The Floridas and New Orleans command the only outlets to the sea, and our best interests require that we should get possession of them. But if we look forward to the free use of the Mississippi, the Mobile, the Apalachicola, and the other rivers of the West, by ourselves and our posterity, New Orleans and the Floridas must become a part of the United States, either by purchase or by conquest. The Government of the United States is differently organized from any other in the world. War is the great scourge of the human race, and should never be resorted to but in oases of the most imperious necessity. A wise government will ,avoid it, when its views can be attained by peaceful measures.
Princes fight for glory, and the blood and treasure of their subjects is the price they pay.
In all nations the people bear the burden of war, .'and in the United States the people rule. Their Representatives are the guardians of their rights, and it is the duty of those Representatives to provide against any event which may, even at a distant day, involve the interests and the happiness of the nation. If the purchase can be made, we ought not to hesitate. If the attempt should fail, we shall have discharged an important duty. War may be the result, but the American nation, satisfied with our conduct, will be animated by one soul, and will unite all its energies in the contest.