The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-01-29

| think the Senator from Kentucky v, with ii.
great acumen, IL he looks through his glasses
may discover why the President prefers regu.
lars.
Well, why cannot Senators, who think with
me, that the war is wrong, radically wrong, coms
out and declare so by their votes Why sit
here denouncing the President, and then b
guilty Of the ncensistency-with all Difference
say it--of voting men and money to carry on
the war Why, II Is said it would be unpopu-
lar to withhold supplies. Are we afraid TO trusi
| the People with great question Of right Sir
think those who ara afraid to trust the people
underate the men afraid to do that which ID
right because IL may not be popular Sir,
II Is this ghost Of the unpopularity Of opposition
10 the war, which seems to sit like nightmare
upon American statesmen. Sir, think there
was more truth than poetry in what was said by
Western man. He said he got caught by op-
posing the last war, and he did not mean TO ge,
caught again-he intended now to 20 for war,
Pesiileace, and famine. And think thereis a
good deal Of that feeling in the country now
Men are afraid TO take bold stand.
Ii Is said the people have already decided this
matter; that they have settled that the war shall
be prosecuted. deny il entirely. do not be-
lieye 1t. People have settled II have never
| met among the people one in ten who thought
the war was right, or thought that ii would be
right further to prosecute IL, 5000
believe, sir, that the heart Of this whole peo-
pie is sick of this miserable, temporising policy
which is putting justice, and right, and truth,
out, in order that expedieney may walk in and
govern, control, and direct our actions. / wish
that the experiment might be tried by Congress
OF acting and voting in this matter according to
the convictions of their own understanding as
expressed BY themselves, when they speak OF
this war. / listened, the other day, with great
pleasure to the remarks Of the honorable SEN
ator from South Carolina. trust heard with
profit the suggestion which he threw out
when speaking on his resolutions. But l con-
Tess that was somewhat astonished that man
Of his great exPerience-his vast learnng-his
keen observations-coudr really think that there
could be any virtue in the passage of these reso-
lutions- l would like; indeed, to see those resO-
lutions passed, not that | think their passage
would co any good in the world in the present
emergency. But they might, If adopted, serve
as sort of landmark, showing with what rapi-
dity and what proclivity we have Travelled the
road TO ruin. But that there would be any vir-
tue in them, have not the least idea.
Pass these resolutions unanimously in both
branches Of Congress, and let the President APP
pend to them his usual declaration thai the war
was commenced by Mexico nay, you may 90
/
mites with which you could embOdy them, you
may make them part Of the written fundsmen-
tai Constitution of the land, and what would
they be worth 2 Not the paper upon which
they are written for the very moment that
they stood in the way of a popular majority,
they would be utterly set at naught- He that
is not persuaded of that, has not read, il seems
10 rue, the first primer Of our history. think
that the resolutions themselves contain much
that is Just and true, and that the passage OF
them might be of some consequence in tie way
which have suggested. But that their passage
would check the downward tendency Of affairs
is altogether out Of the question.
believe that the people desire us to 90 right,
aud that we have not faith enough in the people.
Nothing is more common than TO find aspirants
for public favor hattering the people, and con-
tinually praising their intelligence and patriot
ism, and everything which gives value and dig
nifty 10 the human character. But you do not
find these eulogists Of the public virtue at all
prepared 10 venture a little upon the intelligence
which they vaunt much. There is faith in
expediency, in policy, in everything but justice
truth. and right.
The present is, believe, q critical period in
our history. | believe that il is presumptuous
in US TO affirm, as the President has affirmed in
his message, that the great question of the ca
| psbility of man for self-goyernment has been
settled. Ii Is not settled, sir. We are now set
Ting it.. Whether the manner in which we are
settling il will favorably or unfavoraby affect
the condition of man kind hereafter, yet remains
to be seen in the future. We are settling the
question, not only for ourselves, bat for all who
are to come after us. Ii here the experiment
of self-government should fail, who can esli.
mate the consequences TO our race? We are to-
day writing our history. We are imPressing
I 4 hat xhf hafu h.
past and the future, with footsteps which viii
be indelble. Whittier are those footsteps now
| tendingl Shall those who are to succeed n,
! find that the course which we are now pursuing
led TO the broad fields Of liberty, of peace, anC
Of prosperity Or shall il be, that we are only
erecting monuments marking the by-paths tina
| lead to the pitfalls Of destruction These ar,
questions that must come home to the heart o
every man who loves his country, and prize
its free institutions, and sees the dangers which
now threaten them. Are we so blind, so IA
naticaI, 80 stupid, as to believe that the grea
laws of the physical and moral world are to b
reversed in our favorl Are we emphaticall,
the children Of GesliLyi Can we take our des
tiny in our own hands, and control i'll Not so
Ii seems to me that there lie light streaming
| down the pathway of ages, Illuminating the des
tiny Of nations, and that 1t Is written, in glar
/ ing INSTRUMENTATION. Ii is a law in ope
fatien all around us-in the physical, moral
| and political world. IL Is true Of nations o
individuals: "Whatsoever a man sows, tina
shall he reap" ] would ask those disposed L
look at this question in the light Of history, Il
90 back, and, by its aid, trace the long vista o
ages that have elapsed. Let them 90 back, !
they will, to the morning Of creation, when al
| the sons Of God shouted together for JOY, tina
Almighty Power had spoken new world int
being, aud they will not find it recorded, in an!
page Of that history, that any nation ever sowe'
the seeds Of War and Slavery, and reaPed TN
fruits Of Peace and Liberty. No! that Passag'
remains to be written; and ii requires no yer!
great effort of the imagination TO fancy that vi
can now hear the voice Of all nations Of the past
sounding solemn warning in our ears. Let N
beware, lest that fate which has constantly
roIIowed sucn course OF poncy may not sooI
be ours.