Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1853-07-09
Sterling Sentiments.

orn DEsrIsY-WuAr IS 1T "A strange in
s.tuation seems to have seized upon the minds
~ the people of this country in regard to its
..manifest destiny" The opinion has obtained
among the mass, and spread itself through the
various notifications of society, that it is the
.Jestiny" of this country to free all the nation.
an the earth. The voice of reason, Of experience
and of history is unheeded, and passion and
fanaticism 60 brawling over the land.
Well, we are great people, no doubt about
i With the germ Of population in 1875 Of
three millions of souls, spread over compare
tiyely small territory, we have grown to be a
rreat nation of twenty-six millions of people, &C.
snpying a territory almost boundless in extent
And this, too, in the short space of seventy
seven years! Was there ever before, in the
history of the world, growth SO rapid? History
tells US of none, and tradition stands confounded
Il has sprung up as if by magic. The tabled
Aaddins lamp never produced such wonders.
Like huge colossus, it rises in majestic pro-
portions before the eyes of all nations and
kindreds and tongues, and by thousands bids
them come and partake of freedoms hospitable
banquet.
But great as it unquestionably is, free as We
all acknowledged to be. is there no danger? Is
there no fear that by recklessness we mar plunge
our country and its free institutions into utter
and irretrievable ruin? We think there is.
Does not the voice Of history speak upon this
subject! And what does il say In deep
inournful accents it speaks from the tomb of the
past, ''Beware, beware thus far canst thou go.
but no farther" Like causes produce like eff
fects; an all history abounds with the fact that
no nation has been able to maintain its free
dom and integrity that has extendedits dominion
over SO many diverse interests as some of our
reckless politicians desire to see embraced in
the limits of this Union. Extending now from
the St. Croix upon the north testhe Rio Grande
upon the south, from the pine-clad shores Of the
great ATLANTIC upon the east to the golden
skirted banks Of the majestic Pacific upon the
west, it embraces every variety Of soil and
climate, every production that can administer
to the taste or happiness iof man., and every
element that can go to make up powerful and
independent nation; yet before this 'swide do
main has become half peopled, before one-tenth
Of its vast territory has been subdued and rem
dered subservient to use, we have among us
those who, never satisfied withswhat they have,
fy to that they know not of-restless spirits
that would rather 'srule in hell than serve in
eayen"--prating all the while about our imam
ifest Destiny" as if they-vain men welded
the destinies of this great country. Flibustiers,
or Fiibusters, seem now to have the reins in the
councils Of our country, and, unless curbed in
in their mad career by the uprising Of the great
conservative element Of the land, our ship Of
state must be stranded upon the shoals or cast
into the whirlpool of recklessness.
Il is not enough that We are free and happy
it is not enough that we yet have room forasex
pansion for a thousand years of peace; it is not
enough that we have a home for the oppressed
and downtrodden of all nations who may desire
to come and live among us; these things are all
As nothing; our manifest destiny" leads us to
desire more, and more we must have, despite of
reason, Judgment every thing. Cuba must be
annexed, Mexico must swing into the rear, and
Canada and the lands Of old King Kamehameha
must surrender to the strides of ssking Progress"
Our trade demands it. Our trade Oh, what
a time we viii have when all the world and the
'rest of mankind shall become democratic, and
safely housed Under Uncle SANS agis, and our
trade is unfettered! But, seriously, have we
not enough to do at home? Have we half de-
veloped the vast resources Of this favored land ?
Have we educated our children, provided for
our poor, and removed the stumbling blocks
from the paths of our fellow-beings, over which
thousands Of our kindred have stumbled into an
untimely grave and probable hellf Have we
bound our country together in the strong en-
braces Of iron? Have we fostered commerce
and manufactures, and made our country in
met what it is claimed to be, the greatest coun-
Try in the world! We opine not. But Cuba
Is in our way; Mexico Is In our way; the Hawaii
are in our way Canada and Japan soon will be
IN OUT WY. Oh, what great fellow this Jona-
than is, to be sure! Stand out Of the way, all
70 nations, and give him elbow-room You all
stand in his way The interests of his trade de-
mand that you should stand aside: manifest
destiny says, ''Get out Of the way"