Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1841-03-24

D0 you tnlnk that we would nave Deen dOl6 10
work along peaceably with neighbors whose
line fence divides rivers and lakes with US
dipping in here, and cutting across there--if
their mother tongue made ''oui" or ''Si" or ga"
spell yeS7 See what quick work our folks made
of Texas! We are chips of the old Anglo-Sax-
on block, and think the safest boundary line
betwiXt us and nations that don't speak plain
English, is salt water. 1t was just so when
you owned this country-there was no peace
and quiet so long as the som" folks owned Can
ada and Nova Scotia; and when at last you
| conquered them, the only mistake you made
was in letting that lingo be spoken there IN the
laws.-Ths kept up constant inward dlscon-
tent and grumbling, till few years ago it broke
out in fresh spot, and your soldiers was set
on them and cut their throais and burnt their
houses, and this was considered so strange and
inhuman by some of our folks near the lines,
who could not see the necessity in country
of laws for this unnatural severity. that they
bristled right up, by sort of nat'ral animal
sympathy, jist as the pigs do when they hear a
squeel of one of their kind caught by gate or
dog--without stopping to inquire whose pig
he is, brstles up and shows fight. This Is
about the amount and cause of present frontier
! feeling, and it seems natral TO the Anglo-Saxon
family, and dies nat'ral death as soon as the
cause Is explained and examined into.
| don't care to say any thing in this letter
about the N. E. boundary line, or the burning
ofthe Caroline, or the capture and trial of McLe-
cd, or the taking or examining our vessels on
the Coast of Africa. or the Oregon claims, and
things of that natur ali that is the business of
the Government, and they are all matters of law
and treaty, and will 60 through that mill, and
will, and must, come out strait, no matter whose
toes are pinched But there is one thing | will
say-that the law will have its way here, from
Justices Court to the Supreme tribunal, and
no man, or set of men can prevent it, and no ma
ton can awe it--and it is all good old English
law TO. If treaty says line shall run thus or
so-thus or so it will go-just as deed of a
farm runs If in free countries, like England
and America, folks have a right to 60 where
they please they may go, and if they invade
other countries, and get caught, it is their look
out, and they must suffer the consequences
they can't claim the law of their country to pro-
tect them, though they may claim, if they can,
its animal sympathy.
Now, to show YOU how this works-what
has been done by this country to shield the
folks who got caught in Canada, making war
there from this side? Nothing. You hanged
some, and others you sent to Botany Bay, by
the law,-and that was right, presuming they
had fair trial-and we shall do the same on
all occasions, and that will keep things strait
! by the la,D,--and be assured of one thing, that
we shall never hang man here, unless it is
clearly shown by the law he richly deserves it,
for man has to make considerable interest
here to get hanged; the natur of our folks pre-
fering to shut him up if he is bad man, and
keep him from doing harm till he is fit to let
out, and get an honest living,
But to return to general matters-if you will
take my advice--and it is honest though it may
not De understood-if you desire to keep peace
between two important branches of the great
Anglo-Saxon family, and thereby escape the
scandal of great family quarrel, (the worst of
all quarrels) don't give cause of jealousy be-
tween your possessions on this Continent aud
ours; and bear in mind that what you call pro-
tecting against attack, may be considered here
as intention to attack land that may bring gun
for gun---and then guns want scaling occasion
ally---and salute may be mistaken--4th of Ju-
ly, and 22d February and 9Th January may not
agree with some of your great days, and slight
mistakes may lead to greater events; and our
folks don't like to pay for the expense ofwatch-
ing neighbors. You would see this at once, if
a line of boundary divided your river Thames,
or cut across one of your counties, and red coats
on one side and blue coats on tother
1t may be that you think that force, and the
fear of being licked may keep US quiet. This
would be fatal mistake for it would be the
very thing, of all others, that would stir up
strife
don't pretend to account for it---but such is
the natur of the breed---a willingness to fight If
Ouly to show that they are not afraid of being
licked; and there is no other people since the
days Of Adam who have shown this like the
people who speak English nat'rally They
never was known yet Except among them
selves 10 agree TO stop fighting because they
feared they would have the worst of it and
this comes from their true religion, and true
law, and their love of both beyond all other con-
siderations
Now, as before said, if you take my advice