Year: 1862

/


war. The Administration which is now
in power ought to know what the feeling
of the country is. If my friend from In
diana Mr.. Lane will permit me, | will
repeat what he said to ME this morning
at the breakfast table Mr.. Lane assent
edl. The honorable Senator said, the
State of Indiana has now sixty thousand
men in the field, and she would double
that number in sixty DAYS if war with
Great Britain should be brought about.
l have seen many gentlemen, and | have
seen none not a man can be found, who
is in favor of this surrender; for it would
humiliato US in the eyes of the world
irritate our own people, and subject US to
their indignant scorn. If we arc to have
war with Great Britain, it will not be be-
cause we refuse to surrender Messrs. Ma
son and Slidell that is mere pretense.
If war shall come it will be because Great
Britain, has determined to force war upon
US. They would kumiliate US first and
fight us afterwards. If we are to be hu-
inflated, prefer to take it after war,
and not before 1t is true, war would be
a sacrifice to the people. | think | see
its horrors, its disasters, its carnage, its
blood, and its deSolation; but, sir, let war
come; let your cities be battered down,
your armies be scattered, your fields bar
ren, to preserve uniarnished the national
honor; regenerating spirit among your
people will restore your armies, and re-
build your cities, and make fruitful your
fields Francis the First of France, at
the battle of Pavia, his army oyerthrown
and scattered and himself prisoner, ex-
claimed: "All is lost but honor!" That
honor preserved then was the germ of the
greatness and the glory of France to day.
[ pray that this Administration will not
surrender our national honor. | tell them
that hundreds and thousands and hun
dreds of thousands will rush to the battle
field, and bare their breasts to its periIs
rather than submit to degradation.


If this Administration will not listen
to the voice of the people, they will fud
themselves engulfed in a fire that will
consume them like stubble; they will be
helpless before a power that will hurl
them from their places. If war comes
we shall not, Mr.. President, be entirely
without consolation and encouragement.
If war shall be forced upon us, as some
gentlemen suppose, we sLaIl be fighting
in a great cause.-the cause Of constitu-
tionaI liberty, whose baptism centuries
ago was in the blood which flowed in
England from the scaffold, and which an
imates millions to-day on the face Of the
earth, even of Englishmen, whatever
may be the policy of their Administration.
If this war is determined upon in Eng
land, it will be because it is out of the
hands of statesmen and in those of petit
foggers, who are called the law officers of
the Crown, who, 1T seems, can rush US into
war. If we are, sir, to preserve peace, it
must be with honor. But if we are to
/ have war; 10 not say that we shall-it
will not be without its advantages. 1t
will be a war that cannot be carried on
without fighting; and if we only under
stand our true position, we can proclaim
to every man who speaks the English
language on Gods footstool, the cause for
winch we are fighting; and this appeal
will reach the hearts of millions of Eng
Ilshmen, Irishmen, and Frenchmen.


We have heard, Mr.. President, some
fears expressed that Louis Napoleon is
taking sides with England, and that we
are to contend with the combinded ener-
cies of both France and England. [ do
not believe it, | believe if Louis Napo-
leon harbors one single sentiment, if his
action is guided by one single principle,


if he has ore single feeling that is pre-
dominant over all others, it is to have a
fair field to retrieve the disastrous issue
Of Waterloo. And besides, sir, all over
this country, throughout Canada, and in
/ Ireland, there are hundreds and thousands
and hundreds of thousands of true heart
ed Irishmen who have long prayed for an
opportunity to retaliate upon England for
the wrongs which for centuries that Gov
ernment has inflicted upon their Father
land If we know our own position aud
our own strength refer to the strength
of principe-tbere will be nothing to be
afraid of in this contest. If war must
come, let it come; but tell you, and l
do not pretend to be prophet, [ think
the slightest sagacity In public councils
will sustain me in the position that if
England enters upon this war, she will
enter upon one of more than doubtful
contingency, She will be at war with
the spirit of the age, with the irresistible
genius of liberty, and with the sympathies
of her own best people; she will war with
cause upon which we may invoke with
confidence the blessings of the God of
Liberty, who will not fail in His own