W. T. Lawson

“ Like the eagle and the vulture, who long had pursued different circles in the heavens, and long made prey of the weak tenants of the air, their circles have been enlarged till they cross each other. They shriek! They fight! The victorious eagle bears the vulture to the earth, and screams forth through the clouds his triumphant song! ”

“ California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah from their mines alone have added more than two thousand millions of dollars to the world’s wealth, and are now yielding more than one-third of the annual product of gold and silver in the entire world. ”

“ England seeks Australia and New Zealand through the Golden Gate, and the productions of China and Japan flow to our magnificent harbors of the Pacific and cross the American continent on their way to supply the demands of Europe. ”

“ In the light of the present hour, the mere beginning that has been made in the development of the acquired regions will afford a partial answer to illustrate the lack of historic prescience that blinded the perceptions of the time. The growth of these new countries seems to point to a period, not far distant, when they shall contain a population as great as that which inhabits the Cis-Mississippi States. ”

“ His criticisms of Scott are intensely bitter, and he says that the first great cause of American success in the operations around the City of Mexico lay in the bravery and courage of the army, and not in the ability and skill of the General-in-Chief, who (in our author’s opinion) gave more attention to politics and his own personal position than to the operations of the war. ”

“ However unjust his criticisms, they are always able and dignified, and compel our respect.
It is not strange that he did not appreciate the romantic performances of Kearney and Doniphan and Fremont, for he viewed all things as one fresh from the Military Academy, where are taught the duties of a soldier, not those of a statesman, and he was still a youth of 26 when he wrote his history. He could not understand the meaning of Kearney’s long march across the desert, of Doniphan’s wonderful expedition, or of Fremont’s daring exploits and strange adventures. ”

“ He did not see that statesmen had duties more important than those of the soldier, and that Doniphan and Kearney and Fremont were adding an empire to the Union, while Scott and Taylor were covering our armies with undying glory and securing the possession of the conquests which our little armies were making in New Mexico and California.
A soldier of distinction, (Stevens,) in reviewing the book, says: “The work is professedly critical, and much space is devoted to the discussion of the political and military movements of both Mexico and the United States. ”

“ A new but peaceful invasion of Mexico by American capital has been begun, which arouses fresh interest in its history, its native wealth, and its destiny. A railway under American management traverses the line of Scott’s march from Vera Cruz to the capital city, another will soon pass over the fields made immortal by Taylor and his [4] handful of rough and ready soldiers ”

“ The most felicitous chapters of the book are those which tell [13] the story of the conquest of New Mexico and California, and of Doniphan’s romantic expedition. To tell these stories well and truly the historian needed all his poetic fancy, and all that rich and exuberant diction with which nature and study had so bountifully endowed him. These chapters recall the pictured pages of Prescott, and are not unworthy of the historian of the Conquest. ”

“ Scott, whose biographer he became. 3d. His style was intensely florid, as will appear from the last paragraph of his book, which we quote. Speaking of the United States and Mexico, he says: “Egypt and her millions, with the famed Valley of the Nile, fade before the broad magnificence, the mighty growth, of those American empires. Even the terrible and far-seeing eagles of Rome grow dizzy and dim [10] in their sight as they look down from the summits of history upon these continental nations, these colossal giants of the modern world. ”

“ A very thorough exposition has been made of both campaigns and of battles. The style is decidedly good. His view of the origin of the war is eminently just and told in sufficient detail.”
The freedom with which he, a mere subaltern, criticizes the conduct of such veterans as Scott and Taylor, both of them his superior officers, and one of them the President [8] of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, is remarkable. ”

“ The new apportionment bill which has just been enacted gives to the States already erected in this region almost as many Representatives in Congress as all New England, and another decade will show that it has passed far in advance in wealth and population. ”

“ THE WAR WITH MEXICO. By R. S. Ripley, Brevet-Major in the United States Army, &c. New York. 1849. 2 vols., 8vo.
This seems by all odds the best history of the Mexican War. As a military history it is almost faultless, and will probably remain an authority upon the military events of the war for all [6] time. The author, who was born in Ohio, graduated from the Military Academy in 1843. His regiment, the Second Artillery, was sent to the Rio Grande, took part in the battles around Monterey in September, 1846, and was then ordered to report to Gen. Scott. ”

“ PICTORIAL HISTORY OF MEXICO AND THE MEXICAN WAR: Comprising an Account of the Ancient Aztec Empire, the Conquest by Cortez, Mexico under the Spaniards, the Mexican Revolution, the Republic, the Texan War, and the recent War with the United States. By John Frost, L.L.D., author of the Pictorial History of the World, etc. Embellished with 500 Engravings of W. Croome and other distinguished Artists. 8vo. Philadelphia. ”