Page:Henry Adams' History of the United States Vol. 3.djvu/45

1805. of his situation, attempted to force an issue. March 30 he wrote to Cevallos that he was weary of delay:


 * "It neither comports with the object of the present mission nor its duties to continue the negotiation longer than it furnishes a well-founded expectation that the just and friendly policy which produced it, on the part of the United States, is cherished with the same views by his Catholic Majesty."

Unfortunately he had no excuse for breaking abruptly a negotiation which he had himself invited; and Cevallos meant to give him at that stage no such excuse, for the important question of the Texan boundary remained to be discussed, and Talleyrand's instructions on that point must be placed on record by Spain.

Monroe wrote to Cevallos, April 9, that he considered "the negotiation as essentially terminated by what has already occurred. . . . Should his Majesty's government think proper to invite another issue, on it will the responsibility rest for the consequences.  The United States are not unprepared for, or unequal to, any crisis which may occur." Three days later he repeated the wish to "withdraw from a situation which, while it compromits the character of our government, cannot be agreeable to ourselves." Cevallos