The Sun. — London, England, 1846-12-31 00:00:00

0 1 1 LNi TED 6TA rEs. THE COMMERCIAL MARKETS, Drc. 8. PRESID ENTS MESSAG E LIYERPOOL, TUESDAY N IGIIT, HALF-PAST EIGHT. The New York packet-ship Ashburton, Captain Howland, entered the river at a late hour to-night, bringing New York papers of the 10th, and with them the Mesage of Mr. President Polk, which, as usual, is a very lengthy document, occupying nearly nine columns. The news from the army is to the effect that the American forces had taken Monclova and Chihua hun, without bloodshed ; the taking of the latter place, however, has since been doubted. An expedition had set out against Victoria. General Wool was under orders for Saltillo. It was reported that Santa Anna had collected up wards of 30,000, with whom he intended to march against the American forces. _ _ A letter from Camargo, Mexico, dated November 7, says— " There is rumour (which Ido not vouch for, but which Is not only possible but probable) that another revolution has broken out in Mexico. The Santa Anna party de clared him Dictator—anti• Santa Anna (headed by Va lencia) demurred, turned their arms against the Dic tator, and drove hiss and his party from San Luis Potosi; and that the Dictator was falling back in the direction of the city of Mexico. This was a very na tural route for him to take, were he driven from his lines at San Luis, considering the position of affairs in this section. " American settlers are already commencing to locate on the Texas side of the Rio Grande. Several tracts of land below Camargo have been purchased from Mexican claimants, and the new owners have commenced im proving. " The steamer Major Brown, which went up the Rio Grande on an exploring expedition, has arrived at Loredo, from which Lieutenant Tilden, 2d Infantry, in charge of expedition, makes report. He reports favour ably generally of the depth of water for boats drawing four or five feet ; but the channel in many places crooked, in others filled with limestone rocks which stick right straight up' (easily removed), and frequent rapids—all of which the Brown passed over, and arrived safe at Loredo." The sickness along the whole line of the Rio Grande this summer and fall has been represented as very severe. Not less than 1,500 men has it made its victims. Colonel Gates, who commands at Tampico, keeps the place under strict martial law. Reports had reached Monterey that General Am podia had been arrested by the Mexican authorities, for hiving made the capitulation at Monterey, and is in gaol at Hadalagara. It is now declared that Santa Anna, Almonte, and ,the other Mexican officers who were passed through Our squadron gave their parole not to engage in the War against the United States—which was the cause And condition of their being passed. Accounts from Santa Fe state, that great fears were entertained that the stock of provisions would be altogether inadequate to supply the army during '§e winter. The American soldiers were in a state of insubordination, and were daily committing out rages upon the Mexicans. The consequence was .That assassinations were becoming very frequent. General Kearney had left Santa Fe for California, but it is doubted if he will reach it. The last accounts Slated that he was at Fra Cristo, 20.5 miles south of Zanta Fe, having abandoned his waggons, and packed provisions and baggage on mules. The Mormons, under Captain Cook, had also left f or California. Royal mail steamer Caledonia had arrived at Etonl3os. Another steam-boat explosion had taken place; a 4411 1ber of the crew were killed. ; Stock-market opened today rather heavy, but L ln Proved before the adjournment of the first board; 7 e t ween the boards a further advance in pr ic e s w a s al leedf but at the second board a slight decline was , !Perienc e d, caus-d partially by the reception of the 'vrelident's Message. Among the exports to Great Britain for the month, there were 296,713 bushels of wheat, 78,962 barrels of 380,528 bushels of corn, 6,351 barrels of corn 11 !eal, and 4,148,394 lbs. of cheese. The value of the 14 11, article of cheese exported for the month was more t han 300,000 dolls. The shipments of produce from this country to Great Britain comprise a very large portion of our export trad e , and the demand for our breadstuffs and provisions in Europe will, no doubt,continue sufficiently large to give us annually a very large trade in them. The demand for corn, cheese, and provisions of all kinds, will, doubt less, steadily increase, while that for flour and wheat will fluctuate according to the harvests of the various countries. The price of flour had declined at all the corn depots 14 .consequpnee of the news per Caledonia. Our advices from Washington of the 7th state that t he second session of the Twenty-eighth Congress ° Pened this day at noon. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. In the House of Representatives the Speaker took t he chair at twelve o'clock, and called the House to order. The following Message was then delivered : T HE P RESIDENT'S MESSAGE. Fellow-Citizen s of the Senate and of the House of Representatives, —In resuming your labours in the ser vice of the people, it is a subject of congratulation that there has been no period in our past history when all the elements of national prosperity hav e been so fully developed. Since your last session no aillictin g dispen aation has visited our country; general good health has Prevailed; abundance has crowned the toil of the hus bandman; and labour in all its branches is receiving an ample reward, while education, science, and the arts are raPidly enlarging the means of social happiness. The P r Vess of our country in her career of greatness, not only in the vast extension of our territorial limits, an d t he rapid increase of our population, but in resources and I? .. ea ltht and in the happy condition of our people , is , ""nut example in the history of nations. As the wisdom, strength, and beneficence of our free In stitutions are unfolded, every day adds fresh motives t4 . a nntentment and fresh incentives to patriotism. Our devout a nd s i nce r e acknowledgments are due to the gracious Giv er o f a ll good for the numberless bless it ga which our beloved country enjoys. It its a Source of high satisfaction to know that the ba a tinns of the U n it e d States with all other nations, W ith r a single exception, are of the most amicable cha CP"- Sincerely attached to the policy of peace, early h °Pted and steadily pursued by this Government, I 81 1 Ye anxionsly desired to cultivate and cherish friend stpirPitl4ll4 "mtnerce with every foreign Power. The and habits of the American people are favourable ad t ae maintenance of such international harmony. In mooring to this wise policy, a preliminary and para• t a u" du interests obviously consists in the protection of our our °nal nterests from encroachment or sacrifice, and tai national honour from reproach. These must be main giete,cl at any hazard. They admit of no compromise or ne "and roust be scrupulously and constantly guarded. In r e . he `r vigilant vindication, collision and conflict with fo h2gn Powers may sometimes become unavoidable. Such jiZbeen our scrupul ous adher e nce to the dictates of di l i ce, in all our f ore i gn i ntercourse , t h at , t h oug h stea hj and rapidly a d vanc i ng i n p ros p er i t y an d power , we up ,: given no j ust cause o f comp l a i nt t o any nat i on, , e have enjoyed the blessings of peace for more than ilo l rtY Years.. From a policy so sacred to humanity, and s alutary in its effects upon our political system, we sh ould never be induced voluntarily to depart. The existi ng war w i t h M ex i co was neit h er d es i re d n or,, provok e d by t h e U n i te d S tates. O n t h e contrary, al l honourable means were resorted to to avert it. After Years of endurance of aggravated and unredressed Wron gs on our part, Mexico, in violation of solemn treaty stipulations, and of every principle of justice re cognised by civilised nati.ms, commenced hostilities ; and thus by her own act forced the war upon us. Long before the advance of our army to the left bank of the Rio Grande we had ample cause of war against Mexico; and had the United States resorted to this extremity, vie might have appealed to the whole civilised world for t4 * justice of our course. I deem it to be my duty to present to you on the pre seat occasion a condensed review of the injuries we h ave su s t a i ne d, of the causes which led to the war, and of its progress since its commencement. This is ren dered the more necessary because of the misapprehen aimti which have to some extent prevailed as to its --6111 and true character. The war has been repre sented as unjust and unnecessary, and as one of aggres si°4 On our part upon weak and injured enemy. Such frroneous views though entertained by but few, have been widely and extensively circulated, not only at home, " w ut have been spre a d throughout Mexico and the whole ,vised 1.14 - A more effectual means could not have been me th to encourage the enemy and protract the war to advocate and adhere t o their cause, and thus gtve • In aid and comfort." It is 4 source of national pride and exultation that the r great body of our people have thrown no such obstacles in th , " way of the Government in prosecuting the war • suceessfull3, but have shown themselve , to be emin,; ntly patriotic, and ready to vind can their country's honour and interest at any sacrifice. The alacrity and prompt ness with which our volunteer forces rushed to the field on their country's call, prove not only their patriotism, but their deep conviction that our cause is just. The wrongs which we have :uttered from Mexico al most ever since she became an independent power, and the patient endurance with which we have borne them, are without a parallel in the history of modern civilised nations. There is reason to believe that if these wrongs had been resented and resisted in the first instance, the present war might have been avoided. One outrage, however, permitted to pass with impunity, almost neces sarily encouraged the perpetration of another, until at last Mexico seemed to attribute to weakness and inde cision on our part a forbearance which was the offspring of magnanimity, and of a si►acere desire to