Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-04-09
For the .Qnti- Siacery Bugh
War and Warriors.
BY JOHN D. BEAcH-No. III.

"Lore is the God-Hke attribute 9f Man"
From what has been said it is useless 10
draw the formal inference that the question
of War and Peace oughtto be discussed, and
the evils and sinfulness Of the one, as well
as the advantages and excellence of the other,
spread out before the public. Our only hope
of reformation lies in the force Of Truth and
the good sense Of the people.
] ask your attention therefore to a candid,
though incomplete, investigation of War.
My readers doubtless all readily concede
that War is an evil of enormou magnitude,
but it is one thing to admit, and another to
realize. For the sake, therefore, of getting
the subject distinctly before the public mind,
l shall lay down the following proposition,
which / shall endeavor to establish, illus
trate and enforce:
That War is essentially sinful
BE it distinctly understood at the outset,
that we predicate this of all war carried on
at the present day between the enlightened
nations of Christendom. 1t is not our object
TO bring into this discussion the vexed ques-
ton whether self-defense be in any case JUS
tifable, nor to deny the right of Government
TO enforce obedience to laws essential to its
own existence and welfare; nor to assert the
absolute inviolability of human life; nor TO
prove that a war was never undertaken at the
command Of God nor TO dispute the popular
sentiment whom il aGirms thar circumetoncae
are conceivable in the course of events, where
in a resort to arms on the part of an invaded
people, might be sanctioned by reason, and
demanded by right. ] care not what may be
your individual opinions on these points-our
main proposition stands independent of them
all, and may be established without their aid.
In this discussion we have TO do with socie-
ty as ii IS; not as it once tcas, nor as it posi-
bly, might be, were the dreams of certain over
heated imaginations to become realities. In
settling the great question whether War or
Peace shall be the policy of nations, we are
to provide fox actual contingencies, not mag
mary ones. / can hardly conceal the con-
tempt / feel for shallow-brained politicians
who perpetually ply the uncompromising OPP
ponent of all war with extreme cases and
strange ,suppositions, which find not a paral-
lei in the whole mass of facts which 90 TO
make up the history of civilization-which
moreover cannot possibly be realized in the
present state of society, and probably will
never occur in the future intercourse of en-.
linhfauah ctatac Door fools 7 Iova thau mi
yet learned the first lesson which History,
Philosophy and Revelation c%onspire to teach
the Statesman, that invasion from abroad is
never to be feared when there is staunch prin
ciple and sterling honesty at home? Have
they not yet learned that a nations liberties
are always safe, when her heart is sound
Have they not yet read the signs of the times
that craftsmanship and diplomacy are nov
considered a irmer national defense than fleets
and armiesl that the pen and the tongue
speak louder for public liberty than the mus
ket and the cannon
If this were the time or the place, | coult
soon demonstrate that war is in all cases i'm
polite, and in all cases uunecessary-that a:
a means for the attainment OF laudable public
ends, it is necessarily self subversive-tha
il is not essential to national defense-that i
is always ruinous to popular Liberty. But
have a grander object before me now.
leave to others the business of establishing
the policy or i~mpolicy of war-let them bal
ance the scales of expediency. Be it min'
TO compare this system in all its enormou.
dimensions with the changeless rule of Right
Let us for the present lay aside the poIiti,
and the expedient-let US discuss only III
true and The Just.
Before we can effect the comparison inten
ted we must unmask the system for it is s.
.enveloped in "Glory'' that very few under
stand its real nature. OF those whom ! ad
dress perhaps not one in five hundred eve
saw a field of battle. All we know of sue.
scenes comes through the medium of histc
ry or description. But who is the historian
ask In most cases no more than the Pre-
fessed scholar who sits in his study with tn
official documents before him to compile a
account of the achievements Of his country
arms-an account for the most part designe
for a class of readers, in whose minds a bin
love of country is the strongest sentiment
Most probably he never was within a hur
dred miles of an actual engagement. HenC
lie either presents us a bare outline Of parti'
ulaTs-a mere transcript from the official n