Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1846-12-31

popular in this country; Mr.. Polk sust
therefore, put himself si the head Of one
tie shall quarrel with Britain but h,
must do no more for he is more likel,
10 get repuisiionsby a quarrel than +,
fight with her. With Mexico, how ever
he must E,sce fight: he must not lei
her oH, on any terms. Her he can whip
weak and distracted as she $50 i'm
potesa that there would be no glory il
getting out Of her, by peaceful and fail
means, almost any thing we could ask
But he must have war with her
which will make him popular and he
must wres, from her large regions, and
crafty the prevailing lost Of territory
which will give him reputation enough
Tor the yem l848." 4"
The explanation, in the Presidents
Message, Of the causes OF the pending
war, is, to be sure, agood deal more
volumin6us than this but every body
Nnows that ours is the true one.
Let us return, however, to that dan
gerous humor, those infrmities of the
country as 10 the spirit Of war and OF
territorial extension, on which they in
power have meant to play, by engaging
US in fhe present contest. Let US see
not what ercuses can be alleged in jusli-
fcntion of a conflict which all know
nigh, have been avoided, not only with
reputation but with advantage +; but how
contrary to the whole purpose Of our in
sti,uiions, the whole policy of nodera-
tion and peace which rs inse parable from
them, is that scheme Of the invasion and
subjug alton Of great regions, peopled by
an utterly alien and ungovernable race,
which the President Of the United States
has set on foot, and which is now being
prosecuted nj such grievous sacrifice
Of the best blood and the dearest treasure
Of the land.
Upon justice, moderation, and consent
within and without, we're laid the fast
foundations Of this our new scheme Of
Government. Ii was an attempt 10 sub
siituie, among men, intelligence and rec.
tilude for force, the law Of popular good
for the pride or the convenience of kings
and privileged classes. Il supposed
every member Of a society 10 be entitled
to the same rights, and every society to
the sovereign and indefeasible choice of
its own institutions. This free consent,
then, Of those TO be govcrned-this i'm
prescriptible and invariable right, in each
people, to alter, abolish, or continue,
only at their own pleasure, the forms un-
der which they are to live-a fundamen-
tai axiom in our whole system - absolute
ly and irretricvably excludes from it all
possibility Of bringing men under It by
force, Of obtaining any right over them
by conquest. The very thought Of it is,
as to our system, monstrous solecism,
and incredible confusion Of ideas, a
blunder quite beyond any that politics
ever fell into.
Nor is this all |: policy not less than
principle appoints for US the same rule of
seeking TO impose upon others no social
consiraint Of leaving their public will
untettered by any act Of ours. Our prin-
ciple is consent (; our policy, therefore,
peace, and only peaceful acquisition Of
peopled territory. Ssck was the wise
idea Of those who founded our Govern
ment, and such has been, until now, the
principle Of all who, since then,
have attempted to conduct it.
Nor could il be otherwise among any
people desiring and understanding its
own solid happiness, consulting its own
ACKNOWLEDGMENT, not that OF its rulers
Never has any other been the true policy
Of free people. One OF the highest
political interests Of such is not merely
the preservation Of peace around it, but
ola liberty like its own, of the subsis-
tence Of governments Of choice, on all
sides, far and near. II, as is clear, its
external well-being thus demands that
nations around should not BIZ reduced
by others to servitude, should not be de-
prived Of their free-will, their right of
still more contrary to
the law Of their own self-preservation is
il that they themselves should subjugale
others, should deprive them OF the sacred
right Of being their own masters, and
Join to their own society men who are TO
be held against all its principles. lfyou
are to unite with you communities who
cannot enter into your freedom, commu.
mites on whom is TO be imposed not your
proper law, but that Of force, you d.
m'n'sh, OF necessity, your own freedom
precisely as much as you do theirs TO
enslave them, you resort to arbitrary
power you are compelled 10 vest i, in
your government, first that il may make,
and next that it may keep them slaves !;
and the despotism which you have erect
ed for them falls, Of necessity, upon you.
For Heaven hath set it as one of the
eternal laws Of national destiny that ag-
gressions by one people upon the peace
or liberty Of another, shall ever be visited
back, 10 plagues at least equal to the i'll
which has been inflicted ; and sball, es-
pecially. be Improbable, except to ty-
rants and their power, the appointed
scourges Of a nations crimes. There
is no truth in all history clearer than this:
that the country which is weak or bad
enough to let its prince or its president
arm hmselfwi'h its strength, in order TO
lrampls upon the independence of a.
nother State, never fails speedily to make
bitter atopement in forfeitures Of Dublic