These instructions he executed by his note of the 1st of
March, 1846, addressed to the Mexican minister of foreign affairs, but
his request was insultingly refused by that minister in his answer of
the 12th of the same month. No alternative remained for our minister but
to demand his passports and return to the United States.
Thus was the extraordinary spectacle presented to the civilized world of
a Government, in violation of its own express agreement, having twice
rejected a minister of peace invested with full powers to adjust all
the existing differences between the two countries in a manner just
and honorable to both. I am not aware that modern history presents a
parallel case in which in time of peace one nation has refused even to
hear propositions from another for terminating existing difficulties
between them. Scarcely a hope of adjusting our difficulties, even at a
remote day, or of preserving peace with Mexico, could be cherished while
Paredes remained at the head of the Government. He had acquired the
supreme power by a military revolution and upon the most solemn pledges
to wage war against the United States and to reconquer Texas, which he
claimed as a revolted province of Mexico.
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