The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-03-22
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
;7;snsTsp1Y NoRcINo. MARCH . iss1.
JONATHAN AS A NEUTRAL.

WEDNEsDAY MORNING, MARCH q. 1854
JONATHAN AS A NEUTRAL.
The truth Of the homely and threadbare
adage that II il an i'll wind which blows no.
body good Is strikingly illustrated in tne
prosperity enjoyed by commercial nen'ra's'
during the continuance of genera "a'
fiercsly waged by the principal oeihgerenaS'
From fselds tlreucbed in blood, from starving
troops and belsaguered cities, the neutral
reaps his richest harvest of gold. The fruits,
however, of his enterprise, like the apples OF
the Garden of Hesperides, are difficult OF ae-
cess. and guarded by a thousand dangerous
laws and regulations. 1t is difficult for ship
70 sail too near the great Maelstrom, without
being swallowed up; it is hazardous to Sport
too near the Falls Of Niagara, and escape De-
ing dashed to pieces and tits equally "ilsaie
to have too many dealings with enrageo Ia
tionai belligerents, blinded by the 'ari'1s
uassions of A long and fierce war Ana now
that the European horizon is liz up Win tne
asmes of war. and the din of preparation Is
heard in every quarter, thousands OF keen,
adventurous Americans are preparing 70 push
their fortunes in every port, and, protected
bythe flag Of the Republic, to take the cash OF
ali the belligerents and the ill-usage OF none.
And as the citizens of this country, about the
commencement of the present century, pro-
fitted largely by the exercise of their priv
leges as neutrals, during the wars of Napo-
leon, the yanke of the present generation
regard those national scourges, WAR, PEsTi-
LENtE, and FAMINE, as Providential Attic
lions, so long as their blessings are confined
to " the rest of mankind
The NEW ENGLAND people are opposed to
war only when that calamity diminishes the
weight of their purses and forces their young
men into uniform jackets and strange lands
They delight to see the thuaderin old mono
kies Of Urope" plunged to their eyelids IN
the boiling waters of internecine strife. The
thrifty souls expand over the fires OF gene
raj European confagration for 1t raises the
price Of freight, adds new value to Goldfish,
imparts vitality to the mackerel business,
and renders horse beans and emotions CINE
rally" remarkably saleable. They don't
like to be the principals in great ma
tional set to-not that JONATHAN fears
gunpowder- but the bayonet don't pay
nor are bullets the kind of pills that
agree with his constitution; but he de-
lights in the position of neutral. He shrinks
thonor to his refined and gallant nature) from
a leading part in the disgusting Tom HYER
exhibitions of which Russia and Turkey are
fond but the pacific position of bottle holder
and suffer, delights him hugely. His gene
rous, philanthropic heart swells with delight
when he deems it his duty to supply the bel
lieerents with bread and meat. JONATHAN is
a pacific Individual, and under such circum-
stances helps the needy nations in the same
benevolent spirit that Shylock aided the We
netian merchant. Famished belligereats
are not particular, in matters of diet, and
all the fragrant and artificial articles OF
food which we benighted savages of the
South refuse--such as mackerel, with an an
cient and fish-like smell, and the ligneOus
hams, and indigenous nutmegs of Connect
cut-take prodigiously with the hungry citi-
xens ofa beseiged town. Hence JONATHAN is
now dancing and grinning with as much hui
name delight around the bubbling, simmering
cauldron of European affairs as the frightful
witches in MACBETH capered around their ia
m ous pot of ndarishing, but somewhat eccen
trio soup. His sails will soon whiten the
NETHERLANDS and the BLACK SEA, and his
goods will find their way to all needy Rus
SLAMS, Turks, English and French who can
pay well. JONATHAN, when he gets to the
He will change the complexion of his politi.
cal sympathies with every port and swear by
the Crescent when he wants to sell his cod
fish, and by the Cross when he desires to get
rid of his rum.
But whilst we wish JONATHAN great success
in his position of commercial commissary.
we trust that he will be careful in respecting
with religious awe the laws relating to neu-
trails. Protected, as he will be- by the flag of
great nation, he should not presume too far
upon that fact. The slightest false step might
involve this country in the war which will
probably soon shake EUROPE like an earth
quake. If the cupidity of our sailors and mer
chants should tempt them to forget honesty
and violate the laws of neutrality, the flames
Ofwar would leap across the Atlantic and in.
volve this country in the general confagra-
ton. HJosATHAN gets to selling e0ntraband
gunpOwder and illicit muskets, and the keen
iyn1-eyed belligerents discover the crime. it
viii blow up all his prospects for reaping a
fortune from the European war; Or if he
dsbbles, as he is rather fond of doing, in the
plunder and privateering business, he will be
ANONYMOUSLY kicked out of every port of
Europe, Its dangerous for neutral how.
ever great, to tamper with belligerent pa.
IONS when they are excited by all the vile
passions with which war renders hideous and
heaftiess the human heart. They would care
no more for our stars and stripes than the en-
ragged and wounded bull cares for the red t,.o
Of the Matador.
England still denies the doctrine Of e,r..
triaflon' and the fifty thousand unnatura,;rsa
English seamen in the commercial ,n.r;na -