The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1862-06-26
/. &itbulnn1 8isIlatfl,
war ana Feace

War m teoce
Thai w.r n : ereas evil II ~ssaed not the pre-
An. co.eies 10 demonstrate. But yet like all
u3Aer evils, n he's certain benevolent designs and
-, IN the economy Of Providence. which may re.
~crcale man to its awful necessity. Wo to. those
,.Aea,oolss who have opened The rascs Of Janus -
THE dire abode.
And the fierce Issues Of the furious god
hut ON their heads alone rests the responsibility.
For the South, II stands as II ever has stood, on
the defensive and every drop Ct blood I. sheds has
been Ia vindicaiion Of the most sacred rights Of
humanity
An able English writer has remarked. among
the many delusions Of human error, that KouS
seaus phantaey &c Perpetual Peace. ana tue IKE
,,..,cra, ,yrams p,.ces,~l the bioodiest wars that
have convulsed tho earth for a thousand years.
The sam. iclusio,s." he adds. writing few years
ar,, aarr renewed again. Benevolent theorists 81
abcu, rrcpherying peace positive certainty.
,,educed from ,ha, sibyl book, the mdscr; and we
ARE never again to hay cannn,ls provided only we
can exchange cet,ca for corn
Society," il always at battle, either in that condi-
.;eu which h called peace. ia that which takes
The homes, name Of war. The struggles of peace
sre often mere corroding, aud its disasters more
desperate and irretrieyabie, than those OF war.
Even death, which is the most repulsive shape
which war assumes to the vulgar gaze, Il not less
Inevitable in peace. In peace every mans hand IS
against his brother in business, in trade, in amb-
Hon. in politics even in religion It's battles, its
lists Of killed and wounded are not published in
Che newspapers, but ueae the less deep are its
wounds and as Tor lis dead. all the killed Of all
the battles ever fought upon the earth, If gathered
auto heap. would be a miolehili by mountain.
compared with the innumerab.e myfiaas who have
died in peaceful beds.
Even the enSry passions of war are not as afro
cio,s in general these engendcred by the rival
yies and ieaion>ies, OF peaceful life. In most wars
there Is no personal hate and Us soon dc the shock
Of battle has ceased the late !oemcn become friends
We 6nd in Scripture 10 prohibition Of war. al
shosca IL Is treated evil which will ultimate
II give way before the triumphan. genius of Chris
1iani.y. Yet Aarahan the friend Of God and David,
;, man after Gods own heart engaged in war, the
latter especially being an indomiiabe soldier and
vet having stronger proofs Of the continued ia
Scr Of Heaven than Solomon W hose reign was one Of
continued peace. In the New Testament, the Ro-
man centurion is applauti.d 0r degree of faith
which the Saviour declared he had not found in
all Israel Yet, these same Scriptures pronounce
the heaviest snathcmas upon the man who does
not forgive his personal enemies, that, evidently
the personal hatred and revenge which abound III
peace, are more reprehensibe in the sight of Hea-
ven than the strife and collision Of battle. III war;
these private feuds disappear in the presence of
common peril there is a degree of mutual fellow
ship. succor and affection even, arising from the
mutual danger, which is entirely unknown in time
of pes &c.
1t is u disgusting spectacle to see two men hack
ing each other to pieces with hayone's; bu. is ii
worse than that envy, hatred, malice. and all un
eharitaheneks which often witnessiu peaceful
Af-. The two belligerens, each urged ON by be
lief that he is doing his duty. stand mantuy up
and without any sham hypocrisy endeaycr to
pound each other out If existence On the othe,
land two un.rendly persons i'll devote their whole
existence to make each hers lives mise fable
possible often dc,aming and enicavoriny TO njure
zach other in every conceivable manner. The
Scripture declares that liz who llaieth his brother is
murderer and that be uho does not forgive can
not be forgiven Int il never .dl that of the war
rior On the contrary. alaos all the Old Testament
Saints were warriors and under the New Tesla
ment they were admitted to the ChristianAChurch
aud not required to give up their profession. In
deed the Church itself is likened TO army, and
she apostles exhort its members to be good sol
siers," to arm themselves with the =" sword of the
spirit" and. the shield Of Faith figures of speech
which would not be adopted by the inspired pens
,nen il the things from which they are drawn were
wrong or sinful.
Ii is a ptiabie eight, that of noble young men IN.
down in the flower of their youth and often nv
rsitif hands unworthy of theirs'eel 1t il like the
xpectace of a waving field Of grain destroyed by 10.
Gusts or princely oaks robbed Of their life by mise
rahle worms. And yet, who shall arraign Prov
.ience for such destiny. Who shall say that, to
the lofty and generous spirit death in the cause Of
country and OF humanity is not desirable and glo-
l1ous if it helps to secure the success of that cause
or if thacause shall fail, that it is not better than
life Of bondage and degradation Who shall say
that the fallen man himself if he had lived might
no, have suffered ealanlities compared with which
death is a blessing, or, if he had escaped all
these and lived TO extreme old age what is
there in old age, with lis intirmtes and dis
xuietudes when 'fsars shall be in the way and the
,,rasshopper shall become Il burthen" when the
friends of youth are all gone. aud the man stands
like blasted tree in solitary plain; what is there
in this more desirable than Death which embalms
the name Of the soldier in the histcry"f his country
and keeps his Image ever young and surrounded by
friends!
Admitting that war, to the generation in which
it occurs, il often great evil, we should bear in
mind that evil is admitted by Providence into the
agency Of creation, physical and moral 1t has been
philesophically remarked that the coubative bump,
which seems as common to tire human skull as the
philoprogentive, is not in organization without
cause and tina, wars arise net only from human
lint nfte fran
terwoyen in the framework of society aud speed
the great ends Of the human race, cenfornably with
the designs Of the Omniscient Withcut the Persian
war, contends an eloquent writer, Greece would
never have risen 10 be the teacher OF the world the
the eraptions Of Hun and Goth and Vandal gener
s,ed the manhood of demoralized Rome; the iron
hand Of the great Frank settled the nations and
founded existent Europe the CruSades introduced
into Europe humaner arts destroyed the tyranny Of
,eudalis,p, and checked the progress of the Moham
,uedsr ". ord aud Koran. you call the Godfreys
sand Taneretis aud Richards, mad men, but he frenzy
Of nations is Tie ssatesmcnship Of fate. How know
YOU that but for the terror inspired by the hosts
who marched TO Jerusalem, the Crescent had not
waved over the forum Of Rome and on the site Of
No1s Dame The crusader fought for the tomb Of
Christ, but he saved the life Of Christendom
War, then, has within il seeds of good. seeds
which must be fortified by blood to bring forth
harves. of blessings. And if ever there was war
which demanded ut once the energies Of the patriot
snd the benediction Of the Christian, it is in
defence of homes and affairs Of civil liberty, OF
cid virtue Of life ITSELF and Of all that makes Life
worth having.
HANDSOMELY TRAPPED.-The New York Com
zeresot says that not long ago certain officer was
attached to the army Of the Potomac, who resigned