the lakes Chalco and Xochimilco, he came upon the southern approaches to the city of Mexico. On the 19th and 20th of August, 1847, were fought the bloody battles of Contreras and Churubusco, and the capital itself seemed ready to fall into the hands of the victorious Americans. The Mexican authorities began to repent of their temerity in provoking so unequal a struggle, and proposed an armistice, to give an opportunity for opening negotiations, to which General Scott cheerfully assented.

Repeated efforts to negotiate had been made in the meantime by the American government. In July, 1846, a proposition was distinctly made by Mr. Buchanan to the Mexican executive to open negotiations for the conclusion of a peace, but the friendly offer was again declined. In the spring of 1847, Mr. Trist, formerly the chief clerk in the Department of State, was appointed, contrary to the better judgment of Mr. Polk, but in compliance with the request of a great number of his friends, as a commissioner to accompany the column commanded by General Scott, in order that if propositions of peace were offered they might be acted on without delay. When the armistice was concluded, therefore, Mr. Trist held several conferences with the commissioners appointed by the Mexican government, but the terms demanded by the latter were wholly inadmissible, and the negotiation terminated abruptly. The armistice had already been infringed, on several occasions, and Gen. Scott determined to be trifled with no longer. On the 8th of September the battle of El Molino del Rey was fought; on the 13th instant, the castle of Chapultepec was stormed and the western gates of the city seized by the American troops;

and on the following day their standard was unfurled in triumph on the Palacio of Mexico.

Soon after the commencement of the war, New Mexico and the Californias had been overrun and taken possession of, by General Kearny and Colonel Frémont, with the assistance of the naval squadron in the Pacific, under the command, at different periods, of Commodores Biddle, Stockton, Shubrick, and Jones. Besides the conquest of the northern provinces of Mexico, General Taylor had in his possession, or under his control, the provinces of Tamaulipas, New Leon, and Coahuila; Tampico, Tuspan, Alvarado, and Tabasco, had been captured by Commodores Conner and Perry ; and General Scott held the city of Vera Cruz, the castle of San Juan de Ulua, the line of the National Road, with the important towns which it intersected, and the capital of the Mexican republic. All this had been accomplished in less than eighteen months after the first collision on the banks of the Rio Grande. No difficulties seemed too great for the American soldiers to overcome,-no odds too fearful for them to meet. Against three and four times their numbers, they contended, frequently under great disadvantages of position, but always with success; and wherever their flag was borne, the eagles of victory delighted to hover above it.

Mexico was now willing to negotiate. Mr. Trist had been recalled, in consequence of acting in disregard of his instructions, but he had not yet left Mexico, and under the advice of General Scott, he concluded a treaty with the Mexican commissioners appointed for that purpose, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, on the 2d day of February, 1848. By this treaty the Rio Grande was established

as the boundary between the United States and Mexico, below El Paso; and the provinces of New Mexico and Upper California,-the latter with all its rich mines of wealth, then not known to exist,-were ceded to the United States, in consideration of the payment to Mexico of the sum of fifteen millions of dollars, and the assumption by the former of the claims of her citizens.

As the terms of the treaty were, with some slight exceptions, satisfactory to Mr. Polk, he submitted it to the Senate, although it had been concluded by an unauthorized person. That body duly ratified it, with certain modifications, on the 10th of March; the amendments were approved by the Mexican Congress, and on the 30th day of May, the ratifications were exchanged in the city of Querétaro, by the commissioners of the two govern

ments.

CHAPTER X.

The Independent Treasury-Tariff of 1846-Course in regard to Appointments-River and Harbor Veto-Second Annual Message-Special Message on the Improvement Bill-Thirtieth Congress-President's Mes sage-Refusal to Communicate Diplomatic Correspondence-Oregor Territorial Bill-Views of Mr. Polk-Presidential Election--Last Congress during his administration-Inauguration of his successor.

AMONG the principal recommendations in the first annual message of President Polk, were the reëstablishment of the independent treasury system; the revision of the tariff act of 1842, in such a manner as to have it conform to the revenue standard, with the substitution of advalorem duties for minimums, or false valuations, and for specific duties; the increase of the navy by the construction of additional war steamers; and the graduation and reduction of the minimum rate at which the public lands were sold.

These recommendations were cordially approved by Congress. The independent treasury law was revived, and again established under more favorable auspices than those which attended its first introduction into the financial system of the government. A new tariff law— known as the tariff of 1846—of a purely revenue character, and based on a plan prepared by the secretary of the treasury, Mr. Walker, was also reported in the House of Representatives from the Committee of Ways and Means. A protracted and able debate, in which the

whole subject of the tariff was viewed and reviewed, considered and reconsidered, for the hundredth time, engaged the attention of members for several weeks. The bill was finally adopted in the House by a vote of one hundred and fourteen to ninety-four. In the Senate it was sustained by a vote of twenty-eight to twenty-seven, and it went into operation on the 1st day of December, 1846. At this session, also, a bill was passed, and approved by the President, authorizing imported goods subject to duty to be warehoused in the public stores for a limited period, the duties to be paid when the goods were removed.

Most of the time of the two Houses toward the latter part of the session, was occupied in considering and acting upon the various measures suggested or proposed for carrying on the war. In general a most commendable spirit prevailed in this respect, among the members of both parties. Whatever the President asked for was promptly voted, and in addition to the increase of the regular army, the placing the navy on a war footing, and the authority to call out volunteers, ample pecuniary means were placed at his disposal. Besides the first арpropriation of ten millions of dollars, another was made of twelve millions, and various smaller sums were granted at different times.

During this session of Congress, the President was required to make a great number of changes in the offices filled by his appointment, and also to propose many new appointments. In making his selections from the somewhat numerous applicants, he was ever governed by two considerations,—that of securing a faithful, able, and