Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/29

Rh to the necessity for the commencement of hostilities; but when once determined on, all classes and parties aided in their vigorous prosecution. Our young men, at the plough and in the workshop—in the office and the counting-house—in town and in country—had no sooner heard of battles, than they longed "to follow to the field." The recital of the brilliant deeds performed by men animated by such a spirit, will, no doubt, be welcome to the reader: but before proceeding with the narrative, the origin and causes of the war seem very appropriately to demand attention.

The republic of Mexico, for such she has claimed to be, amid all the phases and changes in her political condition, has never possessed a firm or stable government since 1821, when she ceased to be one of the dependencies of the Spanish crown, except during the first presidency under the federal constitution. Her prolonged struggle for independence was not viewed with indifference in the United States. The government of the latter was the first to recognize her separate existence, and her battle fields were crimsoned with the blood of many an American citizen. In the darkest hour of her fortunes, in the midst of peril and difficulty, she was cheered and encouraged by those who had encountered similar trials and dangers, and who were then basking in the sunshine of freedom, and enjoying the rich reward they had labored to secure. The ties and associations thus formed, it was hoped would become more firm and enduring, as the commercial and social intercourse between the two countries was extended. But the character and habits of the Mexican people unfitted them for the rational enjoyment of free institutions; and they became the easy prey of the military despots, who by turns harassed and oppressed them. The