence of Mary of Scots; viz, that

they are beyond the reach of reason and argument, and must be left to

their prejudices......

I have just been reading my last _Union_. The Santa Fe army of the West

appears to have done, and to be doing, nobly; but war, war, war all over

Mexico, by land and sea, say I for one. All else is leather and prunella

just now, and would be inhumanity to ourselves in the end. If a blow can

be struck at Vera Cruz, so much the better. _That_ would tell through

the world; which, otherwise, _will_ say, in spite of the different

circumstances, that the French took the castle, whilst we, with all our

naval resources so much nearer, could not. A thousand of our seamen

would do the business. Let them land by night, armed to the teeth,

during, or at the close of, a furious bombardment, we having bomb

vessels and heavier ships perhaps than now, and they will go right into

the works—nothing can stop them—carrying all before them as surely as

Decatur succeeded at Tripoli, when, in the face of all their soldiers,

batteries, gun-boats, and the guns of the frigate, odds twenty to one

more against him than there would be against our squadron in the gulf,

he and his mere handful of gallant men, so signally triumphed. There are

Decaturs somewhere in our squadron now, or those who have their mantle.

Nothing more certain. They would put the gulf in a blaze of glory for

us, if you let them try it.

I have been writing a good deal for my little paper; ever a sort of

privilege to irresponsibility, joined, if not to entire ignorance, at

least to want of full knowledge. But I console myself with the

reflection that it must be ever a sort of relief to a high official man

with his hands full of engagements, on getting quite through a letter to

him, to find at last, as you do with this, that it makes no complaints,

taxes him with no business, nor even demands any answer.

And now I will conclude with begging you to accept the assurances of

esteem and friendship with which I desire, my dear sir, to subscribe

myself,

Very faithfully yours,

RICHARD RUSH.

[RUSH TO BUCHANAN.]

SYDENHAM, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, June 2d, 1846.

MY DEAR SIR:—

A rumor catches my eye in one of the morning papers that General Scott

has claimed of the administration his _right_ to lead our army into

Mexico. This may or may not be true. I am little inclined to believe all

I see in the newspapers, or the half of it; but I know what _is_ true,

viz: That when General Brown died, Scott _did_ claim, in the most

objectionable manner, his _right_ to succeed to the command of the army.

He addressed a series of letters to the Secretary of War, then Governor

Barbour,[104] to prove, as he confidently supposed that he did, his

alleged right, all of them written in a highly improper tone. One of the

members of the cabinet likened them, by a figure of speech, as I

remember, to taking the Government by the throat, and demanding its

surrender upon his own terms. Being then of the cabinet myself, invited

by Mr. Adams from the English mission, where I had been some seven

years, (in which country, to give the devil his due, I had observed the

military to be always _de facto_ as well as in theory, wholly

subordinate to the civil power, above all the supreme executive power),

I heard all his letters read, and confess that I was astounded at them.

So out of place were they conceived to be as addressed to a member of

the cabinet, and thus in effect to the President, that there were those

of the body (I am sure there was one) who would have been in favor of

striking his name from the army without more ado, and this in the face

of the gallant manner in which he did his duty last war in the field, on

the mere footing of the spirit of insubordination and dangerous temper

for a military man which these letters bespoke. In the end, as you know,

Macomb was appointed Brown’s successor, over both Scott and Gaines, for

the latter had put in his somewhat imperious claims too, urging it

offensively, though in a less degree than Scott. I presume that Scott’s

letters are on file in the War Department. The whole history of the

affair is curious. It would not do for me to write, or for me to make

public, but if ever the opportunity happens to occur to me in

conversation, you might be amused to hear some of its details. It came

near to breaking Mr. Adams’s cabinet to pieces at the time.

Has not the case occurred for the balancing principle we have been

threatened with, and might it not be well to forestall its application?

Prevention is better than cure. If we promptly get possession of the

Mexican capital, and make them sign a treaty doing us full justice at

last, it would be too late for Guizot and company to interfere. They

would see too clearly its utter hopelessness. “The burying would have

gone by,” as our Judge Yates was fond of saying. It would be the _a

posteriori_ argument rather than the _a priori_. These are crude

thoughts, occurring while I write, which, of course, you have all been

more fully weighing in Washington; but one more I must indulge in, not

crude, which is, that really our whole operations in regard to Mexico,

compared to the ultimatum of the French Minister Deffands, which

preceded the bombardment of Vera Cruz by Admiral Baudin and the Prince

de Joinville, quite naturally remind us of Fontaine’s fable of the

beasts who accuse each other of their sins. The lions, the wolves and

the bears are pardoned everything, while the lamb is devoured for

nibbling a little grass.

I had intended only to mention confidentially those letters of General

Scott which, if on file, may be seen by all; but I cannot conclude

without congratulating the President and yourself on General Taylor’s

victories as equally glorious and pure. They are the former by all the

best titles that can be laid to efficient and splendid achievements in

arms, with greatly inferior numbers, and the latter from having been

gained on our own soil in repelling hostile aggressions, following upon

“long continued and unredressed injuries.” A people who have thus

deliberately commenced a war upon this patient and long forbearing

Republic have surely invited its vigorous recoil upon themselves,

whatever the consequences to themselves. Such must be the calm voice of

history, pronouncing her judgment on well authenticated facts when party

spirit is forgotten.

I remain, my dear sir, very sincerely yours,

RICHARD RUSH.

[RUSH TO BUCHANAN.]

SYDENHAM, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, August 18,1845.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have to pray your excuse for the trouble of this letter.

I wish to have all the documents respecting Oregon that accompanied the

President’s message to the Senate of the 21st of July. They were given

in the _Union_, which I take, but so often miss, through one bad chance

or other at the post office, that I have not these documents; and as

they are generally published in the pamphlet form, I would feel greatly

indebted to you if (having a copy to spare) you would have the goodness

to direct it to me, as I know not where else to seek it. Sometimes I am

meditating one more volume on our relations with England, the Oregon

question closing the list of the historical ones growing out of our

revolution; and I desire at any rate to gather up the authentic

documents bearing on that question which seem to me, with the facts they

furnish, to supply the materials perhaps of some reflections also, at

this new and remarkable epoch in our affairs. On the whole, I think you

made a wise settlement of that long pending difficulty. My own

impression was ever very strong, that England was ready to appeal to the

sword, unless she got territory and advantages south of 49°; and I will

candidly own to you that she took up with _fewer_ at last than I

supposed she would have done. This I ascribe to the energy and whole

course of our Government since Mr. Polk came in, at which I was a little

startled at first; but it came out nobly, and what a fine prospect the

settlement now offers to us of intercourse with England, in connection

with our new tariff.

