Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-12-17

i''Ni NAt hfN hlltlul Hill Illll. tt4NtDTN
tells the mournlul tale Of conauerinp nations
and conquerors. The three most celebrated
conqlerors in the civilized world, were Alex
ander, Cesar and Napoleon.
y = 3
Surprising The conquest 10 be once made,
what is TO be done with itl Is it 10 be gov
erred. like Roman Provinces, by proconsulsi
Would it be compatible with the genius,
character, and safety of oar free Institutions.
TO keep such a great country as Mexico,
with a population of not less than nine mil
lions, IN a state Of constant military subjec-
ton
Shall it, be annexed to the United Sutcs
Does any considerale man believe it possible
that two such immense counties, with terri
tories of nearly equal extent, with %popula-
TONS SO incongruous, SO different in race, in
language, In religion and in laws, could be
blended together in one harmonious mass,
and happily governed by one common author
ity!
Murmurs, discomfort, instructions, rebel
lion, would inevitably ensue, until the incom-
pahbIe parts would he bruhcn asunder, and
possibly, in the frighltul struggle, our present
glorious Union itself would be discovered
or dissolved. We ought not to forget the
warning voice Of all history, which teaches
the difficulty Of combining and consoliddt-
ing together conlucring aud conquered na-
lions.
81
Religion has been the fruitful cause of dis
satisfaction aud discomfort between the Irish
aud English nations. Is there not reason to
apprehend that it would become so between
the people Of the United States and those Of
Mexico, it they were united together WIN
cltpuIl wa S.,I e., itt,rfor, ,ri,I H.. /;
their mode Of worship Of d common Savior
We believe that they are wrong, especial
ly in the exclusive character Of their faith,
and that we are night. They think that they
are right and we wrong. " hat other rule
can there be than to leave the followers oil
each religion to their own solemn convictions
Of conscientious duty towards God Who,
but the great Arbiter Of the Universe, can
Judge in such a question !
For N own par!, | sincerely believe and
hope those who belong to all the departments
OF the great church Of Christ, il, in truth and
purity they conform to the doctrines which
they profess, will ultimately secure an abode
in those regions of bliss, which all aim final
ly to reach. | think that there is no poten-
tate in Europe, whatever his religion may
be, more enlightened, or at lhis moment SO
interesting as the liberal head of the papdl
See.
* 4
And who can forGsee or %foretell, if Mexico,
voluntarily or by force, were to share in the
common government what would be the con-
sequences to her or to us! Unprepared, as
| tear her population yet is, for the practical
enjoyment OF self government, and Of habits,
customs, language, laws and religion, SO TO-
tally different from cur own, we should pre-
sent the revolving spectacle Of a confused,
distracted, aud motley government.
We should have il Mexican party, a paci-
fc Ocean party, an Atlantic party, in addi-
ton to other parties which exist, or with
which we ale threatened, each striving to cX-
ecute its own particular views and purposes,
and reproachlng the others with thwar.iug
and disappointing them.
The Mexican representation, in Congress,
would probably form a separate and impene-
trable corps, always ready to throw itself in
10 the scale of any other party, to advance aud
promote Mexican interests. Such a state of
things could not long endure. Those whom
God and Geography have pronounced should
live asunder, could never be permanently and
tremendously united together.
DO we want for our own happiness or great
ness, the addition Of Mexico to the existing
Union of our States! If our population was
too dense Tor our territory, and there was a
difficulty of obtaining honorabIy the means
Of subsistence, there might be some excuse
for an attempt TO enlarge our dominions.-
But We have no such apology. We have al
ready in our glorions county, a vast and al
most bOundless territory. Beginning at the
North in the frozen regions Of the British
Provinces, 1t stretches thousands Of miles
along the coasts Of the Atlantic Ocean and
the Mexican Gulf, until it almost reaches The
Tropics.
1t extends 10 the Pacific Ocean, borders on
those great inland seas, the Lakes, which sep
arate us fIom the possessions Of Great Britain,
and it embraces the great father Of rivers,
from its uppermoSt source to the Dazile, and
the still longer Missouri, from lis mouth 10
the gorges Of the Rocky Mountains. 1t com
prehends the greatest variety of the richest
soils, capable OF almost all the predictions Of
the earth, except tea, coffee and the spices,
and il includes every variety Of climate, which
the heart could wish or desire. We have
more than ten thousand millions of acres OF
waste and unsettled lands; enough for the
subsistence of ten or twenty times our present
population.
The long series of glorious triumphs ACHE
we'd by our gallant commanders and their
brave armies, unattended by a single reverse,
Justify us, without the least danger Of tarnisl-
ing the national honor, in disinterestly hold
ing out the olive branch of peace. We do
not want the mines, the mountains, the mo-
rasses, and the sterile lands Of Mexico. To
her the loss Of them would be humiliatinq,
and be a perpetual source Of regret and NOR
tifcation. To us they might prove a fatal
acquisition, producing distraction, dissen-
sion, division, probably disunion. Let, there
fore, the integrity Of the national existence
and national territory OF Mexico remain un-
disturbed.
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