Year: 1861

lFof the Ttpson AoVefisef.
A FEW THOUGHTS FOR THINKING
80 aazaaaFmr MEN. #- 5a


War is upon us; and in its worst and
most appalling form; civil war, the direst
evil that can visit . people Its prelim-
inaries have been attracting our attention,
for some months. To all appearance, it
must soon commence. Business has been
deranged; property has been con6scated;
men aud women are fleeing in every di-
rection. Our ships are arming; our peo-
pie are marching in military array, and
the shock of hostile armies will soon gil
the land, with lsmeutation and woe -
Now IN this is to be borne through pat
riotic impulse, or from the love of great
principles, believed to be involved in the
struggle. Families are to bs made desc.
late; orphans will mourn the loss of par
ents; old age will vail for the loss Of
sons; cut off in the reign of manhood,
the prop and solace of their old agc-the
bereavements Of either victory or de.
feat, must fall with crushing weight on
many, and load the air Of our land with
bitter wailings and woe-such grief as
never burdened it before, will be seen
and felt on every side.


Notwithstanding all this, there is no
doubt, but that the nation at large has
made up its mind, to the whole magni.
tude of the sacrifice; aud will 60 through
the dark and trying hour with unfalter.
ing resolution. 1t is not unlikely that
some among US, awed into silence by the
magnitude Of the events now transpiring,
and by the grandeur and earncstness of
the public resolve, will take occasion,
when the excitement is somewhat allayed,
to renew their agitations for peace and
compromise. Nor would this be at all
surprising Many humane and sensitive
minds, may quail before the awfulness Of
the storm, and 10 the agony of the heart,
plead for peace, at almost any cost. 1t
is desirable that We should strengthen
ourseles therefore in ad d,ance, by a just
view of our position, aud understand as
fully as possible the alternative to which
We may be reduced, by such retreat, in
this contest, between honor aud dishon-
or; between liberty and dcspotism, be-
tween right and wrong. 1t is not prob
able that Shy thing short of the acknowl-
edgment of the right of secession, aud
the erection of seeding States into
permanent nationality, will be accecded
to. In the hope of securing peace, the
the class most favorable to the South,
will make the appeal, with all the energy
of desperation, enforced by the condition
Of public distress and grief, which will
give it great advantage. In superficial
view, this may seem to many, both easy
and safe Why should a great and free
people like the north cling to the terri
tories of the Confederate States with SO
tenacious a grasp? Why not magnani.
mously allow them to separate themselves
from the Union, and go their own way,
while We trust to cur own freedom, our
intelligence, and our bouudless resources,
for prosperity? Why not separate aud
have peaccs We are well persuaded the
reply to such reasoning as this is brief
and decisive; because it is impossible
that peace should be result Of separation.


l think it must be the deliberate con-
viction Of every rejecting mind, espe-
cialIy those at all acquainted with the
characteristics Of the Southern mind,
that tho division Of this Union, would
be but the preparatory step to war ten
fold more disastrous than that in which
We are now about to engage. If we
would have permanent peace, We must of
necessity subdue and utterly exterminste
every element of disturbance that has
brough on this crisis.


"Delendo est carthago." The Union
must be completely restored to the plat
form Of freedom and equality which our
fathers bequeathed to us and to our
children for all coming time. Nothing
short of this, any thing but this means
war, cnly war, through generations to
come. War chronic. permanent, disas-
trous, destructive beyond all comparison,
with that about to ensue.


Let US suppose the indepen dence of
the Southern Confederacy were acknowl.
edged by our government; suppose that
some safe boundary could be fixed upor
the Potomac aud the Ohio for Instance,
the only natural boundary between the
great lakes and the gulf of Mexico and
that the usual treaty of smity and com.
merce were made between the North and
South, what must be the result of such
position ? Can any one be SO blind as
not to see that, the very 6rst result Of
such separate establishment, would be
the Inauguration Of grand rivalry over
the whole portion of the continent, yet