Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1861-11-20
From the Ltiidon Saturday Reriew.
AN OLD CHAPTER REWRITTEN.

IT the Gods sometimes destroy men by granting
a foolish prayer, they also sometimes save them by
rejecting it. For several years the King aud people
OF England struggled, with all the power If the
Empire. to subdue the revolted American colonies.
They went on till they had accumulated an immense
debt till they had lost their best troops till they
had given dangerous shock to their own political
system, and brought themselves SO low that they
Obliged to concede legislative independence to
Ireland from fear of mob Of hastily raised Voun-
teers. In vain did the wisest and most lustrous
statesmen protest against such madness In vain
did they ask what was to be done with the colonies
in case they were subdued and whether it was in
tended to maintain an immense standing army on
the other side of the Atlantic for the purpose of
holding in subjection an unwilling population Of the
same free blood as ourselvesr II the remonstrants
not tarred and feathered or made to ride upon
rails, it only because the full measure of iber
ty which enables unpopular sentiments to be so
promptly dealt with had not then been obtained by
an old and somewhat retrograde community.
Their remonstrauces were given to the winds, and
the remonstrants were overwhelmed with ignominy
and abuse "What should be done with the rebels
when they had been subdued was question that
might be solved when it arose. One thing was
clear-rebeon must be put down. The honor of
the Crown must be vindicated. The unity of the
Empire must be restored. Till that was done there
could be thought Of peace and those who desired
it were themselves little better than rebels in their
hearts, And yet all this time the separation Of the
colonies, against which we were struggling, was the
greatest boon that Providence could bestow. Re-
garded in commercial point Of view alone, it was
worth to than all conquests put together.
The gain of India has often been rhetorically con.
trasted with the loss Of America hut the truth is
that the incapacity of Lord North and the bunglng
of his wooden commanders did more for us than
the genius Of Warren Hastings. The golden cur
rent Of trade which began to flow between the two
countries when the commercial energies of America
were set free, very soon rapid US even the immense
sums which had been squandered in endeavoring to
keep ourselves out of that rich heritage. Yet, in
the wise endeavor to avert from ourselves this good
fortune, we had brought ourselves to the brink Of
destruction. I'VE ard mankind in general" says
a cynical historian, writing Of similsr case of
blindness. "are set Of extremely wise creatures"
The refusal of the American colonies to subnis 10
Imperial taxation was signal given by nature
though not understood by man, that the time had
arrived when it was good tor both arties that the
colonies should become nation. The present Sc
cesson of the South from the North Is similar
signal given by nature, and equally misunderstood
by man, that the time has arrived when there ought
to be more than one nation on the Continent Of
North America. The Unonists imagine thas the
greatness of their country depends upon the reten.
ton under one Government and under one set Of
institutions, of the whole of = territory equal to
that of all the great nations Of Europe put together
Greatness is independent in the case Of nations
of material size and power; but it is essentially
moral, not a material quality. And in order tha,
she may be morally great, nation must have other
nations at her side ogve her the wholesome lessons
which, in the case of individuals man gives to man.
America has been like great clustering boy brought
up at home, instead Of learning common sense,
nanliness, and n,odesty among his equals in pub