When the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo came to be ratified--at the very moment when Mexico
was feeling the sorest pressure that could be applied to her by the
force of our armies, and the diplomacy of our statesmen--she utterly
refused to cede her public property in California unless upon the
express condition that all private titles should be faithfully
protected. We made the promise. The gentleman sits on this bench who
was then our Minister there.[1] With his own right hand he pledged the
sacred honor of this nation that the United States would stand over
the grantees of Mexico and keep them safe in the enjoyment of their
property. The pledge was not only that the government itself would
abstain from all disturbance of them, but that every blow aimed at
their rights, come from what quarter it might, should be caught upon
the broad shield of our blessed Constitution and our equal laws."
"It was by this assurance thus solemnly given that we won the
reluctant consent of Mexico to part with California. It gave us a
domain of more than imperial grandeur. Besides the vast extent of that
country, it has natural advantages such as no other can boast. Its
valleys teem with unbounded fertility, and its mountains are filled with
inexhaustible treasures of mineral wealth. The navigable rivers run
hundreds of miles into the interior, and the coast is indented with
the most capacious harbors in the world.
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