tunity to restore friendly relations, for undeniably it was quite possible — from the American point of view, considering the comparative weakness of Mexico, far more than possible — that she would seize upon it, Polk, Diary, Mar. 28-30; Apr. 3. American (Whig) Review, 1847, p. 325. Slidell, no. 13, Apr. 2. Id., Apr. 9 (Curtis, Buchanan, i, 599).
30. Examiner, June 13. Ho. 158; 28, 2, p. 3 (Upshur). 13Ashburnham to Backhouse, July 6, 1838. Santangelo, Address, 31: 'Have a number of American citizens been unjustly injured by Mexico in their persons and property, or not? Have our government and nation been gratuitously outraged by Mexico, or not?"
31. Slidell, Mar. 18 (Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 66). 52Dimond, no. 265, Oct. 1, 1845. British minister in Siglo XIX, Sept. 24, 1845.
32. Times, Jan. 8, 15. Picayune, Dec. 30, 1845. Buchanan to Slidell, no. 7, Mar. 12, 1847 (Information received from various quarters that several European powers may be aiming to establish monarchy in Mexico). Dee. 1, 1847, Olozaga showed in the Spanish Cortes a statement of large sums spent by Spain in 1846 to place a Spanish prince on the throne of Mexico (Dix, Speeches, i, 214, note). See also chap. x, note 21.
33. Vattel, Law of Nations (Chitty), book ii, chap. iv, secs. 49-51.
34. American trade with Mexico declined from $9,029,221 in 1835 to $1,152,331 in 1845 (Niles, Oct. 17, 1846, p. 104). (Contrary) 52Buchanan to Slidell, Nov. 10, 1845. The protest of the Mexican minister at Washington against the annexation of Texas asserted the right of his country to recover Texas at any time and by all the means in her power (Cong. Globe, 30, 1, 334).
35. (Oregon) London Times, Sept. 30, 1847. Polk, Diary, Apr. 22, 1846.
VII. THE PRELIMINARIES OF THE CONFLICT
1. The claims did much to embitter feeling in both countries, were one reason for Mexico's breaking off and refusing to resume diplomatic relations, and brought Polk to the point, of resolving to recommend forcible action to Congress (p. 181). The series of diplomatic clashes led to the danger of a Mexican attack and hence to Taylor's advance; and his movement, besides exciting further displeasure in Mexico, offered her a convenient and promising opportunity to strike.
2. Smith, Annex. of Texas, 445, 449. 56Wickliffe, private, May 21, 1845. 63Marcy to Taylor, confid., May 28, 1845. Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 79, 804. Donelson, June 4, 1845, in Sen. 1; 29, 1, p. 66. 297Polk to Dallas, confid., Aug. 23, 1845.
3. Richardson, Messages, iv, 388. 52J. Y. Mason to Donelson, Aug. 7, 1845.
4. M. B. de Arispe in Niles, Aug. 17, 1816. Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 130 (Cárdenas); 140 (Ampudia); 430 (Taylor, no. 93). Cong. Globe, 30, 1, p. 911 (Stephens). 245Bliss to Lamar, Oct. 15, 1846. 52Buchanan to Slidell, Nov. 10, 1845. Wilson, Slave Power, ii, 8. Z. T. Fulmore in Tex. State Hist. Assoc. Qtrly., v, 28. T. M. Marshall, ibid., xiv, 277. I. J. Cox, ibid., vi, 81. Aguila del Norte, Mar. 11, 1846. Nat. Intelligencer, Nov. 5, 1845; Dec. 12, 1846. Ho. Report 70; 29, 2. Kennedy, Texas, ii, 30. Hitchcock, Fifty Years, 200. Fisher, Memorials. Bolton, Texas, 1. Bancroft, No. Mex. States, i, 375, 604. Garrison, Extension, 100, 103-7. Tex. Dipl. Corres., i, 257 (Irion). 52Consul Belt, July 5, 1844. Jones, Memoranda, 299 (Hockley). Sen. 18; 30, 1, p. 8