Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1846-01-29

upon US by The fell devices of an enemy, nor,
in mos, cases, as any immediate effect of our
own foles or crimes, is submitted 10, if not
with resignation, al least without The exasper-
alton of revengelul feelings, or the bitter aggra.
valions OF remorse But the curse of war strikes
equally upon the body and the soul; its demor-
alizing effects continue long after its external
wounds have cca,rized, and the carcases of its
victims have rolted in their graves
The iOolhardlness which invites danger is
! seldom prepared to NEE, il. The fury and ig.
norance Of party conensions, which have twice,
within one year, brought this country 10 the
brink OF war, have left our commerce exposed,
our Notifications unnamed, and our coasts un-
guarded England's war.sleamers alone nigh,
blockade all our chief ports for ,welvemonrh,
in spite of our most strenuous efforts, while
the remainder of her Navy was occupied in
sweeping our commerce from the ocean. The
entire ruin Of our foreign trade, and the paraly-
sis Of domestic traffic, would spread bankrupt
cy over every par, of the Union. Our staple
exports of Cotton, Tobacco and Grain would
lie perishlng in the fields, not worth the trouble
Of harvesting them, excep, for limited home
consumption, while our ships were rotting at
the wharves. True, we might have the satis-
faction, in the mids, Of these disasters, of know
Ing that We were plunging the iron deep into
the vlials Of our great antagonist. The manu-
featuring poor of Birmingham and Manchester
might perish for want of employment; the peas
anlry of England and Ireland, especially after
gh,-heeed privaleers, escaping from The small
Ter ports, might make fearful inroad upon ,ha,
commerce whose sails are whitening every sea.
And 10 reflect upon such facts as these, upon
famine caused by our hostilties, upon piracy
committed under our flag, would be the only
consolation for the evils Of war endured in our
own persons.
The folly and wickedness Of such hoslilies
would be aggravated by the intimate and friend
ly relations which have long existed between
The parties We do not, indeed, place much
stress upon The ties Of common descent, COM
mon language, aud common literature; these
may be pleasing theme for the scholar and
the reAec,ing man 10 contemplate, but have lii.
lie ehec, upon The people at large, in whose
minds they rather create the familiarity which
nourishes dislike or breeds contempt. 1t is
humilialing for The pride Of human nature 10 re-
feet, that brothers may hate each other with
the known bitterness Of fIaternal haired while
The hearts of partners allied in interests, though
not in blood, are grappled to each other as with
hooks of sleel The mutual dependence of ag-
rcuural and manufacturing industry, similarity
of pursuits, and community OF interests draw to-
ee,her Great Britain and the United States al
most into one nation, aud Commerce throws
around them its connecting chains of gold
Side by side, assisting or defending each other,
their daring ships belt the globe, or pass from
the Arctic TO the Antarctic, and hoist their flags
in friendly rivalry with each other in every
nook and corner of the remotesl seas. Ship
wrecked or in peril the mariner blesses the
| HISL EilIlIpno VI uPP'No~"'"S ""Sf
whether il bears the emblems of ST. George, or
The stripes and stars; for in either case II brings
assurance Of rescue, comfort aud supply. But
few words uttered by few weak men. "dres'
in little brief authority" al London and Wash
! ington, more potent than a magician's spell
which should change fair and sunny skies TO
! darkness and storm, may convert that flag into
more fearful thing than the utmost violence
of The " ind and waves. No longer token oi
succor al hand, 1t would become a herald oi
captivity aud ruin, and the sailor will meet
alone the ulmos, perls Of fire and flood rather
than wal, its approach.
| /, behooves those who have the power 10 act
a, conjunclure pregnan, with such awful con-
sequences 10 look with heediul eye 10 the
measure of their own responsibility. Thirty
years OF profound peace among all the great ma
lions Of the earth have made Governments care.
less and confident, and men sit under the shad
ow Of their own vine and fig tree, and talk light
II .... oanorat,ou has naSsed awax