Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-03-27
National Honor.


to national honor, and hints Of the possibility
of war, it may be timely to offer some
thoughts upon the relation Of war to the
maintenance of national honor.
Says the Nslo York Nation of February
22d, with admirable irony, referring the
misunderstanding in regard to consequential
damages If no satisfactory arrangement
can be made 1" then there remains the usual
resort-to kill and mutilate a large body Of
Americans and Englishmen-count the
corpses, bury them 10 shallow graves, in their
bloody clothing, and crow over the number
Of them burn and waste great amount of
property, and squirt great quantity Of
abuse at each other through the newspapers.
After about two years of this we should
probably have treaty IN which the conse-
quential damages would never be mentioned,
and after which they would never trouble
anybody any more"
The resort thus described remains, to be
sure, but it is fortunately not the only resort.
If things do come to a dead lock at Geneva,
and if correspondence between Secretary Fish
and Earl Granville does result in no agree
ment upon the questions to be submitted to
the Board OF Arbitration, recourse to bayou
cts and bullets is by no means the only
alternative open to the nations. As well
might we have said, when our Senate refused
to ratify the Clarendon j ohnson treaty,
90 Now we must fight"
We simply tOdifed, then, with digni6ed
composure, expecting that time and the
course Of events would open the way for
more equitable adjustment of the difficulties
We can do the same again, with no greater
bIemish upon our honor. A passive poll
cy'' in suc1 a case Is commend t0le. tt res
not mean hesitation, or timidity, or comics
sion of feebleness. 1t subtracts no item from
our just claims, it sacrifices u , particle OF
national dignity. Indeed, may we not truth
fully assert that it is immeasursby more
worthy of the honor of powerful and IN
telligent people, than the passion and the
frenzy atts1ILIt upon war
Is there no honor IN curbing hate, in re-
preventing strife, IN admitting the possibility |
of an honest misun Outstanding of the terms |
of treaty, in the firm and fearless main
tenance Of ones rights by peaceful means ?
Was lie who taught men by word and act t.
hold passion in check, and deny themselves
that bitter-sWeet-revenge, lacking 10 man |
ly virtue, deficient in honor? Must men and /
nations brandish war-like weapons against /
one another when disputes spring up, OF BE- |
chargeable with cJwardlce? We thought |
we had changed all that, SO far as indl
viduals were concerned, that the duel al |
been made disreputable as well illegal |
among us. We thought we had changed all |
that 50 far as small communities, and even
large communities united by a common com
pact, were concerned, for we have courts for
the peaceful settlement of difficulties between
corporations, towns, cities, counties and even
States. And who ventures to charge Massa-
chusetts with poltroOnery when she brings
an action in the courts against New York for
the recovery of moneys due her, because she
does not, ms tead, marshal her militia, and
send them across the border, to spill the
blood of innocent men? 1t - honor " does
not require Massachusetts, to bring rifles and
cannon to bear upon New York because Of a
controversy between them, it certainly IS nos
taking too longs stride to affirm that d" hon
OIL" does not require England or the United
States to employ any other than peaceful
means for adjusting their differences. True,
there is at present no International Court,
like the t. ibunals to which our States resort,
before which these governments may come
and plead their causes but the very absence
of such court affords to England and the
United States grand opportunity for attain
ing the high distinction of taking the first
decided steps towards it's establishment;
while the greater their patience under the
almost inevitable failures of first attempts,
and the more calmly resolute, an / reverent,
and self-denyiDg their persistence in efforts
10 gain this most desirable contamination,
the greater their honor.
We have reason to hope that such different
ideas of g honor prevail to-day that we
shall hereafter see no parallel to the ancient
Declaration of War by lord of Prauen-
stein against the free city of Frankfort. be
cause young lady of the city refused to
dance with his uncle.'' We have reason to
believe that it is dawning upon the minds of
men, after ages of barbAric and unrestraned
vengeance, and ages more of retaliation regu-
lated by some absurd pre:ensions to etiquette,
that the code of true honor is what reason |
under the guild Ince of Christianity determines !
and not what animalism and barbarism have |
handed down to US from dark ages. We are
surely coming to assent to Leigh Hunts
words: firmly believe that war, or the
sending thousands Of our fellow-creAtures to
cut one another to bits, often for what they
have no concern in, nor understand, will one
day be reckoned far more absurd than if
people were to settle an argument over the
dinner table with their knives logic, in
deed, which was once fashionable in some
places during the good old times The
world has seen the absurdity of that practice;
why should it not come to years of discretion
with respect to violence upon larger scale p
q. S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAxPsHIRE
Eleven names have thus far been presented