"Be it enacted, &c., _That, for the purpose of enabling the Government of the United States to prosecute said war to a speedy and successful termination_, the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to employ the militia, naval, and military forces of the United States, and to call for and accept the services of any number of volunteers, not exceeding fifty thousand, and that the sum of ten millions of dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the purpose." This Act cannot be regarded merely as provision for the safety of General Taylor; nor, indeed can this be considered the principal end proposed. It has other and ulterior objects, broader and more general, in view of which his safety, important as it might be, is of comparative insignificance; as it would be less mournful to lose a whole army than lend the solemn sanction of legislation to an unjust war. This Act may be considered in six different aspects. It is six times wrong. Six different and unanswerable reasons should have urged its rejection. Six different appeals should have touched every heart. I shall consider them separately. _First._ It is practically a DECLARATION OF WAR against a sister Republic. By the Constitution of the United States, the power of declaring war is vested in Congress. Before this Act was passed, the Mexican War had no legislative sanction. Without this Act it could have no legislative sanction. _By virtue of this Act_ the present war is waged. _By virtue of this Act_, an American fleet, at immense cost of money, and without any gain of character, is now disturbing the commerce of Mexico, and of the civilized world, by the blockade of Vera Cruz. _By virtue of this Act_, a distant expedition, with pilfering rapacity, has seized the defenceless province of California. _By virtue of this Act_ General Kearney has marched upon and captured Santa Fe. _By virtue of this Act_ General Taylor has perpetrated the massacre at Monterey. _By virtue of this Act_ desolation has been carried into a thousand homes, while the uncoffined bodies of sons, brothers, and husbands are consigned to premature graves. Lastly, it is _by virtue of this Act_ that the army of the United States has been converted into a _legalized band_ of brigands, marauders, and banditti, against the sanctions of civilization, justice, and humanity. American soldiers, who have fallen wretchedly in the streets of a foreign city, in the attack upon a _Bishop's_ palace, in contest with Christian fellow-men defending firesides and altars, may claim the epitaph of Simonides: "Go, tell the Lacedæmonians that we lie here in obedience to their commands." It was in obedience to this Act of Congress that they laid down their lives.