The national whig., 1847-06-18
THE ENEMY'S LAST HOPE.

fufllment Of peculiar duties, il is necessary that 1
should satisfy both. will do so as clearly and sue
cinctly the sirailened position in which am placed
will admit. The first requires that should state
freely and explicitly my opinion respecting the mill
iary operations under my charge, and these that
the war must he continued until We shall have OBJ
tanned ample justice from our unjust aggressols and
that to arrive at this result it is necessary save The
capital at all hazards because its defence is necessary
for the basis Of ulteror operations and because fear
with good reason, that il the capital should be
pied without resistance, the spirit Of the people will
be broken, and that the complete submission Of the
country must be inevitable
My duty as the first magistrate Of the nation, at
present shamefully censured and suspected by unjust
and artfnl detactors, requires that should remove
pretext invented by periidy and pusillanmiy III
order to neutralize the generous efforts which the
good citizens are disposed to make for the saliva ion
of its independence and honor In order to accom-
plish this it is indispensable 10 make known to Gov
ernment my programme to which have previously
alluded, and Of which now repeat the following two
points: First, to carry the the basis before
indicated; and secondly consider The salvation Of
the capital as Indispensable. Being determined not
TO admit any compromise either of these points,
communicate the same to your Exceency that you
may impart to his excellency, the President and
should he decide against me you will at tender
my resignation comnander-in-chief and first mag
istrate Of the Republic, aud forward my passports to
retire to wherever may be most convenient or mt"
We publish the above extract from Santa
Ana's address of the 18Th Of May, l847 to the
Mexican people and to the Mexican govern
ment. II is the pilh Of the affair. The reader
will be struck with the avowal that the defence
Of the Capital and The prevention Of iis occu
patton by the American army constitute the
eaeny's last hope Santa Ana conlesses thai
with its fall, the complete submission Of the
country will be inevitable. For our part we
do not see that this is a necessary result, if the
real object Of President Polk be the conquest oil
peace but the despairing announcement Of
such result by Santa Ana leads us 10 believe
that he is aware of the utelior designs of Mr..
Polk, that he knows them 10 be the conquest
and subjugation Of entire Mexico. We have
never ceased to entertain The opinion that such
! will be the issue OF this war and every days
II events only 60 to sustain US in our belief.
Santa Ana ayows further that the war must
and will be continued until the Mexicans shall
have obtained ample justice from the aggressor.
We would ask Mr.. Polk and his supporters,
where is the hope Of peace in this policy Is il
notthe language ofdespairing men who, know
ing that they never can obtain the object Of their
wishes, continue TO announce it as the main
& purpose OF keeping up the struggle, IN order,
as il were, 10 sanciify their resistance z Bu
in the next breath, the safety Of the capital is
made the sole reliance of these people for even
the indulgence Of hope, with the confession
that if it falls, they will look upon everything
as lost, and make no further efforts to redeem
their existence as a nation. Not many weeks
ago, we gave il as our opinion that the battle
of Cerro Gordo--belore it was fought would
be the signal, if we We're victorious Cot which
there was no doubt) OF the dissolution Of the
Mexican government. Have we moi seen it
going down step by step ever since? And il
is now in its last throes. The occupation Of
the capital will be the hour of '.is expiring
BREATH" for we are having TO do with peo
pie, who, though savage, prefer death TO life
in the presence of their foe. While we must
regret such set-destructon, we cannot but ad,
mire the spirit which animates them Ameri.
cans would do the same thing. death or
Lberly''-was our watchword in two wars
but we never had Americans 70 invade US.
In this address Santa Ana enleavored 10 re-
move from him the suspicious which defeat
had raised against him, and he throws himself
into the arms Of the nation with free, frank
avowal of his designs. The government re-
plies, under date the 10Th OF May that his
views are approved, that il has no purpose of
permitting him TO resign, that the city would
be placed in his charge the moment he should
arrive from Ayotla whence he issued his ad
dress. Our last advices are down TO the 22d
of May, and Santa Ana was in command Of
the capital, and exerling himself, 10 the utmost,
to save the capal-not by deiences around the
same, but by forlifying the passes which ap
proach TO it. Every intelligence we have from
the scene OF operations, prepares us for hear
ing of hard fought battle before our forces
shall occupy the Aztec capital The result is
inevitable. The Mexican power will be defeat
ed again. will be broken forever and the Aztec
Empire will fall into the arms Of the United
States. Santa Ana sees The issue with the eve
Of prophet and has announced ii in this ad
dress.
Bot when that honr comes, what then %
Aye, what then, will ask the American peo-
pie in voice Of thunder