And what was the power that had dared to invade the United States, and by its assault had thrown this great confederacy into such imminent danger, that Congress found it necessary to provide fifty thousand troops in addition to the regular army, in such haste as not to allow them time ecen to read the despatch announcing the invasion ?
The Republic of Mexico had long been the prey of military chieftains, who, in their struggles for power and the perpetual revolutions they had excited, had exhausted the resources of the country. Without money, without credit, without a single frigate, without commerce, with- out union, and with a feeble population of seven or eight millions, composed chiefly of Indians and mixed breeds, scattered over immense regions, and for the most part sunk in ignorance and sloth, Mexico was certainly not a very formidable enemy to the United States.* It was impossible for any Mexican force to reach us by sea ; and to reach us by land, her armies would have been obliged to cross an uninhabited desert nearly two hundred miles in breadth, before they arrived at the Nueces, the boun dary of Texas. The people