to
open to that minister so easy a road to an earldom. The war with
Mexico is to be produced by different means, and for different
purposes. I think the gentleman from Virginia, in his speech, rested
the question of the war with Mexico upon three grounds: 1st, That
our citizens had claims against the Mexican government to the amount
of ten or twelve millions; 2d, That some ten or twelve of our
citizens had been treated with great severity, and suffered disgrace
and abuse from the Mexican government, having been made slaves, and
compelled to work at cleansing the streets; that these citizens were
detained in servitude, while one British subject had been promptly
released on the first demand of the British minister there; and, 3d,
That a war with Mexico would accomplish the annexation of Texas to
the Union. The gentleman was in favor of war, not merely for the
abstract purpose of annexing Texas to the Union, but he was for war
by peremptorily prohibiting Santa Anna from invading Texas.

"I will take up these reasons in order. And, first, as to going to
war for the obtaining of these ten or twelve millions of dollars,
being the claims of our own citizens on Mexico. This seems a very
extraordinary reason, when, according to the doctrine of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania, a state of war at once extinguishes all
national debts. If we go to war with Mexico, her debts to our
citizens will be expunged at once, if the doctrine of the gentleman
from Pennsylvania be true. He did, to be sure, qualify the position
by saying that war would at least suspend the payment of interest.
If so, then it would equally suspend interest in the case of Mexico.
The arguments of the two war gentlemen happen to cross each other,
though they are directed to the same end. One of them will have us
go to war with Mexico to recover twelve millions of dollars; the
other would have us go to war with England to wipe out a debt of two
hundred millions. I will not compare the arguments of the two
gentlemen together; but I will say, in regard to the doctrine of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania, that it has quite too much of
repudiation in it for my creed. I do not think that a war with
England would extinguish these two hundred millions, but that, on
the contrary, Great Britain would be likely to say to us, 'We will
g