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the matter for decision to the then Pope, Alexander VI. It was then a part of the law of nations, and of the public law of the world, that the Pope was the ultimate source of all temporal power; that he could make and unmake kings, and dispose of all the kingdoms of the earth-powers which he frequently exercised, and against which it were vain to contend. He was, therefore, by general consent, the acknowledged source of all lawful title to land. He assumed to decide the case thus referred to his decision, and on May 3, A. D. 1493, determined the matter in dispute between the crowns of Portugal and Spain by drawing an imaginary line of longitude one hundred leagues west of the Azores, and granting to the Spanish monarchs all countries inhabited by infidels which they had already discovered, or might afterwards discover, lying to the west, and to the crown of Portugal all those lying to the east of that line. This line was afterwards removed two hundred and seventy leagues further to the west, by a treaty subsequently made, in the year 1494, between the Kings of Portugal and Spain; but so thoroughly was the title thus conceded by the Pope respected by the civilized world that when Henry VII of England was afterwards about to intrude upon some of the dominions thus granted to Spain, he abandoned his project on being warned by the Pope to desist. Our title to California is therefore deduced from the grant by the Pope to Spain, from Spain by revolution to Mexico, from Mexico by conquest and treaty to the United States, and from the United States, by the operation of various grants and political acts, to the State and people of California.

At the time when this partition was thus made by the Pope between the crowns of Spain and Portugal, the earth was supposed to consist of a large plain, even although Columbus had been prompted to his discoveries from his inference that the earth was a sphere, because in eclipses it east a circular shadow upon the disc of the moon. It was not until the voyage of Magellan, concluded in the year 1521, by which they reached the Spice islands of Portugal, in the East Indies, by sailing westward from Spain, that it was proved by actual demonstration that the earth was round, and the world learned that neither our spiritual teachers, nor even the Scriptures themselves, were given to us to teach us lessons in geography.

OUR POSITION HERE NOT AN ACCIDENTAL ONE.

Our position, as possessors of this land of realized promise and of future hope, is by no means an accidental one. The popular notion probably is that the acquisition of California by the United States was one of the accidental consequences of our war with Mexico, which broke out in 1846. On the contrary, 'the acquisition of California by the United States was the result of plans long matured and persistently followed, and of a train of causes carefully laid by the government of the United States, during nearly half a century before its consummation. Nay, more: not only the United States, but the governments of England, France, and Russia had determined to acquire California; and it was only by superior promptness and skill that the United States finally became the winners in the race. The very plan lately attempted to be put into execution by the Emperor of the French, of placing and maintaining an Austrian archduke upon an imperial throne in Mexico, was not conceived by Napoleon III, but was matured and published to the world by the government of Louis Philippe as early as the year 1844, four years before the French revolūtion of 1848, and was a part of a scheme devised by the French government to prevent England or the United States from getting possession of Mexico, in case France could not gain it for herself. From this programme, published by the order of Louis Philippe by Marshal Soult, his minister of war, we shall gather easily the charges made by France against Mexico before the tribunal of the public opinion of the world, by which Louis Philippe attempted to justify, in

advance, that intervention in the affairs of Mexico which his government was the first to propose, and which that of Napoleon III has since attempted to effectuate. The following are the principal features of these charges :

LOUIS PHILLIPPE'S BILL OF INDICTMENT AGAINST MEXICO.

Mexico was always prosperous under the rule of her Spanish kings. Private enterprises succeeded; agriculture and mines were successful and remunerative; public works were constructed of utility, magnitude, and permanence; religion and public and private morality prevailed; the finances of the country were successful and prosperous; the people were contented and happy. The attainment of independence from the mother country has completely reversed these happy conditions. There is now no security for property or for private enterprise. The agriculture of the country is becoming reduced to the rudest processes, its products are diminishing from year to year, and the lands are returning to waste; the mines are neglected and deserted, and falling into a state of ruin. Public works are no longer constructed, and those which were erected under the dominion of Spain are mostly deserted and falling into a condition of dilapidation and ruin. The priesthood is becoming corrupt, and public and private morals are rapidly falling to the lowest point of degradation. The finances of the country have long since been in a condition of insolvency, and the expenditures have for many years exceeded the receipts by an annual deficiency of several millions of dollars. The army is composed of bandits; it is recruited by taking from the public prisons convicted murderers and other malefactors, who have yet to serve a term of imprisonment not less than ten years, and granting them a free pardon on condition of their serving five years as soldiers. The officers of the army, who, under the government of Spain, belonged to distinguished and educated families, are now drawn from the most despicable classes, or rise by promotion from the ranks of this bandit soldiery; and the disproportion of officers is so great that the army of 20,000 soldiers is commanded by 84,000 officers, who are entirely deficient in military faith and personal honor; they murder in cold blood their political and military prisoners; they protect robbers and share their spoils; they are accomplices in assassination and murder; and theft is practiced by every one from the President of the republic down to the lowest officers of the custom-house. Republican Mexico has always been the enemy of France, oppressed her commerce, and practiced the most atrocious tyranny upon our citizens resident in her territory. She has discriminated against French products, first by her tariffs, and afterwards in the manner in which she has executed her custom-house regulations. She.has, on the most frivolous and unlawful pretences, confiscated the property of French merchants, for which acts of robbery and violence she owes them at this time several millions of dollars, for which she refuses to make them the least compensation. She has thus fallen to the lowest condition of insolvency, brigandage, and ruin. She is a public nuisance and robber on the highway of nations; and any nation, especially those having claims against her, has a right, as a matter of international policy, to interfere and establish a solid government in Mexico, which shall fulfil the obligations of national faith towards the world, maintain order, decency, and morality, and secure life, liberty, and property within her own borders. This can be done only by the establishment of a Mexican monarchy; for republican institutions have been tried there, and have resulted in an utter and hopeless failure. The best citizens of Mexico desire the re-establishment of a monarchy; those who are distinguished for their piety, morality, culture, and the possession of property are willing to pledge themselves in advance to the support of the movement. Some of her most distinguished statesmen, in the face of threats of assassination, have already publicly declared, in the capital of Mexico, that the adoption of this plan presented the only possible.

