A more effectual means
could not have been devised to encourage the enemy and protract the war
than to advocate and adhere to their cause, and thus give them "aid and
comfort." It is a source of national pride and exultation that the great
body of our people have thrown no such obstacles in the way of the
Government in prosecuting the war successfully, but have shown
themselves to be eminently patriotic and ready to vindicate their
country's honor and interests at any sacrifice. The alacrity and
promptness with which our volunteer forces rushed to the field on their
country's call prove not only their patriotism, but their deep
conviction that our cause is just.
The wrongs which we have suffered from Mexico almost ever since she
became an independent power and the patient endurance with which we have
borne them are without a parallel in the history of modern civilized
nations. There is reason to believe that if these wrongs had been
resented and resisted in the first instance the present war might have
been avoided. One outrage, however, permitted to pass with impunity
almost necessarily encouraged the perpetration of another, until at last
Mexico seemed to attribute to weakness and indecision on our part a
forbearance which was the offspring of magnanimity and of a sincere
desire to preserve friendly relations with a sister republic.
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