The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1840-05-02

tions. Each one feels that he might have
been a victim of that dreadful catastrophe:
or that he is liable TO similar fate when
ever he journeys on steamboat. Thcpress
has rung the changes on this appalling e.
vent; the pulpit has teemed with solemn
warning; the people in masses have given
utterings in strong terms to the intensity
of their feeling;.the halls ofcongress' eVen'
have rung with the eloquence of the most
gifted in relation thereto. In word, The
whole nation seems agitatedin in consequence
of so mournful disaster. 1t is well
it should be so; for human life, pre-
cious life has been sacrificed on no trivial
scale-recklessly sacrificed by negligence
and cupidity. who can remain unmoved
under circumstances so appalling! "ho'
who that has not heart Of adamani, can
think of the horrors of that night, when
men, women and children, frantic with de-
spair, huddled confusedly together on the
deck of the steamer, and plunged by scores
into the boisterous deep, TO buffet for few
moments, the frendless pillows, and then
to 60 down to watery grave.
Yet, after all, what is the burning of
the Lexington, what the destruction other
passengers and crew, compared with the
horrors of war! What, compared with the
great al battle, in which ships are blown
up and sunk, and the decks of those that
are left aaoat are flowing with blood, and
bestrewed with the limbs and the mangled
bodies of the victims Of the fray! What,
compared with the battle fields of Bor-
dine, where eighty thousand men bit the
dust. where, for the space ofa square league
not spot was uncovered with the wound
ed and the dead! where lie those wound.
ed, piled in heaps, rending the air with
their shrieks Of agony, and invoking death
in vain! where the scene of misery was so
appalling as to move even the iron soul of
to compassion and grief! What,
to the retreat from Moscow, in
which vast mullitudes perished with cold
and with hunger, from whose eyes gushed
tears of blood; whose hair and beard were
frozen into solid masses; who, rendered
delirious by their intolerabie suferings,
rushed with horrid laug ghter like iends into
the flames of burning habitalions; and
whose half naked bodies their famished
companions drew from the flames to ap-
pease their ravenous appetites.
Such, such is "glorious war" Such the
scenes which render conquerors immortal,
and fill mankind with admiration! How
strange being man! A single steamboat
may be destroyed by accident or careless
ness, and a'na!ion assume the weeds Of woe.
But human ambition may marshal its myr-
lads in battle, and strew the field with the
slain, anu 10! your church bells send forth
their loudest peals, your artillery pours
forth its most deafening thunders, your
bon6res blaze with the most intense bright.
ness, and your sacred temples ring with
the loudest hosannas, in testimony of your
joy! Where now is your regard for human
life! your Consideration at wholesale de-
struction? Is death the less terrible when
inflicted by the sword? Are men no longer
men when they perish in the field? You do
not indeed rejoice for the sacrifice Of life,
but for victory. But where is your sym.
pathy for the mangled and slain in your
oao7a ranks; nay, in the ranks of the foe?
Human nature is equally the sufferer, whe-
ther an American or Briton bleeds; wheth.
er victory crowns the Eagle or the Lion.
Where then, are philanthropy's tears for
the horrors Of victory-for the miseries of
war! Again we are constrained 10 ex-
claim: How strange creature is mani
Nations, for the merest trifle, for word,
nay, for straw, will rush into war, delv-
ging the world with tears and blood; while
they mourn over trifing casualty, or a
slight visitation of the judgments of God!
Once more we repeat, and let the whole
universe join in the exclamation:-How
strange creature is man!-N. Y Morn