preserve friendly relvtions ti•ith a sister republic. Scarcely had Mexico achieved her independence, which the United Scates were first among the nations to acknowledge, when she commenced the s)stetn of insult and spoliation which she has ever since pursued. Our citizens ent4agel in lawful commerce were imprisoned, their vessels seized, and our flag insulted in her ports. If money was wanted, the lawless seizure and contisca- Lion of o - ur merchant vessels and their cargoes was a ready resource, and if to accomplish their purposes it became necessary to imprison the owners, captains, and crews, it was done. Rulers superseded rulers in Mexico in rapid succession, but still there was no change in this system of depreciation. The Government of the United States made repeated reclamations on behalf of its citi zms, but these were answered by the perpetration of new outrages. Promises of redress made by Mexico in the most solemn forms were postponed or evaded. The files and records of the department of State contain con clusive proofs of numerous lawless acts perpe!rated upon the property and persons of our citizens by 11.1t4tieo and of wanton insults to our national flag. The interposi tion of our Government to obtain redress was again and again invoked, under circumstances which no nation ought to disregard. It was hoped that these outrages would cease, and that Mexico would be restrained by the laws which regulate the conduct of civilised nations in their inter course with each other, after the treaty of amity, com merce, and navigation, of the sth of April, 1831, was concluded between the two republics, but this hope soon proved to be vain. The course of seizure and confisea tion of the property of our citizens, the violation of their persons, and the insults to our flag pursued by Mexico previous to that time were scarcely susrended for even a brief period, although the treaty so clearly defined the rights and duties of the respective parties, that it is impossible to misunderstand or mistake them. In less then seven years after the conclu,ton of that treaty, our grievances had 13, come so intolerable that, in the opinion of President Jackson, they should no longer be endured. In his message to Congress in February, 1837, he presented them to the consideration of that body, and declared that " The length of time since some of the injuries have been committed, the repeated and unavailing applications for redress, the wanton character of some of the outrages upon the property and persons of our citizens, upon the officers and flag of the United States, independent of recent insults to this Govern ment and people by the late extraordinary Mexican Minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations imme diate war." In a spirit of kindness and forbearance, however, he recommended reprisals as a milder mode of redress. He declared that war should not be used as a remedy "by just and generous nations, confiding in their strength for injuries committed, if it can be ho nourably avoided," and added, "it has occurred to me that, considering the present embarrassed condition of that country, we should act with both VI isdom and mode ration by giving to Mexico one more opportunity to atone for the past before we take redress into our hands. To avoid all misconception on the part of Mexico, as well as to protect our own national character from reproach, this opportunity should be given with the avowed design and full preparation to take imme diate satisfaction, if it should not be obtained on a repe tition of the demand for it. To this end I recommend that an Act be passed authorising reprisals, and the use of the naval force of the United States by the Executire against Mexico to enforce them, in the event of a refusal by the Mexican Government to come to an amicable ad justment of the matters in controversy between us, upon another demand thereof, made from on board one of our vessels of war on the coast of Mexico." Committees of both houses of Congress, to which this message of this President was refs rred, fully sustained his views of the character of the wrongs which we had suffered from Mexico, and recommended that another demand for redress should be made before authorising war or reprisals. The Committee on foreign relations of the Senate, in their report say—" After such a de mand, should prompt justice be refused by the Mexican Government, we may appeal to all nations, not only for the equity and moderation with which we shall have acted towards a sister republic, but for the necessity which will then compel us to seek redress for our wrongs, either by actual war or by reprisals. The subject will then be presented before Congress, at the commencement of the next session, in a clear and distinct form, and the Comm itte cannot doubt but that such measures will be immediately adopted as may be necessary to vindicate the honour of the country, and insure ample reparation to our injured citizens." The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the house of Representatives made a similar recommendation. In their report they say that they " fully concur with the President that ample cause exists for taking redress into our own hands, and believe that we should be justified in the opinion of other nations for taking such a step. But they are willing to try the experiment of another demand, made in the most solemn form, unpon the jug. lice of the Mexican Government, before any further proceedings are adopted." No difference of opinion upon the subject is believed to have existed in Congress at that time ; the Executive aid Legislative departments concurred; and yet such have been our forbearance and desire to preserve peace with Mexico, that the wrongs of which we then com plained, and which gave rise to these solemn proceed ings, not only remain unr( dressed to this day, but addi tional causes of complaint, of an aggravated character, have ever since been accumulating. Shortly after these proceedings a special messenger was dispatched to Mexico, to make a final demand for redress, and on thp, 22d of July, 1837, the demand was made. The reply of the Mexican Government bears date on the 29th of the same month, and contains assurances of the " anxious wish" of the Mexican Government ‘riot to delay the moment of that final and equitable adjustment which is to tei urinate the existing difficulties , between the two Governments ;" that " nothing should be left undone which may contribute to the most speedy and equitable determination of the subjects which have so seriously engaged the attention of the American Go vernment;" that the " Mexican Government would adopt, as the only guides for its conduct, the plainest principles of public right, the sacred obligations imposed by the international law, and the religious faith of treaties;" and that " whatever reason and justice may dictate respecting each case will be done." The assur ance was further given that the decision of the Mexican Government upon each cause of complaint, for which re dress had been demanded, should tie communicated to the Government of the United States by the Mexican :Nlitaister at Washington. These solemn assurances, in answer to our demand for redress, were disregarded. By making them, how ever, blexico obtained further delay. President Van Buren, in his annual message to Congress of the sth of December, 1837, states that "although the large number of our demands for redress, and many of them aggra vated cases of personal wrongs, have been now for years before the Mexican Government, and some of the causes of national complaint, and those of the most offensive character, admitted of immediate, sim p le, and satisfa c t ory rep li es , i t is only within a few day s p ast that any the Mexican Mini t r " and that demand, made five months ago, has been received from specific communication in answer to our last public complaints haseei"fur not one of our satisfaction been given or offered; that but one of the consideredasf putilic wrong has been fa vourablyscriptions, out of all those formally presented and earnestly pressed, hav e a , and es ° that but four cases of both de- Mexican Government." President Van Buren, believing that; it would be vain to obtain redress by the ordinarymake any further ...n the as yet been decidedupsotntembyptthtoe s with power of the Executive, communicated this opinionl to Con gress, in the message referred "On a careful and drelibvrate examination of to, in s which he said — the contents" (of the correspondence with the Mexican Government), "and considering the spirit manifested by the Mexican Government, it has becom e my painful duty to return the subject as it now stan-is to Congress, to whom it belongs, to decide upon the time, th e mode, and the measure of redress." had the United States at that time adopted compulsory measures, and taken re ...... dress into ;.heir own bands, all our difficulties with Mexico would probably have been long since adjusted, and the existing war have been averted. Magnanimity and mot eration on our part only had the effect to complicate these difficultie-, and render an amicable settlement of them the more embarrassing. That such measures of redress, under similar provocations, committed by any of the powerful nations of Europe, would have been promptly resorted to by the United States, cannot be doubted. The national honour, and the preservation of the national character throughout the world, as well as our own self-respect and the protection due to our own citizens, would have rendered such a resort indispensable. The history of no civilised nation in modern times has presented within so brief a period so many wanton attacks upon the honour of its flag and upon the pro perty and persons of its citizens as had at that time been borne by the United States from the Mexican authorities and people. But Mexico was a sister republ.c on the North American continent, occupying a territory con tiguous to our own, and was in a feeble and distracted condition ; and these considerations, it is presumed, in duced Congress to forbear still longer. ' Instead of taking redress into our own hands, a new negotiation was entered upon with fair promises on the part of Mexico, but with the real purpose, as the event has proved, of indefinitely postponing the reparation which we demanded, and which was so justly doe. This negotiation, after more than a year's ilelity, resulted in the convention of th- 11th of April, 1839, " for the ad justment of claims -1 eitiz ns of the United State s of America upon the Governm, lit i if the M, , xican Republic." The joint board of corn •.:ission.