munity. There is great difference in this respect among men. Many seem lost to know how to apply and use what they read; and, yet, if we would have clear sailing for ourselves or our country, especially in such times as these, we must search for, find out and use, the channel, which the events, that have passed into history, so clearly mark out. Would that all of us would study the lessons of the past and profit by them!

We have already referred to Mr. GALLATIN'S ability as a public speaker. One of the latest incidents of his life illustrated this power-we refer to his expostulation with a mob, which had gathered around a newspaper office, threatening violence for some alleged offence, which the editors had committed in their editorial articles, relating to public affairs. The mob were too powerful for the policemen present, and there was every prospect of their doing serious injury to the office, before a sufficient police force could arrive to disperse them. At this juncture some one present recognized Mr. GALLATIN and spoke his name, when it was at once taken up and shouted through the crowd. The opportunity thus given he improved to address them, and his eloquence, always earnest and engaging, had at once the desired effect; for there was no more talk of violence. He held their attention for a few moments and then dispersed them. The police, who had been sent for in force, arriving only to find the streets already cleared.

We might extend this brief record, by the recital of many other interesting facts and incidents in the private and public life of Mr. GALLATIN. Yet we have said enough to illustrate his sterling character, and to indicate the important part he has acted, and is still acting, in his country's affairs. We have seen that his younger life was one of peculiar temptations. The possession of money, flattering friends, and gay society, are very severe tests of character-few are able to withstand their influence. Thousands of young men, tried in such a crucible, are ruined every year. Yet it is only through temptations and difficulties that character is developed for this is the refining process-the weak one thus brought to show their weakness, the strong, their strength.

CONQUEST OF MEXICO BY FRANCE.

(NUMBER II.*)

T. M. J.

SOME men are born to be distinguished. A strong interest attaches itself to them, and separates them from the common crowd, making them prominent characters on the page of history. Their most trivial acts are closely scrutinized, and their chance words are invested with more than ordinary meaning. It is not that they possess extraordinary powers; that they are endowed by nature with a superior genius, which, whether well used in the cause of right, or perverted to purposes of evil, still exalts them above their fellows; but to circumstances and position alone are they indebted for the consequence, which attaches to them. It is because they fill high positions of important trust; because their words and actions (whether original or inspired, is of little or no moment,) have a practical significance, and powerfully affect the well-being of whole communities.

Just now, and for such reasons, the public eye is fastened upon the Arch-duke MAXIMILIAN, the present Emperor of Mexico. We do not mean to affirm that he is not a man of ability and acquirement; that he has not filled many positions in which he has been placed in a manner creditable to himself, and worthy of his illustrious descent, or that he would not be a prominent man in ordinary circumstances of life. He may possibly be all these. Still there are thousands possessing as much ability as he, who, strutting their little hour on the stage of life, pass off, and are forgotten. But the Emperor will always be a character of interest; whether he possesses any extraordinary capacity or not; whether he succeeds in his endeavor to found an empire in Mexico, or fails utterly in the attempt, his name is written on the annals of the Mexican Republic, and will be inextricably woven into the story of American history.

The death of the Emperor Charles VI., which happened on the 20th of October, 1740, left the house of Hapsburg without a male descendant. It had been the anxious care of this monarch, to secure the succession of his daughter, MARIA THERESA. An acknowledgement, known by the name of the Pragmatic Sanction, was accordingly obtained from the different European powers, by virtue of which the hereditary possessions of Austria should, in the absence of male issue, pass to the female branch. MARIA THERESA had, however, no slight difficulty in obtaining the fulfillment of this compact. CHARLES ALBERT, Elector of Bavaria, pressed his claim, as descended from the Emperor FERDINAND I., and his cause, being espoused by some of the other European powers, endangered, for a time, the succession of the daughter of the deceased sovereign. After a

* The previous article on this subject, and of which this is a continuation, will be found in the June number of the MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE, page 415.