On this latter head, will not England now do something for our tobacco,

and become wholly liberal in the arrangements of her West India trade

with us? Our new tariff may well justify us in urging her on these and

other points in which she is still much behind the liberality of our own

system.

I am sincerely glad that your services are retained in the Department of

State. If I might claim to speak, I should say that it is due both to

your country and yourself, that, having accomplished so much of good in

that station already, you should continue in it to do more.

How ill-judged, I would almost say criminal, in the Senate, to have

refused the President the small sum he asked towards the executive plans

with Mexico! Reading lately a life of Mirabeau, I was much struck with a

remark quoted from Madame de Sévigné, that “_there is nothing so

expensive as want of money_.” What may be the executive plans precisely

in regard to Mexico, I of course know not; but I can conceive that to

have given the President those two millions in hand he asked for, might

have saved the ultimate expenditure of fifty or a hundred millions.

I remain, my dear sir, with sincere respect, very faithfully yours,

RICHARD RUSH.

[MR. PICKENS TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

EDGEWOOD (SOUTH CAROLINA), July 5th, 1846.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I owe you a letter; but, as in your last, you said you were so much

overwhelmed in business, I thought it would be wrong to inflict a letter

upon you until you might have more leisure. And as I see you have

disposed of the Oregon question and its difficulties, I suppose now you

must be resting upon your triumphs and honors, and have some time to

read a humdrum letter from a quondam friend, who assures you in advance

that he is not going to beg you for any office whatever.

You wrote me you were about to give a letter of introduction to me for

an English lady who was to travel South, etc. I looked a long time for

this distinguished visitor, and had my household put in order to receive

her, particularly as I heard she was about to write a “book,” and I

desired to figure largely in English history.

By the by, I see it stated by “letter-writers,” who now constitute a

distinguished fraternity illustrious for the intimate knowledge they

possess of everything, that you are going to England yourself, and I see

it also stated in the same quarter that you will take with you a very

brilliant cousin of mine. Now, I will not tell you how I think you will

represent us at the court of St. James, but I have no hesitation in

saying that she will do us honor in any court in Europe. Is this all

true? Where is King? Is he going to quit Paris? I hope if he comes home

he will bring a French lady—it would suit him well. He was a little

French before he went, and he must be very much so now. Tell him if he

does intend to bring out a lady, for God’s sake, let it be no French or

Italian countess. They say you were not satisfied with the settlement of

the Oregon question, but that you wanted more rocks, and ice, and

muskrats. I think it all turned out right, and would have been settled

much earlier if the “notice” had passed at the first of the session. I

know you are satisfied. I suppose it is about like what they used to say

of you in relation to the tariff, that you wanted thirty-six dollars a

ton on iron and prohibition on coal, etc., and yet I always knew you did

not care a fig for the tariff, except some of your people were rising

about it. I think I can tell what you do desire now above all things,

and that is the luxurious feeling of honest independence enjoyed in the

retirement of your beautiful homestead at Lancaster. If there is one

feeling sweeter to man than any other, it is, after leaving cabinets,

and courts, and politicians to breathe once more the pure air of one’s

native hills and valleys.

What are you going to do with the Mexican war? I hope there will be no

treaty without the acquisition of California. The loss of California to

Mexico will be nothing, as it will aid in consolidating her government,

and finally strengthen it, while its acquisition will be immense to us.

In fact we have already conquered it, as there is no force between us

and the North provinces to keep us out of it.

If we had California with its vast harbors, in the next fifty years we

could control the commerce of the Pacific, and the wealth of China and

India, and the future destiny of our glorious Republic would be to

accumulate as vast wealth and power on the Pacific as we have on the

Atlantic. Some people seem to have very tender consciences of late as to

conquests, etc. I should like to know if half the earth is not now owned

by the rights of conquests.

Some time since, when the Mexican war broke out, I wrote the President

cordially approving of what had been done, etc.; but I have never heard

a word. I hope he has no one to select letters for his eye, and to keep

others from him, as used to be done by others who preceded him. This

remark is suggested by the fact that I see lately some of his important

appointments in this quarter have been made from his bitterest and most

malignant opponents. I say this to you in confidence.

If you have time I should be glad to hear from you; and tell me who is

to be the next President; and who I must pull off my cap to shout for,

etc.

I expect to take my family North this summer, and if so may pass through

Washington on my way to Saratoga and the lakes. If nothing happens, I

may call to see you about the commencement of the dog-days, if you have

not left Washington before that. I believe I will also go to see Van

Buren, and console him for the split in the Democratic party of New

York, and the political death of Wright, etc. I always liked the stoic

indifference with which Van Buren took everything, and the easy way in

which he lolled in an armchair. He looked like he would make a good

fisherman. The truth is, he was a very firm and sagacious man, but made

very poor selections for office. If he had changed his cabinet, and

selected young, talented, and ambitious men he never would have been

turned out, but he had old men about him who loved ease as well as

himself.

I have written you a rambling letter, as I had nothing else to write. If

you had been a planter, I would have written you about cotton and our

crops. You know I am engaged entirely on my estates at present, and

solely occupied, thank God! in the finest and noblest pursuit, the

cultivation of the soil. And I hope, if they reduce the tariff, as they

ought to do, if there is any honesty at Washington, that I may be able

next year to sell my cotton at nine cents to some Pennsylvania

manufacturer, and get my iron from your iron-masters cheap enough to use

more ploughs and axes for next crop.

Very truly your friend,

F. W. PICKENS.[105]

The following lively letters were written by an English lady, who was a

good while in this country, and who soon afterwards published a little

book called “The Statesmen of America in 1846”:

[FROM MRS. MAURY.]

CINCINNATI, April 14, 1846.

MY DEAR MR. BUCHANAN:—

Your letter reached me shortly after my arrival in New Orleans, and at

once made Mrs. Maury a great lady at the St. Charles. I have been

anxiously waiting some information from various quarters, which might

decide my plans for the next few weeks, but as yet I have received none.

The Unicorn can hardly have sailed at the time we have supposed. I do

not wish to remove further from the seaports until I shall be assured

that my husband and his anxious charge do not yet require my presence. I

have, of course, no news of Dr. Hughes, and therefore have no idea when

and where he will wish me to meet him. Mr. Clay is still at St. Louis,

and his return to Lexington very uncertain. I have been suffering from a

slight indisposition for the last few days, and am not yet ready for

travelling. This is a tolerable list of perplexities for a lady. In

addition, I cannot avoid feeling great interest and some degree of alarm

at the scenes which have lately transpired in Congress.[106] ...

