This Circular to the Authorities subordinate to this Office. “Most Excellent Senor: As my notes of the 30th of March and 7th of April of this year, concerning the deserters and recruits for the army, have not produced effects which his excellency the president ad interim desired, as the governors have not been able to gather a number of men by any means adequate to the wants of the army, his excellency has ordered your excellency to provide the material to enable the different departments to furnish their quota, and complete the contingent of troops required by the decrees of the 29th of December, 1843, and 2d July, 1844; for although the supreme government has not exacted with punctuality, the complement from the departments, she now sees herself under the necessity of doing so, for the war which she wages against the United States, the perfidy and treachery of which power put her in possession of a part of this Republic.

"His excellency, the president ad interim, requires that your excellency inform the governors of the necessity which exists of detailing the number of men, so highly necessary to fill the ranks of the army, and to excite the zeal and patriotism of the authorities, that their preparations shall be so effectual as to fulfil the desires of the government, and prevent the dignity of the nation from being in any measure compromised.

"I have the honor to communicate to your excellency the following, to be used as occasion may require.

"God and liberty.

"July 16, 1845."

GARCIA CONDE.

Most excellent Senor, Minister of Foreign Relations and of Police. Transmit to the Authorities depending upon your Department.

"MOST EXCELLENT SENOR: It being necessary that the troops of the line should cover the frontiers of the republic, and march towards Texas, to conquer that department, now usurped by the United States, his excellency the president ad interim has commanded me to transmit you this note, to excite the zeal and patriotism of the governors, that they place under arms, in their respective districts, all the force which can be collected in defence of the law, to be ready to serve as a safeguard of the respective departments, according to the decree of the 4th of June of this year, and the regulation of the 7th instant.

"Your excellency will communicate to the governors this supreme resolution, and will inform them of the obligations under which the citizens are to contribute to the defence of their country, and to sustain rights violated by a nation which refuses to acknowledge them, and obliges Mexico to maintain them by force-which it most undoubtedly will, or fall in the struggle. She will not consent to give up one half of her territory, from the base fear of losing the other. Hoping your excellency will furnish me with information as to the number of men which can be devoted to this important object, your excellency will please to accept my most high consideration.

"God and liberty.

"MEXICO, July 16, 1845.

GARCIA CONDE.

"To the most excellent Senor, minister of foreign relations and police."

L.

MR. SLIDELL'S LETTER OF CREDENCE.

"JAMES K. POLK,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

"GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND: I have made choice of John Slidell, one of our distinguished citizens, to reside near the government of the Mexican republic, in the quality of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America. He is well informed of the relative interests of the two countries, and of our sincere desire to restore, cultivate, and strengthen friendship and good correspondence between us; and from a knowledge of his fidelity and good conduct, I have entire confidence that he will render himself acceptable to the Mexican government, by his constant endeavors to preserve and advance the interest and happiness of both nations. I therefore request your excellency to receive him favorably, and to give full credence to whatever he shall say on the part of the United States. And I pray God to have you in his safe and holy keeping..

"Written at the city of Washington, the tenth day of November,

in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and of the independence of the United States the seventieth.

66

"Your good friend,

"By the President:

"JAMES BUCHANAN,

"Secretary of State.

"JAMES K. POLK.

"To his Excellency DON JOSE JOAQUIM HERRERA,

"President of the Mexican Republic.”

M.

LETTER.

Mr. Peña y Peña to Mr. Slidell.

"PALACE OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, MEXICO, December 16, 1845.

"The undersigned, minister of foreign relations, in answer to the letter which his excellency Mr. John Slidell, was pleased to address to him yesterday, has the honor to inform him that the delay in his reception, to which he alludes, and the consequent delay in answering his preceding note, making known his arrival in this capital, and accompanying a copy of his credentials, have arisen solely from certain difficulties, occasioned by the nature of those credentials, as compared with the proposition made by the United States, through their consul, to treat peacefully upon the affairs of Texas, with the person who should be appointed to that effect; for which reason it has been found necessary to submit the said credentials to the council of government, for its opinion with regard to them.

