The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-08-22
Disunion.
DTSNn10us
..sy,, In the his tor V

There is nothing more striking In ''e "'"o'S
ntEpo,.ns s,nce The great French wars, IMAM
,na renusnance which her people, through
.,a,r CONSERVATIVES in Pariiament nave
shown 20 fortifying their coast The bill pro-
posed for that purpose Qncinding Lohooh)
90 ora coo sterling. vote for 12,o0o00 only
uas obtained, and that with the greatest eN-
eriion on the part OF Lord PALMKRsToN. Ana
vet every man in England well knows tha'
the whole continent is bristling with arms
that England has scarcely friena a'"o"e
coutuen tai Powers-that steam mas
almost "hridged the channel '-a"" r,os,
most in sight of their isiaH", - world
formidable military Power III Tue
D.1n;,, ,hsx have Just reason 10
r,., "a whose good faith thei' "''eis
80, - ,bem from time immemoriai, 10
5,s,rust IL is not that the Enshsn peopie
,,,aaa She expense. In ume OF war 'hey nave
- ,.,I,x.n 10 stand a tax which, with GER
,s,u loans that went along with 1t. produced
,,a su,n of one hundred and thirty millions,
and ;haL too, at n time when money WAS more
valuable by sixty per eeat. than 1t Is now. IL
as net that they have an antipathy 10 war, aud
dislike anything that reminds them of it,
The Eaelish people have always shewn them
selves ready 10 embark In any war into which
their leaders might choose TO engage them.
IGty nave, inaeeU, oeeH at war at ieaSt
half the time of their national existence. 1t
is their lnveterate hatred of standing armies,
and their repugnance 10 any measure that
may lead. in the end, however remote that
end may be, 10 the predominance of the mill
sary over the civil power of the Kingdom,
Iha: prompts them TO resist the design of the
ministry. In the present temper OF the Brit
ash people, we confess we cannot see the wis
dom of this opposition. On the contrary, W.
should think every Engiishman would feel,
at once, the extreme lmpor lance of fortifying
the dock-yards TO such an extent as 10 render
them impregnaole If possible. Yet we are
not disposed TO call in question the judgment
Of people who have shown themselves, in
all ages, so jealous upon this point especially
when We consider that that very jealousy has
kept them free, while the liberties of the con-
tinent have fallen before military power.
We would call upon the people of the United
States, had we any hope of being heard, to OBJ
serve the conduct of the British people on this
occasion. Let it be recoliected that they are
nearer and therefore know more of military
ruIe-which is but another name for absolut-
ism-than we can possibly know. Let them
recollect that their danger from foreign inya-
sion is far greater than ours. Let them OBJ
serve, that they prefer encouutering the dan
ger of defeat in the beginning OF a campaign.
with all the disasters that must accompany
defeat,) on their own soil, against foreign
enemy, 10 the remote danger of creating, little
by little, q powerful standing army at home,
ostensibly to man their fortresses, in reality
10 destroy their liberties. Let them remember
that our own immediate ancestors-the men
who fought out the Revolution, not less than
the men who kept it in progress by their coun-
jnha tod IA M the mi IL.
tary power from their fathers in England
They were nearer the time when it had been
predominant, and, even in the hands OF
WASHINGTON they saw that its exercise
was incompatible with the existence OF
that perfect freedom which they had
endured many labors to obtain
For that reason, they priced above all other
things of earthly nature, next to freedom,
The union OF these S ateS. They believed il TO
be perpetual safeguard TO liberty, because it
obvi8ted the necessity of a standing army,
and they We're well aware that no nation can
lose its freedom save by means of military
power. They We're deeply read in the history
OF their Anglo Saxon forefathers or the other
side of the water, and they drew from ii
knowledge TO guide them in casting the foun-
dations of their new Republic. They had OBJ
served that in spite of the tyrannical temper
100 OXEN iudulleS leu W Iue iduldScHcls anu
Tudors-in spite of the violent inroads upon
the Constitution practiced whenever they had
ahe power, by both the parties to the great
civil war between the Heuses of York and Ian
caster-the people had preserved their liberty.
The Plautagenets might be yioleut-the Tu-
doris might be sanguIIary-but they were both
solely by permission OF the people, and dared
do nothing which they found resolutely
opposed by the body of the nation
The secret lay in the fact that they had no
military force 10 back them and that they de-
pended upon the consent of the people for
the continuance of their reign. Nobody pre-
sends that CHARLES l. was so cruel as HENRY
VIII, or so arbitrary as ELIZABETH The
difference between them was, that the Eng
lleh people pardoned in the TWO first what it
would not tolerate in the last, because having
no standing army 10 back them, they, appa-
rently, &C ted by consent OF the people, where
as the last wished 10 act in defiance of the
wishes of The people, and by means of an
army. The wise people of England saw, thai
as soon as the King should have accumulated
q military power sufficiently strong to set
Them al defiance, their liberties would no lon
ger exist but in name. From examples like
these our forefathers derived their distrust OF
standing army, aud they saw that the only
way TO render one unnecessary, was 10 unite
all This country in one vast confederacy
whea there being no neighbors to be jealous
OF, there could be no excuse for keeping on
foot strong military power.
Was not their reasoning correctl To our
apprehension, there can be NO doubt OF It,
Let us suppose this country broken up into
TWO great independent nations. The first
thing would be long, violent, bloody war; in
which the military spirit would most assured
~ obtain fatal predominaIce. The proba-
bility is that one or the other section would
go TO the wall, and that 4 large military force
would be required to keep it in subject ton
Should it be otherwise, however; should both
parties survive, they would be compelled 10
stand everlastingly on their guard. Systems
OF frontier fortihcations, exceeding in magn nj
fude all that NICHOLAS or ALEXANDER ever
Notwithstanding from the A tlantic TO the
western frontier Of Missouri-would be i'm
mediately commenced. Hundreds of thou
sands Of armed men would be necessary to
garrison these fortresses, while all the coun-
try behind them would bristle with ayonets
AT the mercy of these armed men would lie
the lives, the liberty, the wealth, of every in
habitant Of the country. They would not
long obey the direction of any legislative
body. They would do as troops have ALWAYS
done III revolutionary times. They would
follow the instinct OF discipline. They would
obey their officers-those by whose sides they
had often perIlled their lives and by whom
they had often been led 10 victory. They would
hbiy despise civilians and their laws