New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-05-20
The Pro.pect Of Di.uuion.


tiop. Nobody disputes it. We call our
selves Americans. We are in fact piece
of mosaic work, built up Of fragments of
all nations. The waters of time, that are
wearing away the substance snd body Of
other countries, are wasbiDgin the derritIs
upon our shores, and We gtoF upon the
secretion. Our population Is the accamu-
lstion Of the population OF all countries.
Within the brief period that has elapsed
since Mr.. Polk's election, about as many
foreigners nave landed upon our shores as
the entire population Of the country num-
bered ct the time Of the Revolution. Thus
within seven years miraculous as it may
seem,) the country has acquired from the
single source of emigration alone. nearly
ss many people as it acquired from all
sources during the whole two hundred and
ffty wears Of its existence from its discov-
cry down TO the day Of declaring its Ma
,ional Independence. What a pregnant
fact is this ard what lesson does it
teach
We have been told, yes, seriously told,
over and over again Of late, that this Union
isin imminent danger Of dissolution, aud this
Government in peril Of destruction. Nay
the very avs of gaping ruin have been
pictured as wide open to swallow Us. And
these dangers have been depicted by Peo-
pie of ell qualities. The country has been
bid be alarmed by those in nigh station
ard in low. The seats of learning and the
seats of RELIGION have sent forth their tin
pan slarmists. We have had warnings
from above and below-from the Godlike
and the Satanic.
Now who are tho men that are to dis
solve this Union and ovcrtuTn this Govern
rent! Isit those millions who ars hasten
ing hither to escape the expressions Of
other Governments, and who seek this as
a refuge and a home, land Of peace, OF
liberty, Of democractic equality Do they
wish TO lend hand in tearing down the
roof that shelters them, and which they
have sought at the sacrifice of all the ties
held most dear by man Do they come
with such revolutionary projects in their
heads Such questions can have but one
answer. They are too preposterous to be
asked. Who then are the men that pro-
pose to do this work of folly-tO commit
this gigantic crime against the name and
the cause of freedom 1t is not the mil
lions from abroad who are thus coming in
upon us like a flood, on the East and on
the West, from the crowded soil Of Europe
on the one hand, and the more crowded
human hive of Asia on the other; aug
menting our numbers with such unparal-
leled rapidity, as already to have stamped
upon US unefaceable national character
istics; exercising a controlling influence in
our affairs, and giving marked hue TO the
mass of population cougregating in the vast
and virgin savannas Of the nsw world :;
and decisiveIy shaping, for good or Ill, the
destiny of the Republic. No, it is not
this immense army OF emigrants whose
lone and unbroken lines ceaselossly climb
the Alleghanies on the one side and the Ser
IA Nevada on the other, pouring down their
hosts into the great garden Of the world
which lies between, that threaten the de
struction of this Union or this Government
which now closes them round with wall
of protection, and bends benignantly over
them like the blue sky of heaven. No,
no, no 1t is not tdey, not single one Of
them all. And if not they, then who is it I!
Is it the people of the free States d?
Where is the man in the North that de-
sires the dissolution OF the Union We
DO rot know him. We have never seen
him. We hear of set Of men whose mot
to is mo union with shareholders. They,
We suppose, must be taken to be disunion-
ists. Yet even they are not for disunion,
per Sc. They simply prefer dismember-
ment of these States to being ISOLATED in
a federal government with shareholders.
But however this may be, they are but a
handful and handful they are likely to
remain. Bat they are not only insignih-
cant in numbers but in position. They are
the strivers after the unattaina5le, of which
every age furnishes It's quota. they are
the perfectionists" of affairs. They are
the hermits and refuses, the very saints
and nuns OF public concerns. They are
too pure to associate with evil, too pious
even to vote. We lay them out Of the
account entirely. They are not power