A Discourse

AWN Arbor, MicHiaAir SEKMON: DsuTERONOMT chap. 2. V 5. Meddle not with them ; for I will not give yoa of their land, no, not so mach as a foot breadth ; becaase I have given mount Sen- unto Esau for a possession. In the journey which the children of Israel made from Egypt to Ca- naan, their course lay through the country of Edom. As they approach- ed its confines, they asked leave to pass them, on condition of refrain- ing from all injury to the inhabitants and their possessions. The Ed- omites peremptorily refused, and met them with hostile demonstra- tions. The Israelites then changed the direction of their route, and proceeded southward to the Bed Sea, whence they turned their course to the east, and after having "compassed mount Seir many days," they were commanded to advance northward towards their destined residence; and as their passage would agm carry them through the territories of Edom, though in a part less capable of hos- tile resistance than the western frontier, they were strictly charged not to molest the inhabitants, nor take any thing from them, not even food and water, without paying an equivalent price. They were re- minded that not a foot-breadth of the land was to be wrested from its owners ; for it was assigned by the Divine Proprietor to the de. scendants of Esau. There was an hereditary enmity on the part of the Edomites against the Israelites, which broke out into tbe hostili- ties before mentioned, as the latter drew near their borders. The insult which the Israelites had received, and the great inconvenience to which they had been put, in being compelled to take such a cir- cuitous course to gain the object of tiieir journey, were calculated to inspire sentiments of haired and revenge, and to urge them to aicts of retaliation, when opportunity was presented, by the passage of the whole nation through the most defenceless portion of the enemies' dominion. The northern portion of Edom lying in vicinity to the southern boundary of Falestiae, it would have been very convenient for the f Israelites, after havitog taken a partolFitby conquest, to have an- nexed it to the country assigned them, and thus have gratified their pride by swelling its original dimensions. Nations, like individuals are ambitious of extending their possess- ions. Rulers who hold their offices by a permanent tenure, and who inherit their dominions from a long line of ancestry, and expect to transmit them to their heirs, and whose power resembles that which an individual exercises over his personal property, are in a situation in which strong temptations are presented to them to enlarge their ter- ritories. They have something like the feeling of private ownership in the country over which they bear rule; and the love of power, wealth and splendor urge them with a vehement impulse, to seize upon every opportunity to add to the resources and extent of their king- doms. Not a small part of the wars, which have convulsed nations and ravag-ed the earth, has been of the nature of personal contests between rival potentates, originating from the lust of aggrandise- ment. In republican nations like ours, one of the fruitful sources of war, that which arises from the personal ambition of rulers, has lost some part of its force^ The political magistrates holding their places only for a short pe- riod, being limited in their power, and having no hereditary, perma- nent, and as it were personal interest in th^ offices, possess not those strong inducements to engage in wars of conquest, that operate on the sovereigns of monarchial countries^ Nevertheless, the peculiari- ties of their situation do not entirely shield them from the temptations which move so powerfuly the minds of those concerned in the admin- istration of other forms of authority. They are also liable to be swayed by popular passion, to pursue those measures, which falling in with the prevalent inclinations and ambition of the nation which they govern, will be likely to secure acceptance with those upon whom they depend for re-election to the offices which they fill. For people, as well as rulers, are ambitious of national grandeur. The lust of con- quest, a desire to extend the limits, power and resources of the country which they inhabit, will sometimes pervade all classes, and impel them to aggression and war upon those who have not the power of successful resistance, and whose possessions they can appropriate to themselves. The glory of a nation is thought to reflect honor on the meanest in- dividual whom it embraces, and human vanity and pride are much gratified with the idea of being an inhabitant of a large, rich and prosperous country. These observations are closely connected with a subject on which I propose to offer some observations — the Mexican war, a topic with which all are familiar, and upon which many perhaps may think that they have read, if not heard enough already, but in respect to which I have thought it not amis3 to present my own views on this occa- sion. There is two subjects suggested by this war, which will occupy the present discourse. One is that the policy, so much in favor with some, of greatly extending the territorial limits of this country is an unwise one ; and the other, that it is the especial interest of republi- can nations like ours to avoid war. Let the real origin of this war be what it may, it is pretty evident tvow^ that it is not the design of the government to bring it to a close, without acquiring a part of the acknowledged territory of Mexico and annexing it to the United States. This was intimated in an almost official manner in Congress, about the first of February, at the opening of the debate in the Unit- ed States Senate on the three million bill, so called. …