Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-06-23
FALL OF MEXICO.
8 A GLANCE AT THEPAsT.
BY L. p. S.

"A 0LANCE
0s Ssa3 Is BY L. P.s.
Even so upon the peaceful scene was ponrd
Like gathering clouds, fell many foreign band
And He, their leader, wore in sheath his sword
And offered peaceful front, and open hand,
Yelling the perjured treachery he'd plann'd =
By friendships zeal and honor's spacious guize
Until he won the passes of the land,
Then burst were honor's oaths, friendships ties
Heelutehed his, yulture. grasp, and called fair
szz'S Spain his prize 49, SceTT.
:. The brilliant sun Of a. tropical SIX y
looked down in cloudless splendor on the
newly founded city of Vera Cruz.
Groups of swarthy spaniards were to
be seen huddled together converslng as il
onmatters Of deepest Importance. Hun
dreds Of copper colored barbarians Were
lazil5 lounging or minglns in the crow.
ded streets, lisllessly gazing around at
the strange peculiari.ies of the white
man, whilstrin large and spacious mar
quee erected near the center ofan en-
campment, close by the city, ana under
the shade sof a few lofty palm trees,
near the sea shore, sat a man. scarce
past the summer of life. That man
was FERNANDO CoRrEz, Captain GEN
eraf Of the Spanish forces in America.
4 bold and adventurous spirit, skill
full and able commander, a man of un-
paralleled eaergy and unwearied actiyi-
ty.sas his past actions evinced. He was
apparently engaged in deep thought,
and lost to all around. Glory was his
idol, more gracious to him than all the
pomp and circumstance of sovereignty.
The desire of subduing Mexico, from
which hehad been recently repulsed on
account ofhis treachery to Montezuma,
lured him still onward, despite vi all dan
gers.and difficulties yet to be encounterd.
The success, which had gilded his first
life with bright visions OF glory and
splendid dreams. of the future loomed
out brilliantly before him and kindled
up his ambitious SOUL Emperors did
homagefin inshis presence, whilst nations
bowed and yielded up their liberties in
his hand Suddenly, a shade of anger
darkenedehis swrtny visage. Gloomy
thoughts now flitte ! thr ough his mind
the dreams of moment were gone
recollectiens Of his recent expulsion
from Mexico-the loss ofmany Of his
brave sofdiers--the deprivation Of his
prey whilst in. his very grasp, now
stirred upshis sanguinary nature. Mex
icans-savage barbarians, he mu.tcred,
/ will again march to your city. will
crush you. And Mexieo-Mexico,
with her naughty Emperor, shall yield
TO my power ..,..
The shades ofevening gathered around
the golden radiance OF sunset tresabled
no more on the distant peaks, but the
Thin. vapors floating through the. zenith
were .yetegleaming family with the last
glorics Of the day, whilst the
moon, moving with queenly majesty
in the azure canopy above, cast a
stream of silver light over the infant
city of Vera Cruz. The birds had
hushed theil songs. All save the scream
of the wild famingo and the little mad
rugores that yelchirped merrily through
the trees, and the culzoulli, who left
her ravishing melody to mock them with
their own music, made yet more mu-
sicial; the playful zephyrs slept among
The boughs or stirred only through The
palm leaves, and the rustline sound was
mingled with the hum of thousand
noclurnal insects. The crowds had
from the walks of the city
1ought was heard save the heavy brea.
hing Of the slumberlng soldier and the
distant tramp of the ,wretched sentinel
with the ceaseless -murmur of the rip
ing waves as they glided along and
Feebly broke out on the pebbly shore.
Mans life is an anomaly; it is madeup
of contrasts.and contradictions, of pros.
perity and adversely, of success and
The rich and the poor,
he powerful and weak, the great and
he humble, the learned and the igno.3
ant, the young and the old, ,mingle side
oy side in the world. The light Of the
'un that siilumes the palace and man.
'ion Of the rich, gladdens and cheers
Up The cottage and the hovel of the
ooor.rb The rains from heaven that wa
er the wlld domains Of the lord, frucli
y The field Of The 1aborer. & The azure
Ky that stretches out over the heads of +
aH, is the same that was spoken into
Forn at the dawn of creation. and the
heart Of man. with all its changes. and
be lapse of time, is influenced by the
same desires, the same affections and
!he same ambition,t the same aspirations
Is were the hearts Of those whose
aames exist on the rolls OF intiauitv,
.ks*sE 30 xs<s-#s
asa g zs5agc CHAPTER II.
The shrins and piercing note io Of "a a bu-
,le sounded from the extremities Of the
neampment. The soldiers were soon
rranged under the eyes of the subor-