Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 1 (of 3)Parker, Theodore
Religion
Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 1 (of 3)
Parker, Theodore
Sermons, American; Unitarianism
I know the Mexicans cannot stand before this terrible Anglo-Saxon race,
the most formidable and powerful the world ever saw; a race which has
never turned back; which, though it number less than forty millions, yet
holds the Indies, almost the whole of North America; which rules the
commerce of the world; clutches at New Holland, China, New Zealand,
Borneo, and seizes island after island in the furthest seas; the race
which invented steam as its awful type. The poor, wretched Mexicans can
never stand before us. How they perished in battle! They must melt away
as the Indians before the white man. Considering how we acquired
Louisiana, Florida, Oregon, I cannot forbear thinking that this people
will possess the whole of the continent before many years; perhaps
before the century ends. But this may be had fairly; with no injustice
to any one; by the steady advance of a superior race, with superior
ideas and a better civilization; by commerce, trade, arts, by being
better than Mexico, wiser, humaner, more free and manly. Is it not
better to acquire it by the schoolmaster than the cannon; by peddling
cloth, tin, any thing rather than bullets? It may not all belong to this
Government, and yet to this race. It would be a gain to mankind if we
could spread over that country the Idea of America--that all men are
born free and equal in rights, and establish there political, social,
and individual freedom. But to do that, we must first make real these
ideas at home.
In the general issue between this race and that, we are in the right.
But in this special issue, and this particular war, it seems to me that
we are wholly in the wrong; that our invasion of Mexico is as bad as the
partition of Poland in the last century and in this. If I understand the
matter, the whole movement, the settlement of Texas, the Texan
revolution, the annexation of Texas, the invasion of Mexico, has been a
movement hostile to the American idea, a movement to extend slavery. I
do not say such was the design on the part of the people, but on the
part of the politicians who pulled the strings. I think the papers of
the Government and the debates of Congress prove that. The annexation
has been declared unconstitutional in its mode, a virtual dissolution of
the Union, and that by very high and well-known authority. It was
expressly brought about for the purpose of extending slavery. An attempt
is now made to throw the shame of this on the democrats. I think the
democrats deserve the shame; but I could never see that the whigs, on
the whole, deserved it any less; only they were not quite so open.
Certainly, their leaders did not take ground against it, never as
against a modification of the tariff! When we annexed Texas we of course
took her for better or worse, debts and all, and annexed her war along
with her. I take it everybody knew that; though now some seem to pretend
a decent astonishment at the result. Now one party is ready to fight for
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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