Washington sentinel., 1856-06-03
From the Pennsylvania n i.
Walkers Success.

The defeat of the Costa Ricans by General
Walker, at Rivas, is at length confirmed Their
loss in killed and wounded, amounted to six
hundred and fifty, while that of Walker was
but about one hundred. The Costa Ricans
after shipping three hundred of their wounded
from st. Juan del Sur, were in full retreat by
land from Nicaragua, which they had invaded
They are said to be very indignant at the de.
cepton with regard to the state Of public feeling
in Nicaragua practised upon them. The Mica.
ragueans, us a general thing, are satisfied with,
and adhere TO the Government Of Rivas. What
ever charges the support Of Walkers army NAV
impose on them, they are not so heavy as those
exacted by the miserable administrations 10
which they have hitherto been subjected. There
is at the present moment, even in the unsettled
state OF things, greater security to life and pro-
perty, and more of individual liberty in Nicara.
qua, than has existed for many years past. ii
such be the fact in the presence of a great and
fundamental revolution, when the whole country
is, TO certain extent, subject to military dicta.
ton, how much more may be hoped for the
future: when this state Of things comes TO an
end, and peaceful citizens, engaged in industrial
pursuits, shall assume the control Of the Gov.
ernment.
The mildness Of the Rivas Government, its
equableness, and general justice, contrasts most
favorably with the Governments that have pre-
ceded it, which have been very sanguinary, and
in which no principle or idea of Justice seemed
to find any place. The cruelty Of the Central
American Goyernments-the revengeful bar
barity Of their wars--the absence of the most
elementary notions Of personal freejom-ars
all truly Characteristic of the mixed race which
people that fertile and favored region; while
L.. II. L. L.. u
severity, which the necessity Of his situation
demanded, must be freed from all charge of
wsnton cruelty, and it is evident that he has
not, and cannot divest himself of those princif
pies of justice, which are in some shape or
degree, innate in the Anglo-Saxon mind.
The news from Central America. more and
more convnces us that the view we have from
the beginning taken Of affairs there, is correct.
We almost daily see in the columns of some OF
our cotemporaries views Of an entirely different
character put forth, and often times with great
intemperance of language, which, with little
minds, passes for strong writing. Such minds
are not able to comprehend, that true inteec.
tual strength consists in the power Of readily
Perceiving truth, in logical thought, in precision
and propriety of language, and not in a style
OF which man is master, just in proportion as
he is ignorant and vulgar. In the same way
these papers are in the. habit OF publishing
letters, purportng at least to come from Cen
trail America, in which affairs there are grossly
misrepresented, as every one possessed of any
must know. What useful end can
be answered by this course we are at n loss TO
determine. The only effect is to impair the
confidence Of readers in the judgment and
veracity of a journal whose opinions prove
erroneous, and whose statements turn out to be
false. For our own part we usually allow the
course Of these journals to pass unnoticed--..
satisfied to leave their exposure and chastise.
ment to the course of time and events, which,
ihough slow, is always sure.