Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-01-15

men did moi lend laid and comfort" 10 their
counlr,'s enemies7 Should they be told lha'
such conduct as this was not we'll caicuiafd 10
dampen the gal and chill the ard r OF their couu
try's defenders Should they be Tod mat Tue
speeches which had teen uttered II That tiouss
won d not he read in The Mexican campl ana
should the President Of the United States DC ue-
nouinced because lie had expressed his oP'hiu1n
that such conduct on The part .. the peorl- u ..e
nation was calculated 10 aid and enc 'uiaee 'ns
enemy? But he must pause thete i"i o ,,s
moment for The purpose Oh coEsfa'hia."S W.
gentleman from Ohio on The superior dIscie''o"
which he had shown-lhey all knew that discle-
tion was The better part Of valor-he wouio con-
oratulate him that he had shown himsel more
discreet Than some OF his colleagues anu con,Pee'
unon Ina, Aoor-for he, havin: armed The Mex
can. three trnes-having invested them WIN inc
mpeneIrable arms of jusIice-havlns proven "
his own satisfaction thai their cause was lus., ne
very wisey-very discreetly. backed our, Ho"
any further battle, leaving all thal nau oeeh Id
ken from them, including The whole oil Texas.
Rn, many Of his friend, we're mol quite SO dis
Greet. Much more chiyalrous souls, they did mol
deem The pary Mexicans worthy OF their notice
MI they had three times armed Them by lending
Them The nanopy OF justice. They could not
draw The swoid in defence OF their own country
tilI they had produced 10 the world that they were
engaged in an unjust, an unholy cause. bntior
The world-tor the whole woIld-they would mol
be considered asgiying aid and encourasementlo
the enemy: and they had even denounced Inc
President because his opinion was, that this liiple
amor did lend "aid and comfort, TO the enemy
But having taken this broad and bold position, that
The war was unjust and should be continued no
farther he was really in hops that the gentleman
from Ohio would have condescended TO furnish
| them with some few proofs going 10 sustain Inc
| broad position which he had taken. Mr. Is J
| was moi little asonshsd, when listening Tor The
| facts from The gentleman, ~ be informed lnat
when he came 10 write out his speech he won'd
then quote authorities. Now, ne was foolish
enough tos oppose that il was sometimes customa-
~ for gentlemen to sneak 10 The committee with
| The hope OF influencing their legislation lie did
| not know tina, the gentleman was speaking ior
| The whole void and TO Mexico in particular, and
that his arguments and quotations m support ol
them were meant for those who read, auu mol lot
those who were permitted 10 hear his s.eech. But
! he would examine some of the positions taken BY
thai gentleman, and BY all Others IN his side; Tor
| one speech would stand tor all II had been said
and reiterated. thai they were much more ready to
engage in battle with Mexico han with their much
more powerful rival-Great Britain. BnHwhat
was the fact in the case2 How long did they
| forbear with that most unreasonable, treacherous
country2 How long did they tender 10 her the
olive branch2 How long, in the spirit OF sislerly
friendship, did they mpore her TO remain friends
with them How long did they strive 10 obtain
their Just rights, without resorling TO vioence7-
When worn, distracted, imbecile, she found her.
sell unable TO contend with The gallant sons of
Texas, reused 10 madness by her own high acts
OF tyranny and oppression towards them, could
they noi then with the utmost ease have IN De The
quarrel OF Texas their quarrel, and their quarrel
hers1 Did they do in Did mol this government, on
The CONTRARY, positively refuse IL interfere in The
matter? Were no. their laws IN The subject in
turce2 Were not citizens prohibited from inter-
ferng with the affairs of Texas2 And il many
oil them did rush 10 the standard of Texes. il was
not because This government winked al il, or in
any manner encouraged them. II was because il
was utterly impossible the vigilance of the laws
to prevent il. II was because The sympathy Of the
American people, with the cause oil freedom, was
beyond The control OF laws But they could find
j very easy 10 settle matters with Great Brlain.-
1t was much harder 10 go 10 war with her. Was
there any force in that charged Did not the gen.