-rs created by this con vention to ex :mine iti,d , l, tide op in these claims was not organized until the m nth of August, 1840, and under the terms of the convention they were to termi nate their daties within eighteen months from that thee. Four of the eighteen months were consumed in prelimi nary discussions on frivolous and dilatory points raised by the M xie4n comm' -•l. , riers ; and it was hot until the mooch of 1)-eeo.he:, 1840, that they emnin , need the examinatiog of the claims of our citizens upon Mexico. i Fourteen moth* only retrained to eNanzine and decide I upon these numerous and complicated cases. In the month of February, 1842, the term of the commission expired, leaving many claims unchsposed of for want of thee. The claims which were allowed by the board, and by the umpire authorised by the convention to decide in case of disagreement between the Mexican and American commissioners, amounted to two million twenty-six thousand one hundred and thirty nine dollars and sixty-eight cents. There were pending before the empire, when the commission expired, adds- I Lona' claims which had been examined and awarded by the American commissioners, and had not been allowed by the Mexican commissioners, amounting to nine hundred and twenty-eight thousand six hundred and twenty-seven dollars and eighty-eight cents, upon which he did not decide, alleging that his authority had ceased with the termination of the joint commission. Besides these claims, there were others of American citizens, amounting to three million three hundred and thirty six thous ind eight hundred and thirty-seven dollars and five cents, which had bren submitted to the board, and upon which they bad not time to decide before their final adj , :urntnent. . . lhe sum of two million twenty-six thousand one hundred and thirty-nine dollars and sixty-eight cents, which had teen awarded to the claimants, was a liqui dated and ascertained debt due by Mexico, about which there could be no dispute, and which she was bound to pay according to the terms of the convention. Soon after the final awards for this amount had been made, the Mexican Government asked for a postponement of the time of making payment, all, ging that it would be inconvenient to make the payment at the time stipu lated. In the spirit of forbearing kindness towards a sister republic, which Mexico has so long abused, the United States promptly complied with her request. A second convention was accordingly concluded between the two Governments on the 30th of January, 1843, which upon its face declares that "this new arratigetnent is entered into for the accommoda tion ot• Mexico." By the terms of this convention, all the interest due on the awards which have been made in favour of the claimants under the convention of the 11th of April, 1839, was to be paid to them on the 30th of April, 1843, and " the principal of the said awards, and the interest accruing thereon," was stipulated to "be paid in five years, in equal instalments every three months." Notwithstanding this new convention was en tered into at the request of Mexico, and for the purpose of relieving her trom embarrassment, the claimants have only received the interest due on the 30th of April,lB43 and three of the 20 instalments. Although the pay ment of the sum thus liquidated and confessedly due by Mexico to our citizens as ind,innity for acknowledged acts of outrage and wrung was secured by treaty, the obligations of which are ever held sacred by all just na tions, yet Mexico has violated this solemn engagement by failing and refusing to make the payment. The two instalments due in April and July, 1844, under the pe culiar circumstances connected with them, have been assumed by the United States and discharged to the claimants, but they are still due by Mexico. But this is not all of which we have just cause for complaint. To provide a remedy for the claimants whose cases were not decided by the joint commission under the conven tion of April the 11th, 1839, it was expressly stipulated by the sixth article of th,e convention of the 30th of January, 1843, that a " new convention shall be entered into for the settlement of all claims of the Government and citizens of the United States against the Republic of Mexico, which were not finally decided by the late com mission, which met iu the city of Washington, and of all claims of the Government and citizens of Mexico against the United States.' In conformity with this stipulation a third convention was concluded and signed at the city of Mexico on the 20th of November, 1843, by the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments, by which provision was made for ascertaining and paying these claims. In January, 1844, this convention was ratified by the Senate of the United States with two amendments, which were manifestly reasonable in their character. Upon a reference of the amendments proposed to the Government of Mexico, the same evasions, difficulties, and delays were inter posed which have so long marked the policy of that Government towards the United States. It has not oven yet decided whether it would or would not accede to them, although the subject has been repeatedly pressed upon its consideration. Mexico has thus violated a second time the faith of treaties, by failing or refusing to carry into effect the sixth article of the convention of January, 1843. Such is the history of the wrongs which we have suf fered and patiently endured from Mexico through a long series of years. So far from affording reasonable satis faction for the injuries and insults we have borne, a great aegravation of them consists in the fact, that while the United States, anxious to preserve a good understanding with Mexico, have been constantly, but vainly, employed in seeking redress for past wrings, new outrages were constantly occurring, which have continued to increase our causes of complaint, and to swell the amount of our demands. While the citizens of the United States were conducting a lawful commerce with Mexico under the guaranty of a treaty of " amity, commerce, and navigation," many of them have suffered all the injuries which would have resulted from open war. This treaty, instead of affording protection to our citizens, has been the means of inviting them into the ports of Mexico, that they might be, as they have been in numerous in stances, plundered of their property and deprived of their personal liberty, if they dared insist on their rights. Had the unlawful seizures of American property, and the violation of personal liberty of our citizens, to say nothing of the insults to our flag which have occurred in the ports of Mexico, taken place on the high seas, they would themselves long since have constituted a state of actual war between the two countries. In so long suf fering Mexico to violate her mast solemn treaty obliga tions, plunder our citizens of their property, and impri son their persons without offering them any redress, we have failed to perform one of the first and highest duties which every government owes to its citizens; and the consequence has been, that many of them have been re duced from a state of affluence to bankruptcy. The proud name of American cit zen, which ought to protect all who bear it from insult and injury throughout the ise.rl.l, has afforded no such protection to our citizens in Mexico. We had ample cause of war against Mexico lung before the breaking out of hostilities. But even then we forebore to take redress into our own bands, until Mexico herself became the aggressor by invading our soil in hostile array and she.dding the blood of our cit izens. Such are the grave causes of complaint cn the part of the United States against Mexico—causes which existed long before the annexation of Texas to the American Union, and yet, animated by the love of peace and a magnanimous moderation, we did not adopt those mea sures of redress which, under such circumstances, are the justified resort of injured nations. The annexation of Texas to the United States consti tuted no just cause of offence to Mexico. The pretext that it did so is aholl inconsistent and irreconcilable with well authenticated facts connected with the revolu tion by which Texas became independent of Mexico. That this may be the more manifest it may be proper to advert to the causes and to the history of the principal events of that revolution. Texas constituted a portion of the ancient province of Louisiana, ceded to the United States by France in the year 1803. In the year 1819 the United States by the Florida treaty ceded to ,ipain all that part of Louisiana within the present limits of Texas, and Mexico, by the revolution which separated her from Spain, and rendered her an independent nation, succeeded to the rights of the mother country over this territory. In the year 1824 Mexico established a federal constitution, under which the Mexican republic was composed of a number of sovereign states, confederated together in a federal union similar to our own. Each of these states bad its own executive, legislature, and judiciary, and, for all except federal purposes, was as independent of the general go vernment, and that of the other states, as is Pennsylvania or Virginia under our constitution. Texas and Coahuila united and formed one of tht se Mexican states. The state constitution which they adopted, and which was approved by the Mexican confederacy, asserted that they were " free and independent of the other Mexican United States, and of every other power and dominion what soever;" and proclaimed the preat principle of human liberty, that " the sovereignty of the state resides on • ginally and essentially in the general mass of the indivi duals who compose it." To the government under this constitution, as well as to that under the federal consti tution, the people of Texas owed allegiance. Emigrants from foreign countries, including the United States, were invited by the colonization laws of the state and of the federal