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PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
ence, we secure wisdom; and Your Majesty should not forget, that by Revolution, you now have the crown of France." But never were the advantages realized which Zavala thought his country ought to have acquired by the experience.- The wars in Mexico continued; but the people did not derive any benefit from them, and the nation now is experiencing all the horrible consequences which flow and will always flow from ignorance and evil doing. The wars commenced under the first organization of the government; and since such beginning, what could result except the convulsions which, for so many years, have disturbed and destroyed the country?- ' Mexico seems to be incapable of acquiring wisdom from its own ex- perience or from the examples of other nations. By the Revolution Independence was gained; but it has not secured liberty. The people have changed their masters-nothing more-and I ask what benefit- what advantage have they obtained by the ex9hange? None- As Vampire Spain drank the blood of the people ;-the present governors of Mexico have done and are doing the same. What are they but assassins and freebooters; and what is the nation but the deplorable victim of their cruelty and insatiable rapacity?- The people have been trampled in the dust for more than twenty-five years; and yet they devote themselves to their tyrants; and give them the adoration and affection which should be given to God alone. Notwithstanding they have suffered many 'injuries, and still are suffering numerous calamities, nevertheless, they can neither see nor imagine that there, may be anything evil or defective in their system of government, in their agents or in themselves. They think that they are wiser, freer, more powerful than any nation of the world whatsoever. They believe that the city of Mexico is greater than London, Paris, or Pekin, and that the priest of the village is wiser than Solomon or Socrates. This is the result of ignorance-an ignorance which weighs on their moral, and intellectual faculties as their own native mountains; an ignorance that will last while the church and the army remain united against the rights of the people. In Mexico, the Church and the army are the natural enemies of liberty; but the people cannot understand this truth; and the friend who attempts to vindicate their rights will sac- rifice himself to their vengeance. Such is the condition of Mexico, past and present and how will its lamentable destiny be improved?- It is useless to speak to the deaf-they cannot hear; so likewise it is useless to reason with a people ignorant and perverse; because it cannot comprehend or appreciate the important truths whi_ch its sincere friends would teach. What hope, then, has the patriot for the future pros- perity of his country-? The past and the present are dark and who ca'n see any light in the future?- The patriot would despair if it were not for the power of education. As the sun is to the world, so is education to the soul of man. It is the life of virtue and the shield of liberty; and until its benign influence is extended over the earth, the people of Mexico will have to remain as now, victims of two in- fernal powers, priestly and military. When Zavala went to Texas, he fixed his residence near to San- jacinto; where he and Santa Anna met the first time after their sep- aration in the city of Mexico. This wicked Usurper, had carried for- ward his ambitious purposes until he lacked little in fulfilling them.
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