Winthrop is a gallant advocate, but neither his noble spirit nor his

truthful nature should be wasted thus. For Mr. Ingersoll, to whom, as

you know, my personal attachment is very strong, I have felt most

keenly; his temperature is warm, and his susceptibilities as exquisite

and acute as those of a woman; and I, who admire his mind, and enjoy his

wit, and love his worth, cannot endure to think of the abusive epithets

which Mr. Webster has heaped upon him. Nevertheless, I always considered

his first allusion to the affair of McLeod an indiscretion, and felt

certain from the first that evil would arise from it. I can only

attribute his turning back to that period, to the historical habits of

his mind, which led him to take a new view of affairs subsequent to that

event, from the information he had received from Governor Seward. The

Governor is intrepid, and will give the unvarnished truth, nothing

adding thereto, nor diminishing aught therefrom. I cannot for one moment

conceive that Ingersoll has been instigated by personal resentment,

because he was in the habit of expressing to me his private opinions of

every public man in Washington, and I have never heard from his lips one

vindictive word against Mr. Webster....

To proceed, however, to a less painful theme. I like Cincinnati much

better than New Orleans, feeling myself here once more in America

instead of in some shabby old town of Brittany, listening to _patois_

French (vulgarly called _gumbo_ French in New Orleans). This city

presents all the interest which a growing community ever possesses, and

Cincinnati is an infant Hercules. We receive from Judge McLean every

attention and hospitality, and I find the Judge as attractive and

estimable in private life as he is gracious and dignified on the bench.

The society here, as elsewhere in America, is excellent, and confirms my

preconceived opinions that good society is the same in Europe and in

America. At the hands of the excellent Dr. Purcell, the Catholic bishop,

I receive every indulgence; he has conducted us in person through his

various institutions, which are all prospering, and intends also to

accompany us to visit his Ursulines. From him I learned the striking

fact that there were present in the cathedral at high mass on Easter

Sunday, 600 persons who are converts to the Catholic faith. Here, as

elsewhere, the Sisters of Mercy, by their devotion and virtue, afford us

proof that even on earth there exist angelic natures. The cotton

factories flourish in Cincinnati, and even at Madison, a small town we

passed on the Ohio, I saw the black tall chimneys, indicative of the

successful progress of the labor going on at its base. It seems to me,

from all I have seen, that notwithstanding all the expected (may I say

hoped for?) approaches to free trade, that the manufactures of this

country are now too firmly established to suffer. I think you know me

well enough to be assured that my zeal for the welfare of America is

second only to that I feel for the prosperity of that fair and distant

Isle to which I owe my birth, which has been the cradle of my children,

and the happy home in which for eighteen years I have been the cherished

wife of a husband to whom time has made me more dear. How ardently I

wish that every feeling of affection which I shall ever preserve for the

people of America were shared by my countrymen.

I hope yet to visit Mrs. Catron—instead of challenging each other for

the sake of the chairman, we will take your advice, and share his esteem

and regard between us. He being our Oregon territory, and each lady

having determined not to give notice—of course the treaty of joint

occupancy must remain in force. Moreover, on my side, I shall refuse

arbitration, either by citizen or sovereign—and I think Mrs. Catron will

be of my mind, viz., that the division of a lover’s heart is not a

proper subject for interference by foreign powers. Should we ultimately

find that we cannot _get along_ with the joint occupancy, but that we

are continually shouldering one another, as you, dear sir, are friendly

to us both, will you give us permission to ask your advice, as to the

most satisfactory mode of dividing equitably between us the heart and

head of the honorable gentleman in dispute. I presume, of course, that,

like the Oregon territory, he will be content with being contended for

by two fair dames, without putting in one word about his own ultimate

destiny.

I hope, dear Mr. Buchanan, that I have not tired your patience. I am

writing in bed, and still somewhat of an invalid; separated from home,

it is a source of great pleasure to write to one who has expressed so

much regard for me as you have done.

Believe me always, most sincerely and gratefully,

Your obliged friend,

SARAH MYTTON MAURY.

Will you give my love to Mrs. Plitt, and say to her that I wished for

her presence much yesterday, when Judge McLean was eulogizing the

talents and virtues of the Secretary of State.

[FROM MRS. MAURY.]

WASHINGTON, Friday Morning, 10 A. M., June 10, 1846.

MY DEAR MR. BUCHANAN:—

I would have called to see you this morning, but had so much fear of too

frequently intruding on your patience that I abstained.

I have had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Calhoun upon the

subject of his going out to England. He urged his age, his various

engagements, the allotment he had already made of the few remaining

years of his life, the use that he can render to his country by staying

here, and many other reasons. I replied that his age was no objection,

that he is not old, and that no duties could be higher than those he

would fulfil by going to England; that the effects of his mission would

be not only beneficial at the present moment, but throughout all future

time; and urged him by every principle of patriotism, utility and

devotion, to accept the trust. He yielded at length to my entreaties,

and said: “If I can be convinced that it is my imperative duty, then, as

duty is above all things, I will go.”

I can scarcely describe the emotions with which I heard this concession,

and requested his permission, which was at once granted, to mention it

publicly. Of course you are the first to whom I have named it.

On my return, Mr. Calhoun will do himself the pleasure of visiting you,

and has promised me the happiness of accompanying him. He wishes to see

you in friendly style at your own house, and in an evening; so I shall

inquire from Mr. Plitt if you are at home. I hope to be here in less

than ten days.

I have seen Mr. Winthrop and Mr. Crittenden. Both highly approve of Mr.

Calhoun for the appointment to England. Also Mr. Benton, who would

cordially assent; and Mr. Hannegan expressed the highest respect for Mr.

C. The two first answered for their party and the country. Benton

thought it would be a universally popular movement. Hannegan included

his party in his own expressions of respect.

I could not, my dear Mr. Buchanan, leave Washington happily without

telling you these circumstances, and confiding them to your wisdom and

experience for any use you may deem them eligible.

Looking forward to seeing you shortly again, I remain always, with the

highest respect, your obliged and grateful friend,

SARAH MYTTON MAURY.

[FROM MRS. MAURY.]

WASHINGTON, June 14, 1846.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I was sorry to find that you have suffered from indisposition. I went to

Coleman’s last night to inquire for you, but found Mr. and Mrs. Plitt

absent.

Will you tell me that you are well, or at least better? and will you let

me come and see you? and say how soon.

I have a letter, or rather a lecture, from the bishop this morning; not

on religion, but morality. He has, however, made me a proposition so

singularly flattering and unexpected that I wish to tell you of it.

If you are going to England, how delighted I should be if you were to go

in the same steamer with myself and my son, the Great Britain of the

first August. But perhaps you would have a ship of war.

I think you would like England and the English upon a near acquaintance,

and your sincerity of purpose and warmth of heart would interest their

esteem and affections most strongly. But how could you be spared from

home, for there is _no other Secretary of State in the Cabinet_? My

hopes of the Ministry to England, if you do not go, are for Calhoun,

because he could set the people there right on the slave question, and

also, I believe, he would do much to get the duties on tobacco reduced

in England.

