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[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.