Page:The War with Mexico, Vol 2.djvu/311

Rh life, and nobody cared to defend, or even to hear defended, a creature so unpopular and so generally denounced. Declamation that well-informed men of the day had rated at its true value came to be taken seriously. One side of the case faded from sight, the other was engraved on bronze. And so the patriotic habit of eagerly, throwing stones at the Mexican War and its backers became traditional.

This has been a mistake. No doubt, as we have seen, errors and misdeeds enough must be charged to the administration. All the actors were. vessels of clay, like the rest of us. But in reality the least creditable phase of our proceedings was the conduct of the opposition.