government to settle in Texas. Advantageous terms were offered to induce them to leave their own country and become Mexican citizens. This invitation was accepted by many of our citizens, in the full faith that in their new home they would be governed by laws enacted by representatives property elected would by h themselves, e and that the ir lives, libert y, and pro tected by constitutionalwhich existed eguaranteesublicthe had d il l a e r to left. Under a military revolution brok- out in the year 18 35, v ! a Government e i t n n hus t organized rep they y continued until the h eanntdireplylascuebdveartmedilittharey dictator Government. ; decree of a congress subservient to the By a sweeping the several state constitutions were will of the dictator, states themselves converted into mere abolished, and the tra l Government. The people of Atcityn the so: head M e c lt o e s ( t e n , at the of the departments of the central Re sistance to such tyranny to t a h hsiugth y m to r d p u a tth e ti . Texas °D. was fully absolved bm f ro m all allegiance the moment the Govern ment had abolished her state cons titution, submit and in its t place substituted an arbitrary and Go vernment. of the Texan revo - Such were the principal causes despotic central st of these Im portantdid not omit lution. The people of Texas at once deter mined u p on resistance, and flew to ar m s. In the midst and exciting eve n t s , h owe ver, they to place their liberties upon a secure and permanent foundation. They elected m em b ers to a convention, who, in the month of March, 1836, issued a formal de claration that their " political connexion with the Mexican nation had for ever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, sovereign, and inde pendent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to inde pendent nations." They also adopted for their govern ment a liberal republican constitution. About the same time Santa Anna, then the dictator of Mexico, invaded Texas with a numerous army, for the purpose of sub cluing her people, and entorcing ohtdience to hi 3 arbi trary and despotic government. lin the 21st of April, 1836, he w:.s met by the Texan citizen soldiers and on that day was achieved by them the memorable victory of San Jacinto, by which thy conquered their inde pendence. Considering the numbers engaged on the respective sides, history does not record a more brilliant achievement. Santa Anna himself was among the clptives. In the month of May, 1836, Santa Anna aeltnuw ledg •d, by a treaty with th, Texan authorities, in the most solemn form, " the full, entire, and perfect inde pendence of the republic of Texas." It is true ho was ' then a prisoner of war, but it is equally true that be had failed to reconquer Texas, and had met with signal defeat; that his authority hal not been revoked, and that by virtue of this treaty he obtained his personal ! release. B) it h. q;tiiities were suspended, and the army which had invaded Texas under his command, re ; turned, in pursuance of this arrangement, unmolested to Mexico. From the day that the battle of San Jacinto was fought till the present hour, Mexico has never possessed the power to reconquer Texas. In the language of the Secretary of State of the United States, in a dispatch to our Minister in Mexico, under date of the Bth of July, 1842, " Mexico may have chosen to consider, and may still choose to consider, Texas as having been at all times since 1835, and as still continuing, a rebellious province, but the world has been obliged to take a very different view of the matter. From the time of the battle of San Jacinto, in April, 1836, to the present moment, Texas has exhibited the same external signs of national independence as Mexico herself, and with quite as much stability o, government. Practically free and independent, acknowledged as a political sove reignty by the principal Powers of the world, no hostile foot finding rest wi:hin her territory for six or seven years, and Mexico herself refraining for all that peeled from any further attempt to re-establish her own autho• rity over that territory, it cannot but be surprising to find Mr. de Bocanegra ' (the Secretary of Foreign Af fairs of Mexico) " complaining that tor that whole period citizens of the United States, or its Government, have been favouring the rebels of Texas, and supplying them with vessels, ammunition, and money, as if the war for the reduction of the province of Texas had been con stantly prosecuted by Mexico, and her success pre vented by these influences from abroad." In the same dispatch the Secretary of State affirms that " since 1837 the United States have regarded Texas as an in dependent sovereignty as much as alexico ; and that trade and commerce with citizens of a Government at war with Mexico cannot, on that account, be regarded as an intercourse by which assistance and succour are given to Mexicau rebels. The whole current of Mr. de Bocanegra's remarks runs in the same di rection as if the independence of Texas had not been acknowledged. It has been acknowledged —it was acknowledged in 1e37, against the remon strance and protest of Mexico; and most of the acts of any importance, of which Mr. de Bocanegra complains, tl ew necessarily from that recognition. He speaks of texas as still being an ' integral part of the territory of the Mexican Republic;' but he cannot but understand that the United States do not so regard it. The real complaint of Mexico. therefore, is, in substance, neither more nor less than a complaint a•eainst the recognition of Texan independence. It may be thought rather late to repeat that complaint, and not quite Just to confine it to the United States, to the ex••uiption of England, France and Belgium, unless the United States, having been the first to acknowledge the independence of Mexico herself, are to be blamed for setting an example for the recognition of that of Texas." And he added, that "the constitution, public treaties, and the laws oblige the President to regard Texas as an independent state, and its territory as no part of the territory of Mexico." Texas had been an independent state, with an organised government, defying the power of Mexico to overthrow or reconquer her, for more than ten years before Mexico commenced the present war against the United States. Texas had given such evidence to the world of her ability to main tam her separate existence as an independent nation, that she had been formally recognised as such, not only by the United States, but by several of the principal Powers of Europe. These Powers had entered into treaties of amity, commerce, and navigation with her. They had received and accredited her Ministers and other diplomatic agents at their respective courts, and they had commissioned Ministers and diplomatic agents on their part to the Government of Texas. If Mexico, notwithstanding all this, and her utter inability to sub due or reconquer Texas, still stubbornly refused to re cognise her as an independent nation, she was none the le-s so on that account. Mexico herself had been recog nised as an independent flatlet) b) the United States and by other Powers many years before Spain, of which, before her revolution, she had been a colony, would agree to recognise her as such ; and yet Mexico was at that time, in the estimation of the civilised world, and in fact, none the less an independent Power because Spain still claimed her as a colony. If Spain had continued until the present period to assert that Mexico was one of her colonies in rebellion against her, this would not have made her so, or changed the fact of her independent existence. Texas, at the period of her annexation to the United States, bore the same relation to Mexico that Mexico had borne to Spain for many years before Spain acknowledged her inde pendence, with this important difference, that before the annexation of Texas to the United States was consum mated, Mexico herself, by a formal act of her Govern ment, had acknowledged the independence of Texas as a nation. It is true that, in the act of recognition, she prescribed a condition, which she had no power or authority to impose, that Texas should not annex herself to any other power; but this could not detract in any de gree from the recognition which Mexico then made of her actual independence. Upon this plain statement of facts, it is absurd for Mexico to allege, as a pretext for commencing hostilities against the United States, that Texas is still a part of her territory. But there are those who, conceding all this to be true, assume the ground that the true western boundary of Texas is the Nueces, instead of the Rio Grande; and that, therefore, in marching our army to the east bank of the latter river, we passed the Texan line, and invaded the territories of Mexico. A simple statement of facts, known to exist, will conclusively refute such an assumption. Texas, as ceded to the United States by France in 1803 has been always claimed as extending west to the Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo. This fact is established by the authority of our most eminent statesmen at a period when the question was as well, if not better, understood than it is at present. During Mr. Jefferson's adminis tration, Messrs. Monroe and l'inkney, who had been sent on a special mission to Madrid, charged, among other things, with the adjustment of boundary between the two countries, in a note addressed to the Spanish Minis ter of Foreign Affairs, under date of the 28th ofJanuary, 1305, assert that the boundatees of Louisiana, as erd,d to the United States by France, "are the river Perdido on the east, and the river Bravo on the west ;" and they add, that " the facts anti principles which justify this conclusion are so satisfactory to our Government as to convince it that the United States have not a better right to the island of New Orleans, under the cession referred to, than they have to the whole district of terri tory which is above described." Down to the conclusion of the Florida treaty, in February, 1819, by which this territory was ceded to Spain, the United States asserted and maintained their territorial rights to this extent. In the month of June, 1818, during Mr. Monroe's administration, information having been received that a number of foreign adventurers had landed