good deal of opposition, CHARLES ALBERT was elected Emperor of Germany, under the title of CHARLES VII., and MARIA THERESA. Succeeding to the Austrian estates, was crowned in Prague in the year 1743. Her husband, FRANCIS STEPHEN, of Lorraine, upon the death of CHARLES, was invested with the imperial purple, as Emperor FRANCIS I., and the heirs of the two great houses of Hapsburg and Lorraine have ever since held undisputed possession of the Austrian sceptre. JOSEPH II., son of FRANOIS I., and MARIA THERESA, Succeeded to the Empire in 1765. He was a well meaning man, but a little in advance of his time. Endeavoring to introduce into his empire higher principles of civil and religious liberty, he was brought in direct opposition to all the fanatical tyranny of the Romish church. He was succeeded by his brother LEOPOLD, who was crowned in the year 1790. His death made way for his son FRANCIS II., of Germany, and I., of Austria. He, in his turn, was succeeded, in 1837, by his son FERDINAND II., who abdicated on the 2d of December, 1848, and fixed his residence in Prague. The Arch-duke FRANCIS CHARLES, the brother of FERDINAND, also renounced his claim to the succession, and FRANCIS JOSEPH, son of the renouncing Arch-duke, became Emperor. The Arch-duke MAXIMILIAN is his brother, and, in case of his decease, would have been regent during the minority of the heir apparent. He was commander-in-chief of the Austrian navy, and has been Governor of Lombardy and Venice. The experience he has had in the art of government, and in building up the material strength of a country, will certainly be of great use to him, in the difficult position in which he is now placed.

The long season of disturbance and anarchy, which has swept over the Aztec table-land has made a period of repose to be most eagerly desired by its war-wearied inhabitants. The fiery education, which they had been receiving, led us to hope that some government strong enough to preserve internal peace would result from it; that the genius of President JUAREZ would establish a permanent tranquility, and that under its benificent influences Mexico would take that stand among the commercial nations of the world for which she is so eminently fitted. But we have been doomed to disappointment. Just at the time when our hopes seemed about to be realized, and the by-gone period of anarchy and mis-rule about to pass away, the French Emperor, under the pretext of demanding the payment of certain money, claimed by his subjects, has invaded the country, and, by a system of treachery and deceit, aided by 30,000 of his best troops, forcibly placed a foreign prince on a throne, built upon the ruins of the republic.

The emperor has done what he has constantly been declaring, was the very farthest from his thoughts. Over, and over again, did M. THOUVENAL declare to the English and American ministers, that France had no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Mexico. In July, 1862, Gen. FOREY received a communication from LOUIS NAPOLEON himself, in which he says: "The end to be attained is not to impose on the Mexicans a form of government which will be distasteful to them." Immediately after this, Gen. FOREY marched into the capital, and the Council of Notables, under the direct influence of the French army, and of the exiled inembers of the church party, declare the Republic at an end, the Empire established, and the Austrian Archduke Emperor! This may be a very satisfactory mode of procedure in some quarters; but as the Council of No

tables never made even a pretence of submitting its acts to be ratified by a national vote, it is not exactly in keeping with our ideas of a "free" and "unanimous " election.

But while we denounce the treachery and deceit of France, and condemn in the strongest language the lawlessness of the intervention, we do not hesitate to acknowledge that a strong government, firmly maintaining order, cannot but be a blessing to Mexico. It is childish to speak in general terms of liberty, independence, universal suffrage, and selfgovernment. The anarchy which Mexico has been enduring is worse than the fiercest despotism. What Mexico wants is quiet, the restoration of peace, and the maintenance of tranquility. We should remember that it is not in the mere name of a "republic" that liberty consists. A monarchy is not necessarily despotic, nor a republic necessarily free. There is nothing in either which inherently threatens tyranny, or promises freedom. It is the peculiar and individual provisions of the constitution of a country, which insure or destroy liberty. All people are not fitted for self-government; indeed, we think it self-evident, that the governing power should reside in the higher classes, which, as a general rule, (and it is upon generalities that legislation must be based,) are the better educated portion of the community. Whether a republic, with a qualified suffrage, or a monarchy, under an aristocratic control, affords the best means of placing that power in the hands most fitted to wield it, is a problem not yet entirely solved. A republican form of government, with universal suffrage, requires, we fear, a higher degree of intellectual culture, on the part of the masses, than any people has yet reached. Even we, with all our boasted popular intelligence, are reaping some of its bitter fruits. Look at the controlling influence in the government of our great cities; observe the motive forces working in our State legislatures; visit the halls. of our general government, in the place sanctified by the name of the great father of his country; and what do we see? Public money squandered, when the strictest economy is necessary; hard working and law abiding people heavily taxed-not on account of the necessities of the State, but to fill the pockets of greedy politicians, and to give gold medals to unworthy demagogues. The low and uneducated, by means of their numerical superiority, have taken the power away from their betters. Instead of being governed by an educated intelligence, we are largely domineered over by the superficial and the base. Would this be a fit government for Mexico? Past years of anarchy can best answer this question. If we stagger under it, whose people, almost to a man, read and write, and possess some knowledge of the world, what would be the consequences in Mexico, where nine-tenths of the population neither know nor care whether they live under a government of their own, or under that of the great Mogul?

