The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1850-02-21

reject almost contemporary uic uiessiuSS
Of God, and seem utterly insensible to the
favors he has showered upon US. Look !
over the pages of ancien: history, sir; look
round the world as it is; and where will
you find more freedom, more happiness, !
less oppression, less misery, than in this
couHtry1 And yet we seem from time TO
time ready TO reject all these elements OF
public and private prosperity, and to 'ies-
troy this government, the worlds best hope
and our own. Instead of this eteInai sys-
tenn of complaining, we should bow our
knees in gratitude, to Him who gave US
these blessings, and who, Isometimes fear
will strike US with judicial blindness, as
He did His chosen people OF old.
That we have difficulties sometimes to
encounter is but the common lot of human
ity, individual as well as national; but
when these come, let them be adjusted In
a proper spirit of compromise, and the fu-
ture may bring US all that the fondest as
piration can desire.
This petition asks US to take measures
to Dissolve this Union Peaceabty. 1t pro-
fesses to come from the followers of VIM.
Penn, the great apostle of peace: from a
portion of most respectable Society OF
Friends, whose high moral qualities no
man appreciates better than do But
what kind of proposition Is this! Iol
dissolve this Union peacea6ly! l say 1t
with all proper Difference to the petitioners
but say it emphatically, that ne who ex-
poets such result is either already IN an
insane hospital or ought to be placed
there. He who believes that such gov
ernment as this, with its traditions, its in
stitutions, its promises of the past, its per-
formance of the present, and its hopes OF
the future, living in the hearts core of
almost every American, can be broken up
without bloodshed, has read human nature
and human history to little purpose. No
sir; the Gordian knot that binds US together
will never be severed but by the sword.
TO talk, then, of dissolution, is to talk OF
war. Both are inseparably connected, and
the evil day which brings the one will
bring the other. And what kind of war
will it be- Such war, sir, as this, the
world has never seen. The nearer we
have been as friends, the more deadly will
be our feelings as enemies. 1t will have
all the elements of a civil war-ot an IN
testine war Wherever the border may
be, it will be marked by blood and confa-
grafton from one end of it to the other
q
that each portion might infict upon tn e
other, and then strike the balance of evil
with mathematical precision. 1t is enough
for me to know that ruinous would be the
hopes of both. And where is all this to
end! If jealousies and fancied rival inte-
rests, or real grivances are to divide us into
two confederacies, where is that division
to stop! Similar causes will exist; they
a
we shall finally be reduced to State sover-
eighties, and may lead our fate In the fate
of the Greek republics, 80 vividly portray
ed by the ancient historians.
Why, sir, it is but year or two since,
on the occasion of war with Mexico,
that distinguished Senator from South
Carolina, T Mr.. CALHOUN, still unhappily
detained from his place by sickness, de-
picted in glowing colors the danger OF
victorious generals returning from foreign
conquest. | believed then, as lbelieve yet
that he greatly overrated the danger, and
that there was preservative force IN this
country, which would laugh to scorn the
efforts of military power. And 1t was but
day or two since, that the other distln-
guished Senator from South Carolina,
Mr.. BUTLER, now in his seat, pronoun-
ced splendid eulogy upon Gen. Scott
for the moderation he exhibited when he
entered the capitol of Mexico. The Sen
ator, if recollect right, thought he deser-
we'd some distinguished mark of his coun-
try's appreciation for remaining faithful 10
her interests and his own duties, and moi
placing himself at the head of Mexican
kingdom. Few men, sir, have warmer
personal regard for General Scott than
have, and perhaps fewer still place high
er estimate upon his services than L do
He has won high station among the
great captains of the age, and he has also
won imperishable honor for himself and
for his country. The campaign from Vera
Cruz to Mexico is among the proudesi
feats on military record. But, sir, with all
this, have no thanks to render him for
the moderation to which the Senator from
South Carolina alludes. | do not believe
that the thought of such treachery ever
entered his mind; nor do believe that, il
he had made the attempt, there was one
American in the army who would have
deserted the standard of his country to fol-
low the standard of disloyal soldier
The stars and stripes would have still
been the pillar of fire by day, and cloud
by night, TO conduct our gallant country
men to that home, whose associations nell
ther time nor distance could weaken or
sever. All honor, then, to General Scott,
and to the army, for what they did and