at Galveston, with the avowed purpose of form ing a settlement in that vicinity, a special messenger was dispatched by the Government of the United States, with instructions from the Secretary of State to warn them to desist should they be found there "or any other place north of the Rio Bravo, and within the territory claimed ,by the United States." He was instructed, should they be found in the country north of that river, to make known to them " the surprise with which the President had seen possession thus taken, without authority from ' the United States, of a place within their territorial limits, and upon which no lawful settlement can be made without their sanction." He was instructed to call upon them to " avow under what national authority they pro fess to act," and to give them due warning "that the place is within the United States, who will suffer no per manent settlement to be made there, under any authority other than their own." As late as the Bth of July, 1842, the Secretary of State of the United States, in a note addressed to oar Minister in Mexico, maintains that, by the Florida treaty of 1819, the territory as far west as the Rio Grande, was confirmed to Spain. In that note he states that " by the Treaty of the 22d of February, 1819, between the United States and Spain, the Sabine was adopted as the line of boundary between the two Powers. Up to that period, no considerable colonization had been effected in Texas ; but the territory between the Sabine and the Rio Grande being confirmed to Spain by the treaty, applications were made to that power for grants of land, and such grants, or permissions of settle ment were in fact made by the authorities of citizens of the United States, proposing to emigrate to Texas in numerous families before the declaration of independence by Mexico." - The Texas, which was ceded to Spain by the Florida treaty of 1819, embraced all the country now claimed by the state of Texas between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. The republic of Texas always clained the riverp passedb l as fisaidAmT,ff he r i en: A:m w uoAact e ovhs: s cer w este r n tohetr i n hoy(i a. whichtcnsedosenu boundary, and in her treaty made with Santa Anna, in May, 1836, he recognised it as ic d such. By the constitution which Texas adopted in March, 1836, senatorial and representative districts were organised, extending west of the Nueces. The Congress of Texas, on the 19th of December, 1836, ot fi i teuni n nt rer e dtcyhee3ed t . ueyhtpateohrt years, o:rohutah,hnt, declared ec d cb iihoary t h erui ibilnenodsatußaenonrrdfi boundary. intervened Gnrphoyeerl During a rt R ani iennd e edga - 1 jurisdiction" m ie t s h rdi e i ioe t be tweens the adoption of her constitution and her annexa tion as one of the United States of our Union, Texas asserted and exercised many acts of sovereignty and ju risdiction over the territory and inhabitants west of the Nueces. She organised and defended the limits of coun tries extending to the Rio Grande. She established courts of justica, and extended her judicial system over the territory. She established a custom-house, and col lected duties, and also post-offices and post-roads in it. She established a land office, and issued numerous grants for land, within its limits. A senator and a representa tive residing in it were elected to the Congress of the re public, and served as such before the Act of annexation took place. In both the ongressand Convention of Texas, which gave their assent to the terms of annexation to the United States, proposed by our Congress, were re presentatives residing west of the Nueces, who took part in the act of annexation itself. This was the Texas w hich, by the act of our Congress of the 29th of Decem ber, 1E45, was admitted as one of the States of our Union. That Congress of the United States under stood the state of Texas which they admitted into the union to extend beyond the Nueces, is apparent from district ia the eeys state of a re l x a a w s :At iy o the fact that on the 31st of acember, 1845, only two establish created port of delivery at Corpus Christi, wnich they a situated west of the Nueces, and being the same point a t which the Texas custom-house, under the laws of sur veyor to co the collection aa t o admi ssion,dist days af te r a that port by the Pre , President, by and with the advice that repu blic l , le h e a t d th b e een rev lo e c a a a t e ed a , h a e n a d ld di b re e ct a ed pp t e h i a n t te a dft a S nd en c a , t ) e n . firtn A eti su b r;ey t o h r e vv s a e s ra lictp.co;d ingly ,d of his duties. All these acts of the republic of Texas and of our beene"nn(s) con s ent tn e ao r tfsi t he Senate. in the performance Congress preceded the orders for the advance of our army to the east bank of the Rio Grande. Sub sequently Congress passed an Act " establishing certain post routes," extending west of theNueces. The country west of that river now constitutes a part of one of the congressional districts of Texas, and is represented in the House of Representatives. The Senators from that state were chosen by a Legislature in which the country west of that river was represented. In view of all these fabis, it is difficult to conceive upon what ground it can be maintained that, in occupying the country west of the Nueces with our army, with a view solely to its security and defence, we invaded the territory of Mexico. But it would have been still more difficult to justify the Executive, whose duty it is to see that the laws be faith fully executed, if, in the face of all these proceedings, both of the Congress of Texas and of the United States, he had assumed the responsibility of yielding up the ter ritory west of Nueces to Mexico, or of refusing to pro tect and defend this territory and its inhabitants, includ ing Corpus Christi, as well as the remainder of Texas, against the threatened Mexican invasion. But Mexico herself has never placed the war which she has waged upon the ground that our army occupied the intermediate territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. Her refuted pretension that Texas was not in fact an independent state, but a rebellious pro vince, was obstinately persevered in ; and her avowed purpose in commencing a war with the United States was to reconquer Texas, and to restore Mexican authority over the whole territory—not to the Nueces only, but to the Sabine. In view of the proclaimed menaces f Mexico to this effect, I deemed it my duty, as a measure of precaution and defence, to order our army to occupy a position on our frontier as a military post, from which our troops could best resist and repel any attempted in vasion which Mexico might make. Our army had occupied a position at Corpus Christi, west of the Nueces, as early as August, 1845, without complaint from any quarter. 1-lad the Nueces been re garded as the true western boundary of Texas, that boundary had been passed by our army many months before it advanced to the eastern bank of the Rio Grande. In my annual message of December last, I informed Congress that, upon the invitation of both the Congress and Convention of Texas, I bad deemed it proper to order a strong squadron to the coasts of Mexico, and to concentrate an efficient military force on the western frontier of Texas to protect and defend the inhabitants against the menaced invasion of Mexico. In that mes sage I informed Congress that the moment the terms of annexation offered by the United States were ac cepted by Texas, the latter became so far a part of our own country as to make it our duty to afford to such pro tection and defence; and that for that purpose our squadron had been ordered to the Gulf, and our army to " take a position between the Nueces and the Del Norte," or the Rio Grande, and " to repel any invasion of the Texan territory which might be attempted by the Mexican forces." It was deemed proper to issue this order, because, soon after the President of Texas, in April, 1845, had issued his proclaimation, convening the Congress of that republic, for the purpose of submitting to that body the terms of annexation proposed by the United States, the Government of Mexico made serious threats of invading the Texan territory. These threats became more imposing as it became more apparent, in the progress of the question, that the people of Texas would decide in favour of accepting the terms of annexation; and, finally, they had assumed such a formidable character, as induced both the Con gress and Convention of Texas to request that a military force should be sent by the United States into her terri tory for the purpose of protecting and defending her against the threatened invasion. It would have been a violation of good faith towards the people of Texas to have refused to afford the aid which they desired against a threatened invasion to which they had been exposed by their free determination to annex themselves to our Union, in compliance with the overture made to thorn by the joint resolution cf our Congress. Accordingly, a portion of the army was ordered to ad vance into Texas. Corpus Christi was the position se lected by General Taylor. He encamped at that place in August, 1845, and the army remained in that position until the 11th of March, 1846, when it moved west ward, and on the 2Sth day of that month reached the east bank of the Rio Grande opposite to Matamoras. This movement was made in pursuance of orders from the War Department, issued on the 13th of January, 1846. Before these orders were issued, the dispatch of our Minister in Mexico, transmitting the decision of the Council of Government of Mexico, advising that he should not be received, and also the dispatch of our Consul residing in the city of Mexico—the former bear ing date on the 17th, and the latter on the 18th of De cember, 1845, copies of both of which accompanied my message to Congress of the 11th of May last—were re ceivedat the Department of State. These communica tions rendered it highly probable, if not absolutely cer tain, that our Minister would not be received by the Government of General Ilerrera. It was also well known that but little hope could be entertained of a different result from General Paredes, in case the revo lutionary movement which he was prosecuting should prove successful, as was