Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1848-11-07
LUST COMPLEMENT TO THE AmERI-
CAN GOVERNMENT.
From Mon. !, wnr.. Hon. 5sal-l, Il y. j. d .-sa ,.,...,

\ JUST COMPLIMENT TosTHE AmERI-
CAN GOVERNMENT.
rmuor.4 ! WIS. Hon. 5oaIi, d Il. y. O a@4.i ,.,.,
The MEXICAN AFFAIR.-Some of our nor
thern contemporaries are in the habit of in
dulginsin a latitude ofabus arnst the coun-
tryl ON account of the lateg ;~uisition of ,er.
itory in the southwest, which seems TO us to
be pushing candor almost 10 the limit where
II ceases 10 be %a.virtue. In whatever shirt
these ~cfusions may have their origin, we hold
the conclusion at which they arrive to be tho
roughly unjust. The world1& history has NOT
such a lesson to exhibit orbearance and
moderation as IS taugni le terms Upon
which we concluded with a nation
which lay PROSTATE ar led bcneat h on
feet. We found ours olved in war BID
a series of lrcumStaIfas eSS wanton ane
aggressive on our part oSe which hay-
a hundred times bror hostilities be.
tween the most ciVlllsHs onS in Europe
The events Of that con I'd US on from tri-
umph to triumph, uni every armed force
which Mexico could brH nto the field was
more than conqucred-eEery walled town
was in our possession, and her capital, the
fortress of a thousand kings, was peacefully
occupied byoar hosts. Did we treat our zub-
~iugated enemies as they had treated the ma
tive races whom they had prevailed over?
Did we seize upon everything. extirpate half
the population, and enSlave the other half2
In the full flush of victories the most splen-
did and astonishing that modern warfare has
Witnessed, We promptly lay down the prize
which was completely in our hands: upon
terms voluntarily offered by ourselves. we
withdraw our troops, restore to our fee their
unmutilated capital, abandon every fortress,
and content ourselves with a tract Of barren
and waste land, by the transfer Of which Mex
leo loses absolutely nothing. In truth. hert fl
tie to it was but nominal and asserted, rather
than actual and substantial. 1t was an APP
pendage to Mexico rather than a part Of it
and the right Of the Saxon race, descending
from the north to that western world, was as
real as that of the Spanish coloniSts stretch
ing upward from the south. It was not in
human nature to abandon all the fruits of con.
quest without retaining even a trophy Of sue
ceSS-to give back to the former claimants a
territory which the same law Of contiguity
and partial occupation that had once given it
10 them, had now assured 10 US. 1t was a
stronger pretenSion of iusticc than that which
commended against the appeal of bcnevolence
in the conscience Of the eXacting Laird Of
Dumbiedikcs. CHOW can We bid me diSpone
Beersheba, when it lies sac wecl into my ain
plaid neuk? Nature made Dumbiedikcs and
Reershcba to be ac mans land-she did, by
JOEc. 1NlCIllI, IL Wdu XIII Ihc W part tucll'
Instead of selecting for blame the circum-
stance that we retained the little, it were a
wiser and a juster patriotism TO note that we
resigned so much. Our proceeding, also, has
been harmless and benifcent. In India, Eng
land compelS a numerous and highly civilized
population to acceptrew laws, adopt new in
StitutionS, and Submitto new and onerouS bur-
denS. In Poland, Prussia, Austria, and Rus
STA ALLEVIATE a noble people from every posses
sion that can be useful to life or grateful to
the mind. In AlgierS, France destroys one
nationality, SurpreSScS one religion, cXhn-.
cuisines one system Of society, TO plant others
ia their stead. And these are the censors
who find fault with us for wringing by force
from a half bar5arous nation permission to
reclaim a vast, ~nnpeoplcd, uncultivated region
to the service of man, and to convert all I'M
profitable and valueleSS waste into a scene of
activity, and wealth, and enlightenment. We
lIdvc displaced no Inhabitants we have OVER
thrown no government VIC have not made
war against any form of social life we have
gone forth 10 occupy a dcsolate eXpansc Of
land, to pour forth upon it the resources Of
our own Astounding enterprise, and 10 create
a splendid national being in a region which
before existed only FOR the geographer, and
not for the moraliSt or the statesman. There
is in some minds among us a morbid way OF
repining.at every thug that the nation does
of original and great, aud denouncing as law
less and lamentablc every act by which the
inherent magnanimity and sagacity of This
people display themselves. For our own part,
VIC contemplate the seIf-denial and moral con-
xcientiousness of the U. States in its recent
relations with Mexico as astonishing and adj
mirabIe and we affirm that the history of
the world can show no parallel to them. If
anything can eclipse the lustrc of our victo:
ries. it is the use which. we have made OF
them. Whether holding conference with our
countrymen or contest with foreigners, we
shall not cease to point to this years annals
as the proudest scene in the earth's records
since the era Of cur independence. We have
gained the greatest of all victories-for we
have ruled and checked our own spirit even
in the vehemence of its unboundcd power.
Churubusco and Buena Vista are tiumphs
less magnificent than that
"There is not q single book store in the whole
State of Arkansas. So a gentleman from that region