however, be remembered that M. Arago is presented to the existing government in the double character of savant and politician; that he has rushed forth from the observatory, the laboratory, and the academy, and throwing off his professorial robes, has mingled in political strife with all the zeal of a partisan; that he has lent the authority of his name, the influence of his popularity and the aid of his talents to that party of all others most hostile to the government, the established constitution and the crown; and that he has consistently persevered in this course of opposition, in spite of the dismemberment of his party, ever since the establishment of the dynasty of the Barricades. How then, it may be fairly asked, could it be expected that such persevering hostility could be returned by honors and promotion? M. Arago has his appropriate reward in his unblemished character for incorruptible public integrity.

In the private relations of life, M. Arago is conspicuous for every good and amiable quality of the heart. His simplicity of manners, his frankness, his devoted affection for his kindred, his noble and generous conduct to the widow and

children of a deceased scientific colleague, the ready services he is always prompt to render to his friends, are well known to all who come within the range of his private society.

́Although he has not been the recipient of official patronage, he fills many public offices, most of which he owes to election, and some of which are attended with labor and responsibility, without any or without adequate emolument. He is a Member of the Chamber of Deputies, perpetual Secretary of the Academy of Science, Director of the National Observatory, Member of the Board of Longitudes, Member of the Superior Council of the Polytechnic School, Member of the Council-General of the Seine, Member of the Board of Health, late Colonel in the National Guard. He is also Commander of the Legion of Honor, and has been elected member of various foreign scientific bodies. He is a member of the Corporations of Edinburgh and Glasgow, to which he was elected on the occasion of his attending a meeting and taking part in the debates of the British Association at the former city.

To every just mind, the war with Mexico is as gross an outrage on our part as was ever committed by one civilized nation on another. When the Annexation of Texas was made a party catch-word, all good Whigs predicted that the measure carried out would involve us in a war with Mexico. This prediction was received with taunts, as a mere bugbear to frighten women. The party with Texas on their banner, by fraud and falsehood succeeded in securing the Government, and Texas was annexed. The distracted state of affairs in Mexico prevented that Government from resenting this affront, as she had threatened to do, and the Whig prophecy promised to be a false one. No serious demonstrations were made on the part of the latter power, and there appeared every prospect of a peaceable settlement of the Texas question. From the moment things took this shape, our Executive seemed disappointed, and acted as if re

solved to precipitate the war which all good men dreaded. First, our army was ordered to the new frontier to protect it from invasion. This was right; and as long as it lay at Corpus Christi, the act was rather a compliment than otherwise to the Mexican army; for, while it showed that we were resolved to defend our own borders, it also showed that we regarded them a formidable enemy. But this did not answer: our army must break up its encampment and march to the Rio del Norte-cross our own boundaries into the Mexican territory, in order to watch the movements of the enemy. This order from our Government proves one of two things; either that the President had resolved on war at all hazards, or was guilty of a folly that would disgrace the most ignorant and inefficient officer in the army. It was like an order from the British Government to the Canadian army to cross the St. Lawrence into the State of

New York, to see that our army, encamped on our own territory, committed no aggressive acts. This insulting an army and a nation, by marching our troops on their soil, and planting our cannon so as to command their towns, and then excuse it by saying we were afraid they intended some violence, is either a dishonest or foolish act, that will in the end damn or disgrace the author of it. But even had the territory been ours, to intrench our army within short cannon-shot of the enemy-within hearing of their morning drum, and in sight of their banners and bayonetswas to insure a collision. No two armies ever yet occupied, for any length of time, such a position, and never will occupy it, without coming to blows; and if Mr. Polk expected it, he is unfit to be trusted with the management of our concerns; and if he did not expect it, he is guilty of a violation of the law of nations, which will in the end be severely visited on his head. No wonder our officers were unable to make any reply to the complaint of the Mexican general, that we were invading Mexican territory, and our aggressions were equivalent to a declaration of war, except that they were obeying orders. The very manner in which negotiations were carried on between the leaders of the two armies, shows that ours felt they were in the wrong, and had nothing to say in selfdefence. It was a humiliating position, and the nation felt it; and when the excitement of the hour had passed by, and the moral character of this question, and its integrity as a political transaction, shall be considered, history will render a tremendous verdict against our present Executive and his coadjutors.

