Note 28 — V THE MEXICAN ATTITUDE ON THE EVE OF WAR

Diario, Mar. 25, 1845. (Enthusiasm, veil) Memoria de ... Relaciones, Jan., 1849. 77Almonte, no. 72, priv., June 19, 1844. Monitor Constit., supplmt., Dec. 21, 1844. Almonte (who, as recently minister to the United States, had great influence on the question of peace or war) held that Mexico ought to fight and protract the war as long as possible in order to make us so tired of it that we should never repeat the experiment (13Pakenham, no. 119, Sept. 28, 1846). Espectador, Apr. 25, 1846 (“We are profoundly convinced of the triumph of the Mexican arms”). Reforma, Mar. 9, 1846. 13Bankhead, nos. 130, Sept. 7, 1846 (“They cannot be convinced” of their inability to fight the U. S.); 151, Oct. 10, 1846 (The cry of the government is, “a levy of 40,000 men and make terms only on the other side of the Nueces”). (Prussian) 256Memo. (Historians) Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 19–20; Balbontín, Estado Militar, 58. Ramírez, México, 235. S. Anna, proclam., Sept. 16, 1847, in Monitor Repub., Oct. 2, 1847. Memoria de ... Relaciones, Jan., 1849. Kenly, Md. Volunteer, 57: After a long stay in Mexico, I believe the sentiment of the people was “unanimous for war.” Franklin Pierce, speech, Jan. 27, 1848: After conversing with the most intelligent men in Mexico I was satisfied that the war was unavoidable (N. Y. Herald, Feb. 5, 1848). Other documents, too numerous to be cited, assisted the author in reaching his conclusions. This condition of the Mexican mind helps to explain the rejection of Slidell. See also chap. ix, pp. 221–2.