highly probable. The partisans of Paredes, as our Minister, in the dispatch referred to, states, breathed the fiercest hostility against the United States, denounced the proposed negotiation as treason, and openly called upon the troops and the people to put down the government of Herrera by force. The re conquest of Texas and war with the United States were openly threatened. These were the circumstances cx- isting, when it was deemed proper to order the arm) under the command of General Taylor to advance t,. the western frontier of Texas, and occupy a psition on or near the Rio Grande. The apprehensions of a contemplated Mexican invasion have been since fully justified by the event. The deter mination of Mexico to rush into hostilities with the United States was afterwards manifested from the whole tenour of the note of the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs to our Minister, bearing data on the 12th of \larch, 1846. Paredes had then revolutionised the Go vernment, and his Minister, after referring to !ha reso lution for the annexation of Texas, which had been adopted by our Congress in March, 1845, proceeds to declare that " a fact such as this, or, to speak with greater exactness, so notable an act of usurpation, created an imperious necessity that Mexico, for her own honour, should repel it with proper firmness and dignity. The Supreme Government had beforehand declared that it would look upon such an act as a cants bell ; and, as a consequence of this declaration, negotiation was, by its very nature, at an end, and war was the only resource of the Mexican Government." It appears, also, that on the 4th of April following, General .Paredes, through his Minister of War, issued orders to the Mexican general in command on the Texan frontier to " attack" our army " by every means which war permits." To this General Paretles had been pledged to the army and people of Mexico during the military revolution which had brought him into power. On the 18th of April, 1846, General Paredes addressed a letter to the commander on that frontier, in which he stated to him, " at the present date I suppose you at the head of that valiant army, either fighting already, or preparing for the operations of a campaign ;" and " supposing you already on the theatre of operations, and with all the forces assembled, it is indispensable that hostilities be commenced, yourself taking the initia tive against the enemy." The movement of our army to the Rio Grande was made by the commanding general under positive orders to abstain from all aggressive acts towards Mexico, or Mexican citizens, and to regard the_ relations between the two countries as peaceful, unless Mexico should de clare war, or commit acts of hostility indicative of a state of war ; and these orders he faithfully executed. Whilst occupying his position on the east bank of the Rio Grande, within the limits of Texas, then recently admitted as one of the states of our Union, the com manding general of the Mexican forces, who, in pursuance of the orders of his Government, had col lected a large army on the opposite shore of the Rio Grande, crossed the river, invaded our territory, and commenced hostilities by attacking our forces. Thus, after all the injuries which we had rec e i ve d an d borne from Mexico, and after she had insultingly re jected a minister sent to her on a mission of peace, and whom she had solemnly agreed to receive, she consum mated her long course of outrage against our country by commencing an offensive war and shedding the blood of our citizens on our olvn soil. The United States never attempted to acquire Texas by conquest. On the contrary, at an early period after tha people of Texas had aehieued their independence, they sought to be annexed to the United States. At a general election in September, 1836, they decided with great unanimity in favour of " annexation ;" and in November following the Congress of the republic autbo rised the appointment of a minister to bear their request to this Government. This Government, how ever, having remained neutral between Texas and Mexico during the war between them, and considering it due to the honour of our country, and our fair fame among the nations of the earth, that we should not at this early period consent to annexation, nor until it should be manifest to the whole world that the re-con quest of Texas by Mexico was impossible, refused to accede to the overtures made by Texas. On the 12th of April, 1844, and after more than seven years h a d elapsed since Texas had established her independence, a treaty was concluded for the annexation of that republic to the United States, which was rejected by th e S ena t e . Finally, on the Ist of March, 1845, Congress passed a joint resolution for annexing her to the United States, upon certain preliminary conditions to which her assent was required.. The solemnities which characterised the deliberations and conduct of the Government and people of Texas, on the deeply interesting questions presented by these resolutions, are known to the world. The Congress, the Executive, and the people of Texas, in a convention elected for that purpose, accepted with great unanimity the proposed terms of annexation; and thus consummated on her part the great act of restoring to our federal Union a vast territory which had been ceded to Spain by the Florida treaty more than a quarter of a century before. After the joint resolution for the annexation of Texas to the United States had been passed by our Congress, the Mexican Minister at Washington addressed a note to the Secretary of State, bearing date on the 6th of March, 1845, protesting against it as " an act of aggres.: sion, the most unusual which can be found recorded in the annals of modern history; namely, that of despOiling a friendly nation, like Mexico, of a considerable portion of her territory;" and protesting against the resolution of annexation, as being an act " whereby the province of Texas, an integral portion of the Mexican territory, is agreed and admitted into the American Union;" and he announced that, as a consequence, his mission to the United States had terminated, and demanded his pass ports, which were granted. It was upon the absurd pre text, made by Mexico (herself indebted for her inde pendence to a successful revolution), that the republic of Texas still continued to be, notwithstanding all that had passed, a province of Mexico, that this step was tak..n by the Mexican Minister. Every . honourable effort has been used by me to avoid the war which followed, but all have proved vain. All our attempts to preserve peace have been met by insult and resistance on the . part of Mexico. My efforts to this end commenced in the note of the Secretary of State of the 10th of March, 1845, in answer to that of the Mexican Minister. Whilst declining to re-open a discussion which had already been exhausted, and proving again what was known to the whole world, that Texas has long since achieved her independence, the Secretary of State expressed the regret of this Govern ment that Mexico should have taken offence at the reso lution of annexation passed by Congress, and gave assurance that our "most strenuous efforts shall be de voted to the amicable adjustment of every cause of com plaint between the two Governments, and to the cultiva tion of the kindest and most friendly relations -between the sister republics." rnaL I have acted in the spirit of this assurance will appear from the events which have since occurred. Not withstanding Mexico had abruptly terminated all d:plo antic intercourse with the United States, and ought, therefore, to have been the first to ask for its resumption, yet, waiving all ceremony, I embraced the earliest fa vourable opportunity " to ascertain from the Mexican Government whether they would receive an envoy from he United States entrusted with full power to adjust all le questions in dispute between the two Governments." In September, 1845, I believed the pr o piti ous moment fur such an overture had arrived. Texas, by the enthu siast:c and almost unanimous will of her people, had pro nounced in favour of annexation. Mexico herself had ~greed to acknowledge the independence of Texas, sub ject to a condition, it is true, e hich she had no right to impose, and no power to enforce. The last lingering hope of Mexico, if she still could have retained any, that Texas a ould ever again become one of her pro vinces, must have been abandoned. The Consul of the United States at the city of Mexico was, therefore, instructed by the Secretary of State on the 15th of September, 1845, to make the inquiry of the Mexican Government. The inquiry was made, and on the 15th of October, 1845, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Government, in a note addressed to our Consul, gave a favour able response, requesting, at the same time, that our naval force might be withdrawn from Vera Cruz while negotiations should be pending. Upon the re ceipt of this note our naval force was promptly with drawn from Vera Cruz. A minister was immediately appointed, and departed to Mexico. Everything bore a promising aspect for a speedy and peaceful adjustment of all our difficulties. At the date of my annual Mes sage to Congress, in December last, no doubt was enter ,ained but that he would be received by the Mexican government, and the hope was cherished that all cause of misunderstanding between the two countries would be -peedily removed. In the confident hope that such would be the result of _his mission, I informed Congress that I forebore at that time to " recommend such ulterior mea sures of redress for the wrongs and injuries we had so long borne, as it would have been proper to make had no such negotiati , m been instituted." To my surprise and regret, the Mexican Gouernment, though solemnly pledged to do so upon the arrival of our minister in Mexico, refused to receive and accredit him. When he reached Vera Cruz, on the 30th of November, 1845, he found that the aspect of affairs had undergone an un happy change. The Government of General. Herrera, who was at that time President of the republic, was tot tering to its fall. General Paredes (a military leader) had manifested his determination to overthrow the Government of Herrera by a military revolution; and one