every facility he demands for its prose,cution, however wicked or injurious, it may be.
IsTot only has the public mind become accustomed to executive usurpation, but it has lost, in its admiration of mihtary success, that jealousy of military power, which is a most powerful safeguard of republican liberty. We have been utterly heedless of the melancholy example ex- hibited by Mexico herself, of the disastrous influence of a thirst for martial renown. The astonishing facihty with which that country was overrun and prostrated by our troops, cannot be accounted for solely by the paralyzing effect of the Mexican church on the progress of science and civilization." Ever since her independence, Mexico has fostered a military spirit ; but it was a spirit that consumed her very vitals. The resources of the State were squandered on the army, and the army through its gene- rals governed the State. The blessings of peace were despised, and the citizens, instead of combining for the common welfare, were divided into partisans of rival Gen- ei-als. Revolution succeeded revolution in rapid succession, one chieftain supplanting another, A civiUan was scarcely ever placed at the head of the State, the reins of government being almost invariably committed to hands that grasped the sword. The history of the Republic of Mexico has been a history of military insurrections and usurpations. Even when invaded by a foreign enemy, military factions and rival chiefs paralyzed the strength of the nation, and rendered her an easy prey. All the records of the past bear witness to the fact, 'that popular Generals have been the chief destroyers of Republics. Yet the American people, deaf to the warnings of his- tory, have apparently become infatuated with mihtary glory, and have recently given, various indications of their preference for men who have served their country in the field, over such as have merely labored to advance her prosperity and happiness, by cultivating the arts of peace.
The arbitrary spirit engendered by war, and the idea which it fosters, that all rights and interests must yield to the public safety, are both necessarily