Though the treaty (making) is on the 49th, I shall, in writing, enforce

the superior claims of America, and treat the whole arrangement as a

concession on the part of the United States. Yours it will be, yours it

must be; and however unpopular may be this doctrine in England, such

inevitably will be the ultimate conclusion. To-morrow Mrs. Madison takes

me under her wing to pay my farewell respects to Mrs. Polk. I will also

call on the President for five minutes before I leave Washington.

The Emigrant Surgeon’s Bill will be lost, but, thanks to the admonitions

of the excellent bishop and to your expressions of praise and sympathy,

I shall bear the disappointment without repining, and trust to do more

for those unfortunates at a future time.

How can I ask you to read this long note, and to see me too? But you

have made me bold by indulgence, for you have never refused me any one

request.

Believe me, my dear Mr. Buchanan, most respectfully your sincere and

grateful friend,

SARAH MYTTON MAURY.

[FROM MRS. MAURY.]

BARNUM’S HOTEL,}

BALTIMORE, Friday, July 10, 1846 }

MY DEAR MR. BUCHANAN:—

I received your kind and considerate note, and have laid it with the

letter you wrote to me in New Orleans to carry home for my husband.

Mr. Calhoun called at eleven, and stayed some time with me. Though I

assured him over and over again that I only repeated, both to the

President and to you, the exact words which he himself had used, and

that I mentioned at the same time distinctly that the whole

responsibility was mine,—and mine alone,—still Mr. Calhoun is fearful

that you should misunderstand him—I therefore said that in a few days I

promised myself the pleasure of writing to you, and that I would again

mention to you his scrupulous delicacy of feeling on this subject. I

thought of you, dear Mr. Buchanan, on Sunday, and wished that I could

have been present at your interview—the conversation of two

distinguished men is the highest privilege and advantage that a woman

can enjoy, and I should have derived more pleasure from listening than I

ever do from talking;—though my reputation for silence is not, I fear,

very well established—at least so says our playful friend Ingersoll.

We have visited Emmittsburg since we left Washington, and all the

institutions in Baltimore—among others the Penitentiary, where they

permitted three English prisoners to come and speak with me—they were

well looking men, all acknowledging the justice of their punishment, and

apparently cured of their evil propensities. This evening we take the

boat for Philadelphia, a cooler and pleasanter mode for travelling than

the railroad, and shall arrive about four in the morning. After spending

Sunday there we shall reach New York on Monday afternoon.

This hotel has many guests at present, among them are some Creole

families—all very pleasant and intelligent—they are full of anecdotes of

the war, and all the ladies are in love with the Captain-general La

Vega. Mrs. Commodore Stewart, of somewhat eccentric character, is of the

number, and informs me that the Mexican enjoys himself greatly, and is

most hospitably entertained.

How shocked you must have been at the death of Mrs. Ogle Tayloe. I had

sat an hour with her on Friday. She was then very ill, and our

conversation became serious. Our acquaintance had been only general, and

had entirely arisen from her hospitality towards me; but I imagine that

often previous to solemn events, we become intimate and confidential,

and thus it was with us, and truly she was a good and pious woman. From

what I learned at Mrs. Madison’s door on Saturday, there is much to fear

both for her and her niece, and how sad it is to think of. Sometimes I

am led to marvel at the singular favor which has been hitherto granted

to me, that of perfect health to all my little ones, and restored health

to myself and son during our long absence from home. When I shall arrive

there and find all well, I shall not fail to write and tell you, for I

flatter myself that the advances which I have made in your good opinion

will never be obliterated by my absence, whether temporary or permanent,

and truly I shall ever hear of you either as presiding in the councils

of the Republic, or adorning the ease and elegance of private life, with

sincere and heartfelt interest.

I paid my respects to-day to the Chief Justice;[107] he bestowed a

delightful half hour upon me, and gave me his parting benediction and

kindest wishes. His health is much improved since the winter.

In Baltimore as in Washington the same perplexity exists about a

Secretary of State. No one is spoken of, and it would almost seem that

people do not realize your resignation. _Must_ it be so? You know that

in England we have abandoned the precedent of the minister’s retiring on

a change of measures. Such, if I remember right, was the course of Earl

Grey, he withstood even the majorities against the Reform Bill, and

continued at the helm.

To make Mr. Calhoun feel satisfied that you should understand him

thoroughly, I have written the above, but you have encouraged me to

speak freely with you on all matters, and therefore I shall add as _my

supplement_ to his message, that in case you should see the advantage of

Mr. Calhoun’s holding office, _I sincerely hope that you and the

President will make out a strong case, and overrule his delicacy;

besides, he is very powerful_. My confidence in him is as unlimited as

it is in you, for you are both equally noble, finely tempered, faithful

and pure.

Dear Mr. Buchanan, do not forget me, for I shall relate in England the

considerate solicitude which you have exercised in my behalf. At your

hands I have received all the assistance, all the protection which I had

anticipated from the minister of my country, and my advice to all who

like myself are alone and unattended will be, trust yourselves to the

courtesy of the Americans, they will never fail you.

Always believe me, most sincerely, most gratefully,

Your English friend,

SARAH MYTTON MAURY.

P. S.—I think I should add in confidence to you that should any

difficulties arise out of the Mexican war between the United States and

England, Mr. Calhoun would consider it his _duty_, if requested by the

President, to give his services in an official capacity;—of course I

leave it to your judgment, to use this information as you think best,

and I believe Mr. Calhoun would at once acquiesce, should such a case

present itself.

[FROM MRS. MAURY.]

LIVERPOOL, November 3, 1846.

MY DEAR MR. BUCHANAN:—

I am wearying to write you a long letter, and first let me offer you my

best congratulations on the recent successes in Monterey;—this Mexican

war must give you much anxiety, from the various difficulties which

General Taylor has had to encounter in a country scarcely known, and

where the climate was new and therefore trying to his troops. I was

delighted to observe that the President had made offers of peace,

because such a step is worthy of a great, and powerful, and magnanimous

nation; thus a wise parent offers to his refractory child, or a

forbearing friend to his companion, constant and kindly proposals of

peace, pitying the recklessness and stupidity which continue to prompt a

refusal of their proffered tenderness.

The ill-fated Great Britain carried myself and my doctor home in safety.

