Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/35

Rh possible to maintain that strict amity which, under other auspices, might have been forever preserved between the two great republics on the Western Continent. Vessels sailing under the American flag were plundered; the goods of our merchants confiscated, and the owners, or their agents, imprisoned with impunity. The advent to power of each new usurper, was attended by renewed violations of public law and private rights. Useless and oppressive blockades were attempted to be enforced by one party against the other, though fighting beneath the same banner, and loudly professing their attachment to the same country. That the adventurous citizens of the American Union, knowing little or nothing; of civil strife and commotion in their own country, should be unable at all times to distinguish between the party in power and their opponents, and should sometimes disregard the regulations and enactments which appeared to them to have been unjustly and arbitrarily established, were the natural consequences of the unsettled character of the Mexican government.

For a long time the authorities of the United States contented themselves with remonstrating against these proceedings, and making reclamations in behalf of our citizens. Promises of redress were postponed or evaded, and remonstrances were followed by new acts of depredation, and still more wanton outrages. At length, a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, was concluded between the two republics, on the 5th of April, 1831. The condition of things, however, remained unchanged. Although the provisions of the treaty were clear and positive, "the course of seizure and confiscation of the property of our citizens, the violation of their persons, and the insults to our flag,