Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/557

Rh saluted by the Mexican artillery, in command of General La Vega, was lowered from the National Palace, and the Mexican standard once more ascended in its former place. The latter was saluted, in turn, by the battery of Lieutenant Colonel Duncan, which had been the first to open its thunders on the battle-field of Palo Alto.

The war with Mexico is now ended. Its results, be they for good or for evil, are in progress of accomplishment. To our sister republic, if she regard it aright, this contest may prove a useful lesson. Whether the principle affirmed by the American government, in the annexation of Texas, which, as we have seen, was the original moving cause of the war, though not necessarily so, — that a revolted province, by maintaining a successful rebellion against the authority of the mother country for a period of eight years, acquires the right to be regarded, for all purposes, as an independent nation; whether this be correct, or incorrect — and the time certainly appears reasonable — it cannot be forgotten, that Mexico herself invited hostilities, by a refusal to negotiate. The direct consequence of this refusal was the advance of the American troops to the Rio Grande, — the immediate cause of the war, it is true, but the only mode by which the United States could have asserted her title, when all intercourse with Mexico was suspended, to the territory admitted to be in dispute — This war, then, will caution Mexico against assuming, on any other occasion, a false attitude at the very commencement of an international difficulty. It will teach her, too, the importance of cultivating harmony at home, and of manifesting and preserving, at all times, good faith in her dealings with other nations.