But disgraceful and dishonest as the whole transaction has been, no American can witness the manner in which our little army extricated itself from the perils that environed it without feelings of exultation and pride. Our Government, in its recklessness, not only compromised the integrity of the nation, but, in its folly and aggression, compromised also the army. Not content with provoking hostilities, it did so with a force wholly inadequate to the task assigned it; and had the Mexicans at the outset exhibited half the energy and valor they did soon after, our entire army would have been taken prisoners. The whole action of our Executive, from first to last, has been a tissue of blunders; and nothing

but the bravery of Whig officers and firmness of American soldiers saved us from a humiliation as deep as we most richly deserved. But the army must obey the Government, right or wrong; and it is with feelings of pride, we say, that we contemplate the manner in which it has conducted itself, in carrying on those hostilities for which it was not to blame.

Here was an army of some 2,000 men, in the midst of an enemy's country, at a distance from all reinforcements and instructions-with a small artillery and weak cavalry-left to save its honor and that of our national flag as best it could. In the mean time an army of six or seven thousand men was slowly enveloping it in its folds-cutting off its communica tions, and threatening to cut off entirely its supply of provisions and stores and ammunition. General Taylor and the little band about him, were ignorant of the breathless interest the nation took in their prospects. Could they have known how every eye was turned on them, and how millions of hearts beat for their safety, and the cry of joy that went up, from one end of the land to the other, at the glorious manner they delivered themselves and saved the honor of our arms, they would never regret their toils, privations and wounds.

That was a gloomy time for our army, when between two and three hundred were left in the fort opposite Matamoras, to defend it against the entire Mexican force, while uncertainty and doubt brooded over the fate of their companions at Point Isabel. On the 1st of May, General Taylor, with the main body of the army, left for Point Isabel, to open his communication with his stores, and bring back ammunition and guns for the fort. His orders were to defend it to the last, and if the enemy surrounded it, to fire signal guns, at certain intervals, to let him know it. On the 3d, the enemy, taking advantage of the absence of the mass of the army, opened all the guns at once on Fort Brown. At daylight, on Sabbath morning, the firing commenced. The holy quiet of that day was broken by the thunder of cannon, and before the sun had risen on the scene that little fort was in a blaze, as gun answered gun; and in twenty minutes' time, one of the Mexican twelve pounders was seen leaping twenty feet into the air, accompanied by arms, legs and mangled bodies. The fire was kept up till noon, without intermission,

when it ceased for awhile, to let the guns cool. From this time, till Saturday, shells and shot were constantly flying over the heads of this devoted band, shut up within their intrenchments, and made a target for the well-directed and hotly-worked batteries of the enemy; while to add to the perils of their position, they found they had but four hundred rounds of ammunition, and hence must cease firing, to reserve it for the death struggle, when the overpowering enemy should sweep over their walls. Nothing is more dispiriting to the soldier than to find his ammunition short, and be compelled to stand and be shot at, day after day, without the power to return the fire. But here our soldiers showed the tenacity and stubbornness of the Anglo-Saxon race; lying down to let the shells explode above them, or the shot whistle over their heads, they were compelled to pass their time in the humiliating employment of dodging the enemy's balls. Five mortars at once were throwing shells into that single fort, while the cannon hurled their storm of balls against its unyielding sides. At length the army closed round them, and that band of heroes waited, with calm hearts, the approach of its thousands to the storm. În the mean time, after three days had passed, a parley was sounded, and General Arista sent a summons to the fort, to surrender "for humanity's sake," declaring if it was not obeyed in one hour, he would put the garrison to the sword; and he seemed able to do it, for what was a handful of two hundred men or more, with a small supply of ammunition, against an army of several thousand. Captain Hawkins, who succeeded Major Brown, after his wound on the 6th, called a council of war to determine what answer should be given to Arista. The question was put to the youngest first, and the stern and short reply that broke from his lips, "Defend the fort to the death," was echoed from lip to lip, and in thirty minutes from the time of receiving the communication, the guns of the enemy were raining balls on the intrenchments, and that brave and fearless garrison coolly prepared for the death grapple with their foe.

Previous to this, however, signal guns had been fired, as directed, and as the heavy reports broke, one after another, in dull and distant echoes over Point Isabel, Taylor stood and listened. What if his brave heart sunk within him, for a moment, as he counted the sounds that