of the principal means which he employed to effect his purpose, and render the government of Her rera odious to the army and . people of Mexico, was by loudly condemning its determination to receive a minister of peace from the United States, alleging that it was the intention of Herrera, by a treaty with the United States, to dismember the territory of Mexico, by ceding away the department of Texas. The Government of Herrera is believed to have been well disposed to a pacific adjust ment of existing difficulties, but, probably alarmed for its own security, and in order to ward off the danger ofthe revouton led by Paredes, violated its solemn agreement, and refused' to receive or accredit our Minister ; and this, although informed that he had been invested with full power to adjust all questions in dispute between the two Governments. Among the frivolous pretexts for this refusal, the principal one was that our Minister had not gone on a special mission, confined to the question of Texas alone, leaving all the outrages upon our flag and our citiaens unredressed. The Mexican Government well knew that both our national honour and the protec tion due to our citizens imperatiiely required that the two questions of boundary and indemnity should be treated of together, as naturally and insepar a bly bl e nd e d, and they ought to have seen that this course was best calculated to enable the United States to extend to them the most liberal justice, On the 30th of December, 1845, General Herrera resigned the presidency, and yielded up the government to Gen. Paredes without a struggle. ' Thus a revolution was accomplished solely by the army commanded by Paredes, and the supreme power in Mexico passed into the hands of a military usurper, who was known to be bitterly hostile to the United States. Although the prospect of a pacific adjustment with the new Government was unpromising, from the known hostility of its head to the United States, yet, deter mined that nothing should be left undone on our part to restcre friendly relations between the two countries, our Minister was instructed to present his credentials to the new Government, and ask to be accredited by it in the diplomatic character in which he had been com missioned. These instructions he executed by his note of the Ist March, 1846, addressed to the Mexican Mi nister of Foreign Affairs, but his /request was insult ngly refused by that Minister, in his answer of the 12th of the same month. No alternative remained for our Minister but to demand his passport, and return to 'he United States. Thus was the extraordinary spectacle presented to (he civilised world, of a Government, in violation of its awn express agreement, having twice rejected a minis ur of peace, invested with full poyvers to adjust all the xisting differences between the two countries in a manner just and honourable to both. I am not aware that modern nistory presents a parallel case, in which, in time of peace, one nation has refused even to hear proposi tions from another for terminating existing difficulties be tween them. Scarcely a bcpe of adjusting our difficul ties, even at a remote day, or of preserving peace with Mexico, could be cherished while Paredes remained at the head of the Government. He had acquired the supreme power by a military revolution, and upon the moat solemn pledges to wage war against the United States, and to reconquer Texas, which he claimed as a revolted province of Mexico. He had denounced as guilty of treason all those Mexicans who considered Texas as no longer constituting a part of the territory of Mexico, and who were friendly to the cause of peace. The duration of the war which he waged against the United States was indefinite, because the end which he proposed, of the reconquest of Texas, was hopeless. Besides, there was good reason to believe, from all his conduct, that it was his intention to convert the republic of Mexico into a monarchy, and to call a foreign European prince to the throne. Preparatory to this end, he had, during his short rule destroyed the liberty of the press, tolerating that portion of it only which openly advocated the establishment of a monarchy. The better to secure the success of his ultimate de signs, he had, by an arbitrary decree, convoked a Con gress—not to be elected by the free voice of the people, but to be chosen in a manner to make them subservient to his will, and to give him absolute control over their ieliberations. Under all these circumstances, it was believed that my revolution in Mexico, founded upon opposition to the ambitious projects of Paredes, would tend to promote the cause of peace as , well as prevent any at tempted European interference in the affairs of the North American continent—both objects of deep interest ki the United States. Any such foreign interference, if attempted, must have been resisted by the United States. My views upon that subject were fully commu nicated to Congress in my last annual message. In any event it was certain that no change whatever in the go vernment of Mexico, which would deprive Paredes of power, could be for the worse, so far as the United States were concerned, while it was highly probable that any change must be for the better. This was the state of affairs existing when Congress, on the 13th of May last, recognised the existence of the war which had been commenced by the Government of Paredes, and it be came an object of much importance, with a view to a speedy settlement of our difficulties and the restoration of an honourable peace, that Paredes should not retain power in Mexico. Before that time there were symptoms of a revolution in Mexico, favoured, as it was understood to be, by the more liberal party, and especially by those who wer e opposed to foreign interference and to the monarchical form of Government. Santa Anna was then in exile in Havannah, having been expelled from power and banished from his country by a revolution which occurred in December, 1844; but it was known he had still a considerable party in his favour in Mexico. It was also equally well known that no vigilance which could be exerted by our squadron would, in all probability, Wave prevented him from effecting a landing somewhere on the extensive gulf coast of Mexico, if he desired to return to his country. He had openly professed an en tire change of policy, had expressed his regret that he had subverted the federal constitution of 1824, and avowed that he was now in favour of its restoration. He had publicly declared his hostility, in the strongest terms, to the establishment of a monarchy, and to Euro pean interference in the affairs of his country. Information to this effect had been received from sources believed to be reliable, at the date of the recog nition of the existence of the war by Congress, and was afterwards fully confirmed by the receipt of the dispatch of our consul in the city of Mexico with the accom panying documents, which aro herewith transmitted. Besides, it was reasonable to suppose that he must see the ruinous consequences to Mexico of a war with the United States, and that it would be his interest to favour peace. It was under these circumstances, and upon these considerations, that it was deemed expedient not to oh struct his return to Mexico, should he attempt to do so. Our object was the restoration of peace ; and with that view no reason was perceived why we should take part with Paredes, and aid him, by means of our blockade, in preventing the return of his rival to Mexico. On the contrary, it was believed that the intestine divisions which ordinary sagac'ty could not but iinticipate as the fruit of Santa Anna's return to Mexico, and his contest with Paredes, might strongly tend to produce a disposi tion with both parties to restore and preserve peace with the United States. 'Paredes was a soldier by profession, and a monarchist in principle. He had but recently be fore been successful in a military revolution by which he bad obtained power. He was the sworn enemy of the United States, with which ho had involved his country in the existing war. Santa Anna had been expelled from power by the army. was known to be in open hos tility to Paredes, and publicly pledged against foreign intervention, and the restoration of monarchy in Mexico. In view of these facts and circumstances it was that, when orders were issued to the commander of our naval forces in the Gulf, on the 15th day of May las t, only two days after the existence of the war had been recognised by Congres ,, , to place the coasts of Mexico under blockade, he was directed not to obstruct the passage of Santa Anna to Mexico, sLould he attempt to return. A revolution took pace in• Mexico in the early part of August following, by which the power of Paredes was overthrown, and he has since been banished from the country, and is now in exile. Shortly afterwards Santa Anna returned. It remains to be seen whether his re turn may not yet prove to be favourable to a pacific ad justment of the existing difficulties, it being manifestly his interest not to persevere in the prosecution of a war commenced by Paredes, to accomplish a purpose so absurd as the reconquest of Texas to the Sabine. Had Paredes remained in power, it is morally certain that any pacific adjustment would have been hopeless. Upon the commencement of hostilities by Mexico against the United States the indignant spirit of the nation was at once aroused. Congress promptly re sponded to the expectations of the country, and, by the act of the 13th May last, recognised the fact that war existed, by the act of Mexico, between the United States and that republic, and granted the means necessary for its vigorous prosecution. Being involved in a war thus commenced by Mexico, and for the justice of which, on our part, we may confidently appeal to the whole world, I resolved to prosecute it with the utmost vigour. Accordingly, the ports of Mex!co on the Gulf and on Vie Pacific have been placed under blockade, and her territory invaded at several important points. The re • ports from the Departments of War and the Navy will inform you more in detail of the measures adopted in the emergency in which our country was placed, and of the gratifying results which have been accomplished. The various columns of the army have performed their