I do not believe that Mexicans at the present day want the courage to confess errors which do not dishonor them, or to adopt a system of true liberty—­one of peace and union with their brethren and neighbors of the North.  Neither can I believe the Mexicans ignorant of the infamy of the calumnies put forth by the press in order to excite hostility against us.  No, public spirit can not be created or animated by falsehood.  We have not profaned your temples, nor abused your women, nor seized your property, as they could have you believe.  We say it with pride, and we confirm it by an appeal to your bishops and the curates of Tampico, Tuzpan, Matamoros, Monterey, Vera Cruz, and Jalapa; to all clergy, civil authorities, and inhabitants of all places we have occupied.  We adore the same God, and a large portion of our army, as well as of the people of the United States, are Catholics, like yourselves.  We punish crime wherever we find it, and reward merit and virtue.  The army of the United States respects, and will ever respect, private property of every class, and the property of the Mexican Church.  Woe to him who does not where we are!  Mexicans, the past is beyond remedy, but the future may yet be controlled.  I have repeatedly declared to you that the Government and the people of the United States desire peace, desire your sincere friendship.  Abandon, then, state prejudices; cease to be the sport of private ambition, and conduct yourselves like a great American nation.  Abandon at once these old colonial habits, and learn to be truly free, truly republican.  You may then soon attain prosperity and happiness, of which you possess all the elements; but remember that you are Americans, and that your happiness is not to come from Europe.  I desire, in conclusion, to say to you with equal frankness that, were it necessary, an army of one hundred thousand Americans would soon be among you, and that the United States, if forced to terminate by arms their differences with you, would not do it in an uncertain or precarious, or, still less, in a dishonorable manner.  It would be an insult to the intelligent people of their country to doubt their knowledge of your power.  The system of forming guerrilla parties to annoy us will, I assure you, produce only evil to this country and none to our army, which knows how to protect itself and how to proceed against such cut-throats; and if, so far from calming resentments and passion, you try to irritate, you will but force upon us the hard necessity of retaliation.  In that event, you can not blame us for the consequences which will fall upon yourselves.  I shall march with this army upon Puebla and Mexico.  I do not conceal this from you.  From those capitals I may again address you.  We desire peace, friendship, and union; it is for you to choose whether you prefer continued hostilities.  In either case, be assured, I will keep my word.  WINFIELD SCOTT.”