died away on the plain, for he remembered how feeble was the band he had left behind him, and how strong the enemy that encompassed them. He, however, immediately prepared to answer this call for help, and on the 7th, at five o'clock, issued forth from the works, with the words on his lips, "If the ene my oppose me, whatever be his force, I shall fight him," and took up the line of march. The flag was still floating on Fort Brown, waving its graceful folds amid the storm of bullets that swept around it, and beneath it still clustered the heroic band that had sworn to die ere it should be struck. On the 8th, General Taylor again commenced his march, and about 11 o'clock came in sight of the enemy, drawn up in order of battle, stretching a mile and a half across the plain, along the edge of a chapparal; and a little in advance of it, on the left, were their splendid lancers, a thousand strong, while throughout the rest of the line, were masses of infantry and a battery alternately. Our army was immediately formed in column of attack, and, curtained by two squadrons of dragoons in advance, moved steadily forward to within cannon range, when one of the enemy's batteries opened. The column was then deployed into line, except the 8th infantry, which still stood in column, and the battle was set. Colonel Twiggs commanded the right, composed of the 3d, 4th and 5th infantry and Ringgold's artillery. Lieut. Churchill commanded the two 18 pounders in the centre, while Lieut. Colonel Belknap was placed over the left wing, composed of Duncan's artillery and 8th infantry-and the BATTLE OF PALO ALTO commenced. The gallant Ringgold opened his battery, on the right, with terrible effect, and our little army, for the first time, found themselves in the midst of battle. There stood six thousand disciplined men, supported by a powerful artillery, and in a position of their own choosing; here were scarce two thousand untried soldiers, marching steadily up to the attack. In a moment the field was in an uproar, and the midday sun looked down on as brave a fought battle as ever the stars and stripes floated

over.

The deadly precision of Ringgold's guns told with fearful effect on the enemy's cavalry that were waiting a favorable moment to bear down on our infantry. Platoons went down at every discharge, and wherever his practiced eye directed a cannon, a lane opened amid

the riders. At length, unable to stand the rapid fire, they wheeled off, and moved away in a trot, when a ball from one of the 18 pounders in the centre falling into their midst hurried them into a gallop. But making a circular sweep, they suddenly threatened our flank, and the train in the rear. Down came the thundering squadrons, making the plain tremble under their horses' feet, when the 5th infantry was thrown into square, and with fixed bayonets, waited the shock. A sudden fire from one of the angles of the formation sent twenty horses, emptied of their riders, galloping over the plain; but those behind pressed steadily on, when they, seeing the 3d advancing in column to the attack, wheeled and fled.

While Ringgold was thus making fearful havoc, with his light artillery, on the right, Duncan, on the left, poured in his destructive volleys in such fierce and rapid succession on the enemy, that their ranks melted away before them like frost work, and a shout of triumph rolled along our lines that was heard over the roar of battle. Duncan and Ringgold, occupying the two extremes of the lines, sent hope and confidence through the army, as it saw with what superiority and address our artillery was managed. To the fierce music that thus rolled over the field from either wing, the two 18 pounders in the centre kept up a steady accompaniment, shaking the field with their steady fire, as slowly advancing, they sent death through the Mexican ranks. But the enemy's batteries were worked with great vigor, and their shot told on our left severely; yet still the regiments destined to support the artillery stood firm, while the balls tore through their ranks. At one time, they lay for three quarters of an hour in the tall grass, while the shot of the enemy kept tearing up the ground amid them, bounding and leaping by, carrying away, here a head and there an arm, and yet not a soldier quailed, but cool and resolute as old veterans, kept their position, without a murmur or a look of complaint. In the mean time Lieut. Duncan set the prairie on fire with some smoke balls, and the thick smoke rolling along the lines shut out the two armies from each other, and stayed for a while the work of carnage. It was now four o'clock, and the bloodshot sun was stooping to the western horizon, and silence rested on the field of death, save when the groans of the wounded and dying rose from the plain. Duncan, tak

ing advantage of the smoke, carried his artillery through a lane of fire, with the flames rolling ten feet around him. Suddenly the enemy saw his horses' heads, moving in a trot on their right flank, and the next moment the pieces were unlimbered, and pouring in a scourging, galling fire on their ranks, rolling them back on each other in inextricable confusion. The Mexicans had changed their line of battle, to escape the murderous effect of the close and well-directed volleys of Ringgold's battery, and the 18 pounders that had been pushed forward during the short cessation of the cannonading. The gallant Ringgold, while seated on his horse directing the movement of his guns, received a shot, which, passed through his horse, cutting in two the pistols in his holsters, tore away the flesh from both his legs, from his knees upward. As he fell on the field some officers gathered around him, but he waved them away, saying, "Leave me alone; you are needed forward." The sun went down on the field of blood, and as his departing rays struggled for a moment to pierce the war-cloud that curtained in the two armies, the firing, by mutual consent, ceased, and the Battle of Palo Alto was over. Our little army encamped on the field where they fought, amid their dead and dying companions.

