Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1848-03-18
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER.
THE TREATY OF PEACE WITH MEXICO, AS 1T
HAS PASSED THE SENATE.

raat orator and dramatlst, that, walking III company
with Sir PAIIP FRANCIS, on his way to the House
&c Commons to lake part in vote Of thanks for a
Peace the latter, in the course of conversation, re-
marked that ait was Peace which every one
would be glad of, but nobody would be proud OF; /"
which remark SHERIDAN introduced as his own, in
a speech which he made as soon as he could get
the floor after reaching the House. We make free
to quote from SHERIDAN what he did not disdain
10 borrow from Sir PHILIP, to express what we
suppose TO be the general opinion, viz. that the
Treaty Of Peace-supposng il 10 be accomplished
by the assent Of Mexico TO the alterations which it
has undergone--is Peace 'chich ecery one tciH be
clad Of, 6,a no one ,ciH be proud Of.
For what one of our readers will not be glad of
the news Of PEACE! There is music in the very
sound-nusc how different from tina. of the cries
Of the wounded and the dying the shreks of the
hying and the feeble the waling of the widow and
the orphan Say that the peace includes some
sacrifice of cherished principles, some concession
of preconceived opinion the part of those Sena-
tors who have voted for it; yet, well-iounded and
valid as may be the objections in the eye OF any
statesman 10 the conclusion of Peace until every
effort has been exhausted TO make il what he would
most approve, how few Of all our readers are there
who will not rejoice in their inmost hearts IN the
news of The conclusion OF a Treaty, which, though
not in any other respect profitable 10 the country
yet sapes the honor ofHe Nation, whllsiH gives US
PEACE?
But who is there among all our readers that will
he nro,t9 of this peace? Not those certainly who
unconstitutonally and needessly plunged the coun-
try into the war, which, after involving Inc Natloh'
in debt the sum Of which will, when all accounts
are settled up mount up to far more than hundred
millions OF dollars and the sacrifce Of twenty or
thirty thousand lives and limbs without accomplish
ing any one. of the ostensible objects OF the war;
Nor can those certainly, on the other hand, feel
pride in the Treaty who have constantly condemn
ed and denounced the War as wilful and wanton
begun without law, characterized by continual
usurpations of power by the Executive during its
progress, and by departure from the policy and
purity Of our Republican system, SO wide and SO
demoralizing as to have already greatly corrupted
and hardened the public heart. No, no; neither
the friends of the War, the friends Of Peace who
believe that Peace ought never to have been broken,
nor even the class OF those who are too selfish to
interest themselves in any way in the national wei
fare, can be proud of such Peace.
So universal, however, is the longing for Peace,
that the sound ofihas been caughtup with contagious
enthusiasm, repeated and re-echoed, from mouth TO
mouth, from city to city, from hamlet 10 hamlet,
from mountain to mountain, and from vale to vale,
until il comes back upon US from North, East,
West, and South, with one universal choral swell
Of JOY.
To the considerations which we have heretofore
placed before our readers influencing as TO de-
sire 10 see this Treaty receive, as il has done,
the assent OF the treatymaking power of the United
States, we have little more to add. One or two
suggestions, however, we shall perhaps be INDUCED
in presenting which, having something Of party
bearing, purposely RETAINED from offering whilst
the Treaty was before the Senate.
In the first place, then, had the Treaty been more
liable TO exception than it is, it is, to our mind,
Conclusive argument in its favor, that, when ratified
it puts instantaneous stop 10 the unconstitutional
action Of the Government, beginning with the war
made by the President without the consent Of Con-
gress and continued throughout the war, the effect
of which has been, SO long il has remained I'M
checked, to suspend to that extent the operation of
the Constitution Of the United States Our Gov
eminent has been for more than two years in
situation which may well be compared to that Of
great train OF railroad cars running with headlong
speed in the direction Of fearful chasm, already in
sight, though at some distance, and growing every
moment perceptibly wider and nearer. To escape
this appalling danger, the first thing be DONE be-
fore You can reverse the motion of the driving
power is TO shut off the steam, apply the breaks
and bring the machine to dead halt. In the down.
ward career OF our Government there is nothing
but Treaty Of Peace (which we trust is now
securely that could produce the desired effect The
unconstitutional action of the Government having
been brought to a stand it will be the duty of Con
gress, pursuing figure, 10 do what they coulC
not do whilst war was raging-to reverse the ACTOR
Of the machine Of Government, and back it out O.
the danger. And il will be the fault OF Congress il
the country should ever again be placed in the same
alarming position as 10 oblige us to accept such
treaty this, as the alternative to the absorption O
the whole Of foreign nation, with the certain ina
dissolution of this Government as the consequence
Secondly. A concurrence Of circumstances not Al