University of Virginia Library

IN MEXICO.

What will finally become of our neighbor-republic on the south? It is as large as France; as large as Great Britain; as large as Ireland; as large as Germany; as large as Austro-Hungary: in fact, nearly as large as all those countries put together.

It has a coast-line of 6,000 miles; it has all climates, all soils, and all metals. It has an ancient history that challenges the admiration of the most brilliant scholars; and a modern one that arouses the sympathy of the world.

Meanwhile, it is harassed by civil war, overrun by rebels, and threatened with one revolution after another.

Will we be obliged to adopt it, in order to save it from hopeless anarchy, and add twentyseven new stars to our own glorious flag?

Pessimist, Pessimist, high and low,
What did you find in Mexico?—
Nothing novel in act or word,
More than I ever have seen or heard;
Men are yet as they long have been;
Saints or sinners—whiche'er will win;
Brother with brother and race with race,
Bartering blood for power and place,
Strong men dying by night and day,
So the living could have their way,
Thus it has been and is ever so,
Where the pleasures and passions grow.
Dreamer—delver in long-ago—
What did you feel in Mexico?—
Shades of the Toltecs lingered there—
Aztec conquerings filled the air;
Cortez striking with greedy fangs—
Guatimozin in torture-pangs;
Star-flags greeting in bloody fray,
Cerro Gordo and Monterey.
Small Napoleon's empire-boast,
Maximilian's unhappy ghost;
All seemed wandering to and fro
There in the hills of Mexico.
Patriot, seeking the sunrise-glow,
What did you love in Mexico?—
Heroes teeming with bravery grand,
Fighting for God and father-land,
Still in the faith of duty strong,
Whether their cause were right or wrong.
Still did they suffer, toil, and fight,
Still did they seek with brain and might,
Something perhaps they could not see,
But that they hoped was yet to be.
Thus with their blood there yet may flow
Future blessings for Mexico!