The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1854-11-08

S AusterlItz, LeipsIc and Waterloo, within tn
Z last two generations, and Fontenoy, Families
/ Blenheim, LeiIzen and Payia, in preceding
. ones, are memorial spots, eloquent Of dispute
in the commonwealth Of European nations ant
Of the armed strife by which they are adjusted
i On one field the ambition Of Louis the four
j teenth was checked On another the annexa
t ton Of Italy to Austria was perfected. Oh
! still another the great contest between protes
tantism and romanism was brought to the deci
!; sion ofthe sword by Gustavus Adolphus. Or
: one Prussia was lost, on another Napoleon fell
i The arbitrament of the cannon is, in fact, The
, only method of adjusting European difficulties
Ii dispute arises between any two or more
members of that great commonwealth of ma
/; tons, there IS no tribunal to appeal to excep
, public opinion, and as last resort, the strong
arm. The law of nations is we grant, rude
attempt to settle difference without resort tt
; force. But as it is frequently construed vari
ously BY various parties, and is often openly sci
at defiance, it fails practically to prevent the
bloody conflicts Of the sister states. Europe,
though boasting to lead the world in civilization
has no common assembly where the interests
of the continent may be peaceably discussed,
no venerated tribunal to arbitrate between an
cry commonwealth. The victory is there, mot
for the right, but, as Napoleon emphatically
said, for him who has the heaviest battalions.
But in America how different! Here we have
need of no desolating battle fields, where blood
may flow like water, land where widows and or
phans may be made by the wholesale. The
great battlefield Of this continent is the congress
Of the United States. tits in the peaceful halls
Of Legislation at Washington that difficulties
between the American states are adjusted, and
the weapons employed are not the deadly in
struments Of FURNISHED steel, but the power of
argument and the eloquence Of the tongue It
is the intellect, not the sword, that triumphs
here, truth, not brute force. Already the best
portions of this continent, comprising every
variety of climate, soil, and even social life,
adjudicate their differences in this way, and
the time is not far distant when the entire con-
tinent, perhaps including Mexico on the one
hand and Canada on the other, will acknowl-
edge the same tribunal. Europe has been
nearly on the eve of a general war; because
Turkey is falling to pieces, and because Russia
wishes to monopolise the larger share of the
great stranded wreck. But, on this continent
also, nation is breaking up. Here, however,
there is no tear that Texas, Louisiana, Missis-
sippi or California, will seize more than their |
portion, or precipitate the whole continent into
an unwilling war; for the commonwealth of
American nations has a peaceful tribunal where
they may adjust their differences, common
congress where the ambition of one part is kept
In check by the votes Of another. The great
battle field here is at Washington. =
What would have become of America with
outsuch peaceful mode of arbitrament? Long
ago, the slave states and free states would have
been plunged in war, but for our federal Ero-
pagus Other questions also would probably
have led to bloody collisions But even if war
had been avoided, the mutual ealousies that
would have existed, and existed without hope
Of removal, would have prevented, in a great
measure, that very extraordinary development
which has made America the wonder of the
world. 1t is the unrestricted trade which has
existed between the States; the absence of Gus
omhouses, passports and coast guards, that has
lone such wonders for the commonwealth of this ;
continent. five compare the progress of Ger
many IN the last seventy years, with the pro- s
yress of America during the same period, we
see what the federal Union has done for us, we !:
how slow would have been our
growth without it. How important then is it t
hat our congressman should be men of intelli- t
,ence, education, liberal minds and unimpeach-
Ible integrity.
Tie world is yet destined to sec the battle r
lelds of the intellect supersede those of the {
trong arm With the progress of the intelli- 6
rent, war will become rarer, until at last diff S
erences in Europe, as well as here, will be set
led by adjudication. This mighty reform will f
lot be worked out in day. But come it will q
tsome tpne. There is period in mans his
DRY at hand, or else the signs of the times ut c
erly fail, when truth will always win the vic !.
DRY, and not "heavy battalions.'' :
The Montreal papers contain additional par :,
culars of the discovery of Sir John Franklin's J,
arty, as reported in our last: ~M r
The Esqulmaux states that in the spring of Il
$50, they saw forty white men travelling along "
ne north shore of Prince Williams sound, and .
rawlng their boats over the ice No one be- =
onglng to the party could speak the native a
anguage, but they gave the Esquimaux to un- IL
erstand by signs, that their ship had been c
rushed in the ice, and that they were going "
1here they expected to be able to shoot some :,
eer All the party except one are described
y the natives to have looked very thin. and
ney appeared to be short of provisions. They "
seal from the natives. p
Afterwards, but during the same season tho u