This was one of the most singular battles the records of our military history exhibit. It was a pure cannon fight, in which our infantry, though cool and steady throughout, and ready at any moment to pour themselves in a furious charge on the enemy, took scarcely any active part. Appointed simply to sustain batteries, they stood and saw the artillery contest the field. Gen. Taylor, who evinced the utmost coolness and bravery, evidently feared to engage the enemy mass with mass, with so inferior a force-hence there was not a single column of infantry sent forward against his lines-no concentrated movement on either wing or the centre to break his order of battle and convert a retreat into a rout. It was the old European tactics over again-of opposing wing to wing and centre to centre, and thus fighting it out. With such an army and such an enemy, Bonaparte would have relied on the celerity with which he maneuvred his infantry, and the rapidity with which he concentrated his entire force on a single point, giving rapid and terrible blows with his entire strength; and thus,

if he had gained the victory, it would have been a complete one, shattering the enemy beyond the power of rallying again. But Gen. Taylor here showed his great qualities as a commander-employing tactics to suit the occasion, and using in the very best way the best materia! he possessed. He had no cavalry to sustain a heavy charge of cavalry, while the enemy had a thousand lancers to hover on his flanks, ready to take advantage of the least disorder, to dash in and turn even a check into a rout; besides, he had seen the practice of his light artillery, and he knew that nothing could stand before it. This powerful arm in any battle, was never so conspicuous on our shores as in this. Two guns, worked by Ringgold and Duncan, were equal to treble that number in the hands of the enemy. Before the murderous fire of the batteries of these two officers, no change of position could avail the enemy, for they handled their guns with the rapidity and ease that infantry do the muskets, bringing them to bear with a precision and suddenness on every new formation, that perfectly baffled and stunned the Mexicans. Ringgold had probably but few equals in the world as an artillery officer; he would not only choose a position where he could pour the most galling fire into the enemy, and then aim his cannon with the precision of a western hunter his rifle, but he had so drilled his men that he could handle his guns with a rapidity that was perfectly astonishing. A professor at West Point told us a few weeks since, that he has seen Ringgold take three cannon and dismount them from their carriages, take off the wheels and lay them all on the ground, and at the word of command have, in three minutes' time, those wheels in their places, the guns mounted, and three shots fired. Such rapidity of movement compensates for inferiority in the number of pieces, and converts a small battery into a most terrific engine of destruction.

When night closed over the scene of strife, the Mexican Commanders saw that they could do nothing in an open field and fair fight, and so retreated to a still more formidable position. The only mistake, if any, which Gen. Taylor made in this engagement, was in not advancing with his whole army on the enemy's lines at the time they were so terribly shaken and thrown into disorder by our artillery. There is no doubt had he done

this, but that the enemy would have been utterly routed and the next day's battle prevented. Moral power is always greater than physical power, though but few commanders are able to appreciate it, and-strike at the right moment. When the Mexicans were disheartened, confused, in fact beaten, and our little army was full of confidence and enthusiasm, they would have swept like a tornado over the field. At the crisis when the Mexicans shook and wavered, and were evidently on the point of giving way, Bonaparte would have ordered a charge, and St. Cyr sent a single regiment through and through the line. So, doubtless, would Taylor have done, had he possessed a heavier body of cavalry to act as a reserve. He was anxious to preserve his train in the rear also, and feared to expose it to any mischance. Had he been disencumbered of this, he doubtless would have moved en masse upon the enemy, and secured the victory on the spot.

It is singular that with their immense superiority of infantry, the Mexicans made no serious demonstration on our lines, if we except the charge of their lancers. They seemed perfectly willing to fight it out with cannon, while their superior numbers only made them a larger mark to be shot at. Had a column of three thousand men been formed, and a battery placed at its head, and ordered to pierce our centre or carry away either wing-with the cavalry and three thousand men in reserve, it is very doubtful whether our feeble number could have withstood the shock.

Such a demonstration would have materially altered the face of affairs, and would have given the Mexicans all the advantage of superiority of numbers. As it was, it mattered very little to them whether they had two or ten thousand men, for it was an affair of artillery alone.

There is no mention made of it, yet from the little we can gather, the Mexicans evidently contemplated some such great movement. After the firing had ceased, and the smoke of the burning prairie blotted out the hostile lines from each other, they changed their order of battle, and apparently were in the act of forming a heavy column to advance, with a battery at its head. The sudden appearance of Duncan through the smoke, and the close and wasting fire of his artillery sweeping down with fearful rapidity the ranks, baffled this movement, and threw everything into confusion.