Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/563

Rh As Americans, therefore, sacredly revering the memories of Washington and the heroes of the Revolution, — and in whose minds the names of Jackson, and Harrison, and Brown, are imperishably associated with the plains of Chalmette, the valley of the Thames, and the heights of Niagara, — while we may point with satisfaction, as we ought, to the frowning fortresses, the burning sands, and the lofty mountains of Mexico, as the memorable witnesses of the skill, genius, and gallantry, of Scott and Taylor, — of Worth, and Wool, and Twiggs, — and of the dauntless courage and intrepidity of the brave men whom they led forth to battle, — we should do no injustice to them, none to our national character, by expressing the hope that this may be the last war in which our country shall be engaged, and that, henceforth, all her ways may be ways of pleasantness, and all her paths be peace.

Still, a resort to arms may not always be avoided. The social and political millennium, to which the philanthropist and Christian look forward with eager and anxious expectation, has not yet dawned upon us. The privileges and blessings of peace, desirable as they are. may sometimes be denied. Caution and prudence, united with promptness and determination, will go very far to secure their permanence. "Be just, but fear not!" — should ever be our national maxim — Firmness is the policy of war, as it is the policy of peace. Justice to our own citizens, in the legislation of the country, will prevent internal feuds and dissensions; and justice to other governments will save us from the manifold evils of war.

So long as this remains the governing principle of our diplomatic intercourse, should collisions unfortunately occur, our soldiers will not forget, in the hour of battle,