Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1863-09-01

p,b-Wtro AZ fo- longer or sNOrtsr V'''ou w 'S f
sss ON Bit he country was ovetrup TIVE oeS's "
the n. o,e wrrs not ovrrawtd With them ana Ine'r
,.d er,en,s NHether in the council or in the nsiu,
,h,r .as no de. r OF the republic They felt as WASH
an shen Ioost oppressed by toe complicated diff
l,;e Of his s,tuatoa expressed himself, in the sill
eer,,y Of his heart in wr ng to his brother; "Under
G ner,uason Of tbs Justice of our cause, cannot en-
teran an idea that it will finally Sick though it may re-
main for a thne under a cloud
All history proves tia. brave and uucOrrupted
people, determined to be Ie, never can be subdued oy
the nsolsnt superiority Of force and numbers, however
di propOrtioned What avail the countless Persian
horjes OF Darius aud Xsrxes when confronted, IN many
field made classic and holy ground by their oSc0nl-
future with the proud spirit Of freedom aud me noo'e
sef lev oon of the small but undaanted common"eahs
Of Greeceg II ever peof had apparent cause LOT
i,.,onJsrev it was the people of Rome when Hanni-
l with his Carthagenisn hosts, after Three successive
..,,,i,s N tie Tic no. the Bresca, and Thrasymene
hal aIch towards the Capital almost ami
l,J h. Roman amy in a fourth at Canle leaving
| 80, ,L,n C,rly thousand Roman CitiEeIs dead upon
ha s.,J iuclui'n- one of the (onsuls in command,
many Senator'S E6 Consus PretOrs, Gdies and Others
~ the highest rank aud cons ration. But smid the
,rernation Of 80 terrible calamity the spirit of the
Rs,nble rey-r bllnched. When !he Surviving Consul
shoe p shness even had been the Oftho disas
ter sppro,ched the city with the wreck Of his army
the nae and Ill ranks Of The people. We are told BY
o., of their great historians, went out to meet him
aud thanked him for not having dspaifed OF the Com
mon veal h. And in the cnd it was not Rome, but
Carthage, tina; pSrshed in tue conflict
So too, when We come down 10 the per Cd Of modern
history Is it possible to conceive struggle more un-
81 al in NUMBER armament, and every material re-
source than that in the sixteenth century, between the
sven nsurgent provinces Of the Netherlands, begin
op with tao Of them ouy, aud the whole weight and
mower Of the Spanish NoraIey its meridian Of spen
Ijur Nhen in addition to The resources Of its large
i,ninions in Italy, the Netherlands AMI the Peninsula
including Portugal, it welded the riches Of America
aid the Indies uniteil AID yet by the ndCmitable
courage and perseverance, Of the inhabitants animated
With the spirit of civil aud reg Gus berry, and in spite
of eaamires and disasters which tired to the utternost
the heroic stlG OF which they made, leaving to
them often no other resource than, by cuttrg their
dykes to call in the Of tia. destructive element il
bad cost them ages o. abOur and toll to shut out they
redeemed their native land from the emorseless surges
Of a desposm more erOcious III the sea, trumpAAnty
established their independence, and cOnstuteda re-
no~ned commonwealth which, for two hupdred years.
proudly held its place 10 the first rank of the Powers Of
Europe.
If we wish farther to see what prodigies uudis-
mayed spirit OF national Independence battling upon its
own soil loI its hearlhs aud its affairs is capable Of
comprising agairs. IL o6ds OF force and numbers,
look at the example of the people, under the third
William of Orange, magnaniuOusly bidding defiance to
To,,; If
France and Charles II. of England look at Prussia,
under Frederick H., in the memorable Seven Years
War successfully conteodng against almost all the
powers Of continental EurOpe-Austria France the Ger
man States Sweden and Russiaull banded together at
the same Moment in the invasion Of her territory look
again at the miracles Of successful Vsor, accomplished
some hirt years later, by the paope of revolutionary
Frsnse in the enthusiasm of liberty and in vndicaOn
Of the right Of national seEgovenment agains: second
aud more formidable combination of all Europe, both in
sa!ar aud continental
What any of these people accomplished, are capa-
bic of accomplishing. We have the love Of iber-
~ we have the same devotion to native land; we
have the same martial arior; we have the same, and
even greater motives 10 exert every faculty for de-
verance With the most of them, the great stake in
volved was nation al independence and political rights
With u.s. in addition to all this everything precious to
the human affections, everything sacred to the human
heart is at issie. From the ruthless spirit in which
tots war has been wsged by our adVersares from the
specimens have had of their Infamous prOconsuar
governments in parts of our territory occupied by Them
from the ao eals they making to the vndiclive
aud brutal passions OF unciVized their allies
in this unhoy crusade against Us, it is impossible for
the una ination to picture fate more horrible than
ours would be- if we subjected to their Iower
know DO language which, i'll that case, could ado
qdatsly paint the depth OF our degradation and the
reu y Of our wre,caeduess unless il be those burning
ine of an English post in which he gave vent t, his
rSeljrg, of horror and Indignation when deprecatiGg
be iron RUE of vulgar and hypOcrcll tyranny in his
osn land
Come the eleventh plAg ae rather than this shouI be;
Come rather In the sea;
Come rather pestlenee and reap down;
Come Gods sxOrd rather than
Let rather Roman come agAln,
Or Saxon, Norman, or the Dane.
In all the boLds bore,
grieVsd, sighed Wept; bluShed before
Ia the foregoing remarks it has been assumed that
the enemys forces Vere in NUMBER much greater than
This has undoubtedly, heretofore been the fact
But | am firmly persuaded that notwithstanding the i'm
mCnse difference in the actual population of the two
countries we shall heneelorward have army in the
field a. all times fully equal in number to theirs and
shat surely s all need desire. The energies of the
South just beginning to be thoroughly aroused
We-aeAdY see proposition 10 the Legislature Of Ala
hama 70 extend the limits of the military age below
eighteen years to sixteen and above foryGVe to sixty.
This the old Spartan rule, and prevailed long time
in England until the institution OF standing armies and
her iOsuar situation made her creess With regard TO
the military organ cation o. the of her population
But our circumstances may well justify recurrence to
the ancient suls 60 far at least to call out the supple
uentary classes lor local defence. The spirit OF e
rnl H. an dnrhl urnnln nnhlv rasnnnd snch