New-York daily tribune., 1846-01-17
the only portion of the community whose opinions
are worth having

Its wonderful with what GOODNESS and Indifference
the greater part of mankind commenced.
Those tina, hear Of il distance read OF 1t in books
but presented lis evils 10 their minds con-
slider il as e than splendid game, procist1a-
ton an army. battle. and triumph. SOME indeed
must perish in the successful neld but they de
upon the bed of honor. resign t,r res amidst ne oy
Of coaqaest, and, Eted ~nh EHsta"ds glory s""e !"
death
The life of modern soldier Is III represented by
heroic fiction. War hss means OF desrucuon more
forrnidah than the and the sword oi ihe
suds and ten OF thousands that pershed in cur last
contests with France and SPAIN very small part ever
felt the stroke Of enemy the rest languisned III tents
and ships amidst damps and putreiaction pale, torpid
tpirtess and helpless gasping and groaning unpted
among men, made obcurae by long continuance OF nope
less misery and last whemed IN pits or nesveG
into the without notice and without
By ncomnodious encanpments and unwhossone sta'
lions where is useless and enterprise imprac'
ticabe, ieets silently dispeoped and armies slug
gshy melted away. Thus Is people gradually eH'
hausied for the part with little etectAt the
conclusion o. Ii years war. how are We recompenscd
for the death of nu!ttudes and the expense oil mlcpa
but By contemplating the sudden rorles o paymaseTs
agents contractors and commissaries whose equip
ages shine ike meteors and whose palaces rise like
exhaations I"
The e-andiloquent stru, of some OF these sen
tences does not accord very well with the simple
taste of our own times; bat the native vlgor OF
Johnsons good sense, and the soundness OF his
moral judgments, always pierce through the ses-
duipedulian verbosity of his style. When his lndls-
nation at wrong is fully excited his language throws
off many of its prevailing faults and becomes natu-
raj. without ceasing 10 be erse and eloquent Take
for instance the following passages which are tole-
rably pat TO our present purpose.
Let us think laurels blasted by condescend-
ing to nauire whether we might not possibly grow
rather less than by attacking Spain heiher
we should have To contend with Spain alone, whatever
has been promised by patriots may Very reasonably
be doubted declared Tor the empty sound OF an
ancient title Magelanic rock would raise the indig
nation of the earth aganstus lhese encioacneL' on Tue
of nature, says our ally, the Russian II hey sue
ceed in their rt effort OF usurparon, Will make war
upon us for title to Kamschatka
AS peace is the end OF it s the end likewise OF
preparatons for war and he may be justly hunted
down as the enemy of mankind, that can choose to
snatch by violence and boodshed what genter means
equally obtain.
of establishing justice. If so, it is very poor
means for il is aemonsirable that il establishes no
right but that of the strongest w hen stripped OF
its pomp and circumstance, and viewed only IN
theory its pretensions 10 be called Judge OF right
and wrong appear simply udicrous. Imagine
proposition seriously brought forward, that the pot
valiant politicians and dpomatists who " are ready
to shed every drop of their ink, and OF other peo
pies blood in defence of their countrys rights, as
they have hitherto had the war OF words all TO them
selves, should be allowed also the exclusive pryl
lege of carrying On the war with keener weapons;
that this national duel should be fought only by the
principals and not at second hand or BY proxy
that Sir Robert Peel and dozen members OF his
cabinet duly equipped with swords and muskets
should be drawn out in open field against President
Polk and his Secretaries, armed alter The national
fashion with rifles and bowie knives to put this great
question 10 the arbitrament OF deadly battle. AS
the latter party would be the weaker in numbers,
they might be assisted by half dozen OF The most
valiant members of the Senate and as The Duke of
Wellington, who has TIE reputation OF being ter
rible fighter, would appear on the other slde' he
might be opposed by that gallant Senator who ended
q fierce speech on this very matter ot Oregon with
the following startling prophecy ." The man Is
alive and with q beard Oh his face Though 1t may
not be II who will see an American army in Ire.
land, and American general III the streets OF
London" The two chivarous parties. thus made
equal might proceed 10 shoot and slash each other
10 their hearts content ill., one troop being cot 10
pieces or having run away, the other might take
formal possession OF Oregon in their country name,
and be required 10 end their days there.
Every one would laugh nj the proposal worthy
only of Captain Boabd for settling the controversy
in this fashion Yet which is the more absurd.-we
ask i; in all seriousness.-that these grave civilians.
ministers ard dipomatists should be required 10
fight their own battles or that they should be per
mi,ed to hire forty fifty thousand wretches 10 90
all their fighting for them while the shame the sui
ferng and the loss which must accompany every
war would fall broadcast on The community at large!
= II damned custom had not braZ"d them So had
not so Injured them to passive contemplation oi
the tremendous evils OF war. we might safely ru-t
this question TO every man, woman or child arrived
ut wears OF discretion either in Great Britain or the
nited States and be of answer on The side
of humanity or in favor OF coDfining the tShung TO
the smalles, possible number. The bulk oil the
population of either country care nothing ABOUT
Oregon why should they Not one IN ten thou
sand of them would be made richer or poorer, nap
pier or sadder, by gain Of the whole Territory
But where shall we put limit. even IN lmaSlna-
ton To the sutierings, the disasters the horrors
which must follow in the train ol an obstinate and
protracted, though il be n successful, war 10
what freside, either In England or Inc hneu
States will il not bring distress, if not feeling OF
desoalion and despair What commercial con:
vusion what pestilence what famine, ever dhused
aficlion so widely. or caused SO fearful destruc'
ton of human life, as single year oil sangunafy
warfare between two naughty and powerful ma
tions. for whom Science has carefully studied the
most effective means OF wholesale murder and years
of steady aud deliberate preparation have collected
all the munitions and englnery OF destruction =
The former awful dispensations of Gods my sterious
providence purify while they chasten the suffering
which they occasion it is not brought upon US by
the fell devices of enemy, nor, In most cases, as
any immediate effect OF ollies or crimes, ls
submitted TO- if not with resignation, at least without
the exaspcraion of revenseiu feelings, or the bitter
aggravalions OF remorse. But the curse OF war
strikes equally upon the body and the soul; its de,
moralizing effects continue long after its external
wounds have cicatrized and the carcasses of its
victims have rotted in their graves.
The foolhardiness which invites danger is seldom
prepared to meet il. The fury and ignorance OF
party contentious, which have twice, within one
year, brought this country 10 the brink OF a war,
have left our commerce exposed our forti6caiions
unnamed, and our coasts unguarded. England's
war.sIeamers alone might blockade all our Chief
ports for welvemonth, in spite ei our most strenu-
Gus efforts while the remainder of her Navy was
occupied in sweeping commerce from the ocean
The entire ruin foreign trade and the paralysis
of domestic traffic, would spread bankruptcy over
eyerv part Of the Union. Our staple exports OF
Cotton. Tobacco and Grain would lie perishing in
the fields, not worth the trouble of harvesting them.
except for limited home consumption, while our
ships were rotting at the wharves. True, we might
have the satisfaction in the midst Of these disasters
of knowing that we were plunging the iron deep
into the viials of our great antagonist The manu-
featuring poor OF Birmingham and Manchester might
perish for want of employment; the peasantry OF
England and Ireland, especially after such season
as the last. might starve. Our lightheeled priva-