Our passage was agreeable, and the recollection of it makes me feel much

for the ship, and for her commander. Poor Captain Hawkens had taken

leave of his wife, who was not expected to live many hours, just before

he sailed. She has since rallied, but only for a season. In a few

moments he seemed to lose everything that would render life

desirable—his fortune and his fame, and the partner of his life. There

is no doubt that the Great Britain had outrun her reckoning. My husband

who is the chairman of the Marine Insurance Company has voted in favor

of giving her a chance through the aid of a well-experienced engineer;

but nothing can be done until the spring, and she will have much to

suffer during the winter, besides the danger of rusting.

I have had a most pleasant chit-chat letter from Mrs. Plitt, giving me

all the details of our various friends; I have also heard from the

bishop who is still suffering from the refractory tooth, and still with

extraordinary pertinacity refusing “to pluck it out, and cast it from

him.” I am going this day to write and upbraid his “holiness” with

neglecting to practise what he preaches. Mr. Ingersoll tells me that he

is again a candidate for Congress, and I most earnestly hope he will be

successful on account of the vexatious affair which occurred in the

spring. Nothing has contributed more to my happiness than your

gentlemanly and considerate expressions of unabated regard for my

guardian. His letter is like himself, unreserved in confidence, and

always a most pleasant mingling of smiles and tears.

I called with my husband to pay our respects to Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft.

They had a stormy passage, and Mrs. B. was suffering from the effects of

it. The American Chamber of Commerce, of which my husband is the

treasurer, waited upon the minister with their best wishes and welcome.

He made a very appropriate speech, and acquitted himself extremely well.

His manners are less popular than those of McLane, but I predict that he

will be highly esteemed and respected here. Mrs. B. is quite a nice

woman, and the American ladies have a naïveté which I hear is much

admired as a contrast to the sameness of manner which necessarily exists

among the aristocratic ladies of an old country. They see none but the

artificial phases of society.

I have been in London a month, and have had an interview with the

commissioners of the board of emigration, Mr. Elliot and Mr. Rogers.

They entered fully into the subject of the Emigrant Surgeon’s Bill. I

told them your opinion, and gave them among other documents the report

of the expenses of whaling vessels for sickness; they regard it as a

very important statement in our favor. I believe them both to be in

earnest, and the more especially as they requested me to procure for

them various kinds of information relative to the supply of surgeons

having taken out diplomas in Liverpool, Dublin, New York, etc. Of course

I have lost no time in setting the requisite machinery to work. The

commissioners frankly stated that the shipowners would make the same

difficulties that Mr. Grinnell had conjured up on the other side. As the

bill will have to go through parliament, of course it will be some time

before I hear anything from the board; but as soon as I do, I shall

hasten to inform you who have been so valuable an ally to me.

Accompanied by my husband, I had afterwards an interview with Lord

Palmerston, and after showing him the letter which I wrote in January

last from Washington, on the subject of Pakenham’s unfitness for his

position there, I fortified the report by several anecdotes. The

secretary looked perplexed, heard me most patiently, and when I had

ended my story, endeavored as well as he could to defend his

representative. As far as respectful politeness allowed me to go, I

entirely differed from him, and I said that he was quite unequal in

capacity to the men he had to deal with; that he knew nothing of

commerce; received neither the Americans nor the English at his house;

had quarrelled with the chairman of foreign relations in the House of

Representatives; and in fact that this government should send one of

their foremost men to Washington with rank, wealth, good manners, and

ability to carry him through.

Lord Palmerston then observed:

“Well, they have got more than they bargained for.”

Mrs. M.—They will have the whole of Oregon very soon, my lord.

Lord P.—Do you really think so?

Mrs. M.—Certainly, and the Pope is doing all he can to help them. He has

just divided the Oregon into an archbishopric and eight bishoprics, and

the Irish and German emigrants will pour in by thousands.

Lord P.—I had not observed that. Is it so, indeed?

Mrs. M.—Undoubtedly.

Here laughing, I rose to take leave. The viscount was extremely

courteous, and expressed much pleasure at having made my acquaintance.

It is somewhat strange that I should have had the opportunity of

expressing these sentiments to yourself and Mrs. Walker in Washington,

in the presence of the British minister, and also in England to the

secretary for foreign affairs.

And now, my dear Mr. Buchanan, I am going to my old trade of begging

favors, and have still a long story to tell you by way of introduction.

I have wished to prepare a work with the title of “An English Woman’s

Opinions of America,” in compliance with the gratifying wishes of my

friends both here and in America; but I cannot get this ready for some

months, for you know I have eleven children, and found much to do for

them on my return, besides I have had much to do for my husband in the

way of business, and the daily congratulations of my numerous friends

here to receive, and to return.

In the meantime, however, I am trying to get ready the “Statesmen of

America,” that is, my own sketches of their characters, etc., with

extracts from their works or speeches. While reading over to my husband

the two charming letters you have written to me, it occurred to me that

I would ask your permission to place them before my friends here to show

that the American statesmen are as elegant in their private

correspondence as they are able in their public documents. I have made a

mark with a pencil through the opening of the paragraph relating to Mr.

Calhoun; but I should dearly like to publish your opinion of him. Mr.

Panizzi of the British Museum Library is in love with these letters, and

he is head authority in all literary matters. I enclose them for your

perusal, because I have thought you might wish to see them before

granting me permission to publish them; but whether you grant me this

permission or decline it, pray restore me the letters. I cherish with

jealous care every memorial of those who made me so happy when among

them.

My husband begs that you will accept his most grateful and respectful

thanks for all your goodness to me. Forgive me, dear Mr. Buchanan, this

unconscionable letter and its long weariness, and believe me always most

respectfully and affectionately your friend,

SARAH M. MAURY.

[FROM MADAME CALDERON.[108]]

NEWPORT, August 1st, 1846.

DEAR MR. BUCHANAN:—

As I see a letter for Calderon this morning in your handwriting, I think

it as well to let you know that he has gone to New York on business, in

case there should be any delay in his answer. Calderon tells us that

there is some chance of your coming to New York, which I hope is the

case. I am anxious to inquire into the progress of your domestic

affairs, and whether I have more chance than I formerly had of finding

Mrs. Buchanan when I call at your house. I think, now that you have

settled Oregon and the tariff, and are in a fair way of disposing of

Mexico, it is time for you to look at home, and bring about the

annexation of a certain fair neighbor of ours. Newport is very cool: we

have not had a single really _hot_ day. I hope you have stood the heat

of Washington better than Calderon did. We are living very quietly here

as to society, but with bathing, riding, fishing, etc., pass our time

very agreeably. We are at this moment _nine_ ladies in one house, and

_no_ gentlemen.

Pray remember me to Mr. Pleasonton and his family the next time you go

there, and especially to my friend Miss Clementina. My sister and nieces

beg their best regards, and I remain

Yours very truly and respectfully,

FANNY CALDERON DE LE BARCA.