Yet although Mexico is unprepared for a Republican form of government, that is no reason why France should receive our sympathy now; nor why we should not oppose with all our power this new made Empire. The truth is, we should long ago have taken the protectorate of Mexico into our own hands. The better class of the inhabitants wanted us to do so. They asked General Scorт to become their dictator. They saw that the peace and order, which a strong government could give, was better than the lawlessness of their own misrule; and, tired of war,

wearied with violence, disgusted at bloodshed, they were-willing to lay their all at the feet of a foreign conqueror. Do we blame them for this, and call them base? Consider the condition the country was in. Notwithstanding all the beauty and sublimity which expand the souls of the poet and the artist, the physical part of man's nature is the first to claim his care. It is useless to talk to the starving man of the gorgeousness of a sunset, or to the houseless wanderer of the merits of works of art. Food will be the craving of the one, shelter the first desire of the other. Supply him with the necessary, and he will appreciate the grand. So it is with a nation. Mexico, torn to pieces by faction, dashed, for long years on the sharp rocks of civil discord, is in the forlorn condition of the starving or houseless man. She, in her present state, cannot appreciate the blessings of independence and self-rule. Her cry is for peace, rest, an end of blood, to be had in any way, and cheap at any price. Mexico is a country of unsurpassed richness, and capable of extensive development. The luxuriance of its soil, the vastness of its mineral deposits, have passed into a proverb. We might have opened the country and established a commercial intercourse which would have been to our mutual advantage.

We do not, however, say that it would have been justifiable for us to have invaded Mexico, in order to overthrow its government, and establish one we would like better, even though such a course might have resulted to its advantage. A protectorate, which would simply uphold its own rulers, and aid them in preserving peace and in enforcing law, is a very different thing. Neither would it have been proper for us to do even this unless it were desired by the Mexicans themselves. But they did desire it, and we are now reaping the fruits of our foolish policy in not acting at that time. Still those opportunities are past and lost. France has come forward and, with her strong hand, has undertaken to conquer Mexico, not to uphold the Mexican government. In doing this, too, she has acted in a way particularly offensive to us, in putting upon this Mexican throne a foreign prince, one who will always be ready to nod when France nods, and act when and how she tells her to.

The question then thrusts itself upon us with irresistable power Should we, can we, submit to this act of the Emperor NAPOLEON? Is it safe for us to do so? Can we allow an Emperor, who even now makes all Europe shake when he opens his mouth, and whose ways are past finding out, to secure a foothold, so near us, and in so dangerous a quarter?

An article, in the last number of the MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE, states that "this country has always occupied a dog-in-the-manger position towards. the Spanish American Republics." We suppose the writer must mean that the United States have not only refused to interfere in the internal affairs of those powers, to overturn their government, and place their people under a foreign rule, but have also declared their intention never to allow other nations to commit like acts of violence. If this is what he calls "a dog-in-the-manger position," we sincerely hope that our country will always fall under such a censure. Certainly no one, on the one hand, would wish that we should act the part France has towards our neighbors; and on the other, if we want to be free from European interference and European wars; if we want to avoid the necessity of sustaining such immense armies and fleets as those, which are eating out the