"The undersigned will communicate the result to his excellency without loss of time; assuring him meanwhile that the government of Mexico is ready to proceed agreeably to what it proposed in its answer on the subject.

"The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to offer to his excellency Mr. Slidell, the assurances of his very distinguished consideration.

"MANUEL DE LA PENA Y PENA.

"His Excellency JOHN SLIDELL, &c. &c."

N.

LETTER.

Mr. Slidell to Mr. Peña y Peña.

"MEXICO, December 24, 1845.

"The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America, had the honor to receive, on the evening of Sunday the 21st instant, the communication of Mr. Peña y Peña, dated on the preceding day. The undersigned will abstain from the full expression of the feelings of astonishment and dissatisfaction which its perusal has so naturally excited, fearful that, if he did not do so, he might overstep the bounds which courtesy and the usages of diplomatic intercourse prescribe, in addressing a person occupying the distinguished position of Mr. Peña y Peña; but he should be recreant alike to the character, dignity, and interests of the government which he has the honor to represent, were he not to point out to your excellency, and through him to the people of the United States and of Mexico, the misstatements, (and he begs to be understood that he uses this word in no invidious sense,) which the communication of your excellency contains of the correspondence which induced the appointment of the undersigned, refute the reasoning by which Mr. Peña y Peña attempts to sustain the refusal of the Mexican government to receive him, and apprize him of the very grave consequences to which a persistence in that refusal will probably lead.

"In performing this ungrateful duty, the undersigned will sedulously endeavor to avoid every expression that could, by possibility, offend the just sensibilities of the Mexican government; but this feeling, sincerely entertained, would degenerate into culpable weakness, were he to withhold any fact or suppress any argument necessary to the faithful discharge of the task which has been imposed upon him,—that of vindicating the strict correctness of the course pursued by his government, and demonstrating the glaring impropriety of that which the Mexican government seems determined to pursue.

"For this purpose, it will be necessary to make a brief reference to the difficulties which existed between the two countries, when, at the instance of your excellency, the consul of the United States, acting by authority of his government, addressed to your excellen

cy, on the 13th of October last, a letter, the substance of which had been communicated orally to your excellency in a confidential interview two days previously. Diplomatic relations had been suspended by the recall of General Almonte, the Mexican minister at Washington, in March last, and the subsequent withdrawal of the minister of the United States from Mexico.

"Mexico considered herself aggrieved by the course which the United States had pursued in relation to Texas, and this feeling, it is true, was the immediate cause of the abrupt termination of all diplomatic relations; but the United States, on their part, had causes of complaint, better founded and more serious, arising out of the claims of its citizens on Mexico.

"It is not the purpose of the undersigned to trace the history of these claims, and the outrages from which they sprung. The annals of no civilized nation present, in so short a period of time, so many wanton attacks upon the rights of persons and property as have been endured by citizens of the United States from the Mexican authorities attacks that would never have been tolerated from any other nation than a neighboring and sister republic. They were the subject of earnest, repeated, and unavailing remonstrance, during a long series of years, until at last, on the 11th of April, 1839, a convention was concluded for their adjustment. As, by the provisions of that convention, the board of commissioners organized for the liquidation of the claims was obliged to terminate its duties within eighteen months, and as much of that time was lost in preliminary discussions, it only acted finally upon a small portion of the claims, the amount awarded upon which amounted to $2,026,139, (two millions twenty-six thousand one hundred and thirty-nine dollars;) claims were examined and awarded by the American commissioners, amounting to $928,627, (nine hundred and twentyeight thousand six hundred and twenty-seven dollars,) upon which the umpire refused to decide, alleging that his authority had expired, while others, to the amount of $3,336,837, (three millions three hundred and thirty-six thousand eight hundred and thirtyseven dollars,) remained altogether unacted upon, because they had been submitted too late for the decision of the board. In relation to the claims which had been submitted to the board of commissioners, but were not acted on for want of time, amounting to $4,265,464, (four millions two hundred and sixty-five thousand four hundred and sixty-four dollars,) a convention was signed in this