the pretext upon which he first justified the war, that it was one of defence. " Millions for de- fence, not a cent for tribute," was once the proud rallying cry of the Republic. Now he proposed two milhons to buy a peace. Had it not been known that the money was to be employed in gaining territory, the very proposition would have excited universal abhorrence and indignation. A bill granting the desired sum was introduced into the Lower House, but to the extreme mortification and alarm of the administration, and the pro-slavery party, was passed with a proviso offered by Mr. Wilmot, excluding slavery from all territory that might be ceded by Mexico. The bill was reported to the Senate on the last day of the Session, and, for want of time, no question was taken upon it. At the ensuing Session, Mr. Polk asked for three millions for the same purpose, and a law was passed appropriating this sum " to enable the President to conclude a treaty of peace, limits and boundaries, with the Repubhc of Mexico, to be used by him in the event that said treaty, when signed by the authorized agents of the two Governments, and duly ratified by Mexico, shall 184 REVIEW OF THE MEXICAN V7AR.
call for the same, or any part thereof." It will be ob- served that the law contemplated not merely a treaty (5f peace, but of limits and boundaries, in other words, a treaty ceding California and New Mexico. The condition of the appropriation is unexampled in the history of diplo- macy. The mone}^ is to be paid not when the treaty is consummated, but as soon as Mexico consents to the terms Mr. Polk may demand. Mr. Tyler found that a contract entered into by the authorized agents of two Governments, did not constitute a treaty without the ratification of the Senate ; but, in this most extraordinary law, such a ratifi- cation is wholly disregarded. As soon as Mexico binds herself to cede territory, the money is to be paid, never to be returned, whether the Senate reject or confirm the bar- gain. Never before, probably, did a civihzed nation stipu- late to perform in advance, a condition required by an unratified and therefore unobligatory treaty. Viewing the appropriation in the least offensive