dress. He regrets that he cannot comply with this request. The letter from the secretary of state to your excellency, of which the undersigned was the bearer, was unsealed, and he cannot consent to be made the medium of conveying to his government any official document from that of Mexico while he is ignorant of its contents. If Mr. Peña y Peña will favor the undersigned with a copy of his letter to the secretary of state, the undersigned will be happy to forward the original with his first despatches.

"He takes this occasion to tender to his excellency D. Manuel de la Peña y Peña the renewed assurances of his distinguished consideration.

JOHN SLIDELL

"His excellency MANUEL DE LA PENA Y PENA, Minister of Foreign Relations and Government.”

0.

LETTER.

Peña y Peña to the Council.

"DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS, GOVERNMENT, AND POLICE,

MEXICO, December 11, 1845.

"I have the honor to submit to the council, through the medium of your excellency, the documents relative to the appointment of a commissioner of the government of the United States of America, for the peaceable settlement of the questions at issue between the two republics.

"As you will please to observe to the council, the proposition to appoint such a commissioner came spontaneously from the American government, which made it through the medium of its consul in Mexico; and our government accepted it, with the declaration that it did so in order to give a new proof, that even in the midst of its grievances, and of its firm decision to exact adequate reparation, it neither repelled nor contemned the measure of reason and peace to which it was invited, so that the proposition as well as the acceptance, rested upon the exact and definite understanding that the commissioner should be appointed ad hoc; that is to say, for the settlement of the questions of Texas in a pacific and honorable manner. "As the council will also see, in the last official communications

among the documents submitted, Mr. John Slidell has arrived in this capital, as commissioner of the United States; but it does not appear that this gentleman has been appointed by his government as a minister instructed specially to treat on the questions of Texas, but with the general and absolute attributes of an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, and that he is to reside in that character near the Mexican government, in the same manner and almost in the same words used in accrediting Mr. Wilson Shannon, as may be seen by reference to the document on that subject, herewith submitted.

"From these facts naturally flow the following reflections::

"First. The mission of this commissioner has degenerated substantially from the class proposed on the part of the United States, and accepted by our government.

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Secondly. If this commissioner should be received simply in the character in which he appears, grounds would justly be afforded for the presumption that the relations between us and the United States remain free and open; a presumption which would be in reality most erroneous, and at the same time most injurious to the dignity and interests of Mexico.

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Thirdly. Should he be admitted in the character in which he presents himself, however explicitly we might protest that he was received only for the purpose of hearing his peaceful propositions respecting the affairs of Texas, it would always appear to the whole world that he had been received as, and had been a minister plenipotentiary residing near the Mexican republic; and it is evident that this fact might serve to confuse or to diminish the most clear and direct protests.

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Fourthly. The government of Mexico neither could nor ought to refuse the invitation given to it on the part of the United States, to hear and deliberate upon peaceful propositions respecting Texas. In adopting this course, which morality requires, prudence counsels, and the most learned and judicious publicists recommend, the government observed the principle which they lay down as just and proper: 'As the evil of war is terrible, in the same proportion are nations called on to reserve to themselves the means of terminating it. It is therefore necessary that they should be able to send ministers to each other, even in the midst of hostilities, in order to make propositions for peace, or tending to diminish the fury of arms. It may be stated as a general maxim, that the minister

of an enemy ought always to be admitted and heard; that is to say, that war alone, and of itself, is not a sufficient reason for refusing to hear any proposition which an enemy may offer,' &c. But if this doctrine be just and rational, so also it is just, that the fact of a nation's having assented to hear propositions of peace, made to it by its enemy, should not serve as a means of obscuring its rights, and silencing, in that way, the demands of its justice. Such would be the case, if Mexico, after assenting to receive and hear a commissioner of the United States, who should come to make propositions of peace respecting the department of Texas, should admit a minister of that nation, absolute and general, a common plenipotentiary to reside near the Mexican republic.

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Fifthly. It is true, that in the communication addressed to our president, by the president of the United States, it is declared that the commissioner is informed of the sincere desire of the latter to restore, cultivate, and strengthen friendship and good correspondence between the two countries; but it is clear that neither this clause, nor still less the single word restore, is sufficient to give to Mr. Slidell the special character of commissioner to make propositions respecting Texas, calculated to establish peace firmly, and to arrest the evils of war by a definitive settlement. The reason of this is, that the full powers of such a minister should be adequate to the business for which he is appointed.