-----

Footnote 97:

It should in justice be stated that, after it was known to Mr. Webster

in the winter of 1843–44, that a project was on foot for bringing in

Texas by treaty, he, not being at that time in any public position,

made great efforts to arouse a popular opposition to it in New

England, but without any success. It was not until after the executive

Government had become committed to the government and people of Texas

to promote the annexation by Mr. Calhoun’s plan of legislative action,

and after this plan had been submitted to Congress, that there began

to be any considerable opposition to it in the North, coming from

organized popular meetings. During the Presidential election of 1844,

although the Democratic party made the annexation of Texas one of the

measures to be expected from it in case of the election of its

candidate, the Whig party, in consequence of the attitude of their

candidate, Mr. Clay, on this subject, was not in a position to oppose

the annexation on account of the slavery existing in that country.

(Compare the detailed account of the annexation of Texas in the Life

of Mr. Webster, at the passages referred to in the Index, _verb._

“Texas.”)

Footnote 98:

This was not only the view entertained by President Polk and his

political party, but it was the deliberate opinion of Mr. Webster, who

may be said to have represented all the grounds of opposition to the

measure. He re-entered the Senate on the 5th of March, 1845, four days

after the passage of the joint resolutions for the annexation of

Texas. On the 11th he wrote a letter to his son, in which he expressed

with precision the whole of his objections to this measure, and

decidedly maintained that Mexico could now have no just cause for war,

if the measure should be accomplished. He exonerated Mr. Polk and his

cabinet from any desire to provoke a war with Mexico, and in regard to

foreign intervention he said: “Nor do I believe that the principal

nations of Europe, or any of them, will instigate Mexico to war. The

policy of England is undoubtedly pacific. She cannot want Texas

herself; and though her desire would be to see that country

independent, yet it is not a point she would seek to carry by

disturbing the peace of the world. But she will, doubtless, now take

care that Mexico shall not cede California, or any part thereof, to

us. You know my opinion to have been, and now is, that the port of San

Francisco would be twenty times as valuable to us as all Texas.” (See

the entire letter, Life of Mr. Webster, II., 249.)

Footnote 99:

Mr. C. A. Wickliffe, who was sent by Mr. Buchanan to Texas as a

confidential agent, and from whose report I have taken the principal

facts above related, writing from Galveston on the 6th of May, said:

“The subject of the terms of annexation, or the result of the measure

when Congress meets, no longer constitutes the topic of conversation

among the people. They speak of this as a subject settled. The

all-engrossing topic among them is the provisions of their

constitution to be adopted. Upon this subject I have been gratified to

listen to the views and opinions of many intelligent men. The deep

interest they feel in the work of making a constitution which shall

secure to Texas and her citizens the blessings of a good government

and social order, gives high hopes of their future destiny. I

undertake to predict that you will be surprised when you shall see

their constitution, emanating from a people of whose disorder so much

has been said.”

Footnote 100:

Prussian Minister.

Footnote 101:

Secretary of War.

Footnote 102:

John Slidell of New Orleans, at this time a Representative in Congress

from Louisiana, was the same person who became famous all over the

world, along with his colleague, Mr. Mason, during our civil war,

after they were seized from on board the British steam-packet Trent,

on their way as Confederate envoys to England, brought to the United

States, imprisoned, and afterwards released. Consult the Index,

_verb._ “Slidell.”

Footnote 103:

Colonel Taylor was promoted to the rank of major-general soon after

the first of his victories.

Footnote 104:

James Barbour of Virginia, Secretary of War under President John

Quincy Adams.

Footnote 105:

Afterwards governor of South Carolina during the first period of

secession.

Footnote 106:

This refers to the charges made by Mr. C. J. Ingersoll against Mr.

Webster. See the Life of Webster, Index, _verb._ “Ingersoll.”

Footnote 107:

Chief Justice Taney.

Footnote 108:

Wife of the Spanish Minister. She was a Scotch lady, _née_ Inglis.

-----

CHAPTER XXII.

1848–1849.

CENTRAL AMERICA—THE MONROE DOCTRINE, AND THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY.

To give an account of every public transaction with which Mr. Buchanan

was connected as Secretary of State, would be impracticable within the

limits of these volumes. But there remains one subject which must not be

overlooked—the affairs of Central America, and the position in which

they stood before the negotiation of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.

The policy of Mr. Polk’s administration towards the States of Central

America and on the subject of the Monroe Doctrine was shaped by Mr.

Buchanan very differently from that adopted by the succeeding

administration of General Taylor, whose Secretary of State was Mr.

Clayton, the American negotiator of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with Great

Britain. In 1845, when the war between the United States and Mexico was

impending, there was reason to believe that England was aiming to obtain

a footing in the then Mexican province of California, by an extensive

system of colonization. Acting under Mr. Buchanan’s advice, President

Polk, in his first annual message of December 2, 1845, not only

re-asserted the Monroe Doctrine in general terms, but distinctly

declared that no future European colony or dominion shall, with the

consent of the United States, be planted or established on any part of

the North American continent. This declaration was confined to North

America, in order to make it emphatically applicable to California. The

effect was that the British plan of colonization in California was given

up. Two years afterward, when the Mexican war was drawing to a close,

after the capture of the City of Mexico in September, 1847, Mr. Buchanan

turned the attention of President Polk to the encroachments of the

British government in Central America, under the operation of a

protectorate over the king and kingdom of the Mosquito Indians. In his

annual message of December 7, 1847, the President, after reiterating the

Monroe Doctrine, asked for an appropriation to defray the expense of a

chargé d’affaires to Guatemala, the most prosperous and important of the

Central American states. The appropriation was made, and in April, 1848,

the chargé was appointed. But before his departure a state of things

occurred in Yucatan, which made it necessary for the President to make a

fresh and solemn declaration of his purpose to maintain the Monroe

Doctrine at every hazard against Great Britain and all other European

powers. This was the war of extermination waged by the Indians against

the white population of Yucatan in 1847–48. If not actually incited by

the British authorities, the savages were known to be supplied with

British muskets. The whites were reduced to such extremities that the

authorities of Yucatan offered to transfer the dominion and sovereignty

of the peninsula to the United States, as a consideration for defending

it against the Indians, at the same time giving notice that if this

offer should be declined, they would make the same proposition to

England and Spain. By a special message sent to Congress on the 29th of

April, 1848, President Polk recommended to Congress the appeal of

Yucatan for aid and protection against the Indians, but he declined to

recommend the adoption of any measure with a view to acquire the

dominion and sovereignty over the peninsula. But it was necessary for

him to announce what would be his policy should Great Britain or Spain

accept a similar offer. Anticipating that England might take advantage

of such an offer to establish over Yucatan such another protectorate as

that which she claimed to exercise over the Mosquito coast, the

President, at the close of his message, recommended to Congress “to

adopt such measures as, in their judgment, may be expedient to prevent

Yucatan from becoming a colony of any European power, which, in no

event, could be permitted by the United States, and, at the same time,

to rescue the white men from extermination or expulsion from their

country.”

