butchery /or such a cause, " might fail to obtain the support of Congress." It was thought more expedient first to provoke hostilities, and then to call on Congress to raise armies to defend the country. Hence, although Congress was in Session when the President received intelligence of Mr. Slidell's final rejection, he did not " recommend energetic mea- sures against Mexico," as Mr. Buchanan said he would. A course had been taken which left but little to the dis- cretion of the Legislature. Before we proceed to describe that course, it will be necessary to examine the claim on which it was founded, viz., that the Rio Grande was the western boundary of the United States.
REVIEW Oi THE MEXICAN WAR. 121 CHAPTER XIX.