duty under great disadvantages, with the most distinguished skill and courage. The victories of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and of Monterey, won aeainst greatly superior numbers and against most de cided anvantages in other respects on the part of the enemy, were brilliant in their execution, and entitle our brave officers and soldiers to the grateful thanks of their country. The nation deplores the loss of the brave officers and men who have gallantly fallen while vindi cating and defending their country's rights and honour. It is a subject of pride and satisfaction that our volun teer citizen soldiers, who so promptly responded to their country's call, with an experience of the discipline of a camp of only a few weeks, have borne their part in the hard-fought battle of Monterey with a constancy and courage equal to that of veteran troops, and worthy of the highest admiration. The privations of long marches through the enemy's country, and through a wilderness, have been borne without a murmur. By rapid move ments, the province of New Mexico, with Santa Fe, its capital, has been captured without bloodshed. The navy has co-perated with the army, and rendered im portant services; if not so brilliant, it is because the enemy had no force to meet them on their own element, and because of the defences which nature has interposed, in the difficulties of the navigation on the Mexican coast. Our squadron in the Pacific, with the co-operation of a gallant officer of the army, and a small force hastily collected in that distant country, have acquired bloodless possession of the Californias, and the American flag has been raised at every important point of that pro vince. I congratulate you on the succesit which has thus at tended our military and naval operations. In less than seven months after Mexico commenced hostilities, at a time selected by herself, we have taken possession of many of her principal ports, driven back and pursued her invading army, and acquired military possession of the Mexican provinces of New Mexico, New Leon, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and the Californias—a territory larger in extent than that embraced in the original thir teen states of the Union, inhabited by a considerable population, and much of it more than a thousand miles from the points at which we had to collect our forces and commence our movements. By the blockade the import and export trade of the enemy has been cut off. Well may the American people be proud of the energy and gallantry of our regular and volunteer officers and soldiers. - The events of these few months afford a grati fying proof that our country can, under any emergency, confidently rely for the maintenance of her honour, and the defence of her rights, on an effective force, ready at all times voluntarily to relinquish the comforts of home for the perils and privations of the camp. And though such a force may be for the time expensive, it is in the end economical, as the ability to command it removes the necessity of employing a large standing army in the time of peace, and proves that our people love their institutions, and are ever ready to defend and protect them. Whilst the war was in course of vigorous and success ful prosecution, being still anxious to arrest its evils, and considering that after the brilliant victories of our arms on the Bth and 9th of May last the nati mal honour could not be compromised by it, another overture was made to Mexico by my direction on the 27th of July last, to terminate hostilities by a peace just and honour able to both countries. On the 31st of August follow ing the Mexican Government declined to accept this friendly overture, but I referred it to the decision of a Mexican Congress to be asiembled in the early part of the present month. I communicate to you herewith a copy of the letter of the Secretary of State, proposing to re-open negotiations of the answer of the Mexican Go vernment, and of the reply thereto of the Secretary of State. The war will continue to be prosecuted with vigour, as the best means of securing peace. It is hoped that the decision of the Mexictn Congress, to which our last overture has been termed, may result in a speedy and houourable peace. With our experience, however, of the unreasonable course of the Mexican authorities, it is the part of wisdom not to relax in the energy of our military operations until the result is made known. In this view it is deemed important to hold military posses s'on of all the provinces which have been taken until a definitive treaty of peace shall• have teen concluded and ratified by the two countries. The war has not lren waged with a view to convest; but having been commencid try Mexico, it has been carried into the enemy's ci entry, and will be vigorously prosecuted there, with a view to obtain an honourab!e peace, and thereby secure an ample indemnity for the expenses of the war, as well as to our much•irjured citizens, hho hold large pecuniary demands against Mexico. By the laws of nations a conquered territory is sub ject to be governed by the conquered during his mili tary possession, and until there is either a treaty of .peace, or he shall voluntarily withdraw from it. The old civil government being necessarily superseded, it is the right and duty of the conqueror to secure his conquest, and provide for the maintenance of civil order and the rights of the inhabitants. This right has been exercised, and this duty performed, by our military and naval commanders, by the establishment of temporary govern , ments in some of the conquered provinces in Mexico, assi milating them as far as practicable to the free institutions of our own country. In the provinces of New Mexico, and of the Californias, little, if any, further resistance is appre hended from the inhabitants to the temporary govern ments which have thus, from the necessity of the case and accor.ling to the laws of war, beet► established. It may be proper to provide for the security of these im portant conquests by making an adequate api..rt.p.iation for the purpose of erecting fortifications and defray lug the expenses necessarily incident to the maintenance of our possession and authority over them. Near the close of your last session, for reasons com municated to Congress, I deemed it important, as a measure for securing a speedy peace with Mexico, that a sum of money should he appr epriated, and placed in the power of the executive, similar to that. which had been made upon two former occasions, during the ad ministration of President Jefferson. On the 26th of February, 1803, an appropriation of two millions of dollars wit., made, and placed at the dis posal of the President. Its object is well known. It was at that time in contemplation to acquire Louisiana from France, and it was intended to be applied as a part of the consideration which might be paid for that territory. on the 13th of February, 1806, the same sum was in 1 ke manner appropriated with a view to the purchase of the Floridas from Spain. These appropriations were made to facilitate negotiations, and as a means to enable the President to accomplish the important objects in view. Though it did not become necessary for the Pre sidt-nt to use these appropriations, yet a state of things might have arisen in which it would have been highly important for him to do so, and the wisdom of making them cannot be doubted. It is believed that the measures recommended at your last session met with the approbation of decided majorities in both houses of Congress. lndeed, in different forms, a Bill making an appropriation of two millions of dollars passed each house, and it is much to be regretted that it did not become a law. The reas - ns which induced me to recommend the measure at that time still exist ; and I again submit the subject for your consideration, and suggest the importance of early action upon it. Should the appropriation be made, and be not needed, it will remain in the Treasury : should it be deemed proper to apply it, in the whole or in part, it will be accounted for as other public expenditures. Immediately after Congress had recognised the exist ence of the war with Mexico, my attention was directed to the danger that privateers might be fitted out in the ports of Cuba and Porto Rico to prey upon the com merce of the United States ; and I invited the special attention of the Spanish Government to the 14th article of our treaty with that power of the 20th of October, 1795, under which the . citizens and subjects of either nation who shall take commissions or letter of marque to act as privateers against the other "shall be pucished as pirates." It affords me pleasure to inform yon that I have re ceived assurances from the Spanish Government that this article of the treaty shall be faithfully observed on its part. Orders for this purpose were immediately transmitted from that Government to the authorities of Cuba and Porto Rico to exert their utmost vigilance in pre venting any attempts to fit out privateers in those islands against the United States. From the good faith of Spain I am fully satisfied that this treaty will be executed in its spirit as well as its letter ; whilst the United States will on their part faithfully perform all the obli gations which it imposes on them. Information has been recently received at the derart ment of state that the Mexican Government has sent to iI a vannah blank commissions to privateers, and blank certificates of naturalisation, signed by General Salas, the present head of the Mexican Government. There is also reason to apprehend that similar documents have been transmitted to other parts of the world. Copies of these papers in translation are herewith transmitted. As the preliminaries required by the practice of civi lised nations for commis,ioning privateers and regu lating their conduct appear not to have been observed, and as these commissions are in blank, to be filled up with the names of citizens and subjects of all nations who may be willing to purchase them, the whole pro re freeboote rs privilege to upon crui ceeding can only b e construe d as a n invitation to all t o a re willing to pay for i American commerce. It cruise aga th in st TH.P., SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER, 31 1 1846.