hope for the restoration of Mexico to a condition of respectability and prosperity. "But there are certain conditions necessary to the success of this scheme. The new monarchs of Mexico must be Catholic, and must have family ties connecting them with the dynasties which formerly ruled in Mexico. The infantas of Spain, the French princes, and the archdukes of Austria possess these requisites, and any one of them would be unanimously welcomed by the Mexican population. The establishment of any monarchy whatsoever in Mexico is of the greatest importance to the policy of France, for a stable government erected there would at once remove the disabilities and oppression to which our commerce and citizens are subjected in that country; and this can easily be accomplished, for a column of 3,000 infantry, and a few vessels-of-war distributed upon the Atlantic and Pacific coasts are all that is wanted to subdue the empire of Montezuma, whose conquest would be easier to-day than it was in the time of Hernando Cortez !"

LOUIS PHILIPPE ENFORCES THE NECESSITY OF PROMPT ACTION.

But, continues the programme, if a Catholic monarchy is to be established in Mexico, it should be done at once. The English, among all foreign nations, have a preponderating political and commercial interest in Mexico. English subjects own a large portion of the funded debt of Mexico, upon which the annual interest is not paid, although pretended to be secured by an illusory charge upon the customs. She is ready, therefore, at any moment, to make this a pretext for seizing any portion of the coast or territory of the republic. She has already acknowledged the independence of the revolted provinces of Texas, with a view of taking them under her protection, or of establishing even more intimate political relations with them. She has by her intrigues hitherto prevented the United States from acquiring any portion of the Mexican territory; and, if she retains her present influence at Mexico, and still more, if she adds to it by gaining any territory there, or in any other manner, the results cannot fail to be most disastrous to the interests of France.

The United States, too, have for more than forty years looked upon the territories of Mexico with that covetousness of acquisition which has ever distinguished that energetic people. The expedition of Burr would have been hailed with favor if it had been successful, and his acquittal by a jury must be taken as evidence of the popular sentiment in favor of the objects of his expedition. After the purchase of Louisiana from France, and by the treaty of Florida, so called, and by other subsequent treaties, the United States gained a large extension of territory in the direction of the Pacific, and brought down their possessions in Oregon and on the Pacific coast to the forty-second parallel of latitude. They even sought, by other propositions communicated to the court of Spain for the avowed purpose of defining the boundaries between the two countries south of that parallel, and proposing limits which were altogether too vague for geographical or political boundaries, but which they would have found sufficiently specific for the purpose of intrusion, to gain a further extension of territory in the direction of New Mexico; but these latter propositions were indignantly rejected by the Spanish monarchy. But since the establishment of Mexican independence, and the weakness, demoralization and ruin which have resulted from it, Mexico has seemed to the United States to have become an easy prey to their grasping ambition. They have permitted their own citizens to pass in armed bands over their borders into Texas, and there to stir up revolt, which has culminated in successful revolution; they have acknowledged the independence of that country with the view to its annexation to the Union as one of the federal States. A treaty of annexation is at this moment in progress between Texas and the United States, and will doubtless be accomplished as the crowning act of the present adminis

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tration of President Tyler. When that treaty is ratified by the contracting parties, the military establishment of Texas will be occupied by the forces of the United States, and war will immediately ensue between the United States and the Mexican republic. That war can issue in but one result: the armies of the United States will overrun and occupy the territories of the weaker republic, and they will be at once and forever absorbed in the domain of the federal Union. If France, therefore, determines to protect her interests by the establishment of a Catholic monarchy in Mexico, she should act promptly and decisively.

LOUIS PHILIPPE CONSIDERS THE DOMINION OF THE UNITED STATES IN MEXICO PREFERABLE TO THAT OF ENGLAND.