tleman know that il was unlounded7 When had
Great Britain ever dared 10 practise towards
them with impuny such wrongs insults. and
oulrages as they had borne from Mexico? When
had they ever refused 10 treat with them2 When
had they ventured, in the most uni uslitiable man.
ner, 10 refuse 10 receive their minister, sent on
mission Of peace? When was she ever suffered,
so far as they were concerned, 10 Tample with
impunily upon the laws Of nations, and TO set a,
defiance every rule OF civil authority for The
Government OF the conduct Of one nation with
anoher7 No; il was well known that if Great
Britain, or The whn.e combined powers OF Eu-
rope had dared To- pracise nnon 1.-THE nf the
wrongs which lhry had suffered from Mexico The
indignation III an outraged people would not
have been ga offered hall 50 long Ruthey were
e...t a ul,, it1,rv
/, lhal was The cause If Ibis war; Whose terri
tory was il, which extended from The Nueces to
the Riu Bravo? Il had been proved over and
over aga in that il belonged 10 them. The gentle
man from Ohio had pretended TO quote authority
on The subject. lie could qnole authority, loo, il
any war necessary. lie could refer To such names
as Marshall Madison and Pinckney-ail whose
opinions weIe recorded and ell Of whom under
sund The question rs Well rs the gentleman IRON
Ohio They in>is ed that il was theirs. He
knew. moreover, that Texas had always claimed
it, He knew, moreover, that Mexico had ac-
knowledged the independence of Texas. That
is, Santa Anna, when a prisoner Of war, did SO;
Mexico never: but Santa al that time was Mexi.
co-Sanla Anna was the Srate-Sania Anna was
the military usurper who overthrow The civil CO.
yernmenl and established his own government in
Mexico. II was mere subteruge, lhen 10 say
that Mexico did not acknowledge ii. But Tor The
sake of argument in proving that the country
was engaged in just war, ne cared moi one straw
whether Ina, disputed territory was theirs or Mex
icos. So far as right and wrong were concerned,
that question was not worth chew Of tobacco
Il was utterly worthless. For they knew thai
Mexico had declared The annexation OF Texas to
be The cause OF The war. The Mexicans had sworn
vengeance on that ground alone and the question
OF boundary was entirely remote one. But
there was another question which had called forth
much debate Was this TO be war OF conquest
He answered, yes; trusting in Heaven, and
on The yaor oi their arms theirs should be war
Of conquest-conquesls as brilliant as those
which had ALREADY astonshed the world-con-
quests, he trusted, in rapid succession Would
they have il war Of deieatsl Would they have
their troops driven ont of The field, and so con.
| clude the war; File trusted il would be war ot
| conquest, waged Tor The purpose OF teaching a
savage people the rules ot civilzation-wa-
| ged for the purpose oil bringing TO their SEN
ses q barbarous nation, who had sci at def.
ance all laws-wased for The purpose OF con-
vincing them that this republic knows how
| to Stand by her rights and honor-waged for the
| purpose of procuring an honorable peace, and OF
| teaching Mexico lesson which she would moi
| forget in day. He was not one of those who
would have mild war-who were afraid Of stri-
| king heavy blows. lie would show no mercy
ill the war was ended. The cry of distraction
which had been raised in that hall would inevila.
oily reach MEXICO, and she would be induced 10
hold out to The last, because OF The "aid and COM
fort" SO generously proflered her. II he could
have his own way, one blow should follow ano-
Their without mercy. lie would know no bounds
till Mexico sued for peace. He disregarded all
clamor, convinced that this was The only way of
ending the war. Let Them prosecute HE war.
then, with all vgor, despite The efforts Of every
oppcser. So he trusted il would be prosecuted
so he believed il would. But The gentleman from
Ohio, in speaking Of The conduct Of the Executive
| in regard 10 Santa Anna and the Mexican Co
vernnent, had declared that il was not insIigaed
| by The spirit OF Old Hickory. He had heard with
| good deal oil as,onishment, though with much
pleasure, the just need OF applause which the gen.
ileman awarded TO the name and memory OF &C.
| neral Jackson. He congratulated The party 10
which he had The honor 10 belong, upon The me-
rited respect and applause which The rarely er-
ring judgment Of The merican people invariably
exlorted from The very bterest opponents Of those