The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-12-18

Your ferefathers, the founders Of the Repub
lie, imbued with q deep feeling Of their right
and duties, did net deyiate from those principles
The sound sense, the wisdom. the probity, III,
respect for public faith, with which the interBa
concerns OF the nation were managed, mad'
our institutions an object Of general admira
ton. Here, for the first time. was the xperi.
ment attempted with any prospect Of success
and on large scale, Of q Representative Demo.
! cratic Republic. II it failed, ths last hope o.
the friends Of mankind was lost or indie BitsIy
postponed;. and ths eyes Of the world were
turned towards you. Whensver real, or pre-
teadsd apprehensi0ns Of the imminent DANGER
Of trusting the people at large with power,
were expressed, the answer ever was, "LoOk al
:. America lie .-g.
In their external relations the United States,
before this unfortunate war, had, whilst sustain
ing their Just rights, ever acted in strict con-
formity with the dictates Of justice, and dis
played the utmost moderation. They never
had voluntarily injured any other nation. Eve
ry acquisition Of territory from foreign powers
was honestly uIsde, the result Of treaties, not
imposed, but freely sssented 10 BY the other
party The preservation Of peace WAS ever q
primary object. The recourse to arms was al
l ways in self-defence. On its exPedIency there
may have been a difference Of opinion; that, in
| the only two instances Of conflict with civilized
nations which occurred during period Of sixty
three years, N783 to 1885, the Just rights Of the
United States had been invaded by long con-
tinued series Of aggressions, is undeuiable. In
| the FIRST instance. war was not declared; and
the.e were only partial hOstlities between
| France and England. The Congress Of the
United States, the only legitimate organ for
| that purpose, did, in 1912, declare war against
\ Great Britain. Independent Of depredations on
our commerce, she had, for twenty years, car
ried on an actual war against the United States
| | say, actual war, since there IS now but one
opinion on that subject; a renewal Of the i'm
Pressment Of men sailing under the protection
Of our flag would be taDtamount to a declara-
ton Of wa. The partial opposition to the war
Of 1912, did not rest on denial Of the sggres-
siOns Of England and Of the justice Of our
cause, but on the fact that, with the exception
Of impressments, simlla- infractiOns OF our
I Just rights had been committed by France, and
on the most erroneous belief, that the admins
tration was partial to that country, and insin-
sere in their apparent efforts to restore peace.
Atpresent, all these principles would seem
TO have been abandoned. The most Just,
puraly defensive war, and no other Is JusJihahie,
Is necessarily attended with train OF great and
unavoidable evils. What shall We say Of one
iniquitous in its origin, and provoked by our
selves, Of q war Of aggression, which Is now
publicly avowed TO be one Of intended conquest
/ Ifpersisted in, It's necessary consequences will
/ be, a permanent increase Of our military esta-
blshment and Of executive patronage; its gen
eral tendency, 10 make man hate man, to
awaken his worst passions, TO accust0m him to
the taste Of blood. Ii has already demOrazed
no ineousiderabls portion Of that nation.
j The general peace, hich has been preserved
between the great European powers during the
last thirty years, may not be ascribed to the
purest motives. Be these what they may, this
long and unusual repOse has been most Denei-
eal to the cause of Humanity. Nothing can be
more injurious to il, more lamentable, more
scandalous, than the war between two adjacent
republics Of North America
Your mission was, 10 be a model for all gov
ernme nts and for all other less favored nations,
to adhere to the most elevated principles of pO-
litical morality, 10 apply all your faculties TO
the gradual improvement Of your own institu-
tons and social state, and, by your example, 10
exert a moral influence most beneficial to man
kind at large. Instead Of this, appeal has
been made to your worst passions; to cuPidity
to the thirst Of unjust sggrandizement by bru-
tai force; to the love Of military fame and VI
false glory; and it has even been tried to per-
vert the MODEST feelings Of your nature The
attempt is made TO make you abandon the lofty
position which your fathers occupied, TO sub
stituts for il the political morality and heather
guilty.
have said, that it was attempted to perver
4 even your virtues. Devotedness u country, Of
patriotism, is a most essential virtue, since the
national existence Of any society depsnos upon
it, Unfortunately, our most virt1ous dispOsl-
tons are perverted, not only by our vices and
selfshness, but also by their Own excess. Even
the most holy Of our attributes, the religious
feeling, may be perverted from that cause, a;
was but too lameutably exhibited in the Perseeu'
lions, ever unto death, ofthose who were deem
ed heretics- Ii il not, therefore, astonishing
that patriotism, carried to excess should also b
perverted. In the entire devotedness to thei
l country, the people every where and at al
times, have been too apt to forget the duties i'm
, ! posed upon them by justice towards other ma
lions. IL is against this natural propensity tina
YOU should be specially on your guard. Th'
{ blame does not attach 20 those who, led by
r their patriotic feelings, though erroneous, hocs
: I arou nd the national standard. On the contra
nv, no men are more worthy Of admiration, bet
ter entitled to the thanks Of their country thai
: those who, after war has once taken place. act
uated only by the Purest motives, daily and will
the utmost self-devotedness, brave death AM
stake their own lives in the conflict against tn
actual enemy. / must confess, that l do no
extend the same charity to those civilians, Wit
> cooIIy aud deliberately plunge the country in
20 auy unjust or unnecessary war.
We should have but one conscience; an
D most happy would it be for mankind, wer
/ statesmen and politicians only as honestin thei
management Ofthe internal or external natiena
! concerns, as they are in private life. The IRE
= proachabIe private character Of the President
e and Of all the members Of his administration,
!, known and respected. There is not one of thef
. who would DOT sparn with indig natlOn the mos
remote hint that, on similar pretences to thoss
u allsdged for Remembering Mexico, he might
q capable Of attempting to appropriate 10 himss
' his neighb0r's farm.
In the total absence Of any argument TIA
can Justify the war in which We are now "a
volyed, resort has been had to a most extraorol
nary assertion. II is sand, that the people OF III
n United States have an hereditary superiority
race over the Mexicans, which gives them III
. right to subiuRate and keep in bondage the ID
E ferior nation. This, IT is also alleged, viii
d the means Of enlighlening the degraded Mex
cans, Of improving their social state, and OF n
timatsly increasing the happiness ofthe masse
Is il compatible with the principle Of deIno'
racy, whi:h rejects every hereditary claim
It individuals, to admit an hereditary suPeriorit
l. of racesi You very properly deny, mat u
son can, independent Of HE own merit. der'
any right or privilege whatever, from the mer
II or any other social superiority OF his father'-
Can ven for a moment suppose, that a vel
doubtful descent from men, who lived on
thousand wears ago, has transmitted 70 you
n superiority over YOUR fellow menl Bot the Al
70 gIo-Saxons were inferior 10 the Goths, fro
> whom the Spaniards claim to be descended; al
y thew were in no respect superior TO The FranA
s, and to the Burgundisns.
Z II is not to their Anglo-Saxon descent, but
sr n variety Of causes among which the snbseq1eI