Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1854-12-29
MExICO-NEw ATTEMPT ON THE
PART OF THE REvOLUTIONIsTs.


says Montesquieu, in his Esprit DIES Lois, when
a people is bound to be mixed with another
people, or disappear from the map of the world.
Whatthat period is Montesquieu does notexactly
say. But he gives us to understand that when
a people is given up to intestine war, for the
sake of satisfying a few ambitious leaders;
when each province, instead of uniting in a
common defense, is fighting each against the
others; when there is not spark of national
spirit anywhere, and when private ambition
usurps the place Of civic virtue, that people
must necessarily be immersed in another one
or perish. Such seems to be the situation of
Mexico at the present time.
Our last files of Mexican papers, though not
as explicit as we could wish, show the sad inn
preston caused by the breaking out Of new
revolutions in various provinces and cities Of
the country. The UniUersal, the official jour
nal, utters cry of alarm, and calls upon all
honest men to rally around Santa Anna for
the common defense of the mother country.
The same paper complains very bitterly against
the revolutionists of Tamaulipas, who, accord
ing to its own version, have bought arms and
ammunition of war at New Orleans, and car
red them thence to Brownsville on the other
side of the Rio Grande: "What have they
done 2" exclaims the Unioasal of November
26. "They have enlisted in their ranks ad-
venturers belonging to other countries; they
have selected for general-in-chief Carvajal, a
man of odious memory, who has introduced
foreign armies into our country. They 1.-THE
men Of the revolution) have done all this; and
besides, they have located themselves on
the other side of the Rio Bravo, in city
which has become place of refuge for all the
enemies of Mexico. What does all this mean?
1t means that the Mexican partisans of one
idea, the defenders of one cause, not finding
the resources to carry out their schemes in
their own country, 60 to seek the opportunity
of accomplishing them in foreign countries"
The Universal goes on to say that those men
are lost to patriotism, do not possess the spirit
of nationality, and ought to be looked upon As
disturbers Of order public peace, anarchists, DC.
There is not a single number, perhaps, of the
official paper of Mexico in which perplexities
and anxietes are not to be discovered. There
is not line throughout its columns which does
not betray fear for the power of Santa Anna,
and the safety of the country. 1t abounds with
appeals to law and order, vague declamations
against the revolutionists, and a kind of moral
sermon addressed to the population. This sort
r. ..-.,,o,x, do,s ma ;od;cata a otrono oavern-
ment; neither does it denote the programme
of policy presenting measures calculated to
alleviate the miseries Of the people or plan
of conduct for future emergencies. That un-
happy country is in no better position to-day
than it was previous to the plan of Guadala-
lara, which surrendered the power into the
hands of Santa Anna. Instructions are more
numerous to-day than they were at that time,
and the deficiency in the financial resources Of
the country seems TO have increased rather
than decreased. That deficit is now about
fifty per cent. on the total receipts-that is to
say four millions Of dollars. The budget for
1852, for instance, shows a receipt of about
eight millions of dollars, and an expense of
about twelve millions. That breach in the
finances seems to have widened since that time,
and nobody can tell at present what it is, or
where it will stop. To-day the government
itself does not know how to secure its own
preservation in the midst of 80 many serious
dangers. This is the only moral we can de.
rive from rapid perusal of the Universal.
The unhappy state of that country has in.
voluntarily reminded us of the last words OF
General Arista, two years ago, in his address
to the Mexican Congress. al wish the felicity
of my country" said Arista, "and to reach it,
do not see any other remedy than federal in
stitutions or annexation to the United States.
This will give Mexico an iiexhaustible wealth
and prosperity, though it will deprive it of that
chimerical quadrature of the circle, called by
Santa Anna--NATIoNlLITY"
II, in 1852, Arista was brought TO call Mexi-
can NATIONALITY an idea as chimerical as the
quadrature of circle, what must il be to-day
This is the question.
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