The Harrison times., 1911-10-07
EPILOGUE.

may it wave,
Ger the land Of the free, and the hons
of the brave
Francis Scott Key.
On the night that Miss Elizabeth
Churchill gave me her hand and her
heart foIsver-for which l have not
yet ceased to thank God-there began
the guns OF Palo Alto. Later, there
came the fields of Monterey, Buena
Vista, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cheru'
busco, Molino del Rey-at last the
guns sounded at the gate of the cid
City of Mexico itself. Some of that
fighting l myself saw; but much OF
the time | was employed in that man
ner OF special work which had en-
gagged me for the last few years. II
was through Mr.. Calhoun's agency
that l reached certain importance
in these matters; and so / was chosen
as the commissioner to negotiate a
peace with Mexico.
This honor later proved to be q
dangerous and questionable one. Cen
Scott wanted no interference Of this
kind, especially since he knew Mr
Calhoun's influence in my choice. He
thwarted all my attempts to reach the
headquarters Of the enemy, and did
everything he could to secure peace
of his own, ct the mouth Of the cam
hQtfnr
than Mr. Buchanan, then our sec'
retary of state, had prepared fox ma,
and these were rejected by the Mexi'
can government at last. l wss or
dered by Mr.. Polk to state that we
had no better terms to offer; and as
for myself, l was told to return to
Washington. At that time could not
make my way out through the lines,
nor, in truth did much care to do So
A certain event not written in his
tory Influenced me to remain for a
time at the little village of Guadalupe
Hidalgo. Here, in short, received
word from a lady whom | had for
merly known, none less than Sonora
Yturrio, once a member Of the Mexl-
can legation at Washington. True to
her record, she had again reached In
fluential position in her country, using
methods of her own. She told mo
now to pay no attention to what had
been reported by Mexico. In fact, I
was approached again by the Mexican
commissioners, introduced by her!
What was done then is history. We
signed then and there the peace Of
Guadalupe Hidalgo, in accordance
with the terms originally given me
by our secretary of state. So, after
all, Calhoun's kindness to woman In
distress was not lost; and so, after
all, he unwittingly helped in the end
ing Of the war he never wished be-
gun.
Meantime, I had been recalled to
Washington, but did not know tho
nature Of that recall, When at last ]
arrived there found myself disgraced
and discredlted. My actions were 70
pudated by the administration. | my,
self was dismissed from the service
without pay-sad enough blow for q
young man who had been married less
than year.
Mr.. Folks jealousy Of John Calhoun
was not the only cause of this. Cal
houn's prophecy was right, Yet, none
the less, after his usual fashion, he
was not averse to receiving such credit
as he could. He put the responsibility
of the treaty upon the senate! 1t waa
debated hotly there for some weeks,
and at last, much to his surprise and
my qualification, It was ratified!
The north, which had opposed this
Mexican war--that same war which
later led inevitably to the Civil War
now found itself unable to say
much against the great additions
to our domain which the treaty had
secured. We paid fifteen millions, In
addition to our territorial indemnity
claim, and we got realm whose
wealth could not be computed. 50
much, 1t must be owned, did fortune
dc for that singular favorite, Mr. Polk
And, curiously enough, the smoke had
hardly cleared from palo Alto field
before Abraham Lincoln, youna
member in the house of congress, was
introducing a resolution which asked
the marking of "the spot where that
outrage was committed" Perhaps {.
was az outrage. Many still hold Il
so. But let US reflect what would have
been Lincoln's life had matters aot
gone Just as they did.
GRO RE CoNTINUED.)
IT,. h.,lto 80 . ,o,, ,iaatnt~ ,a..I