The Nevada journal., 1857-01-23
WILLIAM WALKER.

Jail or the whipping post. Steal mil
lion, and we will praise your skill, and
call you gentleman. and doff our hats to
you as you pass. Honesty, in great
matters as well as small ones, is made a
virtue by the catechism and school
primers. 1t will do for children - that
code of old fashioned integrity which
our fathers thought was good to live and
die by. 1t will not do for US, children
of larger growth" We have another
code. For "Thou shalt not steal -
we say. "Thou shalt not steal small
amounts J" and for Be just, and fear
not we substitute " Be successful and
fear not If Honest Harry Meiggs
should land in California tomorrow
there are men enough who would shake
him by the hand, and welcome him, and
protect him if possible from the penalties
of the law. Very few. except those
whom he has injured, would curse him,
and demand vengeance and justice on
his head. If William Walker had Ian
ded in San Francisco few months ago,
he would have been received with ova-
tions and rejoicings gs-like hero return
ed from glorious war. There would
have been dinners, and presentations,
and speeches. There would have been
biographies all eulogy = and engrav-
ings all forehead "an eve like
Jove's to threaten and command" The
prestige of success would have covered
like mantle, all the sins of his selfish
and reckless career.
The late Walker demonstration at
the Tabernacle in New York, shows the
sympathy with which ambitious rascal
ity is received by our citizens. The
meeting was called to devise ways and
means to rescue the unfortunate hero
and his companions in glory from the
difficulties which environ them. The
meeting was attended by an enthusias-
tic crowd of "sympathizers" Respec-
table men were there, and addressed
the assemblage. Capt. Isaiah Rynders
was also there and addressed the assem-
blage - and William Mulligan, Esq.
late of California, was one of the secre
taries. From this mixture of patriots
and shoulder-strike came forth Jar
gon of eulogy and buncombe that we
have rarely seen equalled. One orator,
Gen. Wheat of Louisiana, is particular
ly splendid on the occasion. He an
nounces himself as "the humble though
true and devoted friend of William Wal
ker;" (happy man y He represents
him as standing proudly in foreign
land, grasping in one hand the liberty,
the honor, and the prestage of our ma
ton > (God save our liberty and hon.
or, if William Walker has any hold on
either y He reviews his life and sees
it all besprinkled with prophecies of
greatness. He compares him with cal
cibiades, whom all the Greeks worship
ped" a new discovery in mythology,
and finds that Alcibiades was nowhere
beside him. And then he winds up by
likening him to ''tarantula, presenting
always, on all occasions, bold front to
his foes, always sustaining his friends,
self-sustaining, always able to sustain
any principle he chooses to adopt" p
The fun of the thing is, that the orator
was in earnest, and his speech was re-
ceived with great applause by the
assembly at the Tabernacle. At the
close of the performances, a liberal con-
tribution was made for the aid of the
Nicaraguan patriots.
What right have Walker and his
crew to any such demonstrations of SYM
pathy! They landed on the territory
of nation with whom they had nothing
whatever to do, and without shadow
of claim, by the mere right of the
strongest, made themselves for brief
time masters of the state. Over an in
dolent and degenerate tropical race, the
rigor and energy of Anglo-Saxons were
of course victorious. But the natives,
inferior in all the appliances of war ex-
cept numbers, maintain the struggle in
spite of defeat. as even an effeminate
race will, fighting for liberty and the
integrity of their nation. Now, the in
vaders are rapidly falling before the
deadly influences of the climate of Mic
aragua, and there is little left to them
but a choice between annihilation and
retreat, which is disgrace. So the good
liberty loving citizens of New York and
other towns in the Union, are calling
meetings, and raising supplies, and pro-