It then became necessary for Mr. Buchanan to consider how the removal of

the British government from their assumed protectorate over the Indians

of the Mosquito Coast could be best accomplished. He was convinced that

the best thing to be done would be to re-unite the Central States of

America in a federation, so that they could aid each other and be in a

condition to receive aid from the United States. Accordingly, with the

approbation of the President, on the 3d of June, Mr. Buchanan instructed

Mr. Hise, the new chargé to Guatemala, as follows:

“When the federation of the centre of America was formed, the Government

and people of the United States entertained the highest hopes and felt

the warmest desire for its success and prosperity. Its government was

that of a federal republic, composed of the five states of Guatemala,

Honduras, Nicaragua, St. Salvador, and Costa Rica; and its constitution

nearly resembled that of the United States. This constitution

unfortunately endured but a brief period, and the different states of

Central America are now politically independent of each other. The

consequence is that each of them is so feeble as to invite aggressions

from foreign powers. Whilst it is our intention to maintain our

established policy of non-intervention in the concerns of foreign

nations, you are instructed, by your counsel and advice should suitable

occasions offer, to promote the reunion of the states which formed the

federation of Central America. In a federal union among themselves

consists their strength. They will thus avoid domestic dissensions, and

render themselves respected by the world. These truths you can impress

upon them by the most powerful arguments.

A principal object of your mission is to cultivate the most friendly

relations with Guatemala. It is now an independent sovereignty, and is

by far the most populous and powerful of the states of the former

federation. Whilst representing your Government at Guatemala, however,

you will enjoy frequent opportunities of cultivating friendly relations

between the United States and the other states of Central America, which

you will not fail to embrace.

The enemies of free institutions throughout the world have been greatly

encouraged by the constantly recurring revolutions and changes in the

Spanish-American republics. They are thus furnished with arguments

against the capacity of man for self-government. The President and

people of the United States have viewed these incessant changes with the

most profound regret. Both our principles and our policy make us desire

that these republics should become prosperous and powerful. We feel a

deep interest in their welfare; but this we know can only be promoted by

free and stable governments. The enjoyment of liberty and the

maintenance of private rights cannot be secured without permanent order;

and this can only spring from the sacred observance of law. So long as

successive military chieftains shall possess the ability and the will to

subvert subsisting governments by the sword, the inevitable consequences

must be a disregard of personal rights, weakness at home, and want of

character abroad. In your intercourse with the authorities of Guatemala

and other states of Central America, you will not fail to impress upon

them our example, where all political controversies are decided at the

ballot-box.

I have no doubt that the dissolution of the confederacy of Central

America has encouraged Great Britain in her encroachments upon the

territories of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, under the mask of

protecting the so-called kingdom of the Mosquitos. We learn that under

this pretext she has now obtained possession of the harbor of San Juan

de Nicaragua—probably the best harbor along the whole coast. Her object

in this acquisition is evident from the policy which she has uniformly

pursued throughout her past history—of seizing upon every valuable

commercial point throughout the world, whenever circumstances have

placed this in her power. Her purpose probably is to obtain the control

of the route for a railroad and a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific

oceans, by the way of Lake Nicaragua. In a document prepared, as it is

understood, by Mr. Macgregor, and printed by order of the British

Parliament, which has been furnished to me by Mr. Crampton, her

Britannic Majesty’s chargé d’affaires to the United States, Great

Britain claims the whole of the sea-coast for the king of the Mosquitos,

from Cape Honduras to Escuda de Veragua. By this means she would exclude

from the Caribbean Sea the whole of Honduras south of Cape Honduras, and

the entire states of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, as well as the New

Granadian state of Veragua. Under the assumed title of protector of the

kingdom of the Mosquitos—a miserable, degraded and insignificant tribe

of Indians—she doubtless intends to acquire an absolute dominion over

this vast extent of sea-coast. With what little reason she advances this

pretension appears from the convention between Great Britain and Spain,

signed at London on the 14th day of July, 1786. By its first article,

“His Britannic Majesty’s subjects, and the other colonists who have

hitherto enjoyed the protection of England, shall evacuate the country

of the Mosquitos, as well as the continent in general and the islands

adjacent, without exception, situated beyond the line hereafter

described as what ought to be the frontier of the extent of territory

granted by his Catholic majesty to the English for the uses specified in

the third article of the present convention, and in addition to the

country already granted to them in virtue of the stipulations agreed

upon by the commissioners of the two crowns in 1783.”

The country granted to them under the treaties of 1783 and 1786 was

altogether embraced in the present British provinces of Belize, and was

remote from what is now claimed to be the Mosquito kingdom. The uses

specified in the third article of the convention were merely, in

addition to that of “cutting wood for dyeing,” the grant of the liberty

of cutting all other wood, without even excepting mahogany, as well as

gathering all the fruits or produce of the earth, purely natural and

uncultivated, which may, besides being carried away in their natural

state, become an object of utility or of commerce, whether for food or

for manufactures; but it is expressly agreed that this stipulation is

never to be used as a pretext for establishing in that country any

plantation of sugar, coffee, cocoa, or other like articles, or any

fabric or manufacture, by means of mills or other machines whatsoever.

(This restriction, however, does not regard the use of saw-mills for

cutting or otherwise preparing the wood.) Since all the lands in

question being indisputably acknowledged to belong of right to the crown

of Spain, no settlements of that kind, or the population that would

follow, could be allowed. “The English shall be permitted to transport

and convey all such wood and other produce of the place in its natural

and uncultivated state down the rivers to the sea; but without ever

going beyond the limits which are prescribed to them by the stipulations

above granted, and without thereby taking an opportunity of ascending

the said rivers beyond their bounds into the countries belonging to

Spain.”

And yet from this simple permission within certain limits to cut and

carry away all the different kinds of wood and “the produce of the

earth, uncultivated and purely natural,” accompanied by the most solemn

acknowledgment on the part of Great Britain that all the lands in

question “belong of right to the crown of Spain,” she has by successive

encroachments established the British colony of the Belize.

The Government of the United States has not yet determined what course

it will pursue in regard to the encroachments of the British government

as protector of the king and kingdom of the Mosquitos; but you are

instructed to obtain all the information within your power upon the

nature and extent of these encroachments, and communicate it with the

least possible delay to this department. We are also desirous to learn

the number of the Mosquito tribe, the degree of civilization they have

attained, and everything else concerning them.

