The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1845-09-25

lect by which it communicates the sparl
of moral electricity to others, aud obtain
mental dominion over them, The com
manl of souls without paradox, TO met
like Hannibal, Caesar, Gonsalvo of Cor
dova, William |. Of Orange, Gustavus
ApoIphus, DeRuiter, Frederic, Napole
on, Nelson, or wellington. If some o
them have committed acts which We
disapProve, or are supposed to have US
ed the greatness ftheir. intellect alto
gether for evil ends, it does not inval.
ldate the position, that the fact of theiI
having been truly great generals shows
also the greatness Of their intellect, any
more than the fact Of Bacons soilin ,
his pages with unworthy hattcry OF a
puerile monarch, proves him not to have
been great philosopher, or Of lord
Coke's having disgraced himself by
some Of the most serVlle arguments in
/ favor ofthe crown and to the ruin ofthe
prosecuted, Gisprovcs his having been a
capacious and penetrating lawyer
Views like these have generally been
maintained by persons who have an in,
adequate idea of what war actually is,
what general has TO do, and into what
parts war resolves itself They see
troops moving by command on the drill.
ing ground, and thick armies are com.
manded in like manner and as easily,
and that moral vigor is altogether out OF
the question. Others bavo pushed the
argument SO far as boldly TO assert, chat
soldiers never Eght from patriotism, aud
II SO, it would not be worth much, pat
riotsm being alto ether worth !jtt'c to Il
Christian! Verify, il is seen, that these
writer's can never have taken up arms in
defence of their country, ready to shed
their blood for it, without earthly reward.
How much arc those to BIO piIed whose
heart remains cold at some Of The choic
est pages Of history, testi'ying to every
glowing bosom the nobleness of human
nature, A devoted humble citizen deed
ing and dying for his beloved country,
her laws and liberty, the freedom Of his
children, their religion, their language,
their very Intellectual existence, is no
thin to them.
/ On the score CT ethics alone the OBJ
jeciions against war may be comprehcn'
ded under :hc following divisions: Men,
that is, rational beings shall contest with
ono another by argumant, that is by the
strength of reason and not by force,
whereby they sink TO the level OF animals.
We do not prove oar right even if we OBJ
tain victory which is,neverhelcss, doubt
| FOL- In war those suffer who, perhaps,
/ and who probably had little or no band
in bringing ii about. War is immoral be-
cause it is a cessation Of morality, and,
, in addition, it breeds immortality. The
effects ctthu rlost successful war are al
ways dsqroportionalc 70 the evils which
it entails Finally war being necessarily
caused BY an act of I'M Justice, Of immoral
atty on ono side, il not on both, it is al
least evident that it must cease with a
state Of dttluscd morality; and might be
stopped on very large scale at any rate
i a large numbcr ofindependent stotc>
would adopt among themselves the sam
ruIo which the various civilized societies
adopt within them, namely,to prohibit the
obtaining Of right by force, and to allow
it to be obtained by argument, by rea
sonng. on the powerful grouyd Of jus
iice q one.
AS to the first objection, that mon arc
rational beings and ought to decide al
differences by reason we have 10 observe
that although they ought to do it, there
are many who do not do ii, and til a; il
is rot in the power Of the good Away:
to prevent those who will not from do
ing so. throughout human life we re-
right otherwise. Rcsorling to physica
forco Is not on that account british. -
Raising a wall aronnd our garden, fast
cning our doors by LOCKS aud bolts, j.
resoriing to physical means because we
know the thief would not allow himseI
to be argued away, or We Lave no time
or obligation to watch the door until ht
come, that we may ar-uo with him
We cbas;iso a child, that is, resort t.
force, when it is SO young that we can
not yet reason with it, and an evil dis
position, for instance, passion, neverthc
theless shows itself prominently, anC
Therefore must be controlled We pre-.
vent people from using path by block
ing it up that is, we resort 10 physical
force, because a mere tablet with a re
quest to passengers not to use it, woul'
be without effect Going to law is IN al
cases, in which there is maiign inten
on one side, rosorting to force only
= with this difference, that we wisely giv'
), up, or are forced to give up private
force and resort to public. For we al
I know foil we'll that our unjust adyersar
5 would not do the bidding Of the court
and abide by its decision, were it no
5 supported by public force. We do no
; 90 to court TO convince our adversary
5 bul to convince the judge A law SUI