The Nevada journal., 1857-03-27
ONE PEOPLE.

al Iacl that they lnhablt the same pOr-
ton of the globe make them one nation,
in the true sense of the term. There
must be a common sentiment swaying
the whole-an idencal national life in
terpenetrating with every part before
the true idea of 4 Nation is fully real
zed. When we see large number of
persons moved by one common patriot
ic impulse-looking up, with reverence,
towards the same national head, and
backward, with pride, towards the same
history = each individual feel
ing that all are members of one great
family, and that they are bound to each
other by closer ties than those which
unite them to the inhabitants of any
other country then, and not till then,
do we behold-one people.
Patriotism is the passion which ex-
hibits the intensity of national life
Where its vital spark is faint and low,
and covered up by private interests, and
feudal wars, and sectional discontents,
there is little of the common brother
hood which makes up nationality
But what is patriotism 1t is not mere
ly love for the identical spot where we
were born - for the old school house
around which we played in childhood,
or the brook where we fished or swan.
Patriotism is the love of ones country !;
and it embraces the whole of ones coun-
try, and all of ones countrymen. If it
do not, it is not patriotism. And if,
among the people who live under one
government, this sentiment of patriotism
does not embrace the whole of the
country and the people SO governed,
then they are not one people, and the
government is not the representative of
q nation.
Are the citizens of the United States
one people and are we nation, within
the meaning of the term as we have
used it? Is there an active, living pat
riotism among us, broad enough in its
affections to embrace our whole country,
and all our countrymen Does the
"our country" which we glory in, mean
all the wide domain over which the
Federal Government exercises jurisdic-
ton and does " our countrymen mean
all the people who inhabit it? Or, on
the contrary, is our patriotism narrowed
down to particular section (or state, }
and do we look upon the stars and
stripes as the emblem, not of nation,
but of combination of nations
If we were to judge exclusively from
the prominent facts which appear upon
the face of our passing history, we
would be compelled to decide that there
is but little national unity amcng U.S.
Judging from the bitter hatred which
has been exhibited by various portions
of the country against each other-and
particularly from the events of the last
presidential campaign, and the present
position of political parties-we would
be compelled to conclude that the
states of the Union are not distinct as
the bil.ows, yet one as the sea-" but
that they rather resemble a multitude
of small lakes connected together artifi-
cially, and for mere present conven-
ience. This, undoubtedly, would be
the case, if the sentiments and doctrines
of the democratic and republican par
ties could be taken as the real senti-
ments and doctrines of all those who
supported them, at the last election.
1t must be remembered, however,
that many who voted with those par
ties, did so without fair and full un-
derstanding, and appreciation, of their
positions. The democratic and repub-
lican leaders were, mostly, men who
looked upon the Union as an obstacle,
or, at least, as a thing of little value );
but many of those who followed, were
led astray by false issues. We believe
that beneath all the clashing and foam
ing currents of sectional parties, there
is still deep stream of national patriot
ism, which will yet preserve us. We
believe that our next political revolu-
ton will end in the triumph of nation
al party, in which the suppressed spirit
of unity will exhibit itself, successfully
and completely.
That there is danger, however, from
internal discord, no ordinary observer of
passing events will deny. The national
sentiment, therefore, should be cherish
ed But, in order to do this, there must
be some tangible, and perceptible way