Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1847-03-27
VOL. ".
Conclusion


1916.
WHY is it, sir, that we Of the Uni
ted States, people of yesterday ,com-
pared with the older nations of the
world, should be waging war for ter
ritory, for 'roomo Look at your
country, extending from the Allegha-
nv Mountains TO the Pacific Ocean, ca
pable itself of sustaining in comfort a
larger population than will be in the
whole Union, for one hundred years
to come. Over this vast expanse OF
territory your population is now SO
sparse, that believe we provided at
the last session, regiment Of mounted
men to guard the mail, from the from
tier of Missouri to the mouth of the
Columbia; and yet you presist in the
ridiculous assertion, & want room. p
One would imagine from the frequent
reiteration of the complaint, that you
had a bursting teeming population,
whose energy was paralyzed, whose en-
terprize was crushed, for want of
space. Why should we be so weak
or wicked as to offer this idle apology,
for ravaging neighboring repubic?-
1t will impose on no one at home or
abroad.
Do we not know, Mr.. President,
that it is law, never TO be repealed,
that falsehood shall be short lived?-
Was it not ordained of old, that truth
only shall abide forever? Whatever
We may say to-day, or whatever we
may write in our books, the stern tri
bunal of history will review it all, de-
tect falsehood, and bring US to judge
ment before that posterity, which shall
bless or curse US. as we may act noU,
wisely or otherwise. We may hide in
the grave, (which awaits us all,) in
vain; we may hope there, like the
foolish bird that hides its head in the
sand, in the vain belief that its body
is not seen, yet even there. this prepos-
ferrous excuse of want of room, shall
be laid bare, and the quick-coming fu-
ture will decide, that it was hypocrit-
ical pretence, under which we sought
10 conceal the avarice, which prompt
ed us to covert and to seize by force,
that which was not ours.
Mr.. President, this uneasy desire to
augment our territory, has depraved
the moral sense, and bunted the other
wise keen sagaciiy of our people,
What has been the fate Of all nations
who have acted upon the idea, that
they must advanced Our young ora
tors cherish this notion with fervid.
but fatally mistaken zeal. They call
il by the mysterious name of destiny
sour destiny" they say. is sonward,'
and hence they argue, with ready So
phistry, the propriety Of Selling upon
any territory and any people, that may
lay in the way of our lated advance.
Recently these Progressives have
grown classical; some assiduous stu
dent of antiquities has helped them to
a patron saint. They have wandered
back into the desolated Pantheon, and
there amonst the Polytheistic relies of
that pale mother of dead empires
they have found a God whom these
Romans, centuries gone by, baptized
"Terminus."
Sir, have heard much and read
somewhat Of this gentleman Terminus.
Alexander, of whom | have spoken,
was devotee of this divinity. We
have seen the end of him and his en-
pire. 1t was said to be an attribute of
this God that he must always advance,
and never recede. So both republican
and imperial Rome believed. 1t was.
as they said, their destiny. And for
while it did seem to be even so. Ro-l
man Terminus did advance. Under
the eagles of Rome he was carried
from his home on the Tiber, to the
furtherest East on ono hand, and to
the far West, amongst the then bsrba-
rous tribes of western Europe, on the
other. But at length the time came,
when retribuiive justice bad become
"a destiny" The despised Gaul calls
out to the condemned Goth, and Attil-
la with his Huns. answers back the
battle shout to both. The "blue-eyed /
nations Of the North" in succession or
united, pour forth their countless hosts
OF warriors upon Rome and Rome's
always-sdvancing God Terminus -
And now the bsttle-axe of the barba-
rlan strikes down the conquering en-
gle of Rome. Terminus at last re-
cedes, slowly at first, but finally he is
driven to Rome, and from Rome to