The Ohio Democrat. [volume] (Canal Dover, Ohio) 1840-1900, 1863-01-30

Ion TO resist the Persian; nor did even |
the thirty years Peloponnesian war,
spriDging, in part, from the abduction
of slaves, and embittered and disastrous
as it was--let Thucidides speak--whol-
ly destroy the fellowship of those States,
The wise Romans ended the three years
social war after many bloody battles,
and much atrOcity, by admitting the
States of Italy to all the rights and priv.
ileges of Roman citizenship--the very
object to secure which these States had
taken up arms. The border wars be-
tween Scotland and England, running
through centuries, did not prevent the
final union, in peace and by adjustment,
of the two Kingdoms under one monarch
Compromise did at last what ages of CO.
ercion and attempted conquest had fail
ed to effect. England kept the crown;
while Scotland gave the king to wear it,
and the memories of Wallace and the
Bruce of Banuockbnrn, became part Of
the glores of British history. l pass
by the union of Ireland with England
"a union of force, which God and just
men abhor; and yet precisely "the Un-
ion as it should be" of the abolitionists
Of America. Sir, the rivalries of the
houses of York and Lancaster filled all
England with cruelty and slaughter; yet
compromise and intermarriage ended the
strife at last, and the white rose and the
red were blended in one. Who dream,
ed month before the death of Crom.
well that in two years the people of Eng
land, after twenty years Of civil war and
usurpation, would, with great unanimity,
restore the house of Stewart in the per.
son of its most worthless prince, whose
father but eleven years before they had
beheaded? And who could have fore.
told in the beginning of 1912, that with.
in some three years, Napoleon would be
in exile upon desert island, and the
Bourbons restored? Armed foreign in
tervention did it; but it is a strange his
tory. Or who then expected to see a
nephew of Napoleon, thirty. five years
later, with the consent of the people,
supplant the Bourbon and reign Empe.
ror of France? Sir, many States and
people, once separate, have become uni
ted in the course of ages through natur.
al causes and without conquest; but |
remember single instance only in his.
tory of States or people once united, and
speaking the same language, who have
been forced permanently asunder by civ
il strife or war, unless they were separa
ted by distance or vast natural bonnda.
ries. The secession of the Ten Tribes
is the exception: these parted without
actual war; and their subsequent histo-
ry is not encouraging to secession. But
when Moses, the greatest of all states.
men, would secure distinct nationality
and government to the Hebrews, he left
Egypt and established his people in a
distant country. In modern times, the
Netherlands, three centuries ago, won
their independence by the sword; but
France and the English channel separa.
ted them from Spain. SO did our Thlr.
teen Colonies; but the Atlantic ocean
divorced us from England. So did Mex
leo, and the other Spanish colonies in
America; but the same ocean divided
them from Spain. Cuba and the Cana.
das still adhere to the parent Govern.
ment. And who now, North or South,
in Europe or America, looking into his.
tory, shall presumptuouSly say that be-
cause of civil war the reunion of these
States is impossible? War, indeed, while
it lasts, is diSunion, and, if it lasts long
enough, will be final, eternal separation
first, and anarchy and despotsm after
ward. Hence | would hasten peace
now, to-day, by every honorable appli
ance.