Sketches of the campaign in northern Mexico : in eighteen hundred forty-six and seven / by an officer of the First Regiment of Ohio volunteers.

56 THE MISERABLE CONDITION OF THEE NATION.
pheres; or, of that fierce Aztec tribe, which, after centuries
of warfare, pushed the boundaries of their empire from a
little village of reeds in the marshes of Lake Tezeuco, to the
shores of the Atlantic and Pacific. The sad and sinking
steps by which our sister republic-the oldest, and once the
strongest and wealthiest, power on this continent-has arrived
at her present low estate, and her people made the bondman
of even the bold barbarians on her borders, are known to
every reader.
"'Twere ldng to tell and sad to trace
Each steps from splendor to disgrace."
Now, instead of subjugating neiglhboring tribes, extending
the limits of their territory, and enriching themselves with
Crowds of prisoners, the Alexicans are unable to defend their
own provinces from Indian invasion; and it is stated that
there are not less than four thousand of their women and child-,
ren at this time enslaved by the wild warriors who wander over
the vast plains and hills washed by the waters of the Rio
Grande. How applicable to Mexico the words of the prophet: "; Wo to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled;
and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously
with thee! When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be
spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee!"' We commend those unhappy captives to the generous and disinterested
sympathies of our ardent Flibustiers, and trust that their next
foray in the cause of freedom and the rights of mankind will
be to the Camanche country, instead of Cuba.
The towns on the Rio Grande are few and insignificant.