The independence, as well as the interests of the nations on this

continent, require that they should maintain an American system of

policy, entirely distinct from that which prevails in Europe. To suffer

any interference on the part of the European governments with the

domestic concerns of the American republics, and to permit them to

establish new colonies upon this continent, would be to jeopard their

independence and ruin their interests. These truths ought everywhere

throughout this continent to be impressed upon the public mind; but what

can the United States do to resist such European interference whilst the

Spanish American republics continue to weaken themselves by division and

civil war, and deprive themselves of the ability of doing anything for

their own protection?

Mr. Hise was prevented by illness and other causes from reaching

Guatemala until a late period in Mr. Polk’s administration, and before

any despatches were received from him Mr. Polk had ceased to be

President. The plan wisely conceived by Mr. Buchanan and adopted by

President Polk, for uniting the States of Central America in a new

federation, which, by the aid of the United States, could compel the

surrender of the British protectorate, was not carried out by their

successors, although it descended to them in the best possible shape. In

the mean time, the British government, taking advantage of the wretched

internal condition of those States, had undertaken to extend the

dominions of the puppet king of the Mosquitos far beyond their former

pretensions, and in February, 1848, had seized upon the port of San Juan

de Nicaragua, expelled the State from it, and thus deprived her and the

State of Costa Rica of the only good harbor along the coast. To

counteract this encroachment and to enable the Central States, by

uniting them, to demand the withdrawal of the protectorate asserted by

Great Britain, was the purpose for which Mr. Hise was sent to Guatemala.

Instead of taking up and carrying out this policy, the succeeding

administration of General Taylor, without consulting the States of

Central America, entered into the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, concluded April

19, 1850, the ratifications being exchanged July 4, 1850.

It is necessary to make a brief analysis of this treaty, because Mr.

Buchanan, when he became minister to England under President Pierce, had

to do what he could to unravel the complications to which the ambiguous

language of the treaty had given rise. There were two provisions in the

first article of the treaty which need separate examination. By the

first of them, the contracting parties stipulated that neither of them

should ever exercise exclusive control over the ship-canal that was to

be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the way of the

river San Juan de Nicaragua, or erect any fortifications commanding it.

The treaty then proceeded to declare that neither of the parties shall

ever “occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or exercise any dominion over

Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central

America.” One general objection to this provision was, that so long as

it should remain in operation it would preclude the United States from

ever annexing to their dominions any state of Central America, even if

such state should desire to come into our Union. But the last clause of

the first article of the treaty was the one which led to the subsequent

controversy. Instead of a simple provision requiring Great Britain

absolutely to recede from the Mosquito protectorate, and to restore to

Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica their respective territories, the

treaty declared as follows: “Nor will either [of the parties] make use

of any protection which either affords or may afford, or any alliance

which either has or may have, to or with any state or people, for the

purpose of erecting or maintaining any such fortifications, or of

occupying, fortifying, or colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito

Coast, or any part of Central America, or of assuming or exercising any

dominion over the same.”

It soon became the British construction of this clause that it

recognized the existence of the Mosquito protectorate for all purposes

other than those expressly prohibited. Under this construction, Great

Britain claimed that she could still direct and influence the Mosquito

king in the administration of his government; and down to the time when

Mr. Buchanan was sent by President Pierce as minister to England, this

claim was still maintained. On the other hand, taking all its provisions

together and interpreting them according to the fair meaning of the

stipulations as applied to the facts, the treaty was understood in this

country to bind the British government not to exercise in any part of

Central America any “dominion,” either through the name and authority of

the titular king of the Mosquitos, or otherwise; or in other words not

to exercise dominion, either directly or indirectly. Manifestly the

treaty was destined to be a source of discord between Great Britain and

the United States; and when, as will hereafter be seen, it devolved upon

the administration of President Pierce to meet the British construction,

there was an imperative necessity for Mr. Buchanan’s services as

minister to Great Britain, in order that this and other pending

questions between the two governments might be adjusted without further

hazard of more serious collision.

------------------

NOTE.

On page 459 of this volume, it should have been stated that the charge

of “treachery” made by Mr. Clay and the Whigs generally against

President Tyler, was chiefly based on the assertions that the first Bank

bill (passed August 6th, 1841), was framed by Mr. Ewing, Secretary of

the Treasury, and approved by the President and his Cabinet; that it was

vetoed on the ground of essential alterations; that the second bill was

framed to meet his special objections, was privately submitted to him

and approved before its passage, but vetoed afterwards. The central

point in the Whig charge is that Mr. Tyler vetoed a bill which he had

promised to approve, and which was first submitted to him in order that

its terms might be altered, or that the whole might be abandoned, if he

could not approve it.

It has not been my intention in this work to express any opinion upon

the conduct of President Tyler in relation to the Bank bills. In the

Life of Mr. Webster, the reader will find, at pages 69 to 80 of the

first volume, his explanations of the whole difficulty. But since page

459 of the present volume was written and stereotyped, I have thought it

proper to advert, without comment, to the precise character of the Whig

charge against Mr. Tyler, lest it might be said that I have omitted to

refer to an important part of the history.

Transcriber’s Note

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and

are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.

On occasion, the indication of quotations is confused. Where it is not

obvious from the context where the quotation marks should have been

properly placed, they are left to stand, and noted below.

1.28 arrival in Philade[l]phia>, Added.

17.7 his future prospects as a lawyer and a Added.

politician.[”]

80.27 meet us and deny to us this reasonable Added.

request.[”]

91.13 within the exclusive jurisdic[dic]tion Removed.

97.5 duties.[”] Such has been the delay of justice Added.

261.34 they reported three resolutio[u/n]s Inverted.

283.1 in the Department of Foreign Affairs[”], Removed.

284.21 granted under the Constitution to the Replaced.

Pre[a/s]ident.

289.41 But he is respons[i]ble Added.

302.15 the imputation of any criminal motives.[”] Added.

303.41 Dreadful would be the consequences if we Replaced.

poss[s/e]ss

310.44 agreed to, _nem. con._[”] Added.

311.20 _[“]Resolved_ That the aforesaid Added.

resolve

321.39 palpa[p/b]le absurdity. Replaced.

346.17 and transmitted th[r]ough Added.

346.26 should be carried th[r]ough> Added.

354.35 from legal responsibi[li]ty for his conduct. Added.

359.38 [“]A citizen of any of the States, _sic_

401.31 Mr. Buchanan. From the gentleman’s _sic_

[explaination],

425.12 described by several gentlem[a/e]n from the Replaced.

South

444.1 w[h]ich all must have observed Added.

461.19 for relief under this bill[.] Added.

482.16 had a splendid system of internal Added.

improv[e]ments

524.6 met many New Yorkers at [I/T]owanda. Replaced.

601.18 plenipotent[i]aries> on the part of the Added.

Mexican Republic