But if Mexico is still to exist under a republican government, it is much better for the interests of France that she should be absorbed by the North American Union than that England should either maintain or increase her influence there. The people of the United States have a strong instinct for a government of law, and even the administration of their famous "lynch law," in their newly settled territories, arises from their sentiment of order. Under their rigid administration, the persons and property of French citizens in Mexico would be protected and respected, and we should not be compelled to make vain reclamations on the government for official robberies and confiscations. The sentiment of the people of the United States is favorable and even friendly to France, and under their dominion we should not have occasion to complain of odious and hostile discriminations against our commerce, and what we should gain in these respects, England would be certain to lose. She would no longer be the nation favored either by the terms of the laws, or by their violation in her behalf, but would be reduced, at least, to a position of equal competition in matters of commerce, which is all that France desires. Our property would be respected, the lives of our citizens would be secured, and, on equal terms, we could exchange our products for the agricultural and mineral riches of Mexico.

GRANDEUR OF THE AMERICO-MEXICAN DOMINION.

This programme of the government of Louis Philippe concludes with a prediction of the future greatness of the United States, which might well excite the envy of the most enthusiastic eulogist of "the American bird of liberty :".

"If this takes place, the Union will command the Pacific ocean, through that part of the territory of Oregon which will belong to her-through California and the western coast of Mexico, Guatemala, Central America, and New Granada. On the east, she will be mistress of the Atlantic coast, from Canada to the Isthmus of Darien, and thus will threaten the group of islands situated at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Caribbean sea.

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FAILURE OF THE FRENCH PROGRAMME IN MEXICO.

It is instructive to pause a moment and contemplate the results of this proposed scheme for the overthrow of republican institutions and the establishment of a monarchy in Mexico. Louis Philippe, its responsible author, and the crafty schemer who prostituted the interests of France to the aggrandizement of his own family, and who had thus published to the world this libellous imputation of degeneracy and weakness against the republic of Mexico, was himself, within four years afterwards, driven from the throne, and his dynasty subverted, without his having the courage to permit a single musket-shot to be fired in their defence. His scheme has since been taken up by his successor, Napoleon III, a monarch of greater sagacity, resources, and force of will. But the Mexican

population has not received an Austrian archduke as their emperor with unani. mous acclamations; a column of three thousand men has not conquered the Empire of Montezuma; and the republic of Mexico still lives!

ATTEMPTS OF VARIOUS GOVERNMENTS TO ACQUIRE CALIFORNIA.

But while a covetousness of all the territories of the Mexican republic was thus charged upon some of the great political powers of the world, upon circumstances of mere suspicion, the desire to acquire California was openly avowed by several of them, and made equally manifest by the acts of others. France, in particular, endeavored to qualify herself for the conquest of California, by a previous exploration of the country of the most thorough and accurate character. In 1841, Marshal Soult, the French minister of war, detached from the French legation at Mexico one of its attachés, M. Duflot de Mofras, a gentleman perfectly competent for that purpose, with directions to make a thorough exploration of California in respect to military resources, geography, agriculture, natural history, meteorology, geology, population, and civil and political history. This work he accomplished during a sojourn of two years, during which, as he himself states, he visited every mission, every village, and every rancho in California. The results of his exploration were published to the world by the French government at the same time with their programme in regard to Mexico, of which I have above spoken. This publication was accompanied with charts of all the harbors on the coast of California, with their soundings; with the most explicit. and accurate directions for entering them from the ocean; and with plans of all the forts and presidios of California, which were so accurate that a distinguished military officer of the United States, to whom I lent them, was enabled to retrace, at San Diego, the lines of some of the old fortifications there, respecting which the officers in command at that station could not obtain any other reliable information.

I shall trespass upon the patience of my audience by reproducing many of the details of the report of this remarkable exploration. The inhabitants, said De Mofras, in substance, are very friendly to France, for they are tired of the republic, and desire a return to the old form of government. They hate the Americans, because they are rapacious, protestant, and republican. They incline towards France, because she is monarchical, powerful, catholic, and is of the same Latin race to which they themselves belong. They have a presentiment of the approaching downfall of the Mexican republic, and would hail in advance their annexation to a strong European monarchy. The Americans, however, and the English, have set their hearts upon the acquisition of California. England has already offered to take California in payment of that portion of the public debt of Mexico which is held by British subjects, amounting to several millions sterling, and to liquidate that debt herself, while the United States have already offered $5,000,000 for that portion of California lying north of a line of latitude drawn at equal distances from the bay of San Francisco and that of Monterey. While I was at San Francisco I visited a fleet of American vessels-of-war (Wilkes's exploring expedition) lying in the harbor there, and was received hospitably on board by the officers, who made no secret of the fact that they were executing a thorough survey of the harbor and of the surrounding country. During my stay in California I also visited English men-of-war lying in the same harbor, and evidently sent there for the same purpose. English men-of-war are almost always constantly cruising on the coast, as if waiting for a pretext or opportunity to seize the country. The Americans have constantly a naval force upon the coast, with instructions to seize the capital upon probable information of a rupture between Mexico and the United States. And in the year 1842, Commodore Jones, upon such a rumor, which afterwards proved to be unfounded, actually seized Monterey, the capital of California, and raised the

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