[21.] Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 12 (Buchanan). Ho. Report 752; 29, 1. Monitor Repub., Aug. 1, 1846 (Herrera had been determined to settle with the United States).
[22.] Sen. 325; 27, 2, p. 64. Sen. 337; 29, 1, p. 10. As to Slidell’s Title, cf. together Buchanan to Parrott, Mar. 28; Id. to Black, Sept. 17; Peña to council of state; and report of council of state. Polk, Diary, Nov. 6, 9, 10.
In Tyler, Tyler, iii, 174, may be found a statement from B. E. Green to the effect that Herrera sent word to him that a minister of the usual sort could not be received, and that he transmitted this message to Polk. But (1), if such was Herrera’s attitude, why was it not made clear to Black, who had been expressly commissioned to ascertain whether a minister would be received; (2) Green, as a member of the Calhoun faction, and perhaps as an official who had lost a good post in our legation at Mexico, was not favorable to Polk, and a statement made by a prejudiced person from memory forty-four years after the event, regarding a delicate matter in which precision is essential, cannot be considered at all authoritative. (3) This statement is out of harmony with a number of material facts. [256]Marcy to Wetmore, Feb. 1, 1846: Slidell was sent “on an express agreement that a minister would be received.”
[23.] [52]McLane, no. 8, Sept. 26, 1845. [108]Kemble to Bancroft, Sept. 3, 1845. Dimond, no. 269, 1845. Times, Oct. 14. (Impatience) Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 17 (Black). Polk, Diary, Nov. 10.
[24.] Buchanan to Slidell, Nov. 10; Dec. 17. Veracruzano Libre, Nov. 30. [52]Comte. princ. to Dimond, Nov. 30. Slidell, Nov. 30; Dec. 17. Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 22 (Black). (Fleet) Conner to Dimond, Oct. 23, 1845 (Wash. Union, Dec. 1, 1847). Conner felt so sure of the conciliatory spirit of his government that he withdrew without waiting for orders. California was well known to be in a chronic state of rebellion ([chap. xvi]), which Mexico had not the power to subdue, and therefore it was natural for one who knew very little about the Mexicans to suppose they would be willing to take a price for the practically worthless claim to that territory.
The view that Polk explicitly instructed Slidell to give up the plan to buy California rather than allow that plan to stand in the way of regaining amicable relations with Mexico does not seem to be correct (Kelsey, Consulate, 62, note 5). But Buchanan’s letter of Dec. 17 to Slidell lays stress upon his “two last alternatives,” which were to purchase northern California, including (a) the Bay of San Francisco or (b) Monterey also; yet he instructs Slidell to drop this matter, if pressing it would endanger success in endeavoring to obtain the Rio Grande boundary or a line including all of New Mexico. Now such a settlement of the Texas-New Mexico boundary would have involved a restoration of amicable relations with Mexico. The two matters (boundary and relations) were inextricably interwoven both in fact and logically. Hence in effect Buchanan instructed Slidell to drop the plan of purchasing California if pressing it would be liable to prevent the restoration of amicable relations with Mexico. Rives (U. S. and Mexico, ii, 69, note 2) takes a different view, but seems to have erred in more particulars than one.
[25.] See pp. 55–6. Smith, Annex. of Texas, 423–31. [52]Slidell, Dec. 17, 27. Amigo del Pueblo, Nov. 1: “It is hardly possible to believe such perfidy, such baseness and such audacity ... treason more horrible has never been seen.” Patriota Mexicano, Nov. 18: “To listen to talk of peace from these men [the Americans] is to take the road to perdition, death, ignominy.” Voz del Pueblo, Dec. 3: “The treason has been discovered.... We no longer own the very ground on which we walk.”
[26.] Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 22 (Black). Slidell, Dec. 29, 1845. Bankhead, no. 127, 1845. México á través, iv, 545. Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 19. Sierra, Evolution, i, 212. Black, Dec. 18.
One of Peña’s minor points was that it did not appear from Slidell’s credentials that he had been confirmed by the Senate; and in fact, since the American Congress had not been in session at the time of his appointment, he had not been. This was not only to inquire into our domestic affairs, but to hold that the Executive of the United States could not appoint a diplomatic agent during a recess of the Senate. Shannon’s letter of credence had said nothing regarding his confirmation, and Murphy had acted as our chargé in Texas for about nine months before his name went to the Senate. Another point was that Slidell’s letter of credence did not expressly state that he had full powers for the business in hand; but it was practically absurd, after the United States had taken so much trouble and shown its good faith by withdrawing our fleet, to suppose that we would send an agent to Mexico without giving him the authority to do what we were evidently so anxious to bring about. When this complaint was brought to his attention, Slidell replied that his credentials described him as minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary, and also that it was not usual to exhibit one’s full powers at so early a stage in such negotiations, adding that he would have done so, however, had any desire to see them been suggested. Buchanan was doubtless right in calling the objection a quibble; and one cannot suppose that under different circumstances it would have been presented. The council of state rejected Peña’s objections in both of these cases.