Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/70

58 a minister, in order that his government might not even appear to act under an implied menace. General Taylor was then known to be at Corpus Christi, and in the actual occupancy of territory lying west of the Nueces; but this was not made the subject of complaint, nor even thought worthy of mention. At no time did the government of Herrera pretend that the occupation of the disputed territory was one of the reasons for refusing to receive Mr. Slidell: neither did Castillo y Lanzas, the minister of Paredes, in his note communicating the ﬁnal determination of the Mexican government, allege that the occupation, or the contemplated advance to the Rio Grande, was the cause of the refusal. Paredes once issued orders to attack the American army early in March, when the intentions of General Taylor were unknown; and near the close of the month, when it was understood in Mexico, that he designed to advance, he issued a manifesto, declaring that the Mexican government would itself commit no act of aggression; thus acknowledging that the United States had committed no new act of that character, otherwise it would certainly have been mentioned. Mexico undoubtedly considered every movement for the establishment of the authority of the United States as an act of hostility; and in his proclamation of the 23rd of April 1846, declaring that the war had been commenced, Paredes referred to the occupation of Corpus Christi, the appearance of the naval squadrons in the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, the advance to the Rio Grande, and the blockade of the river, each and all, as so many aggravations of the original cause of offence — the annexation of Texas. That