"Sixthly. The settlement which the United States seek to effect in order to attain peace and good correspondence with Mexico, which have been suspended by the occurrences in Texas, is a point necessarily to be determined before any other whatever; and until that is terminated entirely and peacefully, it will be impossible to appoint and admit an American minister to establish his residence near the government of Mexico.

66 Seventhly. Moreover, the president of the United States cannot appoint ambassadors, nor any other public ministers, nor even consuls, except with the consent of the senate. This is fixed by the second paragraph of the second section, article second, of their national constitution. But in the credentials exhibited by Mr. Slidell, this requisite, indispensable to give legality to his mission, does not appear.

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Eighthly. Nor could that requisite have appeared, as Mr. Slidell was appointed by the president on the 10th of November last, and Congress did not assemble until the first Monday of the present

month of December, agreeably to the second paragraph of the fourth section, article first, of the same constitution.

"Ninthly, and finally. It is a principle most salutary and natural that he who is about to treat with another has the right to assure himself by inquiries as to the person and the powers of the individual with whom he is to enter into negotiation. And this universal principle of jurisprudence extends also to affairs between nation and nation. Hence comes the necessity that every minister should present his credentials; and hence his examination and qualification by the government to which he presents himself.

"From all these considerations the supreme government concludes that Mr. Slidell is not entitled to be admitted in the case in question as a commissioner of the government of the United States, with the object of hearing his propositions, and settling upon them the affairs of Texas; that it will admit the commissioner whenever he may present himself in compliance with the conditions wanting in the credentials as above mentioned; and that this should be the answer given to him. The supreme government, however, desiring to fortify its judgment, in a case of so delicate a nature, by the opinion of its enlightened council, hopes that this body will, without delay, communicate what it considers proper to be done on the affair.

"MANUEL DE LA PENA Y PENA."

P.

LETTER

Of Mr. Black to Mr. Slidell.

[Extracts.]

"CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

MEXICO, December 15, 1845.

"In compliance with your request, I have the honor to give you, herewith, a written statement of what passed between his excellency Manuel de la Peña y Peña, minister of foreign relations, &c., of the Mexican government, and myself, in the two interviews had with the said minister, on the evenings of the 8th and 13th instant, held at his house, as follows: :

"At the interview of Monday evening, the 8th instant, which

took place between the hours of six and seven, I stated to his excellency that I presumed he knew of the arrival in this city of the Hon. John Slidell, as envoy, &c., from the government of the United States. He replied that he had been informed of it that day. I then told him that I had made known to Mr. Slidell what his excellency had communicated to me, in our interview of Wednesday, the 3d instant, in relation to the fears entertained by the Mexican government on account of his arrival at this time, as it would have better suited the Mexican government, and they would be more able to carry out their views in relation to the mission, if the envoy had arrived a month later; and that our minister, Mr. Slidell, had regretted much that he had not known the wish of the Mexican government in relation to this point before he left home, as it would also have better suited his convenience to have deferred his coming a month longer; but it was his impression that it was the wish of the Mexican government that he should arrive with as little delay as possible.

"His excellency replied that he had been under the impression, from what had been intimated by myself and others, that an envoy would not be appointed by the government of the United States until after the meeting of Congress, which would not take place until the first of December; that the Mexican government were engaged in collecting the opinion of the departments in relation to this affair, in order that they might be prepared and better able to carry out their views respecting the same; that he himself was well disposed to have everything amicably arranged, but that the opposition was strong, and opposed the government with great violence in this measure, and that the government had to proceed with great caution; that nothing positive could be done until the new Congress meet in January; but that, in the meantime, they would receive the minister's credentials, examine them, and be treating on the subject. He wished to know when I thought the minister would receive the confirmation of his appointment by the senate. I said, this he would likely know in a few days.

* * *

"I then presented to his excellency the letter of the Hon. John Slidell, enclosing a copy of his credentials and a letter from the Hon. James Buchanan, secretary of state of the United States; at the same time asking the Mexican minister when it would be convenient to give an answer; to which he replied, on Wednesday evening, the 10th instant, at the same hour and place, and requested