Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1852-04-12
WHOLE NUMBER 1858


forts of the oppressed through the world.
aud de. lore their defeat and rejoice il, thsir
success And can any one doub. that the
evidences Of sympathy which are borne to
Europe from this grea; Republic will cheer
the hearts, even when they do not aid the
purposes OF the down trodden masses TO
raise themselves, il not to power, at lenst
to protection. Whatever duties mny be
ultimately imposed on us By thai dark fu-
ture which overshadows Europe, and which
We cannot foresee, and ongbt nst to define.
circumstances point out ourpreseni policy;
while at the same time they call upon us
to exert our moral influence in support Of
The existing principlesof public law, pIuced
in danger, not merely by the ambition, but
| still moro BY the fear, Of powerful mon.
archs; the fear lest the coutagion of liberty
should spread over their dominions, carry.
ing destruction TO the established systems
Of oppression. Bot, Irapea, emphntically,
! what fsaid on former occasion, whao tfiss
subject was before US, and v hal upon no
occasion have | since contrndcted or uu.
said-aRd may ndd what distinctly stated
TO the martyr Of the struggles Of his own
country, now the honored CUES, Of ours, in
the first conversation had with him upon
this subject-that the people Of the uniled 9
Stiles were not prepared to maintain the
rights Of Hungary by war; that the only
influence We could exert wns a moral and
Of a physical one. And certainly the
considerations connected witA this brnnch
OF the subject, nre SO obvious 10 mo thai
must be allowed 10 express nv surprise
| that any American could seriously colienl-
plate an offensive war--i mean offensive
in The nature Of IFS operations, though not
IN It's causes--ngninst Austria an6 Russia,
in the present condition Of this country md
OF Europe, TO be carried on by fleets and
armies, sent to the Adria,ic or to The Bal-
TIC, or TO bolh. Such on undertaking can
hardly be the subject Of serious inyes:iga.
| uon, nor worthy Of SERIOUS refutniioD -
With power nf sell defence which could
resist the world, our capacity for Distant
foreign warfare is unequal 10 such gigant-
&c undertaking. Or present duty md
policy are to place our views upon reco.d,
thus avoiding conclusions ngains. us, and
reserying all our rights and oil our rene.
dies, whatever these may be, fer future
consideration, when the proper exigeLcy
may nrise, when the political vicissl,udes
OF Europe may strengthen the force Of
opinion there, by increasing the number
and power Of the free States, v hich would
be as much Interested as we are in this
great question, and whose views would be
similar TO our own. | have no doubt but
there are violations Of the public law, aud z
Ibis is my opinion OF one OF their, which
would Justify the armed action of my na>
ton; though il is no part of the insk have !.
imposed upon myself 10 define or even 10
enumerate Ihem. I lsaye Tint duty TO
those who may come after US, md whose
position may require their decision. !nail
| cases, therefore, OF our action upon this
subjsct, think we should limit ourselves
Tor The present 10 the declaration Of our
opinion Of great questions, and there stop,
leaving the future 10 disclose our proper OBJ.
legations and our proper line oil policy
Butthe present has It's duties rs well as
| the future, and among these is a just regard
to the condition Of the country, and 10 the
prudent application Of her resources 10 OBJ.
Jecls within our reach; so that, while exer-
clsing her rights as coequul Power Of the
earth, she shall be free to choose her rem.
edy and the time for il. The day may
come, will come, indeed, when we may
act wnseut hesitation, as we may act wiih.
out apprehension. To that day let US dis
miss the question Of force.
Mr.. President. The SENATE will observe
thai | have not referred TO the remarks
OF the honorable Senator from Rhode Is
land Mr.. Clarke in the course Of the
observations have submitted TO the Sem
ate. did not do il because | had pre-.
pared this speech before he commenced
the discussion. listened with great pleas.
ure and interes. to the views which he ex,
pressed on yesterday. There was mucl,
that deserved serious consideration; and,
perhaps, II this discussion is prolonged,
shall take occasion 10 say something In ref n
erepce to them. have not had an op~ I.
porlunity ms yet to examine the honorable
Senator'S speech, as believe it has not
been published. q
But there are one or two things which | Il
wish to refer TO at this limo. l understood :
the honorable gentleman to say something
about making q helacomb OF the experts
ence we have acquiled since the death of
the first and greatest Of our Presidents, the
Father oil his Country, as sort OF expiatc-
ry sacrifice to his memory. That memo-
ry, sir, is written upon the hearts Of his
countrymcn. CT all The names that are
recorded on the long roll Of history, thee
brightest and the porest is the naine of
Washington. He would be the first man,
il he were living, to condemn such aprop-.
osition.- The Senator calls upon US to make
burnt.offsring, like that made by the Ara
bian Cal;ph when he entered the city Of
Alexandra and burnt its celebrated library
saying, with the ignorance Of barbarian
and the zeal Of q fanatic, that, il il contain
ed only what was 10 the Koran, il was uns
necessary, and if it contained what was
not ihsre, it was unholy. The learning
Of the world was thus sacrificed 10 false,
religion and false prophet. But no such
auto da:fs becomes the names Of Wash-
ingion. His precepts and example should
be studied with reverence by bis country
men. But the honorable Senator asks US