The Arkansas banner., 1846-02-25

body of cavaliers on the southern sands rom this small beginning, and in this short '.',e' we nave gone, on, step by step, mul- tiplyihg and advancing towards the Pacific. t"t the aooflgines of the country had dis appeared before us, like the mists of morning before the sun, until they now rest small cloud on the shore of the western ocean- Was not the hand of destiny seen in that, He who did not see it must be m infdel or stone blind. To the Pacific ocean i, ;s o,r oesuhy 10 go. The hand of Providence pointed us onward.
 otaii we pause in our career, or retrace our steps because the British lion has chosen 9 P'ace himself Tn our path' Had our blood a,'e"us become so pale that we should trem- oie il tle roar of the king of beasts3 We VIII not go out of our way io seek cop- hict with him; but if he crosses our hath. ana refuses to move at peaceful command, ne Will run Ills nose in the talons of the Ameflcan eagle, and his blood will spout as rom harpooned whale. If Great Britain was had enough 10 attempt this conflict anu U was sad that "whom the gods intend 10 destroy they first dement'--let her con- menee the contest. The spectators who look "n upon the struggle, may prepare to hear n eflsile is Il the very ribs ef nature had broke Our people are spreading out with the and oi the American multiplication table. Go to the West and see q young man with his male oi eighteen; after the lapse of thirty years, visit him again, and instead of two, you Will find .wenty-two That IS what I call the American multiplication table. We are now twenty millions strong, and how long, under this process of multiplication, wilt It take to cover the cont nent With our posiefily, from the Islhmus of Da- fieh to Behring's straits? The greater DOT ton oi thls vast multitude always had their faces set towards the West Westward ho, was their cry. ! ou could no more arrest their progress than you can close up the Missouri, while the snows are melting on the mountains in which il has is rise.
 W here shall we find room for all our peo- pie, unless we have Oregon? What shall we do with all those little whte-heatled boys and gifls-God bless themt--tbat cover the Mississippi valley, as the flowers cover tho western praifies? Their interes.s all lead them thal way. l. was true. as the centle- man from South Carolina had said, that there might be danger in q combination of Euro pean powers against us. They may feel dis posed to combine in an unholv alliance 10 caeek the growth ef free institutions If mere IS any danger at all, Il Is from that cause; and Oregon may he put forward as n pretext for commencing an onset upon us- Our revolutionary fathers planted the tree of liberty in American soil, and walered it with their blood. They had linked these States toGaftar al a,,,,t., them from danger from without. The rep resentatlyes of legitimacy looked on upon thls experiment with great concern, and not little fear of it's ultimate consequences Fora long time, they tlattered themselves that 1t would prove Il ianre-hoping that spirit of rivalry might grow up between the North and the South, and the East and the West, that might destroy the Union. But, within the last ten or fifteen years, they have become satisfied that our institutions were as firm as the granite hills. Having become satisfied of the firmness and stability of our system, they were again startled by the exhi- btion of our principle of expansion, as shown m the admission of free and inde- pendent nation into the circle of the Union. This was, with the European governments,
 
 That was the beginning of movement the end of which will be to place under the pro- lection of the American eagle that vast Amer lcan continent which stretches from Cape Horn 10 Behring's straits. If the represen- laiives of legitimacy in the Old World, for the purpose of preventing the cons,lmma- ton of this our inevitable destiny, choose to put themselves in battle array against us, ei- ther singly or collectively, let them do SO, and upon their heads be the consequence s. This nation and this generation will neither seek nor avoid such a contest; but if 1t comes, the crisis would, as ill the events of our revolution and of the French revolution, raise up host of men who were equal to H. and able to carry us through 1t in safety. Why is it that, after all, we should so dread the shock of war; We all have to die, whether in our beds or in the battle fed.- Who, of you all, when reused by the clan gor of Gabrels trump would not rather ap- pear in all the bloom of youth, bearing np- on your front the scar of the death wound, received in the defence of your countrv's rights, than with the wrinkled front of dis honored age3
 Where live, (sad AIr. k.) this is no par ty question. Taere is no difference between whigs and democrats on this subject. In question involving national rights, we know no party differences The gentleman from Alabama, Hr. Yancy, had suggested, that, if we went into this struggle, it would result in our taking possession of Canada, and in leaving Oregon iu the hands of Great Brit ain The gentleman seemed to suppose that we of the West would demur to any result which would add to the power and arrogance of New England. Not so, sir.
 If a patch of territory should be added to New England, let her have it. Should the West seek to enlarge and extend her field, let her do so. Should the South choose to take in Cuba, let her follow on do not go for the aggrandizement of any particular geographical section, and fear not the pre- ponderatng influence of aay particular sec tion-sor VIC are one country, and one peo- pie, and have one interest, and one destiny, which if we live up to, though it may not force us to follow lhe British lion around the world in blood and slavery, will end in her expulsion from the continent, which he rests not upon bnt to poIutc.
 O,Ir first conflict with Great Briiaia was