Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 2.djvu/483

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7. Sen. Report 261; 41, 2. Ho. 69; 30, 1, pp. 59-66 (Trist). Sen. 60; 30, 1, p. 61 (Peña). 52Trist, nos. 21, 23. 13Thornton, nos. 11, 14, 1847. 335Id. to Trist, Nov. 22, confid.; Nov. 22, private; Nov. 25. Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 583, 585. 335Trist to Thornton, Nov. 24, confid., Nov. 25, private. 75Peña at meeting of govs. 52Peña to Trist, Nov. 22. Trist's departure had to be delayed by the necessity of testifying at Pillow's trial.

8. (Traitorous) London Times, Mar. 15, 1848. Sen. 52; 30, 1, pp. 140, 144 (Scott). 256Marcy to Wetmore, Jan. 28, 1848. Scott, Mems., ii, 576. 13Thornton, no. 21, confid. Id. to Trist: note 7. Sen. Rep. 261; 41, 2. Trist, no. 22. 137d. to Thornton, Dec. 4, 1847. 335Id. to Id., Nov. 24. 335Id. to wife, Dec. 4.

It has been said that Trist's decision was due to Scott, but Trist was not under Scott's control. Scott tried without success to dissuade him from breaking with Polk (335statement by Trist in his papers). 'Trist 335wrote to his wife, Dec. 4, "Knowing it to be the very last chance, and impressed with the dreadful consequences to our country which cannot fail to attend the loss of that chance," I decided to-day at noon to attempt to make a treaty; the decision is altogether my own. Sen. Rep. 261, the basis of which was evidently supplied by Trist, says that. Freaner, the correspondent of the New Orleans Delta, was "the only man who had been in any way instrumental in determining Mr. Trist to make the attempt." It has also been said that Scott and Trist wished to make the treaty because Polk now wanted more of Mexico, and they desired to "spite" him; but neither man was of such a type, no suggestion of the scheme appears in Trist's official or personal letters or in Thornton's reports to the Foreign Office, and public considerations are quite enough to explain Trist's course. Sen. Rep. 261 says that on Dec. 4 occurred an incident "in itself of the most casual, and trivial, and commonplace kind," which led to Trist's making the treaty. This has been thought to mean the postponement of the train with which he was to have gone down; but the above description does not seem to fit this important occurrence, and the author is inclined to believe that it refers to a chance meeting of Trist and Freaner, while Trist's decision hung in the balance. Freaner was regarded by Trist as an honest man of unusual sagacity, and he was a strong, sympathetic character. Peña held that, since his peace commissioners had been appointed, he could deal with the subject through them only, and hence, as they were at a distance, he could not possibly send a proposal to Mexico for Trist to carry home, as it) was suggested to him to do. 'Trist counted on one fact as lessening his responsibility: the government could disavow his work without embarrassment (52no. 22). See Napoleon's dictum (chap. xxvii, note 17, p. 398).

9. 13Thornton, no. 21, confid., 1847. 13Doyle, nos. 1, 3, 1847; 10, 1848. 52Trist, nos. 23-5. 256J. Parrott to Marcy, Dec. 27, 1847, private. Sen. 60; 30, 1, pp. 61 (Peña), 62 (Trist). (Rincón) México á través, iv, 705-7. 335Memo. re withdrawal of notice. 335Thornton to Trist, Nov. 24, priv.; Dec. 5, 11, confid. Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 590. 335Trist to Peña, Dec. 26, 1847. Lee, Gen. Lee, 43. Noticias Muy Importantes. Richardson, Messages, iv, 545. 335Powers of the commrs. 335Trist, minutes of meetings, ete.

Doyle arrived at Vera Cruz on Nov. 30, and soon received from the Foreign Office a despatch (13no. 40) making clear its attitude of benevolent neutrality (Doyle, no. 3). Polk's message encouraged the Eventualists,