The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1847-04-23
VOL. VINO. II.

Celtic blood. History tells us that
this race seems born for victory
Cast your eye over every cline Of
the habitablc globe wherever
England has fought she has conquer
ed; during century Of combats,
in a thousand stricken fields, never
has a British army capitulated On
the field of battle, except thrice 10
American arms. We, and we only,
in whose veins the strong blood of
our forefathers runs in richer streams
whose souls are expended with our
limbs in these our brighter skies,
we, the Anglo Americans, when we
encountered the Anglo Saxon, how
should we fail TO triumph? And
shall we, the conquerors of the con-
qucrors Of the world, not be victori-
Gus in contest with Mexico? She
has challenged, she has defed us TO
the contest; she has refused our re-
peated proifers OF negotiation, and
after this it is not for us to engage
in humiliating chatter with her, not
for us to entreat for peace. To us
belongs the nobler, the more glori-
Gus part, to win peace at the point
of the sword; and with tie blessing
Of God upon righteous cause and
upon the arms Of our country, we
will do it.
| When | look around upon this our
beautiful land, the scenes Of the suf-
ierings and the triumphS of our fore
fathers; when | recall how that
which we found a wilderness has
been made to blossom as rose,
brighter with the ycrdure the hand
of cultivation when consider that
all of civilization of which our age
is susceptible has been planted here;
when | reflect on all the signs of in
tellectual, moral, and religious ad-
vancemcnt which abound among us /;
when think of these brave pioneers
Of our country, and 90 in magma
ton on pilgrimage TO the green
wastes Of jamestown, or the sand
shores of Plymouth, the original
seats, the primitive resting places,
as it were, Of our nationality; when
| see that the seed there sown has
expanded under the impulse Of lib
erty and enterprise until lis growth
ulation, after covering tie original
soil of the colonies has oyerhowcd
into the SUMMER valley of tie Miss.
iSsippi, has overleaped the Rocky
Mountains, and established itself on
the shores Of the Pacific, in sight of
the cradle of the human race in
Asia when all these thoughts and
images pass before my mind, feel
that question before us is something
higher, nobler, grarder, than a war
frequently internal controversy, that
it is the greatest of all possible cues.
tons in the New Word. It is the
question whether this Continent is
to be inhabited by hosti!itips, and to
be convulsed by the conflicting pas
Sions of so many millions of men sep
aratcd into distinct governments,
which must perpetually recul to war
as the only means Of NIbitramcnt for
their political differences by which
the father-land shall be inccssan,ly
bathed in the blood Of her sons or
whether we shall not rather be com
bined together in peace under the
same set Of institutions in one great
conlederated Republic. Nay. it 10
yet greater question:, namely, Of
our nationality. For it is an error
TO suppose that we hold our libcr-
ties by paper titles, or that forms Of
constitution are TO Us the bonds Of
union. That Which constitutes us
people, IS the one pcryading spirit
Of nationality. | think often of the
annexation Of Texas to the United
States as beautiful illustration of
the influence of this living principle
of nationality. Texas was Inhabited
| by Americans, who, in spite of all
temptations held out by other ma
tons, in spite Of three refusals on
our part, yet fought their way back
as it were into the Union. And
why? Because the people of Texas
were Americans, and in them still
burned so warmly the ardor Of tho
sentiment Of Americans, that all per-
sonal ambitions in the breast Of in
dividuals, aspiring to the honors in
cldental to separate government,
all the allurements of foreign ALI
ance, were eXtinguished by it, all
obstacles overcome and she struc-
gled back to us, as some bright plan
net OF our system, which having
wandered from our sphere, should
return, TO wheel on again in its gilt
tcring path in the glorious armament
of our skies.
In such country, in such cause,
the volunteers of Massachusetts
have taken up arms. And honored
as we have been in this community
by testimonials Of regard to my as