The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1848-04-11

"ui ihiO tHo bSiif olStut, IcpiDnC, ulleI w
tacking and reducing the renowned fortress,
which commands lis principal maritime en-,
trance, tho capture Of which alone " ts glory
enoughfor France; we have takenits, cap
tai, dispersed lis armies, and made its, gov
ernmcnt fugitive, and reduced to shbjsc-
tion largo portion of its Population; WI have
fought al least fourteen Important actions,
ofwhich eight wbie pitched Battles, and in
every oneSlIere was a dispiriy Of force a.
gaihst us, and in mlny an iac1aal Is, which
carlos rs back for sim ltr exim. IS Of des.
ipera,c struggles to the carly ages Of the
.world--.o't the comba,s of th,, Greeks and
the Persians which they resemble, rather
than The conf cts which The severe truth Of
'm'dern history judges and records. We
have captured score of great cities, some
of them fortified and defended, ami capable
of strong res Silence. Time would fail me
10 tell all we hive done; nor can il be nee
'esary, foris it not already written in impcr-
ishlblc letters upon the records Of history,
and in burning and shining characters upon
the heart Of every American? Yet You have
not done enough, says the honorable Soma
Tor from Mry;anl to tho Administration T;
you'have not prosecuted the war " II sufli.
cient vigor Yon have me too much, says
the honorable Senator from South Carolina;
you have prosecuted the war too yigo ously !;
so much so, indeed, that the gcat danger
we have now 10 apprehond, is the annhila-
'ton OF Mcxican Nltonal independence and
the annexation of the whole M4xictn terri
tory; and the oaIy remedy for the fll5c po-
sition, in Which your untimely energy has
placed us, is an abandonment of much you,
have gained, and a retreat behind a line,
where you can curb your mlriial propens-
ties and restrain your desire for hggrandize-
ment. 4 shail not tlnast myself, Into this
controversyAit is in better hands than mine; ;
butl must confess that It appears to me that
the Senator from South Carolina is much
nearer the mark than the Senator from Ma
ryland; and that our offence, if one there be,
is an offence Of commission, and not ofomis-
sion. 1'i"I
Now, iflho Senator from NJ ,ryIanl thinks
all this success is not glory enough f,r
twenty-five short months, he Glust shut the
piges ofhis,ory, and gp ck to the fabulous
ages, or open the vohlhcs of imagination
ani6fa highly sublhhcted Imagination, loo
before he can find series of operations
worthy of the standard of military glory
which he seems to have prepared for him
self. The labors of Hercules shrink into
ih,iguifcance when compared with his mod
el. lf
And now for the objects of tile wlr. This
subject has occupied much OF th tim, and
attention of tho Senate; '.indemR'ty and SCI
'cnrily" have been blnlied abonl as lhorgh
they we're mysterious words, employed to
conceal some great project, or m lglcll W ,rds
INTENDED TO obtain soma great end darkly
sladowcd FORTH kind of "opon S,slme,"
enabling political necromancers 10 conceal
she worE Of iniauity and deception. I am
not going over this ground agiih, sir !
hive only 10 say, that there is "A single word
which iu y expresses my views upon This
subject, and that word is ACQUISITION.
The object Of the war is an honorable peace.
and tha, peace cln best be obtained by, an
adequate compensation for TIE injuries done
us by Mexico; ana that c'SShpcnsaion mus.
be mlde in territory; as it can be nude in
nothing else. There is one consideration,
Mr.. President, in all this question Of terri
torial compensation, which has great weight
with me. While trust we sh,il act as fair
ly by Mexico as her Conduct win permit,
do not conceal from niysolf that MY reluc,
tance 10 anrex portions Of that country to
ours is much less than it would be, we're |
not convinced that the permanent happiness
ofthe people would be promoted -by the
MEASURE. believe it the happest fate tb.t
could befall them; and | believe that his wAr
injuriousin m,ny respects as it may have
been, and m ust have been, is deslinod 10
work great good foi the Mexican people
believe it will meliorate thar condi-
lion, civil, religious, social, and poGtical.-l
believe that the contact with our ctiz ms
will bring mlny advantages perm nan,Iy
beneficial. The country vii be laid open
to the world and the intellectual lessons Of
E,rope and America will elevate depress,
ed populations, and bring them to a knowl-
edge of their rights, and Of the means Of
enforcing them. '
Man cannot fathoin the designs Of Provi-
dence; but experience teac ,es us, that
great political chinges are amoa5 the m cans
employed in the moral government of the
world, and that they often coma TO renovite
decrcpid nations, and TO give new yigor TO
the human faculties. The existing race in
Mexico has proved itself ignorant, feeble,
and, if notreirograding, stationary Ano,h-
or career may be op2ned 10 them-4he
abuses of generations may be swept away,
and the route OF our arn,ics mybccomo ay-
ennes ofcommunicdt;on; by which lightand
knowledge lnly spread over Msxico, and
the past be remembered only to make the.
blessing of the change more evident and nc.